Sew Straight & Gather Avenue Collection Release

The mark of a great pattern designer is one who is willing to push a deadline until their pattern is just perfect! Terri from Sew Straight and Gather is one such designer. I started testing these patterns a little over a month ago and they are finally ready for release! Terri is based in Canada and designs for modern girls and women. I really need to sew up more of her designs because they suit my Little Miss 5 going on 15 to a T!

The collection includes three wardrobe essentials – pants, a multi-length dress/top, and a multi-length cardigan. This is such a great way to build a capsule wardrobe for your little lady! I opted for the calf length dress and knee length duster cardigan.

I was able to part with use up some fabric from my stash to make the dress and duster. For the duster I used a gorgeous stretch French Terry from Funkalicious Fabrics. Upon inspection, I discovered that this floral print was actually a camouflaged bird! I nearly featured that aspect of it, but it weirded me out just a little too much ;-). I used purple Cotton Lycra for the duster (I think it is Art Gallery). I do think the Cotton Lycra is a little too light for this length of cardigan, but since purple is her current favorite color, it is getting lots of use anyway – and it will be great on these up and down Spring weather days.

Some of the features of these patterns include:

Duster

• 3 lengths (knee, calf, floor)
• pockets (patch or side seam)
• 3 styles (banded, non banded, round neck)

Dress

• 4 lengths (top, knee, calf, floor)
• 4 sleeve lengths (short, half, 3/4, long)
• 2 vent options (side and/or back)
• 2 back neckline options (banded – everyone’s favorite! – or regular)

I used all three of my machines to make these (coverstitch, serger and sewing machine) but you can do it all with just a sewing machine (as long as it has a zig zag stitch). The pattern is rated for confident beginner – intermediate. I would suggest at least with the low or banded back dress/top, making it true to size so that the shoulders don’t slip down. Another thing I did was stabilize the straps and shoulders with some Framilon (clear elastic). I’m not sure if this is entirely necessary but I thought it would help with improving stretch recovery.

The Avenue Collection is on sale today and tomorrow for $5 each piece. After that it will be on sale for one week for 20% off!