Wednesday, September 8, 2010

{Cool for School} The Kestlyn Collection


A while back, I won a tester spot from The Kestlyn Collection. Kestlyn makes handmade clothes from upcycled wool and knit fabrics. I didn't know exactly what I wanted, but I told her the colors I liked and she sent me not just one but TWO of the most adorable matching outfits. One for each of my girls. While these outfits were not intended to be part of my Back to School event, I decided to include them as such because I personally love sending my daughter to school in these beautiful handmade clothes! Picture day makes it especially nice when my child is not dressed the same as all the others!

This photo was taken at the end of April

Sadly, the dress for my toddler didn't fit because her head was too big but Kestlyn offered to pay the shipping to have it returned to her for adjustment. How awesome is that? When I got the package back with the adjusted dress, I was surprised by a second equally adorable skirt! Both dresses also came with a pair of pants, the smallest pair being made from wool that double as a diaper cover for my cloth bottomed little girl.



I have had these outfits for several months now and have put them through the wash many times and have not had any problems with them fading or shrinking. I had asked for a size 6 for my older daughter and the sizing seems to be right on other than the collar. I'm kind of wishing I had sent my her dress to be adjusted along with the smaller one since it is a little hard to get over her head, but other than that the fit is perfect. The pants she is wearing in this photo aren't the ones that came with the set, I couldn't find them this morning!


She wore this dress to school last year a few times and got a lot of compliments from teachers and other parents, and since the temperature was cool I decided it would be a perfect first day of school outfit too! I do worry about her getting paint or markers on it at school, but that hasn't happened yet. She has come home a few times with her shirt covered in paint which does not wash off!

At the beginning of the year, I also won a giveaway that was held on Hyena Cart that Kestlyn took part of. It was a special giveaway where I was to gift the prize to someone else. A wool capelet was Kestlyn's portion of the gift package and I gave it to my Grandma. I don't have a photo to share, but she said she loves it.

If you are looking for unique handmade clothes for your children, or even for your self you should check out The Kestlyn Collection on Etsy! She's got some cute n' edgy dresses and skirts up right now for great clearance prices! Want a chance to win? Head on over to Kestlyn's blog to check out her giveaway for a custom leotard!

7 comments:

Kestlyn said...

Thank you so much for your wonderful review :) Would you like me to fix the collar of the bigger dress? My serger will make quick work of it (that alone has fixed the necks and allowed them to stretch nicely)and I might just have a surprize to send back with it ;)

BrettBMartin said...

those matchy dresses are DARLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! love them!! and i see Kestlyn commented- nice to see customer service like that

Katie said...

WOW! Those are so cute! I am off to look at the shop NOW! I just cleaned out my daughters closet for clothes that didn't fit her..and it left her with almost NOTHING!

Anonymous said...

Those are adorable.

Mom vs. the boys said...

seeing cute clothes like that makes me wish I had a girl! I love it when siblings wear matchy clothes

Unknown said...

hand made is ALWAYS best! the sets are really cute and sound like TRUE quality! But you said remade partly from wool and you can wash them? Wow...non fading and non shrinking...ya dont see much of that when buying from the average "vender". thanks for the review!

Unknown said...

Eileen, my toddler's matching pants are made out of wool with only a piece of cotton that makes the pink ruffle at the cuff. I guess I should have specified - I did not machine wash the wool pants, they are still hand wash only with wool wash.

I machine washed the dresses and my older daughters pants (cold water). Her pants were actually store bought with the ruffle cuff embellishment attached.