A blog of Sewing Sweetness. Pattern Reviews, Tutorials, and More.
Sisboom Sally Dress It’s the new year and time to start dreaming about school coming to an end and fun in the sun with my girls. Christmas break should also be called hump break because that is exactly how teachers feel about it. WE ARE …
Not so recently I was welcomed into the testing group for Lil Luxe Collection. When I was able to join in on this pattern test I was excited and nervous. This group is filled with some amazing sewists, photographers, and bloggers to say the …
I’m SEW happy to be on the 6 Degrees of Separation: Sew the Show blog tour! This is a tour for lovers of film, tv, and sewing. Much like the Six Degrees of Separation game, each blogger connected to the next by finding a character, director, etc to connect to another all while bringing the tour back to its beginning of Kevin Bacon. Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to make the cut for the tour. When the bidding went down I was always 30 seconds, or more, behind the blogger that connected before me. In the end, I was able to score my movie by connecting Robin Wright Penn from the Princess Bride (AHH!! THE GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME!!) to her character, Theresa, in Message in a Bottle.
When my movie connection was made, I went right to my dvd. Yap, I own this one. If you don’t, you really should. Message in a Bottle is the beginning of the Nicholas Sparks book-to-movie empire. The book is better than the movie, but if you want a sappy chic flick to cry along with to help you get through your PMS or your most recent breakup, Nicholas is The Man.
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to stitch up as my inspirational piece, so I ended up with three pieces inspired by different aspects of the movie. However, the pieces don’t belong in one look, so I am sporting some ready to wear attire as well. One day I will make a pair of jeans..One day I will make a pair of jeans…One day I will make a pair of jeans… However, that day is not today nor was it any day before this post.
The image that adorns the posters and dvd covers for Message in a Bottle is often the beach scene where Garrett (Kevin Costner) and Theresa are cuddled together against a piece of driftwood surrounded by the the glow of a night fire and the cover of plaid blanket. This blanket inspired my first item, a plaid flannel infinity scarf. It isn’t quite as sexy as laying out on the beach cuddled with a handsome man under a blanket, but it is functional and fashionable. I even made my daughter a matching one too! She is pretty excited about it. I was all over the Made for Mermaids free infinity scarf tutorial to make this scarf. Megan shared this tutorial as part of this year’s 12 days of Christmas Freebies. Megan is awesome! (I say that like I know her, but really I just pretend I do. I’m more of a stalker of designers.)
Message in a Bottle is definitely a 90’s movie when we are talking about fashion. Is there anything more 90’s than Adidas apparel? Actually, there is… it’s cardigans, but my first look was inspired by Katherine’s Adidas workout attire. It is over-sized and almost frumpy looking, but Theresa wears it on multiple occasions throughout the movie and is wearing it when she finds the first message written by Garrett. I thought I would spin off of the gray t-shirt and do a trendy top . I wanted less frump and more fashion. I went with the Terra’s Treasures Telluride Top and used a heather gray french terry and white cotton lycra to create the style I was going for. This pattern has a ton of options! I chose the scoop neckline with the long puffed sleeves. I plan to play around with this pattern a lot more. Terra has had some great women’s patterns released recently. (Again, acting like I actually know her, but I don’t. Terra, however, is the one person that convinced me to take my first stab at sewing knits. My first knit project was the Town Square Top which I sewed up during a sew along. Thank you for that, my sewing life was forever changed.) I wish it wasn’t Christmas time or I would be spending a large chunk of money on Terra’s Treasures!
Though we watch the development of Garrett and Theresa’s love story, there is another person who is an essential piece to the story, Catherine. How could I sew something to give some credit to her? In the movie, Garrett completes his boat which he names after Catherine. There aren’t a lot of finished clips of the boat, but the color design is a natural finish on the topside, a white stripe through the center at the waterline, and the rest of the ship below the waterline and at the keel is painted. (Yap, I had to Google parts of a sailboat for that description and I’m still not sure I got that right.) I decided to stitch up a top that was inspired by this coloring. I used the Hey June Lane Raglan and pieced together the front to coordinate with the coloring of the boat. (Do you call yellow a natural wood color? I did because brown would be too gloomy with my dark green bottom, so let’s go with it.) This is my first ever Raglan. Yes, I’m sorry about that. Feel free to tell me your favorite raglan pattern so I can continue my hoarding of patterns.
Well, that is my part of the Sew the Show Tour. I hope you enjoyed reading through, or at least skimming the pictures to see what I stitched up. Be sure to go back and scope out all the past creations! Then, stay tuned for the next stop tomorrow beginning with Ali Cat and Co. Here is a sneak for Brianne’s connection. Everything else is linked up below, so don’t miss out.
It is Christmas time all around. You can see it in stores, up and down the streets, and on the Hallmark channel. (That is my favorite Christmas past time.) In the sewing world that means pattern sales, fabric deals, and Christmas sewing! Sewists are making …
Follow my blog with Bloglovin Another pattern test down and another Thanksgiving piece ready to go for this week. This shirt coordinates with the Abiline Skirt I made for Peyton to wear for the holiday. See that here. I love killing two birds with one stone. …
Yay! This is my first official blog tour! Thanks to Momma Quail Patterns to letting me join in on the fun. Let’s get to it.
