Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Sharks, Hoodies, and a New Pattern

I've been doing a lot of testing lately it seems! 
One of my favourites is the Dress Up Hoodie from Mouse House Creations.


This hoodie has so many options.
A basic raglan hoodie and a variety of pattern pieces that you can use to dress up your hoodie. 

Line drawings of pattern pieces included!

I chose to do my final test as a shark for my youngest. 
The hoodie comes together very easily and quickly. 


I used a freezer paper stencil to paint the eyes on the hood and the words 'FEED ME' on the front.


To stabilize the fin, I added some fusible fleece on both pieces before sewing them right sides together.
Another tester came up with the idea to put the teeth on the lining of the hood and I love how that turned out. It's not as costume-y and more of a wear-every-day style which is my style. 


The neat thing about this pattern is that you can use the pattern pieces included and use your creativity to come up with all sorts of creatures/ideas. 
Each hoodie can be made as you want. 
I can see the deer ears being used to make a cow, some have made a fox, angry bird, etc.
 So many ideas!


In the meantime, I need to go feed this hungry little shark! 

You can buy the pattern here for $8.50 for a limited time. (Regular price is $10.50.)

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Apple Cardigan

I recently had the pleasure of testing a pattern for Bella Sunshine Designs!


When I saw the preview pictures, I knew I wanted in on the testing--I loved the look of it and my sewing to-do list was almost empty. 
But, I had to make sure I had enough fabric as the fabric requirements weren't the usual 1.5 yards or so for a cardigan but 2 5/8 yards. 
After finding this fabric in my stash, I signed up and soon found out why the fabric requirements were larger than I expected: the cardigan has a half circle skirt which takes up a fair amount. I think I used around 2 yards with stripe matching on a size 6. 


There were a couple adjustments made after the version sewn here (and that version was tested by the stage 3 testers!) The sleeves were slimmed down below the elbows and widened around the biceps. 
As with all the patterns I've sewn from Bella Sunshine Designs the pattern came together very well. 
It was a super easy and quick sew and it's perfect for fall layering! (If you have a fall...I think we skipped it as it was cold and snowing when we took these pictures!)

You can get the pattern here and there is also a girls' version of this pattern which you can get here
The ladies' version is on sale for $6.50 until October 24th, no code needed! After that it'll be $9. 
The girls' version is on sale for $5.50. 


Tuesday, October 10, 2017

A Fall Outfit

I've been wanting to sew up a Military Messenger Bag in faux leather for quite sometime now. 
When I got some faux leather in a destash/sale from West Coast Fabric, I knew exactly what it'd be for. 
I had already bought some webbing from a neat little quilt shop in Canmore, AB so I was all set. 
Yet, I was a little intimidated--I knew if I made an error you'd be able to see where I had to seam rip.
So, I put it off. And off. 


Finally, I got up the nerve and just started cutting and then sewing. 
The hardest part was the fact that the faux leather would stick to the presser foot and not move as it was supposed to. 
Some people gave tips, and I ended up taping some masking tape to the bottom of my presser foot to make it more slippery. 
I'm so glad it got finished--I love how it turned out! 


The sweater is also a newer sew.
The fabric is (or shall I say was) an XXL men's shirt from Walmart for $3. 
I did a lot of seam ripping to be able to re-use the neck band, hem and sleeve bands, and was even able to keep the fancy V on the neckline! 
I had to do the 3/4 sleeves as I didn't have enough fabric to get a long raglan sleeve out of a regular sleeved men's shirt. 
The sweater is super comfy and a bit of a step away from a lot of my pinks and florals that I love so much.

Before!
You can read more about the jeans here