Adding Pockets for Bitty Bee

Bitty Bee has taken a fancy to rompers this summer and has tasked me with making her some new ones this summer.  Normally an easy task, but she also loves having pockets and not all romper patterns have pockets.  For example, this free romper pattern from The Purl Bee.

When trying out new designers, I like to make a trial run out of some of my older fabric stash before cutting into good stuff.  For this trial run, I had some really pretty green Native American style fabric.  Bitty Bee loves that it has horses running across the front.

The fit was pretty good on her, she's tall for her age and I made the size 8/9.  For future ones, I'm adding about an inch to the bodice length and an inch to the length of the shorts.

The challenge she gave me for her next one: she wanted pockets!

I can do this, easy peasy!  All I needed was a shorts/pants pattern that has pockets.  For mine, I used Simplicity 1625.  This pattern uses a single piece pocket instead of two separate pieces, like I've seen in many PDF patterns.  I prefer the single piece pocket.

 

I took the pocket piece and cut out the pocket curve from my romper front short pattern piece.  Then I made a new pattern piece for the fold over pocket, since the Simplicity pattern has a slight curve to the hip.  I kept the overall size of the pocket the same, just made the outer edges of the pocket piece straight instead of curved.

To insert my pocket, I lined up the shorts front to the pocket piece, right sides together.  I used a 1/4" seam allowance for my seam.  Make sure you clip the curve before turning to press.  I topstitched along the curved edge after pressing.

Next, to make the pocket, I folded the pocket piece so that the edge lined up with the side seam of the shorts and pressed in place.  Then I ran the bottom of the pocket through the serger.  I basted the pocket edges the side seam and top of the shorts front to make the rest of the construction easier.  (I forgot to take a picture of my basting.  Oops!)

After adding the pockets to the shorts, I followed along with the remaining instructions on The Purl Bee.

The Exploding TARDIS fabric can be found on our website.

This romper is becoming a staple in my summer sewing collection!  Bitty Bee love the style and with the elastic in the bodice, she is able to get it on and off without untying the straps.  That's a definite win for me!

~*~Princess Bee~*~

Beehive Buzz - July 15, 2015

It's been a busy week around here and I haven't had a chance to sit down to write any updates!

I've been busy uploading more and more fabric to our website, we have a lot to go through and inventory!

We have also been talking about a new addition to the website: patterns!  Queen Bee has found some really cute paper patterns that she's ordered and we also met with some really awesome designers at Quilt Market last year who we're looking at placing orders with.  I will be looking into adding PDF patterns to our site as well.  We're both really excited about this new expansion in our shop!

New preorders have been posted in the group on Facebook, please join us if you haven't yet!

I'm looking into teaching some simple sewing classes soon and will be sharing the projects from our classes in the coming weeks!  I was given a great idea for a simple class by Queen Bee, who saw a youth sewing class in progress yesterday.  I can't wait to teach this class!

~*~Princess Bee~*~

Time to Celebrate, times two!

Tomorrow, we, as a country, will celebrate our independence.  Celebrate the birth of our nation, the start of this glorious country.  Bitty Bee and Gamer have been down at the Beehive all week, but I'm joining them today so that we can celebrate together tomorrow.  I've been missing my babies, the house has been too quiet, and I'm looking forward to lots of hugs tonight!  

Tomorrow, we, as a small business, are also going to be celebrating a new step in our journey.  We recently launched a brand new website and have been in a "soft launch" mode.  On July 4th, as we celebrate our nation's independence, we will kick off our official launch of the new site with a big sale!

Everything on the website (excluding Beauty Boxes) will be 40% off with code FREEDOM, starting at 12:01 am and lasting until 12:00 pm on July 4th.

Also, in our Facebook group, we will be having special fabric sales all day tomorrow.  These will be fabrics that are not on the website at this time.  Come join us for these extra, exclusive sales!

Have a Safe and Happy Fourth of July!

~*~Princess Bee~*~