Riley Blake Designs Knit LOVE Blog Tour

I was beyond excited to be invited to be one of the stops on the Riley Blake Designs Knit Love Blog Tour this month! As you know from my shop and blog we LOVE knits. They are comfy, practical, and stylish. The last few years, I have been excited to see more mainstream manufacturers producing not just knit fabrics, but quality cotton lyrca jersey knits in great prints and colors!

When Julia from Riley Blake asked me what I would like to try, I will be honest, it was a struggle to pick from all the choices! I did, though, finally deciding on this brown floral knit from Roots & Wings. She also sent me this yellow from their line of solids and it matches great!

When I think of cotton lycra, I think of leggings! As a mom of 3 little girls, leggings get worn a LOT in this house. One of the most common questions I get is “What type of fabric should I use for leggings?” The answer I give is a medium weight cotton lycra jersey that is a 95/5% blend and stretches in both directions. Since most people have to shop online for knits, this can be a challenge, but I can now say that these Riley Blake knits are perfect! Of course, I couldn’t try out these fabrics and NOT make some leggings, lol. I am also in love with it for t-shirts, it has just enough drape and plenty of stretch and is super comfy.

Knits are NOT scary I promise! You CAN sew them on a regular sewing machine, and honestly I recommend it! I have 2 sergers, but you know what I used to make this outfit? Just my regular sewing machine. You can find some get tips to sewing with knits on my Knits 101 blog post, I also include a full page of hints, tips and tricks with all of my knit patterns.

I used the first two girls patterns released by EYMM. Carlie’s Dolman Top and Jocelyn’s Leggings. Both can be found in the EYMM shop AND as an EYMM special you can use the coupon RBKnitLove to get 25% off either pattern through 3/12/15 at 11:59pm PDT.

Jocelyn’s Leggings was the base of my outfit idea because of the fabric. We love and often live in leggings in our house. Since we have 3 little girls and live near Seattle, layering is more then just trendy, it’s practical! We wear leggings under tunics, under skirts, with sweaters, dresses, and even under shorts. I love having a mix of solids and fun prints for the girls and, honestly, they are easy to sew up.

The Jocelyn’s Leggings pattern includes 3 different length options, 2 different elastic-free waistband options and comes in sizes Newborn through 18 tween. That means you get 19 sizes for just $10, and if you are like me, with kids who are super slim through the hips or otherwise don’t fit the “norm,” it includes directions for customizing the fit! She is no longer in a diaper so there is a tiny bit of room in the bum BUT I didn’t measure her before making them, turns out she is only a size 18-24m around not a 2T which explains it, but these aren’t too big, but still have room to grow. I have also found if I make our own leggings, with good quality fabric like this, they hold up much better than the ones sold in stores. Plus, seriously, how cute are these?

PS… Do not worry, that is NOT blood all over, she is just an artistic ‘threenager’ who is barely 2.5 and likes to hide markers for nap time, lol.

My girls are independent fashionistas, so I like to make them great mix and match pieces that are trendy, but easy to put together.

The Carlie’s Dolman is the pattern that kicked this whole amazing adventure off! While it is my only girls pattern with split sizing, it still comes in a large size range of 12 months to 20 tween and includes 4 different options/views. Kenzie loves to wearing leggings as pants sometimes (she is only 2) but also loves to wear them with shorts or a jean skirt. I decided to make her View C, which has a banded bottom. Again, it is another super easy knit pattern and we get nothing but compliments when she wears it out! If your little one is like Kenzie, tall, slim and narrow shoulders, you can also cut a smaller neckline OR there are directions on page 7 for taking the neckline in for a more modest fit.

Nothing melts my heart quite as much as when people comment on their clothes and ask where we bought them and my 3 girls (and often their 4 year old brother) proudly tell them, “We didn’t buy them, mommy made them!”

I would like to thank Julia and Riley Blake Designs for inviting us to participate in the Knit LOVE Blog Tour. I love these fabrics and am getting ready to place another order for more. I can’t wait to see the rest of the tour.

Don’t forget, Carlie’s Dolman Top and Jocelyn’s Leggings have a exclusive coupon for the RBD Knit Love Blog Tour! You can use the coupon RBKnitLove at www.eymm.com to get 25% off either pattern now through 3/12/15 at 11:59pm PDT.