More Thoughts on Pavlova!

Yesterday I blogged about the Pavlova skirt I made… now here’s the wrap top from the same pattern! 

Since it’s a fairly new pattern, here are my thoughts: 

1. I can’t quite nail down the fit of this pattern. Should it be loose, and cross high over the bust? Should it be snug like mine and wrap underneath? I’m not quite sure what Steph, the designer of Cake Patterns, intended… or what I prefer! I cut this one a size 30 instead of the 35 that was recommended for my measurements. I like how snug and trim it is… but when it’s so tight, it shows back fat and wrinkles from whatever I wear underneath. 


2. Since I was sizing down, I added an inch in length before cutting. It’s still quite short though - So short that I had to really hike up my Pavlova skirt to get the waistband under the top! I’ll add more length next time. 


3. The neck binding. The back of the next is finished with a method that I can’t begin to describe… which confused the hell out of me for a good long time! In the end it was just fine, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get a great finish on it! 

4. Hemming and finishing those long ties. This took FOREVER… and was really annoying! The foldover finish is quite deep at the neckline and front crossover… tapering down along the ties. This made it really tough for me to visualise how best to finish it! I applied knit stay tape, but it had to be positioned differently depending how deep the hem was at each point. I also didn’t want a messy finished showing when the ties were hanging down, so I did a double fold hem towards the end of the ties. All in all, not actually hard, but just finickety and annoying after making easy-to-finish Renfrews or Tiras! 

5. The pattern include a longer flap in the back which can be tucked in to keep the top in place. I made my “muffin cover” shorter since I’d really like to wear the top over dresses. I freehanded a curve on the back hem with my serger - So what if it’s a bit lopsided?! :P It seems to still stay in place under the wrap ties. 

6. Fabric: I used a light jersey with moderate stretch. In a heavier knit I’d definitely size up… but I’d also be afraid that the ties would get bulky and unflattering. I almost used a really stretchy rib knit, but I thought the seaming would be to wobbly. I think it could be really pretty in a drapey rayon knit… but then the back would *really* show everything underneath! I’m not sure what the ideal fabric is, really! (Time to experiment!) 

I’ll definitely make the Pavlova top again. It’s flattering and cute, and something I could never draft by hacking my favourite patterns! Truth be told though, I’ve already got my eye on the next Cake pattern: The Hummingbird, which include a peplum teeshirt and a straight skirt with cool drape in the back. Not to mention that I’m still working away on my Cordova jacket, and my 3rd pants muslin… AND my cute Japanese fabric arrived, which I can’t wait to sew! So many distractions! 

Help a #Sewcialist!

Meet Sarah. 

Sewer, blogger, tweeter, Oona-pants-maker, and hopeful adoptive mother. She and her husband are trying to raise enough money to adopt a child - and you can help! 

For 82 days now, Sarah has been wearing her “adoption dress” (seen above) every day. Starting this week, if you donate $10 or more, you can give her a wardrobe theme for a day! (And I’m her first sponser! Keep reading to see what challenge I gave her… Though since you know the name of my blog, you can probably guess!) 

As a relative newly-wed and hopeful one-day mother, I can really sypathise with Sarah’s story. In her own words: 

“ We have always known that we wanted to have a family someday thinking that, like most people, when the time was right we would just get pregnant.  Some things just don’t always work out the way you had thought they would and this was one of them for us.  After four years of trying to get pregnant, and no luck, we were faced with a decision. We could either pay, out of pocket, for infertility treatments with no guarantee they would work or we could adopt and be guaranteed to end up with our child. Now both options would cost us roughly the same amount of money. The decision was not a hard one to make. We had always talked about wanting to adopt at some point, so it was easy to see the path we should be on.” 

Now, Mr. Crafts and I aren’t ready for kids yet… but like most people, I’ve always assumed that I’d be able to have them if I wanted. I know a lot of you are proud parents, so I hope that you’ll consider supporting her too.

