Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Pattern Parcel # 5 The Asymmetrical Drape Top

(This post contains affiliate links.)
 

 
And....some sewing for my 3.5 month old.
What?! She's already that old--yep, time flies just a little too fast!
 

 
I was quite excited when I saw that the Pattern Parcel had a pattern that could be sewn up for babies.
My older daughter is getting quite the wardrobe already, so it was nice to be able to sew something up for my youngest.

 
The pattern I used is the EYMM Asymmetrical Drape Top which is part of the Pattern Parcel.
And, the fabric is a Heather Ross knit that I scored an 'end of the bolt' from Fabric.com.
I love how it turned out, and I have to say my little girl looks rather cute in it.

 
Does anyone else find it super hard to photograph babies?!
 
The Pattern Parcel ends soon, so make sure to hop on over and buy your parcel of patterns!
 
Here is some additional info about the Pattern Parcel--how it works, what's included, and a bonus pattern:

How Pattern Parcel Works:
Here at Perfect Pattern Parcel, we believe in supporting independent pattern designers. It’s our opinion that indie patterns are just, well, better than big box patterns, and we’re pretty sure our customers think so too. So, we allow customers to show their support in naming their own price for each Parcel.  We also encourage customers to allocate part of their Parcel price to the charity Donorschoose.org in order to help classrooms in need. Pattern Parcel donates all profits after expenses from Parcel sales to the charity as well. Together we've raised over $11,000 for classrooms in need!
 

Lily Knit Blazer by Peek-a-Boo Patterns

Everyday Yoga Pant for Girls by Greenstyle

Asymmetrical Drape Top by EYMM

Playhouse Dress by Fishstick Designs

Mimi Dress and Shirt by Filles a Maman


BONUS PATTERN: Sunki Dress by Figgy’s
 
Pattern Parcel #5: Choose your own price and support DonorsChoose. Win/win!

Pattern Parcel #5: Choose your own price and support DonorsChoose. Win/win
 
Bonus Pattern:
Choose a price of $28 or greater for Parcel #5 and you will automatically also be sent the Bonus Pattern! The Bonus Pattern for this Parcel is the Sunki Dress by Figgy's. Fun pockets, a stylish silhouette, plus make it in knit or woven. Double bonus! The pattern includes both size runs, so you get 18 months through a 16 tween sizing.

Pattern Parcel #5: Choose your own price and support DonorsChoose. Win/win

There have been some amazing outfits sewn this tour and there are still more to come as well!
Make sure to pop by each one to see what they've sewn.
 
Parcel #5 Inspiration Tour Schedule:

Friday, September 19 Pienkel || Cookin' and Craftin'

Saturday, September 20 Sew Busy Lizzy || The Life Of A Compulsive Crafter

Sunday, September 21 Keep Calm and Carrion || Felt With Love Designs

Monday, September 22 Radiant Home Studio || Sewing Sober

Tuesday, September 23 Sew Fishsticks || La Pantigana || Amanda Rose

Wednesday,September 24 Shawnta Sews || Sprouting JubeJube || Knot Sew Normal

Thursday, September 25 Make It Perfect || Mimi's Mom || Climbing the Willow

Friday, September 26 Needle and Ted || Our Family Four

Saturday, September 27 Froo & Boo

Sunday, September 28 Stitches by Laura || Vicky Myers creations

Monday, September 29 Cookin' and Craftin' || The Crazy Tailor

Tuesday, September 30 mama says sew || FABulous Home Sewn || The Inspired Wren

Wednesday, October 1 lady and the gents || That's-Sew-Kari || Sewing Sober

Thursday,October 2 Gracious Threads || Blogs Like A Mother || SewsNBows

Friday, October 3 sew chibi || Lulu & Celeste || Made by Sara

Blog Tour--Day 3

Today I'd like to welcome Samantha from Project Destash!
 
"Hello, my name is Samantha and I am a self professed fabric hoarder. I blog about my latest sewing projects and attempts at cutting down my fabric stash. I have to make room for new fabric!"
 
Samantha has sewn up both the Perfect Petal Purse Pattern and the Pirate's Treasure Wallet Pattern.
Hop on over to have a look at her take on these two patterns!
 
http://www.projectdestash.com/2014/09/the-perfect-petal-and-pirate-treasure.html
 
Make sure to enter the Giveaway:
 
 
Check out what some other bloggers have done:

September 28

Nosy Pepper

September 29

From a Box

Gracious Threads

September 30

Project Destash

October 1

Filles a Maman

October 2

Sew Very

October 3

Friends Stitched Together

Secretly Stitching

October 4

Lulu and Celeste

Made By Sara



Monday, September 29, 2014

Blog Tour--Day 2

 
Today we have my friend Jess from Gracious Threads!
 
And, we have Stacey from From a Box!
 
Not only is Jess a great seamstress, but also a great friend!
She has a number of patterns out--which are all super cute--make sure to check them out as well.
 
