It’s time for our third week of Season 31 and this week’s scores will determine who competes in the final round! Please help us out by choosing YOUR favorite at the end of this post!
Theme
Wild Side
Nature has the best inspiration! Let the prints and textures from nature, or anything wild inspire you.
Week 3’s theme is a fun one, and we can’t wait to see how differently everyone interprets this one. You could go so many directions…
Week 3 Sponsor
For each of the first three weeks this season, we are awarding special bonus prizes to reward the weekly winners for their hard work!
This week’s bonus prize sponsor is:
Fabric Mart is a small, family-owned business specializing in deadstock, designer fabric. They have been in business for over 45 years! They are proud to be a second generation, woman owned business offering quality fashion fabric at deep discounts!
Celebrity Guest Judge
1/3 of the designer’s scores comes from a weekly celebrity guest judge. This week we are thrilled to welcome Kim Coffin in that role. Let’s meet her:
Kim Coffin is the creator behind Sweet Red Poppy, a popular sewing, crafting, and DIY website and YouTube channel. With over a decade of experience teaching a global community of makers, she is dedicated to helping others bring their creative dreams to life. Drawing on her background in clothing construction, Kim makes sewing approachable and fun for all skill levels, while teaching proper techniques that deliver results that last.
The Designs
Each of our designers surprised us with their looks this week! Everyone really stepped it up and created something very unexpected. Please take the time to read about each one and then vote in the poll at the end of the post.
Shyra – Tangled x Coachella
Nature is the ultimate muse, untamed, textural, and endlessly inspiring. For this challenge, I embraced the delicacy of florals, a symbol of identity and transformation, first sparked by my daughter’s Tangled Homecoming theme. Though the theme pivoted to Coachella, I carried forward the wild, romantic spirit and made it my own.
The look begins with wide-leg, inverted-pleat pants in Boho Fabrics’ double border floral scalloped edge embroidery woven in nude. Every seam is meticulously finished with French seams, ensuring the inside is as refined as the outside, luxury hidden in the details. Their fluid movement mirrors nature’s organic flow. Paired with them is a Victorian-inspired corset with full metal boning, drafted based on Oxford School of Corsetry’s pattern which received a modern edit by reducing the length, removal of busk, and a change of shape for comfort.
To complete the story, I hand-crafted petals and stitched them onto the corset, creating layered textures that echo falling leaves and blossoms in motion. The result: a balance of structure and softness, discipline and wildness, an ode to nature’s most exquisite contradictions.
Kimberly – Wild Side, Tame Side
I have to admit that I was a bit stumped when I first saw this week’s theme. Did I want to create an outfit that embraced the bold side of nature, wanting to stand out? Or did I want to create an outfit that embodied nature’s ability to beautifully blend into its surroundings? As my youngest has moments where she fits into both of these categories, I wasn’t sure which outfit would appeal to her more. And then I wondered—what if I could make an outfit that could do both, depending on her mood for the day? Hence my look for week three is made up of three items that are completely reversible. Each has a wild side and a tame side.
For the dress, I used parts of both Yarrow from Peony Patterns and Olive from Violet Field Threads. The dress is a true wrap dress and features a button-loop closure that allows my girl to dress herself. On the wild side, I added a waistband and shortened the skirt so that the reverse black ruffle would show through to accent the bold pink cheetah print. On the tame side, I modified the satin ruffle so that you wouldn’t see hem stitching from the reverse side. I also made satin piping to pipe the neckline and sleeves to minimize the pink showing over to the black side. Finally, I drafted a large satin bow that can be worn with both sides.
For the capelet, I started with the Bellflower pattern from Peony Patterns. I changed the shape of the front, letting it close more fully for added warmth. I added a tie closure that I made by braiding many strands of yarn and securely attaching two handmade pom-poms at the end of each one. The wild side is made from a minky fabric and the tame side is made from faux fur (which left me sneezing faux fur for days!). Both sides will keep my girl warm as our Utah fall temperatures will soon turn cold for the winter.
Since my daughter loves stuffed animals (especially cats), I decided it would be fun to see if I could make a reversible stuffed animal. For the basic shape, I started with the retired Cuddly Pals Pattern from Sunshine Pattern Co. On the wild side, I drafted new ear, eye, and muzzle details to resemble a cheetah. On the tame side, I drafted another set of ears and eyes. On both sides, the eyes and noses are hand embroidered for durability. It took me a few tries to figure out how to assemble and fine tune the ability to reverse the stuffy. I finally realized that adding elastic to the bottom seam helps it keep its shape and easily lets you flip between the two sides.
