Would they Wear That? Dolman tops

I (Major Moma) am reading Tim Gunn's book The Fashion Bible (affiliate link) and am quite enjoying learning the history behind the garments we wear today.  So in the spirit of Mr. Gunn's book, I thought I would share a little history about a style of top I am making for Abi's Back-to-School wardrobe.

Tee shirts are an absolute must for today's wardrobe but I think they can look sloppy or boring so I love it when I can find a tee that has some fun shape to it.  And the "dolman" shirt is perfect for adding that little something special to a basic tee.  Also, the cut is quite comfortable so there is no sacrifice for fashion!

Wikapedia traces the origins of the Doman to Turkish court clothing and describes a woman's dolman top as "A dolman sleeve is a sleeve set into a very low armscye; in fact, the armscye may extend to the waistline, in which case there will be no underarm seam in the blouse. Dolman sleeves were very popular in ladies clothing during the Civil War. They returned to popular fashion in the mid 1980s with dolman sleeves on acid and stone-washed denim jackets geared towards teenage boys and girls. They had the effect of making the shoulders look sloped therefore minimizing the appearance of the waist."

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I am guessing that it is the '80s fashion revival that has brought the dolman back on trend for us today.  See! there was some good fashion in the '80s!

If you are not as interested in the history of fashion but need to know what makes a dolman sleeve a dolman, Dictionary.com has a much less illuminating description:

noun

1.

a sleeve tapered from a very large armhole to fit closely at the wrist,used on women's garments.

A short sleeve version of this top is wonderfully simple because the sleeve is cut onto the front and back.  What that means is that there are only two pieces to the pattern!  (unless you opt for binding the neckline)

The longer sleeve version has a sleeve that attaches to that dropped shoulder and is quite fitted on the arm while the under arm is left loose and breezy.

There are two dolman sleeve patterns on my cutting table right now; Shwin & Shwin's Day Tripper top and Jaile's 3352.  But there are other options if you want to sew this style for your tween.


A pattern I have not tried but have seen good things written about is the Carlie by EYMM.  It comes in sizes into the high tweens/teens and has a trendy high/low thing going on too.

Carlie

Pattern's for Pirates has a woman's dolman called the Pumpkin Spice that comes in an XXS that according to the measurements would fit a size 10 or 12 tween girl.  This pattern has a couple different design options and if it is as good as the other P4P patterns I have sewn, it is sure to be a winner.

Sew Much Ado has two dolman tops in it's shop.  One is for children and only goes up to size 10 and the other is for women and starts at XS.  One of these may work for your tween.  Check out the measurements and see ...

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Jaile's 3352 comes in sizes 2T to 22 Woman's.  So this is a pattern that can really fit all the girls/ladies in your family.

The Day Tripper also is not a children's pattern.  It is designed for women but the XS is an option for the older tweens.  (Plus, you can sew one up for you too just to make the purchase worth it, right?)

And finally, if you are more of a Draft-it-Yourself gal or simply don't have the cash to spend on one more pattern during the school buying frenzy, Becca's Creative Notions has a tutorial on how to use your normal tee-shirt pattern to draft a dolman sleeve tee-shirt.

Sooo,,. Would your tween wear a dolman top?

Willow & Co's new line

Last year a few indie designers got together and started their own pattern company called Willow & Co.  The theme of the first line was 'glamping' and they created several modern and stylish looks for children to wear.  Some of those patterns go through tween sizes, so we took notice.

Now this year, they have a fresh new line that has more items that are great for tweens.  We asked them to highlight their tween friendly patterns and introduce you all to this company.

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Antalya dress

The Antalya dress is a relaxed-fitting dress with modern details. It features short dolman sleeves, curved front-side panels with gathered details, a separate gathered drop waist skirt at the back, and the option of either an exposed zipper or four buttons with loops. The neckline is finished with binding, and the dress curves can be accentuated with piping.

Limon Dress & Top

The Limon Dress & Top pdf sewing pattern includes all the options you need to make a classically modern outfit for a little girl in sizes 6 months through 12 years. It features pintucks on both the front and back as well as a fully lined bodice with a technique that encloses all the raw edges. You can choose to make a sleeveless dress or top or use the gathered sleeves. An optional placket can be added and embellished with your favorite lace or ruffled fabric. (Note: sizes 6 months to 3T must add the placket to allow for dressing.)

London Backpack

The London Backpack is a medium sized bag that works well for both kids and adults. It features two zipper pockets - a large outer pocket as well as a smaller inner pocket, adjustable straps, and it closes with a drawstring and magnetic snap.

This pattern is versatile, practical, and the perfect blank slate for pattern mixing and making modifications to suit your needs.

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Thank you Willow & Co and keep the good tween patterns coming!!!

Fresh Air by BurdaStyle

Do you have a wedding to attend this summer or is your tween in need of some new dress clothes?

I know Easter is usually the big push for fancy clothes and that just passed.  But there always seems to be events in our lives that we need the kids to clean up and put on something other than jeans and a tee shirt.

BurdaStyle recently released a collection of dressy clothes that fit both tween girls and boys called the Fresh Air Collection. (This post contains affiliate links.)

Boy's Suit Jacket

Let's start with the boys.  Look at this stylish blazer!  I can just see a handsome 11 year old in this jacket with its trendy collar.

Boy's trouser

And to go with the blazer here are some trousers that are not too skinny but still hip.

