Perfect Ten by Little Lizard King
/It has truly been a privilege to see one of our own reviewers sprout her designer wings and not just fly, but SOAR!!! Cassie Massolia is one of the up and coming designers over at Little Lizard King and you've seen her work in our Drop Waist Diva review! She's definitely one you want to watch so you can say you were following her work from the very beginning! It's our honor, as her Pattern Revolution family, to bring you our review of her newest pattern for Little Lizard King: Perfect Ten.
When I first saw tester photos for the Perfect 10 top pattern by Little Lizard King (LLK), I knew it would be a pattern that would go right on my “NEED this NOW” list – and it didn’t disappoint. The fit is excellent (I made a size 4 with the length from the size 5 for the body and sleeves for my slim 5-year-old) and the included options are numerous and well-drafted. This is a pattern designed for mixing and matching and the toughest part was deciding what options to include and what fabrics to use - the actual construction of the garment was straightforward and easy. Even if you’re newer to knits the tutorial is clear, easy to follow, and illustrated with photographs that help clarify each step. When sewing a pattern for the first time, I often like to sew up a basic version first to assess any fit or construction issues (and make sure it works for my kiddo). Those of you who dislike hemming knits will be happy to hear that there are measurements included for arm/sleeve bands (for each of the 5 sleeve lengths included), neckbands, and a hemband. No hemming needed unless you absolutely want to! There is an extensive table of contents with tester photos to illustrate each of the options, so it is easy to navigate through the pattern pages to find the instructions and measurement charts for each. I would have liked to see another copy of all of the measurement charts together in one place for easy printing to keep with my pattern pieces, but for now I’ve just jotted down the ones I needed onto the pattern pieces so it’s all in one place for this size.
Miss P and I used freezer paper stenciling to make her “Luck” shirt for St. Patrick’s Day, and love that the basic version of this tee is a fantastic canvas for embellishments like this. She absolutely loved the option with the bow band across the chest, so I made that one next (and paired it with a Take 5 skirt, also a LLK pattern, for a cute spring look). We used a chiffon flower instead of a bow for ours, and we both like how this turned out. The other option that my ruffle-and-button-loving kiddo requested immediately was the ruffle front bodice with the button placket, so I made two versions of that style. One was a simple ¾ sleeve tee, and I left off the cuffs and just hemmed the sleeves. For the other one, I shortened the bodice to P’s lower waist and added a simple gathered skirt to make a drop-waist dress. I added the button tabs to the sleeves of the dress, too - it is hard to resist adding more and more of these adorable options! My daughter loves her new shirts and dress, and I love that I can sew up an entire wardrobe of tops for her that don’t look like they’re all from the same pattern. The huge range of sizes included (from 12 months to 14 years) ensures that I’ll be able to get a lot of use from the Perfect 10 for years to come, too.
Until next time,
Rachel
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The Perfect Ten top by Little Lizard King reads like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, but as pattern instructions. I’ve never sewn a pattern like this before, with this many options, so at first it was more than a little overwhelming. However once I sorted out what I was supposed to be doing I was actually pretty excited and promptly cut out 6 different shirts. My advice is figure out what sort of shirt you want to make before you read anything else. Choose your options, write them down or do a little sketch if you’re prone to forgetfulness like I am, THEN follow the instructions for each step. The photos for each option are clickable, and will take you to the section of the instructions that you need to go. There is a lot of scrolling involved if you get lost, but it really doesn’t take long at all to work out what you’re doing!
I chose the Ruffled Neckline and the cap sleeves options for this little navy and white striped number. Now I know what you might be thinking, it’s a t-shirt pattern, and at first I was inclined to agree because I already have a t-shirt pattern. Or 3. What I don’t have is a t-shirt pattern that has about three hundred different combinations with all those neck, sleeve and bodice options. There are pockets, hembands, button tabs, and ruffled plackets. Oh also you can make it into a rashie if you use swim fabric. I had no idea how badly I wanted to sew a rashie for the kids until I read that option! Just want a plain tee? You can do that too. Those six other shirts I cut out? All from old t-shirts. This makes this tee so perfect for upcycling and refashioning, the fabric that I used for Eddie’s Perfect Ten top in the photos came from a striped t-shirt dress and a band tee that I never wore.
The instructions don’t assume that you know how to sew a t-shirt, taking the time to walk you through each little section through both the basics and the trickier parts. Of course when I showed Eddie this shirt her first reaction was “Don’t like it.” Why? “It’s not a dwess”. It’s like she became a princess overnight, I swear, so my solution was to sew up a simple elastic-waisted skirt which is perfect for twirling. Her verdict? “I WUV IT!” And so Princess Ballerina Edison wore it to the movies that evening.
Want more LLK? See some of our other posts HERE!
