Twinkle Toes and Company

It's been hot here in the Pacific Northwest.  Because we're still in Phase 1 of house arrest  ahem I mean quarantine, we can't head to the pool and shouldn't head to the river. We're trying our hardest to follow the Governor's orders, so the most our kids have gotten is sprinklers in the back yard.  Oh what we wouldn't give to head to the pool! This girl wears a lot of pants, regardless of the heat. And as you can see in the pictures below, she wears long sleeves to go with the pants. She needed something lighter weight to wear and although she has a love for maxi skirts but was feeling skeptical about the Sally from 5 out of 4.  I'm not sure if it was the fabric, she's more of a solids, flowers or animal print kind of a girl.  But, Tie Dye is Back!  Really, did it ever leave? (I did spent my teen years in the 90's friends.) I convinced her to try out the Sally in this Rainbow Pointelle Tie Dye  from Mily Mae Fabric. The Pointelle has such a gre...

{Please note that some of these links are affiliate links.  If you purchase something I have recommended, sewn etc. through those links I will receive a small percentage of compensation.  It costs you nothing, but helps support my sewing "therapy" and the ability to review and test more patterns.} "A little bit of Monica in my life A little bit of Erica by my side A little bit of Rita is all I need A little bit of Tina is what I see" Man, that brings back memories! All the way back to 1995. But I sure didn't have amazing skirts like these in 1995. In fact, if anyone from back then saw me now they probably wouldn't believe I'm the same person. While I would have loved to be in fashion, it was a tad hard to find. Fast forward to 2019 and Monica, Erica, Rita and Tina are back....better than ever! This time though, they're in back in skirt form and 5 out of 4 Patterns  has done a fantastic job with these skirts!  I had the opport...

{Please note that some of these links are affiliate links.  If you purchase something I have recommended, sewn etc. through those links I will receive a small percentage of compensation.  It costs you nothing, but helps support my sewing "therapy" and the ability to review and test more patterns.} I'm on a roll lately; I've been modeling things I wouldn't typically model. Leggings, Swimsuits, dress with amazing ties in the back?! That's right, a dress with ties in the back.  Now, I wouldn't normally wear a dress that ties in the back or is as tight fitting as the Laura Swim Suit, Tankini and Dress from 5 out of 4. In reality though, the dress itself isn't that tight fitting.  The top is basically a built in bra! Yes, you read that right...a built in bra! Let's face it, when the back looks like this:  You need a built in bra.  I made an F cup FBA...don't panic, the Laura has an FBA already done for you in the pat...

We all know when a new pattern is being released, we start seeing snapshots of amazing fabrics and glimpses of tester's creations on Facebook.  I belong to so many fabric and pattern groups that I see a lot of fantastic pictures!  Over the years as I have been sewing, I have often wondered who tests patterns.  Until I started sewing knits at the encouragement of a friend of mine, I had no idea what an Indie pattern designer was or that I could buy a pattern online from a stay at home mom (although not all are), print it out my pattern, put it together and sew away.  I was SHOCKED that I didn't have to go to the store and look at all the same old boring patterns.  Seriously, they don't really change.  Most of the pattern directions in the store bought patterns (in my opinion) are hard to follow.  While I have learned a lot over the past year as I have branched out sewing new fabrics, I would  have considered myself a fairly advanced seamstress eve...