best of summer patterns – the popover sundress

June 10, 2013June 12, 201332 Comments

today i’m guest posting over at CailaMade for her Best of Summer series! i’m pretty sure it’s summer all year round on Caila’s blog, though, honestly – such a happy place. and if you’re looking to do some father’s day sewing, she’s got the perfect tutorial for you!

while the series is for pattern reviews and new sewing wasn’t required, i just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make my favorite summer girl pattern – the FREE popover sundress by Oliver + S!

rainbow popover sundress

it’s the first pattern i ever sewed from pieces back in 2009, as i explain in my post over at Caila’s blog. if you read sewing blogs because you want to learn how to sew but haven’t taken the leap yet, this is the perfect pattern to try first! i promise!

i sewed this dress for Em in Anna Maria Horner’s incredible Ghost Wing Linen in Dusk. first i saw Gail’s supertote, then i saw Laura’s roly poly pinafore, and resistance was futile. i picked it up at Bolt the first chance i got (they take orders by phone, FYI!).

it’s really one of the most gorgeous prints i’ve ever seen. just sewing with it made me feel really happy. bad thing is, i only got a half yard and needed to make it work with a contrast band (in michael miller cotton couture in violet). good thing is, Em looooooves rainbows and butterflies and purple and fell for it at first glance!

she’s about to take flight…

and there she goes!

this dress gives her wiiiiiiiiiiings!

head on over to CailaMade to read my “real” pattern review post, see almost every popover sundress that i’ve made over the years (most are pre-blog!) and learn more about why i love this pattern so much!

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abstract scoop neck washi dress

June 6, 2013June 1, 201452 Comments

this dress has been in my head for nearly a year, and it took quilt market to finally make me sew it up!

it’s my third washi dress (four if you count mini washi!). i feel like sewing the same pattern three (four) times officially puts me in cult follower status, and that’s cool with me. the washi is flattering, doesn’t take long to sew, is super comfortable, and i actually wear mine on a regular basis all year round. the washi dress and the wiksten tank both teamed up to shift my mental state from “i’m scared to sew for myself” to “i LOVE to sew for myself,” so i recommend both if you’re looking to dip your toe in.

i scooped out the neck a bit (about 1″ on the bottom, tapering back to the normal shoulder width – make a muslin first if you try it) just like i did with washi two. the shirring is much tighter this time because i got a new sewing machine in January (cough Bernina cough) and it makes me want to shirr all the things, it’s so easy. i still sewed a medium, but it fits me better since it’s more cinched. i’m smaller on top than on bottom, so i like the top to fit nice and snugly to highlight that, while masking the larger parts of me. you know how it goes.

i got the fabric from Britex Fabrics last August while on vacation with my husband in San Francisco. i found it in the remnant area and it didn’t have any markings on the selvedge, but i loved it and bought it with the intention of making a washi dress. it’s sooooo nice – it feels like art gallery fabric, sateen-y and light but still crisp and not see-through like voile can be. it’s really lovely stuff, and i adore the print too – sort of messy-pretty. and the colors are so saturated and rich.

i didn’t have a relationship with Britex when i bought the fabric, but I’m glad I do now, because i was comfortable sending them a photo to find out what it is! it’s called Abstract Dyed Cotton – 100% cotton and 57″ wide, and they still have 20 yards left in the store! so if you’re interested in ordering some, you can email service@britexfabrics.com and they’ll hook you up. tell them i sent ya. 😉

so i made this dress to wear to quilt market, which was funny since the fabric was a mystery to me at the time and i was wearing it around a bunch of people that live and breathe fabric. i think quiltmarketgoers walk around silently identifying fabric and pattern on each other’s handmades, so it was kind of ornery of me to wear something mysterious, though the washi dress pattern itself is VERY well known.

washi pattern designer Rae even saw this dress in person when she came over to my house for a bit! i’m not sure if she saw it on me without a cardigan over it, though…so here ya go, Rae! the full washi!

