Oliver+S Jump Rope Dress Review

Today's review is the 

Oliver + S Jump Rope Dress!

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Hello! Sharon here today with a pattern review of the Oliver + S Jump Rope Dress. This pattern is one of the original Oliver + S patterns and comes in sizes 6-12 months through size 8.  It has two different views: an A line dress with long sleeves (view B) or a drop waist, gathered skirt with short sleeves (view A). Today I have sewn up the view A with the long sleeves from view B. For the dress I used the Art Gallery's Curiosities-Caught Snowflakes Blush.

The Oliver + S patterns have a one to four scissor rating for difficulty. The Jump Rope dress is rated three scissors due to the button placket.

Even though it is rated a more difficult skill level, this pattern is also a teaching pattern. I highly recommend the Jump Rope, even if you have never sewn a button placket before. This pattern walks you through all the steps of sewing the placket. I will never forget my first time sewing this pattern; I was a beginner at sewing and my placket turned out wonderfully.  I couldn't believe how easy it really was. I was so amazed!

This is a more snug fitting pattern as far as dressing goes so I do recommended sizing up one size, if your little one struggles to get things on and off on their own! Other than that the fit is relaxed.

 

The button placket goes about two-thirds of the way down the front. This is great for pulling the dress over head for dressing. The collar is a one piece collar. It goes on very easily with no fiddly parts. There are also cute belt loops at the waist line and a separate sash that ties in the front.

Another feature of this dress are two different style pockets. The view A has square pockets with a faux fold over top, finished with a button detail. This is one of my favorite details of this pattern. The view B has cute rounded, gathered pockets.

I love the back side as well as the front. This pattern has so many wonderful details to it.

Overall, I highly recommend this pattern. It is like having two dress patterns in one. The instructions are amazing and help even the beginner level seamstress along.

You can find both the pattern and fabric in the shop with the links below.

Oliver + S Jump Rope Dress

Art Gallery's Curiosities-Caught Snowflakes Blush.

Use the coupon code REVIEW to save 20% off the Jump Rope Dress Pattern. This code is only good through 11:59pm MT Monday, February 15th. And make sure to join our Facebook group, Whimsical Fabric & Me, and share your Jump Rope Dress creations. We love to see what you sew.

Happy Sewing, 
Sharon Knowles

Summer Breeze Doll Pattern and AGF Voile Reviews - Save 20%!

Today's review is the 

Summer Breeze Tunic & Dress Doll PDF Pattern

made with Art Gallery Voile fabric!

 

I know we are in the middle of  the bitterly cold winter, but that doesn't keep me from dreaming and planning for the warmer months that will soon be here! So for today's review I am sharing a brand new summery PDF pattern made with beautiful voile fabrics. I hope you are keeping warm by enjoying a cup of hot coffee or tea as you are reading this review.

Summer Breeze Tunic and Dress pattern is a brand new release by Sweet Pea and Pumkin. This pattern is designed for the 18" doll and features two lengths, tunic and dress. I chose two different voile fabrics for my two outfits in my review. Voile fabric is a great choice for a light summery pattern such as this. 

The Summer Breeze tunic or dress can be made from one fat quarter of fabric making it a great pattern for using up all those fabric scraps. Pattern pieces were clearly labeled and marked with grainlines making it straightforward during cutting and assembly.

My Summer Breeze Dress I made with the Art Gallery Paperie Eponine Voile. This voile is a beautiful pastel shade of aqua blue for the background and sprinkled with multi colored flower bouquets. The print is the perfect size for the 18" doll. This fabric is so incredibly light and buttery feeling to the touch. It's difficult to believe it is 100% cotton because it really feels smooth as silk. You can clearly see how sheer the voile is by the sun filtering through the high-low skirt on the dress. 

The skirt on the dress version hits slightly above the doll's knees in the front and angles elegantly towards the back to calf level. One aspect I love about this pattern is the generous arm holes and thin spaghetti straps which helps children to get on and off their doll.  The directions for constructing and adding the spaghetti straps to the dress was a very simple method. No frustrations trying to turn tiny tubes of fabric with this pattern.

