Have you ever had a dream where you dream about something and think it's real, only to wake up and be disappointed that it was a dream? I had that happen last night. I dreamed that I had this lovely garden room and in it were the loveliest hanging glass ornament/sculptures. Then I awoke and found out that this beautiful place only lived in my mind :( Now if someone could interpret my dream!!!, I would love to know what it meant as the dream was so beautiful. At the very least, it's nice to dream of beautiful things :) I haven't done a Wednesday Showcase post for a few weeks, so we are due. As always, I have some wonderfully talented ladies to introduce to you. First up is Zoubi Zoubisou (cute), and you can find her blog HERE. She is French, but is currently living in Vancouver, B.C. She loves vintage, especially the 1940's-60's. And a little side note, she posts fabulous pictures. She has truly found a style that works perfectly for her as everything she makes looks just so cute on her.
Just had to include her wedding picture. Of course she made the dress. Here's wishing them many, many happy years together.
This is a Burda Style dress. I just might have to give this one a try.
And as you all know, I'm just a sucker for a picture of a girl and her dog :) Not only is the dog adorable, the dress is super sweet as well. Be sure to pop over and check out Zoubi Zoubisou's other makes. I think you'll enjoy seeing what she does.
Next up is Iris and she lives in Sweden. She loves to sew and she too has a love of vintage clothing. In fact, she has taken the 2016 vintage pledge. You can find her blog HERE. As I scrolled through Iris' blog, I immediately fell in love with this skirt. Love everything about it.
It's from Burda and here's the inspiration picture.
The blouse below is from a pattern company that I had never heard of, Record. I love how something so vintage can look so now.
Another Burda pattern. Love the pants. And get this, she basically just made them and slipped them on. I call those magic pants!!!
And finally, I just had to include this sweet picture. The pattern matching deserves to be celebrated. Such a beautiful job.
Well, I think these two ladies are sending us off dreaming of wonderful projects to make :)
My first sew along post for the Soma Swimsuit from Papercut Patterns is up on the Sew News blog and you can find it HERE. I took a few liberties with the pattern, but it all worked out great in the end. So if you are thinking that you might like to make a suit this summer, be sure to check out the posts. Have you ever found yourself at a hotel wanting to go to the pool and yet you have nothing to throw over your suit? I have! Even as a child, I was uncomfortable walking to the pool in nothing but my suit. I've borrowed a t-shirt from my husband, wrapped a towel around me, used the bathrobe provided by the hotel. They all do the job, but none provide the lovely, well put together look that I strive for. So since we are talking swimsuits over the next few weeks with the Soma Swimsuit sew along, I thought we would also talk about some fun cover-ups. I've done a number of Fabulous Free Pattern Friday pieces that are perfect for cover-ups. The Magic Jacket This piece is nothing but a big rectangle, and the pattern works well with border prints. You can find the instructions HERE.
The Flutter Top
This is made with 2 simple rectangles. The tie adds a little interest around the waistline and gives it a little more shape. Make it a little longer and it will take you from the pool to drinks at the bar, or a casual dinner. You can find the instructions HERE.
The Easy Breezy Top
If you have a fun border print that would coordinate with your suit, this piece would be fun. The open sleeves help keep you cool and add interest. You can find the instructions HERE.
Caught In A Wave
Wear it with or without a belt, either way you'll look super cute. You can find the tutorial HERE.
The Magic Rectangle Dress
Whether you take it a step further and do the ruching on the shoulders, or just leave it plain, the Magic Rectangle Dress is easy to slip on and will always look cute over any suit. See the tutorial HERE.
Hope that helps to get your creative ideas flowing!
Well, I could have used a swimsuit yesterday afternoon. I had a few errands to run, so I was out for a while. When I arrived back home, I parked the car and as I was walking back to the house, I got a whiff of something rather foul. Living on the river, you just never know what you might encounter, but rather than look for whatever it was, I decided to go in and get my dinner started.
My dog Gracie came running up to greet me as she always does and OH MY GOODNESS did she ever smell. Whatever I smelled outside, she had rolled in it!!! Of course my husband was just sitting there oblivious to it all. I asked, "didn't you smell her???" My thought was, how could you not? He said that he did, but he thought it was outside. I told him to scoop her up and take her down to the walk-in shower where I could quickly bathe her. Whatever it was that she rolled in was so strong that it made me choke while trying to wash it off. In the end, the dog was clean and I and my dress were soaking wet.
Once finished, I looked at my husband and said, "I really hope that I out live all of you as this house will otherwise be a stinking free for all!!!" He hung his head and said, "we are all happy to have you." At least it's nice to be appreciated :)
Now to the task at hand, the announcement of the Papercut Soma Swimsuit Pattern!
And the winner is...
Congratulations Angie!!!
Please email me with your mailing info as I also have a magazine to send out to you. The pattern will be a PDF pattern that will be sent directly to you from Katie of Papercut Patterns.