Gracious Threads began as a place for Jess to share all the sewing she did for her friends and family. It soon grew, as other sewists shared her love for simple, practical clothing for kids. She now designs clothing for boys and girls and shares tutorials and inspiration on her blog. Jess lives with her husband and 3 children on their Canadian dairy farm.
 
Hop on over to Jess' blog to see what she did with the Pirate's Treasure Wallet Pattern!
 
http://wp.me/p51dKe-9g
 
"Stacey blogs about her sewing creations and family adventures from her house that looks like a box in the Pacific Northwest… hence the blog is titled From a Box.  She stitched up both the purse and the wallet to show off in the blog tour.  Once the purse and the wallet are filled with a gift card, they are ready for giving to little friend's to celebrate birthdays, and to nieces, nephews, and cousins for the holidays."
 
Stacey whipped up both patterns--the Pirate's Treasure Wallet Pattern and the Perfect Petal Purse Pattern. Hop on over to have a look!
 
http://www.from-a-box.com/2014/09/purse-wallet-pattern-blog-tour.html
 
 Thanks so much, ladies, for the awesome job!
 
Make sure to enter the Giveaway:
 
Check out what some other bloggers have done:

September 28

Nosy Pepper

September 29

From a Box

Gracious Threads

September 30

Project Destash

October 1

Filles a Maman

October 2

Sew Very

October 3

Friends Stitched Together

Secretly Stitching

October 4

Lulu and Celeste

Made By Sara

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Blog Tour--Day 1

I'm quite excited to be hosting my first blog tour!!
A number of fantastic bloggers have helped me out and have sewn up some of my patterns--enjoy all the fun versions they have made in the next week. And, be sure to enter the giveaway for your pattern of choice!

We'll start with Cyndi from The Nosy Pepper!
Cyndi from The Nosy Pepper is a self taught sewist who loves all things crafty, with a particular love for sewing bags.  Cyndi sews, crochets and has dabbled in almost any craft she can get her hands on.
 
Cyndi has sewn up the Pirate's Treasure Wallet Pattern, and she did a fantastic job!
Hop on over to see what she did with the Pirate's Treasure Wallet Pattern!
 
http://nosypepper.blogspot.com/2014/09/pirates-treasure-wallet-blog-tour.html
 
What a great wallet!
Thanks so much, Cyndi for touring along with us!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Make sure to stop by the other bloggers this week:

September 28

Nosy Pepper

September 29

From a Box

Gracious Threads

September 30

Project Destash

October 1

Filles a Maman

October 2

Sew Very

October 3

Friends Stitched Together

Secretly Stitching

October 4

Lulu and Celeste

Made By Sara

 
 


Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Flower Applique Quilt with Stay Home Fabrics

I was quite excited when Lindsay from Stay Home Fabrics offered to send me a couple of Fat Quarters to play with!
 
She sent me these FQ's:
Pinwheel Midnight
Raindrops Turquoise (out of stock at the moment--will update link when in stock again!)

I put together a free tutorial for a wall hanging!

http://shrsl.com/?~6n2c
 
 The solid grey came from my stash--it's a plain old quilting cotton--perfect for a canvas to add some lovely color!

 
I had so much fun fussy cutting the large flowers out of the Hide and Seek Sky FQ.

 
And, then the text. I hesitated the longest with this.
I wanted it perfect and wasn't sure if I wanted to incorporate the text into the quilting or what I wanted to do. But, I knew it had to stand out--it had to be visible.


So I embroidered them on by hand.
After chalking the words on to make sure they'd fit where I wanted them, though I didn't end up using the chalk out line very much.
It ended up being pretty free hand.
(I can only wish I had better penmanship!)

 
And, for the quilting, I quilted about a 1/4" from the flowers and then stitched-in-the-ditch for the rest.

 
I added some triangles in the back to hang it.

 
For the backing, I cut the left overs from the FQs into strips and pieced the back.

 
And, the binding--I love how the small flowers look as binding.
Plus it's a brighter color to add that girly flair I wanted for my girls' room!

 
A bright ribbon I hijacked from one of my daughter's gift bags she had stored away is a perfect match.
 
You can get the free tutorial here!
 
And, hop on over to Stay Home Fabrics--Lindsay has $10 flat rate shipping in Canada or free shipping on $100 or over, and the entire month of September you'll get a free, surprise 10 piece 5" charm pack with any order!
Plus, use the promo code "justbeautiful" to get 15% off the Dashwood Studios collection until Wednesday at midnight!
 
Follow Stay Home Fabrics on Facebook for future promo codes and sales!
 

Friday, September 19, 2014

Etage Dress and Top

When Terri from Sew Straight & Gather put out a testing call for her Etage Dress and Top, I quickly applied.
The design is amazing!  
 
 
I love the asymmetrical layering of the skirt.
It is absolutely gorgeous!

 
I made the half length sleeves in a dress version. Size 4.
You can also make it sleeveless, short sleeved, and you can make it as a top.
So, you have a lot of options!

 
The floral fabric is from Girl Charlee (referral link) and the solid pink is from Fabric.com (affiliate link) from quite some time ago.
 


