August 22 Paisley Roots / August 23 Cookies n’ Bees / August 24 Tina Sew Tiny / August 25 Screeching Dinosaur / August 26 PearBerry Lane / August 29 Troosp To Tots / August 30 A Crazy Craft Lady / August 31 Glitter in My Coffee / September 1 Sunflower Seams / September 2 Adventures with Bubba and Bug

Rachel Berwick Hodges, a long time Sis Boom fan (the Rachel fabric from Color Brigade is named after her!), kicks us off and writes about what she loves about Sis Boom Pattern Co patterns. She sewed a Betty Ann Top in the upcoming line Hotel Frederiksted, shipping in November. If you have any questions about any of our patterns (or sewing in general), join close to 2,000 Sis Boom fans on our Sis Boom Pattern Co Facebook group page. Hope to see you there!

My bouncy four-year-old starts preschool next week, and she’s super excited! I wanted to make her something that she can wear to school in all seasons, and the Betty Ann top and dress seemed perfect. The elasticized back ensures that it will grow with her, and the slightly loose fit makes it easy to layer over shirts for cooler weather. It’s a great little pattern because it’s easy to customize. You can add ruffles to the straps, mix and match colors; make it a short top or a long dress, or anything in between. The contrasting pockets are perfect to slip in pinecones and pretty pebbles. I was lucky enough to get my hands on some not-yet-released Hotel Frederiksted, and the pink and red combo is a huge hit with my daughter! I made her top a week ago, and she’s worn it three times and slept in it once! Seeing as this has become one of her favorite tops, I’ll have to make several more variations.

I always love sewing with Sis Boom patterns because the directions are unfailingly detailed and clear. I don’t have to spend a lot of time analyzing the directions, trying to figure out what’s expected of me. I just follow along, step by step. Almost every step is illustrated, too, which is perfect for a visual learner, like me. And with the Sis Boom Pattern Co. online sewing community, there is always someone willing to help if I run into difficulties.

We love when classic Sis Boom looks meets new Sis Boom. The super talented Merav Ruthman of Baby Hobbes Designs, created 2 dresses from our book, Girl’s World, with fabric from Color Brigade due out May 2016 and Nostalgia from Fall 2015. If you don’t have a copy of Girl’s World, check it out; it was published 5 years ago but all 21 projects are still as fresh and modern as ever.

Hobbes and her 2 friends enjoyed sweet treats at Vanielle Chicago while wearing the Tallulah Halter Dress and Mary’s Fancy Sash Dress. Both dress patterns are available only in Girl’s World as paper patterns, so order your copy today!

Hobbes (below, left) is wearing the timeless Mary’s Fancy Sash Dress in Rachel in Blue from Color Brigade on the skirt, with the bodice in Jimmy in Green and the sash in Jackson in Green from the Nostalgia line. Dress it up with a crinoline underneath for extra fun! Hobbes’ BFF (right) from preschool is wearing the cool and comfortable Tallulah Halter Dress in Rachel in Blue. This fun and versatile dress slips on and ties behind the neck. Two side vents on the dress hem makes it easy to jump and play all day long.

Little sis (middle) is also wearing the Tallulah with Rachel in Blue on the bodice and Figgy in Pink on the skirt. We love these looks and hope they inspire you to purchase fabric now from the Nostalgia line and Color Brigade when it comes out in May.

Special thanks to Little Sparrow Boutique for the stunning hair accessories and TK Photography for taking these lovely photographs.

Come one over and join our new Facebook Group, the Sis Boom Pattern Co. Our new page will be more effective in answering questions about Sis Boom patterns, sharing ideas and talking about the things we all have in common…. sewing and a love of Sis Boom fabric. Come join us today!

Merav and her lovely daughter Hobbes from Baby Hobbes Design are back and they are reviewing our newest Sis Boom dress, the Sally. Sally is available for the special introductory price of $7.50 till Sunday, 1/17/16 at midnight EST.

Make room for the SisBoom Sally…a beginner venture to creating a beautiful dress.

I must say that as much as I like challenging myself with new sewing complexity; I am always in the market for an easy beginner sewing pattern without buttons or zippers to whip up with a moment’s notice. Like when Hobbes comes home from school and tells me “Mom, my friend Olivia asked for a My Little Pony dress, can that be her birthday present?…and the party is tomorrow!!!!” Or when I have a new sewing student who is eager to sew her first dress–but is uncomfortable with embellishments like buttons and zippers. The Sally is going to be my new go-to pattern; and I can’t wait to introduce her to you!

The Sis Boom Sally sports a simple, yet modest tank bodice with two neck option that your child can pull on and off herself without any closures. The bodice is relaxed and the (optional) side sash and elastic sewn directly to the seams (no casing) can assist for a more fitted look. You can create two skirt looks. I chose to create the dress with a top skirt, but you can keep it simple and conserve fabric by sewing the bottom skirt only.

In true Sis Boom style, you’ll learn sewing techniques – Sis Boom Sally focuses on bias tape placement for an unlined bodice (woohoo, less fabric) and you can get creative making your own bias to match. Store-bought bias is welcomed too–and you can place the bias flushed over the head and arm opening or use it to line the inside edges only.

Take a look at some of the different Sally’s made during testing. It’s a such a great layering dress too!

The best part of the newly released Sally is that you are getting ONE wonderfully written (congrats Jeanine Thomlinson for her first pattern with the Sis Boom and Sciencetific Seamstress team) Beginner pattern sized from 3-Months to 14 years. That’s babies, kids and tweens all in ONE loaded pattern. The actual pattern pieces can be printed in your child size-so for Hobbes dress, I printed 2 pages only for a size 3T high neck-bodice. The skirt measurements are found on page 6-and you can adjust the length based on the child height-in my case, a 4T.

Oh, and did you catch how I like to conserve fabric? My beautiful Jennifer Paganelli fabrics, in Good Company Jessie in garnet and Nostalgia Tilly in gold are too dear to me to just stay hidden under my top skirt. What do you think of this little trick?

It’s so simple to do this to your bottom skirt, let’s call it underskirt and conserve your designer fabrics. First, I added an extra 0.5 to the bottom skirt length to account for the seam allowance when sewing the two fabrics together. Next, for the fabric (yellow) portion, I looked at the difference between the top and bottom layer-I call it the “seen underskirt” and added 2 inches plus a 0.5 inch for the hem. Total all that and that’s the measurement for the yellow bottom portion of my bottom skirt. To get the top portion of my (white) underskirt, just subtract the previous total from your original underskirt measurement + 0.5 we originally added to the skirt length to account for seam allowance. Easy right?

I am loving the simplicity of the SisBoom Sally and I can’t wait to make many more Sally’s for Hobbes to wear year-round. Join me next week for a modified look at the Sally-because you know how I like to stretch my pattern bucks!

Stay tuned for Part 2 next week – modifying Sally for a winter look. Till then, happy sewing!

~Merav @ Baby Hobbes Design

Stop by my Facebook page Baby Hobbes Design and say Hi; or drop me a line @babyhobbesdesign on Instagram.
Shout out to the wonderful Jeanine Thoslinson and all the wonderful Sally testers; it was a pleasure testing with you.