For the tour we were given the opportunity to select a Momma Quail Pattern and sew it up. The rules… There were none. We could sew as written, hack it, mash it, or whatever our hearts desired. Let the creative juices flow.
I searched through the pattern options and every time time I looked at the Abilene Skirt I was reminded of a father-daughter Girl Scout dance I attended when I was quite young. My mother had two skirts fashioned from some old jeans that no longer fit. The legs were hacked off just above the inseam and tiers of ruffled fabric were added to make perfect cowgirl themed skirts for the occasion. I would have sketched a picture of my memory, but then you might stop reading, so I spared you. The features of the skirt remind me of classic denim jeans while still being a stylish skirt ready for many woven fabric options. My memory helped me to create my plan for the pattern tour. I wanted to take the Abilene Skirt and throw in some of the features from my memory skirt by removing some length and adding a few tiers of ruffles for sass. Our version is going to be part of Peyton’s Thanksgiving outfit.
To create my look I cut the pattern pieces for the Abilene skirt as written. I chose to include the front pockets and faux fly options. Thank you designers for including faux fly options! I just don’t want to take the time to do a real-deal-holy-field zipper fly. I also cut the back pockets and belt loops, but opted later to leave them off. I’ll talk about that later. Along with the pattern pieces, I cut the ruffle pieces that I planned to add to the skirt bottom of the skirt. I cut two pieces 5 inches x WOF and two pieces 4 inches x WOF.
I started sewing by stitching each of the ruffle strip pairs together and finished them with a rolled hem so they would be ready to go when I needed them. I constructed the skirt per directions until I needed to add the back pockets. I opted to leave the back pockets off because I wanted the center panel of the skirt to be visible since I used a contrasting fabric. I skipped the details on finishing the vents as I knew I was going to be chopping off that portion of the skirt. Yes, I know I probably should have modified the pattern pieces before cutting to save fabric, but I honestly was just too lazy to do the math ahead of time. Once the front and back wear sewn together, I cut about 5 inches off the bottom of the skirt. This was just above where the vents ended. I then measured the finished width and cut the ruffle pieces to be twice the circumference of the skirt. (For size 5, the width was about 14 inches on the front which makes the total for the front and back 28. I cut both sets of ruffle at 56 inches so I would have plenty of length for gathering.) Next, I sewed the ruffle strips into loops, slid them together, with the 4 inch piece on top of the 5 inch piece right sides up. I gathered the ruffle strips together and then added them to the skirt pressing and top stitching after they were attached. I finished up the skirt by following the rest of pattern directions to attach the waistband and back elastic.
I love the finished product. It screams fall with a bit of flair, yet still allows for Peyton to wear it to school without feeling like she is flashing her booty while sitting on the rug at story time. Hopefully I will get the other two girls something to wear for Thanksgiving before it gets here as well!
Use the coupon code “MQPATTERNTOUR” for 30% off in the Etsy shop through 11/21/15. This is going to be the biggest Momma Quail Pattern sale in November – don’t wait til Black Friday.
Momma Quail Etsy Shop Here
Momma Quail (Friends Stitched Together) Blog Here
Are you still with me? Yay! Tell me what you think of my version in the comments, then be sure to check out the rest of the Momma Quail Pattern Tour and enter the Rafflecopter! I’m sure the other bloggers are going to have some great contribution to share and inspire you with. I know I’m on the lookout for what everyone does with the Hobbes Hooded Jacket!
11/16:
Sew Thrifty • Willow and Stitch • The Wholesome Mama
11/17:
Create 3.5 • Lulu & Celeste • Pear Berry Lane
11/18:
The Berry Bunch • Paisley Roots • Call Ajaire • Falafel and the Bee
11/19:
House of Estrela • Adventures with Bubba and Bug • Swoodson Says
11/20:
Rebel & Malice • Knot Sew Normal • Sew Thrifty
a Rafflecopter giveaway
//widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js
A little over a month ago I had the opportunity to test the Girls Boheme Sky Tunic, Midi, and Dress pattern for Striped Swallow Designs. I used the pattern to make a dress as part of Peyton’s Sew’NStyle Mini Collection. (Check that post here.) I …
Hello 70’s style… Is there anything more 70’s inspired than these pants? Maybe I should have made them in polyester to take the full jump back in time. Laela Jeyne Patterns is releasing their newest patterns, the Little Birdy Pants and the Little Birdy Top …
As I’m hopping into blog tours and sewing challenges, I have found the original host for Pear Berry Lane is not the best fit. I hope you will follow me by entering your email on the right hand side of your screen (or at the bottom if you are mobile). I want you to know when I make a new post! Be on the look out for new content this week. I have tests coming up from Laela Jeyne Patterns and Striped Swallow Designs, along with some fun tours I will be joining in on. I hope you will check them all out!
