Children’s Corner Taylor Modification for Color Blocking

If you’ve been following along for any period of time, you know that one of my favorite things to do is to find a ready-to-wear outfit and replicate it in my own way. This project was no exception. This sweet little bubble ran across my Instagram feed and I knew it had to be mine.

Upon initial viewing, its pretty clear that this is a Children’s Corner Pattern’s Taylor. It just required some small alterations. If you’re at a point in your sewing journey in which you feel pretty confident following a pattern and would like to try changing a pattern up for the first time, this is the perfect project for you.

To do the alterations I first traced my 18 month Taylor pattern onto tracing paper. There are only two pieces in this pattern, the front and the back. I wanted to do the color blocking to both, so both pattern pieces were traced. If you’d prefer to trace the entire pattern pieces by tracing the pattern on the fold, that could be beneficial in visualizing the curved piece. The pictures below show only the front half to minimize confusion.

I then took the traced pattern and drew a curved line from the top to the bottom of the bubble and cut along that line. This is where tracing the pattern on the fold could be beneficial, as it would allow you to see what the entire panels will look like. Here’s how to do that:

Altering the Pattern:

To draw the curved line measure one inch from the center of the bubble front and placed a dot.

Measure five inches from the center bottom of the bubble and place a dot. I chose this distance because it kept the crotch piece intact.

Then connect the dots with a curved line. I drew the curved line a couple of times to get it to look the way I wanted.

After completing this portion, cut (with paper scissors) along the curved line. Place each piece of the cut pattern on another piece of tracing paper and retrace, adding a quarter of an inch (for the seam allowance) along each side of the cut just made. To reiterate, a quarter of an inch is added to the center panel and a quarter of an inch is added to the side panel. These additions are made along the curved cut line.

Voila! You now have a new pattern with four pieces. Center front, side front panel, center back, and side back panel.

Construction of my Taylors:

I then cut my fabric according to the new pattern, making sure to keep my pattern pieces on the straight of grain.

I used three different seersuckers. Each seersucker is a 1/16″ check, Lime green, aqua, and coral. I also made my own buttons using these kits. The buttons are a super easy way to add a pop of very coordinated color. There are tons of sizes available as well, here are some other options: 3/4 in, 1/2 in, 7/16 in.

To add piping to the pattern as seen below I piped the center piece and then attached the side panels. Adding the side pieces to the center piece was a bit tricky as it is adding a concave piece of fabric to a convex piece of fabric. It is helpful to use a lot of pins and make sure you place right sides together. After constructing the front and back outer pieces, I followed the Taylor pattern as written. Adding piping to the tops of each. Going around the corners of the Taylor can be finicky, I find that clipping, sewing it on with my zipper foot, and using a point turner help A LOT to get the piping perfect.

I made two Taylors, each with different color blocking. Each Taylor is lined with solid seersucker front and back lining pieces. The original pattern was used to create the lining pieces. Attaching the unaltered lining to the front and back altered panels helped to ensure that none of my alterations had dramatically changed the pattern and gave me a little peace of mind.

This could be done with so many different types of fabric! When choosing colors/patterns/different fabrics I recommend trying to keep one aspect of the fabrics cohesive. In this case I made sure all of my fabrics had 1/16″ checks, changing only the colors of the panels and piping. This is one way to help make your garment look more handmade/professional and less homemade.

If you have any questions or are confused by any of the steps, feel free to comment, message me on Instagram or facebook, or send me an email.

Happy Sewing!