Ruffles for my girl

I was scouting out eBay a few weeks ago, trying to come up with some sewing inspiration (as if I really needed any more of THAT!). A friend of mine introduced me to the Australian brand Paper Wings, and I just love the elegant simplicity of their clothing lines. I found this dress on eBay, and fell instantly in love with all those ruffles! I had to make one for my daughter.

I used the Mamu Katrin pattern for my base, which ended up being pretty much exactly what I needed. The original PaperWings dress is gathered in the front and back, and I originally thought I'd have to extend the skirt panels to make those gathers. But I know from experience that this pattern runs really wide, so I just left it as is and added lastin to the seam to create the gathers. That worked perfectly.

The original dress only had a couple ruffles going up the back, but I kind of miscalculated how much I would need and ended up with a ton of ruffles. Having rolled all those hems, I was determined to use all of them! So my dress ended up being a little more ruffly than originally planned, but you can never have too many ruffles, right?

For the fabric, I used some red jersey that may or may not be bamboo. It's an old piece I pulled out of my stash, and it predates my store, so I'm not 100% positive what it is. I do know that it is supremely soft, so bamboo or not, it is heavenly.

Pattern: Mamu Katrin

Fabric: Either bamboo or rayon jersey

I also decided to make the kids some Halloween shirts. Despite the fact that I have more Halloween embroidery designs than I could ever possibly use, when Urban Threads had a sale not long ago, I stocked up. I fell in love with their Primitive Macabre series, and bought the whole lot of 'em.

Embroidery: Urban Threads

Patterns: Ottobre Design

As long as I had that Ottobre pattern out, I decided to upcycle a men's shirt for my son. I've long been a fan of Little Overcoat's recycled children's clothing. The way she combines fabrics and colors is masterful! I've been copying her style for ages, but mine never turn out as nice as hers.

Despite the fact that it looks like the dragon is sniffing his armpit, my son loves this shirt.