I love blog tours that I don't have to arrange. I get all the fun of sewing and blogging and none of the responsibility. And this one is a great one, so be sure that you go through and read all the posts because there is tons of inspiration (and chances to win!).

And of course, a huge blog tour wouldn't be great without chances to win. Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom to get entered into the daily rafflecopter. And if you just so happen to be sewing for back to school, there is a linky party (with giveaway). You can learn more over at Lulu and Celeste Who doesn't love coupons? Coupon code details are found again over at Lulu and Celeste.

If you've been reading my "Not Back To School" mini posts, you know that Back to School for other kids means more of the same for us. The one thing that does change is that we will start spending WAY more time outside. Why?
1- I hate summer
2- If everyone else is at school, the kid friendly places are mostly deserted
3- Fall weather is great play outside all day weather.


There is one catch here for us and that is Wyoming. You see Wyoming has some fickle crazy weather. Right now it is August and our highs are somewhere between 69-80 degrees Fahrenheit. Lows, 44-51. How do you even dress for that? The answer of course is LAYERS.

Now I love layers. I love cool crisp fall weather and layers are the little bits of fuzzy warm goodness that bring me joy. So of course, the Big Little Pathfinders Vest was PERFECT.

Pathfinders basically describes our fall weather activities. We're always looking for the unbeaten path. An interesting new place to explore. And so it felt like a match made in heaven.

I made the Rounded Hood, curved dipped back with button placket. But you could easily make a ton of different combinations including with/without hood, flutter sleeves, buttons, toggles, curved versus straight hems, extended length and a super fun "Crossroads" front version that is available to newsletter subscribers.

Whew, that's a lot of choices. Since we tackle so much different weather, I have plans to make different combinations for varying cold-freezing weather. I made this one out of fabrics from my stash. It is like they were made for each other! Due to some very careful hand stitching, this vest is completely reversible. Side one is a purple and black herringbone flannel. The same flannel I used here for my Winter Wear Designs Provence Coat. The inner is a really stable ponte that I bought from Cali Fabrics. I'm sad to use up the last of this ponte, but it was definitely for a good cause. The ponte was stable enough that I made zero adjustments to the pattern despite pairing together a woven and a knit.

The pattern over all is pretty great, but of course, I need to tell you at least one thing I didn't like. SO here goes. The pattern does not include button placement on the button placket extension. So I guessed how many and where to place my buttons. Definitely NOT a deal breaker. Especially since depending on the fabric you use and the look you are going for, you're going to want more or fewer buttons any way.

The best part (and the real reason I was excited to sew up this pattern) is that you can mix and match the animal ears from the Wild Things Coat with the Pathfinder Vest. That might actually be more cuteness than I can take!

I am super excited that today's giveaway is being sponsored by Big Little! That means you can register to win your very own copy of the Pathfinder Vest!

Here's all the stops for the tour for TODAY only. Be sure to swing by Lulu and Celeste (how many times can I like back to one blog?!) for the HUGE grandprize and everything you need to know to win big!



a Rafflecopter giveaway