Monday, November 25, 2013

Exciting announcement!

I have a fun 'little' announcement for you today.


In spring 2014 a bunch of amazing bloggers are releasing a collection of patterns.....

What? You want to know more?

Weeeeell, then you have to jump to the website and sign up for the newsletter and you will be the first to know more!

Click on the button below and you will be taken straight to the website where you can sign up.


Thank you!

Friday, November 22, 2013

Photography for Bloggers - eBook by lbg studio - GIVEAWAY

Do you know Vanessa from lbg studio? If you do, you already know that her making a photography e-book makes completely sense.

Whether she photographs her stunning daughter or her cool little projects inside or outside her photos are always absolutely amazing.

Take a look at a few examples below. 


From THIS post at lbg studio.

From THIS post on lbg studio. 

I know! Pure eye candy....and there is much MUCH more on her blog lbg studio.

Not only do I love her photos....I absolutely love her cool style too. Oh and do you know what....she is super nice too. Not only because she has given me a copy of this e-book in exchange for a review but also because she is also giving one of you lucky readers a chance to win a copy too. 


So if you have followed my blog for a while you know that photography is something I knew absolutely NOTHING about when I started blogging. And oh boy did that show in the photos....please don't go back to the earlier posts on my blog, arghhh!!! Talk about dark, non-edited photos ay ay ay.

I really want to be better but it is definitely not one of my 'talents' and I don't enjoy reading thick books about it. But I DO enjoy reading 42 pages in an e-book full of practical information with lots of photo examples of course. The book both contains a bit of the technical stuff you can do with your camera (still definitely the hardest part for me) but also a lot about lighting which is where I am ready to learn more right now I would say, so perfect for me. 
And in the end the book gives great tips on photographing items such as food and accessories close up - both in terms of placement but also back grounds, props etc. 
I learned a ton of new things here too. 

Great great book, really!!

So fill out the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win your own copy.
And since Vanessa will send it to you in an email the giveaway is open to international participants, yay.


Good luck!!
And thank you Vanessa!


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

When We Were Young.


I can finally share this post. FINALLY!!
The sweet Suz from sewpony invited me to participate in this great GREAT series a couple of months back and asked me to keep it a secret. Ahhhhh, don't you just know the feeling when you are dying to share great news? Yeah, well that was me and this series.
Suz has a link on her blog to all the other posts in this series and you really have to check them out if you have not seen them before.
Bloggers are showing an old photo of themselves and then they have sewed up the outfit (as close as possible) to one of their children. Genius concept and so much fun to see and read about.

So finally today is the day.....my post for When We Were Young is up.

Today is also Suz's birthday.

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY Suz!!

Now jump over to Suz's blog sewpony HERE, see my post and give her a hooray or two.

Thank you!


Saturday, November 9, 2013

Pattern Anthology Tour - Amaryllis Pattern Remix.


Yup, the circus is in town. 
Okay, or maybe I could just not control myself when I saw this mask in H&M the other day.

The talented ladies from Pattern Anthology have released their new collection Winter Wonderland -
 8 great patterns - most of them unisex - and they have invited me on their tour. Yay!

Over 40 bloggers are invited showing posts in four categories such as kids style, sibling/holiday shoot, scarf tutorials and pattern remix. Fuuuun! You can always go HERE to their gallery to catch up on all the Winter Wonderland posts. And you really should. Holy smokes some amazing things have been posted already and there is MUCH more to come I can promise you that!

I was so happy when I got the pattern remix category. You know I have this bad habit of remixing patterns anyway so this was right up my alley.




I really liked the interesting feature of the wrap and I saw a lot of potential in the relative simple cut.

My initial idea was to make it into an everyday style. And yes of course I was thinking of making it in knit, duh. And it would be AMAZING in knit and I am still planning on doing just that....one day. But I was really not ready for another knit nightmare working with a pattern for woven fabric just yet. Check out THIS post if you have no idea what I am talking about, haha. The dress ended well but the process was, ehhhh let's just call it tedious.


So I started rummaging around in my fabric stash and ahhhh found this soft soft viscose/rayon that I recently bought with a project for myself in mind....ohhhh well, it was too perfect for this project not to use - there went my new dress out the window, ugh.
The fabric have the perfect drape for the full skirt as you can see above.


