Idle Wild Fabric Tour

Savannah finally asked me to sew something for her. It’s been a long while since she requested mama-made clothing. I actually thought that my sewing days for her might be over. But a few weeks ago I received a package in the mail of the most beautiful knit fabric from Riley Blake Designs that was designed by my friends over at Pattern Anthology (Kate Blocher, Melissa Mora, Shauna Wightman and Andrea Pannell). It’s always an exciting day to sew with a friends fabric designs and I’m so excited for these four ladies…..their fabric is gorgeous and Savannah felt the same way.

The girls love to open fabric mail (aka ‘happy mail’) and when we pulled out this collection, the girls were over the moon. Savannah just loved the navy fabric and the pretty floral. She said, ‘Can you make me a dress that’s long and comfy?’. Not a problem.

Savannah has a favorite dress that I made her several years ago. She calls it her ‘bird’ dress and it’s made from knit…..she says she’s NEVER passing it down to her sister. So I created a similar feel with this dress; however, I added a slightly gathered skirt and added some length to the bottom.

It’s starting to get mighty chilly around here, so I made her some leggings to coordinate with the dress. These are the leggings from my “Maisie Skirt and Leggings Pattern“. The pattern comes with a full legging pattern as well as a separate skirt pattern. I know this is my pattern, but these are my absolute favorite leggings. The fit is awesome. They have a yoga waistband, so they are super comfy since there is no elastic at the waist and are cuffed at the bottom. They take no time at all to sew. It takes longer to cut them out than to sew them. I left off the ruffle and side placket since Savannah prefers simple clothing.

If I were designing this dress for Matilda or Josephine, I probably would have added some detail to the front as well as on the leggings and taken the length up a bit. But this dress wasn’t for either of them and the dress wasn’t about me and my design aesthetic (although there’s always a little of me in everything I make), this dress was about creating something Savannah would love. Can you tell how happy she feels in this dress? Savannah asked if she could wear her outfit for the rest of the day. That is always a win in my book!

I tried to be very careful when sewing with the scallop fabric. It’s done in a stripe pattern so I knew I needed to try to match the pattern in the fabric at the different seams and be strategic when using the stripe. You can see on the neckline of the dress that I wanted the scallop right around the edge. The look wasn’t hard to achieve, you just have to be conscious when cutting out your pattern about the placement of the design.

I love sewing with Riley Blake Designs knit. They have such great stretch and are perfect for leggings or items that might be a bit more fitted. They aren’t super-thick, but they are super soft, so kids love them. Also, they wash like a dream. I always, always, ALWAYS pre-wash my knits due to shrinkage, but we’ve had some other Riley Blake knits around here for years and they look as good as the first day I washed them. Isn’t that a bummer when you make something so cute and then your fabric doesn’t wash well? Yeah…..been there, done that.

I can’t believe how grown up my sweet Savannah is looking these days. I made her a size 8. Can you believe it…..a size 8?!? When did she get so tall? So many people have told me that they grow up in a blink of an eye. I’m pretty sure you’re right. I just love my sweet girl and am so happy that she loves her new, comfy outfit.

You can find many resources online for Idle Wild knits. Just give them a google search, check out some of our fabric sponsors in the right side-bar of the blog or visit your local quilt shop that stocks Riley Blake Designs knit fabrics.

Happy Sewing!