pattern review: {free} toddler blazer

if there’s one thing i love it’s a free pattern. okay, so i don’t love patterns in general, but an independent pattern? from a talented blogger? who’s going to be giving it away for FREE on her blog?

yeah. that i love.

magda of house of estrela asked if i would sew up this soon-to-be-released adorable little girls’ size 2T blazer. because she’s offering it for free, and because she hates math nearly as much as i do, she’s only offering the size 2T.
BUT—if you have any size 2 little girl near you, i highly recommend you hop on over there and snag this ASAP (after it’s release, obviously)!

i did a quick muslin before cutting into my real fabric, and the instant i slipped it on elliot i emailed magda and told her what an awesome pattern this is!

the fit is spectacular, and the design is adorable. it flares out just enough in the back, and it’s roomy enough that even my rather chunkalicious 2 year old can move quite comfortably. seriously, i can’t praise this thing enough.

so the fabric…well this is a remnant jeremy brought me home from work one day. it looks like seersucker, but it’s not. it’s a heavier upholstery weight fabric that i thought would be perfect for this project—to make it more of a fall jacket. i had just enough to make the jacket and piece together a coordinating skirt.

because once i saw the jacket i knew it needed a matching skirt. i mean, srsly? like the most adorable toddler schoolgirl. you know, in a non-creepy COMPLETELY NOT BRITNEY way.

i bit the bullet and used some of my precious little apples fabric to line the jacket. it looked so adorable, and i know i can’t just hoard it forever. but i only had a 1/2 yard, so i left out the sleeve lining and just bound the sleeve edges in bias tape (which is made from the lining fabric, but it mainly looks white so it’s a little hard to tell!)

i did make a couple other adjustments to the pattern:
+ i did the lapels in the lining fabric also, so a bit more of it would show
+ i added a second button to the closure
+ and the pockets—the pattern calls for 2 eyelets in each pocket, with a ribbon cinching it tight and tied in a bow. i love the look of that, but i simply could not find my little eyelet punch. so i improvised with a little reverse box pleat and piped the edge in the same navy piping i used on the skirt. i definitely want to try a pocket magda’s way though (yes, i found my eyelet punch).

the skirt was self drafted. just a flat front and elasticized back with a pleated skirt. i put 2 buttons on the front—kind of like a little sailor look, and i would love to do 2 more underneath the first 2. but i only had 4 of these in my stash, so the other 2 will have to wait until the next time i manage to drag myself to the fabric store (ha.)

so, to sum up:

blazer pattern: 2T FREE pattern by house of estrela (to be released soon!)
blazer fabric: outside—upholstery remnant. sorry ;)
                      inside-----little apples by aneela hoy for moda
skirt pattern: self drafted
skirt fabric: upholstery remnant again. still sorry. :)

uh oh mommy, ders a car comin’!