A Flat Cap on a Sunday afternoon

I put my hand up to pattern test the new You Sew Girl Flat Cap pattern on the weekend.

I love this style of hat. I have a really small head (I made the smallest size in the pattern), so it's hard to find a hat that suits.

It's also notoriously difficult to photograph a hat effectively!

I used a really thin wool suiting fabric - it's actually the exact same fabric that I used for my beret.

I wanted to have a bit of fun on the interior (business on the outside / party on the inside), so I lined it with my Clark Loves Edna fabric

I'm totally in love with it, so now I'm going to make some for the nephews.
If you like a bit of instant gratification sewing, then this Flat Cap pattern is available for instant download. Gotta love technology!

The Solomon Sewing Leave Your Hat On Challenge

 Beautiful fabric gifted from Liesl

I'm so glad that I signed up for Carmel's Leave Your Hat On challenge.

I've wanted to make a bucket style hat for years. In fact, I bought the You Sew Girl Kids Hats pattern at one of Nikki's Open Studio events in Brunswick about four years ago with the intention of making bucket hats for all of my nephews.

I wasn't a confident sewer back then, and I remember coming home, opening it up, getting stagefright and shoving it straight back in the plastic bag!

Sheesh! I don't know what I was thinking.... I managed to to whip this up in a few hours Sunday afternoon.

The trickiest bit is sewing the curves, but as long as you match up your marks/nicks (exactly like the instructions point out) then it all comes together perfectly.

My favourite part is all the stitching on the brim. You can add as little or as much as you like. I went to town and stitched and stitched and stitched.

You may have noticed from the pattern packaging that this is the Kids Hat.  I just happen to have a really small head for an adult, so the largest size in Kids fitted me, but there's also an Adults Sized version.

Now I just need a day at the beach so I can wear it!

The Choose Your Own Bag Adventure Wrap Up

It's the end of another lovely monthly sew-along challenge.

Sew alongs like this are really fantastic as you get to see an entire range of different bag patterns, featuring a huge array of different fabrics. It's a great learning and sharing experience for newbies, and even for experienced sewers.

Without any further ado, here's a little show and tell featuring the gorgeous bags... please go and visit the blog posts that I've linked to for all of the details.

You Sew Girl Hobo Bag by Seabreeze Quilts

The Two Zip Hipster by Little Boozle

Sheriff Bag by Finki

Ann Francene Dimmer Ready for Afternoon Tea Bag by Mistea Crafts

You Sew Girl Small Tote & Satchel by And So I Sew

You Sew Girl City Bag by Beccasauras

You Sew Girl Shopping Bag by News Views Clues and Reviews

 

You Sew Girl Large Tote and Satchel by Snailblazer

 You Sew Girl Large Tote and Satchel by Apple and Tangerine

You Sew Girl Baguette by Me

Thanks so much to everyone who played along, and I think we'd better thank Nikki for her amazing range of patterns, of which we've managed to include six.

You can still add your bags to the Flickr Group or just pop on over there to see more photos.


Now if you're looking for something to sew in September (eeeeek September already), Carmel from Solomon Sewing is having a Hat Sew-Along. I've signed up. It should be fun!

A huge thankyou to my August Advertisers:

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If you would like to advertise in September, just send me an email and I'll get back to you pronto!

Choose Your Own Bag Adventure Sew Along - Baguette

Gosh things get a little crazy when you struggle to finish a project for your very own sew-along!

Thankfully, I had a little spare time Friday afternoon and I was determined to finish off my sweet Baguette.

Unfortunately the original fabric that I'd chosen for the base was an absolutely slippery slidey nightmare to sew with, so I ditched it, and found this beautiful soft grey wool blend in the stash instead.

Serendipitously, it was actually the leftover fabric from my You Sew Girl Beret  (pattern)

One of my curves isn't perfect, but it's perfect enough for me.

I used some lovely red chevron fabric from the quilting section at Spotty on the interior, and instead of making a short strap (like my original Baguette), I decided to make an adjustable strap so that I can wear it short or long.

I absolutely love how this bag turned out, and I'm going to get so much use from it. I can't wait to swap everything over!



You Sew Girl Baguette


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Sweet Cherry Tote

I've been busting to show you this sweet cherry tote.

It was a beautiful gift from Nikki when I joined the transplant waiting list last year.