Sure, there are a lot of things we could all spend $10 on… a metre of fabric, a fast-food meal or two starbucks coffees. But with all the wonderful, kind support in the sewing community for new pattern makers, sewing frustrations and behind-the-scenes health struggles, I’m hoping that we can help Sarah’s dreams come true! Head on over to Sarah’s blog and click on the link in her sidebar to make a donation through PayPal!

As I said, I had the honour and pleasure of being Sarah’s first daily sponser today. Since I love all things colourful, I asked her to wear something rainbow. I thought she’d find a few colourful accessories or something, but no - She made the most amazing sequined rainbow skirt!  

Isn’t it amazing? I want one too! 

If you haven’t clicked over to Sarah’s blog yet, I encourage you to go take a look. If you can, make a donation, leave a comment on her blog, or tweet to spread the word - every little bit helps! :) 

Thanks, lovely people. 

Mwah! 

Thoughts on Pavlova

Move over, Tiramisu! Pavlova is here, and I’m, well… I’m not in love, but sure, I’d go on a second date!

This pattern includes a wrap top and circle skirt. First up: The skirt! I’ve never worn a circle skirt before, so I figured that making a simple knit version was an easy way to try it out. 

The beauty of a knit circle skirt is that you can cut it out in one piece, with not seams at all. So simple, and so fast! The bugger of it is that your skirt can only be as long as the fabric allows, which in this case is a little shorter than I normally would choose. 

The fabric I used was $3/m on the clearance table. It’s a woven brocade sort of thing… which somehow ends up feeling a little “fancy” for everyday wear! Do you ever have that problem? I wear dresses and skirts all the time, but this is SO lacy and full that I can’t quite work out how to style it. 

I did learn a few things along the way though: 

1. If you make a knit skirt, cut the waist SIGNIFICANTLY smaller than your measurement on the paper pattern. You really don’t need any ease here, and the fabric will also stretch. I cut mine about 2 sizes smaller, and it’s still a little loose. I used a contrast double knit for the foldover waistband, and even though I fit it to be snug, the weight of the skirt pulls it down on my hips. I ended up threading some elastic through the waistband just to hold it in place. 

2. When hemming knit circle skirts, the gathering feature on your serger is your best friend! It makes it really easy to fold up the hem, without needing to constantly ease the fabric around a curve. 

The verdict? I think I might offer this skirt to my sister, but I’ll certainly give the pattern another try. It’s handy to have another mix-and-match skirt block in my repetoire - I can see using it to add a circle skirt to a summer sundress, or make a more casual everyday knit skirt. In the mean time, I’m wearing it today, and it is very comfy! 

Sewing Dares: 10 Weeks In!

Hi everyone! Somehow it’s been 3 and a half months since I started handing out Sewing Dares! I’m a little late with this update… and I have to admit, I’m pretty sure some new dares have been handed out and I’ve forgotten to whom! If I’ve missed your sewing dare, please let me know in the comments and I’ll add you to the list! :) 

Here are the finished dares so far: 

• The original dare was for Kristin at K-Line to knit a pair of socks - something she’d planned to do in her NY resolutions. Her dare is most definitely completed… she went from disliking socks-knitting, to grudgingly being fascinated, to liking it, to make more!  Tenacity, thy name is Kristin!


• The second dare was for Pretty Greivances. She bemoaned a lack of TNT blouse, so I dared her to choose one pattern and make three tops! **Dare Completed!** I like all of her new tops! 


• Sew Busy Lizzy:Hack a favourite pattern into something new. She’s going to make the Maria of Denmark Day/Night Cowl into a dress, and I know it will be fab! **Dare completed!** But wait! There’s more! One dare was not enough! She’s going to make a bathing suit AND an outfit for her trip to London! That’s bravery!


• Unique Schmuck: Oanh is going to make two sundresses from the same pattern, at the same time! **Dare Completed!** Two lovely dresses finished! 


