Zamora and Seville

A couple of weeks ago Kennis of Itch to Stitch* put out the call for testers for her new four piece collection of patterns.  Given that I love the patterns I've already made of hers, plus having tested for her before, know how awesome she is to work with I didn't hesitate to sign up and then cross my fingers that I'd be accepted.  I was pretty darn excited to get the email letting me know I'd been chosen for the testing group for both the Zamora Blouse and the Seville Skirt.

Like all of her patterns, Kennis has obviously put a lot of thought into both the design and sizing.  They have a wide range of sizes, plus as an added fitting bonus, the blouse has a great choice for cup sizes as well.  Yay!!!! No fiddling about with trying to do FBAs or SBAs (full or small bust adjustments for those that may not have been around the sewing block for long).

I decided my first task would be Seville - a classic fit and flare design - it was pretty straight forward looking and I figured I'd get it done and out of the way so I'd have the majority of the test period remaining for the blouse, which I knew would take significantly longer.

I didn't bother with measuring - I know what size I am after all, right?  WRONG.  I blended sizes between the waist and hip and all was looking good theoretically.  Until I tried on the skirt.  Holy stuffed sausage batman.  I was pretty sure, knowing Kennis' patterns the way I do, that chances were good it wasn't the pattern at fault.  A quick date with my tape measure and I knew for sure the pattern wasn't at fault.  Oops!  I've got to cut out all those cups of tea and scones that my MIL and I have been enjoying a little too regularly I think. (that or switch from Grandma's scone recipe to mom's at the very least...)

It's too bad, because although I had just used an old remnant of fabric that my sister had given me well over a decade ago it had really grown on me as I was sewing and I was picturing it going perfectly with my Penelope cardi.  Oh well.  Maybe once I shift the few pounds that have crept on I'll be able to wear it and not feel like a sausage.  I certainly won't get rid of it!

Having used my remnant up, the only other suitable piece in my stash I had was a bit of fairly lightweight suiting that was left over from my winter Emery dress (that I may or may not ever finish at the rate I'm going...).  I like it well enough though and it does go nicely with my Vianne cardi, so that was a nice bonus!

So then I started in on my blouse.  With only a few days left to go and not much time at the machine I was starting to feel the crunch of the deadline coming up quickly.  Instead of using my ever so slippery fabric that I had originally intended I went with a safer more easily managed crepe back satin (using the crepe side as the good side) that has been sitting in my fabric bin for eons.  I've sewn with crepe back satin enough in the past when I used to sew for the Ena Sutton Highland Dancers that I know exactly what to expect and how it'll behave.  Going in with the attitude that my first run would be a (hopefully wearable) muslin, I knew I wouldn't be heartbroken if the crepe back satin version didn't pan out.  I'm always a bit nervous with blouses that are fitted.  There's just so many things that can go wrong.  So many adjustments necessary.

I have astounding news though.  NO ADJUSTMENTS WERE NECESSARY!  I'm telling you the Zamora Blouse fit me straight out of the envelope. (Ok the printer, if we're splitting hairs).  After the bodice fitting disasters I've had lately this felt like a miracle of epic proportions and cemented my love of Itch to Stitch patterns even more.

Once I got through all eight release tucks, all six fish eye darts and the pleat at the back neckline, I heaved a big sigh of relief and forged ahead.  In all reality those tucks and darts were the only challenging part of the blouse.  And if I'm being truly honest?  It wasn't the sewing of them that was the challenge.  It was the darn marking of them.  That, dear readers, was a whole hell of a lot of work.  But so worth it!  I love the fit of the blouse!  Comfy, feminine and versatile.  What more can a sewist ask for?

I was in a bit of a panic when I realized the night that the test was due that a) it was the night the test was due - I had in my mind that I had an extra day somehow and b) I didn't know if I had any suitable buttons since I hadn't planned on making the blue crepe back satin version.  I was surprised to find that I had five perfect blue buttons in my button tin.  They've been sitting in my button stash since 1988 when I bought them in the Fabricland that used to reside in the basement of the Hudson's Bay Co.  for a dress/suit/whatever it was supposed to be that never got made.  Lucky me!  They match so well, don't you think?

