Shorts on the line

Today I'm excited to tell you about an event I've been asked to take part in this July. imagine gnats, Designs by Sessa, and small + friendly will be hosting "shorts on the line", a summer sewalong and I will be posting a shorts pattern review on July 7 which will be published over on Rachael from imagine gnats blog.


I've already finished sewing up my shorts with a lovely little pattern. My 5 yr old happened to be in an obliging mood the day I made them, so they are photographed and ready to go. Stay tuned over on the hosts' blogs for loads of inspiration (not to mention prizes) in July.

7.1 shorts on the line kick-off!


week one: imagine gnats
7.2 Rachael (imagine gnats) and Melanie (A Sewing Journal)
7.3 Courtney (mon petit lyons), Inder (Inder Loves Folk Art), and Nicke (Kiss Kiss... Quilt)
7.4 Rashida (i heart linen) and April (Sewing Novice)
7.5 Andrea (the train to crazy) and Kristy (Hopeful Threads)
7.6 Shannon (luvinthemommyhood) and Erin & Carla (Clever Charlotte)
7.7 Emma (Hello Beautiful) and Cassandra (Cass Can Sew)
7.8 Gail (probably actually) and Becky (Owly Baby)


week two: small + friendly
7.9 Carla (small + friendly) and Sophie (cirque du bebe)
7.10 Ros (Sew Delicious) and Veronica (sewVery)
7.11 Shelly (Figgy's) and Alyssa (Pile O'Fabric)
7.12 Jessica (a little gray) and Diane (from blank pages)
7.13 Kristin (skirt as top) and Kelley (Casa Crafty)
7.14 Katie (There and Back) and Tara (girl like the sea)
7.15 Alli (B. Yazoo) and Jennet (Feathered Nest Studios)


week three: Designs by Sessa
7.16 Vanessa (Designs by Sessa) and Jessica (Me Sew Crazy)
7.17 Cherie (You and Mie) and Jane (Buzzmills)
7.18 Karen (Sew Well Maide) and Stephanie (The Crafty Kitty)
7.19 Bianca (Sweet Diesel Designs) and Tara (true, pure, lovely)
7.20 Jenny (Stumbles & Stitches) and Susan & Adrianna (crafterhours)
7.21 Danny (Mommy for Reals) and Marian (Lady Face)
7.22 Jill (Made With Moxie) and Christina (2 Little Hooligans)


features and deadline
7.23 sewalong features, Rachael's favorites
7.24 sewalong features, Carla's favorites
7.25 sewalong features, Vanessa's favorites
7.26 final deadline for shorts sewalong entries
7.27 viewers choice voting begins


winners annoucements
7.28 judges' choice third place announced
7.29 judges' choice second place announced
7.30 viewers choice winner announced
7.31 judges' choice first place announced


Check our the shorts on a line flickr group and pinterest board for some short-y inspiration.

grab the code and share the button!

<center><a href="http://imaginegnats.blogspot.com/p/shorts-on-line.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8022/7154391075_f2430ffafa.jpg" width="150" alt="shorts on the line button" /></a></center>

June new year's resolution and Fiskars news

Hello there! I'm writing this after having spent the last couple of days in Madison WI visiting the Fiskars HQ. It was a GREAT time (worth going just for the cheese curds, let me tell you), and although I didn't actually leave the US, there's something about airports that naturally brings out the jet lagged feeling in me. I'm pretty sure it's something to do with the lighting and waiting in lines. Wisconsin is only two hours time difference to California, but honestly, I may as well have been on another planet, the way I feel this morning. Then again, maybe it's not jet lag. Maybe I just ate too much cheese?

Any how, the reason I went to visit Fiskars is because I have a new job with them. Whilst I'll still continue to write articles and tutorials for their corporate website, I am now also helping to lead their online crafting community - the Fiskateers, along with my friend Tania Willis. If you sew or craft in any shape or form (and chances are, if you are reading this, you do) you may want to check the community out. It's an extremely friendly and creative group of people, sharing their ideas and inspiration. 

It's good to be home though. My kids seem like they missed me just the right amount (not too much and not too little). 

I have a new project up on the Fiskars website this week*, that you might want to check out. It's my June installment of my New year's resolution challenge - to sew myself one item of clothing a month. I made a set of pajamas with a pattern by Favorite Things. It's such a sweet pattern and in fact, you can sew a cute pajama set with shorts and a cami AND a little nighty all from the same pattern. Find the pattern here.

Subliminal Olympic Team support messaging

Read the full project by clicking here.

I need a few clothing/pattern suggestions for the remaining months of 2012 in my new year's resolution quest. Anyone have some cool suggestions??

* I am PAID by Fiskars to write projects and tutorials for their website.

