Recently I joined a new group on Facebook for bloggers and came across this blog tour called It’s Gonna Be May Blog Tour. It’s a tour that supports a new to me PDF pattern company, Petite Stitchery & Co. They make PDF patterns for babies, boys, girls or women. If you make it all the way to the end there is a link to a giveaway as well.

The majority of the patterns are for knitted fabrics. Some of them have versions for both mother and girls, so they are perfect for making matching outfits.

I found the website easy to navigate and had a bit of a hard time trying to decide what pattern to use for this blog tour. I was given a code to access the free pattern of my choice and went through checkout as normal. This was hassle free and in no time I had access to the pattern.

As I mentioned, it took me some time to decide which pattern to chose. In the end, I settled on the Woman’s Flirt Fit and Flowy dress.

‘The Women’s Flirt Dress is a comfortable, yet effortless glam style. Whether you choose the fitted skirt for an extra dose of sass or the flowy skirt for a more ethereal look, this dress can take you through a variety of events and seasons! The fitted skirt works better with a more structured knit fabric with 50% stretch such as Liverpool or cotton lycra, while the top and flowy skirt lend themselves toward more thin and drapey fabrics such as rayon spandex.’

I like that the pattern instructions include actual pictures of the versions you can make with this pattern, rather than diagrams, which I quite like. A lot of thought has gone into the instructions to make sure you do not struggle to make this garment, especially if you are new to sewing with knitted fabric. In the booklet, you can find ‘Quick Sew Instructions’ if you already know what you are doing or ‘Sewing Instructions’ detailing each step for each version including pictures. For this dress, the detailed instructions show you how to add a pockets to your skirt if you fancy having them.

For my version I chose to make the dress with the fitted skirt. I cut a size M. Shortened the sleeves by 2.5 cm (1”) and used a hem allowance on the sleeve of 3 cm ( 1 1/4 ‘) I Think I could have taken off another 2-3 cm. The fabrics I used making this cute dress were in my stash for some time and got them from my local Abakhan store. I used the purple fabric for the bodice and the black one for the skirt.

I conquered my fear of working with knits since I learnt a few tricks and tips on how to work with them. First thing I do after cutting the fabric, is to stabilise the shoulder seams and hems with Knit Stay tape/interfacing and 12mm Vilene Iron On Bias Stay Tape White.

When sewing with knits, I mainly use my overlocker/serger for construction, because the seams are not wavy and are finished at the same time. I only use my sewing machine for hems and to make sure the neck bands lay flat. Until recently I used for hems triple zig-zag or lightning stitches on my machine. However, since I was told to use wooly nylon thread in the bobbin with a double needle this is my preferred method of finishing the hems.

The black fabric (some kind of leatherette) gave me trouble on a previous project so I decided to test it first. If there is one thing I hate with knits is a wavy hem. In the end to get the hem to my liking I ended up using wash away stabiliser (usually used with embroidery).

I am pleased with the result considering the fabric I used for the skirt might not have been the best option for this project. Lesson learnt! As you will see from the pictures below the combination of colours is good, but I feel the black fabric is not stretchy enough.

Also, because, it does not stretch enough I have to make small steps when I walk. Pretty good when you wear high hills and not in a hurry! LOL

You might think it’s an outfit made out of two separate garments. Even if using the same fabric you get the same impression. And this is the main feature that attracted me to this pattern.

If you intend to make this dress and version, please make sure that you use a fabric with at least 50% stretch as specified in the instructions.

But part of this blog tour are some lovely and talented bloggers . In the picture below you’ll see the schedule of this It’s Gonna Be May Blog Tour. Go have a look at their posts. So many beautiful versions of the Petite Stitchery & Co patterns for children and adults.

April 22nd:
Sewjourns
Kathy’s Kwilts
Naadjesendraadjes
Diskordia’s Curvy Sewing
Sewing Southern Belle

April 23rd:
Margarita on the Ross
Our Play Palace
The Scatty Sewer
Rebel and Malice
My Heart Will Sew On
Sewing With D

April 24th:
Sea of Estrogen
Seams Like Style
That’s Sew Amy
Mahlica Designs
Leslie J’s Sewing Shack
Miss Marah Sewn

April 25th:
Liviality
Lime Leaves
My Sewing Roots
Tales From a Southern Mom
Jot Designs USA
Seams Sew Lo
The Needle and The Belle

April 26th:

Candi Couture Designs
Momma Sew Savvy
Blooming Skies
Stitched By Jennie
House of Estrela
Sewing Ambi

I find this way of blogging is an interesting experience to meet fellow stitchers and to be introduced to new pattern companies. Got to love the online sewing community!

And let’s not forget about the giveaway sponsored by Sewing Belle Fabrics. All you need to do to enter is to follow the link below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway: