Sew Independent

As I typed out sew independent in the title, the thought occurred to me that I really like all the implications. I think that describes me as well as everyone who visits this blog, we are so very independent! We like to like to sew, we like to be creative and in all of our endeavors, exhibit our individuality and independence. 

As you may remember, I participated last year in Sewing Indie Month as....The Pattern Hacker!!! I love that title :) Well, as it turns out, Sewing Indie Month is coming up once again. Since I have yet to take the little box off of my blog, I was asked if I would do a post announcing the upcoming event as well as a fabulous sale that will kick it all off. The sale is all about a pattern bundle which is rather fun. So before I get to the details, let's take a look at the patterns.

First up is the lovely Dixie of Dixie DIY. You may remember that I just completed her shorts for the Sew News sew along. A picture of me in my shorts is coming up this week. Dixie has designed a super cute new dress pattern. Look closely and you'll see the little cutout design on the side. As cute as the cutout is, I'm thinking that it could also be a design detail with lace or even leather.

Next up is a designer that I have enjoyed for some time. You may remember her free Newsboy Cap pattern that I made a while back. Her Cookie Zippered Jacket is a great into fall jacket. Yuki is offering a free add on pattern of a hood, so the jacket is all the more versatile.

Sew House Seven is a new to me pattern line. Their Mississippi Ave. dress is just as breezy and feminine as a pattern can be. Not only is it a lovely little dress, it would also make up into a lovely nightgown. You can find all of their patterns HERE.

Muse Patterns are designed by Kat Haristy of Wellington, New Zealand. Her Melissa dress and blouse pattern is feminine with a vintage touch. The lovely detail on the front of the dress is echoed on the back. The pattern also comes with a skirt pattern that features the detail on the pocket. A super versatile pattern! You can check out all of her patterns HERE.

Next up is Miss Mari of Seamster Patterns. Her brand new Sorrel Dress and Top Pattern has been in the works for a while and I'm so happy to be able to finally tell you about it. The collar detail is just that, a detail, not a seperate collar. 

She has also provided this option which I really like.

Lolita Patterns is offering their Sugar Plum Dress pattern, perfect for the business woman on the go. You may remember that I tested this pattern. You can see my version HERE. 

Another new to me pattern designer is Jennifer Lauren, She is offering her Cressida Skirt Pattern to the bundle. The skirt can be made with a double row of buttons or a single row and belt loops can also be added.

The Saltbox Tank or Tee from Blueprint Patterns has a very interesting inspiration. Be sure to check out her blog and see what inspired this top.

The Sutton Blouse from True Bias features an easy to wear design with kimono sleeves, one piece yoke, a pleated back and side slits.

The Ultimate Trouser Pattern from Sew It Over is a pant for every wardrobe. A slim leg with and ankle grazing hem, perfect in summer and winter.

Now here's a little information about the pattern bundle. Please take note that I'm a little late in getting this post out, the sale ends on Wednesday August 12th!!!!

• The sale will run from Monday August 3rd to Wednesday August 12th.
• 20% of bundle proceeds will be donated to the International Folk Art Alliance, which provides education and exhibition opportunities to folk artists from around the world. Just a few examples of what the International Folk Art Alliance has been able to accomplish by helping artists create stable, year-round livelihoods includes helping shelter women from domestic violence in Ecuador, building a school for children in Pakistan, empowering women in repressive cultures around the world, and feeding villages in Niger.
• Sewing Indie Month (SIM) is a month-long celebration of indie sewing patterns where designers collaborate to bring you fun blog posts and informative tutorials. This year SIM will take place in September. It's accompanied by a sewalong contest with fantastic prizes. Since the patterns in the SIM Bundle 1 are mostly wovens, this sale gives you time to make muslins before the contest begins in September while supporting small women-owned businesses and raising money for charity.
• This year the Sewing Indie Month HQ will be Sew Independent, which Mari from Seamster Sewing Patterns took over from Donna, who decided to step back from the site. You may buy the bundle and keep up to date with the latest SIM news at www.SewIndependent.com 

Pricing:

Pay what you want for the bundle! The more you pay, the more rewards you'll receive. 

• Pay $25 or more to get the Sutton Blouse, Cressida Skirt, Sugar Plum Dress, Mississippi Ave Dress & Top, and the Ultimate Trousers.
• Pay $32 or more to get the Cookie Blouson and Bonnell Dress.
• Pay $38 or more to get the Melissa Dress, Blouse & Skirt, the NEW Saltbox Top, and the NEW Sorrel Dress & Top.
• The 10 people who spend the most will get printed copy shop versions of the patterns mailed to them as a free bonus.

New Patterns:

The Saltbox by Blueprints for Sewing and Sorrel Dress & Top by Seamster Sewing Patterns are brand new patterns that are being released with the bundle. During the sale you can only buy them as part of the bundle.

So if you would like to have all 10 patterns, you may have all 10 for the bargain price of only $38.00! But since 20% goes to such a worthwhile organization, pitching in a few extra dollars would be great too. Be sure to check out www.sewindependent.com to buy your patterns and learn more about Sewing Indie Month. Have fun!

The Dixie DIY Movies In The Park Shorts Sew Along, Week 3

If you are just following along, or actually making the Dixie DIY Movies In The Park Shorts, the next post is up on the Sew News blog and you can find it HERE. This week, in the written instructions, I show you a quick and easy way to finish the waistband yoke with no hand stitching. Simply serge the edge of the facing and then stitch in the ditch and the facing is secure and you've saved yourself a good bit of time. Always a nice thing!

The finished waistband yoke, piped and ready for the binding. 

Binding can be quite intimating, but it's really all about taking your time.