For those of you who did not win, if you would like to make up the suit, you can find the pattern HERE on the Sew News site. You can also purchase the pattern directly from Papercut. You'll find the PDF version HERE, and the beautifully packaged version HERE. Although the packaged version is a little more, they ship for FREE worldwide!!! The experience of the packaged version is well worth the few extra dollars.
The last month has been one of those, "oh great, what now?," kind of months. It began when I blew a tire while landing the airplane and ever since, it has been one thing after another. Just a few days ago we found that we were lucky that our house didn't burn down, truly. My husband had gone upstairs to find that 2 rooms were without electricity. The electrician came and found that 2 wires had actually caught fire in the wall. Thankfully, that's all that was burned, but even the electrician said that it was a miracle that the house didn't catch fire. As upsetting as all the events have been, the best way to look at it all is....we're still here :)
I have the BEST salad recipe to share with you. It's not just a salad, but a meal in a bowl. One of the key ingredients is Farro. It's typically grown in the northern regions of Italy. Farro is an ancient grain, a type of wheat, so while not gluten free, it contains large amounts of fiber, magnesium, and is rich in vitamins A, B, C and E.
I found the salad posted on Design Sponge this past Friday and I could not wait to make it. Neither of us were disappointed. Not only does it taste great, it looks just so pretty! This is Allison Hooper's Farro Salad and you can find the recipe HERE.
The changes I made;
*The recipe calls for fresh goat cheese, I used fresh feta.
*Rather than peas, I used Edamame.
*I did not zest the lemon for the salad dressing, in fact, I was super lazy. Rather than mix the salad ingredients, I simply squeezed a lemon over the prepared salad and then sprinkled the olive oil over the salad. I then tossed the salad and served it. And as I said, we loved it!
I did toast slivered almonds as a topping and I'm so glad that I did, Added a great toasty touch.
You can cook the farro ahead of time and then quickly mix up the salad for a week night meal. By all means, give this recipe a try. If you like the ingredients seperately, you'll love them all mixed together! Happy Sunday! Rhonda
The Sew News Sew Along for the Papercut Soma Swimsuit will begin next week!!! If you've never made a swimsuit, you should really join in as making a swimsuit is such a fun thing to do and a great way to kick off summer! This is a suit that can be made out of basically, scraps of fabric. Next week I'll share the story behind putting this suit together. It was a true "make it work" situation. Funny now, not so funny at the time. But I think that what I went through to put the suit together will give you lots of ideas and you'll see that fabric and materials can literally be found ANYWHERE!!! In the picture grouping below, I included a picture of the bra cups that I added to the suit. Most of us enjoy a little extra support. This is not included in the instructions for the suit, but I think the cups are a welcome addition. Super easy to do and I'll be sure to walk you step by step through the process.
The pattern offers lots of options, of course, the full suit that you see above. There's a bikini version that you see below. Although the top is basically a shortened version of the one piece suit, a separate pattern is included.
You can also use the bottom pattern from the one piece version and make a suit with a little more coverage than the bikini. Another option is offered for the top as well. So you can really mix and match the pattern and come up with lots of options.
Below are a few ideas that I pulled off of the Papercut site. Note that the one piece suit is trimmed in fold-over elastic. The one piece below is trimmed in a basic white fold-over and I think that it accents the suit beautifully.
If you would like to venture into the wonderful world of making swimsuits, and would like a chance to win a pattern, just leave a message on this post. I will announce the winner next Monday, June 6, 2016. The pattern that you receive will be a PDF version. Just a little warning note, once you make your first swimsuit, you'll be making more!!! Good Luck! Rhonda
There's little I love more than showcasing the work of others. I can't remember when exactly, but I showcased the wonderful blogs, Couture et Tricot and Tany et La Mode a few years back. Since then I have loved seeing the incredible garments that Tany makes and I especially love her shoes!!!! I joke with her all the time that if I ever come to Portugal, she will need to lock up her shoe closet as that's the first place I'm heading ;) She has such a lovely sense of style and mixes her beautifully made garments with purchased pieces in such a manner that I think, makes all who visit her blog aspire to dressing even better. Tany won the Magic Bias Dress pattern giveaway that I and Fashion In Harmony hosted just before the launch of the sew along. Tany did not allow any grass to grow under her feet in getting the dress made! She did such a beautiful job, so I asked her to do a guest post as I thought you would enjoy her journey of working through the pattern. Be sure to check out the video at the end of the post. Although the dress is on a dressform, it gives you an idea of how the dress moves on the body. Hope you enjoy the post, and a special thanks to Tany for sharing her thoughts on the pattern.
Hi to all sewing
enthusiasts out there! I was invited by Rhonda to write a guest post about my
experience making the Magic Bias Dress from Fashion in Harmony and I happily said
yes. I’m quite honored to be addressing Rhonda’s readers and I love her blog!
