Skater Dress Pattern Tour: The Train to Crazy

The final stop on the Skater Dress Pattern Tour is here, with the very special Andrea from The Train to Crazy! I wager there's not a single one of you who hasn't come across Andrea before. She's the woman behind Go To Patterns, for a start.  These are all patterns that she has designed and you'll see my version of one of them this shortly!

 

There are lots of helpful tutorials and round-ups on the associated Go To Sew site, but also a wealth of sewing, blogging, cooking, techy, and lifestyle information on her personal blog The Train To Crazy:

Oh. And in her 'free time' (on top of all this pattern designing and being super helpful and rearing four kids), she's recently launched a new venture in graphic design and media kits to help people out who are busier than her. Are there people busier than her? Probably not. So she's probably helping people out who are less savvy at graphic design and media kits, which means everyone and yours truly.

Without further ado and with a riotous drumroll... the final dress of the Skater Dress Pattern Tour!

Click on through for the whole post and a fantastic photoshoot. Did I mention that she takes great pics as well?

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Skater Dress Pattern Tour: Melly Sews

Today we have Melissa from Melly Sews on the Skater Dress Pattern Tour!  You probably know her as the woman behind Blank Slate Patterns, or from her co-host role in the fabulous music-inspired Sew In Tune, or as a participant in Sew-Vivor... She's everywhere, and rightfully so.

In the time I've know Melissa I've been blown away by how accomplished she is at everything.  She sews for her boys, she sews for herself, she writes a technical series on blogging and recently released an e-course on Pattern Drafting in Illustrator.  I'm not going to say, 'Well she can't do that', because she'll probably do that next week.

Without any little girls of her own, Melissa made a Skater Dress for her niece and here's a sneaky peak...

Click through for the full post!

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Skater Dress Pattern Tour: SewVery

Today we have Veronica from Sew Very on the Skater Dress pattern tour!  She has a very sweet style whether she's sewing for her kids...

Or for herself! She makes the loveliest bags and I'm considering quite seriously making that exact same Washi Tunic for me.

You wouldn't know it unless I told you, but Veronica has only just ventured into knit-sewing.  Here's a sneaky peak of the first appliqued Skater Dress on the tour... How meta is that?

To see what she has to say about the pattern as a relative knit-newbie, click through for the full post.

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Skater Dress Pattern Tour: Sew a Straight Line

I'm really excited to have Sabra from Sew a Straight Line participating in the Skater Dress pattern tour today. Whether it's sewing for her (four!) kids or for herself, I basically love everything she makes.  So effortlessly* cool.  I hit refresh on her blog all day long hoping she's posted a tute on how to be so pretty.

*I mean that she makes it look effortless, not that she doesn't put effort into it. It's probably pretty easy for her though.

But my favourite thing about Sabra (if you made me choose) is that she's a funny lady.  Irreverant humour and sewing are the best combination.

Sabra totally got addicted to Skater Dresses I'm not going to say that Sabra became addicted to Skater Dresses as such, but here's a sneaky peak of the first three! Emboldened by earlier successes, the third Skater Dress got a snap placket, hood and Kangaroo pocket!

Click on through for the sweetest review!

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Skater Dress Pattern Tour: Craftiness is not Optional

Wooo boy, today we welcome Craftiness is Not Optional to the Skater Dress Pattern Tour! You might know Jess from the three impeccable girls she produced or you might know her from... everywhere?

Not content to show us all up with the sewing, Jess is also a Master of the Parties.  And The Bentos.

Out of all the bloggers I follow, I thinks Jess has one of the most instantly recognisable aethetics and her Skater Dress is no different! Such sweet colours and print...

Click through for the full review!

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Skater Dress Pattern Tour: Alida Makes

Hello again, today we're stopping on the Skater Dress Pattern Tour with the fantastic Alida from Alida Makes!  You might recognise Alida from the newish-but-legendary Calling All Kids Series or maybe from the cacophony of awesomeness? 

I love Alida's modern style and her tutorial about how to turn sketches into fabric might have made me create my first fabric (watch this space).   In news-that's-not-fair, Alida is also supremely adorable and has lots of tutes for lady-wares:

And here's a sneaky peek of what Alida did with the pattern... She stamped and sharpied the fabric herself and she added pockets!

Take it away, Alida!

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Skater Dress Pattern Tour: Sewing Mama Raeanna

Welcome back for today installment of the Skater Dress Pattern tour! Today we have RaeAnna of Sewing Mama RaeAnna as a guest. RaeAnna is a relatively new blogger (am I allowed to say this as a blogger of five years?! I hope so!) of less than two years, but she's popping up all over the place with her combination of sassy and whimsy creations:

Did I mention that she has superior embroiderer skillz?  She does!  Personalised appliques are her forte:

So, without further ado here is a sneaky peak of RaeAnna's Skater Dress...  with matching leggings!

Jump through for the whole shebang!

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Skater Dress Pattern Tour: Sew Country Chick

Today I welcome Justine from Sew Country Chick to the Skater Dress Pattern Tour!  Justine is very special as although she has a little, she also has an-older-than-little, a teen and a mama body ready to make things for. 

