Review of Studio Tantrum sewing patterns – Hermosa Top and Redondo Skirt.

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Photo of the Redondo skirt I made for my daughter

My favourite hobby has to be sewing. Before I had my daughter I used to spend hours making things. I have made rag dolls, handbags, clothes, cushions, curtains…you name it…I’ve probably made it.  When I was pregnant with my daughter part of my ‘nesting’ was sewing the cot bumper, changing mat cover and valance sheet for her cot.  I used the most beautiful floral fabric and it was a pleasure to sew the items.  I had always envisaged sewing lots of my daughter’s clothes after she was born but then unfortunately reality kicked in and I found that number 1 – I didn’t have time to sew and number 2 – it couldn’t be a good or safe idea to use a sewing machine with a fast moving needle around a young toddler!  I will admit I was a bit upset to think that I might have to give up sewing but my mum assured me that as she gets older it’ll be easier to sew as she’ll start to sit and play and not need entertaining 100% of the time. She was right!
Photo of the Redondo pattern by Studio Tantrum

Thankfully that time has come round and my daughter will now sit happily watching Shaun the Sheep for 10 minutes while I do some sewing on the dining table next to her. I am hoping that as she gets bigger she will start to tell me which clothes she’d like me to make for her and then with any luck she will treasure them as they are made by her mummy. This has always been one of my ‘dreams’ . . .  being a mummy and sewing hand-made garments for my beautiful daughter. I am so happy that my dream has now come true….I can now say I have made my daughter her first piece of hand-sewn clothing.   This is all thanks to Nicole at dotsnstripes.co.uk who kindly sent me two Studio Tantrum sewing patterns to try out.

Photo of the making of the Redondo skirt for my daughter

The two patterns I received were the fabulously floaty Redondo skirt and the wavy Hermosa top. The patterns retail at £6.60 each which is about the same kind of price as I would usually pay for a sewing pattern.  I will admit I was a bit dubious about the patterns at first as I had never seen a Studio Tantrum pattern before and I worried that it would be really hard to read the instructions as they are originally German patterns. Well let me tell you, I was worrying about nothing. The patterns are clear and easy to understand and they include some photos to help guide you. To be completely honest I found the patterns much easier to use than the normal ones I buy and a lot of this is down to the fact that the patterns are printed on a glossy white paper not a thin brown tissue paper like most patterns.  I never cut out the patterns, I always trace them so that I can use the original pattern again to sew diferent sizes. This is time consuming but worth it in the long run.

Photo of the Redondo skirt I made for my daughter
These Studio Tantrum patterns don’t have the seam allowance included in the pattern pieces so you do have to remember to add that on when you cut the pattern out of your final fabric. I did find adding the seam allowance slightly tricky because of the curve of the pattern pieces but I did my best and it seemed to be enough as the final pieces when sewn together ended up as a very beautiful skirt for my daughter.

The Redondo skirt is normally made from 5 gores but when I did a google search on the skirt I found out from various people’s blogs that they preferred to use 6 gores as it gave extra fullness but it also allowed you to alternate between 2 different patterned fabrics.  I had to extend the length of the waistband slightly to accommodate the extra gore but everything seemed to match up in the end.

The fabrics I chose to use were a gorgeous floral print fabric and a girly polka dot. I had bought the fabrics over a year ago with the intention of making something for my daughter from them so I was delighted to be able to make a skirt from them.  I used quite a wide elastic at the waist so it would sit comfortably.

Photo of the Redondo skirt I made for my daughter
The skirt looks really complex when you look at it because of the spiral shaped gores and I’d be lying if I said I breezed through sewing it but I did find that after I had got to grips with sewing all the curved seams on the first two gores that I managed to work a bit quicker and with a bit more confidence. When I had finished sewing the skirt and added the waistband I was like a cheshire cat – I was smiling from ear to ear with pride!  I wanted to take the skirt on holiday with us when we went to see my some of our family. I’m pleased to say I managed to get it done on time, ideally I would have hemmed the bottom of the skirt but in this instance due to quickly running out of time I decided to pinking shear the hem instead. It doesn’t look as good as it would have done if had hemmed it properly but it is okay and good enough as a first attempt of the skirt. I intend to make lots of these skirts as it is so stunning!