And purely for your entertainment, my MIL now thinks I'm absolutely stark raving mad.  Of course she may be right in that assessment...  I'm  pretty sure that she feels strongly that I am the one on the verge of dementia and needing help, certainly not her given the evidence at hand.  On Thursday last week when I took my photos it was about -12C. Colder when I took the blouse ones - I had to come in and have a good strong hot cup of tea to thaw out before running outside to take the skirt ones.  Although the sunshine was glorious, it was a brisk one in any case and I kept sinking into almost knee deep snow.  For the rest of the day she would shake her head an say things like, "Running around outside without any clothes on" and "lucky if you don't catch your death of a cold".  When she relayed my morning's antics to her homecare worker later that afternoon it sounded as though I had been cavorting about my yard, naked, in the dead of winter.  I assure you all, I don't cavort naked in the yard in any season, despite what it may sound like if you should happen to be talking to Nan...  Poor woman.  Hopefully her faith in my sanity is restored soon.

Anyways, on that note, I do highly recommend both the Zamora Blouse and Seville Skirt!  You can find them both on the Itch to Stitch website.   The best part is, if you hurry, you can snag quite a deal! Until March 13th, you can use the code 4releases to get 20% off your entire order!  It counts, not just for the four brand new patterns, but for any pattern.  I may have to take the opportunity to stock up on the few I don't have yet myself.  You can check out all the details by clicking through here.  Happy sewing everyone!

Onyx

I'm back today with another test that I've been eagerly waiting to show you!  This time it's sewing, though, instead of knitting.

Several weeks ago I got an email from Lisa at Paprika Patterns asking if I would like to apply to test a new pattern.  After sewing up and reviewing the Jade Skirt I jumped at the opportunity and sent an email back right away.  I was super excited to get an email back a couple days later saying I was in.

It was a great testing experience and I ended up with a garment I absolutely love, that fit pretty much right off the hop.  The Onyx top is a carefree easy woven tee.  It has a gentle hi-low hem and comes with two options: a cropped, sleeveless variation and a longer short sleeved version with a cute button treatment on the sleeve. The neckline (and the armholes for the sleeveless version) are finished with bias tape.  So, so easy!!! Of course like the other Paprika Patterns available it comes in a great range of sizes (bust measurements from 31 1/2" all the way up to 49")!

My first one I made out of a polyester crepe-ish fabric.  I've no idea what it actually is or where it came from, but I thought it might look kind of neat with its vertical gradient striping.  Also? The selvedge edge said "Diana Ross", which made me happy.

...More childhood memories.  This memory of a gong show in the school gym, velvet trousers and a completely made up disco song with possibly the world's lamest lyrics - in fact there may have only been one line, that's all I remember anyways - Come on disco woman, baby, come on baby dance with me - but my friends, Madeline and Patricia and I channelled our inner disco diva and strutted our way around the stage to the end of our song being the only group not being gong-ed off stage, so there was that... Ah.  Grade three.  It was a good year.  Anyways that's enough of a trip down memory lane for now.  Back to my Diana Ross polyester and the Onyx now that you know why the fact my fabric was Diana Ross was making me happy!

Onyx sewed up like a dream.  I'm pretty sure the pattern took longer to assemble and cut out than to sew.  I made it exactly as written figuring it would be an excellent jumping off point for any fit issues that might crop up given it was a test sew.  But there really were no fit issues.  It was great.

I knew that I would definitely make more down the road and I did.  One evening I decided on a whim that I felt like sewing something.  I didn't have a particular project in mind, but went down to the sewing room and rifled through my patterns and quickly settled on Onyx.  I grabbed the cotton lawn that the little boys had chosen when we'd had our big shopping trip and my pattern and got started.  I went downstairs at 10pm.  By 11:30pm I was tucking into bed with a brand new top hanging in my closet.  INSTANT GRATIFICATION.

