Stop staring and start sewing!

Pants are so 5 minutes ago.

With skirts like these I'd just throw away all of my pants.  Shelley over at Elsie's Girl is cranking out such beautiful skirts from my book The Essential A-Line that she's nearly brought me to tears.  Check them out!

 

This fabric is amazing and Shelley used the Basic Skirt pattern for this one.  It just goes to show you, with great fabric even the most simple garments look fantastic.

 

Here is another Basic Skirt but she added a bias tape hem (pg 41) and that small detail really adds a big punch.  Again, great fabric = great garment.

 

And I love her version of the Patchwork Skirt.  In the book I gave instructions for continual 5" squares but Shelley took it to a new level by using her own patchwork pattern.  I love the fact that she didn't stick strictly with the book since my whole goal was to just offer a smidgen of inspiration for folks to run with (it worked!).

 

And look at the fabric in this one!  This is the Layered with Bias Hem pattern and she knocked this one out of the ballpark.

 

And I'm just thrilled that Shelley is going to teach a class using my book as the curriculum!  I can't wait to see what her students come up with.  

Rolling out a new pattern! Just in time for the holidays too!

I'm so excited to finally launch a new pattern!  It's been a couple of years since I've released a new pattern and I've been so busy I haven't had time to put my pattern ideas together and get them ready for use.  I'm taking advantage of the slower sales season (before the big holiday ramp up) to get some things out for my sewing friends.

Here is my new "Tech-Style" (say it a few times and it will make sense) PDF Pattern for the iPad and Kindle!  I've sewn and sold more of these on etsy than I can count and still get requests for them but, as with many of my patterns, I got tired of making them so I retired the design with the intention of making them available as patterns.  I currently sell the version with the pocket but the ruffled one got old for me.  I still get requests and since you are welcome to use my patterns for individual sales, you are free to put some out there for the folks who still want them (just give me credit for the design).

The pattern (instant downloadable PDF) includes two styles, which I haven't seen in any other pattern (plus the ruffle is my own original design) so it's a great value at $8.00.  Right now it's in my Fabritopia Etsy shop but I'll be making it available through pattern sites soon.

 

Here is a sample page so you can get a look at some of the illustrations.  All the pages (9 total) except the cover are black and white (and grey) so it's very easy on your printer's ink.  There are over 40 detailed illustrations.  I really cringe when I have to print a lot of colored pages so you'll like this if that's a concern for you too.

 

 

Here is a close up shot of the ruffles.  They really are so feminine and soft looking and since they're cut on the bias there is no hemming needed for the edges (but they never unravel).

 

It looks beautiful in solid fabrics too.  This is just a nice tan linen and it's a more classic look than the printed fabric.

 

 

And one of the best parts....it includes dimensions for the regular iPad (fits those with speck covers as well), mini iPad, and every version of the Kindle from it's first release up to the current release.  If you have a differnt type of small device there are such a variety of dimensions in this pattern I'm sure you will find a size that fits.  You will be set for one of a kind Christmas gifts with this pattern (and it doesn't take much fabric at all).

Let me know if you're as excited as I am!  If not I'll try to understand.  

If you're interested in using the pattern to make things to sell and need some ideas on how to price them just contact me at [email protected]. It's a great way to make some money, especially with all the holiday shopping and boutiques just around the corner.  

With a Hutch like this who needs Starsky?

Last week Joey and I were on our way back from the local farmer's market when we saw a little garage sale and decided to stop and check it out.  The home owners were in the process of decorating their yard for Halloween and the lawn had some gravestones going up and zombies starting to come out of the ground so we figured maybe they were interesting and had interesting stuff.  They had some 70's knick knacks and a row of dog costumes on a line and I was just about to head back to the car when I saw this china hutch at the back of the driveway.  It had no price tag and I was afraid to ask since it's always been my theory that they just wait until they see that you want it and then come at you with a crazy price.  But I was curious.  I asked the lady what the price was and she said "Hold on. Let me go check." and I thought "Oh great. Here we go".  She came back and said....wait for it.....wait for it.....drumroll please.....$20.00!!  Can you believe it?!  I know, right??!

