I recently had the honor and privilege of working with designer Crystal Whitlow on her newest autumn collection, Sunflower Fields. Crystal has so many fun designs for children that I immediately thought of an "auntie and me" mini collection. I'm a sucker for a good floral print and loved the idea of scaling her sunflower designs for different sizes.

I've made the McCall's 7542 twice before, once in an embroidered denim fabric and once in a blue and white shirting, and know I love it. However, I wasn't a fan of the neck facing and the bell sleeves were difficult to hem, so I decided to try my hand at using bias binding in it's place. I was fortunate to find a similar top pattern for little girls, McCall's 7799, and topped off our coordinating outfits with bow tie for him McCall's 7223.

I ordered four different kinds of fabric printed on cotton poplin to create these looks - 2 yards of Large Sunflowers (red) for my top, 1 yard of Sunflowers and Fauna (red) for her top, 1 yard of Elf Red Speckles for our sleeve and bias binding, and 1 yard of Sunflower Stripes for his bow tie. The fabric was a dream to work with, I love how the bell sleeves hold their structure, and each pattern came together quickly. However, I did find cotton poplin bias binding hard to work with and would choose a lighter weight fabric for bias binding in the future.

Tip: I watched Lauren Guthrie's "The Ultimate Guide to Bias Binding" parts 1 and 2, a few times, to learn everything I needed to know about bias binding to successfully install my binding. Thank you for making and sharing these resources Lauren!

It was such an honor to be selected to join the Pattern Scout - Luna Crossbody testing group, and I love how my new cross body bag turned out!


As soon as I read the sewing instructions and learned that this pattern called for canvas I had just the right fabric in mind. I found this Rifle Paper Co. floral canvas at my local quilt shop and immediately fell head-over-heels. This small piece of fabric, purchased about a year ago, began my love affair with RPC! But it was such a small piece that I hadn't found the right project for it until this moment.

I also added some black duck canvas for an exterior piece and strap as well as some light pink quilting cotton for the lining and interior pockets. I finished the purse with a hardware kit from Pattern Scout.


I loved how quickly this bag came together. It instantly felt rewarding because I could see it taking shape. There are about five pattern pieces and they are small in size so this is an easy pattern to print at home. And I love Casey's illustrations, which made the whole project go smoothly!


The Luna Crossbody is the perfect size bag for all of my quick trips and errands with three pockets, four card holder slots, and an adjustable shoulder strap. Plus I'm just loving the fabric combinations and gold accents. My mother has already asked for her own version!


I had such an absolutely fabulous experience sewing up my first pattern test for Pattern Scout - the Luna Crossbody. I was originally excited just to be selected and soon found so much additional value in doing a small sew-along with other sewists and sharing real-time feedback. You can have the same experience by joining the Luna Crossbody sew-along!

Time estimate: 8 hours
Fabric used: 1 fat quarter Rifle Paper Co. floral canvas, 1/2 yard duck canvas fabric, 1/4 yard light pink quilting cotton
Other materials: gold and black hardware kits from Pattern Scout
Care instructions: spot clean as needed

Cost to make cross body bag:
pattern - $10.00 value
duck canvas - $2.50
hardware - $9.50
shipping - $3.00
*used floral canvas, quilting cotton, and thread from my stash
TOTAL: $25.00