whipstitch trunk show

January 27th, 2012

Whipstitch Fabrics in Atlanta is currently hosting a Megan Nielsen Patterns trunk show!

So if you live in the area and you’d like to see my patterns in person, as well as finished samples of some of the garments – then head on over to Whipstitch over the next few weeks. I promise you will love this store, it’s full of really lovely unique fabrics, a great deal of independent patterns and the ladies who run it are fantastic! They also have a wonderful Etsy store if you can’t make it into their main store – which i highly recommend.

Whipstitch Fabrics
1000 Marietta Street
Suite #102
Atlanta, GA 30318

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happy Australia Day!

January 26th, 2012

(img source)

Happy Australia Day my friends!  Today I will pretend I’m home…

… and share a million youtube videos with you (i could really go for a lamb chop right now hehe that first one had me crying laughing)

have to admit, i miss my overly patriotic aussie ads :)

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basic guide to sewing with stretch fabrics

January 25th, 2012

I’ve noticed that a lot of people get really scared about sewing stretchy fabrics. I was too until I gave it a try a few years ago – and you know what? It’s not so hard! Really!!

Basically the only trick is to use stitches that will maintain the stretch of the fabric. There are just a few simple techniques you need to know, and then you’re set!

» Read the rest of this entry «

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as seen on: Idle Fancy

January 24th, 2012

 

How cute is this dress!! Mary of Idle Fancy made this gorgeous version of the Darling Ranges dress, and even went to the effort of writing a really thorough review of the pattern.

I have to admit, I really really enjoyed reading it! It’s really nice to see what people think of each aspect of the pattern, and hear details of their experience with it. I absolutely encourage you to read it here!

Don’t forget to check out Mary’s other gorgeous creative endeavours on Idle Fancy.

photo credit:: Idle Fancy

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turbo tot

January 23rd, 2012

Bunny is a very energetic kid. As a result my mother in law started calling her “Turbo Tot” sometime last year. Chris and i thought it was hilariously adorable and totally fitting for Bunny! Chris suggest i make her a tshirt that said “Turbo Tot” on the front. So i found a pink jersey i liked, made the little graphic and used freezer paper stenciling to paint the design on. Then we found out we were moving to Virginia, so the little piece got packed up and I didn’t see it again – till a few weeks ago when I was tidying up the basement, and i found it! YAY~!

So I quickly whipped up this tshirt for her. I totally love how it turned out! It suits her so well!!!

If you’d like to re-create this project using the same design i did, you can download it here for free (CLICK CLICK) and use my tutorial for freezer paper stenciling.

What do you think? cute?!!

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block printing

January 20th, 2012

Lately I’ve really been enjoying trying my hand at some different techniques. I find that if I’m not learning something new I get bored really quickly – so as soon as that feeling emerges I try and tackle a new area i haven’t tried before. My current favourite crafting book is Lena Corwin’s Printing by Hand. I highly recommend it! It’s a really thorough book on how to print to paper and fabric using traditional hand methods – and I’m obsessed with it. Things like rubber stands, lino stamps, screen printing etc It’s so fun! The picture above was my first attempt at block printing on some card stock with a hand carved stamp. I used a watercolour picture of some Banksia’s that I did back in 2010 as the inspiration.  I’m really quite pleased with how it turned out for a first try.

My goal is to print up some tea towels and maybe even a table cloth (if i get reallllly ambitious). Lately I’ve just been so drawn to a lot of handprinted home decor items that I’ve seen all over Etsy, it’s really inspired me to try making some for myself. Here’s hoping it goes well!! If not, I’ll have a really great set of new drop cloths! hehehehehehe

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hipster pants

January 19th, 2012

Buddy has been out of pants recently. Or rather, he’s so messy (oh boys) that he’s always running out of pants. So since i’ve been perfecting/testing my kid patterns, i decided to whip him up a few pairs. As i was making them I asked Chris for his opinion, and he said i should add leather knee patches because then he’d be a hipster… could not stop laughing. The denim is actually from an old pair of Chris’ jeans, and the leather is from Michaels crafts (i won’t be buying it there again though, because the price seems kinda high for how small the pieces i got were).

So there you are – little Buddy has hipster pants, and Chris apparently has opinions on fashion hehehe. I will now go add leather knee patches to all Bud’s pants, because well, these pants are killing me with their adorableness!!

Also, turns out leather patches come in quite handy if you are prone to trying to climb random trees, rolling around in the dirt, and crawling on wet grass. Good to know hehhehe.

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as seen on: Four Square Walls

January 18th, 2012

I am ridiculously smitten with Andrea‘s Darling Ranges dress. Isn’t it gorgeous?! I think it turned out so beautifully and looks just stunning on her! And I have to admit the second i saw the close up of that fabric i wanted it – i’m not checking out the store she got it from hehehe

I also love that she went to the extra effort of lining the skirt to prevent static cling (and that sometimes see-through-ness you get with white fabric) – absolutely genius!

This girl is incredibly talented – please check out her blog and all her gorgeous creations – as well as some more really great detailed shots of this dress and how she finished it (spoiler alert: it’s awesome) – no seriously go follow her blog now, you won’t be dissapointed :)

photo credit: Four Square Walls 

 

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freezer paper stenciling tutorial

January 17th, 2012

I was really up in the air about whether to do this tutorial – i kind of feel like every person with a craft blog has a tutorial for this… haha oh well! Let’s go for it anyway shall we?

This project kinda served 2 purposes. 1) Bunny is obsessed with Australian animals (what?!? brainwashing you say?? i have no idea what you’re talking about… hehehe) and 2) this shirt got a hole in the front, and i wanted to save it.

So I found some free stencils online (i’m so sorry, but i didn’t save the link and can’t seem to find it again – if i find it i will update the post with the link – see this is why Pinterest is so awesome, i don’t lose links anymore!) – and did the stenciling on all but 1. For the animal over the hole, i cut it out of felt and sewed it (meh, not particularly happy with how that part turned out).

Ok, back to how to stencil…

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the story of us

January 15th, 2012

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. I honestly can’t believe how the time has flown! I feel like every year has been even more wonderful than the last, and I’ve loved every minute we’ve spent together.

Every year that I’ve posted about our anniversary people have asked about our story. I haven’t done a post about it in the past because I never know if anyone finds that kind of thing interesting, and this blog is after all about designing clothing not about our life… but since I’m feeling extra sappy today, i’ll share it, just this once :) So if you’re interested read on – and if not, no worries.

» Read the rest of this entry «

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