Nikki based her styling on her mothers beauty case from the 60's.

It's a craft tote, but I've filled mine with all sorts of lovely pampering bathroom/spa products to take with me.

It's even more exciting as you can make your very own.

It's Project of the Month in this month's Australian Homespun Magazine .

All the project details that you need and where to buy the magazine are right here.



More Make It In May Skirts

We have six days to go.... I wonder how many more Make It In May skirts will get finished?

Nikki whipped up two versions of her You Sew Girl A-Line skirt this week.

A lovely long version...

... and a gorgeous short version.

Which reminds me, that I must try out a panelled skirt for myself.

Carmel also made the You Sew Girl A-Line Skirt. It looks fab in denim.

Checkout the schmick invisible zip!

Thankyou Ladies


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The You Sew Girl Best Dress

I was out and about, and all over the place today, but luckily I managed to swing past Nikki's studio on the way home and pick up the brand new You Sew Girl Best Dress Pattern.

Photo courtesy You Sew Girl

There are some gorgeous samples to look at in the studio.... this one is my fave.

There are lots more lovely photos over on Nikki's blog.

I also picked up some of the newly re-vamped You Sew Girl Petite Bag Patterns.

Totally and utterly gorgeous!

The Make It In May Skirt Sew-Along - Here's mine!

Unfortunately Frances is not as wide as me, so the skirt is clipped in at the back to stay up

I've finished my first skirt for the Make It In May Skirt Sew-Along!

It's a little bit later than what I'd first hoped, but I'm completely chuffed with it and I love it.

The pattern is the Nicole Mallalieu Design You Sew Girl A-Line Skirt Pattern which I stock in my shop here.

The pattern doesn't have pockets - I've added them using my own template to satisfy my slightly absurd pocket obsession!

Reasons why I love this pattern:

• It suits my shape
• The fully interfaced waist band does wonders for my belly
• It's comfortable
• It can be shortened to any length (I choose to make mine knee length as I rather like my lower legs)
• There is an instruction booklet with a step by step guide and lots of photos.
• My finished product looks like an expensive shop-bought skirt
• The pattern is paper (not tissue)

I picked up this wool suiting fabric during the Spotty 40% off sale, so the fabric for the entire skirt only cost around $7.

**Edit: I just found the receipt from Spotty - it's Wool Suiting CLT #22 Grey, 147cm - it was $8.99 per metre (after the 40%) off and I only used 1 metre for a knee length in size 14, so the actual fabric cost was really $9

I originally intended to use an invisible zip at the back, but I had a little accident and mangled the teeth of the zip. Then while trying to fix the teeth, I completely broke the zip... so instead of taking another trip to Spotty, I used a dress zip from the stash instead.

I've never sewn with wool suiting before. but I'm loving the way it drapes. It's hard to get excited about a plain grey fabric when you're shopping and sewing, but this skirt is going to make lots of coloured/patterned tops in my wardrobe much more wearable during the winter months.

I'm taking it for the first test run in the city tomorrow. It should fit in well in the centre of black/charcoal grey loving Melbourne!

Exciting News - You Sew Girl Patterns now in stock

It's been so hard to keep this a secret over the last few weeks, but from today, I'm stocking You Sew Girl patterns by Nicole Mallalieu in my online shop.

I was very fortunate to be able to work with Nikki for a couple of years.

In that time, I learned an amazing amount of information about sewing, bag making, and garment construction. As a fairly newbie self taught sewer, her patterns were the first ones that actually made sense to me.

They're jam packed full of step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and photos to guide you through your project from start to finish.

Most patterns also have lots of variations included, so that you can use the same pattern over and over again to create something completely new.

Pop on over and check out the pattern section in the shop!

My Creative Space

I've been Instagramming up a storm this week while documenting the process of making a custom camera bag for Jennie (you can find me as @curlypops over there by the way)...

I'm on the finishing strait now. There's just that delicate job of cutting a hole through my perfectly constructed bag flap to attach the twist lock (hence why I'm referring back to Nikki's blog instructions in that final shot).

Nearly finished...

The home of My Creative Space

A Summer A-Line

 

I probably should have ironed it before taking photos, but it's waaaay too hot!

While hibernating from this horrid Melbourne heat yesterday, I thought I'd take the opportunity to tick something off my 'to do' list.