This'll be a perfect dress for winter here!
It has a good number of layers so it will be nice and warm.
 
 
The Etage Dress and Top pattern will be is available here on the 26th! by mid October! (Terri is perfecting an already superb pattern to make it absolutely perfect!) 

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

School Boy Vest and Bosco Bowtie

A couple of weeks ago, we received some great news--we had a new nephew!
So....I had to sew something up.
 Of course.
 
 
For the cute little man, I thought a cute little reversible vest would do the trick.

 
Add in a sweet little bow-tie, and we're all set!
 
 
The vest pattern is the School Boy Vest pattern from Sew Much Ado.
I made it in a nice linen that I had in my stash from long ago--I believe it's from Fabric.com.
And, the snaps are Kam snaps--thanks to my friend Jess from Gracious Threads for the brown ones!  

 
And, the bow tie is the free pattern from Sis Boom--the Bosco Bowtie.
I did make it a little different than the instructions say--I used less hot glue as I didn't feel that it would be as strong compared to being sewn.
The fabric is from my local Fabricland. It co-ordinated perfectly, even though I didn't buy it for this purpose!
 
 
I love how it turned out--hope my sister-in-law likes it as well!


Monday, September 8, 2014

Getting Ready for Winter...

I'm definitely NOT looking forward to winter...I prefer to stick around 25 degrees (Celsius) or warmer...that's ideal.
I love my summers--walking around bare foot, the green grass, the beautiful flowers, the awesome thunder storms, not having to bundle 5 kids up to go outside.
I'm definitely a summer person.
 But, we've been thrown into winter--September 8 and we have our first layer of snow. Bah!
 
When Mel from Filles a Maman put out a second tester call for her accessory patterns, I knew I had to be in on it. (I hadn't signed up for the first just because I had waaay too much stuff on my plate for the end of August.)
 
 
These three patterns are once again done so well!
And, I feel stylish wearing these accessories.
 

 
The sizing on all of them are for babies all the way to adult so you can make them for the whole family!
I knew I wanted to make them for myself first--I know exactly what would happen if I didn't: I'd make them for the kids and then run out of time to make them for myself.
Nope, not going to happen.
 
 
I used a ponte knit from Girl Charlee (referral link) and I only had to use a yard to make all three accessories.
Mel made a great video to accompany the Beanie pattern--it helps so much in figuring out how to twist it, especially if you are a visual learner!
 
The patterns come in a bundle for $8.95 or separately for $6 each.
So, hop on over and get yours so you can be ready for winter!
 

Friday, September 5, 2014

Joyce Ann Bonnet

I recently was able to test a super cute cap and bonnet pattern by Stitchwerx.
 
 
I sewed up the XXS view A on my 2 month old in a quilting cotton.

 
The outer fabric is from the thrift shop while the lining is from Connecting Threads.

 
And, the ties--those beautiful, lovely, lacey ties! I have no idea where I originally got them--I think they were tied on a gift or something and I hoarded them away, but they were meant for this project, I think!

Ha, no--she's not sitting by herself yet--I'm holding her!

This pattern has 3 views--two for the summer, one for the winter and sizes galore--from preemie/nb all the way up to adult!
I plan on sewing up new bonnets for the girls next summer, and if you see me walking around with one--don't be too surprised.


 
It reminds me of Laura Ingalls from the books, 'Little House on the Prairie.' I loved those books as a child and still do!

 
So, make sure to hop over to Stitchwerx and get your copy of this great pattern!
 

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Dress for a Wedding--Fail

So....my brother-in-law got married recently and I wanted to make myself a dress for the wedding.
I'm still nursing my baby, and I had bought a too-large dress shirt from the thrift shop thinking I could convert it into a dress.
 
 
I had this vision, using the Ladies Caroline from the Mouse House. (affiliate links)  
So, a couple of days before the wedding, after all my other 'must-get-done's' were done, I set to work.
And, the day before the wedding, I got it done.

 
I tried it on, and my husband says, 'hmm....looks a little frumpy.'
So, I wore a different dress to the wedding--one I've worn to most of our sibling's weddings--one that was a little more elegant.

 
And, this dress has been delegated as the 'working-at-home-in-the-garden-or-in-the-kitchen' dress.
I still love it.
I can nurse in it, I feel somewhat dressed up at home.
And, I don't feel frumpy--just dressed for work! ha!
 
Oh, and the Mouse House has a 20% off sale all patterns in her shop right now--just not the bundled Carolyn. Go check it out and use the code SHOWCASE20 .  


Monday, September 1, 2014

Labor Day Sale!

If you've been eyeing a pattern in my shop, now is the time to get one!
They are 20% off (prices reduced to reflect the price) from the 1st to the 5th of September!
(only in the Craftsy Shop)
 
http://shrsl.com/?~63rd
Pirate's Treasure Wallet Pattern
 
http://shrsl.com/?~5t34
Perfect Petal Purse Pattern
 
http://shrsl.com/?~5lbl
Castle Applique Pattern
 
Hop on over to pick one up!