• Three Dresses Project: Leila is going to (gasp!) use a pattern more than once!  **Dare Completed!** In fact, she made multiples of 3 different patterns! :) 


• Sew Exhausted makes beautiful things for her family - Now she’s been dared to make something nice for herself! **Dare Completed!**


• Notches and Notions: Make something using at least 1 of the giant buttons she accidentally ordered for another project**Dare Completed** 


• Maria of Denmark: Make fun underwear and some lounge pants! **Dare Completed!**


• House of Pinheiro is going to make a loose-fitting top - with Maria of Denmark’s Kimono Tee PDF pattern to boot! **Dare Completed!**


• Stephanie is going to start a blog! **Dare Completed!** Go check our her lovely new blog!


• Jen has been dared to be social on Twitter every day for a week.  **Dare Completed!** @grainlinestudio was a busy tweeter! 


• Sew and So is making #onedresstorulethemall - her wedding dress! meanwhile, she’s been dared to join twitter and post a list of things she’ll make once the wedding dress is done! **Dare Completed!** Well done! 


• My original dare from Pretty Grievances was to mix prints. **Dare Completed!**


• PunkMik is going to make something from Gertie’s book - work appropriate for her new job! :) **Dare Completed!**


• Handmade by Heather B: Heather is going to make something flirtatious for going out/events. Va-va-voom!  **Dare Completed!** It’s really fabulous! 


• Chris Lucas is going to make herself a cute high-waisted pencil skirt! **Dare Completed!**


• Bimble and Pimple: Amanda make a plain single-colour dress! (I trust she will still make it fun though, with texture or shape or trim or something!) **Dare Completed!** I want an exact copy of this skirt!


• Ginger Makes is going to bite the bullet and make a bodice sloper! Oh yeah - and she let Oona pick out fabric for her next Mood Network project!**Dare Completed!** In glorious, glorious style!


• OonaBallona has accepted a dare from GingerMakes and SownBrooklyn to make her dear husband a shirt! Will there be vibrant spandex leggings to match? **Dare Completed** (Or so I’m told!) 


• Jamie at Such a Strange Girl is going to make her first knit top! **Dare Completed** She just posted about it today! Nice timing! :) 


• Sown Brooklyn will make something designed/drawn by one of her kids!   **Dare Completed!** Wow. I think this was the toughest of all the sewing dares that I handed out - but she’s done it! A superhero inspired dress based on a drawing of her daughter’s! Go check it out!


• Jagoda was dared by Catja from Geometry to make something with her Ikea fabric - and she made floral pants for spring! 


• Kat from Petticoats and Peplums is sewing  matching mother-daughter outfits for herself and her adorable little girl! **DARE COMPLETED!** Oh my gosh. So adorable! 


• Catja from Gjeometry is making something for herself with Ikea fabric from a recent haul, and also de-fuggifying an 80’s pattern! **Skirt DARE COMPLETED!** It’s so cute on her! 


• Rachel at My Messings is done hosting her Hollyburn sewalong, and is ready for a dare: To make something, anything, that goes under a dress! **Dare Completed!**  Go check out what she has under her dress! ;) 


• SewTell has just moved to a new place, so she’s going to sew some cushions for her couch! ***DARE COMPLETED*** Didn’t she choose cool fabrics? Love it!

 

There dares are still in progress: 

• Hot Mess Heifer is going to make not 1, not 2, but 3 t-shirts! (She already had one cut out - Head start!) 


• Seamless’ Elena has been dared by SewBusyLizzy to make one dress for work, and style it 4 ways!


• Clare from SewDixieLou: Make an everyday, “signature” dress from her vintage stash


• Inge from IngeMaat: Remake one of her least “Top 5 Fails” from 2012 into something (anything!) that she loves or is useful. 


• Erin at Dog Under My Desk is going to sew a t-shirt! (You won’t regret it - T-shirts are my favourite sewing project!) 


• Amity Originals is going to make trousers! (Brave woman!) 


• Suzy Sewing is going to do two dares: Make a t-shirt AND use a croquis for sketching dress designs.


