I had the most awesome opportunity to try out Riley Blake’s newest line. Squee! It’s called Flit and Bloom and the name is perfectly fitting for the sweet hummingbird inspired fabric. Designed by the über talented Patty Young (you probably know her from her Modkid sewing patterns).
I had a specific dress in mind but when the fabric arrived in the mail, I knew it was destined to be a Fjell Dress. The main fabric is directional so the gathered skirt was perfect for keeping all those little hummingbirds upright. I wanted to experiment with a different panel for the bodice and the Bloom Henna Blossom was amazing. In fact, I had a little bit of remorse over asking for more of the main hummingbird print and less of the henna blossom because the graphic nature of that print is just so up my alley. We’re definitely digging the soft grays and light touches of greens and teals in that particular print. I had a bit of the coordinating Scalloped Dot that makes the perfect hem facing. I adore hem facings because you can hide a really cute accent fabric there.
And while I was featuring yet another dress for Girly, I decided that Boy-o needed some more mom-made shirts. I’ve been working on a dress shirt pattern for kids because Boy-o wants some shirts like Dad and that’s so hard to find. Boy’s clothes are so athletic-y right now. He has an orchestra concert later this fall and needs dress clothes so this was the perfect opportunity to play around with some fun details in a mini dress-shirt that can be hidden when he needs to wear a suit for the concert.
Our new house is located in a beautiful valley near the bottom of the Rockies which makes for some amazing locations to take photos but the mountains create some isolation. We’re an hour away from the nearest chain fabric store and I totally underestimated the amount of buttons this project took and didn’t have enough to finish off the cuffs. And DH and I share a car so no quick trip to the fabric store (and the Target in that town). OOPS! At least I knew I wanted to roll his sleeves to show off the inside of the cuff with the Bloom Geo Blossom as the accent fabric. I used the same fabric on the inside of the collar stand, inside of the collar itself and the inner button band. Men’s (and boy’s) dress shirts are very straight forward, with only small details that make it stand out. I can see this accent fabric with a light gray chambrey for a more casual look. Maybe I’ll make another one… 😉 I’m working on this pattern right now with a “tucked in” length and an “untucked” length. I’m told this is very important (by DH).
Be sure to hop over to the tour kick off post and enter the giveaway! Thank you to Riley Blake for sending me some yummy fabric to play around with and congratulations to Patty Young for designing her 20th line of fabric! I can’t wait to see what everyone else on the tour makes!
Oh Steph, those photo’s are just amazing! I especially love the detailing on your boy’s shirt 😀