P&M Patterns Tour: Gus for Girls + Giveaway

Welcome to day 4 of the P&M Patterns Blog Tour! P&M Patterns is a new-to-me designer based in France. The patterns however are in both English and French! The pattern company was established in 2012 with just children’s designs, but has since branched out into women’s (many mommy & me options available!). The designs are stylish and chic, and the designer also recently published her first book with 13 beautiful kids patterns.

For this tour, I received a complimentary copy of the Gus top for girls. This pattern can be made in both lightweight wovens and knits. I decided to go with a rayon that has been in my stash for a while (I first used it to make a dress for my eldest when she was 4!). I did my contrast bands in some leftover pink satin from the dresses I made last month.

Since the pattern is European, it’s designed to be printed on A4 paper, however you can use US Legal or send the A0 size to a printer (such as pdfplotting).

Since both my girls fit into the size chart for the Gus, I made two! For my youngest, I did a size 2 and for my eldest I did a 6, lengthened to 8. Well, it started as that, but then as I was sewing I realized that in cutting on the fold and not paying attention to the back of the fabric, I had cut the 6/8 bodice with a chunk taken out from the bottom of one side! I wasn’t in the mood to undo all my work (WHY I didn’t notice this BEFORE I started sewing (or cutting) is beyond me!). So, I chopped an inch or two off from all around the bottom to even it back out! (The pattern, incidentally, runs from 2Y – 10Y, and the separate women’s version from 32-46).

The seam allowances are included and are 1cm (3/8″). I wanted to use French seams on my side seams and shoulders so I increased the seam allowance to 5/8″ in these parts. I also changed the construction steps around and did set in sleeves rather than flat.

 

Even though the instructions called for bias tape made from the same fabric as the body, I initially tried using some tape I’d already made from quilting cotton. This ended up being too heavy and caused the neckline to sag weirdly, so I ripped that out, followed the instructions and used rayon instead. Even when doing the rayon, I found that in binding the fabric the neckline kept sagging, so in the end I serged the edge of the bias tape and installed it more like a facing.

All the seams are supposed to be enclosed. I wanted to avoid hand stitching though, so I finished the lower hem band and the armscye with my serger instead. I also top stitched the hem band on the size 2 which helps withe keeping the serged seam flat.

I think the front of this pattern could easily be embellished with pintucking or lace for a more heirloom look – though after seeing a couple of other Gus’s on this tour, I’m so inspired by the knit versions!

Overall, I’m impressed by this pattern and hope to sew more P&M Patterns in the future!

Giveaway!

And now for the Giveaway! Complete the Rafflecopter for your chance to win a P&M Pattern for yourself!

Make sure you swing by these blogs this week! 

• March, 13th: Lilla-Gumma/ My Sewing Roots
• March, 14th: Sew Sew Ilse/ Threadistry/ Seams Sew Lo
• March, 15th: Sprouting JubeJube/ Sewrendipity/ Sewvolution
• March, 16th: Sewing Vortex/ OakBlue Designs/ Auschick Sews
• March, 17th Octaves of Color

I received a complimentary copy of the Gus pattern from P&M Patterns for purposes of review and promotion.