• My awesomesauce sister Anne is a dye-hard knitter (See what I did there? Hahaha - puns.) She’s going to design and co-sew a knitting project bag! She’s started with a Pinterest board full of ideas… 


• In return, Oona has challenge ME to make a maxi dress - out of Liberty Lifestyle? Eeek! I’ve also been dared to use piping, and learn to rotate darts.


• Buzy Lizzie in Brizzy is going to make a vintage shirtdress! 


• Buckingham Road has accepted two dares: Make something out of knit, and make pants, a skirt or a dress to go with her fantastic Cordova Jacket! 


• Thewallinna gave herself a serious challenge: Finish her couture dress!


• Falling Through Your Clothes has too much in her stash (poor woman! :P) so she is going to use one piece to sew something for herself, and give away another piece or use it to sew for someone else!


• Made with Hugs and Kisses is in training to be a teacher, so I’ve dared her to sew an interview dress! 
  


• Suzanne of http://mybeaubaby.blogspot.com/ has been dared by Oona, Ginger and others to make a garment that she’ll proudly show the guts of, perhaps to the point of it being reversible. 


• Kate took a break from blogging to plan her wedding, but she’s officially Mrs. Nakano now, and she’s got a new blog to match! She’s been dared to make and blog something in the next ten days - by Feb. 13th! 


• Sally from The Quirky Peach is going to use stash fabric to make one of the new indie patterns she bought recently! She did give it a shot, but wisely tossed it when the fabric wasn’t working out…


• Andrea at Stitch Parade is going to make a garment (using a print!) that celebrates her new life this year on the west coast of Canada. 


• GMarie is going to recreate a RTW dress with red cherries from Vogue 8728! 


• Hanny Bobbins is going to use her new serger to make a knitting project bag!


• Velosewer practically dared herself to make a bra, so I added in the challenge of making matching underwear! 


• Kirsty from Rocket Sews is going to draft her own knit dress, and maybe even make a tutorial for us! 


• Erin from Miss Crayola Creepy is going to remake one of the patterns from the Colette Sewing Handbook - I first met her during the sewalong this time last year, so it seems like a perfect dare!


• Rochelle from Lucky Lucille (also part of the Colette Sewalong with Erin!) is going to make a vintage playsuit for summer, and then release her first PDF sewing pattern! Go Rochelle!


• Becky from Sew-and-So is busy finishing up her wedding dress, but after that, she’s going to indulge/break her stashbusting pledge by buying new fabric and a pattern for something fun!


• Dottie Doodle is going to make a comfy outfit for her days working from home that is also cute enough to wear out and about! 


• Sandra from Just Sew Sandra is going to pick one of the challenges from the Great British Sewing Bee and try it out herself! Will she finish a project in the time limit? Wait and see! :) 

 

For those of us with incomplete dares hanging over our heads… remember, stop if it’s not fun!  If it’s not exciting and motivating, there’s no point, right? We’ll give you a new, more exciting dare instead. This is our hobby, for goodness sakes! :) Make it fun. 

If that hasn’t scared you off… There’s always space for new dares! If you want one, just leave a comment below or hollar at my on Twitter. Get the graphic yourself, and start sewing/blogging/daring more sewists! 

 Happy sewing! 

A Tribute to Cake

3 Tira’s, all in a row! 

I think my love for the Tiramisu pattern is pretty well documented… In 2 months, I’ve made EIGHT! Including two each for my mom and sister, pictured above. (Plus, I made a skirt.)

I love this pattern, guys! I can make one in 2 hours if I push hard, and it’s easy to size up and down. The skirt is the perfect amount of twirly, and the bodice works with long or short sleeves. I’ll admit, I only put the pockets in once… but even without them, this pattern is perfection. 

Now of course, all good things must come to an end… I mean, I can’t go steady with Tiramisu forever, can I? (Can I?) It’s time to fold up the pieces and try a few other patterns for a while… like the Pavlova, Cordova, and any other -ovas I can get my hands on! 

