Pickle Toes Patterns Back To School Tour

I love getting to try new designers and new patterns. It is probably how I amassed such a fabulous collection. So when I saw the sign up for the Pickle Toes Patterns Back To School Blog Tour, I was quick to sign up. New patterns? Sign Me Up!

As homeschoolers, my kids don't understand the excitement of attending a new school. My 5 year old doesn't even realize there is a transition happening here from preschool to kindergarten. But, for funsies, we headed to our local school to play the part anyway.

I picked the Pickle Toes Daisy Pinafore. I know that most people think pinafore and think babies. And this is absolutely an adorable style for babies. But don't discount it for big kids just yet. I've actually seen this style of pinafore in a very high end Japanese Women's style book and if you search pinterest you may even stumble onto this pin!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this style when it comes to sewing. It is a single pattern piece. That makes it fast to cut and fast to sew. The longest part is clipping all the curves so that it turns out nicely. You get 2 looks in one as it is fully reversible. Quilting cottons work great for this pattern, so there's no limit to what prints or fabrics you could include.

Not convinced you need this yet? This is the size 4 on my just turned 5 year old. She measures for a 3 width, but a 4 length. And when I tried it on her, no surprise, too big. But that didn't stop me. Because you can tighten up the whole thing by just taking up the shoulders. I'll probably need to add in one more snap in a few months (between where it is now and the original snaps I installed, which means she should even be able to wear this next year. I personally prefer using snaps because they're fast and I still have at least 1000 sets left over from my cloth diaper making days. But you could easily use buttons instead. Depending on your preference, you could put the buttonhole on either the shoulder or the front strap and install multiple buttons to get the fit you want.

I know many schools have very strict dress codes regarding shoulder straps and back coverage and I feel this pattern definitely fulfills those requirements. You can even layer this over a short or long sleeve t-shirt to wear through the fall and winter too! Our last trip to Joann's involved my daughter oohing and aahing over the licensed prints. Now I have a good, fast pattern to take advantage of those!

Need just one more reason? I don't know about you, but I remember doing a LOT of painting in kindergarten. This pattern would make a fabulous painting smock. Just purchase some laminated cotton and you can just wipe it off!