Saturday, July 27, 2013

Casey unitard Review!


  I first learned to sew in elementary school when taking home economics you were actually taught to cook and sew. I still remember what I learned to make that year. (Snickerdoodles, an elephant pillow and a gorilla stuffed animal.) As I was growing up my mom had a sewing machine but she NEVER EVER let me use it. I may have occasionally pretended to be sick so I could stay home and play with it.  SHHH!
 
When I got pregnant with my oldest I picked crochet back up and made her a few sweaters, but what's a sweater without a cute dress? And I began to sew again after she was born and haven't stopped since. I have sewn cloth diapers and nearly any type of clothing your can think of.
I find it very therapeutic.
 
 My oldest is a long lean little one. If I measured her width, by most patterns she would wear a size 3, but she is 8. Sewing comes in handy especially for her.
 
She is an active little one and is taking Gymnastics this summer, yes she had a leotard or few.  But being a mama that sews she needed more of course.


 
 I noticed the Casey unitard pattern and fell in love with the style. Through all my pattern altering and drafting I had yet to come up with the perfect unitard.
 Was I ever in luck when I found the Mountain Ash patterns!


 
I found the pattern to be a quick sew. I have mixed feelings about having to open each pattern piece individually.  The laziness in me was a little annoyed having to open each one I needed but the frugal mom in me found it very helpful that I was able to print just the pieces I needed and not any extra.
Having sewn with knits previously, including dance and swim wear I didn't have any difficulties at all. The pattern pieces lined up perfectly and the finished measurements were correct. Another frugal appreciation is the options! Ask anyone who sews, the more options the better!! This pattern had a tank option or a thin strap option, but there are options from there! You can make your own binding, use FOE (fold over elastic) ect. Makes the pattern well worth the money spent on it.


 
As I mentioned my daughter is thin, I was easily able to trace a size 6 width and an 8 length.  I believe from start to finish this may have taken me an hour if that to print, trace, cut and sew the pattern. It probably took us more time to choose our fabrics and fold over elastic than it did to sew. I used a red tag dance/swim wear fabric I found at Joann Fabrics and a solid dance/swim fabric for the top. Both are a cotton/spandex fabric.  I also happened to have a perfectly matching 5/8" fold over elastic for the straps.

 
I found that the instructions were clear and easy to understand, and they offered more options. For the experienced seamstress there were what I like to call the cliff note instructions, just a basic written step by step of what to sew. Simple, short sentences. For those visual learner she included pictures to match with the simple instructions! They really did make this a pattern for any level.
As a personal preference I reinforced all the seams and topstitched the top to the bottom body. I also crossed the straps in the back for her.

 
I liked it so much that I have actually already recommended it to a friend. My daughter loves it and we have received nothing but positive compliments on her unitard. 

 
 
We are already trying to figure out which one to get next. I give Mountain Ash an A-!

Thanks for reading!

Kristen

You can find me on facebook!