Handmade WARDROBE // Dove, Hacked

my top: Megan Nielsen Dove blouse, hacked with cap sleeves in a polka dot lyocell linen from Joann Fabrics

Penny’s top: self-drafted

my jeans: Megan Nielsen Patterns Dawn jeans

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Eeeeeeeeek! I’m so excited to finally share this one! If you haven’t heard, Meg recently re-released her Dove blouse pattern in her extended sizing, as well as in Curve sizes! With the re-release, I created two hack tutorials -one of them being this sleeveless/ little cap sleeve version. I looooove it. Probably my favorite woven blouse in my closet right now. You can find the hack tutorial (as well as the other hack for a rounded neckline) on Meg’s blog - Design Diary.

Also, how cute is Penn’y matching outfit this time?! I saw someone on Instagram (ack, I can’t remember who!), make a similar little dress/top in this fabric with tan colored gauze bloomer shorts to go with it, and it was so cute! Penny already had some thrifted bloomers in the same color, so it was fate <3.

Handmade wardrobe // Denim blues

my top: Friday Pattern Company Adrienne blouse in a cotton modal jersey and embroidered cotton eyelet, both from Style Maker Fabrics

my jeans: Megan Nielsen Patterns Dawn jeans in bleached non-stretch denim from Sew Me Sunshine

Penny’s top: self drafted in same fabrics

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Weeeeell, I think its safe to say that I’ve been pretty productive during this pandemic/time at home. I have now finished another pair of Dawn jeans (my fourth pair!), and another Adrienne blouse (also my fourth!).

Even though this is my fourth version of this knit top, it is my first time using a woven for the sleeves. The color of this embroidered cotton matched perfectly with the coordinating knit, so it was a perfect opportunity! I also created this look with the sleeves by simply creating the elastic casing a couple inches above the hem, using bias tape, instead of the casing right at the hem. I love how extra poofy it makes them! And of course, I used the leftover of the embroidered cotton to make this cute little top for P. It’s made the same way a basic elastic skirt is made - two rectangles sewn at the side seams, and an elastic casing along the top edge. I just simply added some tie straps to make t a top instead of a skirt!

Now, these jeans. Do they look a little tight? Because they’re a little tight, ha. My other three pairs were also tight to start, but broke in eventually after a few wears. So hopefully the same happens here. But these are a fun denim! Its not actually a white, even if it appears to be in the photos. Its more of a really really really bleached blue. Barely blue/grey-ish tint. It’s something different , and I love it. I stuck with the gold topstitching and hardware for contrast (although I haven’t added rivets yet. or even ordered them yet, whoops).

P.S for anyone that might be wondering - We take these photos in a spot close to our house where its quiet and there are no other people. If we expect to pass by or even see other people when we are outside, we wear our masks.

handmade wardrobe // Adirenne, Dawn, and a matching mini

top: Friday Pattern Co. Adrienne blouse in a waffle knit from Fabric Mart Fabrics (sold out)

jeans: Megan Nielsen Dawn jeans in a denim from Style Maker Fabrics

booties: Target

Penny’s tee and pinafore: Simplicity 8706

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First off - yes, my hair is pink! Kinda crazy, right? For me, anyway haha. But I’ve always wanted to try it out so I finally did it!

So these outfits were originally meant to be made back in November - I had the fabrics as part of my November fabric collection. But the holiday months got so crazy, and I had to skip quite a lot of projects. So here we are in January, and I finally got around to making this Adrienne blouse and Dawn jeans! This is my third Adrienne blouse, and probably my favorite one yet in the textured waffle knit. I just love this pattern! One day, I’m just going to have a closet full of Adriennes haha.

And speaking of third versions of a pattern, this is also my third pair of Dawn jeans! Well, fourth if you count the canvas shorts I made, too. But as far as my denim jeans, this is the first time making the tapered leg -both of my other pairs are wide leg. And I don’t know why it took me so long to make this style, because they are soooo good! Fit like a glove. Well, maybe a teeeeeny bit too tight, but I’m hoping they loosen up a bit with wear. As a note - I made my usual size - a straight size 0 with no grading. I did take out just a tiny bit at my hips just in the seam allowance, but that’s it. I do think that next time I might try to pinch out a tiny bit in the back yoke (I may have a bit of a swayback?), just to see if the fit in the back could be a tiny bit better than it already is. But that’s it! For a few little details, I freehand machine stitched a leaf design on the back pocket that I thought was cute and mimicked the print I used for the pocket bags, and I also left the bottom edges un-hemmed to let fray naturally over time.

And then, of course, there is Penny’s matching outfit. The pattern I used is baby/toddler size pattern. So I graded it up a bit to fit her (not very professionally, just by eyeing it). I may have graded the jumper up just a little too much, though, because it is a bit big. But hey - she’ll just get more use out of it as she grows!

I’m going to make a mental note to re-photograph this set outside in better light once we reach warmer months. I don’t think these grainy-ish indoor photos do it justice!

handmade wardrobe // leafy greens

my top: Tessuti Patterns Romy top in a ‘mora slub’ linen/viscose from Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics

my shorts: Megan Nielsen Dawn jeans in a cotton/linen canvas from Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics

belt bag: Target

Penny’s outfit: Butterick 6342 in a cotton/linen fabric from my stash that I don’t remeber where it came from

Penny’s purse: self drafted

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Why I waited until August to make all my shorts for the summer, I do not know lol. I wish I would’ve made these earlier on in the summer! They’re the Megan Nielsen Dawn shorts. You know the pattern is already tried and true for me - I’ve made 2 pairs of wide leg jeans so far, but this is my first pair of the shorts view! I cut out my size straight, no grading, and they fit like a glove! The only adjustment I made was in sewing the side seams - I went from 5/8” seam allowance at the waist to 1/4” seam allowance at the hem, so I had a little but more wiggle room at my thighs. And I usually really prefer the button fly detail of the Dawn jeans, but I went with a zip fly for these ones becasue the print is already busy and I didn’t want to muddle it or distract from it at all. Only problem - I forgot to order a green or natural colored zipper. So I ended up using a contrasting black one. Doh. Oh well, Atleast you cant see the zipper from the outside!