What did I change from the original pattern?

First of all I skipped to make it reversible. My front and back skirts are only a single layer. The top is still lined though so I could close up the sleeve openings that way. I closed the slit opening in the back and made a front button placket instead. Aaaand a little color block by making a sewn in band around the waist in same width as the tie bands.
I also made the skirt(s) with a bit of a high-low effect.
I closed up the dress a bit in the neck area and I also cut off the 'pointy' shoulders. 
Lastly did I decorate the tie bands with this great neon bias tape which I also used to close up the neckline. 


My daughter loooved this dress and even though I don't have any photos of it, I can guarantee you that it can twirl - big time!


A closer look at the bow. At some point I was kind of regretting this color combination but then I found this neon bias tape in a drawer and it all worked out - well, at least for me. Ha, I needed more color, moooore color.



And there you have it. 

The Amaryllis Dress remixed.

Now don't forget to check out all the other participants, right!

You can buy your own copy of the Pattern Anthology, Winter Wonderland collection HERE.

Thank you so much for inviting me!

Friday, November 8, 2013

Scandinavian Styling Sewing Series


Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy did I LOVE sewing for this series. Scandinavian Styling Sewing Series that is. The lovely Stacey from the great blog Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy Crafts (yeah she has three boys so you know....it is quite a fitting name, haha) lived in Denmark for the last couple of years and to celebrate the influence the Scandinavian style had to her own style she made this series. I KNOW...so fun!


Being a Scandinavian myself of course gave me some sort of an advantage. I did not need to do any specific research. BUT it also forced me to reflect on what part of my style was classic Scandinavian. My style has of course also been influenced by living in the US for the last 5 years. But also what is Scandinavian style specifically?



Okay, so my personal definition of Scandinavian kids clothes style is this:

-  adult style in mini versions and ALWAYS in comfortable fabrics and styles.

- Prints like dots, stripes, leopard, small flowers (think Liberty fabrics), geometric prints and camouflage.


- clean lines.


- cool vibes.




So what did I make?

A loose striped cotton shirt from a Japanese pattern book, a tight short sleeved leopard knit sweatshirt and some peach French terry pants with black piping. Both self-drafted patterns. I originally made the pants for The candy challenge at week 2 of Project Run and Play. You can see them HERE made in a soft 21 whale corduroy.

I will let it up to you if you think it fits my own definition above, ha.


A closer look at the short sleeved sweatshirt made from this great knit I bought at Michael Levine. Classic shape but with short sleeves.

I don't have any photos just of the shirt itself but it is pretty simple. I have made a short sleeved version you can see HERE
Loose shape, raglan sleeves, a bit of gathering in the neckline and finished of with a bias tape. Simple front button placket. 


The sleeves have a slit and is also finished of with bias tape. I skipped the button hole and put a small loop in there instead.
Amazing black/white/green buttons from Lots of Buttons.


Wilma was purrrring when she got these pants on. "Oh Mommy they are so comfortable." Yay!
They have an elastic waist, a fake zip fly, a single front pleat, a slightly tapered leg and a wide elastic in the end of the leg not super tight to the ankle.
They also have side pockets with a decorative flap that is held down with these insanely cute bow buttons from Hancock Fabrics.


That's all for me today.
Thank you Stacey for inviting me!
Make sure to check out all the other amazing posts in this great series.
You can find and follow it all at Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy Crafts.

Go Scandinavia!






Handmade Holidays - 100+ gift ideas and tutorials + an amazing GIVEAWAY.

Handmade Holidays 100+ DIY Gift Ideas Round Up, and 4 prize giveaway

So what do we have for you today? Oh, you know, just a meeega cool flip magazine with over 100 tutorials for gift ideas just in time for the holidays AND a giveaway where you can win a serger or $50 gift cards to three great fabric web shops. Yeah, that's all, haha. WOW.

Don't you know the feeling of wanting to make your own gifts but could need a bit of inspiration? Well, look no further.
I am sure you have noticed that the Sewing Rabbit Team together with our Mommy Sewing Rabbit is a creative bunch and we have gathered all our best gift tutorials for you in this super cool and easy to flip through magazine. There is something for everyone.