How refreshing is it it find sewing projects for older kids, teens, and mums? Heaps, I tell you. Justine is even working on a fully-tailored man coat.  There is a wealth of tutorials on Sew Country Chick for the full gamut of age ranges, I can't wait to try out some of her grown-up ones.  Although a lot of Justine's projects are distinctly modern, she has a particular flair for vintage:

So here's a sneaky peak of what Justine did with the Skater dress....

 Click through for the entire post!

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Skater Dress Pattern Tour: Caila-Made

Today I'm delighted to have Caila-Made participating in the Skater Dress Pattern Tour!  Caila has a really sweet style using lots of sherberty colours and whimsy prints:

The frame purse tutorial has been on my to-do list for ages.  We'll be seeing a lot more of Caila around the blogosphere soon as the bias button dress far left just landed her a spot on Sew-Vivor!  Her kids are adorable, her house is massively covetable and she can throw me a birthday party any time she likes:

It doesn't even have to be in August.  I'm willing to change my birthday.

Here's a sneaky peak of what Caila did with the Skater Dress.... Look at that awesome fabric!

Click on through for the full post!

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Skater Dress Pattern Tour: EmmylouBeeDoo

Today we're swinging by EmmylouBeeDoo for her Skater Dress rendition(s).  Sarah first came to my attention after winning the first Kitschy Coo fabric giveaway and we've since become (as proclaimed by me) Instagram BFFs.  As well as being generally hilarious and having the distinction of spawning one of the cutest kids I've ever seen, Sarah has serious sewing swagger.

See? Recognise that fabric bottom left?  She graciously used the fabric she won to pay it forward with a bubble skirt tutorial.  And then did another tutorial for a twisty bubble skirt.  These tutorials should have given us premonitions for Sarah's next endeavour...

Her own line of patterns!  Let us all collectively cross our fingers that they're graded up to Maia's size.

Sarah sewed up not one but two Skater Dresses and her fabrics are amazing.  I admit to being introduced to an animal hitherto unknown to me (not the rooster snarky folk).  And she piped the waist seam too!

Jump on over!

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Skater Dress Pattern Tour: La Inglesita

Today's installment of the Skater Dress Pattern Tour is a fellow European blogger, La Inglesita!  Maria lives in Spain with her three children and has most recently been seen strutting her sewing stuff in the latest series of Project Run and Play.

Maria has a great style for clean lines with interesting details: the piping in the tunic's yoke, the buttons and princess seams in the green New Girl dress, letting the fabric do the talking in the Gnome Dress, the reversible (a woman after my own heart!) nature of the gilet, and the underskirt and pocket of that adorable skirt.

Fancy some interesting details of your own? Her tutorials page includes drafting a double collar, a summer sun hat, and a very cute heart shaped lapel.

Here's a sneaky peek of what Maria did with the skater dress... Colour-blocking! Waistband!

Hop through for the full reveal!

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Skater Dress Pattern Tour: Elsie Marley

I'm really excited to welcome the second blogger on the Skater Dress Pattern Tour, Meg from Elsie Marley!  As everyone in the world knows, Meg is the brains behind the uber-popular Kids Clothes Week Challenges that twice-yearly gets the sewing community rared up about sewing clothes for their kiddos.  There are many things I love about Meg's blog, but her quirky sense of fun gets me every time.

Have I mentioned that I'd like to live in her house in a completely non-creepy way?  I'll take the cloud loft bed on the right please.

Here's a sneaky peak of what Meg did with the Skater Dress... it has a hood!

 Hop on through for the full post.

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Skater Dress Pattern Tour: Elegance and Elephants

Starting off the Skater Dress pattern tour is Heidi of Elegance and Elephants! You might know Heidi from her fantastic Knock It Off series, or maybe you remember her winning the Project Run and Play Sew-along Signature Look in February 2012? And then becoming a bona-fide participant of Project Run and Play in the next season and again knocking it out of the park?

Heidi describes her style aesthetic as classic and vintage and her attention to detail is exquisite.  Just look at the hand embroidery on the apple coat! The leaf and stem on the hat! The buttons and stitching on the military coat!

And guess what?  Elegance and Elephants has just released their first sewing pattern. So cute.

Living in Canada with a lack of locally available funky knits (her words- no Canada judging from me!) didn't stop Heidi from making a super stylish Skater Dress with just monochrome plains and fabric paint...

Hop on over for a bunch of pics of her adorable modeling and a review of the pattern!

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Announcing... The Skater Dress Pattern Tour!

I'm really excited to announce that The Skater Dress is going on a pattern tour with a huge selection of amazing bloggers!

The timing of the tour is most fortuitious as I'm actually bringing the kids Stateside over the Easter holidays.  And I'm bringing them solo for the first time ever.  The good news is that they are fantastic travellers; the bad news is that I am not a fantastic traveller.  Nineteen hours from door to door (starting at 3AM) does not a happy Amanda make.  Any tips for me?  Specifically, any recommendations for activity books that I can unveil on the plane to great critical acclaim?

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