I have to start out by saying I am ecstatic being here right at this moment. It was perfect timing as my girl is old enough to design with me and young enough where she still absolutely adores me sewing for her. When I get the themes so many things are going through my head and I need at least a week to process (It’s my favorite part) before I do my first cut into fabric. Let’s talk theme –  My girl is both outspoken and love designing. She sees the world through rose-colored glasses. She’s all about the love ( The shirt definitely was going to have a heart)  laugh, color and lots of hugs ( Even if you don’t want them,  it’s like she senses who needs them more) She’s my sunshine child  ( hence the bright yellow jacket )

The Process – The ribbing of the jacket was our color inspiration. When I pulled the ribbing out of a package a while back, she immediately grabbed it and exclaimed ” All my favorite colors all in one” , so we went from there. The Shirt was my first item and my design and then it just flowed. My mom made this amazing satin ribbon pillow when I was just a little girl that she entered into a competition and I can still picture its’ beauty in my head so for the heart I used the colors from the ribbing in fat quarters and weaved them on a white linen heart and did the inlay on the shirt ( it sounds so easy right now 🙂 ) She wanted a shirt type vest so I did just that. In the summer she can wear it as is and in the winter she can either wear a jacket or wear a shirt underneath. She really wants all the pencil skirts but with her activity level it just isn’t feasible so I went for a denim pleated skirt ( lots of pins and ironing)  It has all the goodness you can possible want from a denim item.- pockets and more pockets, a zipper, topstiching and elastic in the waistband. Well-fitted around the hips with lots of pleats for movement and denim goes with EVERYTHING! Tip of the day:  buying denim needles and denim thread is worth it.

The jacket had to have a zipper so she can pull it on and off for school or dance or crossfit or soccer, it had to bright and fun to match her personality, hoodie to save the buns from the wind and pom poms on leather strings to play with if she’s bored, minty striped pockets to keep her hands warm (Honestly I want that jacket for me)  The Socks and Wrinkles’ outfit –  Wrinkles is Bella’s best Lovie that she found at a flea market 4 years ago and they are almost always together so I drafted her a little t-shirt with rainbow applique and a matching pleated skirt with a hole in the back where her tail fits through. Dots, hearts and rainbows are popular in Bella’s sketches so we went for gold htv dots on super soft DBP and coral ribbing for the socks.

I could never have done this without fabulous patterns from designers that I adore and love using their patterns as a starting point because I know they fit her well ( Why fix it when it ain’t broke)

The Skirt – Small Fry Skinny Jeans from Titchy Threads ( The details and fit of these jeans are top notch) The Hoodie – the Pixel pullover from jennuine Design ( Just like Titchy threads I love all of Jenn’s patterns- the sleeves on this caught my attention ❤️ And I opened it up in the front and added a zipper) socks – cozy critters socks by Peekaboo pattern shop

Pictures were taken in Ottawa, Il in front of our favorite painted wall.  I thought the kid playing marbles was very suiting for this challenge.

Above is one of the many pictures I pull from her backpack after school

If you’ve never sewn along or maybe you have but stopped, please join – It is so much fun. You will meet amazing people that share your love, hobby, creativeness and will provide an awesome support system.

follow along HERE

Fabric used from Joann Fabrics, Cali Fabrics (Who very generously hooked me up with fabric for this season and an all-time favorite) , Raspberry Creek Fabric ( another favorite and sponsor of my sew-along win) and Jumping June textiles

Here is the heart process. It was at night so the pics are not perfect. For the heart the shirt is fully lined in the front so there are no exposed seams.