Well my plan of posting a recap of 2014 and then keeping up to date in 2015 has gone completely out the window hasn’t it? Darn. Well there is no time like the present to fix that.
As fall of 2013 neared, I decided that Princess needed a new fall jacket, and try as I may I couldn’t find one that we both loved that wasn’t 100$. So I went on Pinterest. I found a darling little jacket, but it was a cropped length and it had a one button closure, not practical at all for Canada. What’s a girl to do? I decided I loved it, but it needed to be Canadianized. So I printed the pattern (love free tutorials), I added seam allowance to the pattern pieces and cut lining out in the size given. I added 10 inches of length, and figured out how to add a 2 way zipper. I loved it and decided that this was what I was going to do. I was going to make things from my own ideas. Well that didn’t work because I can’t grade patterns…. yet. Here’s the jacket, she just loved it.
So seeing as I can’t design for myself yet, I will start with the dress that kicked off the adventure into PDF patterns. I discovered The Cottage Mama blog last March and fell in love. She had a free pattern on her blog and I had to make it, it screamed Princess. Well it was not the easiest thing (for someone who forgets to follow pattern instructions) to get made, but I did it. The result was not what I expected but it was fun, cute and it passed the twirl test. Princess loved it and that’s what mattered. I have since made 3 more, one of which you have to wait to see because it’s part of the 2015 photo collection.
After that I kept seeing tester photo’s all over the place and thought, Tester? How do I get to become one of those?? So I spent a lot of time searching Facebook until one day a new designer came on with a tester call. I applied, figuring it would take months of applying before someone would actually let me test for them. I was wrong, Boom first try!! So I tested Odette for Sunday Girl Designs, and before it was done I thought, many times, that I was not ready for this. Here’s the result, I was thrilled beyond words. I had never done sleeves, pleats, tucks, collars or fancy cuffs but it turned out better than I could have hoped for.
From here I applied for every tester call that came up. I tested for women and for girls. The following are things I tested through out the summer.
This is the Ella by Made for Mermaids 
After the Ella, I tested for Fresh Stitch Patterns. The black and red is the Playgroup dress and the pink one is the Banksia. Princess chose the fabrics and in the end they were just too cute for words 🙂
I have tested two more patterns for this designer in 2015…. but I’m saving those for the next post 🙂
Somewhere in there I did a sew along with Ellie Inspired, The Best Friends dress. Can you tell my girl likes to jump?
It is super cute, bonus, I learned how to watermark my pictures… some of them.
Then I found fabric that still had a pattern pinned to it, and it was already cut out. My mom had started it for me in 1979, 30 years before princess was born. So I made it for her, and for mom so she could see it done. I cut off some jeans for shorts and made a sash belt out of what was left of the fabric.
Then life got hectic and I made a few things but never took pictures. Here are some pictures that I forgot about. I can’t remember in what month or what order I made them, lol.
October came around and the kids were back to school, and it was time to start planning Christmas outfits. And the mother of all testing calls came up. My Treasured Heirlooms had a 2 piece dress set that I needed to make for Christmas, and she let me test it. Presenting the Sweet Innocence! The over dress is magnificent, and the peasant is so comfy she hates to take it off.
Of course I mentioned how comfy the peasant was for a reason……
The purple was a birthday present for a friend (in 2015.. oops). Oh and now she wants a sleeveless one, or two, for the summer 🙂
Fall turned to winter and I was selected to test for Ellie Inspired, which was a HUGE shock, and honor. Here is my Sugar Plum sweater dress, and my moms Sugar Plum house coat.
Whew, now this is why people blog more than once every quarter. It’s exhausting, complicated if you don’t remember in what order you made things, and torture for those reading it. I do apologize for the length. I am writing my next one right now, and setting it to post next Tuesday, so there is a chance for continuity.
Thank you for reading my blog and for sticking with me.
Kelly's Sewing Creations 