In the written post, I take you through the steps of a successful binding that's as pretty on the inside as it is on the outside.

 The finished binding.

This will be the last video to accompany the blog posts, but we will have 1 more post where I go into a little more detail about sewing in the buttonholes, buttons and the snaps. I have attached the video below.



If by chance, you've decided to make the Movies In the Park Shorts, but have not yet purchased your pattern, you can find it HERE. Remember, it's a PDF pattern, so just a simple download and no shipping costs!!!! I love no shipping costs :)
Have a wonderful day!
Rhonda

Dixie DIY Sew Along Week 1

Week 1 of the Dixie DIY Movies In The Park Sew Along is upon the Sew News blog.

In the video for the first week, I talk about fabric choices, downloading the pattern, putting the pattern together, and modifying the pattern for a longer short. You can find the blog post HERE, and I have attached the video below just in case you might like to take a look. Enjoy!


If you would like to give the shorts a try, but you have yet to purchase the pattern, you can find it HERE on Dixie's website.

And The Winners Are....

Before Monday completely gets away from me, I wanted to announce the winners of the Dixie DIY Movies In the Park shorts pattern and the winner of the current issue of Sew News.

The winner of the Movies In The Park Shorts pattern is...

Congratulations Sewnski!!!

And the winner of the current issue of Sew News is....

Congratulations Linda T!!!!
Be sure to email me at sewbussted@yahoo.com so I can get your prizes out to you ASAP!!!
As soon as the first post is up for the sew along, I'll be sure to let all of you know.

Summer Shorts/A Sew Along

Although I no longer run around outside without my shoes, one of my sweetest childhood memories is coming home after my last day of school,  kicking off my shoes and running out into the yard. The lush grass felt so wonderful between my toes! There were 2 things my mother saved for that glorious last day of school, going outside barefoot, and wearing shorts. Bare legs and bare feet, what a wonderful sense of freedom!  
My next sew along with Sew News is coming up quickly, just a few days away actually, Monday, June 29th.   Just in time for summer, we will be making a pair of shorts. Now, you may be asking, how difficult is it to make a pair of shorts? They really aren't that difficult, but we chose a pattern that offers a few possible techniques that you may not have tried, the Dixie DIY Movies in the Park Shorts.

Take note that the shorts have a bias tape bound edge, buttons, a waist yoke and pockets.
Here's the pair that I made.

I made a number of changes to the pattern, The pattern is actually the same, I just made some design changes. There's a custom bias edging, the pockets as well as the waist yoke have a piped edge. Also note that I did not run the buttons all the way to the bottom edge of the shorts.

In the sew along, I will discuss lengthening the shorts as there may be some who would rather a longer leg. This is a great sew along for anyone who is new to sewing, especially teenagers who have not done a lot of sewing, but would like to make something fun for the summer. Along the way, I think they'll learn techniques that will translate to lots of other projects.
The pattern is a downloadable pattern. I found it especially easy to put together, and as I've said in the past, downloadable patterns are instant gratification, buy it and have it immediately and you never have to leave your home!! If you would like to go ahead and purchase the pattern, you can find it HERE.
To kick off the sew along, Dixie is very graciously offering a free pattern and I also have a free issue of the current Sew News magazine to give away. I always love a giveaway!!!

The pattern will go to one lucky winner and the magazine to another. 

If you would like a chance at winning either of the prizes; 

1. Leave a message on this post

2. You must be a follower of this blog in order to win.

3. In your comment, please let me know how you follow, email, Bloglovin, Feedly, etc.

I will announce the winners on Monday, June 29, 2015

Good Luck! 

Sewing Indie Month, The Hackers....The Final Entries

Sewing Indie Month has been quite a month! To be honest, I was a little worried about whether or not there would be many if any entries for pattern hacking, but you ladies have blown me away with your creativity! Congratulations to everyone who used a little creativity and thought outside the box.
We had 5 new entries yesterday and I want to showcase their lovely hacks.
A bodysuit takes on a whole new life when it becomes a maxi dress. http://dibulous.blogspot.com/2014/06/nettie-maxi-dress-hack.html took the Nettie Dress and Bodysuit from Closet Case Files and gave sexy a whole new look!
                   
After you've worked so hard to obtain a PhD and you need to defend your dissertation, a lovely dress is in order. MariaDenmark's Day To Night Top was the perfect beginning for his lovely dress made by   
http://www.kollabora.com/projects/dissertation-defense-dress
                       
Dixie's DIY Ballet Dress gave http://www.thepatternhack.blogspot.com/ the perfect pattern for creating this maxi dress. By the way, this is her first ever post. A brand new blogger!!!! Be sure to welcome her to the blogging world.
                  
For a woman who loves to exercise, The Avocado Hoodie from Seamster Patterns gave http://www.cleverthinking99.com/2014/06/jaywalk-alexaavocado-hoodie.html just what she needed to create this great jacket.
                          
Being able to run and be cool and comfortable is a must for http://sewtigersew.wordpress.com/2014/06/04/sewing-indie-pattern-hacking-a-running-top-for-the-volume-lover/, so she took the Summer Concert Tee from Dixie DIY and combined it with Fehr Trade's XYT Workout Top.
                                    
So that closes out the entries for Pattern Hacking. Again, great job ladies!!!! And a big thank you for participating. The voting will begin on Monday, so I will be posting links then.
Sewing Indie Month is not quite over for me. I will be posting my hack of Sew Chic's Myrtlewood dress this Saturday. I have an event to attend and the dress will be perfect! I also have another piece to hack from Waffle Patterns that I think you are going to love. I'll be back a little later today with a fun Thrifty Thursday piece. Until then, have a fabulous day!