I am so excited to be sharing my makes for the back to school tour hosted by Sprouting Jube Jube and Lulu & Celeste.

My daughter doesn’t go to school yet, so back to school for us is essentially  errands and big brother’s drop offs and pick ups. So I decided to use this tour as an excuse to build her a mini-capsule of sorts, that she could use to wear both for quick trips and special events as well 🙂

My motto for this capsule is “comfort and style” and whats more comfortable than knit! In trying to make everything a bit more cohesive, we picked our favorite colors – my daughter’s  pink and mine teal and thus found the perfect excuse to put our raspberry creek club knit fabrics to good use.

When I was browsing through patterns for the the tour, I found that the Filles à maman’s Petit Oiseau Dolman top  fits the ‘comfort and style’ bill perfectly and was the starting point for my capsule. It has such a cool and casual vibe about it.

I love the design of the tee and decided to use just that without the flounce (though a french terry Petit Oiseau with a flounce is next on my list). Mel from FAM so kindly sent the Petit Oiseau pattern over to me for the purpose of this tour but all opinions are my own.

There isn’t much I can say that hasn’t already been said about what an amazing pattern the Petit Oiseau is! It is a very well drafted pattern with clear illustrations and instructions. A super quick sew with a great style factor!!

The lovely grey is from the RCF and the teal is an upcycle from my husband’s old tee and don’t those fabrics look like they were meant to be!?!

These shorts!!! yes I made them!!! They are the just released Linden shorts by Sew a Little Seam and also my foray into the I-can-make-jeans category 😀

I love this pattern so much, it has so many options and styles and really neat finishing techniques along with great instructions and step by step pictures.

I used stretch denim left over from another project for the shorts, and RCF club knit to finish seams by hong kong finish technique that Kelly so clearly explains in the pattern.

Not so creative with my top stitching detail on the back pocket design now was I? honestly they were meant to curve downwards rather than look like a giant X

Promise! that is the last close up of the shorts!

When I was thinking about what patterns to pick, I was heavily under the influence of One thimble issue 12 that I had been looking at the previous day so #111 Thread Faction dress was sort of an obvious choice. It was one of the first patterns that made me want to buy the magazine.

The #111 Thread Faction dress is the perfect summer top with really cute details like the curved bodice in the front and the racerback style in the back. A toddler can never have too many knit shirts right?

The bodice fabric is a really nice eyelet (maybe laser cut?) knit that I got from Hancock fabrics a long time ago and used here. I followed the pattern exactly as it is but shortened the skirt piece by about 3″ so it would be a nice top/tunic length.

Summer is almost ending here, so I really like that these tops and shorts can all be layered with full sleeved shirts, tights and a cardigan to take her through fall as well.

Okay so it was too hot and humid for clothes that day let alone a cardigan! so she didn’t wear it long enough to get clear shots of the sweatshirt.

For the sweatshirt, I used the FREE double breasted hooded sweatshirt pattern by Sew a Little Seam. I skipped the 4 buttons mostly ’cause my sewing machine didn’t wanna make button holes in french terry.

I love that its like a cardigan but with a hoodie. For the hood lining and facing I used the RCF club knit again, so it would coordinate with the other garments, though I imagine it’ll be worn with everything in her wardrobe.

I am still recovering from the shock of being able to find this great French terry at my local Jo Ann fabrics where I thought my best bet for a sweatshirt would be fleece fabric.

In case you’re wondering, this is take 2 which happened the next morning hence the smile!

It’s not often that fabrics jump out at me asking to be made into a certain pattern but when that happens, it sorta makes sense to go with the flow right!?! That is how this gorgeous flowy rayon spandex fabric ended up becoming a Brook Blossom Skirt by Orange Daisy Patterns also from One thimble issue 12.

It is such a lovely looking skirt, with that dramatic high-low hem (my daughter thinks it’s her princess cape lol)

The instructions for finishing the waist band on this skirt are really nice.

Believe it or not, this outfit with not a lick of pink is hands down her favorite!! she’s either wearing or dragging the poor skirt along with her all day long.

I followed all instructions as per the pattern including french seams on the sides. I did make one small change – instead of using a lining, I added a pair of sweat shorts and basted them to the skirt before attaching the waistband. Now she can twirl all she wants!

I had so much fun creating all these garments, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about them. Leave me a comment to let me know which one is your favorite!

Come follow along the tour and enter to win special prizes along the way!

SEW ALONG PRIZE:  Be sure to link up any back-to-school item you’ve sewn from August 1st until the link up closes on Sept 4th to win a prize!  For more prize information and to link up, check out this post by Sprouting Jube Jube or this post by Lulu and Celeste.

There is also a GRAND PRIZE that includes fabrics, patterns and gifts cards from our sponsors.  More details on how to enter in this post by Sprouting JubeJube (ends on August 28th at 11:59 pm EDT). Also includes fun discounts and coupon codes from our sponsors.

Don’t forget to enter TODAY’s GIVEAWAY through the rafflecopter below.  Enter by August 23rd at 11:59pm EDT to win 1 PDF pattern from Love Notions and 1 PDF pattern from Sunday Girl Designs until August 24th at 11:59pm EDT. *excludes bundles 

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/dda2100d32/

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