thanks once again to my husband for taking these photos! he’s getting pretty good, eh? 😉

full disclosure: i was a pattern tester for the washi dress (which means i got it for free) and Made by Rae and Britex Fabrics are now both sponsors of my blog (though this fabric was not free). i’m just glad i have sponsors that make such great stuff!

junebug dress pattern testing

June 4, 2013June 3, 201322 Comments

i’m so excited that my friend Jess from Craftiness is not Optional is now turning her crazy bank of tutorials into real PATTERNS! she started with the Bapron, and now she’s venturing into her trademark little gal clothes. check it out, it’s the Junebug Dress!

this pattern means a lot to me, but i didn’t even realize it until I was sewing it up as a tester.

the Junebug Dress (in free form) was my remix challenge for the first week of season 3 of Project Run & Play. i flipped the bodice around, added some overlays, and it became the Sweet Tartan Dress (tutorial here) and sort of “put me on the map,” blog-wise. my remix of the Junebug actually led to the first emails between Jess and i – we became quick buds, then decided to do Vintage May together, and have been in pretty regular contact ever since. she’s an inspiration and SUCH a hard worker! recently, Jess’ daughter Sadie and Em have become the cutest pen pals – they keep trying to talk us into a playdate (kinda hard when you live 700 miles away, but we’ll make it happen someday).

so a lot has come from this one little dress!

springtime junebug dress

I should probably talk about the pattern – it’s a great pattern. Jess pumped up the volume with sleeve/sleeveless and dress/tunic options, plus great step-by-step photos and instructions to help you sew a darn cute little garment. it goes from size 18 months to 8 years (thanks to digitizing/grading services by Melissa), and the bodice fit is pretty generous, meaning i sewed a 2T bodice for Em (with a 5T skirt). since it has plenty of growing room, it’s a pattern you could get lots of uses out of as your little gal gets bigger.

springtime junebug dress

this fabric combo was a collaboration with Em. she had picked out a Sarah Jane Children at Play fabric a while back, and when I asked her what she wanted me to use for the Junebug, she pulled it. i thought the print might be a bit busy for the dress and almost said no, but then i noticed something in the print…

doesn’t that dress on the left look awfully close to a Junebug?? Em liked the one on the right up there too, so i mixed both together until I got this…with two pink kona solids on top, red buttons, and amy butler full moon polka dot in tangerine (which i believe i picked up at cool cottons).

she loves it.

it was such a pleasure to pattern test for Jess! she presents sewing in such a friendly and approachable way, and i’ve learned a lot by following her blog. i’m a fan.

i celebrate her entire catalog.

and here’s a little glimpse at Portland spring. it’s warm, we head out when the weather looks fine, and then…it starts raining. i mean, it just started sprinkling, but Em thought we needed to immediately run for the hills.

we made a mad dash inside, just like YOU should make a mad dash over to CINO to pick up the Junebug Pattern!

springtime junebug dress

see what i did there? hehe.

stay dry out there, you guys.

my quilt market story

May 30, 2013May 30, 201333 Comments

i’m gonna start at the beginning. and yeeees i should probably split this into two posts but it’s been quite a while since market already, so i just want to get it out there NOW ya know?

about a year ago, Rae let me know that Quilt Market was going to be in Portland in the spring of 2013. i got super excited – and i didn’t even really know what it was! i just knew people on instagram went and all met each other and you go to see fabric. basically this is all i knew until i was actually AT quilt market. it’s actually “just a trade show,” but none like i’d ever been to before – the purpose of the show is for shop owners to preview new fabric lines and place orders to stock in their stores, but almost all of the fabric designers actually go to it, and lots of meetings are being held, and it’s a very social weekend, too.

