Tag: dresses

Sarah Jane, Magic Fabric Blog Tour

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Hello, I hope everyone’s summer has been incredible and full of lot of adventures! Don’t you feel like summer is becoming shorter and shorter? Time flies by! My kids head back to school in a week!

Anyways, I got a little side tracked, I am excited to share a new fabric collection from Sarah Jane and Michael Miller.  Way back in March, while traveling back to GA to see family, Sarah’s new line popped up in my Facebook feed right before we boarded the plane. So obviously that meant for the rest of the plane ride all I could think about was all the amazing things I could sew with that fabric and then of course that started my pattern designing juices going!  I envisioned a summer sundress with little girls dancing in the beautiful sun. After the 5 hour plane ride I came up with Lauren, a summery sundress full of pleated details.  Isn’t it incredible how one person’s creativity influences another?!

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(Shown here with Magic and Gauze from Sommer)

Sarah has always been a huge inspiration to me since the time I first started sewing! Every time I see Children on Parade fabric, I  have flash backs of sitting at my sewing machine cranking out tons of skirts made with that print. I keep a secret stash of out of print Sarah’s fabric in my fabric closet that I will only pull out for very special projects!  Did you hear they will be bringing back some out of print fabrics??!! How exciting!!

In May I had the honor of sewing TWO dresses for her Spring Quilt Market Booth.

The first one is Paige, which is designed by Bernadette for Violette Field Threads.

Fabric:

Unicorn Forest

Lucky Stars

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The second is the pattern I mentioned earlier, Lauren.

Fabric:

Magic Parade- Double Boarder

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Stars and Stripes

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Here are few (HA) more photos of Lauren and Magic Collection…

(Seriously, isn’t she a doll??!!!)

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“Lauren” baby fabric:

 Magic Parade Double Boarder

You are Magic

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(Not sure how I got so lucky to get this perfect shot with everyone smiling but YAY!!!)

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Fabric:

Sommer Fabric Collection: Painted Gingham

Mermaid Magic

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What will you sew with Magic?

Thank you so much for hanging out with me and reading all about my adventures with Magic Fabric!

-Alexis

 

Extra photo (because I LOVE Sommer fabric also!)…NEWEH4A4685

My next pattern, Madison!

Eeeeeek!! Here I am again with my next pattern! My last pattern Emily was a fancy, romantic, Jane Austen style dress while Madison is a great everyday style dress.

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Before I go into detail I must stop and say thank you to Art Gallery Fabrics for graciously sending me fabric and sponsoring, Madison.  Thanks to Sew Caroline’s Chalk and Paint Fabric collection the tutorial is extra pretty! Yay!!

Madison offers several option to tailor into yours and your child’s favorite dress!

Here are some options:

*Cap Sleeve

*Collar insert

*Faux button placket

*Pleated bodice

*Slim Skirt

*Open Pockets

*Keyhole back with ribbon tie closure

*Size 2-10

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With all those option, do you know how many version of Madison you could make? Add trim, leave off the buttons or add extra fancy buttons. Ummmm, did I mention trim? There are so many great place you can add trim to.

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Madison is LIVE!! Go grab yourself a copy!! Oh and did I mention that for 48 hours it is on SALE! 18% off!! Use code: MADISON

To see more inspirations jump over to Violette Field Threads blog for more tester photos!

Enjoy!

-Alexis

AvantGarde Blog Tour

avantgarde-fabrics-blog-tourEH4A1606Hello and Welcome to the AvantGarde Blog  Tour!

Are you ready for a fabric with rich, saturated colors and bold geometric print?  Trust me, you want to say yes! Katarina Roccella has been one of my favorite fabric designers for years now.  I even used her last collection,  Wonderland fabrics, to help promote my first pattern, Genevieve.  Now meet Katarina’s newest collection AvantGarde.  This collection is full of stunningly bold colors that is simply pure visual bliss!

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Hello beautiful colors, am I right or am I right?!?!!!

My Favorite part of this collections is the perfect balance of geometric shapes, deeply  saturated purples and delicate butterfly prints.  They compliment each other so well in any combination giving you the freedom to play and create so many different looks.  Love it!

Looking for more inspiration, check out Art Gallery Fabrics Lookbook HERE

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For this Blog Tour I used Violette Field Threads , Loarlie pattern. The modern “V” shaped insert pairs well with the modern print of AvantGarde.

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The prints I used in this dress are:

Neo-Flies in Dense

Fluxus in Teal

Steps Above in Moonbow

Bauhaus in Dissection

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I am joined by so many talented seamstresses in this blog tour. Please take a moment to visit each one.