Tiramisu, you’ve been good to me. I’ll come back for you later, I promise! (I’ve got a Christmas fabric all picked out for next year!) 

Also awesome? My family. I’m a lucky lady. 

Your turn: What pattern have you made the most, and how many times have you made it? 

(My winner would have to be Renfrew, which I’ve made at least 14 times… probably more!)

Scout (Knit) Tee

A new tee, and it’s not a Renfrew! Instead, it’s a version of the Grainline Scout Woven Tee, made in a lovely drapey rayon knit! I’ve been crushing on big loose tees lately - they are a nice counterpoint to slim pants, and cover all manner of sins! ;) 

The Scout tee has a high-low hem already, which I exaggerated even more. I saw a coworker in a similar top the day before March break, and surreptitiously checked it out so I could make my own! (Seriously, isn’t that the best part of sewing?) 

I tried out a new neckline technique, based on this tutorial from Megan Neilson. Basically, you sew the binding onto the inside of the shirt, then fold it over to the front and topstitch it down. All the edges are enclosed, which is a nice feature. I prefer the ease of a normal (Renfrew-esque) binding, but I think this technique works very well with less-stretchy knits. Just for kicks, I also added a centre seam into the front and back.  I cut the pieces out on the fold, and just took a wee tuck along the fold with the serger. With a top this baggy, I knew it wouldn’t affect the fit! 

This top started as a sort-of #sewingdare from my sister. She made me this beautiful silk hand-dyed shawl for my wedding… and I LOST it! I found it a few weeks later, all safely wrapped up with other wedding stuff. Since it missed it’s big day, I really wanted to wear the shawl more casually. Something about the shine of it though made it hard to incorporate with my usual floral tops and dresses.

Anne and I brainstormed a lot of potential options (patterns? solids? different necklines?) I remembered this rayon knit in my stash, and thought the shine of the slub knit would be a good fit with the shawl. I didn’t feel right in all solids, but once I put on this wool brooch that I’d made last year, it felt more ME! 

'Fess up: Have you ever copied a garment that you saw on someone in real life? Do you ask people to let you inspect their clothes, or do you try to look surreptitiously? 

Bloglovin' It!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I’m not sure yet what I’ll use to replace Google Reader, but I thought I’d better claim my blog on Blog Lovin’ anyway… 

:) 

Inner Workings

March Break. Desperately needed, never long enough. I’ve spent most of the week in my sewing room though, and it’s be lovely and relaxing. I’m working on my first pair of pants, and my double knit Cordova. (Turns out I *like* the jacket without a collar. Hunh! Thanks so much for all of your opinions on my collar options, though!) Along the way, I finished two jersey tops and my first pair of leggings, and tidied up my sewing room, so that it now looks like this: 

And now I’m going to post about something completely different: the inner workings of 2 RTW knit jackets! You see, these two jackets both offer what i want from my Cordova - the comfort of a stretchy coat, with the ease of wearing of a lined jacket! How is that accomplished? 

First up: a second-hand swing coat, made of a heavy double knit. 

This one has a pretty straight-forward interior. Knit facings, and lots of ease in the woven lining. Interestingly, it has set-in sleeves on the outside, and raglan sleeves on the inside. I wonder why? The bottom back of the lining hangs free, with just one tack on the centre seam to keep it in place. 

The second jacket has a few more surprises. This one is from Uniqlo in Japan. I like it so much that I own it in black too! It’s really comfy, thanks to the ingenious lining in the back:

Check that out! The front and sleeves are fully lined in a non-stretch lining, but the back has overlapping shoulder panels that make it sit smoothly over clothes without impeding range of motion!

(Please, please, let me not be the only one who is so nerdily excited by this!) 

Each shoulder swoop is cut on the grain (not bias), and is just two pieces sewn together along the curve. They are attached at the neck and shoulder seams, but hang loose from there.

Have you ever seen something like this before? Maybe it’s common - but it’s new to me! I think it would be fairly simple to draft a similar lining on most jacket patterns, though I’d have to stretch my brain a little harder to do it on a princess-seam bodice like the Cordova. 

