Smiling Cicero

No, this blogpost is not about the Roman orator.

I'm pretty sure that serious man was not known for smiling.

It's about an terrible injustice that was done to my son.

His sister already has a Cicero cardigan.

And he asked it first!

And the fabric he picked had been in the stash over a year!

It was about time I started that project ;-)

The twinning fight

I bought the pattern Cicero by Sofilantjes last year. I even assembled the pattern pieces and got fabric. But the next step ...

A divided zipper? Never done that
A zipper in knits? Never done that
Shortening a zipper? Never done that
Zipperphobia! I chickened out.

Emmaline: my first adventure in the world of pattern testing

It was in my inbox.

An e-mail about Phase 3 testing for Bella Sunshine Designs.

I opened it and I saw this:

"Hello, lovely testers. Thank you for applying. We would like to invite you to join the group"

It took a few seconds to sink in. "Oh my god! I'm in!!!!!"

I was happy and I was scared to death. How on earth was I going to fit a test into my schedule?

"Yikes! I have to get fabric! I have no time to do this!"

I even thought about e-mailing right back saying: "I can't do this". But since I might as well be my only chance ever ... I decided to squeeze in the test (and stress about it all week).

Spring. Spring! Spriiiiiing!

She has been asking since last summer and now she finally has one.

OK, I may have already made a second version of this cute top.

My screen was filled with these Valerie Tops last summer, but I did not get to actually making one. That was mistake, because it's super easy and a fast sew. You get one top that allows several styles as my daughter is showing with my test version. My favorite style is one shoulder up and one down. The style with both shoulders covered looks a bit clownlike in this picture but that has to do with my fabric choice. You need something with a bit more drape ;-)

I drew the pattern following instructions by SewLiSi. She blogs in Dutch and was so kind to put the whole process from measurements to stitching on her blog completely free. Yes, you read that right : a free pattern for girls and women. How cool is that? The instructions are in Dutch, but the pictures and Google translate will help you out. If you have any trouble understanding them, feel free to contact me through facebook.