Peggy pattern

PEGGY PATTERN

March 30, 2020


Today is Peggy pattern release day!  I know it might seem like a crazy time to release a pattern with so much worry and uncertainty in our world right now, but I hope that sewing might keep many of us motivated and bring us joy!  The Peggy pattern is available in the sewpony shop in both English and Dutch.  Grab your copy HERE.  You can receive 20% off all sewpony patterns with code LETSSEWTOGETHER.  Valid until midnight Friday 3 April (Melbourne time).

sewing for children

ZARA PATTERN

November 11, 2019


Today I am very excited to introduce you to my latest sewing pattern for girls - Zara!! For the past month I have been drafting, sewing, drawing, writing and with my team of testers, the pattern is now ready to sew! Let me tell you a bit about Zara...The Zara dress is an easy wearing and feminine silhoutte that suits light weight woven or knit fabrics (YAY!). The Zara pattern offers a scooped front waistline to create a high-low hem, or a regular drop waist hem.  Ruffles can be added to the front bodice.  The skirt is gathered and falls nicely from the relaxed fitting bodice. Gathered short or long sleeves are possible – both finished with an elastic hem, or the dress can be made sleeveless­.  The back closes with a button and loop and the neckline is finished with a bias hem.  Perfect for any age and season.  Zara is also the perfect pattern for beginner sewists!

Dresses

Ugly Duckling Pattern Challenge!!

April 23, 2014


Hello!  Today I am joining in with a fun series hosted by Liz and Elizabeth from Simple Simon & Company. Liz and Elizabeth  sent me an email recently asking if I would like to take part in their series (in its second year) - Ugly Duckling Pattern Challenge.   The idea was to be given a terrible 'vintagesque' pattern and to transform it into something much more acceptable, and hopefully nice!  I decided to throw my hat in the ring and asked the girls to send me one of their best...I thought, "I love vintage, even bad vintage is good."  How wrong I was....you can imagine my delight when I received this 80's vintage dress pattern in our little letterbox....


Clearly Liz and Elizabeth must think highly of me to be able to do anything with this atrocious pattern!!!! You should have seen the size of the sleeve pattern pieces.  Photos did not do them justice, but let me say, they were big enough to wrap a sizeable gift!  I asked some friends what I could do with the pattern to make it nice...one suggestion was to add more volume to the skirt...ha!!

So what was I going to do with this beauty?  I decided the only things I liked about the pattern were the general style of the bodice and back straps (without sleeves), and the waistband.  So I kept those elements and I cut one of the skirt pieces as is (not on the fold).  I pleated the front and back of the skirt inspired by this dress I recently made. The dress is made of  a lovely soft creamy grey pinwale corduroy I had in my stash.

I actually thought I was going to have to pull the pin on Liz and Elizabeth at the eleventh hour as this dress was not looking so great half finished laid out on my sewing room floor. But I perservered and I think the finished result is definitely acceptable!  The opening on the side seam is probably a bit big and I will adjust it a little.  I used a vintage button for the closure.


I trimmed the seam allowances around the bodice and back strap pieces so I could add grey bias trim. I used some vintage green floral fabric I had to line the bodice and back straps to tie in with the vintage them. I outlaid a whopping $0 dollars on this dress, which is always a bonus!!


I won't tell Liz and Elizabeth what I did with the pattern when I finished with it, but I will tell you that we have been lighting our open fire this week and we have been super toasty!!

 Thanks so much for having me Liz and Elizabeth.  This was really fun!

 Make sure you head over to Simple Simon and Company to see all the other treasures and what some lovely ladies have done with them!!

Pants

Perfect Pattern Parcel: A Celestial tee and some Hosh pants

April 16, 2014


Hi there:) Today I am sharing a little outfit I made Isabella with two great patterns - The Celestial tee by Figgy's and Hosh pants by LouBeeClothing.  These patterns are two of the five that are bundled by Perfect Pattern Parcel.   

The patterns included in PPP #2 are:
Celestial tee by Figgy's Patterns
Hosh pants by LouBeeClothing
Hanami top and dress by Straightgrain
The Caroline party dress by MouseHouseCreations
The September Tunic by Too Sweets Patterns

PPP is a new company that allows the buyer to select what they wish to pay for the bundled five patterns.  A percentage of the sales goes to the designers of the patterns and the rest goes to charity. If you pay more than $24 you will 'unlock' the bonus pattern - the Prefontaine shorts by That Moxie Girl.


I used a cream jersey I had in my stash for the tee.  I changed the neckline a little - made four exposed pin pleats instead of the three inverted ones.  The pants are made from a funky printed stretch cotton drill.  I found it at Lincraft.  It reminds me of little sequins. As you can see from the photo above, it is autumn here in Australia! Our property is looking beautiful with green grass, falling leaves, ripening pomogranates and birds galore!


Both patterns are great, quick and easy.  The hosh pants have no side seams which is cool. I love the general shape and how smart they look.  The tee is feminine and I like the uneven hem...it reminds me of a ballerina t-shirt - one to be worn over a leotard by elegant dancers!


Isabella was happy for me to photograph her on this particular afternoon as long as I capture her and her new talent - finger knitting! 




