Avana Sailor Semi-Success

I first discovered the French children's sewing pattern company Ikatee when they contacted me last year with the offer to try one of their sewing patterns for free. I tested the Corfou dress pattern (which I reviewed here), and have been excited to follow their business developments and new pattern releases ever since. 

Pattern:

When Ikatee released the Avana pattern earlier this year I was, of course, smitten. Dolores completed surprised me by saying she liked it too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is a sign that she's relaxing her desire to wear exclusively the girliest of clothing styles. So I grasped the opportunity and threw the Avana pattern in my virtual cart before she could have a change of heart. 

What really sold this pattern to me was all the style options included. The first choice you need to make is between the 'sailor' or 'urban' looks. From there you can pick between shorts, 3/4, 7/8 or full length legs. Then there's two types of optional braces to consider, and, if you're making the urban look, whether or not you want to include the belt loops and waist tie. Phew. You may need a rest after all that decision making. 

(image source: Ikatee patterns)

So Dolores and I agreed on making the sailor option with the corresponding 'H' shaped braces. I was making this at the tail end of summer, so we went for the 3/4 length. She's about to turn five, so I cut the 5 years size, but chose the 6 years length because she seems to be taller than a lot of kids of the same age, plus I was hoping these would last a full calendar year. 

Another option included in the instructions is the choice between regular elastic or adjustable 'button hole' elastic. I went for the regular elastic option as that's what I had in my stash. The instructions themselves are very thorough, with digitised illustrations for each construction step. Generally, I found following along no problem, however I did develop two tiny gripes: the first is that, through including the steps for constructing all those different options, it lead to a bit of confusion when trying to work out which bits applied to you and which you could skip over. Secondly, the translation into English was a bit clunky at points, and the instructions could have benefitted from being run past a native English speaker before they were published. 

Fabric and buttons:

Like so much of my fabric stash, I have no clue where this 1.5 metre length of aqua poly/cotton twill came from. I've had it in my stash for so long that I remember having it on my fabric shelf when I lived in Barcelona circa 2009, although I know I had it when I lived in the UK prior to that. I've always loved the colour of this fabric, but could never figure out what it should become. Mainly I was confused by its weight: a bit too hefty for a blouse or top, but a bit too lightweight for making a skirt or shorts that I'd feel comfortable wearing. However, for kidswear, the weight seems to be just right. 

I don't know if it's still the case, but for a while, about five years ago, it seemed to be really easy to buy sets of vintage/retro buttons on cards like these. I found them on a number of market stalls and in haberdashery shops in a number of towns, as well as in Snoopers Paradise in Brighton, which is where these probably came from. I'm not sure if they are legit French vintage dead-stock, or just a cute repro. Either way, these lovely buttons have been in my stash for at least five years, and FINALLY found their purpose by matching this fabric almost exactly. 

Thoughts:

The first point I need to make is that I'm AMAZED Dolores has agreed to wear these aside from for the indoor photos. I genuinely thought that I was making these exclusively for my own joy of making them. However, so far she's worn them twice, both times with this awesome striped M&S t-shirt that I picked up brand-new from a charity shop. 

Generally, I'm a big fan of this pattern. All the style options, plus a wide size range (from 3 to 12 years), make this pattern excellent value for money. There are plenty of thoughtful details, like including two options for top stitching around the front buttons on the sailor version. Plus, I really like how the braces are detachable, and the instructions require you to make two sets of button holes so that they're adjustable.

What isn't so great is that they have come up quite small. And even on the longest setting, the braces are a bit short, and they don't sit very nicely at the back (see above). The second time she wore them out of the house, we agreed to leave the braces off, so I think that is how they are going to be worn from now on. I was hoping they'll still be of use for spring/summer 2019, but I predict that I'm going to have to pass these on to a smaller child and make Dolores the next size up.

Corfou Fawn Dress

Check out this nonchalant cutie busting out her best fashion pose! I'm feeling really pleased with this make. I think Dolores looks awesome in it, plus it's the product of some freebies that imma gonna tell you about... 

Pattern:

A few months ago I was contacted by French children's sewing pattern brand Ikatee and asked if I'd like to pick a pattern to try for free, in exchange for a review. Who doesn't love a free thing?! I know I do, especially when those 'things' are gorgeous children's sewing patterns. I hadn't heard of the brand before and it was a lot of fun, if mildly stressful, choosing which to go for. 

If I'd been given free rein, I would have gone for the Hibiscus ruffle blouse, which is similar to many of the garments I've pinned here. In fact, I'm pretty obsessed with ruffles for both girl's and women's wear at the moment. Anyways, I asked Dolores her opinion and she chose the Corfou dress pattern, which really surprised me as there were plenty more 'dressy' dress patterns to choose from. I was doubly surprised in fact because the website shows the pattern made up in a blue and white striped fabric, and as Dolores is very quick to tell me, she doesn't like blue (she has yet to work out that a garment could be made in different colours than is shown in the photo and isn't interested in me trying to explain that to her). However, I was very pleased because the Corfou dress pattern (which includes sizes 3 to 8) looked like a great canvas for lots of different fabrics, and being a pattern designed for knit, I hoped it would be comfy and offer lots of freedom of movement. 

Using the pattern was really interesting. Despite specifying that it be made in knit fabric (like this printed jersey), the construction steps feel more like working with a woven. For example, there is a neck facing and a button back fastening. Plus, you are required to topstitch round the neckline and keyhole. The only part that really made it feel like a knit pattern to me was the small seam allowance and using my overlocker to stitch the shoulder and side seams. But I found the English translation of French instructions really charming, and the step-by-step photos were clear and helpful. 

Something else that I found unusual with this pattern was that each size is a separate PDF document, rather than having all the sizes grouped together in one. This isn't a problem as such, and in fact many may prefer it as you don't have have all those confusing lines overlapping each other. But I think if they'd all been grouped together then my tired brain might have remembered to cut the size larger for the length! 

Fabric:

The second freebie element of this project was the fabric. I'd been eyeing this fawn print jersey on the Girl Charlee UK website for ages. Then at Christmas I saw that Just Sew Jenna had made some fabulous pyjamas for her daughter in this different pink and red colour way and my WANT alarm went off. Dolores loves pink, I love red; finally a fabric we can both stand. One cheeky email later, and Girl Charlee agreed to send me a metre or so for free. Thanks Mark!

This jersey is a cotton and polyester blend, with a light to medium weight and decent stretch. However, I'd also describe this fabric as having a bit of body to it, which lends it perfectly to this pattern as it helps keep the shape of the little kimono sleeves and A-line skirt. I also love how the deer get a bit distorted where the elastic brings the waist in. I could have pattern-matched when cutting the pocket, but I wanted to make the pocket slightly more visible by selecting one central deer that would be offset from the background instead. 

Thoughts:

This has got to be one of my very favourite makes for Dolores to date! It's so cute and casual and sassy. The size 3 of the pattern ended up being a touch short, so it's unlikely that she'll wear it without these hand-me-down red leggings underneath, but she's fairly tall for her age. I think that the pairing of pattern and fabric is one of my best, if I may toot my own horn. However, I'm tempted to add a larger seam allowance and try the pattern in a woven fabric next time, a cotton lawn perhaps, to see how that turns out. Perhaps a solid colour with a contrasting printed pocket? This pattern requires very little fabric, so I'm also thinking up some plans to use the rest of this lovely fawn jersey too.

Cost:

Pattern: £0, however it can be bought here for $7.99 (approx. £6.40)
Fabric: £0, however it can be bought here for £11.45, you'd need 60cm for size 3
Button: £0, from stash
Total: £0