I made a Doli Tank

Posted on May 31, 2013 by pattern crush

I’ve been following Sarah Beth of LouLouBee Clothing on Instagram and was inspired to make her pattern, the Doli Tank, for Audrey! I used cotton poplin from the Lisette line at JoAnn’s. I chickened out on the rayon I purchased… maybe next time.

My cat was excited.

Despite it being my first time adding rib binding, it turned out pretty well. I mean, it was EASY. I don’t have a lot of experience sewing clothing, but this was a breeze for me. I followed the directions and made sure that the rib binding was the perfect length over the arm and neckholes, and that went right the first time. However, I didn’t bother making sure I had a consistent seam allowance, and the band didn’t match up exactly when I sewed the shoulders, so I ripped and did it again. No big deal, lesson learned. I also had a little bit of puckering on the back center under the neckline, and I’m not sure if I needed to hold the fabric tighter or it’s because of my fabric choice (please tell me).

We wore it to Brookfield Zoo!

Wrinkly from it being so hot and sticky outside!

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And, I got a dog for Mother’s Day. We named her KONA! Don’t tell my husband it has anything to do with fabric. We were married in Hawaii, and it being Hawaiian was acceptable.

Tomorrow my son graduates Kindergarten and the Montessori early childhood program. I’m so proud of him! Maybe soon I’ll blog the Burda bag I made… maybe!

SMS Giveaway Day – CLOSED

Posted on May 6, 2013 by pattern crush

Hi! You’re here for the giveaway, I know! Sew, Mama, Sew hosts Christmas twice a year. If you’re here through subscription, check out the link above to enter hundreds of sewing giveaways.

I’m also hosting an Instagram sewing photo challenge! You can join at any time. It’s been super fun, and I can’t believe there’s already 800+ photos in the feed. I’ve been laughing every day at some responses, you sewing gals and guys are pretty clever. I rarely blog, but I IG every day.

Back to the giveaway – Read the Rules!

I’m giving away $20 in credit to my fabric shop, patterncrush.etsy.com. This is a new(ish) shop and blog. I’ll throw in free domestic shipping and $5 off international shipping, so you can really get something free if you don’t want to apply the $20 to something bigger. You tell me what you want, I will set you up with a custom listing with $20 off and free/reduced shipping.

To enter, tell me which fabric collection you’re looking forward to this year! I need ideas on what to buy. Will you buy Briar Rose before or after it comes out (or not at all! No, you can’t be serious). For an extra entry, follow the blog, follow me on IG or Twitter (@patterncrush), or like the page on Facebook - that way I can get you some coupons and show you what’s new.

Comments are now closed.

JEIFNER! You’re my winner.

Heather Ross Briar Rose Pre-Sale

Posted on April 16, 2013 by pattern crush

So, I’m excited. Heather Ross’s newest line, Briar Rose, and her first line for Windham (more affordable than Japanese imports, yay!), will be shipped to stores (that’s me now) on July 1! It’s gorgeous, and just screams summer.

Here are some promo pics I pulled from Windham’s catalog.

The whole line is listed in my shop. I’m devoting most of my yardage to bundles.

Psst – I’m offering a 10% coupon for my readers. Use code “ALLROSY” through April, maybe the beginning of May?

PPS – Kids Clothes Challenge Week starts April 22!

Makin’ it Work

Posted on March 28, 2013 by pattern crush

Wiser people live life wondering, what would Jesus do?

I find myself asking, what would Nina Garcia say? What would Tim Gunn say? And this isn’t limited to my sewing.

My Judge

It’s not that I’m obsessed with that show, I have only seen two seasons. Regardless, Nina and Tim apparate over my shoulders whispering like the cliched angel and devil.

“That’s too commercial.” “That’s very pedestrian.” “This isn’t Project Seamstress.” Nina Garcia does not want to hear my excuses.

My sister is having major life-event issues. What valuable sisterly advice did I give? “Make it work.” Tim’s catchphrase is perfect: never judgmental, always supportive, can be inflected to mean anything you want. My new motto, up there with valar morgulhis.

Anyways. I quit my stressful, stressful job last week after a huge paycut. I thought I would have spent more time sewing in my initial days off, but this has been, and needed to be, a restful transition for me to regain my poise and generally get my act together. Thanks to my husband working, we will be okay financially. As much as I have some anxiety, can I just say that I am really, really happy right now, spending time with my kids at home, and trying to allow myself, to give myself permission, to enjoy this time.

Pattern Crush, Inc., the fabric store, is going to go big this year, or go home, and I have a lot of planning to do.

I did cut into this pattern today, and hope to have it finished in time for Easter.

Burda 9551 for my daughter, using AMH fabric

Finally, for Sew Thinky Thursday, Emily, if I were a quilt block … I would big a zig zag block, because I go up and down and up and down. I’m a classic and always in style, if I may so myself. (So humble, this one).

Finally -

If any of my readers are on Twitter or Instagram, I would love to follow you there @patterncrush. I can’t emphasize enough how much I love those platforms and wish I got in on the fun sooner! I’m so grateful to have a little network of girlfriends, even if they’re mostly virtual, to talk fabric with, and to support.

