Aura Blog Party

Aloha, and welcome to my stop on the Aura Blog Party hosted by Mathew Boudreaux (AKA Mister Domestic), the textile designer behind the Aura fabric collection for Art Gallery Fabrics.

This bright and playful fabric collection is Mathew’s sophomore collection for Art Gallery Fabrics and was the perfect way to chase away the winter blues and escape to a magical paradise of warm colors, sea turtles, dolphins, and tropical flowers.

Instead of stitching a quilt for this blog tour I decided to mix things up a bit and sew garments for my granddaughter. Ever since I made her a stuffed turtle with my Signature fabric collection she’s been crazy about turtles. So, of course I just had to sew her something fun with Mathew’s Hawaiian Honu in Dawn sea turtles print. Clockwise from the turtle print is Aloha Spirit in Windward and Hula Dolpins in ocean. See the full collection HERE.

I don’t consider myself much of a garment sewer even though I used to sew dresses for my daughter when she was little—it’s just not something I feel as comfortable doing as I do for sewing quilts. But, you know what? Everything I made for this tour turned out wonderful and even fit her nicely so that gives me so much more confidence to do more garment sewing in the future!

This adorable dress is from Little Lizard King and is called the Napoli dress. I love this style of dress because right now (at a 3T) it’s a dress but as she gets taller she can wear it as a top. I selected the long sleeve option and again, these are just as cute rolled up when she’s small as they will be down when she’s taller.

I was even able to dig into my button box to find the perfect shade and size buttons for this fabric!

The most marvelous thing about sewing for toddlers is you hardly use any fabric at all. This too-cute-for-words vest is also a Little Lizard King pattern. The Madison Vest was super easy to make and I love that it’s reversible!

Since it’s still winter, I couldn’t resist adding some faux shearling for some snuggle and texture. A girl’s got to have options, right?!!?

Such a great way to use a half yard of (each) fabric. I went with the loop closer option and stitched matching vintage buttons on both sides for a fully reversible vest.

Like I said, toddler clothes hardly take any fabric at all so I still had material to play with. Why not make her another turtle!!!

Meet Myrtle the Turtle. This adorable softie is a pattern by Purl Soho. I thought Mathew’s medallion print would be the perfect print as a turtle shell and mirror imaged the design so the motifs reflect each other on each side of the turtle back. More vintage buttons saved the day as eyes and Myrtle now has a permanent home with my granddaughter getting lots of love and snuggles.

This is how to be a turtle.

And, for my final make for the Aura tour I chose the most fun and easiest project of pajama pants! Art Gallery Fabrics very own Dana Willard has a fantastic and free Kid Pants pattern perfectly sized for a toddler.

The Aloha Spirit print is so cute for PJs and brings a bit of a hippie-girl vibe that looks perfect for lounging and playing with your matching turtle. If you’re hesitant about garment sewing, this pajama pattern is an ideal beginner project and a very quick make.

I had a blast sewing for this blog tour and even better, an excuse to have my daughter and the grand babies up for a weekend photoshoot. After we had finished photographing we had gone out shopping and stopped for a bit of thrift store poking around. I found this wonderful carved wood turtle that the shell comes off and the inside is a shallow dish. Of course I bought it for my granddaughter and she said it will be her box for special things which I suspect are rocks. Three of anything makes a collection—she’s well on her way to being just like her Mimi!

Thanks for joining me on the tour. For loads more inspiration, be sure to follow along on the rest of the tour as crazy talented makers share their Aura Blog Party makes.