Make sure you head over to Perfect Pattern Parcel if you would like to pick up this bundle as it expires in a couple of days...

blog tour

Small Fry Skinny Jeans

March 11, 2014


Today I am pleased to be participating in my lovely friend Laura's pattern tour for her second commercial pattern - Small Fry Skinny Jeans.  Laura blogs at Craftstorming in the UK and sells patterns in her shop - Titchy Threads.


Here is my little Emily - just turned two, in her first pair of jeans.  What an amazing pattern this is.  When I first opened it I was compelled to email Laura right away and tell her how amazingly professional, thorough and correct it all was!  I cannot believe she has only been sewing a couple of years!


The jeans took me over two hours to put together but they were lots of fun.  I cheated with switching between regular and top stitching thread and ended up sewing most of the jeans with top stitching on the bobbin - which means I have a mighty strong pair of jeans and had only 20cm of thread to spare when I sewed my last little belt tag down! Great success...

More about the pattern:
  • Totally awesome explanations of each step
  • Amazingly clear photos with annotations
  • Tips galore - every angle is covered
  • Option for half or fully fly ( I sewed half fly)
  • Option for adjustable elasticised waist (which I used)
  • Exposed  patch pockets or regular jeans pockets with coin pocket
  • Flat felled seams
  • Option for long shorts version
  • Size 0-3 months - 12 years
If you are after a jeans pattern, I cannot recommend this pattern enough and cannot imagine the headaches Laura must have had putting this baby together - well done Laura!!!


I used a very soft spotted denim I picked up from my local fabric store with hot pink top stitching thread.  I sewed the 18-24 month size.  Emily is just two and usually measures a few months below standard height.  I started the jeans when Emily was in bed and was too impatient to wait til she woke to measure her for a custom fit.  If I sewed these again for her now, I would sew the size 2 as they are a little 'toight'- mostly around her bottom...encouragement for me to start toilet training her so I can get her out of her nappies to allow a little more room!  So Emily will be getting around her skinnies for the next bit of time til her tummy and bottom are busting out!


You can purchase this fabulous pattern at Titchy Threads and until the 15th of March can receive a 20% discount with the code: TOUR20.

Don't forget to check out the other great bloggers on tour...


Thanks for having me Laura and for offering me your great pattern to review.  I love it!

sewing for children

What would Celina do?....Better late than never

February 23, 2014


If you follow sewing blogs around the world, no doubt you would have read a stream of blog posts a few days ago called, "What would Celina do?"  The series was organised by my friend Laura (of Craftstorming) to surprise Celina (Petit a petit and family).  Celina is good at everything she turns her hand to. Sewing, photography, styling, pattern drafting, magazine collating and pretty much everything creative!  Celina received a big surprise last week when 25 bloggers posted at the same time something they made inspired by her.   I was also scheduled to take part but due to having a lapse in internet connection for a couple of days, I had to pull out at the last minute.


However, I had these little shoes ready to go and this skirt worked out in my head.  So today I finished the skirt and took little Emily for a walk in our backyard for some snaps.  The neon painted shoes were inspired by Celina's tutorial here.  When I was first asked by Laura to take part in the petit series idea, I had a look around Celina's lovely blog for inspiration.  When I spotted the shoes I was excited because I had a perfect pair to make neon!  See Celina's tutorials here.  I also loved the prettiness of the paper bag skirts that Celina made herself and her daughter (see tutorial here) and thought the pink gingham would pair well with the shoes.  


The skirt is fully reversible with a flat felled seam on the inside of the pink gingham so that when it is worn with the blue check showing, there are now seams showing.  Similarly, the hems are bias bound - so no seams.  I love the effect of the ruffle above the two rows of elastic and I also love gathered skirts that are two layers...they just feel and look great!

As an aside, some of you may know that we have just moved to a big property and that my husband (and I somewhat) have been busy removing trillions of blackberry  bushes.  I spy blackberry cut roots in the bottom right of the photo above.  Emily is standing in an area that was impenetrable yesterday!



Thank you Celina for your inspiration and I'm sure you will continue to inspire people for years to come!

Bathers

Roots: Sewing your heritage

January 31, 2014


I am excited today to be the last guest in the lovely sewing series called - Roots: Sewing your heritage, hosted by the lovely Heidi of Elegance and Elephants.  Heidi has invited bloggers from around the world to create something inspired by their cultural/family heritage.  You can read the introductory post here.  I am the Aussie counterpart!

Here is my wonderful and lucky country, Australia!!!


Australia has been inhabited by Aboriginal people for tens of thousands of years.  Europeans first settled in Australia in 1788.  The 'First Fleet' captained by Captain Cook arrived and Eurpoeans began colonising the country.  Therefore, our documented history is quite short.  There is no real 'national dress' that is associated with being Australian.  Most Aussies would own a pair of 'thongs' or 'flip flops' (you will see Isabella wearing these on her feet).  After being invited by Heidi, I started brainstorming ideas that might capture the essence of my heritage...  