Sewing Rabbit Team's Handmade Holidays

Simply click on the image below to flip through the full catalog...it is pretty awesome, and only takes a couple of minutes to look through! (and keep on reading below for the awesome giveaway!)


The Sewing Rabbit Team's Handmade Holidays Magazine, with 100+ Sewing Patterns & Tutorials to get your inspired this holiday season!

Yup, told you! Cool!

But of course, there is more. We want to not only inspire you with incredible handmade projects to get you going this season. We want to give you the opportunity to win some awesome prizes too! Happy Holidays to YOU!   Handmade Holidays Prizes

4 Winners will be chosen to each win 1 of these amazing prizes...

  1. Brother 1034D Serger
  2. $50 Gift Certificate to Raspberry Creek Fabrics
  3. $50 Gift Certificate to The Fabric Fairy
  4. $50 Gift Certificate to Banberry Place
Handmade Holidays Giveaway Collage 

 So go ahead, flip through the Sewing Rabbit Team's Handmade Holiday Magazine to get inspired - and enter the giveaway below for your chance to win some amazing prizes to help you pay for those handmade projects!



The Sewing Rabbit Team's Handmade Holidays, with 100+ Sewing Patterns & Tutorials to help you have a handmade holiday season!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for stopping by, and until next time... Happy Sewing!   Good Luck


Monday, November 4, 2013

Sweatshirt dress + adding a button placket to any pattern tutorial.

Today I am bringing home my September post for The Sewing Rabbit Creative Team. I am going to talk about this sweatshirt dress and what you can do to change any classic sweatshirt (or t-shirt with raglan sleeves) pattern into something similar.
See kate sew's RECESS raglan knit tee would for example work perfectly.


I am going to give a detailed tutorial on how to add a buttoned placket to patterns that does not originally have it. It is actually pretty easy and only requires basic math - you know the logic stuff!


As you can see the bodice of the dress have the classic sweatshirt dress with the raglan sleeves so no need for changes there. You will have to shorten it though and probably also make your pattern less wide around the belly - in other words take in the side seams a bit.
If the bodice is too long or wide it will change the look of this dress to more of an old fashioned long coat....so please make the bodice first and try it on your child before you start making the skirt part. Oh and how do I know what it will look like....yes ahem I might be speaking from experience here...twice did I shorten the bodice after I sewed on the skirt...twice!! I mean....yeah, let's move on! Now don't come back and tell me I did not warn you.


The skirt is just a rectangle that has been gathered to the bodice. Easy peasy. I measured the lower part of the bodice (the waist) and made my skirt double that measurement which I think give the right amount of gathers for the type of dress.

Then there is rib in the neck opening and sleeves - again classic sweatshirt style.


This type of dress does not necessary need the placket and buttons but I certainly think it adds quite a lot to the finished result.
Normally I stay faaaaaar away from buttonholes in knit and uses snaps instead, but this cotton French terry did really not have that much stretch in it so with some fusible interlining along the placket it actually totally worked, phew.
These great orange buttons are from Lots of Buttons.

So let's talk about plackets.


1) First you have to find center front (CF) on your sweatshirt/t-shirt pattern. It will usually be marked by the pattern maker. Most sweatshirt and t-shirt patterns are cut in CF anyway and asks you to cut your fabric on fold and that will be CF. Otherwise you simply fold your front pattern piece in the middle.

2)Then you have to decide how wide a placket you want. This is a design question so it is really up to you. But think about what buttons you want to put in. Tiny buttons in a wide placket is usually not that pretty. So let's work with an easy example: 1 inch/2.5 cm. Now you divide your desired placket width in two....yup, told you it was easy math. Since we want CF to run down exactly in the middle of the placket we are going to add that extra half to CF and now we got the overlap and the fold line.

3)Now since we don't want raw edges running down there, you have to extend CF further with the full width of your placket plus seam allowance.
You do the same with your skirt at CF and you are good to go.


Here is an overview of all the pattern pieces.


That's all for me today.
Thank you.