I’m back with a fun review and giveaway! Not related to sewing, but so relevant for many of us, I’m sure. Any of us who have messy eaters in the house.
When we started Kaya on solids, I was secretly dreading it. Whether you make your own food or buy it, there’s just soooo much work and clean up and the food rarely ever ends up in their mouth. When Yuki was a baby, we tried all sorts of bibs – cloth, plastic with a pocket, laminated cotton. They all had their pros and cons, but I hadn’t really found one that I loved. So as we were gearing up to start solids with Kaya I reached out to Katie of Snap Bibs to see if she’d let me try them out. And she kindly agreed!
photo by 
I made this dress in size 2T. It fits wonderfully when on, but the bodice is a bit snug getting her into it. Because of the design of the dress, I’m not sure how you can open up the bodice any deeper. Maybe place the heart cutout lower? Otherwise, it looks great on.
I chose the 
I just think it’s adorable and I’ve thought so since I first saw the pattern come out. I love the colorblocking, the curved pieced bodice, the little cap sleeves, the pleats – I love how stylish it is, but still so appropriate for kids (
The Maggie Mae can be made as a tunic or a dress (the version I made is the tunic) and comes with inseam pockets and buttons in the back. 
This project is a good intermediate beginner pattern. The construction is fairly simple even with the curved bodice piecing. You’ll have to do some pleating and of course buttonholes, but if are comfortable with those things, you can sew one of these up in a snap. Despite that, this project was a little bit of a nightmare for me to sew up (at no fault of the pattern – purely my own stupidity). I just wanted to share the story with you so you know that I have really bad sewing days too. Because this pattern is pretty simple, I was excited to get it done quickly. Well I was finishing an edge with my serger, which I’m still learning how to use, when a corner of the bodice was gobbled up into the serger with the slicing blade on, so SNIP! Off goes a small corner of the bodice. 😦 Then, it literally took me forever to get my pleats looking good – centered, evenly sized and spaced. Unfortunately, there are no pleat markings on the pattern, so you have to figure it out yourself and I don’t know why it took me so long – but I must have pleated, pinned, basted and torn them out 5 times before I got it just right. When I was just about done, I accidentally hemmed the tunic up in a thread that stood out a lot more than I expected and I didn’t like it. As I was tearing the hem out with a seam ripper to do over, I tore a small hole in the front of the dress at the hem line. WTF – is this project trying to kill me!? Have you ever had a project like that? Where everything goes wrong? And to top it all off, I had meant to make this a dress and didn’t realize until I put it on my daughter and her booty was hanging out the bottom that I had used the tunic measurements instead!!! Haha, seriously, I was having issues that day. BUT, despite all that, I still looooooove the way it came out. So all of that to say, even if you’re a complete knuckle head like me, you can still make this adorable top/dress (just make sure you’re reading the appropriate measurements off the chart depending on whether you want to make a skirt or a tunic). 
I made the size 2T for my 2 year old and it fits her pretty well. The only thing that I would change if I make it again (and I’m sure I will), is to lengthen the top bodice piece just a little bit to make the armhole a little roomier. It fits her just perfectly, if not a little snug there. Otherwise, the sizing seemed just right. 
I love that there are sooooooo many possibilities with this dress depending on what coordinating fabrics you choose. I’m already dreaming up combinations for the next one. What colors/prints would you choose? Well lucky for you, you have a chance to win an amazing giveaway prize and trust me, you’re gonna want to win this. {CLOSED}
6 rolls of washi tape that I picked up from Japan this summer. 3 rolls are Lotta Jansdotter!
Seriously – how cool is this? (Don’t worry, I didn’t use the giveaway stamp – I bought one for myself too :)) I picked this stamp up in Japan also, and the image is like a piece of polka dot washi tape. La-la-loooove!
This Washi fabric by Rashida Coleman Hale in charcoal is gooooorgeous and also discontinued, so it’s getting harder and harder to find! Here’s a 1/2 yard for your stash – perfect for any small project.
you and mie 