The Allium Dolman - as a tester (again!)

Assalammu'alaikum family, friends, readers and followers of this blog. Following my entry of the Tulipa Dolman, here comes the women's version y'all!!!! It is such a wonderful experience testing for Mellissa. She is just so so kind to let me test again, despite the crappy photos. I should really do some justice and get a good camera and a friend who wont mind taking good photos of me or have someone else model it for me so I can take the pictures. Either way, Mellissa deserves better photos from me.

So yes!! A matching dolman for mommies!!! How awesome!!! It has all the great things the Tulipa has, the 3 lenghts, and 2 views and the sleeve options. The only difference is, this one comes with an inseam pockets (say what??!!). If you want an exact match, just make your own patch pocket. :)

For the adult version, please go with your high bust measument, you'll thank me later. As most women will have a smaller measurement for the high bust compared to the full bust, it helps to make this piece more fitted when you take your high bust measurement. As we all know, dolmans dont have an armsyce (armhole), so if you use your full bust measurement, chances are you may get a lot of room in the area.

I love love love the pattern! We went through 2 versions in this test, the first one ended up with most of us who did the tunic length having a long tunic, almost like a short dress. Still cute though! I love mine! So the 2nd version (which is the final version) has a shorter tunic and it will end right covering just your bum. You know how I love tunics!

Pls bear with my crappy photos, it is my blog, and this is the only place such crappy photos can appear as approved. Heh! You can surely look at the pictures other testers did, they all had awesome pictures! High quality and I am definitely jealous! I really should invest in a good camera and a good friend, man.. So ya.. Here comes my pictures...

And yeah, I know. I desperately need a better camera and at least a friend who could take better pictures for me. Oh, the sleeves on the pattern are not as long as mine, I just made mine longer because I just love super long sleeves. You'd get a standard long sleeves with her pattern.

Get the womens' pattern here
Get the bundle (womens' + kids/juniors') here

For the kids/juniors' only, refer to my prev entry here.

Oh if you are in Singapore looking for good knits.. Here are where I got them:
Oh Sew Knits & Basics : FB Grp, FB Page

And if you are not so much into sewing yourself, you can always approach me via #sewbasicsg on FB or IG, we can definitely chat.

Until the next testing opportunity with a better camera (i hope!),
Jun

Wassalam

Tulipa Dolman - a tester perspective!

Assalammu'alaikum family, friends, readers and followers of this blog. I know and well aware that I haven't really post much about sewing lately. I havent had much chance or opportunity to test patterns and I miss it so much that when I saw Mellissa from Sew Like My Mom call for tester, I applied immediately!

Time was really not very much on my side lately, but I just had to jump on it. I knew her pattern is always so perfect and easy to tape together and instructions would be breeze, so I was confident to just give it a go despite being very busy.

I was given 3 days, I think.. And I made it before the deadline! Yeay!

I first knew of Sew Like My Mom when I was looking for free patterns to just try and to know designers and such. I stumbled upon the Sycamore Shorts. I love the instructions (and tips) and the awesome end product that comes along. I knew then, SLMM is definitely going to the list of awesome designers, and led me to purchase her Boxwood and Redwood Joggers. No regrets! It was one of the best decisions made and have since made more than 3 pairs each. See my blog abt it here.

So, when I saw a tester call from SLMM, I just had to! The only thing I lacked was a good worthy picture to go to the front page or anywhere. I guess I have to up my game soon if I want to be in the tester pool and stay there. Anyways, Mellissa is so nice.. I was assigned to make a 3T tunic with long sleeves and that I did.

She is one of the designers that I really dont mind taping A4s together, I mean if you know me, you know I am really lazy with taping patterns together, but hers I dont quite mind because I know it will match easy and perfectly. I taped it all up in less than an hour, with handphone and baby's distraction (if you need to know why it took THAT long).

It didnt take long for me to dive into which fabric to make it with. I bought cheap ones locally for $6/yard I dont see why I need to think about it. I had remnants lying around that is just enough, and used that as well.

The group was an awesome bunch, I get to go through the errors even before Mellissa opened an error thread, so instructions thereon was easy. It flows and is really easy to follow, and if you are an intermediate, you probably just scan thru and off you go to put them all together.