The only thing I changed with my second one was to add a bit of length, because I have a excellent talent for shrinking things and although I'd preshrunk my cotton lawn when I first bought it, I didn't want to take the chance on having it continue to shrink and be too short for me to wear eventually.

I'm pretty sure there will still be more Onyx tops in my future.  It's such a blank canvas of a shirt that the possibilities really are endless!  You can buy the just released Onyx top pattern over at the Paprika Patterns website.  I highly recommend it! And if you hurry, you can get it 15% off for a short time.  You can check out the details here.

Update: I just have to say how incredibly honoured I am to have been featured on the Friday Spotlight over at Sew Can She!  Thank you everyone who dropped by the blog and to Caroline for her kind words!!!

Cirque Socks

I've mentioned a few times over the last little while that I was knitting a test pattern for some socks. It's been an exercise in patience to keep it under wraps because I absolutely love the socks and I've had them finished for just over a month now, but I no longer have to wait!  Maggie Menzel has just released her pattern, Cirque , for purchase on Ravelry.

These socks were pretty simple to knit, but look intricate.  I always think it rather fun when you can knit a pattern that sneakily looks far more complicated than it actually is!  The pattern itself has a really great size range from an x-small with a cast on of 56 stitches all the way up to an x-large with a cast on of 72 stitches so there should be a size for everyone! So often, and I'm guilty of it myself with my own socks , patterns are created for a generic medium sized foot.  I was really impressed with the effort made by the designer to have all five sizes.

I knit mine using up the leftover Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine yarn from my Sunstruck shawl, which makes a really snuggly warm, but not at all bulky sock.  I only used about 285 yds of yarn making them a great stash buster! You could knit them pretty much any length you want the leg from mid calf to just above the ankle depending how much yarn you had.  I was worried I'd run out so I knit mine with a leg length of about six inches.

If you want to knit yourself a pair, you can get your own copy for a 20% discount until June 3rd.  All the details are the Cirque Socks Ravelry page.

Valencia Women's Tunic

It seems like I've been sewing up a storm lately!  When the warmer weather arrives I almost always trade my knitting needles for my sewing machine.  Don't get me wrong.  I still knit.  It's just that it takes a bit of a back seat to sewing, where as in the winter it's all knitting all the time.

A few weeks ago I posted my to do list and on that list were a couple of test projects.  Today I get to tell you about one of them! (sorry, can't tell you about the other one for a few more weeks yet...)

Hayley Crouse - you know her from Mouse House Creations and Willow and Co. - has just released the Valencia Women's Tunic as part of Willow and Co.'s spring line up.  It's a sleeveless, flowy, high-low hemline, tunic top that comes in sizes xs to xxxl and is perfect as those temperatures heat up!  (although depending on the fabric you use this could easily become a year round wardrobe piece by just throwing on a cardi as the cooler weather approaches).

I was really excited to be chosen as a tester for the Valencia Tunic.  The Julia Cardigan is one of my absolute favourite hand made items in my closet that I've nearly worn out from constant use - note to self : make a new one!!! - so I was confident that I would appreciate both Hayley's pattern making skills and her method of construction.  What I appreciated most though was that I got to see the inner workings of her process in releasing a pattern.  She was great to work with and I can tell you that she only releases a pattern once it is perfect and any little kinks that may have existed have been ironed out.  Although, one would hope all designers would consider that to be standard, it just doesn't always seem to be the case.  If you purchase one of Hayley's patterns I guarantee that you are getting your money's worth.  You can purchase the Valencia on the Willow and Co. Patterns website.

So without further ado, here's my take on the Valencia.  I used a cotton lawn with a lace overlay yoke.

