Wee Princess Pea pattern review by Wendi Gratz of Shiny Happy World

 Photo courtesy of Wendi Gratz

Do you know about Wendi Gratz? She's the creator and author of Shiny Happy World, a name which aptly describes her brightly colored and cheerful softie, quilt, and embroidery designs. Here are just a couple of things from her shop:

 

 

You can see she is quite a talented designer and maker with a lot of practical know-how and I am so delighted to share this pattern review she wrote recently for my Wee Princess Pea.

If you've been toying with the idea of making that project you'll find she's written a helpful and thorough review. I love how her Wee Princess turned out! That's a photo of her set at the top of the post. Look at the pretty contrast blanket stitching and happy colors. She made a few clever mods and gave it her own signature style. There are more great photos to see on her post.

After a look at the review, you'll thank yourself to have a look around the rest of her site for her free patterns and very helpful tips and lessons. Thank you, Wendi!

lining for my Wiksten tunic

So I did end up lining my Nani IRO Wiksten tunic (with very purple lining fabric). You know, the one that kept crawling up my leggings. The lining makes a huge difference, not just with the embarrassing cling but also improves the drape. It was well worth the effort, even though lining it after it was already made was more of a pain.

I simply cut out another front and back from the pattern in lining fabric, then cut off about .75 inch allowance all around the neck and armholes so it wouldn't show underneath. I also cut off an inch from the hem. After I sewed the front and back together, I finished all the raw edges by zig zagging them with matching thread. Simple simple:

Then to attach it to the inside of the tunic I hand sewed it wrong sides facing just in certain spots: at the shoulder seams, underarms, and two spots close to the hem on the side seams. Voila. I will now shock you with a real life picture of my school room:

Sorry for the blurry mirror shots and also for the smeary handprints that are featured in the foreground. It reminds me of a magnet I saw the other day: 'Please excuse the mess but we live here.'