And the Winner of Pattern Pyramid and Sew Grateful Giveaway Is……

February 18, 2013February 19, 201364 Comments

Oooooh, excitement has been palpable, here at Pattern Pyramid central. As most of you know, this original idea was started by Karen at Did you Make That? and has been kept going by other wonderful sewing bloggers around the world starting their own Pyramid! Here is the information about this Pattern Pyramid that I was lucky enough to win and to it, I also added a Sew Grateful Giveaway gift, consisting of a book titled “I Made It Myself“.

So, we began with printing out all the entrants, like so:Then, Kitty donned his track suit, and began warming up for the official officiating ceremony.Kitty likes to pace himself and start out slow. Okay, VERY slow, but he did not want to get ahead of himself. Before you know it, since Kitty is quite an impressive athlete, his warm-up turns into a frenzy of herculean feats. So much so, that it is often difficult to capture his powerful and agile qualities on film. Kitty tends to leap right out of camera view!!

Afterwards, when kitty was all limber, the entrants names were attached to the official Olympic Kitty Torch, like so: Kitty took his job very seriously, staked out the Torch carefully looking for his best port of entry.

Kitty approached from different vantage points, meticulously stalking the Torch, trying to mentally out-wit it. Begging the question, “Will Kitty actually pounce on Torch, thereby selecting a winning name???” Kitty “tests” the Torch, sizing up his opponent’s strength and skill. Just when you thought it was all only a mind game, Kitty GOES FOR IT!! AMAZING!!! Will these feats of unbelievable artistic athleticism result in a name being revealed??? Or will we have to do this all over again?? A tense yet exciting moment! Let’s wait and see….And, a name comes down!!!! Torn valiantly from the Olympic Torch by our very own brave Kitty. Well done Sir!!! Kitty investigates the winning name.And the winner is Kaitui Kiwi!!!!Congratulations to Kaitui Kiwi from The Curious Kiwi . We are all so Happy for you!! And Pattern Pyramid gets to travel, yet again, to the area of the land down under, all the way to Wellington, New Zealand! It is getting out its sunscreen now.

Kitty is Very Happy For You!!

I will contact you, Kaitui Kiwi for your snail mail and then send off the Pattern Pyramid and the “I Made it Myself” book to you.

Fearless February Project: Burda Style 7441

February 12, 2013April 8, 201347 Comments

I am currently at work on my Fearless February Project. This sew-along was started by Victoria, and her blog, Ten Thousand Hours of Sewing, is based on the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

In the book, Gladwell expounds the value of the “10,000 Hour Rule”, where success and mastery of something can be achieved but requires 10,000 hours of practice. It makes me feel really motivated and positive about my sewing since as a beginner, I sometimes feel overwhelmed with all there is to learn. But, with this idea in mind, I believe that I can achieve success in sewing!

I’m a fan of Gladwell’s writing and if you have not checked him out, he has published several books and they all infuse a fresh twist into the subjects of modern psychology and philosophy.

Okay, with that in mind, here is the Fearless February Project: Burda Style Pants 7441. I began this project last year before ever having sewn a thing, and it was far too overwhelming. And, in retrospect, it was not a good choice for an absolute beginner for several reasons: 1) The pattern is a Burda and I have been told they can be notorious for not providing the most detailed or complete instructions. 2) It is rated as a 3 out of 4 on a difficulty level. 3) Tailored pants are more difficult to sew than a simple skirt or top. And, 4) These pants have a lot going on including, two different styles of pockets, darts, pleats, zipper.

However, with some experience under my belt, a slew of practice hours logged and a variety of projects completed, I felt ready to tackle these pants again.

All pattern pieces have been cut out, including lining and interfacing.

The very first task (after sewing the back darts) was to construct the back welt pockets. Wow, these were difficult to understand, the directions and pictures were not very explanatory and there seemed to be a few placement marks missing on the pattern pieces (i.e., sew lines for piping and pocket attachment). But, with the help of my sewing teacher, and a few tears, I have now completed the back welt pockets!! There was a definite learning curve, and, one pocket looks better from the outside while the other pocket worked out nicely from the inside. So, for the next pants, I should be able to construct a pocket that looks good from both the outside and inside. I am now on to the front of the pants. Wish me luck!

Pattern Pyramid COMBINED with Sew Grateful Week Giveaway!