I’ll end with a funny tidbit from our photo shoot. My girl knew I was making the stuffy reversible but didn’t know until our photo shoot that the dress and cape were also reversible. Seeing her face light up with wonder reminded me why I love to sew and create. Thanks to Project Run and Play for aiding in making sweet memories together!
Kayla – Whispering Wings
When I thought about what I could do for this week’s theme of Wild Side I thought of the moment a tiger swallowtail butterfly landed on my rose bushes when I was watering them. So I decided to have that be my inspiration. One of my favorite things to sew and photograph is fairytale themed dresses and it is perfect that Halloween is right around the corner! With that in mind I wanted the dress to still be able to be worn without the wings which are meant for Halloween and pretend play.
For this look I started with the wings. First I started with AI and asked it to help me create a realistic looking tiger swallow tail wing that was high quality and had the dimensions of the fabric I was going to print it on. Oh boy was this hard for AI to handle but I finally managed to get a file that worked and prayed it would print well. I printed it on rayon challis from Carriage House Printery for its light flowy weight. Working closely with CHP’s amazing customer service team I was able to get the wings to print perfectly! I was so delighted when it came! I sewed two wing panels together and repeated for the other side. Then I sewed a stitch to create a casing for the wire to fit through so that the wings would keep their shape. Next was connecting the two, attaching the elastic, and wrapping the back with black velvet ribbon to hide the wire holding the two wings together. It was a bit tricky to balance the wings when worn, which is something I didn’t anticipate, But eventually figured it out. While this project was challenging to accomplish I am thrilled with how it turned out and know what to do differently next time.
I decided to make a more formal dress this time but something she could still wear to church. So I strived to find a balance. I made it out of a blue chiffon with satin for the lining. I chose blue based on the small blue spots on the butterfly and the stunning contrast the butterfly has against the sky. I had the satin in my stash and got lucky with a good quality chiffon on Amazon. For the dress I started with how I wanted the back bodice to look. I wanted her to be able to wear the elastic straps of the wings under the dress to hide them. So I went with a square neckline all around, fully lined the bodice, and finished it with sunflower buttons and a cute bow to keep it on her petite shoulders. Next I decided on the sleeves. I made puffy gathered sleeves that are attached to a straight sleeve lining to give it a balloon effect and drape nicely with the material. Next, the skirt. I went with a three tiered skirt with gathered skirts attached to each layer. The inspiration came from imagining that I stacked three Virginia Bluebells on top of each other for a very fairy like look. Lots and lots of gathering! I used french seams to sew the skirt pieces together and lined it with the satin. While I love pockets I felt it was best to omit them from this dress. I finished the dress off with little tiger swallowtails on the shoulders where bows are sometimes placed and hand embroidered the middle of each butterfly.
Amanda – Wildflower Whimsy
When I thought about where I feel the most inspired by nature, my mind went to wildflower meadows and the magic of a quiet forest. I wanted to create something that felt whimsical, like it had stepped out of a fairytale. I drew inspiration from the colors and textures of wildflowers, tall grasses, and earthy tones. I knew I wanted this outfit to have a hint of magic, so it naturally took on a pixie-inspired element.
The outfit started with the Bebekins Marthena dress pattern for the bodice, which I edited by giving the puff sleeves a sweet little ruffled edge (inspired by flowers, of course). For the skirt, I worked from Little Lizard King’s Sydney, as I felt the scalloped overlay would be perfect for channeling petals. I swapped the original underskirt for a shorter circle skirt, left more space between the edges of the overlay, and shortened the overlay so it wouldn’t line up with the bottom skirt, giving it a fairy-like twist. The embroidery may have been my favorite part of this project. I self-drafted both the dragonfly on the wand and the wildflowers on the bodice, sketching the designs and embroidering them by hand. The wand itself was also self-drafted, a star-topped accessory perfect for a little meadow fairy. For the flower crown, I used some silk flowers, connecting them with chenille stem & finishing with a velvet ribbon to tie under the hair.
To complete the fairy outfit, I self-drafted the wire & mesh wings as well. Let’s just say there was a lot of trial, error, & hot glue! At one point, I managed to glue them to the floor, and I may have burnt my fingers several times along the way! In the end, the wings were worth it, as my daughter immediately lit up and began to jump around when she tried them on. I love when clothing can be practical and also spark wonder and play! Please visit my instagram to see behind the scenes: @osobabyclothing
WOW! Now it is time to choose your favorite and help us decide who will move on to the final round next week! The poll will close Thursday, 9/18/25 T 11:59pm EST.