I didn’t have much fabric left over, so the only thing I was able to make for P to match me was this little purse - she carried around her little mini Paw Patrol figurines in them, lol. I also pulled out this neutral striped fabric and made her this really quick and easy set. I love the apron style back!

handmade wardrobe // not mellow yellow

my top: Megan Nielsen Patterns Floreat top (knotted) in a yellow rib knit from Fabric.com (no longer available)

Penny’s top (in same fabric) and dress: Simplicity 8706

my jeans: Megan Nielsen Dawn jeans in cream denim from Style Maker Fabrics

My shoes: Swedish Hasbeens

Penny’s shoes: Old Navy

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Not as many photos to choose from for this outfit set, because someone was a bit cranky and not in the mood for photos. So we cut it short after a few snaps. She still cute tho.

This isn’t a new handmade outfit. You’ve seen both of these garments before. I wore the Floreat top before here, and in this outfit I just knotted the angled hem for a different look.  Read about these Dawn jeans here. And I also posted about just Penny’s outfit when I first made it (here), if you want to see it closer up and see her happier to be wearing it HA.

handmade wardrobe // more Dawn, and Romy too

top: Romy top by Tessuti Patterns in a mora slub from Stone Mountain & Daughter Fabrics

pants: Dawn jeans by Megan Nielsen Patterns in a bleached wash denim from Harts Fabric

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I love my other pair of wide leg Dawn jeans so much, I needed to make another pair! This time in a light bleached wash denim. I’m definitely more of a lighter to medium-wash denim girl, as opposed to dark denim. Just like before, this is straight from the pattern, size 0. No adjustments! I love this pattern so much. I did add a little extra touch to the back pockets. Originally, I didn’t plan on any decorative stitching. But just before I was about to attach them to the pants, I decided to just start stitching. Blindly. After a few stitches, I thought, Sure! that looks ok. HA. so I quickly mirrored it onto the other pocket and ta-daaaaaa. Oh, and the pocket bags are so, so special too. I used fabric that used to belong to my Grandma. I inherited her sewing machine and a bunch of supplies, and scraps of this kitty fabric were hiding in there. I’ve kept these scrap pieces for years, not sure what I would ever do with them. But i was so lucky that I was just able to squeeze out the pocket bag pieces. These jeans have so many special touches.

The top is my very first Romy tank. I made the XXS. I love love love the shape of this top, but I think I will make a few small changes for the next one. For one, I think the top is just a smidge too wide on me. So I plan on bringing it in on each side just a tiny bit, as well as raising the underarm a little, too. Oh, and this mora slub viscose/linen fabric? A new found love. I already ordered 2 more colors in it and I really want more. Soooo soft!

handmade wardrobe // Jarrah and Dawn

I’m so excited to share this outfit! It turned out exactly how I was picturing it.

Sweatshirt: Megan Nielsen Patterns Jarrah sweatshirt in a sweatshirt fleece from Harts Fabric

Jeans: Megan Nielsen Patterns Dawn jeans in a denim from Style Maker Fabrics

booties: Target

Penny’s Sweatshirt: Simplicity 8754

As you may know, Megan Nielsen recently released 4 new patterns, including Jarrah and Dawn! And as usual, I’ve been busy helping create the swellings for her blog - Design Diary. You guys, these patterns are so good. I’m a tad obsessed with Jarrah. This is actually my 4th (I’m behind on posting. I’ll share the theres here soon). I chose the most soft, comfy, cozy minty sweatshirt fleece for this one. It is soon soft on the inside. And I got the ribbing from the Etsy shop FabricMade.

I’ve also been a bit sew-on patch obsessed lately. I’ve been collecting some really cute ones, and knew I really wanted to add one to this Jarrah. I put up a poll on my Instagram stories, which was no help because it was pretty much even among al four options lol. So I went with my original instinct, which was this Mother patch from Strawberry Moth. It ended up being perfect, because I was able to make Penny a matching sweatshirt out of my fabric scraps. It just worked perfectly!

Oooooh and the jeans. I love these jeans. They are my second handmade pair, the first being my Ash jeans. And while I love my pair of Ash, these are just…. perfect. Maybe it’s because I felt more comfortable being my second go at it. Or maybe these are just so my style at the moment. But I just love them. I chose the wide leg version this go-around, but want to eventually make a taped leg pair, too!

I took a chance with some white denim even though we are heading into winter here. And even though this is a rigid denim jeans patterns, this denim actually does have a tiny bit of stretch to it (shhhh). But I made a call and went for it anyway. I figured it would still work because its still a heavyweight denim and the stretch is minimal. And I was right. I think it still worked so well! I also took about 3/4” off the width at the hem and tapered it up towards the thigh. While I love the super wide leg look (I want to make another pair in something not as heavyweight. maybe linen?), I wanted something just slightly less wide for these. It’s just what I was picturing. And I couldn't be happier with the result. Other than that, I didn’t have to make any other adjustments. I cut my usual size.

So if you love these and want to make your own, head over to Megan Nielsen and snag your own patterns. The Jarrah sewalong I created is live on Design Diary this week and next. And the Dawn sewalong will follow closely after that!