Welcome to the Fall and Winter 2013

Sew Fab e-pattern Sale Event!

Last February was the first ever Sew Fab e-pattern Sale and it was so successful and was so well received that Jenny Yarbrough of The Southern Institute, the creator and administrator of the sale, decided to have more!  This sale is bigger and better than the first, with plenty of patterns to get you through the fall and winter (if you live on this side of the hemisphere), and a few warm weather patterns thrown in for those of you who live on the other side of the world.  You'll also find more gender neutral patterns for those of you who are sewing for boys.  And what about you?  Of course there are a few women's patterns thrown in for some selfish sewing too!

Over the past several weeks a lot of behind the scenes planning has taken place to bring you this newest bundle of ePatterns from many of the top established and up and coming online sewing pattern designers.  The result is a bundle of 26 PDF sewing patterns that you're going to love!

For one week only, twenty-six pattern designers have come together to bring you 26 of their best PDF patterns, valued together at well over $2oo.oo, for the incredible price of $29.95!!!  That’s over 80% off of the combined retail value!  Plus you can enter to win a dream of a giveaway with several prize packages from some of your favorite online fabric shops!

For less than $30.00 you will have a library of resources that you can use over and over again.

Now for the good stuff... the PATTERNS!

26 amazing ePatterns from 26 well-known and up and coming designers are instantly accessible to you by PDF download upon purchase of the Sew Fab e-Pattern Bundle.  Here are the patterns that you will receive (click on the links below the images for more  information about each pattern.):

Reversible Zippy Hoodie from Kitschy Coo, Ananda Pants from CHOPSTIX, The Sally Dress from Very Shannon, Best Harem Pants from Too Sweets , Notebook Slipcover from Gingercake, Junebug Dress from Craftiness Is Not Optional, Fancy Pants Leggings from Titchy Threads, Skinny Jeans from peek-a-boo, Pajama Eaters from Sew Fearless, Ruffle Dress from Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Go To Cape for Women, Sadie Grace Nightgown from Seamingly Smitten, Vintage V-Neck from Blank Slate Patterns, Zermatt Bow Swing Coat from See Kate Sew, Tumble Tee from imaginegnats, Nituna Jacket from Figgy's, Greenpoint Cardigan from Hey June, Gathers and Giggles Quilt from Sew Much Ado, Billy Car Play Mat and Roll Up from Handmade Therapy, Bimaa Sweater from LouBee Clothing, Candy Carousel Dress from Molly Blossom, Convertible Clutch from LBG Studio , Infinity Sweater from One Girl Circus, Undies Pattern from From the Red Kitchen, Owl Backpack from The Sewing Loft, Ethan Shirt from the Scientific Seamstress

This Sew Fab e-Pattern Bundle is only available for one week and will never be available again!  You can purchase the bundle from September 30th at 8 a.m. EST through October 8th at 8 a.m. EST and there will be no late sales offered.  Due to the nature of the sale there are no refunds.

You don’t want to miss this unique opportunity to purchase a ready made collection of 26 PDF sewing patterns from 26 of the best designers out there!

And now for The Sew Fab Giveaways!

I'm so excited about these giveaways!  Can’t buy the pattern bundle?  It’s okay… purchase is not required to enter.  Each of these prizes will inspire you in your sewing as well as keep you stocked with what you need for your upcoming projects.  There are lots of chances to win and each entry applies to all of the giveaway packages.  Just use the Rafflecopter widget below the prize descriptions to enter as many times as you want, no purchase necessary.  

#1: $50 Gift Card to Fat Quarter Shop

#2: $50 Gift Card to Girl Charlee Fabrics

#3: $50 Gift Card to Modern Yardage

#4: $50 Gift Card to Michael Levine, Inc.

#5: $50 from Finch Sewing Studio

#6: $50 Gift certificate from Fabricworm

Sign up for the Sew Fab Newsletter to get the latest Sew Fab News!  Winners will be announced in the newsletter as well as upcoming sales and other news pertaining to the Sew Fab Sale and the world of pdf patterns.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Sew Fab e-Pattern Sale!

Sew Much Inspiration right at your finger tips…

only $29.95!

Get your bundle now!

*Patterns included in the Sew Fab Pattern Bundle are intended for personal use only.  The selling of patterns without designer's permission is prohibited and punishable by law.  Please contact individual designers for licensing requirements if you desire to create and sell clothing from patterns that have been purchased through this sale.

**For answers concerning sale terms and customer service questions, please see the FAQ page.

I used the Baby Slip Dress pattern from Suburbia Soup. It's so easy and best of all, FREE. OH and best best of all, multi-sized! 6 months to 6 years, it's a perfect little simple and easy pattern to whip up! I used the 12-18m size on Eddie, and it fits her really well. It's a little snug around her tummy, so I think I will do the 18-24m size next time, but keep the same strap length as this size.


The fabric is Nevermore, by Katherine Cordega. I recived a few fat quarters as part of my winnings from Project Run & Play, and I had been eyeing off this range the entire competition (Keep your eyes on the prize!). I can't find the grey colourway or the feathers in her shop anymore, but the purple & the blue ravens are still there (I got those as well ^_^ ) and in her shop policies she mentions being able to reprint nearly most of her designs so you're in luck!