January 15th: Megan Jimenez from Quilt Story
January 16th: Svetlana Sotak of Sotak handmade
January 17th: Sharon Mcconnell of Colorgirlquilts
January 18th: Rachael Gander of Imagine gnats
January 19th: Ali Brorsen of Because of Brenna
January 20th: Laura Scaramella of Simple Life Company
January 21st: Alexis of My sweet sunshine
January 22nd: Marija Vujčić
January 23rd: Hema Malini of Malini’s quilts
January 24th: Kristy Sachs – Rockbabyscissors
January 25th: Paul Hallinger aka Evildemondevildog
January 26th: Erica Jackman
January 27th: Kathleen Quilts
January 28th: The Tattooed Quilter
January 29th: Nicole – Lillyella
January 30th: Sari – Sariditty handmade

January 31st: Lynne Goldsworthy of Lily’s quilts

Scroll through several pictures of my AvantGarde Dress:

 

Blooper… (The boy LOVES to get in pics-lol)

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Thank you Katarina for having me join your blog tour!

-Alexis

 

Violette Field Thread and my first pattern, Genevieve

Hello,

I hope you saw my Friday’s blog post on Violette Field Thread’s Blog! If you did not catch friday’s post, I shared my inspiration behind my VERY first pattern, Genevieve.

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So let’s jump into what makes up Genevieve…

Genevieve comes in sizes 2-9/10 and features a flowy flounce bodice. I adore the flounce and love the back of the bodice because of the way the buttons are running down the back. I’ve seen a lot of questions about the top construction in some of the earlier comments.  The sleeved version appears almost like a separate cropped jacket over the bodice, but it’s actually 3 connected layers.  This is where my Jackie O influence comes in.

Front/Side:

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Back:

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The bodice has two sleeve versions:

Sleeveless version:

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Sleeved Version:

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I have also included three skirt options with or without pockets!! I adore pockets in skirts, don’t you?!?!

Regular length that finishes just above the knee.

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Vintage length that finishes 1.5”-2” above the knee

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BUBBLE skirt!!! Ohhhhh, you will LOVE the bubble skirt. It is so much fun! That bubble skirt is great for older girls just as it is great for the little ones.

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I need to pause for a moment and thank Art Gallery Fabric and Katarina Roccella  for sharing Wonderland Fabrics with me! I am so grateful to have their beautiful fabrics for all my dresses and instructions. It is always an honor to work with you and to sew with your great fabric!

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I am so grateful for each one of my testers and each one of them hit it out of the park. The testers used everything from tulle, sequins, velvet, dupioni silk and of course quilter’s cotton fabrics in their creations.  Just by changing the fabric up you can have the perfect dress for a party, church, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve and can even go out on a fun Easter egg hunt.

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I am so grateful to Ericka and Jessica for not only believing in me and asking me to join their team but supporting me more than I could ever imagine! They are both beautiful inside and out!!

Have you seen their absolutely stunning daughter???

FYI- They used snap instead of buttons due to fabric choice.

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I hope you love and enjoy making a Genevieve Dress for your daughter, granddaughter, niece, best friend’s daughter or whomever you sew for!!  🙂

See more on VFT Blog HERE and Purchase HERE

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More pictures…

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-Alexis

Art Gallery Fabric Sketchbook Blog Tour

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Hello and Happy Friday,

I hope you have enjoyed the Sketchbook Blog Tour so far!! Sketchbook Fabric is a beautiful Fabric line by Sharon Holland for Art Gallery Fabrics.  Yesterday Jessica from Izzy & Ivy made the most beautiful dress using not one, not two, but three pieces from the Sketchbook Fabric Collection. To see more check out her Blog HERE .

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Tomorrow, Sharon will recap the Blog Tour and announce the winner of the 10 yards of Sketchbook fabric giveaway!!! Wait, What!!!??? Yes, I said 10 yards of Sketchbook Fabric!!! All you need to do is repost your favorite picture from the tour to be entered in a chance to win 10 yards of Sketchbook fabric!!! Include the hashtag #sketchbooktourgiveaway when you REPOST the pic 🔁 Ends Saturday 9 a.m. EDT. So make sure you enter TODAY to find out who won TOMORROW!

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As my daughter grows so does her want for making her own decisions on what she wears (good luck kid, because Mommy has a lot of control in that area).  So in trying to better myself (I am trying!), I let her pick out the fabric and the pattern. She could not have done better, I love how the Rose Dress pattern, by Violette Field Thread, Peplum plays off the movement of the Tiny Dance Fabric.

