something about this hue recently that has made me want to give it a try – especially during the autumn months. I will be straight with you here – I picked out this fabric last fall anticipating that I would make a fun dress for Thanksgiving. However, I absolutely overestimated how often I’d be able to make my way into the sewing room once I returned to work after maternity leave, and I’ve been running… Oh, a few months behind my own self-imposed schedule?
Category: Collabs
Last summer, as I was nearing the end of my pregnancy, Emma reached out to me on behalf of her company, Paper Doll Patterns. Based out of New Zealand, Paper Doll Patterns specializes in sewing patterns for babies and toddlers, and had recently released the Ada Top & Dress pattern – the adult complement to their much loved Ava pattern for little ones. I had not heard of the company before, but as I browsed their website, I loved the aesthetic. Emma offered to let me try out the Ada Pattern, and I was on board right away – the dress is very cute, breastfeeding friendly, and has some very fun skirt and ruffle options!
This was my first time to sew the Sicily Slip Dress, after months of cyber stalking it via Instagram. I had this dress finished and ready to wear almost one month before the actual wedding, because I was so nervous that with my minimal sewing time with a newborn around, I may not get it done in time! I was so glad to have it ready to go, but sewing it up this early presented a new obstacle… As a mama in the early postpartum period, my body was truly changing on a daily basis. I could tell early on that my body wasn’t “bouncing back” the same way that it did following my first pregnancy, and I wanted to be careful not to choose too small a size in this pattern and find myself unable to wear my dress when the wedding came around! In an abundance of caution, I ended up cutting and sewing size “D” in this pattern, and ultimately I wish I’d gone with a size smaller.
Here is my “Baby Boy’s Maternity Leave Vacation Wiksten Unfolding Jacket” (gonna have to workshop that name…)! This jacquard canvas spoke to me as soon as I clicked on it. It comes in more than 10 colorways, and they are all lovely. In fact, when I reached out to Minerva to indicate that I wanted to work with this fabric, I’m pretty sure I listed at least 5 of the variations as options, knowing I’d love whichever one may get sent my way. This one has a lot of lovely detail up close, and from afar gives off an overall magenta hue. As is typical with jacquards, the weave of the fabric can be seen in different variations on the right and wrong sides of the fabric. With this particular fabric, it was difficult to identify the right vs wrong side without getting pretty up close and personal!
