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Love at first sight - Jalie Zoé

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I've been waiting impatiently for the new Jalie pattern's to be released. I sewed this Zoé version back in September and have been anxiously waiting to share it. I really should have used some of the wait time to sew a version for myself. I even have enough fabric left to make an identical one. Do wonder if the rainbows are a bit juvenile, but I'm getting to the age where I'd rather fun over boring and starting to just embrace what I like. Note these photos were taken beginning of March before swimming lessons were cancelled and our world shut down due to Covid19.


I love the long sleeves and the fact that this suit provides such good sun protection. Any thing that saves me having to slather on sunscreen on kids and then worry if it is wearing off is a win in my books. I also think it keeps her warmer in colder pools having a bit of extra coverage. 

As always with Jalie patterns the fit is spot on. I did a size G with 3 extra inches in length. My kids measure 2 sizes be…
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Best PJs Ever - Jalie Jeanne

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This was the last pattern that I tested in this pattern release and I think it will become one of my most used! The perfect knit PJs? Um yes! I have three kids so at some point I'll likely be making all the sizes!   
How gorgeous are all the versions on cover ?!? I want to make them all for me!
Yes they only have girls on the cover, but this also works well for boys. This time round I made a pair for my eldest, who if you haven't noticed yet, is a big Harry Potter fan. I had bought this maurader's map fabric last year and had already made him a Nico with for school, but was kind of at a loss of what to use the other 1.5 m I had for. I had intially wanted to make a pair of leggings for me, but this fabric matches my skin colour a bit too closely and would likely look like I was naked. I also worried about one of those burgundy patches hitting me in the most inopportune place. So this fabric has sat in cupboard waiting. 



The maurader's map fabric was fairly expensive at…
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Yeah new pants - Jalie Renée

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Yes, I'll always be gushing about Jalie... I just love their patterns. They just fit so beautifully. I especially love it for my skinny kids. RTW clothing is just so big width wise to get the length they need. When I make them anything I'm usually making things two sizes smaller than RTW and adding about 2 inches to the length.
These pants are no exception but the fit is perfect. 
I added a doubled hem so that they would last for awhile and so far don't need to let it down.  



The back just fits her perfectly! They are such cute pants! I want some for me!!



After she put them on Sunday morning to grab these shots she started parading in front of my mirror going "I love these pants, I look so sporty" I can't help be proud when she gushes over something I made for her. Six year olds can be harsh critics.
I made these is some sort of stretch ponte I found at fabric land on their clearance shelf. I had bought it to muslin up the Jalie City Coat I made last year an…
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Jalie's Has New Patterns! - Here's Bianca

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The hardest part about pattern testing has to be the wait till release date! I made this dress for my daughter back in December. Five long months! At least not as long as Zoé has been waiting for release. That one I sewed back in September!

Anyways enough blabbing about that. This dress is super cute. I can't wait to try one with the belt. I love the models version on the cover!


So confession here, I only just finished hemming the version I made for my daughter this past weekend. Granted the weather hasn't really allowed her to wear it up to now. 

She helped pick out the fabric for this one and I just wished I'd used contrasting pockets on it for her version. The busy print with the patch pockets is not the best, but it'll stay like that for now and I'll learn for the next version to use some contrasting fabric. Sewing is definitely a journey, I'm getting better at fabric selection and pattern placement, but still have a lot to learn. 
I love the shape of the n…
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Sewing Plan update - 2 new Tee-shirts and a sweater

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My plan has definitely slowed down to a crawl in the last couple months. I was struggling to get the right fit on the Love Notions Classic Tee but most of my issues came down to poor fabric quality. Then Covid-19 pandemic hit and we've been under isolation like most of the world for the last month. I must say, nothing zaps my motivation like trying to work from home and home-school two kids while keeping the 3rd out of trouble. Thank goodness for PapaBird looking after most of the school. I've completely let that one slide. It's taken a few weeks but we are starting to get out rhythm sorted out. I'm less stressed and it simply feels like the new normal.

I did take some time out to sew some fabric masks up. I've sold a few and could likely sell many more, but once I got my sewing mojo back, I wanted to move onto more fun projects. Things that I would wear and love. They had to remain simple though as I still don't quite have the mental energy to face a sewing fa…
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Two-Weeks in... We're surviving and it's getting a little better

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Our lives have been focused on physical distancing to help flatten the covid-19 pandemic curve for two weeks now. It's been tough. We've all hit our limits at different points. Emotions are running high and little things set us all off now that previously everyone worked through calmly.

The first week trying to balance work and kids at home was intense. I was starting at 6:30 am and finishing up around 4:30 to account for the distractions they bring. PapaBird still was going into the office most days so it was just me at home. It just felt like work never ended, that I was ignoring my kids all day and generally failing at life. Previous to this I felt I had figured our lives out. We knew our routine and life was good. I tried some of the schedules floating round the various mom's groups, hoping it would give us some structure. I threw that out by day 3 after we only followed it for a morning.



Our kid's teachers have been amazing and getting Google Classroom up and runn…
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Just like that we're work from home, homeschoolers

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I'm trying to stay calm, I'm trying not to stress, but I've been spending way too much time analyzing the Covid-19 situation in the last few weeks. On rather an impulse we booked a trip to Disneyland at the end of February. The timing seemed perfect. Scored a sweet seat sale with Westjet for our spring break, would have big crowds to deal with, but decent savings because we wouldn't have to pay for childcare for spring break camps and our youngest would still be free.

Then Covid-19 started to hit Europe, Italy was suffering, 14 cases found in California. Reality began to hit. Are those numbers accurate? Were they actually testing? If there was anywhere we should be avoiding it's Disneyland, a hub of international visitors. I regretted our decision. Wanted to cancel, but felt a bit ridiculous for wanting to make that decision. Perhaps I was just over-reacting. No one else seemed to want to cancel their plans. Our hotel was non-refundable but at this point last week …
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