Yay! It's One Thimble time once again (3 months flies by!) and I am so happy to be joining in on the tour! (Read allll the way to the end -- there's an awesome giveaway!) The Spring issue is always a bit bittersweet for me because while Australia is heading into the warmer months, we are heading into Fall. Luckily, we live in the South and can hold onto the warmth for a bit longer than our Northern friends.
The theme for this issue is Vintage Beach!
I love the variety in this issue! While I wanted to SEW THEM ALL, we are in the final weeks of Summer break so balancing sewing and spending precious free time with my girls got a bit tricky so I decided to narrow it down to two for this tour -- The Saltwater Skirt and the Daisy Ray Dress, both by Ainslee Fox Boutique. The Retro Romper and Ringer Raglan were a close second though.
First up is the Daisy Ray Dress ... and I know what you're thinking "Um Kari, where's the dress?!" See that's the beauty of sewing -- while I absolutely loved the dress (in its entirety...lol), I really loved the bodice to pair with the Saltwater Skirt. My daughter loves crop tops and I knew she'd flip over the pairing.
What's really great is that I didn't need to modify any pieces to convert it to a crop top! I sewed the front per the pattern and then turned under the bottom edge 1/4" on both the main and the lining. For the back piece, the top and the bottom have bias tape enclosing each edge (I just left off the step of attaching the skirt to the bottom edge). Once I had it shirred and elastic threaded through the bias casings, I sandwiched it between the layers of the front bodice, just as shown in the pattern. I left the bottom edges of the front pieces turned under as I sewed. The SA was then ironed towards the front and then I simply sewed along the bottom edge to close up the bottom of the front bodice. Easy peasy!
I love how the shirred back looks!
The Saltwater Skirt is such a beautifully drafted pattern with several options. You can make either a true wrap skirt or a faux wrap skirt with adjustable elastic. I chose to sew a faux wrap skirt with the adjustable elastic because I thought it could work for either girl for the next few years.
I used a regular quilting cotton leftover from the Ink & Arrow blog tour from last year. Shh... I did have to piece my front piece slightly, but it's covered by the wrap portion... unless spontaneous twirling happens. HA! She had to check the twirlability!
The true wrap version will give you a slightly more polished back waist, but I still love the faux wrap.
Did I mention there are POCKETS?!! Love skirts that have pockets!
The pattern contains tie, d-ring or button closure for the wrap portion. I chose the ties. Since I chose the adjustable back, I can leave the ties tied.
I can always tell if she loves an outfit based on how she does in her pictures. She felt so confident, she practically oozed it. It was hard to narrow down her pics!
Of course, there's more to One Thimble than patterns (although they are fantastic!). This issue also contains two additional tutorials for making things -- Sunnies Case Tutorial and Everyday Tote Tutorial. I will be making these! Hobby Lobby has a great selection for duck fabric that will be perfect for the tote.
I also loved the "Types of Elastic" (p 56), Making Friends with Fiddly Fabrics" (p 50), "Practical Tips for Overcoming Overwhelm" (p 100) and "Designing your Own Fabric - Making Seamless Repeats" (p 92). So much valuable information right at my fingertips!
The article that make me absolutely laugh out loud though was "Ziplines with Mr Fox" (p 107). He is such a smart writer and a bit naughty... he definitely left me wanting more!
For more One Thimble: Issue 20 inspiration, check out the rest of the tour stops!
If you made it this far, YAY!!! Enter the giveaway below to win some more One Thimble awesomeness!