Sew the Love in - OKLAHOMA - a way you can help!

Sunday's devastating tornado in Oklahoma has left thousands of people homeless & destitute with nowhere to go, and nothing of their own.  When you see news reports like this, you may feel like I do, completely helpless against such devastation.  But, there is something that everyone of us that sews can do to help, we can literally clothe a child!

Some great PDF pattern designers have grouped together to offer their patterns free if you are sewing for those in need in OK.

Read this wonderful post by Suzanne Winter on Pattern Revolution's blog

Get involved, get sewing!

Here is my first item:

Which is The Easy Twirl Skirt 

pattern donated for this project by Tie Dye Diva

The spotted ruffle fabric is from Amy Butler's Love range - quite appropriate :)

Thanks Jen for the great pattern!

Photo from http://www.tiedyedivapatterns.com

Tie Dye Diva patterns ROCK!

Have a look at this sweet romper (and gorgeous model!)....

It is the Tie Dye Diva Girls' Ruffled Sunsuit Romper.

It comes together easily & it too sweet for words!!

I heartily recommend her PDF patterns, they are well designed, well though out, with clear, concise instructions, supplemented with great photos to guide you easily through the steps.

Happy Stitching!!

Pattern Flip

Do you notice my new button on the right of your page??

I am joining in the year long sew along - Pattern Flip - with Ashley & Emily over at http://francessuzanne.blogspot.de.  They have chosen 12 amazing patterns & each month you can sew along - being sure to 'flip the pattern'.

'What are you on about?' you ask?

Read this (taken from FrancesSuzanne's blog)

The “Flip This Pattern” series is a YEAR-LONG SEWING EVENT, running from June 2013 – May 2014! It consists of twelve “flipped patterns,” sew-along linky parties for each one, and some fun prizes along the way….
Three to four guest bloggers will ‘flip' the chosen pattern as the month progresses. Everyone is invited to participate in a monthly sew-along linky party….specifically set up for the 'flipped' pattern of that month.

Basically, in the last week of May, hold thumbs for a pattern giveaway, but I know we will also be thrilled with a discount code for June's pattern.  Then on the 1st Wednesday of June the sew-along linked party opens.  Each Thursday a guest contributor blogger will share their 'flipped' version of the pattern and we can all vote for our FAV.  This will continue each month for a year!!

You should see the list of guest contributor bloggers!!

Read the whole story here and here & get ready to join in the fun by grabbing a button!

The fun kicks off with Heidi's wonderful Bubble Pocket Shorts - you saw them a few posts back... WHICH I ADORE!!!!  This will be fun!!

BIWC Sewing - June

In June's BIWC sewing class, we will be making this pretty, elegant Summer blouse. 

Photos from http://butterick.mccall.com/b5608-products-13749.php?page_id=875

We will be using Butterick B5608 – view C or D

Get ready for Summer!

As the days get longer, warmer & beautifully sunny, 

I am having fun working on Summer sets for little girls!  

This top is The Blondie from Amy over at Brownie Goose Designs.

Her pattern is amazing, and her instructions are clear, concise and well supplemented with good, crisp, clarifying photos, and her sense of humour will have you chuckling away.  This top was fun to make!

Go Amy!

I so enjoyed your special, humorous instructions... I will have to try a few more of your designs :)

You may recognize these - The Sailor Style version of the Bubble Pocket Shorts from Elegance & Elephants  - you have already seen them here, so you know how I adore her pattern - as well as her use of centimeters and inches (who outside the States understands inches??).

I used my new Kam Snaps on the front, and quickly realised that I needed to order the correct little parts for my wonderful popper press!

I did that right away!

Here is the press I have 

(read about it here and here)

I found the little parts for the T5 Kam snaps here

This is the photo from their website of the parts:

And they even provide a handy 'how to'

here

Their prices seem to be really good for the actual snaps too!

And then my own little addition to the set, 'cause every little lady needs a handbag to carry treasures in!

Oh yes, forgot to mention: The fabric!!  It is my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE right now!  It is from Volksfaden -

http://volksfaden.de/new/de/katespain/4988-kate-spain-cuzco-plumage-gold.html

Summer Shorts for Girls

I am so in love with the Elegance & Elephants Bubble Pocket Shorts pattern!  I saw a sewn pair of the classic style on FaceBook & knew I just HAD to make some!!  The pattern is easy to follow, with clear, concise instructions and plenty of photos to guide you along.  It goes together perfectly & turns out beautifully!

Photo from Elegance & Elephants:

Link to pattern here

I especially LOVE the fact that measurements are given in both inches & cms.  Growing up in South Africa in the 80s I have NO CLUE how inches work!  So was VERY happy to see everything in meters & centimeters too.  A really nice touch!

Here is the first pair I made for Grace

(I made age 5/6 & will have to wait for the shorts to arrive in the UK & my little niece to try them on before I can get back to you on the sizing)

My buttons are purely decorative - underneath are poppers - easier for little kids

Grace will adore the pockets!!