Don't forget to hop on over to Willow and Co. and pick up your copy of the Valencia Tunic.  It's intro price for the next few days is just $7.00, which as you seamstresses/sewists/sewers (what on earth are we supposed to call ourselves these days) know, is a really great price for a pattern!

Now I've got to head back down to my sewing room and find my trusty BFF the seam ripper for my current project I'm working on.  I've completely ignored the order of my to do list and am working on a dress for myself right now and not only have I changed sizes over the winter and have to take in what I've done so far (a darn sight better to need it smaller than bigger mind you!), I made a tactical error in colour judgement and need to fix it up.  I've also added six more items to my spring sewing list when I took advantage of the newest Ladies Bundle Up Sale the other day. (Hurry up and get it while you can!  You've still got until May 8th to get the bundle pricing!!!! There are some awesome patterns that you do not want to miss out on.  I worked out the price of the patterns I bought and I saved over $40 on them buying them through the bundle up sale.  Whoot!).

Some New Bags!

As you probably have realized I'm a bit of a fanatic when it comes to making bags. I have an entire corner of my closet full. Silly thing is, most of the time I use the same one for months on end. It doesn't actually even occur to me, usually, to switch bags. Crazy.

So today's first bag is the one I mentioned in my last posting. I've just finished it up and while I love the concept and the pattern is really well written, I feel kind of "meh" about the whole thing. The pattern is Betz White's Metro Hipster Bag.  It's a great cross-body bag that has a roomy "bellows" pocket on the front and a padded pocket on the inside that fits an iPad. The outside base, pocket flap and top trim as well as the zipper panel is made using waxed canvas.

I'd never used waxed canvas before, but was intrigued and quite excited to give it a try. Sadly, my machine did not share my enthusiasm and refused to sew nicely on it. The thing with waxed canvas is you really need to be committed to what you are sewing because if you have to stitch rip, those rogue stitches will haunt you forever by way of the very visible holes they leave in the fabric. Of course I managed to make a billion mistakes on my bag, so I'll get to be annoyed with myself every time I use my bag from here on in.

I don't know exactly what my issue was. I swear it was though I've never sewn before I was that clueless. It's by no fault of the pattern. Betz, as always, is very thorough in her instructions and all the diagrams were very clear. I was just out to lunch on this one.

Hopefully I'll grow to like it more with time. I think it'll be a great "out and about" bag for me. I'll just have to learn to ignore the wonky top stitching and sort of mismatched side seam on the one side and the fact I hate the lining fabric I used (just a boring beige heavy cotton I had in my stash).

My other bag is one I did as a test for Anna of Charmed Liebling. I did my version of her Pink Peony Bag quite some time ago then actually forgot about it. (Told you I have a lot of bags!!) It was a nice surprise when she emailed to say that the pattern had been released on the Sew Mama Sew website! It's a great little clutch for spring with either a shoulder strap or a wristlet strap. Best thing is her free pattern is super easy and designed for a beginner sewist.

I made my version with a denim outer and quilt cotton lining. I love the little birds on the lining fabric. So much so that right after finishing up my bag for Anna I made myself a Bowie cel phone case using the same fabrics (which I use all the time making it more surprising that I forgot about my clutch in the corner of my closet!)

So I think between my Necessary Clutch Wallet that I made last week, my Metro Hipster of this week and my Pink Peony and Bowie of a few months ago I should pretty much be completely set for bags for spring...

A New Bag!

First off, apologies for any potential weirdness that might occur in this post. I'm blogging from my phone. My Internet has died a mysterious and sudden death here at the house. All things look good, but nothing connects. It has been days. I may go mad. My phone only gets service sporadically here so I have no idea how things will work.

But enough of my griping and grumbling - let's talk about good things instead. I've got a brand new bag! It's another new pattern from Anna of Charmed Liebling called the Liebling's Bag! Such a fun bag! It sews together quickly, and features a outside zip pocket and two pockets inside - one slip pocket and one with an elasticized opening that will be perfect for my phone! Like all of Anna's patterns the instructions are really detailed and clear.