February 5, 2013March 5, 201370 Comments

Oooooooh! Yes, indeed. Pattern Pyramid arrived yesterday from the lovely and talented Amanda at Symon Sez, so exciting! This pattern pyramid was originally started by the charismatic bundle of joy, Anne at Pretty Grievances. It has been quite the world traveller, visiting various continents and countries, enjoying cocktails, romps on the beach, did some shopping and even bought some cute souvenirs for the little pyramids, at home.The Pyramid began with Velosewer, as the first winner. It then went on to The Material Lady and next to Mrs. Mole at Fit for a Queen. After this, Pattern Pyramid enjoyed it’s journey to Tulle and Tweed and straight on to my predecessor, the previously mentioned Symon Sez. Fabulous!

Now, I also wanted to participate in Sew Grateful Week, hosted by My Happy Sewing Place, where bloggers can take the time to thank their readership and other bloggers for their ideas, comments, inspiration, humour, support, shares, insanity, mild profanity and many other things you can think of that put a smile on your face and make you feel loved. So, with both events looming and with the addition of recently hosting a Pay It Forward event on my blog just 5 days ago, I realized I can’t do it all!!! I’m not a machine!!!! :).

So, I decided to combine the two events and I am going to add a gift for Sew Grateful Week to the Pattern Pyramid for the next winner to keep. I racked my brain to try to discover ‘what does an experienced sewist that has everything, need?’ I came up with the answer “I don’t know”. Yes, a long, hard contemplative second that was.

So, I thought since many experienced sewers have so much, and they are constantly trying to just work through their stashes, and also because I am a new sewer, I wanted to give a shout out to other newbies and try to light the fire of sewing and crafting inspiration! So, I chose a book called: I Made it Myself. It is the absolute perfect gift for a brand new sewer. Some of you must have children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, younger siblings, neighbours, that you would like to inspire to learn to sew and create. This book includes: a sewing kit, a variety of projects to complete, tonnes of pictures, instructions, a fabric and stitches glossary and templates to use to create a variety of fashion and accessory items. (FYI, on the back it says, suitable for ages 7+ years, and I can see it working all the way up to a teenager, or even older! Hey, we’re all kids at heart).

Ok, now on to the Pattern Pyramid Specs. This is how it arrived, all tan and rested, a lovely globe spanning holiday it’s having, for sure.

Top Row: Small Sizes, Middle Row: Medium to X-Large Sizes, Bottom Row: Plus Sizes

Kitty went in to thoroughly peruse Pattern Pyramid. He investigated, he took his time, but finally, he selected the winning Pattern. Note: Kitty’s tail points directly at the winning pattern selection. Clever Kitty!

Pattern Removed to Keep

To the left is the pattern that I removed to keep for myself. I will sew and eventually blog this item. Stay tuned for that fun!

And below, is the pattern I chose to add back into the Pyramid. It is a top and pants set, and the top has princess seams up the front and back, it is lined and has a front button closure.

Pattern Replaced Back into Pyramid

The pattern was purchased before I had ever sewn anything. I got it home, THEN checked the size….not even close. So, hopefully somebody who is this size will be able to enjoy it. Here is a more detailed breakdown of what is in the Pyramid:

Small Size Patterns: clothing 8-12; bra 32 A,B,C,D

Small Size Patterns: clothing US 8 – 12 (Eur.34-38); bra 32 A to D (Eur.70 B to E)

Medium to X-Large Patterns: US 14 to 22 (Eur. 40 to 48)

Plus Size Patterns: XXL to 6X; 18 to 28 (Eur. 44 to 54)

Plus Size Patterns: XXL to 6X; US 18 to 28 (Eur. 44 to 54)

New Pattern Pyramid

A quick synopsis of the RULES of Pattern Pyramid for those who are not familiar:

Anyone, anywhere can enter the giveaway by posting a comment below by Sunday February 17, 2013.
You must have an active blog.
A winner will be randomly selected and contacted. I will then post (mail) the pyramid to you, plus the Sew Grateful Week gift (I Made It Myself book). Oh, how will Kitty top the last giveaway draw officiating tactics??? He is confident he can. Don’t worry.
The winner will then select a pattern to keep, add a pattern of their own back into the Pyramid and host their own giveaway. They will randomly select another winner and post (mail) the remaining patterns to that person, and etc.

Yippee!! Good luck everybody!! And Thank You to everyone for stopping by my blog to say hi! I AM sew grateful. 🙂 Feel free to follow my blog and/or my facebook page, as well, if you don’t already. And let me know where I can follow yours!