Well done Heidi, this is a wonderful pattern!

Look what I found....

You know those fabric trick markers... they are not that cheap, they only work well for a couple of months, and then they dry out?  Well, I think I accidentally found an alternative!

Have a peak at this....

These Pilot pens are actually meant for paper, but can be erased with friction - you use the grey tip at the end of the pen to erase it from paper.

I used the to write on fabric...

And then went over the text with a steam iron.... ONCE

I only went over the middle, I didn't go over the part that is still visible

The pink line is on my ironing board cover... the only trace of the pen is if you hold it up at just the right angle in just the right light, you can see what you wrote - much like you would be able to see an imprint of what you wrote on the sheet of paper under the one you wrote on.  It is for all intent & purpose GONE!

This will be perfect for marking darts etc!

Dress a girl pillow case dresses

I have made up a set of patterns - one in each size - for the BIWC ladies to pass around - a sort of chain sew :)  I have rounded the bottom seam of the dress & angled the side seam as I find the dress hangs better this way.  If you are new to sewing and hemming a curved seam is hard for you, feel free to make the hem line straight.  Just use the longest point of the hem pattern & straighten it from there.

Like this:

Now, choose the size dress you would like to make & fold your fabric in half so that the pattern piece will fit with the straight edge on the fold.

You will need two of these pieces - one back, one front

You can of course add pretty embellishments 

(ribbon, lace, pom pom fringing....)

Be creative & keep in mind that for some of the recipients this will be the only new dress they receive

To misquote Jill DiGiovanni - Sew in the LOVE

Now you are ready to follow the usual pillowcase dress tutorials.

HERE is a lovely one

A-Line skirt facing & zip

Today in our BIWC sewing class we made this skirt:

But, due to the major amount of work involved in piecing all the squares, only one person finished today - at about 6pm!!

So, to help the others I made these (very basic & badly made) videos (one handed videoing while sewing, so you know... bear with me) to (hopefully) assist in adding the zip, using my VERY easy method & then add the facing (or lining if you prefer) to complete your skirt.

After writing that, I suddenly wondered about the origin of the expression 'bear with me' ... what would we do without the internet?  I found this... QI (quite interesting):  The "bear" here is the old verb "to carry".  You are asking someone to carry a burden along with you, until you both get to the destination.  Thanks Viola Yee :)

For some reason my videos will not upload here, so I have had to upload them to YouTube - uuurrrgggghhh.  I hope no one else finds them as they were meant only as VERY basic sewing assistance for the class.

Click HERE for the link to video 1

Here is video 2

Video 3

Video 4

Video 5

Video 6

Click HERE for the video on adding the head to an endless zip

Remember to send photos of your finished skirts!!

Beautiful Things that you can win!!!

Pop over to this beautiful blog and read all about my lovely friend Lesley's new online store for mammas!  She sells the loveliest products... go take a peep...

Click HERE

And follow these instructions from Liebesbotschaft to stand a chance of winning a 50 € gift voucher from Online-Mama!

"Was Ihr tun müsst, um an der Verlosung teilzunehmen:

1. Verratet mir euer Lieblingsprodukt aus dem online mama-Shop und schreibt es unter diesen Post als Kommentar: wofür würdet ihr den Gutschein investieren?

2. Wer bei Facebook den Link zur Verlosung teilt, hat DOPPELTE Gewinnchancen.

Wer die Verlosung auf seinem Blog verlinkt, hat eine ZUSÄTZLICHE Gewinnchance!

Gerne könnt Ihr dafür das letzte Bild mitnehmen.

Schreibt auch das bitte als Vermerk in Euren Kommentar.

Mitmachen kann jeder - mit oder ohne Blog.

Ich freue mich, wenn auch "stille Leser" sich zu Wort melden - bitte schreibt unbedingt Euren Namen dazu, da ich Euch sonst nicht auseinanderhalten kann.

Auch alle ganz neue Leser: herzlich willkommen und mitmachen!

Kommentare ganz ohne Namen werden nicht mitgezählt.

Und bitte KEINE Mails, es geht NUR per Kommentar.

Die anonymen Leser möchte ich bitten, hinter ihren Vornamen einen Kürzel, oder die Stadt, oder sonst wie ein Erkennungmerkmal zu schreiben.

Wenn man nämlich keinen ausgefallenen Namen hat, dann ist es schwierig für mich.

Das Gewinnspiel gilt für Leser aus Deutschland, Österreich und Schweiz.

Teilnahme unter 18 Jahren nur mit Erlaubnis der Erziehungsberechtigten.

Rechtsweg ausgeschlossen.

Das Gewinnspiel startet sofort und endet am Samstag, den 20.4."

Scrap busting project!

I have finally found a great way to use up the bags & bags of scraps of fabric I have amassed over time.

As you may recall from previous posts (here & here) our sewing group has been making dresses for the Dress-a-Girl-Around-the-World project, which the whole BIWC is now getting involved with by donating fabric, or money to buy fabric - yay ladies!!!