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Have you ever worked with fabric that evoked an emotion in you? No, I am not crazy and I was not drinking when I was sewing 🙂 .  Seriously, I feel as though I am standing in a field with Dandelions flying all around me. Very peaceful and child like!

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Like I said above I used Tiny Dancer in Midnight for the main portion of the dress and for the middle insert of the bodice I used Doodle Meander. Doodle Meander is a beautiful light green with hints of peach and Navy blue.

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Halo is made by Little Sparrow Bows on Etsy

Sketchbook collection features gorgeous deep blue, pretty pink pistachio green, cozy brown and mustard yellow. All inspired by nature and of course made with the AMAZING Art Gallery “Feel” !

I attended Quilt Market this past Spring and had the opportunity to meet Sharon in person. Sharon was so sweet and I was really lucky to have her share with me The Sketchbook Fabric Collection. I knew this collection would be great as soon as I saw it!  So Thank you Sharon Holland and Art Gallery Fabrics for allowing me to be apart of the Sketchbook Blog Tour!!

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To see more inspiration Click HERE for Art Gallery Fabrics Sketchbook Fabric Lookbook!

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Don’t forget to Jump on Sharon’s Instagram page for your chance to win 10 yards of Sketchbook Fabric!!

Thank you for reading!!

-Alexis

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Time to Catch Up

Hello and I hope you all had a great week. Also, Happy Mother’s Day to all you AMAZING Mommies! Alright, It has been way too long since I posted about what I have been up to in the Pattern Testing World. Well , here is a run down of the last two Patterns I tested…

 

First up is the Bateau Garden dress by Winter Wear Designs..

-Tunic, Vintage or Regular length Dress

-Scooped or Cross Strap Back

-Size Range 1-14 (That is HUGE)

-Invisible Zipper

-Pattern also includes Pettiskirt tutorial

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Fabric: Tula Pink-Elizabeth Collection

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I adore the Tent Stripes and The Elizabeth 16th Century Selfie Together! I was lucky to find these at a local Fabric shop that I have fallen in love with called-Needle in a Fabric Stash

Next up is Violette Field Threads Loralie Dress Pattern

-Size range 2T-9/10

-Two bodice Style

-Pleated option on bodice

-Double Layered Skirt

-Sash included

-Easily dressed up or down

-Button Back with placket

I actually made two versions of the dress- For the First I placed the insert on the outside of the back bodice and also used faux leather trim instead of the sash.

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I simple ADORE how this dress turned out! I used a Light Tan Linen for the double layered skirt, Gray/Blue Stripe Cotton for the bodice and to top It off Liberty of London for the Insert! This particular Liberty of London was used in the new Cinderella Movie.

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For the second dress version I made per instruction with sash and bodice insert placed inside the bodice. My Daughter was SO excited for this fabric. This one was her FAVORITE!

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For this version I used Art Gallery Fabric, Morning Walk by Leah Duncan

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So there you have it.  That’s what I have been up to in the Pattern Testing World 🙂

See you next time…

-Alexis/My Sweet Sunshine

Fall Edition Part 2-Neither the Hummingbird nor the flower wonders how beautiful it is…

Hello Beautiful,

Here is Part 2 of my Fall Release-Hummingbird Dresses

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Beautiful Miss A.

I’m super excited to be bringing several new and updated original Ruffle Dresses to my collection. I used the lovely and amazing Ruffle Fabric, LLC . I absolutely love this fabric and love the ladies behind it. They are so sweet and are ready to answer any question you have!! Plus, have you seen their website?! So many colors to chose from. The possibilities are endless.

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I chose to make SERVERAL Hummingbird dresses. Not only are the dress results beautiful but they are so easy to modify into my own ‘sweet’ style.

Purchase HERE  

IMG_5012  Tomato and Blue Bird Hummingbird Dresses

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 Gotta love the “V” back

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Great Dress for twirling!!!

The next dress is made with Men’s suiting Fabric. I love the contrast of Men’s fabric and girly ruffles. I zig zagged the edge of the ruffle to appeared as frayed.

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Purchase HERE

These next two dresses are truly near and dear to my heart. I have been a dancer since I was a child. Even today I’ll crank the tunes and have a dance party with my kids.  I recently made a custom order for an all black version of my very first pink/black Ruffle dress and immediately thought of Swan Lake.  This inspired me to bring back a fresh updated version one of my originals as well as the new variation.

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Today’s updated version …

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White Swan (pink)
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White Swan (pink)
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Check out all these styles HERE

Have a great Day and Thank you for reading my Blog 🙂

15% off use code “BLOG15”

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