| This is where YOU get featured! Want to get featured too? Read more at the bottom of this newsletter. | Customer Spotlight! This is a work of art! Sandi Stricker is an awesome grandma. She posted this picture of her Peppermint Swirl Dress in our pattern group, and she has just about become a legend now. She told us: "I have made five of these dresses in the past for 3 granddaughters. I noticed that my soon to be 3 - year old granddaughter, Charlotte, started wearing a dress I made for her sister two years ago. So I knew I needed to make one for Charlotte for her birthday in June. But I didn't have fabric yet. I live in Nebraska and was going to Montana to be with my mom for a couple weeks while she went through some chemo treatments. So on my road trip I stopped at fabric stores along the way. I found 4 yards of this colorful ombré fabric on the sale shelf in a Sheridan, WY quilting store. (I am an avid quilter too) I just thought it would make a fun colorful Peppermint Swirl Dress without having to get different pieces of fabric. So I made it while staying with my mother in her senior living complex. All the older ladies living there thought it was amazing. One 89 year old lady who did some sewing wanted one for her great granddaughter so I helped her cut one out and assisted her a bit. She used fabric pieces from her stash and is so pleased with her project that she thought would be impossible to do. Quite an accomplishment for an 89 year old. So anyone feeling intimidated by this pattern should conquer it now. If an 89 year old lady can do this, so can all those doubting their ability. I will be giving the ombré Peppermint Swirl Dress to Charlotte in June and then will post a swirling video. Yes, I am overwhelmed with excitement that this dress got over 1100 likes, several favorites of all dresses, and over 100 comments." And we are totally overwhelmed with your amazing fabric choice! | Customer spotlight! Five years ago, Christina Taylor was a tester for the Bubblegum Parade Maxi Dress add-on (see below). Her daughter is still wearing Bubblegum Maxi dresses today though! She showed off her amazing ombre maxi dress that I really loved. Christina said: "I was at JoAnn, saw the fabric sitting there and instantly knew that it would make an awesome dress. The parade maxi was the first one to come to mind. She wore it to church yesterday and got so many compliments on it. I feel like she’ll wear it as often as she can. She’s my dress loving girl." Take a moment to see how much that beautiful little girl in the picture below has grown in five years! Thank you so much for sharing, Christina! | Customer spotlight! Emily sent me these pictures (see below too) - I love the sass! What a great dress! Emily said: "My daughter wanted a dress for her 8th birthday party and I immediately thought of the recently released Strawberry Laces dress. Not only is the back pretty, no zip or button closures puts it in my knit-preferring comfort zone! I wasn't sure about her fabric choice at first but it turned out really cute and even the "princess" running her party commented on it." | Customer spotlight! Nicola Buntin posted a magical picture of a Peppermint Swirl Dress on Instagram, and she wrote so lovingly about her daughter and this project. Nicola: "My daughter Amelia isn't your typical princess, love everything pink, plays with dolls kinda girl. She loves space, fire engines and running and climbing everywhere. She does, however, love a good dress. | We'd been invited to a wedding and it was time for her to choose what she wanted to wear. Every dress that seemed wedding appropriate was either too frilly, lacy, sparkly or foofie. They were covered in unicorns and mermaids and princesses. I asked her what she wanted, and she asked for a 'rainbow dress that spins properly'. By chance I spotted your pattern via Instagram and I went for it. Found some straightforward cotton where each colour had a slightly different pattern and went for it. Was completely amazed at how quickly it came together! I loved the instruction to lie out the skirt and take a step back - not going to lie, I was really amazed! I made that! Once the dress was made, it was time for the ultimate test - how does it spin? Amelia spun and spun until she collapsed in a giggling heap of rainbow on the floor! On the day of the wedding (Saturday just gone), she put on her dress and had an amazing time. She could run, jump, climb, spin and the dress didn't restrict her in any way. She received one compliment after the other, and many parents approached me and couldn't believe I'd made it. Amelia got a lovely confidence boost (she's painfully shy) and was able to thoroughly enjoy the day. She's already asked for another dress! Thank you again for such a beautiful pattern!" | Customer spotlight! Tracy posted some adorable pictures in our group of her handsome baby boy wearing a Milkshake Jumper. Tracy: "When I got pregnant with my son, I made it a goal to sew his outfit for his monthly obligatory shoot. So, for his 9th month, I made him the Milkshake Jumper in pants length and it was love. It was the perfect pattern for this blue pooh fabric that I got from our local fabric store. I also love that it is relatively a quick and easy sew." | Customer spotlight! I spotted a video on Instagram of three twirling Peppermint Swirl Skirts in Disney World and they looked amazing. I had to know the story behind those skirts! Brandy Grossi made them and she learned to sew because she wanted to make the Peppermint Swirl Skirt for this purpose! Brandy said: "Here is the story on how these Jack and Sally Swirl Skirts came to be. We are a military family, I have been in the US Navy for over 17 years. I have been currently stationed in Tampa, FL for the last four years and during this time my family and I have fallen in love with going to Disney World. | About two years ago we were introduced to a group, the D3Darlins, who love to celebrate Disney with fashion! Each month we will have a meet-up at a park and get dressed to impress with a designated Disney theme. The August meet-up was a sewing challenge, to sew a skirt or dress using the Candy Castle's Peppermint Swirl Pattern. The D3Darlin's meet-up date also happen to fall on my 17th Wedding Anniversary, so we decided to go ahead and represent our favorite Disney couple, Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas, so I sew three peppermint swirl skirts and a matching vest for my husband to represent Jack and Sally. The design of the skirt along with the Disney theme was a huge hit at the parks, we got a ton of complements. Thank you for the wonderful pattern, this was the reason I learned to sew!" | Free updates Here at the Candy Castle, we value all our patterns - old and new! This is why we are constantly in the process of not only designing new patterns but also updating older patterns to include new options. When you purchase a pattern at Candy Castle Patterns, updates are always free! The patterns below have received updates over the past weeks. You can at any time log in to your account and download the latest version, or, if you need help downloading, feel free to email us at candycastle@outlook.com | The Bubblegum Circle Dress Add-On recently got updated to include printable layers & A0 files! A0 files are large scale files that you can take to a copy shop (or order the printouts online!) and are printed at poster format. This means no more taping pages together! These files can be used instead of, or next to, the regular printout. | The Peppermint Swirl Skirt got a complete make-over and a re-release! This is a free download that will show you how to turn your Peppermint Swirl Dress into a skirt and it works for all sizes (kids & adults). | This month, the Strawberry Laces Lace-Up Dress was released! This breath-taking dress has a beautiful lace-up back, optional pockets, and two skirt options. | I hope you got tons of sewing inspiration; let's get creative! Would you like to get featured too? If your picture is featured in the newsletter, you receive a 5 dollar coupon to the store, next to eternal fame for your amazing sewing talents of course! All pictures of Candy Castle Patterns creations will be considered, even if you made adjustments (it would be very helpful if you would tell us in short which adjustments you made, if any). Send your pictures to candycastle@outlook.com and if you're picked, we'll send you an email with your coupon code! | | |