I took less than an hour to make a fit test and another hour to make another 2!

I love dolmans for many reasons, one, there is no armscye (armhole), which to me means comfort without compromising style. It comes with 3 lengths, a shirt length, tunic length and dress length. Perfect! One pattern, 3 styles.. we can go places! It has 2 views, now.. that multiplies to 6styles... View A is a non-gathered front and View B is gathered front, which means more space to swing the skirt around, also good for baby tummy! Yummy yummy tummy! And it comes in short (no sleeve piece needed) and long sleeve! How much more awesome can it get, right?

Now.. enjoy the pictures ppl!

What I love about this pattern? The curved front and back for the body is a nice feature. Actually I went for these because of the pockets, but time was not on my side to get that done, so there are now queuing at my machine to get the pockets sewn on.

I am all for it when an adult version comes out.. which may actually be sooner than I thought!

Oh! Here's the links if you would love to get the patterns and sew your own:

Bundle: sz 12m - 16 : https://www.etsy.com/.../tulipa-dolman-bundle-pdf-pattern...

Sz 6-16 : https://www.etsy.com/.../tulipa-dolman-pdf-pattern-6-16...

Sz 12m - 8 : https://www.etsy.com/.../tulipa-dolman-pdf-pattern-12m-8...

Do join her fb group if you need help of any kind, and if you not so much into sewing, you can always find me at #sewbasicsg (both FB and IG) and let me know, if orders are not overwhelming, I will be happy to sew it for you at a price. :)

Oh if you are in Singapore looking for good knits.. Here are where I got them
First picture, purple heathered knit & Unicorn is from :
Oh Sew Knits & Basics : FB Grp, FB Page
And the polka dots and the pink "marble" effect is from a local shop at People's Park:
Brighton : FB page

Happy sewing!

Until the next blog,
Jun

Wassalam

Testing for Serger Pepper

Assalammu'alaikum family, friends, readers and followers of this blog.

Yeay! So I finally got chosen to test a pattern! And two sizes! I was nervous initially, but it all went well and I finished well before the deadline!

I was testing this wonderful exclusive pattern by Serger Pepper for One Thimble Issue 14. How honoured, right??? I am still recovering from that excitement!

Serger Pepper who? Ah, designer is Irene Valle from Italy! She is so nice, kind and friendly! Always answering us promptly when we got stuck and had questions.

So what did I test? I tested the Justin Pants! It is such a cool piece!!

Yes Drop Crotch pants! And multiple pockets!!!!

And I fit a sz 14!!! Double yass!!!

I love the fit, I love the funky-ness!! I love everything about this pattern!!

Testing it was fun, wasn't that hard, because someone quickly proofread it before I started and a few asked some important steps. So I pretty much zoomed through when there are hardly any problems. I solved the waistband issue bit (feeling a bit proud here!).

I initially wanted to use bubble crepe for the yokes, but it was a terrible mistake, the fabric moved 12389347281 times as I cut and got super out of shape, so I ended up using just good ol' cotton for everything. The teardrop floral piece is Bellaboo. the white floral one I forgot, but both are 100% cotton with no stretch. And oh boy it feels oh so comfortable!!!! I keep falling in love and kept feeling oh so proud whenever I wear it like I had to tell people it is an exclusive pattern designed by Serger Pepper and it will be exclusively released with One Thimble Issue 14. The issue date is Feb 10th, I think. Oh grab it guys!

It was so good, I made another piece!

This time I used denim knit for the front yoke and leg parts, and denim woven for the pockets and back yoke. It is oh my.. I love it too much! I used leg cuffs or bands for this one and turned it into a pair of joggers. Oh.. It is great. Too awesome! 

I think this will end up a staple in my wardrobe. So I made our 3rd pair!

You can read more about Serger Pepper here.
More about One Thimble here.
The Justin Pants will be sold exclusively with the OT e-zine (issue 14), you can check it out here.
Do join the FB group (here) if you need help sewing the pattern!

Till the next entry,
Jun the happy sewist!

Wassalam