Good morning! Welcome to Day 4 of our Back to School blog tour! Just two stops today – Meghan and Alexandria from our Made for Mermaids blog team have both posted their newest wardrobe additions below, and we’ll also head over to see what Aaronica is up to over at The Needle and the Belle!
Aaronica was working on a Paige Piko for her little. Go check out her blog to see more of these CUTE llamas!
Our next stop is right here!
Adeline + Darcy
At our house, “back-to-school” means fun new notebooks and new first day of school dresses! I honestly don’t know which one my girls get more excited about, but I like to pretend that it’s all about the dresses. My girls are still young enough that they get excited about school themed prints and all things twirly, so I did my best to combine the two for the perfect first day of school dress.
Luckily, Made for Mermaids has a wide selection of dresses that fall into the twirly dress category. I chose to use the Adeline Dress because it is equally twirly and comfortable and is perfect to show off those fun back to school fabrics! I mean, how sweet are these burlap apples from Vintage Lace Prints? I decided to pair their adorable dresses with a Darcey Cardigan to fit each girls needs and personalities.
Even though it is still a billion degrees outside, I always send my girls to school with a cardigan in their backpacks to wear in the classroom. Darcey is amazing because it is packed full of options! I let my girls go through and pick exactly what they wanted for their cardigans, which made them love them even more. Sadie (my oldest) picked a short sleeve, tunic length, with a hood in a super cozy sweater knit. Claire also wanted tunic length, but had to have pockets to store her collection of rocks, and long sleeves so she doesn’t get cold. They look so precious with their dresses!
Now excuse me while I go cry into a carton of ice cream because I can’t handle how big my girls are getting. -Meghan
Back to School = Back to Ballet
Normally, my back to school sewing involves altering my girls’ plaid jumpers to fit them – ugh, boring. I was thrilled to join in with the other bloggers and sew up something new. Back to school, at our house, means a new year of ballet is on the horizon. Sewing a warm-up for ballet has been on my to-do list for awhile, maybe since last year. I wanted something easy to throw in her bag and quick to put on after class. I’d seen rompers offered by dance supply companies but never found one that was functional and flattering. A few Made for Mermaids patterns later: Problem Solved!
I started with Lillian. The wide leg pants were exactly what I needed. Then the hardest part was picking out a fabric: woven or knit? She chose a solid french terry, which is perfect. It will look nice after being thrown in her ballet bag and more importantly won’t cling to her tights. I love all the options for the top of Lillian but, anything with ties was not going to be the easiest to put on after class. Ella was the perfect top to mash with the Lillian pants. The open neckline made it easy to pull on as a romper. Finally, to keep the shoulders from falling off, I added the crisscross straps using one of the Adeline hacks.
Here in Idaho, layering is a must for the fall. A tank romper was not going to work for the whole year. I paired it with an off the shoulder Stella. It is the perfect option for my dancer as her bun won’t get stuck in the neckline! For a bit of extra fun, I included a few of my own hacks. To allow the length be adjusted, I added a drawstring to the hemline. The thumb hole cuffs on her Stella are from the Pattern for Pirates Go To Jacket. Now she’s all ready for the start of ballet in a few short weeks. Where did this summer go?!! I should probably tackle those school uniforms now.
A very special thanks to the Ballet Idaho Academy for letting us use their studio space for photos. -Alexandria
Can you believe the week is almost over? Check out the blog tomorrow to see what Team Mermaid is working on as part of our back school wardrobes!
Contest info:
From Monday, July 30th, to Sunday, August 5th, share your own Back to School creations in our Facebook group with the hashtag #m4mback2school2018, and we will pick several winners to be featured on our blog on Monday, August 6th! We can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Missed a day?
Day 1: Wild and Wanderful, Rebel and Malice, mama & little e
Day 2: Argyle & Pearls, Indoor Shannon, All Things Katy
Day 3: Kainara Stitches, It’s Liesel, Idle Sunshine!
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