Here’s where my lack of tailoring vocabulary lets me down! All the seams are bound, and the back hem (left picture) looks like it might have been … catch-stitched (?) by hand. In the righthand pictures, you can see how the lining folds down over the sleeve cuff and hems to allow more ease (What is that called?) For a $40 coat, I’m really impressed with the quality of the finishing. 

As for my Cordova, I’m planning a hybrid of these techniques. I bought some stretch lining (like normal lining, but with a wee bit of 2-way stretch) that I’m going to use for the sleeves and front lining. I’m not sure about the back though - I’m debating either leaving it unlined, or using a thin jersey “lining” just to hold all the facings in place. It really comes down to what is easiest and seems to make the most sense as I sew! 

Now, time to stop blogging and get sewing! Not much vacation left! 

Super Kawaii!

Yesterday morning, I fell into the rabbit hole that is Rakuten: the most popular online shopping website from Japan, which finally has international shipping! WAHOO!!!! I quickly dragged half of Twitter along with me… and I thought I’d bring you all in too! 

Rakuten is similar perhaps to Amazon or Etsy - it’s an umbrella website with lots of little shops selling different things.

The prices are all what you would pay in Japan, which is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying Japanese fabric through an international importer! For example, do you remember Zo Sew’s Ceylon dress last week that Colette reblogged? Well, the lovely lawn she used is $29/m at Tessuti, but it’s $13/m on Rakuten! 

In general, Japanese fabric isn’t cheap… but it’s pretty reasonably priced. It’s always great quality, and they have things available that we’d never get in Canada! The Japanese *love* double gauze in the summers, so it’s readily available in absurdly cute prints and classic dots and stripes for about $10/m. Midweight cotton/linen blends are really popular too, and include really great double-sided prints (i.e. ginham on one side, polkadots on the other!) 

Ready to go shopping? Here a few stores that I really liked looking through: 

Cotton Plaza: Cute overload! Good prices, great prints, and lots of variety!

Hedeki: Specializing in dressmaking fabrics, including some gorgeous high-end European inports. 

Nissenren-Kitaq: Echino and Nani Iro for Japanese prices… not a huge savings, but definitely cheaper! 

Angelus: Liberty fat eight sets, and Liberty by the yard. 

But wait! They sell way more than fabric! There is all kinds of stationary, including cheap washi tape and adorable magnets (I used to buy these as gifts all the time!). They also have wool roving for needlefelting and yarn! 

Have fun! *Evil laugh*

After HOURS of window shopping, it really helped to have my colour palette in mind to winnow down the choices. In the end, here’s what I bought for summer sewing: 

Koala Double Gauze in Coral for a top

Floral Gingham Seeksucker for a sundress

Royal Blue double Gauze for a top

Nautical Navy double gauze for, wait for it: Another top! 

And because rules are made to be broken:

This is going to be a contrasting yoke for something! 

(All the fabrics come from Cottonplaza and Hideki, if you want your own!)

As always, it’s the international shipping that can hurt… but I put a note to stores in my purchases asking for SAL shipping (a cheaper and slower shipping option), and guess what? My shipping for 6m of fabric from Cotton Plaza was ELEVEN DOLLARS!!!! AAAaaaaaaahhh! That’s even cheaper  than shipping from another part of Canada! I’m trying so hard not to order more right away!

I’ll be sure to let you know how my orders turn out… and I’d love to hear from you if you buy anything! (Oh, and if you find another other stores to recommend, please leave a comment! :) 

Building a Wardrobe, aka. Crafting a Rainbow!

Yesterday I guest-posted on my sister’s blog about using a colour palette to create a cohesive wardrobe that you love. It was really fun to write, and got me thinking: Do you wardrobe-plan? 

I first started thinking about it when I was just a wee beginning sewist last spring: I joined in on the Colette Spring/Summer Palette Challenge, and came up with this: 

I really did use most of those fabrics over the summer, so I guess it worked! 