Some Spoonflower links and love

I have been doing some work for Spoonflower recently and I can honestly say that having a go at designing your own fabric is a pretty great way to spend a couple of evenings. When I was first asked to come up with some project ideas and write some guest posts for their blog I completely panicked! On one hand, how could I pass up the opportunity to work with such an amazing company who are really carving out a new and exciting direction for the textile and design industry. On the other hand, I am not a designer and have zero skills when it comes to using any of the fancy design software packages that I do not even own! Then I realized that they probably asked me because I'm no pro. They already have lots of fabulous professional designers selling their collections in the marketplace. A couple of my favorite designers are Holli Zollinger and Domesticate. Check them out - their designs are irresistible.

So anyway, since my preferred methods of photo editing basically boil down to Picasa and Paint and I can't draw a thing, I've really had to think about ways to use the skills I do have to create some fabric designs worth using. And so far so good. I'm always quite critical of my creations and tend to see the tiny stitch or two in the wrong place, a slightly uneven hem or a less-than-perfect pleat rather than the bigger, beautiful picture but I can honestly say that so far, I'm completely amazed at what I've managed to create with so few skills and a couple of good ideas. Of course, it helps that Spoonflower prints onto some great fabrics. So far, I have had designs printed onto their cotton/linen canvas, silk crepe de chine, knit and the cotton silk. All of them have been a pleasure and joy to work with. I also have a design printed onto their new cotton poplin and haven't sewn with it yet, but it looks lovely.

We went on an amazing trip of a lifetime earlier this year, to the Bahamas. I was born there but left as a baby and whilst I've grown up listening to stories about it and my family go on and on (and on and on and on) about how wonderful it was there, I had no memory of it at all and had never been back before this year. It was truly a magical experience flying into Nassau and immediately feeling a sense of belonging. I grew up in England and my whole family are English, but I've always felt a little weird about not having been born there. But for once, look, I could do this...

This was even before I had got off the plane! Filling out the immigration form and being able to tick your country of birth and actually having your country of birth listed! How many times in my life has my country of birth ever appeared at the top of a list of 4 countries? Just this once, actually. Like I say, I felt like I belonged.

I was also hoping for a similar welcome reaction from the nice immigration officials as we entered the country and lined up to have our passports stamped. At the very least a warm hug and a 'welcome home!' A shot of Bacardi would have gone down well too. I should have known better. I guess immigration officials are the same the world over :o)

But anyway, it was the most amazing holiday. I've yet to actually frame any of the photos I took, mainly because it's going to be so hard to decide which ones to display on our walls. But look! I am wearing one of the photos I took.

I edited one of my photos using Picasa and enlarged it. Then I had it printed onto Spoonflower's cotton silk.  If you'd like to have a go at doing something like this, you can read the specific instructions over at Spoonflower by clicking here. I can't tell you how nice it feels to be wearing such a special design. 

And last week, Spoonflower published a tutorial I wrote on how to make a maxi skirt. It's a very easy sew but has a huge impact on your style. I really love this skirt and it's elasticated waist makes it so comfortable to wear. I'm over not being comfy in my clothes. But that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice style, right?

The fabric I used was designed by the aforementioned Holli Zollinger and you can read my full tutorial for making the skirt here.

Ok, that was the longest post ever. I need a cup of tea.

Chiffon blouse #2

I sewed a chiffon blouse a couple of weeks ago which you can read more about by clicking here and I loved the experience of working with a slightly tricky fabric and learning a few new sewing tricks. I bought this sheer chiffon from JoAnns the other day - it's in their Project Runway collection - black with orchid dots. I love it though it is extremely sheer and I don't yet have a suitable top to wear underneath it, which is why Betty Draper is modelling it in the photo above and not me. If you read my son's comment about my last sheer top, goodness knows what he'd say about this one.

My neckline was a bit wonky and I needed to divert attention away from it I had a bit of left over fabric, so I made this little brooch to pin on. Very quick and simple - here's how I did it.

Cut out circles using a template. Mine are about 3.5" in diameter. I cut 25 circles.

Fold circles in half.

Fold in half again.

And fold in half again.

Thread a needle leaving a long tail (about 5" beneath the knot) and sew through the tip of each folded circle.

Continue to sew on all the folded circles through the tip.

As you add circles, a sphere will start to naturally form.

When you've sewn on all the folded circles, tie the needle end of the thread to the long tail you left, tightly.

Finally, sew onto one of these brooch pins.

Hello

I've had a few new followers over the past few days so I wanted to say a big, fat hello and welcome to those of you have probably found me through a blog post I wrote for Spoonflower. In case you missed it, I designed a fabric using clippings from an old newspaper from the day that my mum was born.

You can read about how I did it by clicking here. I want to stress that I'm definitely not a professional designer in any way - I used my camera and Picasa to make this design so it's honestly accessible to everyone. If I can do it, you can too!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. It's always nice to know I'm not rabbiting on to myself :O)