Handprinted III: Fabric Swap – my design

Posted on March 16, 2013 by pattern crush

SONY DSC

Today I did my printing for the Handprinted III fabric swap hosted by Maze & Vale. My first design idea was inspired by Tibetan prayer flags. I cut some foam squares to try it out, but it didn’t look like anything but a bunch of stupid squares. My mom didn’t think it was that hot, and you know you’re in trouble when even your mom is like, uh, try something else. As on Project Runway, if you have to explain it, you’re out. Also, I invested in a bunch of opaque Setacolor, and didn’t want to shell out more to re-purchase the same colors but in a transparent finish. So, I scrapped that and moved on.

My next idea was big polka dots in CMYK with a camera printed inside some of them, but then I realized I don’t have any yellow. With hand printing it seems like the most successful designs are the most simple, anyway.

So, I thought about the camera, and sewing, and made a pattern inspired by sewing bloggers, since we have to obsess about photos.

We hand-carved the scissors stamp and I used a camera stamp purchased here.

The most difficult part of block printing with such a small stamp is not getting residual ink on the design. I applied the ink with a sponge instead of fooling with a brayer, and I’m so glad I did. There are some mistakes (quite a few!) where the ink on my fingernails got on the fabric, and once or twice I actually dropped the stamp. Sorry, gals! It adds charm?

Each fat quarter took about ten minutes to print. Fabric is Kona in Bone.

SONY DSC I can’t wait to see what I receive! And I may need to make more of this, since I didn’t make myself any!

PS – Emily, the orange is for you!

Sew Thinky Thursday: Kona

Posted on March 7, 2013 by pattern crush

For this week’s Sew Thinky Thursday, Emily posed the question of which Kona solid is the most used in your stash, and asked us to pick favorites.

I am a prints girl. I love modern quilting, but I don’t think I would ever make a quilt from just solids again unless I really restrained myself. It’s not that they aren’t aesthetically pleasing–they are!–it’s just not me. That being said, every time I work some solids into a very loud project, I’m usually very pleased I did, so I try and take a cue from the modern quilting world of solid-lovers. (And I will probably go back this.)

That being said, Snow is my most used, and most favorite, because it shows off my prints. Plus, Snow and Bone are great to block print on.

I copied Emily’s mosaic idea (after all, she’s the host of this party!) and tried to pick the colors I would actually buy instead of worrying about a perfect value bundle. My stash is 95% prints, so I could probably use a few solids. And if I’m spending my fabric budget on what I consider a not-very-fun-but-necessary-basic-like-a-t-shirt fabric like a solid, I would buy and use these:

Wisteria, Melon, Baby Pink, Snow, Cadet, Pacific, Charcoal, Pomegranite, Buttercup, Bison, Bahama Blue, Pepper.

That’s pretty much me. Missing half of the rainbow, you can remain in nature and out of my stash. Until I need you.

Oliver + S Ice Cream Social top

Posted on February 25, 2013 by pattern crush

DSC02708_edited-1 I finished my second blouse ever, and my first Oliver + S pattern! Yay me! Now that that’s said, it’s definitely not perfect. I couldn’t visualize sewing the wrong side to the right side because my patchwork mind (that sounds like a blog title) can’t comprehend anything but right side/right side seaming.

I did read the badskirt sew-a-long archive a few times, which helped me feel more confident. Too bad Emily was at QuiltCon this weekend probably having the time of her life because I was tempted to take her up on her very generous offer to help me! (Thanks!)

Everything went fantastic, I pressed and pressed and it looked amazing, but when it came time to sew the yoke to the bottom gathers, I stitched them together, decided it was wrong (it wasn’t) and ripped the seam out (twice). That did not help my gathering! Then I decided I wanted to be done since I was so close, my parents were coming over, it was time to catch up on Downton… and just sewed both pieces together without pinning. So the yoke/bodice line is not straight . I won’t do that again. I also have some funny puckering going on around the top left of the yoke, and the fabric folds a little when worn… somehow I ended up with too much fabric there from my terrible seam.

Anyway, if you’re thinking about making it, don’t be afraid, the instructions were very clear! If I hadn’t rushed and visualized those last steps, it would have been nearly perfect.

(Do most people learn how to sew clothes and things first, then quilt? I’m doing the opposite.)

Well, I learned a lot, and instead of being discouraged from venturing more into sewing clothes, I am ready to do another! It fits her, and the beautiful fabric (Joel Dewberry, Heirloom, in Roses) on my beautiful girl makes me smile.

On another note, I’m thinking of cutting into THIS awesomeness from Yuwa:

I have been afraid to cut it up since it’s so perfect, and out of print. At first I thought I would simply add a scrappy border and make a wall hanging or quilt for my daughter, but is that really the best use? Seems kind of pedestrian. So, do I cut each square out and use it in patchwork, or would you cut the squares as needed and never mind the orientation of the text? Another thought would be to take the squares for my daughter’s name since no letters repeat and incorporate it into a zakka quilt for her. I would love your thoughts!

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