Liebling's Bag by Charmed Liebling

One of my favourite details of the Liebling's Bag is the gate rings that attach the straps to the bag! I had quite the time finding the rings, but I'm going to tell you exactly where you can get them so you don't do what I did and have to spend ages hunting high and low for them!

I really love the look of the shiny gate rings!

I first checked my local sewing shop. Nothing. Then I checked the one in the city. They had them but $10 felt a bit steep. Etsy and EBay both produced results but shipping from the states was crazy expensive (I might as well buy the $10 ones...) and my other options - from China - would take far too long to get here. I checked other places too. Walmart, Canadian Tire, even Dollerama. I thought all hope was lost. Then late one Saturday night I tried googling purse supplies. BINGO!!!!!! Emmaline Bags! Located in Alberta, Janelle has a great selection of purse making supplies all very reasonably priced. Best part (beyond great products of course) is shipping is inexpensive and FAST! I got my order within three business days!!!

I really like my Lieblings Bag! It will definitely be a go to bag this fall! And it will definitely fit all the essentials... including the fruit treats, hot wheels and super heroes as well as quite possibly a small knitting project. A girl can't ask for much more than that!!!

So jump on over to Anna's site to read more about this fun new bag and pick up the pattern for yourself! With the change in seasons - I saw a large flock of geese pass over the house today which means fall is setting in soon - it's always nice to treat yourself to a change of handbags as well!

The Rose Petal Bag

A little while ago, Anna, from Charmed Liebling put out a call for testers. I'm not sure that I so much as took the time to blink before offering. I do love bags and her's all look wonderful, so I was pretty excited about the opportunity!

Shortly after I got an email with a pattern to try out. It did not disappoint! What a fun little purse and great project! I decided to challenge myself to use as much "stash" as possible for my bag and in the end was able to do it except for needing a magnetic snap. I almost always have a couple on hand but for some reason this time I was out. A quick trip to the fabric store in town solved that problem and I set to work.

I used a red linen (leftover from a pair of maternity pants I'd made when I was expecting Little Man) for the outer fabric, a fat quarter I got in a swap with one of my Ravelry groups for the lining, fancy d-rings I've had kicking around for at least eight years for the handles, the zip I'd bought for my dress that I then decided to not use and a remnant from I can't even remember what for the pockets and rose petals. Stash busting at it's finest wouldn't you say?

The purse took no time to put together. A snippet of time hand sewing the petals on while the boys played, a bit more time at the machine after they'd gone to bed and a wee bit more the next day while they wreaked havoc played in the sewing room. The pattern itself is incredibly detailed, with lots of pictures to guide you along. Any mistakes I made were solely mine, not a problem with the pattern (like absentmindedly cutting out my flap lining the wrong way, and because I was using a fat quarter didn't have room to cut a new one so had to piece two bits together and seam it. Ooops!)

I'm really pleased with the end result! With both an inner zip pocket and a slip pocket it's a great little bag that will hold the necessities - well maybe not all the necessities. The fruit snacks, hot wheels and superheroes may have to stay home on occasions when I use my Rose Petal bag. Ha ha!

When I went out the other morning to take a few photos in the beautiful sunshine I noticed my bag was the same colour as the ripening chokecherries. I thought it the perfect background - and as an aside, a little tidbit of trivia for you, chokecherry trees are part of the rose family. So even more fitting a place for a photo!

The Rose Petal Bag by Charmed Liebling

A closer look at the details

I love this lining fabric - it coordinates so nicely with the linen

If you're looking for a new purse with lovely detail give this one a try! It won't disappoint you! You can purchase the pattern over at Anna's shop on her site, Charmed Liebling. She's also blogged about the bag as well!

And speaking of chokecherries, I've got to dash. We're in the midst of boiling down and straining chokecherries today for jelly and syrup - my canner beckons!