valori wells wish floral voile // monaluna summertime colors and elephant print! // heather ross strawberry knits

then, one day in March, i got an email from Liesl Gibson asking me if i could help set up the Oliver + S / Straight Stitch Society booth, and if they could ship things for the booth to me ahead of time, etc etc. now I’ve said before that i learned to sew from my mom when i was little, but Liesl through her Oliver + S patterns as an adult, and that her comment on my first sewing project really made me realize that the whole posting-photos-on-the-internet thing was fun. meeting her was going to be a huge thing for me. HUGE. like couldn’t believe it was really happening. and look, she’s real!

in person, Liesl could not be nicer, or more creative, or more insightful. when i met her, she came right up to me and gave me a huge hug. it made me so happy that the gal behind one of my favorite companies is just as wonderful in person. and then Heather Ross, designer of some of my very favorite fabrics, came up to Liesl and gave HER a huge hug, and my brain exploded…just like these flowers here.

Liesl’s husband/business partner Todd (seen below opening one of millions of paper flowers) is a perfect balance to her, also very passionate but in a more business-y way. i felt like i sort of got into market with the ideal duo – well-respected and liked, and the people to learn from and meet people through.

the whole weekend actually kind of blew my mind. i know we’re in this geeky little subculture, sewing bloggers – and the reason blogging is so great is there are really not that many of us that live near each other but we all inspire each other and some people get to be friends even though we’ve never met. an event like quilt market brings us together in real life, and it’s awesome.

there’s also a certain “celebrity” that some of our community has (Denyse Schmidt, Amy Butler, Heather Ross, Liesl herself) and seeing all of those gals in one place was a bit surreal.

i also got to meet many blog friends (or just gals i was a fan of), and pretty much everyone I met was just like their “online persona,” which made it fun. for instance, i didn’t get a photo of Jeni Baker but i was so thrilled to meet her and i thought she was just the cutest. i’m way excited about her new line, Nordika.

Look at that border print on the tote bag!

meeting people was so much more important to me than seeing the fabric, as pretty as the fabric was. i became obsessed with people’s height, since you don’t get a good sense of height on blogs!

there were quite a few people i actually didn’t feel like i knew very well from their blogs (fabric designers don’t tend to be very regular bloggers, it seems, and some blogs were just new to me) so it was neat to meet those gals in person. i’d only recently discovered April Rhodes, currently taking blogland by storm with her staple dress and she was a delight (and shorter than me)!

and here’s a photo of taller-than-me Rae and Rashida Coleman-Hale (Rashida’s booth promoting Tsuru and Koi was one of my favorites – i could’ve lived there).

isn’t it so pretty?

Rae was promoting her line of flannels for Cloud 9 – it’s called Fanfare and it’s ADORABLE – go see it here. she had a bunch of strike-offs in her purse and as an experiment we gave them to Em and asked her what her favorite was. she stopped dead in her tracks at the pink elephants and was ready for me to make something from it right then and there (except the sample was “too small!”). hehe.

gratuitous photo of “buff stuff” Rae, who was a total kick to hang out with and a force of nature in that amazing Tsuru Washi dress – she got SO MUCH ATTENTION! i want to hang out more with Rae, she’s fun.

some more pretty booths, just because…

Tule by Leah Duncan – so serene and gorgeous – love the colors.

Charley Harper for Birch Fabrics!

Friday morning, my pal Cherie from You & Mie (who i had met a couple times before) flew in to stay with me for the weekend, and I’m so glad she did, because we could experience the whole thing together. after i picked her up from the airport and dropped O off with my sister, Cherie and I went to Market and met up with Rae (spotting Melody Miller and her cute pink hair on the way in), then met up with fellow local Gail and perused the market.

where was our first stop? Oliver + S, duh!

after we were done at Market for the day, Gail had to take off – but Rae and Cherie and I went to Bolt and Pine State Biscuits (they both ate it all, don’t worry about them).

they came over to my house afterwards, and i sort of proved what a small town Portland is by having them randomly meet a good portion of my family throughout the day (even ran into my inlaws while out for drinks after a party at Modern Domestic). on Saturday, we joined up with Robin for a little more fabric shopping at Cool Cottons and lunch – check out this four-girl selfie!

