Giveaway at Lila Tueller's blog!

You have to check out this giveaway

You can win a purse made from some of her fabric and second place giveaway his a copy of her Peasant Blouse pattern and a copy of her Bohemian Bag pattern

What a great giveaway!

Pattern Review - Simplicity 3546

Pattern: Simplicity 3546 (Project Runway)

Pattern Rating: Difficult (this pattern is for Advanced Sewers)

Pattern Description: Girls' dress or mini dress

Pattern Sizing: 8-16 (also available in plus sizes 81/2 - 161/2)

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope when finished? Yes.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, however the pattern pieces were difficult to pick out. But once you have the correct pattern pieces the instructions were easy to follow. There were lots of pictures as well to help clarify the instructions.

What did you particularly like/dislike about this pattern? I liked that there were lots of pictures to follow as sometimes the explanations were confusing. Also I liked that there were many different variations of the dress to choose from. I disliked that finding the pattern pieces was so difficult as they didn't seem to be clearly labelled. As well the facing around the neckline doesn't sit as flat as it should despite several attempts to do so (as well as multiple pressings). Next time I will line the entire bodice to avoid this.

Fabric used: Cotton - from Fabricland (on sale) and velvet ribbon trim from WalMart.

Pattern alterations/design changes made: I made the mini dress, but my daughter wanted more of a top so I cut 6-8 inches off the bottom to make a top. I also had a hard time finding ribbon trim for the midriff that was wide enough and that my daughter liked. So I just sewed ribbon trim on the top and bottom of the midriff, which I think looks nice.

Would you sew it again? Recommend it to others? Yes I would sew this pattern again, as there are many ways to make different looks with this pattern. I would recommend this pattern to advanced sewers, as it may be difficult for beginner sewers to choose the correct pieces and there are some curves to manipulate. As you can see from my picture above I do have some wonkyness going on on the neckline.

Conclusion: Overall an easy pattern to use that took 2-3 hours to complete (including seam finishing).

Strawberries & Jam

Instead of sewing I've been picking these.....

and making this.......

At first I was quite intimidated to make jam. But it really is easy and doesn't take nearly the amount of time I thought it would. We don't really eat that much jam. Maybe 3 jars a year, so I've arranged to trade some jam for pickles and we'll give some away.