Autumn's Peasant Romper Pattern Review

As some of you may remember, last month I scored big with four contest wins!  Woo-hoo!  My winnings from Project Run & Play contest included three patterns of my choice from Create Kids Couture.  I had been looking around for a really cute romper pattern for Ella for a while, but I couldn't find anything I liked until I won this contest.  I had never heard of Create Kids Couture, but their patterns are for the most adorable boutique style clothing for girls.  And they had two romper patterns!  I picked these three:

Autumn's Peasant Romper    

Anika's Ruffle Capri Romper

Caroline's Princess Top

In my last post, I left you with a little teaser of what I would blog about next.  Here's the pic again. Have you figured it out yet?!

You guessed it!  It's a romper--Autumn's Peasant Romper Pattern to be exact. This was my favorite pattern of the three I won from Create Kids Couture, so I tried making it first.  The pattern was in pdf format and was accompanied by very detailed instructions with color photos.  The thing I loved about this pattern was that all the pieces are just rectangles (they specify the dimensions of each rectangle according to size) and the only pattern pieces are for parts of fabric you cut out of the rectangles. Does that make sense?

I used more of Joel Dewberry's Heirloom collection fabric from my stash, so this definitely should look familiar if you've read any of my other posts lately.  You'll see even more of it again soon!

Plus, the patterns created by Create Kids Couture cover a wide range of sizes (18 months to size 6), so you can use the same pattern over and over again as your child grows!  To make sure I used the correct size for Ella, I measured a pair of pants that fit her well in length and then compared that measurement to the pattern sizing chart.  I decided to go with a 3T although I have been making most things in 4T for her when I use store bought patterns.

This outfit looks like it might be complicated to sew, but it was actually sewVery easy!  The most challenging part was the shirring on the bodice and sleeves, and that was only challenging to me because I had never shirred anything before!  I checked out a quick YouTube video and along with the settings suggested by the pattern, I had it figured out in no time!  Then, I tested it on a scrap piece of fabric to make sure the elastic thread would draw up correctly when spritzed with water and then hit with a hot iron. Worked perfectly!

See the shirring at the waist in this picture?

And see the shirring on the sleeves in this picture?

Doesn't this outfit just make you want to smile?  Not to mention the cute little girl wearing it. She just loves beautiful flowers, and we happened to find one lonely daffodil blooming in the yard.

The only thing I added to this outfit were some removable belt loops.  After giving the outfit a test run and play around the house for a couple of hours, we discovered that the sash just would not stay up--at all!  I made the belt loops out of some fuschia bias tape that I had made for another project.  I wanted to be able to remove them if she wears the romper without the sash, so I put buttonholes on the belt loop pieces and sewed buttons on the sides of the romper.  This addition definitely helped to keep the sash up better, but I think the bow is just a little heavy in front and just wants to droop. When I tied the bow in back instead, it stayed up just fine in front.

All total, it probably took me a couple of hours (maybe three) to print the pattern, cut out the pattern pieces, cut out the fabric, and sew it all together. I imagine next time will go even faster since I've figured out how to sew with elastic thread.

Ella got so many compliments the day she wore this outfit, especially from men!  One dad at my son's basketball practice even proclaimed that was the cutest outfit he had ever seen!

I definitely will make this outfit again, and I highly recommend that you check out Create Kids Couture's blog and pattern shop; and if you have a precious little girl who loves to dress up, then I hope you'll purchase one (or two or three) of their patterns, too!

Here are a few of the places where I am linking up this post this week. Please check them out!