Willow & Co. Glamping with Mouse House Creations

Yesterday you saw my sneak peak into the fun we had with Willow & Co. patterns and glamping in our backyard.  Today I’m going to share more photos and details about the first outfit I made.

The Persimmon top and Clover shorts designed by Hayley with Mouse House Creations.

I’m lucky to be able to call Hayley a friend – and not even just a “virtual” friend!  We were roommates at Snap! Conference and it was so much fun to get to meet her and spend time in person!  She is exactly as she “sounds” online, so even if you only know Hayley virtually, you’ve got the real deal!  We spent a couple of late evenings along with Lauren Dahl of Baste + Gather/Pattern Workshop/Selvage Designs gabbing and relaxing and having such a great time!  Things got a little hilarious at times – it was exactly what we all needed!

Did you spot what I did with these amazing patterns?  Yes, that’s right — I turned the Persimmon top and the Clover shorts into a romper!  So a Persover, or maybe Clovimmon?  Whatever you want to call it, it’s stinkin’ adorable!  I’m on a mission to “romperfy” all the things!  Ha!

BTW, what exactly is the definition of a romper vs. a playsuit, jumpsuit, or sunsuit?  Shortalls?  I have no idea, so I just go with romper!

It wasn’t at all difficult to merge the patterns together.  I made the Persimmon top, omitting the center panel (I added the width of the panel at the top so that was the same) and narrowing the top to equal the measurement of the back width of the Clover shorts.  This involved a couple of fittings to get the right length and taper since the Persimmon is a flared top and it needed to come in to attach to the shorts.

Once I had the width and length right, I made up the Clover shorts according to the directions, and where you can add the optional waist ruffle, I sewed in the top instead.  I gathered the front of the top to match the width of the shorts’ front, which then gives an equal amount of gather to the back because of the elastic in the back waistband.  Seriously, this couldn’t have been a more fun or easy modification to make!  When I turned it all right side out and saw that it really looked like what I had planned I was so geeked!

The fabric I used for my Persimmon/Clover Romper is cotton shirting from Jo-Ann’s.  It’s such a great fabric for this type of outfit – light and crisp but still strong and it resists wrinkles.  The sash is a sheer Swiss dot, and coincidentally is the exact same fabric I used to make the curtains for the playhouse!  I added green and white vintage buttons from my Button Jar to pull the teeny bit of green from the sash and to add some more contrast to the mostly pink and white outfit.

I was a tester for the Clover shorts so I already knew that pattern was perfect and the fit was spot on.  Really, if you want shorts that are just the absolute right length, width, rise and with the cute factor thrown in and fun to sew, these are it!

This was my first go at a Persimmon, and I found it to be just as clear and professional as the Clover shorts.  I’ll definitely be making more of these as stand-alone garments!  I’ve been eyeing all the cute versions with the optional ruffle, because a little well-placed ruffle is so cute on little girls!  It was very quick to sew, and even making a couple lengths of bias tape for the straps/armhole binding didn’t take long at all.

Outfit Details:

Patterns – Persimmon Dress and Top and Clover Shorts by Mouse House Creations for Willow & Co.
Fabrics – Cotton shirting and Swiss dot from Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores
Shoes – See Kai Run

Photos are staged in a play tent of my own design and creation.  Create your own following my series of tutorials or order one from my Etsy shop.