Bundle Up for Girls is here!!

Bundle Up is BACK, and it's fantastic!



The Bundle Up sale is sponsored by Pattern Revolution, and can be found here. This edition is just for girls, and includes 11 brand new patterns by some of your (and my) favorite designers.

I was so excited to be invited to join this tour and sew up a couple of the new patterns. (Disclaimer: these patterns were provided to me at no charge. All opinions, both mine and Miss P's, are 100% ours.) I opted to work with the Jocole Wideleg Pants and the Modkid Rachel dress. I've sewn patterns from both designers before, and love their style. Miss P is a tunics-and-leggings kind of kid, and she was a little skeptical about the wide leg pants at first, but we both loved them. (She was won over by the doll size pattern that's included with the pattern. Once she saw that she and her doll could have matching outfits, she was sold.)

So here's the thing. Next month, my sweet kiddo is having surgery on her legs, and will be in casts for about a month. Leggings are not going to work, and my husband and I have been chatting about what I can sew for her that will fit over the casts but still be comfy for her and appropriate for school - and warm enough, since it's the middle of winter here in the Northeast. These wide leg pants are hands-down a winner, and the fact that she loves them (and has been wearing them!) already bodes well for her post-surgery wardrobe.

They're easy to customize to fit various body types - I cut the size 4 pants with the size 5 length, and shortened the waistband a tad to fit just right and stay on her waist. I think the waistband ended up somewhere between the measurements for a size 3 and a size 4, and was a perfect fit. I really love how they turned out, and thought they'd make great pjs too, so I made a pair in flannel.

Perfect for dancing, playing, and photobombing little brothers!

The grey pair is a medium weight french terry that I got from fabric.com, and they have a nice drape for this type of pant. I think the trick to having these look just right for Miss P and not lose her in the fabric is to hem them to just the right length. Besides the fact that my clumsy kiddo would be tripping all over herself, the silhouette seems to get a little lost when the pants are too long. It took me a couple of tries to get the hem to a perfect length for her, but I'm so happy with the outcome.

It's too cold here for dresses sans leggings right now, so I thought I'd adapt the Rachel dress to use it as a top with the wide leg pants. I'm so glad I did - it's a great slim fitting bodice and the optional ruffle is adorable!

I cut the size 4, and made the first version (the pjs) from cotton lycra with no added length. I just wanted to see the fit, and figured if it was a little short (and it was), it's not the biggest deal for pajamas. It seems like Miss P is outgrowing her pjs constantly lately (she's been growing like a weed!), so she's got lots of short shirts in her drawers! ;) The only change I made was to the waistband - I cut the same shape as in the pattern piece, but cut it on a fold vertically so I could have the folded edge as the hem.

For my second top, I used a cute jersey print and pink cotton lycra for the bands. I love the wider neckband and the little cap sleeves. This time, I made a traditional hem band by cutting it a little shorter than the bodice width so it would gather in a little - I thought it would be cute over the wide leg pants. For the size 4 (and I added about 1.5" to the length this time, and would still add a little more in the future), I cut my band 4" x 20", so the final hem band was about 1.75" once I folded it and attached it to the bodice.

The Modkid Rachel pattern starts at a size 2T, but I knew I wanted to make a matching doll shirt to go with the wide leg pants. I used the free dolly t-shirt pattern from Peekaboo Patterns as a starting point, and then adapted it a little bit to mirror the Rachel top. Miss P was thrilled with their matching ensembles, and loved getting to take pics with Olivia, her doll (who was fairly cooperative once we realized we could move her head around a bit). :)

Once spring arrives I know I'll be making the dress version of the Rachel for Miss P, but I'm happy to have been able to adapt it so she'll be able to wear it now. We're not very patient over here. ;)

Check back here on Monday to see my tester versions of the Jam Jam sleepwear pattern from Love Notions, and the Cecille Dress and Top from Lilygiggle. And of course, please make sure to check out the other stops on the tour to see lots of great looks and inspiration photos. Thanks for stopping by, and thanks to Pattern Revolution for including me!