sewing along

February 6th, 2012

Hello all! I hope you had a lovely weekend :) I had an incredibly busy weekend thanks to a very successful Banksia top pattern release. Thank you to everyone who bought patterns, I’m thrilled with the response! I have to admit, knowing my patterns are being enjoyed certainly makes all the hard work of creating them worth it – though i do need a week of naps now hehehe.

Meanwhile, after a number of requests I’ve decided it’s time we had a little Darling Ranges dress sew along! yay!

For those who haven’t participated in (or heard of) a sew along before – the general idea behind a sew along is that we sew the same pattern over the same time period. It’s fun because you kind of feel like you’re doing it together, and also there’s the added benefit of getting some extra help with tailored tutorials.

I plan on posting tutorials for each stage of the dress creation – as well as some on things like pattern alterations etc. Right now I”m thinking March would be a good time – my parents are coming to visit this month, so I want to keep my February commitments to a minimum. What do you think? This is gonna be fun my friends :)

Dress: Megan Nielsen, Darling Ranges dress
Tights: Hue
Shoes: Dolce Vita
Scarf: Megan Nielsen
Watch: Timex
Leather braided braclet: made using this tutorial
Gold bracelet: thrifted

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teatowels

February 3rd, 2012

So after my first block printing experiment with a hand carved rubber stamp, i decided to try a real project. I rather like how they turned out! I absolutely fell in love with this screenprinted teatowel, and decided to try and mimic the pattern. The first stamp pattern i showed you was done with a rubber stamp – and this one was done with lino. Let me say this -> lino = evil. I much much much prefer the rubber. so much easier to carve, and the lino was so hard that i ended up cutting my finger really badly and it took days to heal.

Anyway, the yellow one was my first attempt – and to be honest, i’m not really sold on it. I wish i’d filled the whole piece of fabric, and i tried to use gold in one section and it just ended up looking dirty. ick. Also… i forgot to iron them before taking photos and now it’s driving me nutso… oh the shame!!! But lets forget that, can we?

But i do think the white one was a win! I really love it. I’ll give you one guess as to where i got the colour inspiration from hehehe

I’m more than a little obsessed with these mugs from West Elm. I may or may not have bought a bunch in every colour, raved about them constantly and then when they went on sale bought even more. I am pathetic… but i do adore them, so i figure it’s okay, right? hehe

Back to the teatowels: To be honest, the printing is not at all as neat as i’d liked – but i think that’s just the nature of hand blocking. I think if i really wanted something super clean then screen printing would be a better option. Though Chris tells me the roughness makes them more artsy – hehe i think that’s the explanation i’ll go with :)

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introducing: the Banksia top sewing pattern!

February 2nd, 2012

Wonderful news friends! The Banksia pattern is finally available! Thanks so much for your patience, and for all the lovely ladies who helped me test the pattern – hugs to you all!

Get yours in store!

5 Comments »

sewing pattern labels

February 1st, 2012

A lot of people have been suggesting / requesting that i get some labels made up for people to use when sewing garments from my sewing patterns.

I think it’s a wonderful idea, and I’d love to get started on it – but i’ve been stalled because i honestly just can’t decide what they should say!

What do you think they should say?!?! help!!!

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as seen on: Lindsay, etc

January 31st, 2012

One of the things I’ve been enjoying about seeing all these Darling Ranges dresses – is all the fabric choices! It’s amazing to me how fabric/print can really change the look of a dress completely – makes you realise how much versatility is in the pattern :)

Lindsay‘s dress is no exception! She used a medium weight suiting for her dress – and i love how it turned out! Once again, i wouldn’t have thought to use this fabric, but love love the effect! She also had a genius last minute size alteration fix – once all was done she realised she’d made her dress too big, so sewed some elastic to the waistline. I love it!

Please check out her blog for more pictures of her creation!

photo credit:: Lindsay, etc

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oh hi…

January 30th, 2012

… remember me? You may have forgotten what i look like, yes? hehe I can’t believe it’s been over a month since i’ve been able to share an outfit with you. It’s quite pathetic how upsetting it was to be without my camera for so long – but it’s finally back from the repair centre, and as good as new! YAY!! So happy to be reunited – so don’t worry grandparents, photos of the kiddos will commence again!

Meanwhile, I have something new to share with you – meet my new leggings. We are very much in love :) I actually found this fabric in JoAnn Fabrics of all places. I will have to take back everything nasty i ever said about that store now, because i really adore this fabric. The print is so so rad and it’s so soft and comfy. Confession: I even made Bunny a matching pair. Perhaps we should wear them together? or not… hehe yeah, probably not.

Leggings: Megan Nielsen
Coat: gift from Annelise (my SIL)
Scarf: gift from my MIL
Boots: Dolce Vita 

 

12 Comments »

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

1 Comment »

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 :)

2 Comments »

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

3 Comments »
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