I first found out
about this pattern through the giveaway hosted by Rhonda and the Sew News
Magazine Sew-along. I am an avid sewer and I’m always on the lookout for new
things to experiment with sewing-wise. When I saw the pattern I was fascinated by
the fact that most of the seams are stitched on the straight of grain, in spite of
the dress being cut on the bias. I was also quite fond of the one piece
bias-cut tulip sleeves, as I think they are incredibly flattering and add to
the femininity of the dress.
I was hooked and ready to order the pattern, so imagine
how thrilled I was on finding out that I had won the giveaway. When I got the
pattern from Rhonda I started looking for suitable fabric right away and I found this 100% rayon (viscose) floral print at my local fabric store. It has a
wonderful soft touch and drape. The flower print isn’t the obvious fabric
choice for this dress because all the seaming detail would be lost in the print
but I went with it anyway and I must say I’m glad I did because quite happy
with the final result.
Regarding my
impressions of the pattern, I only have good things to say; everything lined up
perfectly and the instructions were very clear regarding the sewing procedures
and the order of construction; the seams are numbered so there’s little room
for mistakes. The success of the dress depends of course on the preparatory
steps: cutting the fabric well laid out and perfectly straight with pattern
grain lines parallel to the selvedges and avoiding distortion near the
selvedges (either by placing the pattern pieces a fair distance from the
selvedges and/or clipping the selvedges every 2-3 inches). Also be aware that
the pattern is huge and the fabric is cut on a single layer layout (right side
of fabric facing up) so it helps to have a large cutting table or enough space
on the floor. After all the pattern pieces are cut and marked where needed,
it’s good to keep in mind that the pattern includes 3/8” seam alwances on all seams,
except the shoulders where the seam allowances are 1”. The fact that the main seams (those joining the narrow inset and the front yoke to the main dress piece) are
cut on the straight of grain really made my job a lot easier because I didn’t
have to worry about the fabric becoming distorted along these seams. I pressed both seams away from the inset and towards the
front yoke because I decided to topstitch all seams with contrasting thread to
highlight them and I thought it would look more balanced this way.
The remaining seams (neck
and armholes) should be stabilized and the instructions offer a few possible
ways to do this. I stay-stitched at 1/4” from the cut edge and also fused bias
stay-tape to the neck and armholes; I also want to point out that the
instructions include precise measurements for each section of bias tape needed,
on each pattern size. For the shoulder seams I used strips of lining selvedge
cut to the width of the front shoulders (measured on the paper pattern) and
basted them to the back shoulder stitching line, easing the fabric slightly.
I really loved the
neckline binding method in the instructions, called the French Bias Facing;
again precise measurements for the bias-cut strip are provided. Same as Rhonda,
I also think that a 1 1/2" wide strip may not be enough for this neckline
binding treatment; a 2” wide strip is just perfect for the job.
When the body of the dress was complete, I was able to try the dress on and assess the fit, which was
perfect for me. I am a size 14 and I cut size 12-14. But, I think
there’s little chance of the dress not fitting, because the bias cut fabric will
accommodate to your body shape. I also ended up with a slightly uneven hem but
that was to be expected.
The one-piece bias
tulip sleeves are my favorite detail on this dress; they hang beautifully and
are so flattering in my opinion. I had no trouble at all attaching the sleeves
to the previously stabilized armholes. I didn’t do this for this dress, but if
you want to add a couture element to the sleeves, just add a silk organza
sleeve-head: cut a 4” wide bias strip of silk organza, long enough to
accommodate the sleeve cap from ease point to ease point, fold it
length-wise and baste to the sleeve cap
on the wrong side (raw edges together) before stitching the two rows of ease
stitches. You’ll find the sleeve will ease in much more evenly, and the folded
organza adds a nice light support to the sleeve cap after it has been attached
to the armhole.
The last step was
hemming the dress evenly after letting it hang on the dressform for 48hrs. I
trimmed out just the minimum to make it even and the length of the dress was
just perfect for me (I am 5’7, by the way).
I LOVED sewing this
dress and loved it even more when I tried it on. I made no alterations at all
but fitting instructions are provided in the pattern instructions in case a
large or small bust adjustment is needed (and these adjustments are
surprisingly easy to make too!). I can’t wait to try this pattern with some
other fabrics/prints (Rhonda’s versions are quite inspiring, do check them out
if you haven’t already!), being aware that the fit/hang will change slightly
according to the fabric’s characteristics. Color blocking is also an option and
I already have a few ideas for upcoming versions of this dress.
All in all I rate this
pattern a 10 out of 10, which also rates the very thorough instructions,
diagrams and variations provided. I had a blast making this dress and I
strongly recommend the pattern.
Thank you all for reading
and Rhonda for hosting this article, Happy Sewing to all!
