Petit a Petit Patterns Sewing Block Party :: Tip Top and Dress

Welcome!  Today is my turn to play hostess for the Sewing Block Party presented by Petit a Petit Patterns.

Celina has set up a great tour with a new host every day for the entire month of November.  Even cooler, we were set loose to play with any of her patterns; even the Loveralls and the upcoming Friday Dress were included!

I’ve been wanting to make the Tip Top, Tunic and Dress since it released, so I made that my starting point.  Hadley is wearing the dress length in a size 7-8.  Her chest is just a hair larger than the 5-6, so normally I’d make a 7-8 width and a 5-6 length to fit her proportions best.  However, Arden and Hadley pretty much can share a wardrobe now and I wanted this to be a nice dress length for Arden as well.

The pattern is for sizes 6 months through 12 years, or chests sized 19.25″ to 29.5.  I’ve always found Celina’s patterns to be clear, concise and a pleasure to sew.  My only teensy complaint is there are not layers for printing only the size you need, but the nested pieces are laid out well with differentiated colored and dashed lines and labels to make it easy to distinguish the size you’re cutting.

Arden is wearing the Tip Top in tunic length, also sized 7-8.  Here’s where I departed from my sewing plan.  I intended to make an amazing pair of Morocco Pants out of black velveteen and gray shantung sateen.  Unfortunately, our dog Sophie fell ill just as I was beginning the Tip Top and Dress and I wasn’t able to get to the Morocco pants.  My sewing was a bit unfocused, so please forgive some wonky stitching here and there.

The main fabric for the dress is Kaufman Brussels washer linen in brick and the floral is Kaufman London Calling lawn Flower Stem in pewter.  Both are from Fabric.com.  I love both of these fabrics.  I’ve used the washer linen before and it’s the perfect weight and drape and has all the appeal of linen without having to constantly chase it with an iron.  This is the first lawn I’ve used from Kaufman, and I thought it was every bit as nice as the real deal Liberty of London tana lawn.

I did the single sleeve option on the tunic worn by Arden.  Both of them are the View A with pleats at the neck and a keyhole opening in the back as opposed to elastic in a casing at the neckline.  View B is the elasticized neckline, and View C allows for a center front and back panel and the option of very cool welt pockets set into the edges of the panel.  I opted for the pleats because I like the crispness of them, but I was sorely tempted by those welt pockets.  Perhaps next time…

I did sneak pockets into the tunic.  I intentionally caught the bottom edge of the pocket into the hem facing so they wouldn’t peek out when she moves around.

The only place I really strayed from the pattern as written was to extend the bias binding on the neckline to form a tie at the keyhole on the dress.  Arden’s tunic is closed with a simple button and elastic loop as instructed in the tutorial.

I also didn’t take advantage of the French seams as instructed in the pattern for attaching the sleeve to the bodice.  I sewed the tunic in lawn first and realized my mistake at that time, but then repeated it purposefully on the linen version since the double sleeve and heavier fabric would have been on the bulky side.  I sewed with the total seam allowance of the French seam and then serged off the excess.

I used the contrasting fabric on both garments for the hem facing.  I really like how the linen acts almost as a horsehair braid on the hem of the tunic.

I will get those Morocco Pants sewn and share in another post.  Also have you seen the newly Loveralls and peeks of the Friday Dress which is coming soon?  I really need to get on those as well.  *Sigh*  The list only ever gets longer, doesn’t it?

Smooches!

What would a Sewing Block Party be without discounts and giveaways?  For the entire month of November, all Petit a Petit patterns are 20% off with code BLOCKPARTY.

Enter for a chance to win ALL of the Petit A Petit Patterns using the Rafflecopter widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And… be sure to check out the rest of the Sewing Block Party posts.  I’m pretty much in the middle, so go back and see who’s already shared their Petit a Petit makes, trust me it’s totally worth it!

Nov. 1st – Sweetkm | Nov. 2nd – The Sara Project | Nov. 3rd – La Folie | Nov. 4th – Hello Holli | Nov. 5th – Chalk and Notch | Nov. 6th – Sewing Like Mad | Nov. 7th – Beatnik Kids | Nov. 8th – Stitched Together | Nov. 9th – Coffee and Thread | Nov. 10th – Made by Toya | Nov. 11th – Stahlarbeit | Nov. 12th – Lily en Woody | Nov. 13th – My Petite Sophie | Nov. 14th – Handmade Frenzy | Nov. 15th – Paisley Roots | Nov. 16th – While she was sleeping | Nov. 17th – My Cozy co | Nov. 18th – A Jennuine Life | Nov. 19th – Knee Socks and Goldilocks | Nov. 20th – Sanae Ishida | Nov. 21st – Little Cumquat | Nov. 22nd – Gaafmachine | Nov. 23rd – Craftstorming | Nov. 24th – Made by Sara | Nov. 25th – Buzzmills | Nov. 26th – Bartacks and Singletrack | Nov. 27th – Moineau & Petit Pois | Nov. 28th – Naii | Nov. 29th – Just Add Fabric | Nov. 30th – Mie Made Memories | Enjoyful Makes | Dec. 1st – Petit a Petit and Family