I’ve been working away on my next pattern – only this will be a three-pattern collection called the Haven Acres Mini Collection.
The three pieces will be the Sweet Pea Cap, the Haven Acres Blouse, and Dressage Leggings. Â The plan is for all three to be sized to fit newborn through 12 years.
The story behind the pattern names is the scene of the first photos for this style of pants and the pony ear cap.  I made this outfit last year when I was competing in Project Run & Play and I la-la-loved how cute this entire look turned out!  My cousin has a small farm called Haven Acres Farm with a pony named – you guessed it – Sweet Pea, along with some chickens and a few farm cats.
The Dressage Leggings have been through one round of pretesting. Â I draft my patterns in my daughters’ sizes, which is currently around 4T/5T and then grade out in either direction from there. Â Pretesting allows me to check to see if the grading is making sense before bringing in testers for every size in hopes that full testing will go smoothly. Â I’ve taken the results of the pretesting and am in the process of redrafting the leggings.
When I begin testing, I want to roll through each of the patterns in turn or concurrently so that the entire collection will be ready to release at the same time (pattern bundles, anyone?). Â To that end, I’m going to be looking for two testers per size who will have the flexibility to stick with a lengthy testing process. Â I understand if stuff comes up; we’ll work together to get it all covered if life gets hectic.
Link to Tester Signup – I know it’s a pain but if you are able to test more than one size, can you fill out the form for each size?  It makes it way easier to sort and filter when I go to select testers.  I’m very scientific (I’m an accountant by trade) so I get my worksheets on when I go through the selection process.  I always bring in new people each time I’ve tested – I need people who aren’t already familiar with my patterns to help spot those little glitches that could otherwise be missed.
Obviously at this date, I won’t begin testing until after December 25. Â The plan is to have the leggings begin testing while I get the hat and blouse drafted and the tutorial written up, and whichever is ready for testing first will get its turn.
This pattern is only for girls? Or can be adapted for a boy too?
I’m hoping that once we test the leggings version, a few people can give it a go with stretchy bottom weight fabrics and see if it works for boys. I think it would look like bmx pants.
I’d love to test the boy version (or this one in “boy fabrics” or whatever), I have a 7yr old boy who would LOVE these and wear them as is.
Oh so cute! That cap is to die for. Just filled out the form for both of my girls sizes. Not sure if it matters to you or not, but my 18-24m size is in cloth diapers so I could test that rise.
Ooh! I love the whole set. So adorable.
My four year girl has a waist line of a size 2T
I would love to try the testing but I’m afraid to pick the wrong size, she’s a thin girl but she’s tall too, what about the length of the pants?
Could this be done with light jeans too?
Merry Christmas everybody out there ^_^
All your cute girl patterns! It’s not very fair that I just have boys. Can’t wait to see these released!
ahhhhh omg i am so bummed i missed this >:| this is the cutest damn thing i’ve seen ALL YEAR 😉
I don’t know how I missed this post. Those leggings are even more amazing now that I have seen them in fabric with the zip. LOVE!!!!
OH I wish you would make these in bigger sizes too, my 8-year-old is having trouble fitting any of the commercially made Jodhpurs and Riding tights and that Jacket is to die for……..I would test bigger sizes for you; o))) We do Pony Club, Jump Competitions and Horse Archery.