I am Australian, born and bred.  The previous three generations of my family tree (parents, grandparents and great grandparents ) were all also born in Australia.  So, a very 'Aussie' look was what I was after.  I did toy with trying to create something inspired by Australia's convict history, I could also create something inspired by Australia's Aboriginal culture.  But since I do not have any direct family ties to Aboriginal culture so for me, sewing my roots came down to sewing something inspired by my childhood and the landscape of Australia.  With this in mind,  I decided to create something based on the Australian coastline.  Australia is a one huge, amazing island.  The majority of the population are scattered around the coastline.

Australia has some amazing beaches.  I have visited much of the coastline throughout my life - both as a teenager and also an adult.  We boast the Great Barrier Reef, Broome, Byron Bay, Ningaloo Reef, The twelve apostles, Wilson's Promontary and countless other famous Australian landmarks that are located along the vast coastline.  You can read another great Roots story inspired by the rugged coast at Renee's blog (her history is also more informative than mine!!).

I grew up in the coastal town of Warrnambool, situated three and half hours south west of Victoria's capital, Melbourne.  I have lived in Melbourne since I was eighteen years of age, but four weeks ago, we moved back to Warrambool!  I have moved back to the place of my roots and we are now creating a life where our children can establish their roots.  An exciting time.  Warrnambool has a lovely beach and also many rivers.  Isabella is mad about the beach.  She steps into another world once her feet hit the sand and she happily plays in the sand, waves and shallow waters with the biggest smile on her face!  These photos were taken, of all days, on Australia day on Sunday!  Down at the river mouth ten minutes from our house.


So, it's finally time to tell you about what I made.  I purchased a cotton lycra brown vine print a few months ago.  I have a photo of myself at the same age in very similar print bikini so it fit on two levels to make bathers for this series.  I loosely based the bathers on the pattern in Summer 2009 edition of Ottobre.  I adapted the straps making them wide and joining together at the back.


I also wanted to make Issie a beach shirt.  I love letting her play on the beach, but with the hot Australian sun,  a shirt is a necessity.  I was inspired by the colours of the Australian flag to make the shirt.  I picked up a blue and white striped cotton seersucker and drafted a simple loose fitting shirt.  I used red biased binding around the neckline.  Isabella loves her little straw hat I bought her for Christmas and it suited the theme!


This is the face Isabella usually sports when playing at the beach...


She didn't look so out of place dancing around with the Australian flag on January 26th!


I feel very lucky to live in such a lucky country - Australia.  I can't imagine living anywhere else and am so glad to be raising our girls in such a fortunate and beautiful place.


I hope you have enjoyed my post.  Thanks so much for having me Heidi  - it has been lovely and we are sure to get lots of wear this summer from our Roots inspired sewing!!

You catch up and read all the past posts in this series over at Elegance and Elephants.

Christmas

How to make: An origami collar

December 13, 2013


After I published my dresses in our The 12 Days of Christmas series, I explained that I had photographed the steps along the way whilst constructing Isabella's origami collar.  A few of you left lovely comments saying you would love to see the tutorial, so I decided not to delay (just in case you also plan on making this collar for a Christmas dress)!


As I said in my original post, I was inspired by VINK's gorgeous collar that I pinned a while ago here.  I have since done a bit of spying over at VINK and found out that she is a Belgian blogger who speaks English and is very friendly.  Her name is Linde and she gave me permission to post this tutorial inspired by her collar. She also, at my request, added the 'translate' button to her blog, so now you can read her blog.  The translation is very poor (and sometimes funny), but for me, it still gives me an idea of the post content.  This collar might look really tricky, but it actually was very simple to construct. 

Please note: This tutorial is for construction of the collar and attaching it to the bodice, not for the entire construction of the dress.

Materials:
Paper
Pen
Scissors
Collar fabric - I used white quilting weight cotton and white cotton voile lining
Thin fusible interfacing
Iron
Pins
And of course the dress you are attaching it to!!

Method:

Begin by taking your front bodice piece of your dress (or complete front of dress if it is not separate) and a piece of printing paper.  Follow the photo steps below to create your collar template:






Now it is time to cut your collar pieces.  You will need your outer layer collar fabric, under layer collar fabric and thin fusible interfacing. Note: when ironing your interfacing to your outer collar fabric, make sure you iron it to the wrong side of the fabric so it won't be seen.


   



The remaining steps of the construction of the dress depend on your pattern.  I used the Tinny dress pattern by Straightgrain which has an invisible zipper at the back and neck facing.  I modified the pattern by drafting sleeve facings as I wanted a sleeveless dress. Using this pattern, these were the steps I took to complete my bodice following on from the last step picture above:
 
- with right sides together, sewed two dress bodice backs to bodice front along side seams;
- installed invisible zip;
- sewed on neck facing;
- drafted armhole facings and sewed on;
- sewed side seams.

Because the collar is secured into the shoulder seams, it is not possible to stay stitch the collar down under the collar as you would with a regular collar.  Instead, I sewed several small hand stitches from the back of the dress through the bottom of the collar to hold it flat around the neck opening. 
 
 
I hope you like my tutorial and I would love to hear if you use it to make your own origami collar!  You can see more photos of this dress here.