Today I am over at Winter Wonderings to partake in her Operation: Project $0 series! It's been a fantastic and inspiring series, I've highly enjoyed it! I made this double-collared dress/tunic for pretty much $0!


PS. If you think this dress looks familiar, you're right. I used the same fabrics to make Edison's Ahoy! Sailor Dress a few weeks ago :)

Do you remember earlier this year there was AN AWESOME pattern bundle of a bijillion patterns for $25? It was called the Sew Fab sale and it was indeed pretty sew fab! I was pretty much giddy with the idea of getting so many patterns that had been on my wishlist for one price!

Well...

Coming next week...

For one week only, twenty-six pattern designers will be joining together to combine their best PDF sewing patterns (valued together at over $200.00) and selling them to you for the incredible price of $29.95! That’s over 80% off of the combined retail value!

Grab the bundle when it goes on sale next week and you'll be all set to sew for school and the coming holiday season! You'll have to wait until next week to see which patterns are included in this fall's bundle, but I can tell you right now that you won't be disappointed!

See you bright and early on Monday morning!

I have to remind you, that I will get a percentage of the sales made through this blog. So next week, if you are thinking of buying the patterns, buy them through the links I provide ^_^ Help me earn a little pocket money!

I'm really excited! I've been sewing some things from the patterns included in the sale and eeeeeeeeee. Can't wait to share!

Bringing home a tutorial I wrote for my girls the Shaffer Sisters in their Make for Mom celebration!

I decided to write a tutorial for a dress I made myself 2 years ago. I am a big fan of cutting up oversized tees and making them cute and wearable, and I often snag the $10 shirts from places like ShirtWoot and TeeFury  IE lots of geeky shirts, so today I am going to show you how to turn two shirts in to this!



Alright so you are clearly going to need two shirts. One a shirt that fits you pretty well and the second can be anything you want, as long as it isn't smaller than the first tee. I used an over-sized tee I bought from Ript Apparel. {It's a nod to Han Solo's quote in Star Wars: A New Hope: "You've never heard of the Millenium Falcon? It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs!"}

Turn your first shirt {let's call this the main shirt} inside out and find the centre front. I marked mine with a pin. I used a pencil and drew a sweetheart neckline shape on one half of the shirt.


Fold the shirt in half and cut one cm above that line {you can eyeball it or trace the seam allowance first if you need to!}. When you get to the armpit, cut a straight line across the back of the shirt. You're going to be keeping the top half of the shirt for the dress, but the bottom half will become a pattern for the second piece.


Grab your second shirt. A graphic tee works excellent for this, but you can do a different coloured tee and have a cute colour-blocking effect going on. Fold the tee in half.


Place the lower section of the main tee over your second tee. Cut along the top of the shirt, leaving 1cm for seam allowance. Cut down the side of the shirt leaving 1cm for seam allowance. I kept the existing length of the second tee for a tunic-dress.


Do the same for the back piece - which is basically a big rectangle.


Right sides together, stitch the second shirt together at the sides.



Now here is the fun and tricky part! Place the main shirt inside the second shirt, right sides together. Pin the back pieces together first, matching side-seams.


Pin the centre fronts together. You can't see it very well in the below photo {Sorry!} but the centre of the white tee does jut up past the dip of the black tee.


Pin the centre of the curves together. This part is tricky because the white tee will dip while the black tee rises up but just go with it.


Now pin everywhere in between. Trust me, the more you pin this section the easier it will be!


If your machine has this stretch-knit stitch {#3}, flick it to that. Otherwise a regular zig-zag stitch will be fine :). Stitch around the shirt, attaching the white and the black tees together. It gets a little trickier around the centre front, so if you are having trouble, switch your machine to the straight stitch {regular stitch} and do like three cm before and after the dip with that.


Flip it the right way out, iron it, and then topstitch the seam with a zigzag stitch to keep it nice and flat looking.

Today I'm over at Made with Moxie to celebrate Selfish Sewing Week! I'm a bit honoured to kick it off with this Wednesday Addams dress!


I was given the Angie Dress pattern by Sis Boom to review, and I was both excited and scared! I mean sewing for myself is okay, sewing for myself to show off to other people is a bit intimidating. Especially since it's been almost 5 years since I made a nice dress! You can read my full review over here.


I used scrap fabric for the pockets, does it look familiar? Yep, Vincent's pink pants!


Vincent helped out with the photos. Just because it's Selfish Sewing doesn't mean I don't still deal with Mum Life ^_^ The inside of my dress has splats of honey and butter because children.


The original pattern is nice and simple but I self-drafted a pattern for the collar and added that on. It's kind of classic looking, but a wee nod to my heroine Wednesday Addams.


That's my little smug smile. I'm pleased that these photos are going better than round one ahah. Also I tried jumping, because jumping in dresses is hilarious and fun and I have the maturity of a five year old.


The skirt is gathered onto the bodice, but there is also elastic in the back to cinch it in a little. I really like this. It's not a boxy shapeless dress, and even without the elastic it fit quite well. It doesn't depend on a belt to be wearable. The darts give it some nice subtle shaping and it isn't hard to pull it on over your head.