Lotus Pond EXTRAVAGANZA!

Have you seen Rae’s new fabric line, Lotus Pond?  All organic, all in luscious colors, and all in the sweetest Scandinavian-inspired prints.  The folks at Cloud9 were sweet enough to send over some yardage, and I couldn’t be more tickled with the clothes I made for the kids!

I actually made not-quite-matching outfits for my son and daughter, but he decided since it’s the start of summer vacation, that he’d eat half a (very large) watermelon all by himself, and has taken to his bed for the remainder of the day with a tummy ache.  I’ll share his outfit on Monday, and today invite you to peek at what I made for his sister!

This is an updated version of the Deep Pockets Tunic I made previously, this time with a re-styled pocket and with a curved front yoke that I’m pretty wild about.  I like that adding these changes makes it possible to bring in mixes of fabrics in more subtle ways, and increases the trim possibilities–ric rac, pom poms, piping, oh, my!  The center panel here is cut crosswise to take advantage of the two-way print, and it is so giving me ideas for how to play with these fabrics.

I used the Lotus Drop print in orange and the Diamonds Are Forever print in blue, and they are heart-melting together.  These organic fabrics are super easy to work with, too, and behave very nicely under the iron and the needle, which I like.  And they have enough body that they hold the garment’s shape, but not so much that the clothes look stiff.

The pockets on this version have a simple edging of folded cross-cut strips, which I added sort of at the last minute, when I remembered I could.  Because why wouldn’t you?  And I love the way that broken pop of orange really brings the turquoise to life.  Doesn’t hurt that my daughter came in and said, “Is this for ME?” and was totally in love with the colors.  She also asked, about the top and the shorts, if the pockets were “extra deep,” which is apparently a deal breaker.  Good thing they are, in fact, extra deep–on the tunic, they go all the way to the hem!

These are lightweight shorts, for sure, but I think they work great in this fabric.  I generally caution folks against using quilt-weight cottons for bottom pieces (other than skirts), but for kids’ clothes, all bets are off.  And in this case, could you DIE??  I even matched the print across the panels–have no doubt, there was some serious shoulder punching over that one, I was so pleased.  I love the angled pockets on these, too, and the flat waistband–this pattern is an update of my Perfect Pants pattern that was included in my Sewing Clothes for Kids class for years, and the pockets and the topstitching are really working for me.

Perfect for cartwheels and for wearing over swimsuits, which is pretty much all we’ll need for the next three months!!  Monday, I’ll see if I can keep our boys from stuffing himself with Memorial Day cupcakes long enough to have some photos taken with his sister in all their Lotus Pond, not-quite-matching glory.  Happy summer, everyone!