Breaking the Rules!

I am continuing to glamp it up with the Wanderlust collection. (Can I make that an official catch phrase? "Glamp it up"...this could be fun!) Anyhoo, this time, I, (GASP), broke a few rules.

Alright, I admit, if you have followed me for some time you already know that breaking rules isn't new for me. After all, rules are made to be broken! But I have been a surprisingly good girl lately by following the patterns I sew as is. So it felt quite refreshing to mix things up again.

Are you looking at the pictures trying to figure it out? Let me help... I made the Kudzu Cargos and the Fawn Lily. Okay, the sleeves probably gave away the Fawn Lily, but you didn't guess Kudzus, right?
Let's take a closer look.

I actually didn't make major changes to the Kudzu pattern, and I just love how they turned out! For my girl I chose to make the skinny style. But, being that the weather is warming up rapidly this time of year, I decided to make a cropped length. First, I started by measuring my daughter's inseam. I eyeballed approximately the length I wanted and took note of that measurement, which was 16 inches for my size 6 girl. When I cut my fabric I took into account the hem allowance. It ended up being approximately 3.5" I off the length.

The next change I made was to forego the knee pleats. I used a very stretchy denim with great recovery so I decided to streamline the look by skipping the knee pleats. To do this I simply folded the pleats on my tissue paper, and taped them down, before cutting my pieces of fabric. It worked out perfectly, and I couldn't be more satisfied with the result!

Other than those two changes I made the Kudzus according to the pattern. And how stinkin' awesome are they! These crops will definitely be worn on a regular basis.

Now on to the Fawn Lily. You may have noticed that the front yoke has neither buttons or a crossover. That's because it's made with knits.

I decided to make this a simple, everyday tunic by using knit fabric for the yoke and skirt pieces and creating a basic front yoke. The knits allow the tunic to stretch enough that it doesn't need to open wider at the neckline to make it easy to get on. The sleeves are made with a light stretch twill. It is super soft and works superbly with the knit.

I trimmed the yokes with flat piping to help reinforce the neckline. All in all I love how it turned out and think that I will continue to play around with fabric selections and different yoke and skirt variances for the Fawn Lily.

I hope maybe I have inspired you to think outside the box when making your patterns. Understand the rules first, then break them to your hearts content! ;)