I’m afraid I haven’t yet managed to attempt the Hermosa top but it looks like it is the same kind of pattern piece but with the addition of the bodice pieces. Again it comes with photo step-by-step instructions and I’m sure if I have any problems then Nicole will not mind if I email her for help.

Both of the patterns I received have sizes 98/104, 110/116, 122/128, 134/140 and 146/152 in the pack.  This is approx sizes 3/4 to 11/12 years. I stitched the 3/4 years for my daughter and it fits her fine. I did however add extra width around the waist by extending the waistband due to adding an extra gore in the body of the skirt.

The patterns are well worth the £6.60 and I have every intention of buying more patterns from Nicole in the future. The clothes that they make are very different from UK styles and that is why I love them.  The other Studio Tantrum patterns that Nicole sells are the El Porto bag, the Feliz dress, the Laguna skirt and the Solana and Zuma trousers.  They are all such gorgeous patterns and so different from any clothes you could buy on the high street!!

Photo of Zuma trousers with Hermosa top.
Design example courtesy of dotsnstripes.co.uk

Just take a look at the stunning photo above! The photo shows some Zuma trousers with a Hermosa top and the photo is courtesy of the dotsnstripes website. It is my birthday coming up in a couple of months so I am going to have to treat myself and buy some more patterns from Nicole’s website . . . the only problem is how do I choose which patterns to buy from such a wide selection ??!! Nicole sells patterns from Studio Tantrum, Farbenmix, Mamu Design, Ottobre and Abacadabra….which do I choose? They all look so unusual and pretty.

I love Nicole’s idea of showing fabric colour combinations together on her site. She shows a selection of a particular colour all next to each other to give you some inspiration for picking the fabrics for you chosen sewing project. There are lots of examples of combinations and they can all be selected by colour. My favourite combination is this one from the pink category :-

I love the polka dots and the bold floral prints. All the fabrics are available to buy from her site and she sells them by the metre. You can browse the fabrics here.  Nicole also sells fabric remnants and at the moment selected fabrics are in the Sale. It is worth checking out the remnants section and taking a look at the Sale too.

Dotsnstripes sell lots of wonderful accessories such as printed design bias binding and ribbons. You can also buy Zips, Threads, Buttons and more.

If you are reading this thinking…’I can’t sew but I’d love my child to wear clothes from those patterns’…well worry not…Nicole sells clothes made from the patterns she sells!! You can either choose to buy something from her selection which she has already made up or you she does a bespoke service whereby you can tell her the pattern and fabrics you want her to make the clothes from and she’ll sew the garment for you. To send an email to Nicole to discuss her making a custom garment for your child please click here.  The clothes she makes are so beautiful in the photos and I bet any little girl or boy would love them.

Summer Dress ‘Geske’ as made by Nicole at Dotsnstripes.
You can buy this dress here.

I hope you will all visit the dotsnstripes shop and have a look at all the lovely sewing things for sale. If you’d like to keep up to date with any news you can sign up for the newsletter here. I have just done so…. I don’t want to miss out on any offers. 🙂 Plus I have started following the Dotsnstripes blog and you can also follow Nicole on Facebook.

Finally I’d like to say thanks to Nicole for sending me the patterns to review.  I love the skirt that I’ve made and I will keep you all updated with any photos of the Hermosa top when I find time to make it.

Logo courtesy of Dots n Stripes

1 thought on “Review of Studio Tantrum sewing patterns – Hermosa Top and Redondo Skirt.”

  1. Pingback: Review of Emily ‘Puzzle Me’ Sewing Pattern by Mamu Design from Dots N Stripes |

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