April Rhodes, OBSERVER Fabric Blog Tour

Finally… I have been planning the photoshoot for the Observer Blog Tour for 2 months and I am so excited to share it TODAY!!! Our family visited this National Park earlier in the summer and I knew it was the perfect location!  I am pretty excited to share but before I do lets talk OBSERVER!!!!

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April Rhodes’ has done it again! Every single collection is earthy perfection! I have always been attracted to her natural organic esthetic in her fabric collections and the Observer collection is no different. This is April’s 4th collection with Art Gallery Fabrics and each is just as BEAUTIFUL as the one before.

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The collection has navy blues, mustards, metallic and calm gray/blues. It is a collection that I would use to make clothing projects for myself, for my children and in home décor!!  The color palate is gorgeous beyond my wildest dreams!  I mean look at the metallic texture!!! Swoooon!!!!

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Besides Cotton the collection offers Knit, Voile and Canvas options to pick from in selected prints.. I choose the YUMMY Voile in Indigo Window in Crystal for the main portion of the Maxi Dress below…

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For the second dress I used this AMAZING calm blue/gray print called, Overshot Haze. For the main portion and for the collar I used, Speck Bronze. Ooooh, BRONZE!

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Can we talk about this Voile and Indigo Window in Crystal again! When I received it in the mail. I pulled it out and may or may not have danced with it! Hehehehehe, totally normal right?? Just say yes! lol

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Pattern used for the Maxi dress:

Madison- I modified the dress by lengthening the skirt.

Pattern used for the Collar dress:

Pepper- made per instructions

Both patterns are by Violette Field Threads

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Isn’t this location MAGAICAL especially with OBSERVER FABRIC!!!??!! If you are ever in San Diego I highly suggest visiting Cabrillo National Park. 🙂

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I have already used Observer in other projects like this one below for my sewing bestie, Cassie’s next pattern!!

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Thank you April for creating Observer making our projects even more beautiful!!!

*The next stop on the tour will be Colette – colettepatterns.com, IG – @ColettePatterns

See you later

-Alexis

 

Amy Sinibaldi, Playground Showcase

Well, happy first day of Fall!! Ironically, when I was planning out my project for the showcase I wanted to incorporate Fall into my garment and photos. Little did I know the first day of Fall was also my day to share on the Showcase Tour. Too perfect right!!?!

 

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Amy Sinibaldi’s newest collection with Art Gallery Fabrics , Playground, released a couple months ago . She is also the creative talent behind the Paperie Fabric collection. Amy did such an amzing job capturing childhood memories. Don’t you remember palying hopscotch with your best friend or praying for a gust of wind to lift your plastic kite. I mean seriously I tried so many times to fly that kite!

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For the Showcase I choose the He Loves Me Plum VOILE fabric for the main portion and Posy Chain Freshlilly for the collar. I have become infatuated with Voile fabric lately!

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I modified the Pepper pattern by lengthing the skirt and creating a Maxi and also leaving off the sleeves. The Pepper is my 6th pattern with Violette Field Threads and I am pretty excited to be adding Tween Pepper soon!

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This Plum floral was the perfect color to start the Fall Season! This was a vast difference from the Playground outfit I made for Art Gallery Fabrics Lookbook….

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To see more inspiration check out the Lookbook

To see more inspiration check out these amazing creators…

Calendar:

SEPT 14: Katie Skoog ~ thesimplelifecompany.com/blog

15: Michelle Curtis ~ chellesquilts.com

16: Peta Peace ~ shequiltsalot.com

17: Minki Kim ~ minkikim.com

19: Jemima Flendt ~ tiedwitharibbon.com

20: Tara J Curtis ~ tjaye.com

21: Alexis Wright ~ mysweetsunshinestudio.com

22: Melissa LeRay ~ ohhowsweet.com

23: Ali Brorsen ~ becauseofbrennaclothing.com

24: Angie Wilson ~ gnomeangel.com

26: Rachel McCormack ~ woodenspoonquilts.blogspot.com

27: Stacy Olson ~ stacyolsondesign.com

28: Shannon Fraser ~ shannonfraserdesigns.ca

29: Cristi Cooper ~ whimsyquilts.blogspot.com

30: Guiseppe Ribaudo ~ instagram.com/Giucy_Giuce

OCT 1: Kristyne Czepuryk ~ prettybyhand.com

3: Amy Sinibaldi ~ nanaCompany.typepad.com

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See you all later…

-Alexis

 

Boardwalk Delight Fabric Blog Tour

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We started off and ended our summer with Dana’s, from MADE, first fabric collection with Art Gallery Fabrics. We had a photoshoot to kick off the summer for the Boardwalk Delight lookbook and now bring the summer to a close by blogging and sharing even more photos from that great day!! Boardwalk Delight fabric should be the official fabric of summer! Funny story, when I was sewing with this collection for the first time I was starring at the I Scream, You Scream so much I had to take a break and take the kids to get some ice cream! Nothing wrong with that right?

I had the opportunity to spend time with Dana, she is exactly how I envisioned her. She is creative, inspiring, kind heart and energetic!  I have been a HUGE fan of Dana’s blog for years now. It was actually the first blog I ever followed.