I'd promised a friend that I'd make her an a-line skirt, so I grabbed Nikki's A-Line Skirt pattern from the stash, and then started searching for Carly's measurements that I'd written on a notepad... somewhere.... before my latest clean up!

Alas, my search yielded nothing nadda zilch!

So, never one to waste an opportunity, I decided to make one for myself instead.

I've had this fabric in the stash for at least four years. I bought it from Spotty because I loved how the pattern is printed along the selvedge on both sides.

I used a plain balck cotton drill for the waist section as there was no way that I was going to be able to match up the pattern, and I actually like the way that it adds a bit of definition (I also love the way that the interfaced waist and facing section holds my tummy in)!

The only problem with the fabric is that the white section at the top is a bit see through, so tomorrows mission is to buy some lining fabric from spotty and add it to the inside.

Here's hoping that it's cool enough to leave the house for that!

Something out of the ordinary.

 New Look 6720 in Echino Bonbon

I've been working on this little project in the background over the last few weeks now.

New Look 6720 in Umbrella Prints - Oasis - Wild Floating Grasses (beautiful fabric to work with)

A friend bought some beautiful fabrics from Earthgirl Fabrics and asked me to transform them into some little dresses for her daughters, and skirts for herself.

New Look 6720 in Melly and Me - Where The Wind Blows

I love how these little dresses turned out, especially the Size 4. Completely adorable!

As for the pattern - I think the way that the facing is attached to the bottom of the bodice is a little clumsy, and not easy to sew. There was a lot of unpicking and re-sewing to make it nice and neat.

Nicole M Design A-Line Skirt in Melly and Me - Where The Wind Blows - Blossom

After making my first a-line in thick denim, this one was an absolute joy to sew. It drapes beautifully in this quilting weight fabric.

This one is most definitely on my to do list to make for me.
 

Burda 8090 in Vintage Groove Polka Dot

Finally, I finished off with this Burda A-Line skirt. I've made this once before... a very long time ago.

The retro style of the fabric is perfect with the design of the skirt..... and Frances was very happy to finally be modelling skirts that fit!


PS - I've made myself a new header in illustrator. I'm still a newbie so don't be too harsh... but check it out!

A Custom Dragster

A few weeks ago, Elise emailed me about a custom purse order. She and her sister had seen my Dragster design on an iPhone / Gadget Pouch at Little Shop Of in Carnegie, which they loved, but they were looking for a purse to hold change and ATM cards.

So, I ordered a custom piece of fabric, and a nice new gleaming purse frame, and used Nikki's  150mm Purse Frame Pattern to make a custom Dragster purse.

I made an addition of some nice sturdy card pockets on the insides.

I really love how this one turned out!

My Creative Space

Another one of Nikki's A-Line Skirts is in the works at the moment. This time for a friend.

The pattern is all cut out and ready to go, but there's no time for sewing 'til the weekend.

I'll have to just stare at it longingly til then.....sigh


More Creative Spaces

A New A-Line Skirt.... edited

I've had Nikki's A-Line Skirt pattern for the longest time.... buoyed by a denim find at the oppy last week, I finally took the time to sit down and make something just for me!

I couldn't believe that when I got the piece of denim home and measured it - there was enough for an entire skirt for just $1.

I always have problems making things for my lower half, as my waist measurement and my hip measurement don't differ much, and I have no bum (seriously, it's as flat as a pancake). I'm also notorious for not being able to measure myself accurately.

I didn't have enough denim to make a mistake. So, to make sure that I was going to get the fit correct, I first made calico toiles of the top section in two different sizes and tried them arounnd my waist and hip. Once I had that correct, it was all systems go!

This was my first attempt at an invisible zip. It's not perfect, but I'm blaming the thick denim ha ha....
 In fact, I didn't even own an invisible zip foot before I bought one to try this out.

I really wanted to add some pockets to the skirt, and I still had a sketch of a tennis skirt that I'd drawn while watching the Australian Open over the Summer. So, I made myself a little template based on that sketch and just laid it on top of the bottom section with the pocket edges extending up into the middle seam and over into the side seam (hope that makes sense).

Now with all of this sunny weather, I just need to make a more summery version!

Edit:  I neglected to mention that even though it's pinned onto Frances (as she seriously needs to add a few kilos), it fits me perfectly!