A Coat for All Seasons

Just a very quick update thismorning to let you know about the latest You Sew Girl patterns that have been added to the shop!

The All Seasons Coat is supercute, functional and trans-seasonal depending on the type of fabric you choose.

It suits sizes 4 - 8

The Tween Seasons Coat is the same super cute style but in a larger size to suit sizes 8 - 14

Their both available right now in the shop!

A Dad Flat Cap

My Dads birthday is coming up very soon.

Ever since I can remember, he's always worn this style of Flat Cap, but I'm quite sure he's never ever had a version that was handmade.

I chose some random wool blend from the stash for the outer cap, and my Linear Design fabric for the inner cap.
 

I love this one even better than the one that I made for myself a few weeks ago.

If you can sew around a curve, then you can definitely have a go at this, and it's an instant download!

You've just gotta go with the flow Sew with the 'Jo

I don't know what it is at the moment, but the sewjo is on fire!

Maybe it's the fact that there's this strange space in time where I'm free to just do whatever I want. No doctors / no hospitals / no pulmonary rehab / no work / no plans / no appointments.

It's just so damn refreshing and I'm loving it!

The first thing I started on was a custom order for one of my infusion nurses. I wanted it to be really nice because she has the magic hands when it comes to cannulating. First time every time (unlike everyone else)!

She wanted something similar to my Go Granny Tote, but it needed to be wider, with a zipper opening, red fabric, and an adjustable strap.

I only had half a metre of this fabric and I had to use every single centimetre (hence the strap teamed with some webbing).

She also wanted a zip pouch, similar to the SuperPops pouch that I use for my drawing pens, but longer and wider.

The instructions for this lined pouch are in Nikki's You Sew Girl book.

That's the first two projects for the year... lots more to come!

Oh... and Happy New Year

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!

Fobbed

The Top

When Nikki put a call out last week to pattern test her latest amazing creation, I had my hand up very high in the air madly waving back and forth.

Photo Courtesy You Sew Girl

The Bottom

It was the perfect little project to keep me entertained on a Thursday night.

I didn't have a keyring that was quite large enough in the stash, so I substituted an oblong ring and small keyring.

The Inside

The inside contains this little hidden pocket that holds a USB stick....

... and can I tell you, the method for making this little opening for the USB plug is INGENIOUS (yes I am SHOUTING because it's so good).

I don't know how many times I've scratched my head trying to work out how to do things like this. I have soooooo much still to learn.

Anyway, the thing that I love about this project is that I was able to make it with a few scraps of my Spring Bouquet fabric.

Just through making different fabric choices, you can make them to suit tweens, teens, adults, anyone really, and you don't even have to wait for the pattern as it's a downloadable! Gotta love modern technology.

You Sew Girl USB Key Fob Pattern

You Beauty

Photo courtesy - You Sew Girl

Introducing - the brand new You Sew Girl Beauty Case Pattern.

 
I'm very lucky to have my very own earlier version of this pattern.

Photo courtesy - You Sew Girl

It's currently at the printers, and fingers crossed, it'll be ready by the end of the week!

I've made it available for pre-order so that you can be first in line to get your copy.

PS - here's another lovely version by Carmel

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!

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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The Frooch

I dropped off my Feather Your Nest exhibition piece at Gleaners Inc yesterday, along with some of my lovely new Frooches (thanks for the hilarious name Michelle)!

Photo blatantly stolen from Liz's Instagram Feed (@missbettyjo)

Liz just happened to glean this old bird cage on her way to work that morning. Serendipity? Fate? 'Tis a match made in feathery heaven.

I also stocked up on Nikki's You Sew Girl Patterns while I was out and about, including the Fedora which was featured in The Age on Saturday.

It's not long 'til I can reveal my finished MasterFeatherpiece

PS - You can also find Frooches in the shop!

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!

The 'Make It In May' Skirt Sew-Along

It's time for a Make It In May Skirt Sew-Along crafty peeps!

Here are the rules (should you choose to accept them):

1. Sign up on the dotted line below
2. Choose your favourite skirt pattern
3. Pick a fantabulous fabric
4. Sew Sew Sew
5. Blog it and show it off

I'm making myself a winter version of the You Sew Girl A-Line Skirt using some gorgeous dark grey wool suiting that I picked up at the last Spotty sale. I'm hoping that I'll also have time to make at least one of the Lisette Skirts too (fingers crossed)!

I've been using some of my newly learned photoshop skills on the button - feel free to add it to your blog and link it to this post!

You can just right click and save the button above (it's 200px wide) or copy and paste the html code below

<a href="http://www.curlypops.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/make-it-in-may-skirt-sew-along.html"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7063/7127652389_f0a392cd72_o.png">

Lets go!

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!

Banishing the UFO pile - Specimen Two

Following along from last weeks UFO triumph, here's another one that's finally been finished and therefore banished from the UFO pile!

I started making this backpack for Ms L around this time last year.

My original intention was to make her a fairly lightweight backpack that she could use for her Uni course. It just needed to be large enough to fit some A4 notebacks and some writing tools.

I wanted it to be quite sturdy so I used a dark denim and interfaced it with a layer of Vilene S320.

Cathy helped me to pick the cute penguins from her stash to make the front flap.

I'd previously made the backpack from Nikki's fab book You Sew Girl before making this one, so I used the technique from the book to make, and to place, the adjustable backpack straps.



Now, the outside of the backpack is totally functional..... but the magic happens when you see the inside...

 

Can you see those gorgeous bright stripes? The inside of the flap was cut from a piece of silk taken from a skirt that Ms L's Mum had made for her many moons ago....

But I've left the most romantic part til the end .........the light blue fabric for the inner part of the backpack was cut from the shirt that Ms L was wearing when she met Cathy, so every time she opens the backpack, there's a little reminder!