Lace Dress with Peter Pan Collar

And now for the girls; here is a beautiful lace overlay dress with a peter pan collar and special button up back.

Open Blouse

I adore this open blouse that could dress up any outfit and could be used separate from this fancy collection.

Long Capped Sleeve Dress

And if you are looking for a longer dress, what do you think of this one?  I love the bow at the back too ... very feminine but not too little girl.

If you choose to sew any of these up, we would love to see how they look!  Let us know any tips or tricks you learned.

Esty Shop Round-up

I am always on the lookout for new designers that make patterns for tween sizes and most of these I find through blogs. But, I have noticed that there are a few pattern designers that have stores on etsy.com.

I am a big fan of etsy and buy most of my gifts from there. I love how it is all small independent businesses. So, I thought it would be great to go on etsy and do a search for children’s sewing patterns. Here are my favorites of what I found:

Sally actually found this shop, Blaverry and sent me the link.  We both really liked her style but most of the clothes are for girls.  But this jacket could be easily made for a boy with the right fabric choices.

Girls & Boys reversible jacket

 Livi Stitches Patterns is a pdf. pattern vendor that has a lot of ruffly cuteness that is more geared for younger girls.  But, she does carry some patterns that are both sized and designed so that a tween could enjoy them. For example, here is a cute basic skirt with color blocking opportunities.

Lucy Skirt

OK, this one only goes to size 10, which is not a tween pattern. But the dress is so beautiful, I had to share it. Maybe one of our readers can get some use out of it. It is by My Childhood Treasures.

Colorblock dress

Felicity Patterns have modern style patterns for both boys and girls. The sizes run up to size 12, so a smaller tween can fit these.  I like this shirt as an alternative to T-shirt for a boy but it is not so dressy as to make him feel constrained.

Kiernan shirt

The Scientific Seamstress has some tween patterns too!

Bowling shirt

There is an etsy shop called Fishsticks Designs and this designer not only has a lot of tween patterns, she has a lot of BOY tween patterns.  Many of them are great basics that you could use to make to fit your boy's unique or notso unique style.

Campshirt

For more of a modern, urban style, you may want to check out Heidi and Finn patterns.  Here is her Urban Unisex Hoodie pattern.

Heidi &Finn

What are your favorite etsy shops for patterns?

Making Jeans

 Do you sew your tween's jeans?  I think this is one of the most intimidating of all articles of clothing for a home sewer.  There is the fly and then all that top-stitching.  But really, they are not as hard as they look and with the right hardware and embellishments, you can make a very cool looking pair of jeans.

But are they worth it?  You can buy jeans pretty cheap at most kids clothing stores, so you may wonder if it make sense to make jean.  I (Major Moma) did not feel like making any one year for my daughter and Old Navy had their back to schools sales with $10 jeans.  How could I pass that up?  Well, the first day my daughter wore a pair that I bought, she went riding on her bike and fell; the knee in those jeans had a huge rip in it.  On day one.  Isn't that supposed to be the beauty of denim, its strength and durability?

I have made several pairs of jeans for my son and a few for my daughter and the fabric at Joanns (not a retailer known for its high end fabrics) is a high enough quality that it takes a lot of abuse to wear them out.

So it may be worth it to you to sew jeans.  But what patterns to use?  Sew Cool has reviewed a couple patterns and so you can see what we think of some options.

Ottobre 3/2010 by Land of KA

Burda Kids 9500

Burdastyle #149

Below is a roundup of various patterns, some I have sewn and some that I have seen around on the internet.

Slim Jim Pants by Felicity

Burdastyle corduroy pants 11/2013

The Sand & Sidewalk Boardshorts and Skate Pants 

Only up to size 10; but Peek-a-Boo skinny jeans
have great reviews. (affiliate)

Burdastyle Boy's corduroy pants 08/2013

small fry skinny jean

And now that you see some options, we would like all of you to show the jeans patterns that you love and share your experiences.  We have a special linky party open just for jeans and pants.  Please link up any jeans patterns that you have sewn for your tween or at least the pattern has tween sizes.

Pant linky party HERE

Finally, we have started a new board on our Pinterest account that is solely dedicated to jeans.  You can pop on over to there to see various patterns and tutorials to make you home made jeans custom and cool.

Let's sew some jeans!

Round up: sundresses

Though school is just around the corner, I know it is still warm in many areas of the U.S. and will be for the foreseeable future.    And since it is still warm and there is plenty of time for enjoying the sun, I thought it would be fun to do a roundup of pretty sundresses.  Most of the summer my children are riding bikes, camping, and generally getting dirty.  But there are those occasions when it is nice to clean the dirt off their knees and put the girls in a dress.

So, here are some fun options for church, summer weddings, and the more civilized family gatherings.

The Fawn Lily Tunic & Dress has a nice modern vibe and goes up to size 12.  It is from the new designer collaboration at Willow & Co Patterns.

I really like the simplicity of the Go To Shift Dress.  It also goes up to size 12.

The Caroline Party Dress is a little more fancy but has cap sleeves and would be a great summer dress for those more formal occasions.

Burdastyle has a beautiful long dress with wonderful detailing on the bodice with the deceptively simple name Long Capped Sleeve dress.

Do any of you use vintage patterns for your kids.  I think this shift dress would be so adorable and easily made modern for your tween.

Do you have a favorite sundress pattern?