Once I got it home I set it against the wall and waited for the weekend.  It had already been stripped so on Friday I just cleaned it up and taped off the glass and got to work.

I had plenty of supplies left over from when I painted my sideboard so I just used those (I did treat myself to a new brush and roll of blue tape though).  Glidden Gripper primer and Behr Swiss Coffee (with some Floetrol added for a smoother finish).  2 coats of each and everything was fresh and beautiful (I already loved the hardware on it so I was set there).  That Swiss Coffee paint is quickly becoming my favorite.  It's such a beautiful shade of white it makes everything look high quality.

For the back of the hutch I had Joey pop it out (after I had already squeezed my upper body in there to paint the primer on, duh) and slathered it with a slurry made from 1/2 Elmer's glue and 1/2 water all over it (and for those who have been curious you can see how my grey hair is growing out in this picture).

And wouldn't you know it, the board was 45" wide.  This was meant to be.  I had ironed all the creases out of my fabric (Taza by Dena Fishbein), and gave it a quick shot of spray starch and I was ready to go.  I slowly smoothed it out on the board while my 13 year old son Asher held one side up for me.  Together we got everything in place nice and even.  It didn't take long to dry.

I nailed it back in place and Bam!  Isn't it lovely?  I'm over the moon with happiness.  $20.00!!!

Here are the before and after pictures, side by side.  What a difference a little paint, fabric, and time makes.

Now I'm busy sprucing it.  I finally have a place for all of my sweet little teacup sets.

So when you're at a garage sale, don't be a chicken.  Ask!  :)

And speaking of Starsky and Hutch, here is a picture of my pretty mom with David Soul taken at my uncle's studio back in the day.  Cool, huh?

I glue and you should too

Well, I finished my Holiday in London Duffle Bag just in time for Disneyland and it's gorgeous (I'll share soon).  I started with the outside pockets and instantly knew I wasn't going to be happy with them the way things were going.  My houndstooth bias fabric was crooked on the piping and the pattern on the pocket fabric was at a slight, but obnoxious, angle.  Sometimes I can overlook these things but I just knew this was going to make me crazy if I didn't try to do a better job.

Here's a close up of what I'm talking about.  See how the houndstooth pattern is different on at the end than in the middle?  Argh.  And those little green diamonds on the pocket are not all in a straight row.  It was definitely a job for the seam ripper.  And some glue!

I use glue for some of the steps when I'm assembling laptop covers for my Hipster Haberdasher store so I always have Elmer's purple glue sticks around.  I took everything apart and then ran the glue stick down the length of the bias piping fabric.  I quickly (it dries pretty fast) set my piping right in the middle and then folded it over carefully, making sure the houndstooth pattern was perfectly centered.

 

 

 

A quick re-stitching with my incredible new piping foot (you must get one of these if you don't have one already) and I was set.

 

 

 

I trimmed my green fabric to make sure the pattern was perfectly straight and then glued the piping in place.

 

 

More glue, and then I set the other half of the pocket in place over the piping.  I ran over the whole glued area with my iron really quick to set in nicely and then sewed it all together (using my phenomenal new piping foot, dang).  I didn't use a single pin to hold it together!

 

 

Perfection!  This made me so happy!  I know most folks wouldn't have ever noticed the lack of accuracy (I can hardly see it in the pictures) but that wasn't the point.  I knew I could do a great job if I improved my prep work and had good tools (the glue and the piping foot).

This is such a great pattern and the sew along videos by the designer Bari J. are a must before starting.  She covers the use of glue so much better.  I used the glue stick because it's what I had on hand but, with the right tip, you can get a much cleaner, detailed stream of glue.  More on that later.  Keep on sewing!