I used to do more then just sew..

Before I began my obsessive sewing journey I was studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts. Art and creating, making, imagining has always been a part of my day to day life. It has been a while for most of these activities... But I used to sculpt;

Make dolls;

Paint (sometimes with a politically geared agenda);

 And come up with unique, sweet characters to brighten up desks. 

I will do some more posts on more of my work as none of this is current or in my preferred style of fine lines, delicate features and water colours. I hope to find some more time to create not sew. 

The Caroline Dress by Welcome to the mouse house

This week I sewed up the Caroline dress  by Welcome to the Mouse House after seeing a few and making a split second decision. 

 This gorgeous pattern easily sews up professional and well finished dresses complete with princess seams on the front and back. Bonus: it is designed for someone 5'5" (my size).

It is not at all a fast sew but it is a rewarding one that you can get plenty of wear out of. I cannot wait to sew more but cannot decide on fabrics. There is also an option for 3/4 sleeves and long sleeves which I really want to sew up.

The pictured dress is a quilting weight cotton and sits beautifully and holds well and is lined in cotton lawn which is lovely against the skin.

Go get yours here OR buy this dress here.*

*After sewing this dress up I had hoped my other half might like it but unfortunately it was a miss. Which is okay - but if she doesn't like it I decided I won't wear it enough. So someone please take it off my hands and give it lots of love. 

The Alder Skirt by Imagine Gnats

I was lucky enough recently to pattern test for Imagine Gnats' Alder Skirt.

This is such a great and straight forward pattern. The angles in the pattern means I can just fold the pieces down to size instead of tracing everything - that is also incidentally my favourite thing about raglan tees. My favourite feature of this skirt is the pockets - so easy to install and very handy for all of the things we need to carry around.

Having a short torso with longer legs I found the skirt fit me better as a high waisted skirt - very easy just needs tighter elastic in the back. As a shortie (5'5") I had to remove 3" off the length to have it sit in the right spot. I love how you can play with contrast fabrics in the pockets and the waist band and the great details of top stitching. 

 Go get your copy today HERE.

Improvisational Pleating and a baby geranium dress.

I was pretty excited to sew up this dress for An from Straight Grains competition, admittedly I was more excited to get squishy cuddles from this one and her big sister!  

I used the Geranium Dress  pattern in size 0-3m for my little 6 week old niece. As this is an improv pleating exercise I used the method Faux Seams - you can find the tutorial here.

I love how this turned out and will definitely be using it more! I already have 3 more in the pipeline for the next size up.

The rest of the information:
Very sweet tiny mother of pearl buttons down the back.
Top of the bodice is a quilting cotton in a pumpkin colour - lined in some orange floral that I am not sure of a name.
Skirt piece is Cloud 9 organic floral from their Garden range. 

The pants are organic jersey knit in 'Gelato'. Pattern found here.

And now for some other cute baby photos!

 Her squishy cheeks are coming in. 

 Behind the scenes: Spit up and a big yawn.

 But seriously, this face?

I mean seriously! 

And a kiss from the big sister.

Thanks for stopping by!

Selfish Sewing Week for the time poor

This week I had high hopes for sewing myself some Wintery clothes... So far my count stands at 2. 

 I made this very simple Washi dress out of cotton lawn I got for $2.99m. I used a contrasting black and white japanese lawn as visible bias and decided to make it without any linings etc so it was a very quick sew.

 I have some gorgeous Cloud 9 organic cotton picked out to make myself a long sleeve Washi dress to wear in Winter to work. Cannot wait to see how it comes together.

After coming across some Cloud 9 fabric for only $9.99 at Spotlight I HAD to get a whole lot. Mostly I sew to sell and only use clearance fabrics and the like for me. I decided to spoil myself this week though and make myself some baggy, comfy, silky soft organic lounge pants.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully this weekend I finish my Winter Washi dress and Alder skirt I am pattern testing for Imagine Gnats.

Instagram Quilt

Today I finished up a project I have had in the works for a while; The Instagram Quilt!

To make this quilt I edited together screen shots of my instagram photos into a big patchwork grid on Photoshop:

Then I uploaded the files* to Spoonflower and worked out how they would fit on a yard:

*I made 2 separate grid files with different photos

I then waited very patiently (a few months) for my fabric order to arrive. I was thrilled with how most of the squares showed up. I purchased a few metres of cotton batting and 3m of dark blue cotton lawn for the backing. After sewing my 2 separate yards together and ironing the seam flat I ended up with a quilt the size of a king single bed. Not as wide as I would like but will do the job.

I would say to make a baby blanket only order 1yard or to make a queen size you could order 3 different yards and place one at the top and one at the bottom and cut the other in half lengthwise and run it up one of the sides to get the extra width. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Yes my dog Geo loves a good photo shoot. 

Lua Sleep Sack pattern tour

I have been looking forward to trying out this pattern by An from Straight Grain since she first mentioned it many months ago. It has been such a joy and privilege testing this sleep sack pattern. My partner did not really understand my jumping up and down about it either. 

It is no surprise that I love this pattern especially given I have finished 2, started 3 more and have a 6th cut out to sew as well. With all of the babies expected this year and things starting to cool down here in Australia - this is the perfect pattern. 

I had hoped to include some photos of my new niece Amelia in her sleep sack but she has been unwell. Please accept this very sweet (5 days old) photograph of her as a runner up prize.***photos of sleep sack in use now available (pictured at 6 weeks old). 

(For those here for the baby photos, more at the bottom)

Basically this pattern was a breeze to sew up. The instructions are very clear with a number of illustrations to help out. Printing and piecing together the pattern was so easy and paper efficient - the bottom section of the pattern can be used for both the front and back pieces. 

The only tricky part of the pattern (besides choosing the fabrics, of course) is installing the zipper. This is walked through though very gently and was not hard to do. There are some great tips throughout - I certainly learned a few things. 

This pattern is very adaptable and could easily be made with just two layers of woven for a summer weight sleep sack or 2 layers of jersey. I ran out of batting and desperately wanted to make another so I just used fleece as an inner lining for 1 -  not as gorgeously natural and breathable as cotton but definitely warm and might work okay for those on a budget. 

You should definitely get this either for your babies or for baby showers. Thank you for the opportunity An!

As promised some more baby photos: