Sloan Pattern Review and Giveaway!

I had the amazing privilege of testing the Sloan pattern for Bebelambs.  First of all the basics:  This is a women's pattern available in sizes 2-26.  It has a shirred bodice, good news for those of you who dislike messing with darts :).  The length of the dress varies from a tunic/top version all the way to a maxi.  Straps can be made spaghetti style, thicker, in a V shape or even strapless.  As with all of Bebelambs pattern this one is easy to follow and the fit is spot on.  It can be made out of woven or knit.  I made mine in rayon and found it worked very well for this pattern.  I opted for the V style straps and maxi length in a crazy retro rayon.  This fabric had been in my stash for a long time, I just knew eventually I would find the perfect pattern for it and the Sloan was it!

 

The second dress I made was out of a beautiful blue rayon.  I chose the blue as a tribute to my Grandmother.  I remember as a young girl about 10 or 12 I was in the fabric store with her picking out fabric for a dress she was going to make for me and she wanted me to pick a royal blue fabric.  Of course it was the 90's and I was not wanting to wear that color ( I was in my all black stage), but she kept insisting me that it was "my color".  I wasn't convinced at that point in time but that moment stayed with me and therefore I chose a beautiful royal blue for my second dress.  I made this one strapless with ruched sides.  The pattern includes a tutorial for this fun option also.

 

This pattern is so much fun and has so many options and comes together so quickly that it will quickly become a summer wardrobe staple. 

 

Now the exciting part a giveaway!

 

Giveaway | Rafflecopter :)

www.rafflecopter.com

 

 

 

 

 

Sloan

First Blog Ever, How I Started Sewing

Welcome to my first blog ever.  I figured I would start by introducing my self.  My  name is Audrey and I have been sewing for about two years.  My grandmother and mom both sewed so I was exposed to sewing from as far back as I can remember.  Of course when I was young I didn't think it was "cool" to learn sewing unfortunately although I did enjoy all of the beautiful unique dresses they made for me.  In high school it was the 90's and the whole grunge vintage clothing look was very popular.  I spent quite a bit of time scouring thrift stores for wool plaid skirts that I would chop off and hand hem into miniskirts.  Life got busy after that and I became a single mom and spent most of my time working, going to school and of course being a mom. Five years ago I met my soul mate and we became married.  He was a package deal with three children so I became a mom to four children and then we had two more together so no we are a busy large family of eight!  I consider myself mom to my stepchildren since we have full custody and they rarely see their biological mom, so I refer to them as mine.  With the birth of my son and his medical complications, minor but time consuming we decided that I should be a stay at home mom.  This was a difficult transition for me because I have always worked.  Not too later I became pregnant again with my beautiful little surprise my baby girl.  She's the one who motivated me to start sewing.  Something inside of of me came alive again and my creative side that had been pushed away out of too much going was reignited the moment I set eyes on her.  At first I was like oh no I'm not going to be that mom that dresses her girl super girly but all of a sudden I was.  I couldn't help it!  Everything had flowers, ruffles, lace, pink etc.  But I wanted to put her in unique things that just wasn't possible on our one income six children household, thus I started sewing and haven't stopped since then.  I self taught myself using my mom's few visits, what I remembered from childhood and the Internet.  I started off with simple flower additions and quickly moved on to whole outfits.  Learning from my mistakes along the way and loving the fact that I could make one of kind outfits for my baby.  In the past year I have ventured into sewing for myself, my son, and testing patterns.  Sewing has become my passion!  It's a way for me to escape the daily chaos and take a piece of fabric and make it become something wearable.  Much cheaper than therapy LOL!  As I test more patterns I will share them with you and continue to share my journey in sewing as I continue to learn and progress.