When fall arrived, I was thrilled that coloured jeans finally hit Canada (just 5 or so years after they became popular in Japan! :P) and I immediately bought red, teal, grey, and royal blue jeans. Over the winter my work “uniform” has been either a bright patterned dress with leggings, or bright jeans with a graphic top! 

But wait, there’s one more thing all those outfits need, right? A cardigan! And just how obsessive am I about colours? Obbsessive enough to make this last April: 

Yup! The great thing is that it worked! I’ve been able to pick up used cardigans in just the right colours over the year. 

Writing the guest post for Anne was a good chance to look back and reflect. Here’s my colour palette now: 

Pretty consistent, eh? 

So my questions are: Do you plan your stash/projects/wardrobe strategically too? And if you are also knitter like Anne and her friends, do you plan your handknits to fill a gap in your wardrobe? Or do you just buy the colour of yarn you love most, and go from there? I’d love to hear your thoughts, either here or over on Anne’s blog! 

Laura Lounge Pants!

It’s lounging time!

A few weeks ago the lovely Maria of Denmark released her newest pattern, the Laura Lounge Pants. In fact, she used them for her sewing dare, so of course I had to make a pair in return!  It’s a great pattern - easy to print out and stick together, and easy to sew and fit! I’m a big fan. Thanks, Maria!

The first pair I made with a sueded thick jersey - basically, fleece on one side. It’s heaven to wear! Unfortunately my rear was a little big for the pattern… so I added a triangle shaped yoke to the back. I also switched to a yoga-style fold-over waistband for both pairs - I didn’t have elastic, and the fabric I used had enough recovery to do the job. I just added 3” extra height to the included waistband piece, and made sure it was nice and snug! 

My second pair is a grey double-knit that I picked up for $3/m yesterday. This time I added about 3” height to the back rise, and tapered to nothing at the aides. I serged it with bright pink thread just for fun! I kept both pairs fairly loose because I’m just going to schlep around the house in them… but I think the pattern would work with a tighter fit too. More yoga-pant-esque!

Here are a few detail shots: 

Left: The puckery yoke I attached to my first pair for decency!

Centre: Pink serging and the slightly-stripy double knit. 

Right: The simple serged hem on my first pair, flipped up to shoe the fleece inside!

I really recommend this pattern - It’s only $5, and it’s well drafted! My first pair, with adjustments, took 45 min - and of course, the second pair was even faster! I’m hoping to try my first pair of real pants this month, so this was the perfect walk through of the shape of the pattern pieces and the order of construction. 

Oh incidentally - the photoshoot  was inspired by David Butler’s Quiltcon lecture on photography that was posted free on Craftsy. He talked about  how sometimes it’s more important to create a mood or atmosphere in product photographs instead of always worrying about displaying product details. These aren’t super cute or super complicated pants - but who doesn’t want to lounge around in comfort? Of course, I don’t usually lounge around in makeup and VPL-free underwear, hiking up my shirt so you can see the waistband! Sometimes it’s fun to be a bit aspirational, right? 

Happy sewing! 

It's Cordova Time!

Back the summer, we had a discussion about what we hoped indie pattern designers would release next. One of the things I hoped for was a knit blazer that would work over a dress or with pants. Lo and behold, trusty Sewaholic came through with the Cordova jacket!

Two minor problems: It’s not meant for knits, and I HATE the collarless look! It just seems too unfinished for me. 

But fear not! I’ve pulled the amazing (and secretly highly trained) Heather (aka. @KnitNBee) into making a Cordova too, and she’s offered to help me draft a collar. The only question is, what kind of collar should I make?

Here are a few of the many options: 

A1: contrast trim around the neckline. Dead simple. 

B1: The original pattern, as drafted, with no collar. 

A2: Insert a shorter zipper, and fold the coat back to make a simple collar. 

B2: Draft a tuxedo-style collar. 

A3: Draft a collar with rounded points. 

B3: Draft a peter-pan collar. 