For this photo shoot I had the opportunity to collaborate with Cassie from Little Lizard King. Our families have become closer over the last few months so we will cherish these photos for a lifetime.

 

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(Dress pattern: Violette Field Threads Madison Top Pattern: NewHorizonsDesigns  Offbeat Oxford)

Fabric on Her:

Eat it all and Ice Cream Shop

Fabric on Him:

I scream, You scream and Eat it all

The kids had a blast playing on the Boardwalk and riding all the rides!!! I don’t blame them they got to eat ice cream and jump on all the rides!

Fabric from left to right:

Sprinkles and Busy Beach

I scream, you scream and Eat it All

Twinkle Lights and Eat it All

(Top Pattern: Cali Faye Valley Blouse and MADE Kid Shorts)

Fabric on Her:

Flavor of the Day and Soda Straws

Fabric on Him:

I scream, You scream and Eat it Al

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Just look at all those yummy colors and prints! If you are looking for more inspiration check out MADE blog and Art Gallery Fabrics Lookbook.

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(Look closely into his sunglass! What do you see?)

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Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the last few days of hot weather!!!

xoxo,

Alexis

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

 

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Floral Radiograph Fabric Blog Tour-Skirt Fixation

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Hello and Happy Friday,

This month has flown by, right???!!  It has for me too! So it was nice to stop for a minute. grab my camera and my favorite little lady and head to my newly founded photo spot.   We had a lot of laughs and got a lot of pics with some beautiful fabric. Aubrey. from Skirt Fixation, has created a beautiful collection of fabric called, Floral Radiograph. What is Floral Radiograph you ask?? Well here you go:

Floral Radiography is the procedure of x-raying delicate flowers to create art.  Over 100 years old, this practice is almost as venerable as x-ray technology itself.  Because of the sensitivity of x-ray technology, composition difficulty, and the fragility of the processing method, most floral radiograph attempts do not turn out.  But the ones that make it to a finished product are so stunningly, hauntingly beautiful they make the endeavor worthwhile!  The tiny community of artists who make floral radiographs do not limit themselves to flowers either.  Whether it’s the ability to see beyond the naked eye, or the similarity to silhouettes and shadows, floral radiography translates beautifully to fabric because the owner of floral radiograph fabric can use it to create something that transcends the flesh of nature and touches the very bones.

Pretty cool, right??!!

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I choose the Black and White Boarder Print in cotton. Which is super soft and flowy!! It was a breezy day thanks to a storm coming, which made the fabric drape like a dream. Lucky me!!

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I had envisioned making a skirt for the tour because every time I think of Aubrey I think of skirts! HA!  So I used the Gemma Skirt pattern by Violette Field Threads. I made the skirt with a few modifications, like using a gathered skirt instead of a circle skirt and I also adding length. The end result was a full, flowy midi skirt!

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I have a thing for Black and White fabric, it’s timeless! BUT, she is also offering the print in several other colors…

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Gorgeous, right??!!!!

Guess what, you can win a $50 credit for My Fabric Designs. See Skirt Fixation Blog for more information. The giveaway runs from April 25 to May 8.

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Thank you Aubrey for having me on your blog tour!!!

Until next time…

Alexis

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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

 

DARE by Pat Bravo

Hello,

Are you ready for bold prints and colors, well DARE fabric by Pat Bravo collection delivers! Bold print and geometric shapes are the base of this fun and electric collection!

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Before I talk more about the fabric and the details of the dress, I want to share with you how wonderful Pat Bravo is.  I had the pleasure of meeting her for the first time at the Houston Quilt Market this year.  It was such an honor to meet her and our conversation was so encouraging that I found inspiration to continue to push my creativity.   I kid you not I had tears in my eyes!  She was nice enough to ask if I was interested in sewing with her new fabric line, UMMM OF COURSE!!

Working with Art Gallery’s fabrics is always a pleasure so to be able to work with her design on top of that was a dream come true.

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I chose to use Wafting Plaid Traced and A Path Of Passion prints with the Genevieve dress pattern (my first pattern design with Violette Field Threads). Oh, that plaid is on point this season!! Eeek, perfection!!  The white and navy colorway are both great options. I also adore the tiny white flowers in A Path Of Passion print. Especially on the bright pink!

When I was designing Genevieve , Art Gallery Fabrics became my go to fabric because of the lightweight , flowy fabric for the flounce. 🙂 🙂

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That light, right??!! Amazing!! My favorite spot to take pictures, Myrtle Creek Botanical Gardens.

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Miss T. will be wearing the dress for all of our bright a festive Christmas parties.  I am also secretly hoping it still fits for Easter so she can wear it again.  🙂

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Again, I used the Genevieve pattern,  you can purchase and see more photos on the Violette Field Threads page. I am over the moon excited to see how the Genevieve dress looks with all the different fabrics. If you are not already apart of the VFT Facebook group, please come join us to find more inspiration to push your creativity!

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It was such a pleasure once again to work with Art Gallery Fabric and Pat Bravo, Thank you.

-Alexis

(Merry Christmas and Happy New Years everyone!)

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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

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