The back bodice has a gorgeous scoop back, and it closes with hook and loop tape for dressing the doll easier. The bodice is fully lined and I chose to use the same voile fabric for the lining of both outfits. There is also a small placket in the skirt which you can't tell from the printed fabric used here. The placket allows for slipping the garment over the head or pulling up over the feet.

The second outfit I made was the tunic length which gives it a more casual look. I chose the new Curiosities Jar Firefly Tang Voile and a white linen for the shorts. It is such a beautiful color and reminds me of creamy orange sherbet. The white fireflies floating all over the fabric are just adorable and definitely says summer to me. The voile gives nice body to the shorter length of the tunic as well.

Overall, these outfits were a joy to make. The pattern instructions were thorough and gave instructions how to properly finish the inside of the garments nicely. They are very kid-friendly designs so my 3 year old daughter can dress her own doll without my help. The voile fabrics were a dream to sew with and I am already thinking about what other garments I can make for my daughter with them this summer.

Links to products:

Summer Breeze Dress and Tunic Pattern by Sweet Pea & Pumkin 

 Paperie Eponine Voile

 Curiosities, Jar Firefly Tang Voile

We also have a coupon for you!  Use the code: SummerBreeze to save 20% off the Summer Breeze PDF Pattern AND any of our AGF Voile Fabrics.  The code is good through 11:59pm MT Monday, February 8th.
  
Happy Sewing!

Chari 

www.whimsicalfabric.com

WWD Button Up PDF Pattern and AGF Voile Reviews - Save 20%!

Today's review is the 

Winter Wear Designs Button Up women's shirt 

made with Art Gallery Voile fabric!

First up is the Winter Wear Design's (WWD) Button Up Shirt. I have been a huge fan of WWD women's patterns for while. They are carefully sized to fit from size 00 up to the curvy gals, like me.  This particular pattern goes from XXS to XXXL.  It has short, 3/4 and long sleeved options. The pattern also features princess seams, and as an added bonus the pattern includes instructions on how to sew French seams, which I did use for this top with the voile.  The included seam allowance allows you to sew the French Seams without making any modifications to the pattern.  I say that is surely an added bonus for me! 

I would rate the pattern intermediate-to-advanced, due to the curved pieces, the two piece collar stand, and button placket for the long sleeve version. However, the pattern has detailed sewing instructions and great colored photos, so even if you are not at an intermediate sewing level, I would say you sure could give this pattern a try. It would be a great way to learn some new skills. The pattern is a PDF, and it is easy to assemble the printed pieces with each page on the pattern numbered. (This was a very good thing for me since my three old son decided to help me and they all got out of order. With the numbered pages it was super easy to get them back where they needed to be.)

I completely love the fit of this shirt on me, and the size chart was spot on with my measurements. No need to alter anything. However, what if I was between sizes? What if I had needed to adjust the pattern somewhere? WWD had me covered. The first part of the pattern goes over how to do just that. I love it when the pattern includes this so I do not have to go searching the internet on trying to figure out how to alter a princess seam shirt. 

Even the length of the 3/4 sleeves and the bottom of the shirt are fabulous! I've already started on my second top.

Let's talk about fabric, I used Art Gallery's Arizona Triangle Token Metallic. I have used voile before, even organic voile, however this was my first time sewing with AG brand. I will tell I was blown away!!  It feels closer to silk than it does cotton but sews with the ease of a quilting cotton. The fabric is like sewing with cream; the feel of it is amazing!! Just touching this fabric made sewing the top that much more enjoyable. Yes it's that nice!

This fabric is a bit see through, so I did decide to sew the shirt with French seams.  I did have to use my seam riper on one part (my fabric shifted so be sure to pin it well), and the fabric handled it very well with no damage at all. Even though the fabric feels ever so light, it is still warm enough to wear it here in winter time. 

Over all I thoroughly enjoyed both the pattern and the fabric. Both were such a pleasure to use that will surely be using them again! 

You can check out both products in the links below:

Winter Wear Designs Button Up Shirt

Art Gallery Voile Arizona Triangle Token Metallic

We also have a coupon for you!  Use the code: ButtonUp to save 20% off any Winter Wear Designs PDF Patterns AND any of our AGF Voile Fabrics.  We even have a bunch of new voile fabrics to choose from.  The code is good through 11:59pm MT Monday, January 25th.

Happy Sewing!

Sharon