roly poly pinafore blog tour

Rachael, the maestro of Imagine Gnats was kind enough to send me a copy of her new PDF Roly Poly pinafore sewing pattern, and invite me to join her blog tour. Yeah! I have cool friends with real blogs! ^_^

So here I give you my roly poly pinafore:

The pattern is a reversible pinafore style tunic that can be used as a top or even as an art smock. It's straightforward with two big pieces that you sew together and turn right side out. Add buttons and buttonholes. Boom. Done. Unless you want to do pockets. Then you have a few extra steps.

 Originally when I was dreaming up what I was going to do with my version, I planned on using a neutral linen and spattering it with paint to make an art smock, which my wild two year old could definitely use. But this bee themed thing popped into my head as Violet ran around playing "bug squad" with Clover (something they got from reading Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy....cute book series...anyway) 

Hexies have been on my mind for quite some time, but this is the first time I've ever made any. Don't look too closely.....they're far from perfect but I like 'em as a honeycomb for my little "bunglebee"

 Violet is of the opinion that I wasn't literal enough with my interpretation of a bumble bee, and would have appreciated some stripes.

I sewed mine up according to the sizing given in the pattern and not her age, so a 12 month size for my almost three year old. Not surprising at all given how she usually sizes in patterns. It fits her perfectly, though I could have made it the 2T length and was just too lazy to fiddle with the pattern. And if I make a smock I'll probably do a 3T so it fits over clothes well.

For the wings, I created a design for a bee wing in a notebook and then replicated it with disappearing ink on one back flap of the pinafore. Then I went over that with fabric sharpie (my new friend), traced the design from the first wing onto paper, exacto knifed the lines out and flipped the page to use as a stencil for the other pinafore flap. I'm sure there are way better ways of doing it, but it worked this way for me.  

After laying down the sharpie I also stitched over the lines in black thread just to quilt it a little bit. These pictures were all taken after a trip through the washing machine and the lines all still look great. 

The outer fabric is a mustard yellow linen used in these pants for Kids Clothes Week, and the sickeningly adorable and perfect floral is a cotlin. 

This pattern is one of those simple ones that serves as a great base for showcasing fabric and design elements. And I can't be the only mom out there who adores seeing their kids' sweet little bodies peeking through their summer clothes. Honestly. What's more delicious than their tiny backs? Put thy child in a pinafore! 

Thanks again to Rachael for letting me join in on her blog tour! Go check out her pattern here if you want to make one of your own. And check out the lineup of all the other bloggers joining in on the tour. There are some super cute and creative versions of the roly-poly out there!