What do you think? Which collar do you think would be a) not too much work and b) match the style of the coat? I’d really love your advice!  

A Sewcialist Logo?

On Friday, a few rogue sewing and twitter fanatics and I launched a design competition to create a logo for the #sewcialist movement. The idea behind it is that we want an iconic design that shows our pride in sewing, blogging and tweeting. Something to join our community together - something we could wear to start conversations about our hobby - something available to all sewists to use.  

Which of course begs the question: What Would Sewcialists Make? 

(WWSM - a motto to live by!) 

Myself, I’d make a Renfrew with an iron-on logo. Then I’d wait for everyone I met to ask about it (“What’s a… sewcialist?”), and then I’d launch into a very excited explanation of how awesome it is to tweet with sewists all around the world! 

Or maybe I’d make Disparate Discipline’s new hoodie pattern… Or a tote bag… or maybe a zippered pouch? Oh, the choices! Then there’s always Spoonflower… or stickers… or I could add it to my blog business cards… 

What would you make with a Sewcialist logo? 

PS. Please help us spread the word! Tell any designers/artists/artsy people you know, or send us a submission yourself! 

Toronto Sewing Blogger Meet-up!

Do you ever have so much fun that you just can’t figure out how to talk about it later? It happened to me with my wedding a couple years ago - love, love, loved that day, but was so exhausted from the planning that I had no energy left to process it! (Honest truth: the thought of writing Thank You cards made me panic for a year!)

The same thing happened after the Toronto Sewing Blogger Meet-Up last week! Awesome, amazing time with wonderful, fun women… no idea how to recap it later! 

First of all, it was such pleasure to plan the meet-up with Adrienne from All Style and All Substance. We met for the first time 30 minutes before the official meet-up began, but she was just as lovely as I imagined! 

To prep for the meet-up, I’d made name tags for everyone, with a scrap of fabric sewn on a card. In no time at all we had people arriving for the meetup - even more people than we’d expected! It was so fun to meet everyone in real life!

All in all, we had 18 people! 

• Adrienne | All Style and All Substance


• Anastasia | @rubyfox28


• Andi | How Unseamly!


• Catja | Gjeometry


• Chloe | Button and Needle


• Dana | Wardrobe Dysfunction


• Debbie | Sew I think I can Sew


• Gillian | Crafting a Rainbow


• Jagoda | fitnottofit


• Kay | Gently Down The Seam
  


• Kristiann | Victory Patterns


• Kristin | K-Line


• Reethi | Weekend Crafting


• Sandra | Just Sew (?)


• Sarah | PatternVault


• Sera | Seraphinalina


• Tracy


• Vicki | Another Sewing Scientist

How amazing is that? It was really cool to have such a range of women - all ages, styles, backgrounds and sewing abilities! We had Vicki all the way from Montreal, a surprise appearance from Kristiann from Victory Patterns, and at least one person who started a blog after the meetup! 

After shopping, we were lucky to get a private room at a restaurant. Pretty soon the beer was flowing, and we were inspecting each others clothing and trading dirt on our favourite patterns, stores, designers and blogs! (Seriously fun to be able to mention patterns or bloggers by name, and have everyone know exactly what you mean!) We had a huge amount of patterns and fabric to swap. I think everyone went home with great stuff!

I came away from the swap with some jersey and this cute 1950 cape pattern: 

 I also bought 2 lengths of jersey in a hidden-away basement store, both of which I’ve already used! 

A comfy knit skirt for my sister, using the Tiramisu skirt pattern pieces… 

… and a pair of Maria of Denmark Laura Lounge pants for me! 

It was really cool to shop with local seamstresses - they really knew which store were the best! I know Tokyo fabric stores like the back of my hand, but I’m a little lost in Toronto! I can’t wait to go back and explore in more depth. 

All in all, it was a fabulous day. Everyone was so fun and friendly, and I think we were all surprised to find out just how many sewcialists there really are in Toronto! It was such a thrill to be part of it! 

We’re already planning another meet-up this summer!