garden party twirl outfit

It's so funny how when you're inspired you can put something together super quick!  This is one of those outfits!  I found out that I would be part of the Sew Off on Saturday and I spent all night on Sunday after our full day of Easter celebrations working on putting this together! (Of course, the seam ripper was involved - that's always the case when I'm up past my bedtime!)

I started my design process by going through my stash - I reeeeaaaallly need to sew through some of this fabric before I go buy more! I bought a ton of Riley Blake when it was on sale at fabric.com so I started with this multi colored flower fabric! You can see if you scroll through my creations that blue/reds are some of my favorite combos! (that and teal/pinks!)

I knew that I wanted to do a simple bodice with a circle skirt so I started with the bodice measurements of the Hopscotch Top and then used Dana's circle skirt tutorial for the bottom. Eva Mae is in an 18 month size so I used that size of bodice and then took a 21" waist measurement for the circle skirt. I actually came up with the length of the skirt by how much fabric I had to work with!!! (How many of us improvise that way? Sometimes measurements are just suggestions!!!)
For the capris, I wanted a flat front and I've been eyeing Dana's flat front tutorial for a while so I decided to start with that for the pant construction! I drafted my own pants pattern from a pair of Eva Mae's pants but adjusted the front seam to be narrower for the flat front construction.
 
The detail that I wanted to tie both pieces in was the keyhole cut out with the bias tape. I cut out my own shape on the back of the bodice and then on the sides of the capris.  The Hopscotch Top is actually a lined bodice but since I wanted to do the contrasting bias tape I just serged the seams of the top and lined the raw edges of the neck and armholes with the bias tape.  The bottom of the skirt section is turned under and hemmed.  I used the same bias tape technique on the bottom of the capris.


The jacket is the 3rd piece to tie it all together!  (Or as Stacy and Clinton call it, the "completer piece!")

 

I wanted something to make the jacket stand out a little so I brought the front down at an angle and added a cute button tab closure to bring in the fabrics of the outfit!

I wondered if the outfit is too "matchy matchy" but one positive of being able to sew your own clothes is that you can do whatever you want!!! I do love the pop of color that the green button provides!  It's kind of a mod touch to the sweet style of the pants and top!  I'm proud that I did all of this from fabrics in my stash!  I can't wait for the weather to be nice and warm so she can get a lot of wear out of the outfit!

And if you like the jacket, I have a tutorial and free pattern coming soon!!!  I hope you'll follow my blog to get all the updates and see more cute summer outfits!

Thank you to everyone who voted for me!!!  Remember to come back Saturday morning for the reveal of week 2: Home Decor!