So this evening I had a brainwave... why not join up the scraps into a length of fabric & make another dress!!

I started with the pale blue packet of scraps (mostly).....

What do you think?  

Will this dress make a little girl's heart sing?

Surely an improvement on this....

You too can get involved in this great project - no matter where you are in the world.  The dresses are very simple to sew up & the smiles on the girl's faces are enough to get anyone sewing... just take a look

Pop over to their website & get involved!

http://www.dressagirlaroundtheworld.com

Our next BIWC sewing class

In the next sewing class, we will be making this full length A-Line summer skirt

Spring has sprung - overnight! - in Berlin.  It is beautiful!!!!

Perfect timing for summer maxi skirts

I used the full length skirt (C) from pattern 2029 from McCalls, but any a-line full length skirt pattern will do.  The bias is what gives the skirt shape.

I scrapped the waist band & rather added facing 

I moved the zip from the side to the center back - which maybe was unnecessary, not 100% sure.  My thought was that the zip would lie flatter at the center back

My personal sweatshop!

With only one worker (me) and three machines....

Logos are embroidered onto toile de jouy

(each bag has an embroidered logo on either side - each one takes about 30 minutes to embroider!)

Straps being sewn onto completed bag linings

Embroidered bag outers being overlocked together!

I have 6 completed....

Only SEVEN to go...

(bearing in mind I already had 2 done at the start....)

Oh my GOODNESS!

An order that was only supposed to be needed next week is suddenly needed ASAP!  The bags will be collected at 4am tomorrow!!!
HOLY COW!

I am madly embroidering & sewing....

Here are the first 4 ready (they were already almost done when I got the call)... 

Only NINE to go....

OH MY HAT!!!!!!!

More Monkey Bugs

Boardwalk Ruffle Sleeve Pattern - one of my FAVS!

Hope Hannah is feeling bold this summer...

I couldn't resist the watercolour parrots!

And Grace will be Rocking Pierre Frey Fabric...

(which still needs an iron!)

Simplicity Pattern 7433 (Deutsch) or 2642 (Eng)

I cannot wait for long Summer days - no more dressing in LAYERS and LAYERS just to pop across the road!  No more winter boots!  No more scarves / hats / gloves!  Roll on SUNSHINE!

In preparation I am sewing summer clothing - okay, I am soooooo sick of winter wear, this has been the longest cold spell I have ever lived through!

This is the pattern I used:

I made view E but added the tie from view C

I left off the pockets as the seam is down the middle of each leg & I didn't think pockets placed here were a good plan!

Kudos to Simplicity though... I accidentally bought a pattern with only German instructions & was worried about this - my bad German may not stretch to sewing instructions - so I emailed them & asked for the English instructions.  About an hour later, there they were in my inbox!  

What great service!

The halter neck didn't work out - the cross over of the pieces was insufficient & it gaped open, so I made the halter top into straps which worked just fine!  I have read on other blogs that this is a problem with the pattern.  It does however change a sexy dress into a pretty dress, so it depends on what you were after.  I think I would alter the pattern a bit, make the cross over greater and change the angle of the cross over quite a bit.  It would then work as a halter neck dress.

All in all though, I am happy with it.  I now need to find a co ordinating fabric to make the final tier for the dress to get it to the floor (at the moment it goes to just below the knee).

I suspect the top would fit better with a seam down the bust instead of simply gathers at the base of the bust.

I have ordered this pattern (from Oz! - it is out of print):

As I think the skirt is nicer - the Simplicy one does look a little maternity dress(ish).

Handmade Handbag

Since getting over my bronchitis, I feel like I need to catch up all that (wasted) time I was out for the count!  I have been up nights creating & sewing, and even starting to tidy my fabric hoard!  (No small task!!)

Can you tell that I am impatient for Spring?...

The fabrics used to make this bag were all purchased on various travels & remind me of the people I was visiting - Rachel, family in Holland & my sister in the UK.  I couldn't resist the big bow - I have been paging through the latest Tilda book - Tilda's Fairytale Wonderland - WOW, it is GORGEOUS!!!! - and am really enjoying the feminine, romantic look as a result.

I think it may well be my FAV Tilda book so far!

Dress A Girl Around The World

How to make your dress:

Cut your back & front piece according to this guide from 

Sew Like my Mom 

(cut one back & one front)

Or use this guide from 

Sew Delightful 

where you cut one piece that will be folded in half to make back & front (my preference!!!):

Or this one from Flo:

Now, cut away your armholes using this template here

Then follow this tutorial here to sew it up!

And feel free to add some cuteness, like this:

http://lovinmylovebugs.blogspot.de/2011/03/whimsy-couture-pattern-giveaway.html

http://www.etsy.com/listing/93298684/baby-girl-easter-pink-polka-dot-bunny

http://www.childmode.com/2010/02/28/etsy-find-elegant-white-lace-pillowcase-dress/