As I mentioned in my last post, my 3 year old is Owl obsessed. She is constantly hooting, flapping, requesting to watch videos on owl pellets, demands owl books when we visit the library each week, and has been gradually amassing a collection of cute, stuffed owls.
She was over the moon when I showed her the owls Ella at Wolf & Rabbit Custom Fabrics had been painting! ADORABLE!
While my favorite owl in the current collection is the gray one, my daughter insisted the rainbow owl was the winner. So, when Ella let us pick our panels last week, I was relieved to snag a rainbow owl set! (Check out my earlier post on my eldest daughter’s top here)
This stunning collection is 100% original art! Ella is so talented – I just adore what she comes up with!
Ella overnighted me a huge pack of samples to sew this collection up: I received a Romper sized Rainbow Owl Panel, and fat halves of: solid mulberry, linen fog, jewel tone stripes, rainbow sweater knit – light, jewel tone rainbows – light. Phew!
About the Misusu Dia Sweater Pattern
I knew I wanted to make a tunic and leggings for my daughter, and was trying to find something that would work. In the end I decided on the Misusu Dia Sweater, which I bought on sale nearly a year ago. The pattern suggested using medium-heavy weight knits though (for our strike off’s some of the fabrics received were lighter than regular W&R fabric), so I decided to line the whole thing with white French Terry from Simply By Ti.
Misusu is a Dutch company, but the patterns are in English. Dia is available in two size ranges – size 9M – 14 (80-164) for kids, and adult (size 34 – 52). One thing I adore about Misusu patterns is how they take quilting techniques to make really interesting, artistic and geometrically inspired garments. This does mean you do need to take more care when sewing them so that all your points are nice and sharp and everything lines up like it should.
The Dia has various styles available – the bodice can be made as I have – with a basic front. There are also two diamond fronts – with a basic diamond and with a more detailed diamond. The top can be made either as a tunic or a sweater, with two different hemline options. I opted for the fun angled one, but it can be made with a straight hem too. Finally, the pattern has a puff sleeve option and multiple sleeve length options.
I just LOVE the instructions and pattern pieces for Misusu patterns. Even though things are complex, the instruction book is laid out beautifully so everything is easy to understand and it’s easy to jump to whichever step you need. The pattern pieces are also plotted in such a way that you’re not joining 5 pieces of paper together for an individual pattern piece when you could use 3 (for example).
For my daughter’s sweater, I used a size 12/18M and lengthened it to size 3T. There are great instructions in the tutorial to help do this correctly.
This pattern doesn’t actually come with a hood – I took someone else’s suggestion and used an Ottobre hood! This one is from Beagle Boy in Ottobre 4/2013.
Overall, Misusu Dia is a fabulous pattern, and I don’t hesitate to recommend it to you! Take your time, and you can do it!
About Boo! Designs Leggings
Boo! Designs is another pattern company I adore – clear, concise directions and well drafted patterns. While there are many leggings patterns that abound, Boo Leggings are definitely one of my favorites. They are just a single pattern piece with 1″ elastic at the top. There’s also an option for bands at the legs. The pattern comes in various lengths and runs in size 6M – 14.
To jazz these ones up, I added a 5″ stitching row of shirring elastic along the side before sewing the legs, then sewed on two buttons after it was hemmed. It’s a cute look, and super easy to pull off. Next time though I think I’ll use clear elastic for the ruching as the shirring elastic doesn’t cinch up quite as much as I had hoped.
About the Fabric
These fabrics are all printed on Organic European Cotton Lycra. 11/12 Ounces or 220gsm. At least 50% 4 way stretch. 95% GOTS certified organic cotton / 5% spandex/lycra.
The animal panels in this collection are available in two sizes – child and romper. The Romper size (which is what I used) has a large animal head (about 10″ tall) and is situated at the top of the fabric with the bottom section being the coordinate. The Child panel has a smaller animal (about 6″ tall) featured on the center of the fabric panel.
Fabric typically takes about 6 weeks to arrive to the designer’s home (in Massachusetts, USA) and is then cut and shipped – so allow up to 8 weeks.
This collection is 100% original artwork!
Preorder closes tonight! If you miss it, there will be limited retail available at the same price – join the Wolf & Rabbit Facebook group and sign up for the newsletter so you get a heads up on that!
Link Summary
- Wolf & Rabbit Linen Fog
- Wolf & Rabbit Mulberry solid
- Wolf & Rabbit Owl Romper Panel
- Wolf & Rabbit Jewel Toned Rainbow Stripe
- Wolf & Rabbit Rainbow Sweater Knit
- Wolf & Rabbit Distressed Denim Indigo
- White French Terry – Simply By Ti
- Misusu Dia Sweater
Disclosure: I received a complimentary fat half of each of these featured fabrics + a romper sized owl panel from Wolf & Rabbit Fabrics for purposes of promotion.
auschick sews 
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