A Giveaway to Celebrate the Vernal-Autumnal Equinox!

March 20, 2013April 27, 201383 Comments

Well, today is that glorious time of year. The Vernal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere (first day of spring)

Spring has Sprung in Spain

Autumn in Australia

and the Autumnal Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere (first day of autumn). Both are excellent seasons and an exquisite end to the grey, cold snow and the sticky, humid heat.

An equinox happens twice a year and is the day where the terminator (twilight zone) is at 90 degrees to the Earth’s equator and the length of day and night is precisely equal! Ooooh, the wonderful math and symmetry involved. I get goosebumps!

To help celebrate this momentous occasion, I am giving away the sewing book Chic and Simple Sewing by Christine Haynes.

This book includes paper patterns, instructions and photos for 20 fashion projects that range in difficulty from 1 to 5. There is a rating system applied to each garment so that you know what you are getting yourself into, before you begin sewing.

The first section of the book explains some sewing techniques ranging from patch pockets to applying bias tape and the rest of the book presents a variety of garments for you to sew with the full patterns included in sizes small, medium and large (measurements included). The fun part of this book is that it is divided up into seasons, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter with associated clothes and patterns for each season. I thought this fit perfectly into the Seasonal Celebration we are having!

I have made several items from this book including the A-line skirt, fabric belt and belt loops, The Trench and The Date Dress (which I made into nightgowns). I also have The Retro Shift Dress lined up in the queue to sew for this summer.

The Retro Shift Dress

For most of these projects, I altered and embellished the pattern and sewing to add a bit more polish and finishing. That’s one of the good aspects I found about this book: that it is aimed at the experienced beginner, but as you begin to climb up the levels of difficulty, or if you are already an advanced sewer, you can alter, embellish and add to the patterns and the sewing style to make your own, more tailored creations.

Also, this book is now out of print. Christine Haynes just blogged about this recently, so you will no longer be able to order or purchase this book anywhere!

Projects from the Book

Projects from the Book

Projects from the Book

Beautiful Spring Tulips

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment letting everybody know what is your favourite season and why. You can enter from anywhere in the world, no matter what season it is for you currently. 🙂

The giveaway will close on Sunday April 7, 2013, so please be sure to have your comments in by then. Kitty, of course, will be officiating the draw to pick the winner. Drop by again for the, sure to be exciting, entrant selection!

Update: See the official draw ceremony and the winning entrant here!

Good luck to everybody! And please ensure there is some way of contacting you, if you do win.

Feel free to ‘like’ Gjeometry on Facebook and follow this blog so we can all keep in touch!

(Autumn in Australia pic courtesy of Reef and Outback Rail Tours, Projects from the Book pics courtesy of Christine Haynes blog)

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!

Stretchy Fleecy Hoody? Oh Goody.

February 4, 2013February 12, 201439 Comments

My first attempt at sewing with knits! This one is made from a stretch knit microfleece. I’m afraid I was completely unable to shake the joy of animal prints ingrained in me by Jungle January, so I lined the hood with blue leopard print fabric. Seemed the obvious choice. I may have an animal print addiction; therapy might be necessary.

I am currently taking the Sewing With Knits class through Craftsy and this is the first project. The pattern is from the class, except for the lining in the hood. I added the lining, by constructing another hood out of the leopard print fabric, a thin knit jersey, and sewing it to the hood.

Because I don’t have a serger / overlocker, I used the stretch stitch on my regular sewing machine (two stitches forward, one stitch back), it takes a long time and uses a lot of thread, but I think it looks better than a narrow zig-zag. I also used an overlock stitch on the exposed seams on the hood and lining and a twin needle for the sleeve and bottom hems.