sew-vivor week 1- judge inspired easter ensembles

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Round 1 of Sew-vivor starts today! You’ve already guessed this, I’m sure, but I love craft/sewing competitions. I love the challenge of creating for a theme (and I love the way I always seem to meet the loveliest people through these this!).

Anyhow, Week 1’s theme is “Judge Inspired.” And my Judge-Inspired entry is the Smoochies Easter Ensembles.

Since all of Rach’s guest judges are beyond amazing (what a line up!), this week’s “Judge Inspired” challenge was a bit, err, challenging for me. Trying to narrow to a single tutorial proved to be impossible, so I drew inspiration from the ruffled soda can cover at Tatertots and Jello, the simple bows tutorial at Ruffles and Stuff and the Lil’ Mister Bow Ties at delia creates to create a reversible dress for Piper Jane, little hair bows for her piggies and a bow tie for Burke!

Highlights of the dress? For starters, like I said, it’s reversible (which might be my favorite feature- it’s like having two dresses but only occupies one hanger in her space-is-limited closet). The contrasting yoke and sweet tie sleeves have a tailored, almost nautical look. And of course, the pleats up the preppy factor as well. The finishing touch, though, is the loopy, swirly ruffle along the bottom- this is where the soda can’s vinyl ruffle was swapped out for linen, lengthened, and finished on the edges to create the perfect dress accent.

Finishing off Piper’s ensemble are her pantaloons (made with the Charlotte Violet Field Threads pattern) and her piggie bows. Inspired by Disney’s fabulous felt bows (and using many of the steps from her tutorial), I made Piper Jane the similar-but-patterned-fabric/linen versions. They have little rubber bands incorporated into the design so that I can just slide them on top of her little piggies. I made two pairs for Easter and can’t wait to sit down and crank out a whole rainbow of these bows!

Burke’s seersucker pants/hat combo (courtesy of Target) and vest (courtesy of Ralph Lauren) didn’t need much- just a coordinating bow tie. I didn’t add any flair to Delia’s Lil’ Man Bow Tie tutorial, just left it classic (to see other examples of bow ties I’ve made using her tutorial see here, here and here).

Thanks to the judges and their blogs full of creative genius, Burke and Piper Jane are going to be dressed to the nines for church on Easter morning!

ps- Tutorials for the reversible dress and pigtail bows are in the works.

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12 Comments

  1. Hi there,
    I just wanted to drop you a quick comment to say that I love your blog and I’ve been following for quite some time but sadly I do all my blog reading in Google Reader and I can’t stand the summary view. I’m sad to leave but I’m going need to stop following. Good luck with all your future projects, I’m sure they’ll be amazing.

    1. Hey Laura! I didn’t know we were even showing up in Google reader anymore since the end of Google friend connect. Anyway, I totally understand! These things are such a tricky balance- I think it’s best for my sponsors if people actually come to the blog, but I know that there are readers who prefer to keep everything in one spot. Like I said, tricky. ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks for the well wishes!

  2. adorable!

    i swear sometimes i think i just come to your blog to look at the pictures of your adorable children! ha. (i’m not creepy, i promise!)

    1. Hey Dayna! You are so funny! ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks for the stream of sweet comments- they make my day. I’ll tell my kiddos that you’re saying nice things about them- haha! ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. I seriously have bought 8 sets of 1/2 yards of fabric to make my 14 month old some of these dresses! Dying for you to post the tutorial. Doing my daily check! ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Ashley- this comment made me smile! I love it that you bought fabric. I haven’t put the tutorial together quite yet, but I have the pictures done now (thanks to the Easter dress). I have the tutorial on my schedule for next week- it’s coming soon! ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. A) I just voted for you B) I absolutely LOVE this dress!!! If you are thinking of a tutorial – I would be so super excited C) this makes me want to buy that Pantaloons pattern…I might just have to! The whole ensemble is just too cute for words!

    1. Haha! I love all three points. And, yes, the dress tutorial should be up next week. ๐Ÿ™‚ Also, the pantaloons are so fabulous! I need to make a couple more pairs! ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks for voting.

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