You Think You’re Sooooooooo Bossy….But….

March 2, 2014March 2, 201431 Comments

Well, the suspense and waiting ALMOST did me in! 178 wonderful folks voted on my March Miss Bossy Patterns poll and I want to thank you all so much! (And, I set it to ‘no repeat voting’ so you know it wasn’t just my mom voting 177 times).

For the first half of the poll, the Project Runway, Cynthia Rowley and the vintage looking modern Vogue were all neck in neck with Tom and Linda Platt coming in fourth place, getting a fair number of votes, but not enough to catch up with the rest.

Then, for the second half of the poll, there was a ferocious battle between Project Runway and Cynthia Rowley, first with a tie, then folks would break the tie and one of the patterns would be ahead, then another tie! This went on for a week.

Until, the poll closed and the results came in:

Yup, TIED again! And, the Lego Stormtrooper valentine photo also got a vote from my Nephew, Wyatt! 🙂

Since I can’t promise to sew both this month, tells you what I’m gonna do. Some of you voted based on fabric with the most popular fabrics being the black and white (paired with the Project Runway) and the paisley (paired with the Cynthia Rowley) so, I’m going to pull the ol’ switcheroo.

Cynthia Rowley pattern sewn with black and white paint splash design fabric and fully lined with purple bemberg rayon. Project Runway sewn with rayon blend paisley fabric and bodice lined with pale blue cotton blend fabric.

Cynthia Rowley dress sewn with black and white paint splash design fabric and fully lined with purple bemberg rayon. Project Runway dress sewn with rayon blend paisley fabric and bodice lined with pale blue cotton blend fabric.

I am pairing the black and white fabric with the Cynthia Rowley and the Paisley fabric with the Project Runway and will sew one of these combinations, which will be a surprise for you (and me)! I think this will work well because the Cynthia Rowley dress is more dramatic and modern while the Project Runway dress is more classic. Whaddya think? Any objections? Proposed Alternatives?

PS: Have you entered my Sew Grateful Giveaway yet? I’m giving away a bunch of sewing stuff like magazines, patterns and fabric. Pop over to enter!

Sew Grateful Giveaway!! How about some Red and some Threads?

February 24, 2014March 11, 201454 Comments

I’m so delighted to participate in Sew Grateful Week hosted by My Happy Sewing Place! I truly feel blessed to have found a past-time that I love, that relaxes me, that challenges my brain, that allows me to be creative and that’s resulted in so many new friendships and connections both online and in the real world. And, at the end of it all, a new garment or accessory is the result. Win-win!

So, Monday’s task for Sew Grateful Week is a crowd favourite: A Giveaway! I’m so grateful for all of you and I would like to give you something.

The Goods

Threads Magazine, July 2013
Threads Magazine Collection Sewing Pattern, Simplicity 4275
Three different red themed Fabrics
Sewing With Nancy Booklet: Quick Jackets by Nancy Zieman
Coats & Clark Totebag to carry everything

The Deets

Threads Magazine July 2013, Number 167

Simplicity 4275, Threads Sewing Pattern. Includes: 2 styles of jacket, 2 styles of trouser and a short sleeve top.

Simplicity 4275, Threads Magazine Collection Sewing Pattern. Includes: 2 styles of jacket / blazer, 2 styles of trouser, a short sleeve top and a belt.

Fabric: 1. Silky smooth, lightweight and very drapey poly blend in a solid red colour: 2.5 yards (2.3 m). It could be used for a dress or blouse but would also make terrific lining fabric. 2. Black, grey, white and red striped fabric, lightweight and floaty poly blend: 2 yards (1.8 m). 3. Red, black, white stars and stripes Scooby Doo Hanna Barbara medium weight 100% cotton: 0.7 yards (0.6 m)

Sewing With Nancy Booklet: Quick Jackets by Nancy Zieman, Booklet #510, to help you sew your Simplicity 4275 Threads jacket.

The Fabric In Action

The first two fabrics played centre stage in a Red themed outfit I sewed for Sew Red October. The solid red fabric and the striped fabric were used to colour block my By Hand London Polly Top and the striped fabric was also used to line the yoke and make pockets for my wide legged culottes. The stars and stripes fabric was used to make men’s pyjamas for my dad.

The Entry

Entries close on Saturday, March 8, 2014 (eastern standard time) which also happens to be International Women’s Day. Happy Women’s Day! In honour of this day, please leave a comment below telling us about a woman you find inspirational (real, fictional, dead or alive). And, if you enjoy my blog, don’t forget to follow it! Giveaway is open to everybody worldwide.

Kitty will, once again, officiate the draw and select a winner so you can look forward to antics such as this or this or better still, this!

Good Luck Everybody and Thank You. I Really Am Sew Grateful.

Edit: Giveaway is now closed and the winner is posted here.

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!