I apologize to all my adoring fans (or just my mom, I know she reads my blog 😁 ) for not sharing anything last week. Summer here is busy and while I'm still creating like crazy, I haven't had even a few moments to sit and write!

But here I am with one of my new makes and a pattern review for you. Today I'm talking about the Made For Mermaids Mama Lily.

The Mama Lily is a super cute romper or dress made for woven fabrics. That means it includes a bust dart. The outside seams are all covered in bias tape which secretly makes me very happy. I like making bias tape.



For the record, this pattern is NOT a great choice for quilting weight cottons (and it even says that in the pattern). BUT, I made my muslin out of QC anyway. For shame!

As you can see here on my muslin, that my front length is WAY off. While I did do a full bust adjustment, it didn't give me enough length. I can usually avoid this types of problems in knit fabrics as they'll stretch over the bust, but wovens don't stretch, especially not vertically. To fix this problem, I did a "deep bust adjustment". Call Ajare has a great tutorial over on her blog, so I won't bother with showing how to do the adjustment.



After adding a 1/2" to the length, I decided to try it in cotton lycra. Please note, for the proper length on woven fabric, I need to add the full 1" of length. BUT, I knew I could fudge the numbers a bit as the cotton lycra would gladly stretch that extra 1/2". If you look at my cotton lycra version, you can see all the stretching lines to get the length down into the waist. If you want a more "blousy" look, definitely add a little to the length.



Because I was working with a knit fabric (AND I'm lazy), I decided to remove the bust dart using this tutorial from Maria Denmark. You might be thinking, how does doing all that work on removing the bust dart equal LESS work than just sewing in the bust dart? You see, I really like this pattern. AND I have LOTS of knit fabrics in the Simply By Ti Shop that would look SO cute as a simple romper. So ten minutes of drafting work now will save me hours of time later. While I opted to bind all my edges with knit binding, I can see some really fun ways of using woven bias to bind my knit fabrics. That'll give all the edges stability while still maintaining the comfort of knit fabrics. That also means that you can take any solid fabric and really fancy it up with binding!

Honestly, once you get over the whole undressing for the bathroom situation, rompers are basically the perfect clothes. You don't have to think about coordinating anything (except maybe your bra, if you want to show off a cute bralette. You just put it on and BOOM ready to go. And even if rompers aren't your thing, the pattern includes several dress length options which of course give the pattern tons of versatility.

Speaking of options, this pattern includes 4 back options. I really like the split back as it is super easy to dress/undress and shows a peek of the back of your bra. But if that isn't your style, there is also a full back, halter back and a fun halter back with straps to help stabilize the halter ties.

It also includes an insert cut out for the front. That is the option I chose for my knit romper. Please note, I did remove 1/2" length above the bust and 1" at the waist to achieve these final bodice lengths. That did change the scale of the insert, so if you don't like the length on your first try, you may want to consider making it lower or higher. But that is easy enough to adjust.

As you can see, I still haven't invested in a strapless bra (and I don't think I care enough to even bother). I do have several cross back bras that hide fairly well under the neckline and the crossback looks pretty cute in the back. This bra however, provides better lift, so I prefer it under this silhouette.

I made exactly ZERO adjustments to the pants half of this pattern. That is standard for me, as I have a VERY long rise for my height. That makes me exactly average to the 5'5" standard body type. I used the 3.5" length cutline included in the pattern, but took a 1" hem instead of the 1/2" included in the pattern. That gives me a 3" inseam, which I find quite flattering on my leg.

Now, I know some of my readers don't even know I have a fabric shop. So, a gentle reminder, I Sewing By Ti OWN Simply By Ti. I love my fabric. I want you to love my fabric. But you can't love it if you've never had any of your own to play with. SO, a friendly reminder for anyone that may have missed it. Simply By Ti is running a big SUMMER BLOWOUT sale. Everything in the shop is 25% off with a $25 minimum purchase (pretty easy to hit that number, huh?). Aside from quilting cotton, poly fleece and swim knit, I carry pretty much every fabric that has been shared on my blog since around February. If you've ever wanted to recreate one of my looks, now's the time! And don't forget to stock up on Cotton Lycra as it is only $5.25 a yard right now! Sale runs through Sunday, July 23rd.