The Evolution Of A Skill: Learning To Sew With Patterns

The first article of clothing I made for my daughter using a sewing machine was a circle skirt. We’ll call it the gateway project.

I put a few pics up on Facebook because it was so cute, she loved it, and I was so proud. I mentioned in the caption of my post how I really wanted to sew her a dress but was a bit intimated by commercial patterns. Anyone else out there feel that way? Patterns just looked to me like I would need some kind of engineering degree to make my way through them. A few friends suggested some dress styles that were easy and didn’t require a pattern, like a pillowcase dress.

Okay, pillowcase dress. Check. (Excuse all the headless pics. It’s a decision our family has made not to post pictures of the kids’ faces on a public blog). The time was drawing near. If I was going to get serious about sewing, I was going to need to learn to use a pattern. Easter was a little more than a month away so the perfect opportunity to conquer this fear. I scoured the Internet for “easy” patterns but it seemed that every pattern I found under that category also “looked” easy and I didn’t like that. I wanted this dress to be special. Finally, I stumbled upon 5berries on Etsy. Folks, if you are afraid of patterns but really want to learn to sew for kids, this is the place for you! The clothes are adorable and many of the patterns come with picture tutorials. The one I chose was called the “Olivia” dress pattern. I knew as soon as I saw it that this was the one because I would have purchased that style dress for my daughter in the store.

I let my daughter pick out her own choice of fabrics. I started to suspect that may have been a mistake when she chose the combination of insanely pink with sparkles and insanely purple with polka dots seen here:

My husband confirmed my suspicions when he saw the fabric she chose and asked if we were dressing her as a clown for Easter but the deed had been done. Fabric and pattern had been purchased and I had to move forward. After prewashing, ironing, and one Skype session with my sister-in-law on proper cutting of the fabric, I was rolling. I couldn’t stop! Watching the fabric take shape and become this beautiful dress was propelling me forward. We had an Easter dress well before Easter. And my fears have been conquered.

  

    

As you can see, in the top picture there is an extra hem band. I felt like the dress was a bit too short for her and added the extra band at the bottom before she wore it out of the house. I wish I had taken pictures of the process but I didn’t have a blog at the time. Next one will show steps in the process for sure.

I need to mention that I am not in any way affiliated with 5berries other than as a very satisfied customer. I cannot wait to use more of their patterns and feel confident taking on other patterns as well after the solid foundation I got using theirs. If you, too, are a bit intimated by patterns like I was, I highly suggest you head over to their Etsy page and check them out. Oh, and look, the fabrics look great together! Turns out my daughter has pretty good fashion sense!

Do you prefer to use patterns or sew projects without them?  What are some of your favorite patterns to use?

Linkin’ up on Sunday at:

Linkin’ up on Monday to: http://www.thebewitchinkitchen.com/monday-funday-linky-april-13/

http://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/inspiration-monday-linky-party-49/

http://www.abowlfulloflemons.net/2015/04/one-project-at-a-time-41415.html

Linkin’ up on Wednesday over at: http://sewcraftyangel.blogspot.com/2015/04/wake-up-wednesday-linky-party-64.html