Happy Fourth of July friends!

With 2020 more than halfway over, I could go deep here, and share all the insights, challenges, and opportunities I’ve had over the past 7 months, but I’ll save all that for another day, and just say that we are taking the day tommorow to celebrate the birth of our country as a family at home.

While we miss the chance to hang out with friends and relatives, we have decided to make some new memories and traditions with just the five of us. After a bit of brainstorming, we decided that a home-grown celebration involving fishing, fireworks, and some special meals/deserts was the order of the day.

To that end, the boys spent all morning yestterday developing a special menu, generating a grocery shopping list (aka- homeschool art/math/writing assignment in disguise), and planning special activities and games.

While they were busy scheming and debating whether mom would let them bake cake balls AND have root beer floats, Sophia and I snuck into the sewing room, and worked together to sew up a couple celebratory outfits using some of our favorite patterns.

Jalie Loulouxe Skirt and 2805 Women’s Tee

Sophia came out with a new Jalie 2805 women’s tee, and a Jalie Loulouxe skirt.

I’ve made both these patterns for her before (check out my Loulouxe review/comparison here), and knew they’d be a hit- she loves the swish of the skirt, and wove quite a fanciful tale about how an extinct dinosaur took a big bite out of the popsicle on the tee while we were sewing.

I love the fact that she’s getting old enough to be more involved in the creation of her own wardrobe, and had a great time working on this project with her.

I included a tag on the outside of the back skirt (so it wouldn’t be “scratchy”), which is one of the last of these tags I had printed a long time ago. I think my next batch needs to say something about sewing things together- she deserves some credit here too!

The tee panel is from a Knitfabric.com purchase I made two years ago, and I was really happy to finally remember it in time this year!

We have some great 4th themed pictures from years past (check out this one from two years ago!), and I’m happy to continue that tradition, even if house projects mean the boys got left out of the handmade fun.

I do have a pair of summer pajamas in progress for them that I’m really hoping to get finished before August rolls around!

Muscle Up Tank and Cavallo Tights

For myself, I paired the Muscle Up tank I made at the beginning of summer (review here) with the Greenstyle Cavallo Tights.

I snagged this tie dye fabric from Zenith and Quasar– I don’t typically shop for their custom athletics, but I couldn’t resist this fun tie dye print. The tank is made from a really cool and comfortable mesh from Fabric Fairy– I didn’t intend for it to be patriotic, but it sure captures the blue from the tights well!

I’m in the process of filming videos for a Cavallo tights SewAlong in a couple weeks, and so I decided I really needed another pair so I could write down some of the tips I want to share.

I’ll be posting about that here on the blog, in the Fabric Fairy Facebook Group, and on my YouTube channel- so there are plenty of ways to join in the fun. (see my full review of the Cavallo tights here)

Sneak Peek: SewAlong News!

I’ll be concentrating especially on custom fit alterations, coverstitching, and constructing leggings without the use of a coverstich or serger, and plan to have a few bonus videos as well. If you have any suggestions for specific things you’d like to see covered, please drop me a comment below!

Finally, if you want to grab the Cavallos and any other Greenstyle patterns, they’re on sale through the 5th for 30% off- and all fabric from the Fabric Fairy is also discounted at 10% off- using the code “cavalloSAL” through the start of the event, which will run 7/13-7/17/2020.

I hope you have a fun, safe, and delicious holiday- and if you’re curious, here’s the menu the kids came up with!

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