Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop: A Review

There are several pattern brands that I just love...and Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop is one of them. I went through my digital pattern stash and it turns out I own 15 patterns from this adorable shop!! FIFTEEN!

I would like to share reviews of five different patterns with you here that I've sew up and I'd love to hear about which ones you've made so I can put them on my to-do list, too!

(Note: The links in this post are affiliate links and if you're interested in any of these patterns I'd love you to use them. I am not being given anything or paid to post this review and all the opinions are my own.)

First up, Bubble Shorts.

These shorts are just too cute! Like all of the Peek a Boo Patterns, the instructions are thorough and there are good pictures of each step along the way. The shorts came together pretty quickly, although for some reason I had trouble with the faux fly. I couldn't wrap my brain around the instructions for some reason so I kind of made up my own way to get the pieces to lay flat. Update: Amy, the amazing designer behind Peek-a-Boo is sending me an updated pattern because the one I had was bought quite a while ago. So if you order one now you won't have any problems. :)

The girls get lots of compliments when they wear these shorts. I have promised to make another pair for a friend's little girl so I'll try again and update here on how the faux fly goes next time.


Next, let's talk about the Sporty Girl Skort.

I have already shown you this fantastic skort here. I am just in love with it! The detailing is beautiful, it was easy to sew, and the girls love their hidden shorts. If I make another one, I would probably make the pocket bigger since it doesn't hold much of anything and their hand doesn't fit all the way in it. But overall, I couldn't be happier with the results of this beautiful skort and the pattern was extremely easy to follow.

In the swimsuit pictures below you can also see a pair of white shorts that Isa is wearing over the swim bottoms in one of the pictures. I actually made those from some scrap fabric, in about 15 minutes. I used the skort pattern and just didn't add the skirt part. They are adorable shorts all by themselves!

Now let's talk about the Santa Monica Sweetheart Tankini and the Bathing Beauty Swim Cap.

This was the very first swimsuit I ever attempted to make. I was nervous about sewing with swimsuit fabric and making sure it could stretch as much as it needed without my seams pulling out since I don't have a serger. But it came together easily and has held up well so far. I love that it's a modest two piece (potty trips are so much easier with a two piece!) but has fun little details like the ruffled bum, tie in the back, and ruffle on the front.

The only part I'm not 100% happy with is the front pink vertical piece at the very top. It was sort of floppy when I first put the suit together so I sewed it down at the top. It doesn't look very professional. I probably did something wrong, like not pulling the piece tight enough from the beginning and I'll pay more attention to that next time.

The swim cap is my favorite! I just love the vintage-y classic feeling of an adorable swim cap. The girls love it too! Although, it doesn't seem practical in the water, it's more just for looks. The pattern doesn't extend down to cover their ears, and I didn't make it tight enough to fit on their head when wet in the pool. But I'd make more just because they're so cute! It was easy to sew and the directions were clear. I had to adjust it slightly to gather more on the sides than the pattern called for because one of my daughter's heads is hard to fit. When I made it as the pattern called for - it fit my 3 year old's head perfectly, but was bunchy and strange looking on my 4 year old. Weird - differently shaped heads I guess. But with a few easy extra gathers it fits both nicely now.


And lastly, let's talk about the Hailey Ruffled Up Jacket.

I showed you this jacket here after 'knocking off' the look of an expensive jacket for a newborn. I adjusted the pattern by using one ruffle instead of two. I basically split the difference in size between the two ruffles on the pattern, doubled the width, and folded it over so there was a finished edge on the outside.

I am just in love with this jacket and the pattern was easy to understand and sew. I love the lining and the professional finish this piece has because there are no exposed seams. I used snaps instead of velcro and the instructions were clear on how to place the interfacing behind the snaps to give them stability.

The only thing I didn't like was hand sewing the lining into the cuffs. I don't like hand sewing anything because I'm not great at it. I've sewn a couple other jacket patterns that had instructions on doing a crazy origami-like fold so you can machine sew the cuffs, but you still pretty much always have to hand sew a piece of the lining then. I guess hand sewing is inevitable. And if you don't mind the look of top stitching you could probably machine sew it.

So there you have it. Five patterns from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop. What have you sewn from there? I'd love to see it!