Tropical Capris & Elephant Tank Top

Growing up with Rosy is a custom boutique line of clothing and jewelry created by Karen Deilke. She has some wonderful PDF patterns (with excellent step-by-step photos) on one of my favorite sewing websites, youcanmakethis.com. I have several of her patterns and they all have clear and concise instructions.

Her newest pattern, Ruffled Bum Capris ($9.95 on ycmt.com), was listed for sell just a few days ago. They are so cute and absolutely perfect for the Summer! Every little girl loves ruffles!

I made Serenity a pair today and they came out darling! I also made my very first rolled hem on my new Singer QuantumLock Serger. Yay for me! LoL!

[Okay here's a little side note about my serger. When I first got it I found it to be very intimidating (it's got FIVE threads for gosh sakes!), but I'm getting the hang of it. Like learning how to do a rolled hem - which was MUCH easier than I thought it would be, so I guess now that means I need to start tackling other stuff the thing can do! It has a very poor rating on Amazon.com - but mostly because of threading issues. I have no idea what those reviewers are talking about since I haven't had any problems threading my machine. In fact, I find it pretty easy to thread.]

Now that's off my chest, let's get back to the capris!

They came together pretty quick with no problems. The top and bottom edges of the ruffles have rolled hems, but you can just as easily hem them instead. You can customize the look of the capris however you want. You can add ruffles to the entire back, or to the top and bottom, or just to the bottom of the capris. I decided to do the top and bottom ruffles:

Aren't they cute?

When I thought about making the capris using that very colorful tropical material, I was thinking how Serenity's pretty bright pink tank top (Target $4) would look perfect with it. Then I remembered the brand-new huge black stain down the front middle of the top. I tried OxiClean to get it out, but whatever it is won't come out! So, I used Kimberbell Kids' tutorial How To Applique The Easy Way ($6.95 on ycmt.com) to put an elephant applique over the stain. Then I noticed another stain so I put a heart applique over that one! And voilà! Here is Serenity's finished outfit:

You can't see the heart too good, it's right under the elephant's trunk.

I love ycmt.com they have the best tutorials over there! Buying from ycmt.com has fantastic rewards too! You can earn points with every purchase you make and use them to get free stuff! I learned how to really sew from using the PDF tutorials on their site. I've learned quite a few tips and tricks too!

BTW, Kimberbell Kids' tutorial, How To Applique The Easy Way is anther great pattern and I've been using it a lot lately. I've made a few tees for Serenity using it. It's become one of my favorite tutorials!

I love the convenience of a PDF pattern. The helpful step-by-step photos most of them have, showed me exactly what I had to do. But I think what I like most about their PDF clothing patterns is how the patterns grow with your child. Most of them are for sizes 2-8, so once your child grows out of a size 2, you don't have to pay to buy the pattern again! Just print out the next size on your printer! Talk about a deal! You can't do that with a store bought pattern unless you're willing to go through the hassle of tracing out the pattern before you cut it.

If you're looking for great boutique style clothes for your little one (or crafting ideas), try heading over to youcanmakethis.com. It doesn't matter if you're a beginner sewer or an expert, trust me - you will be able to make darling outfits using their tutorial patterns!