Love-ly Jumper

Valentine’s day is one of my favorite holidays.  I’m not that into the get-your-partner-gifts-to-show-your-love aspect of it (I know it’s become cliché but I really do think that should be an every day thing), but the hearts and frills and all the excuses for pink is the best.  I love seeing everyone’s Valentine’s decor and all the warm fuzzies it brings to a home.  And having a little girl is the perfect excuse to go over the top. 

Love is in the air over at Project Run and Play this week and I actually have two outfits that I made with Valentine’s day in mind.  The one I’ll share in the linky is the jumper I’ve been planning for a while. 

When I shared the polka stripes jumper I mentioned that it was designed after an idea for a skirt jumper I’d been planning.  This is the skirt version.

I took the middle bodice shape of the Maggie Mae Tunic from Shwin Designs and added a lining, ruffley straps, and buttons to the front to make a jumper.

The fabric is this soft and very stretchy corduroy looking fabric that I fell in love with in the bargain bin.  I like that it looks very old-uptight-british-man-ish, but is secretly soft and cozy and the perfect weight for a little girl.

Of course I used fabric covered buttons with the same fabric I used for the pockets as well as the top.

Adding a few girly details makes me love the drab-ish color even more. The chain stitch embroidery adds just enough pink.

I bought this fabric this summer and couldn’t decide what to use it for.  It’s a knit, but not very stretchy.  The overall pattern is a little exaggerated for me (what was I thinking here?), but I couldn’t resist the off-color rainbows and hearts.  And I really liked that the rainbow shapes are sort of the opposite direction from the hearts.

For the top I made another Go To Signature Dress (shirt) with a snap closure at the neck (like I did here) since the fabric doesn’t stretch enough to make it over Bean’s head.  I also made the collar stick up a little higher by stitching it at 3/8ths of an inch instead of the 5/8 seam allowance.

To make this outfit over the top, I decided to make a pair of leggings with hearts on the knees.  It seems like EVERYONE is doing it this year so I thought I’d join in.  Actually the guest judge for this week’s theme (Mandy from Sugar Bee Crafts) just posted a similar legging here which made me laugh cause seriously everyone is doing it, hehe.  It’s too cute and I couldn’t resist.

The outfit came together well. 

Taking pictures of Bean was once again difficult.

She will not stand still facing me.  If she is facing me she is running toward me to give me a hug or try to look at the camera.  Or both, hehe.

Here she was distracted by trying to accessorize the way SHE saw fit. 

She’ll always pose in front of the mirror so the back shots work much better (she’s all about putting on headbands and admiring how stylish she is, hehe)

Just to prove that she was happy and does like the outfit I’ll leave you with a blurry shot of Bean smiling with her panda.

As usual, linking up to: