Miss Audrey Dress

First let me say how excited I am to be part of my first ever blog tour.  Even more exciting is the dress I get to tell you about! Oh and bonus the dress and I have the same name!!!! :)

 I had the privilege of testing the Miss Audrey dress by 1 Puddle Lane.  Let's start off with the basics....this is a princess seam bodice with the option of gathered or pleated skirt and side seam pockets.  The back has an invisible zipper and you have the option of making the dress fully lined or not.  The pattern is available in sizes 2-16 U.S. (6-20 UK/AUS sizes).  First you find your size based on your bust measurement, then your waist measurement and finally your bra cup size.  You can easily blend two sizes together to ensure and perfect fitting bodice. The PDF pattern has layers incorporated so you can choose to print only your size (I love this feature).  This is such a versatile dress and can be made out of almost any woven fabric, think quilting cotton, linen, satin, lace, gabardine, basically it's all up to the look you want and your imagination.  Take a minute to look through some of the other blog posts at the bottom of this post and see all of the beautiful variations.

I decided to go with the fully lined version with the pleated skirt in a striped cotton with some stretch to it.  Honestly I'm not sure what kind of fabric I would call it, I found it on the clearance section of my local Hancock's. I love the almost men's dress shirt look of it in contrast with the classic style of the Miss Audrey dress.  I was going for a 1950's housewife meets Wall Street.....I'm not sure if I achieved it but regardless I love the way the dress turned out LOL!



My Mom saw it and immediately wanted one, she was disappointed the fabric was clearance but I'm sure I can find something else she'll love.  Or I could purchase one of the fabric kits that are available through 1 Puddle Lane, it includes the necessary fabric for the Miss Audrey dress along with all of the notions.  How convenient is that??!!

Ann, the designer, is so extremely helpful if you ever get stuck on part of the pattern, even better she will be hosting a sew-a-long starting Monday December 1st for the Miss Audrey dress so that you can make a new dress in time for Christmas and have help and support while you do it.

Don't be intimidated by the zipper, the princess seams, or the lined bodice, believe me this pattern is so well written and Ann is always quick to answer questions with clear precise answers that I'm sure you can accomplish this dress.  It's definitely a dress that when you wear it people go "WOW, YOU made THAT?!?!"  Hehe I love hearing that!


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Oh my goodness I love the pleats,  I'm very into pleats right now.  I love the simple classic feel of them!

Um yeah I probably should have ironed the back again :/

Thanks for reading my blog feel free to share and follow me, Audrey 

Take a minute to explore the other posts on the Blog Tour for some beautiful dresses and inspiration:

Wednesday, 26th Nov (today)

Abbie Daniels - Tigerlily Patterns

Thursday, 27th Nov

Debbie Cameron - Stitch It Now

Stacey Clements - All Sewn Up by Stacey

Friday, 28th Nov

Audrey Bottine - Pretty Precious Clothing

Lesley Fletcher - Cherub's Kiss

Saturday, 29th Nov
Natalie Williams - Sew Outnumbered
Leanne Benson - TBA

Rohan Hoodie modification

My son loves to pick out fabric.  He also loves tractors.  Hence I have yards and yards of bright big print tractor fabric.  The question is what do you do with it?  You can only make so many button down shirts and honestly some of the fabric he picks is a little garish (in my adult opinion) for button down shirts.  Yes you can add accent pockets with it but up until yesterday I hadn't found a pattern for wovens for my son that I totally loved that would work for all of this fabulous tractor fabric I have.  Then I was doing pattern research on Pinterest (ok actually wasting time and avoiding my dishes) when I stumbled upon the Rohan Hoodie by Crafty Kitty.   It was the answer!  Now my poor neglected son, neglected when it comes to mommy sewing for him, can have a fun sweatshirt.  The pattern is not originally fully lined but I went up one size and fully lined it with fleece.  In addition I added some cool yellow and grey FOE I had found on clearance to the neckline and cuffs.  This wasn't necessary just a fun touch.  He loves it!  It's cozy and covered in construction emblems what more could a three year old ask for!  I'm so pleased with the outcome!

Beach to School Knit Pants by Plucky Butterfly

I have tested quite a few patterns but this one in particular is a labor of love.  Pam, the designer, put so much effort and time into this pattern and it definitely shows in the fit of these shorts, capris, pants...  The pattern goes from sizes 2-12 and has five (yes five!) different lengths along with three (yes three!) different fits.  All in one pattern!  In addition it has the option of adding a flounce or a regular ruffle to the shorts, pants, capris.   This pattern is designed for knits and I found through my various tests that basically if it has stretch to it you can use it for these pants although I did get better results with knit that had a better recovery and if it doesn't have much stretch probably don't do the skinny fit (I might have possibly made my two year old a pair in denim that had very minimal stretch and had a bit of a time getting them over her booty :)  )   I had great sucess in making a pair for my three year old in stretch twill.  I added an elastic waist to his instead of the yoga style waistband I did for the girls.  He loves them, he thinks they're sweats and I love them because they aren't sweats.  Haha tricked the three year old!  
Warning I tested quite a few pairs of these so there's a lot of pictures to follow and as a side note some of these versions may differ slightly from the final pattern.  I wanted to share them though so you can get an idea of how amazingly versatile this pattern is.

 Jegging type of material slim fit

 French terry with reverse appliques loose fit

 Thin knit slim fit

 Velour slim fit on both girls and dolly

 Thin knit slim fit with grosgrain ribbon added to the top of the flounce

 4 way stretch knit slim fit with lace flounce

 French terry with contrast panels added on the sides, knee length loose fit

 4 way stretch knit (shorty short length)  perfect for beach wear or under dresses

4 way stretch knit, slim fit with flounce

As you can see the possibilities are nearly endless, these are such a quick sew and has quickly become my go to pattern whenever I need a pair of pants to go with a top, tunic or dress.  I love that the slim fit isn't completely fitted.  They're not leggings, instead they are just a bit looser.  A little more modest that way and very comfortable for playing.  In addition this pattern is unisex so believe you will get your money out of it!  Be creative with it and embellish away or use fun prints!  The Beach to School Knit Pants by Plucky Butterfly are only $5.95 through Sunday so hurry up and catch the introductory price!