i have never been so surrounded by handmade clothes, or looked up and down (in a good way) as often, as at Quilt Market. Rae said that when she wore her original washi dress to market it sort of launched the dress/pattern, and i totally believe it.

case in point – i wore washi two on sunday and got a whole bunch of compliments – i think the dress was recognized more than i was – and when Cherie and i went over to the dear stella booth (the fabric is dear stella) they got so excited! i almost didn’t wear it because the fabric is faded from so many washings, but i’m glad i did.

it was also cool to see Cherie’s sunburst picnic blanket rolled up (see it by my left elbow?)…of course i made her pose with it! she didn’t actually sew this one, but still…she designed it, so that’s very cool.

this nest quilt by Carrie Bloomston of Such Designs was incredible…

and there was real grass in heather bailey’s booth! loved that.

on Sunday, after helping break down the Oliver + S booth, Cherie and I got to tag along to an amazing gourmet dinner at Racion with Liesl & Todd. We had amazing conversations with Kelli from drygoods (a shop I must visit the next time I’m in Seattle), and Margaret from Form and Fabric.

i ate things i had only known about from watching Top Chef, and it was wonderful!

sometimes i felt like i didn’t really belong at Market. i’m not a shop owner, i don’t sell patterns or fabrics, i don’t feel “influential.” this isn’t my real job, it’s a hobby for me – but the people that were there are all making a real go of it as a business, and i think that’s so great. i mean, i just make stuff that makes me happy and i blog about it, but now i feel even more responsibility to remain true to myself, honest with my readers, and open in crediting inspiration and fabric and all that. it’s so important to support each other in this, to lift each other up!

it was cool to be included in conversations about authenticity, creativity, business, fabric design, pattern making, originality, book deals, fabric lines, collaborations, future plans…it was motivating and exciting and made me want to do even more to be involved. not sure how…but somehow.

pure elements by art gallery

and there ya have it. my small novel on Quilt Market. i’ve had so many thoughts and feelings it’s been hard to get them down. thank you so much to Liesl for letting me help out and for being such a cool gal! what a neat experience that was.

P.S. check out Cherie’s post for more of the “how it made me feel” stuff – she really hit the nail on the head with it, and said a lot of things i meant to say here…

P.P.S. OH! and i have another washi dress to show you – i made it just for Market! it’s my favorite yet and somehow i don’t have any even teaser photos of me wearing it! i’ll try to get that posted soon. 🙂

vintage may: roundup and features

May 28, 2013May 28, 201314 Comments

Vintage May 2 has come to an end…so soon! it was so much fun celebrating vintage style again with you this year – thank you for getting excited with us and supporting this series!

i really couldn’t have done it without my co-host Jess. it was even MORE fun collaborating this year, because we had a couple extra helpers – Sadie and Em have become cute little pen pal buddies, and we now show them what the other one’s mommy sewed and they get excited along with us! last year, Jess was deep in the first trimester exhaustion phase with baby Ava and I helped with a lot of the back end work, and this year I was preparing for Quilt Market and was out of town and just had a bunch of stuff going on, so Jess totally stepped up and did a lot of prep work – i’m so grateful to her!

i also want to thank Cherie, who was in town staying with us the weekend between week 1 and week 2, who kept me company during late night sewing (and blogging) sessions and even reminded me i had a post to write a couple times (haha!). man it’s nice to have a houseguest that really understands! she even got this great “photo of a photoshoot” – i love it.

and of course, i want to send out a huge thank you to our guest bloggers – you gals are so inspiring. i loved seeing everyone’s different take on “vintage” and, just like last year, the guest projects seemed to somehow pair up really nicely in color/style/era/feel every day! if you missed any of the posts, be sure to click through to their blogs to check them out! beautiful stories, great tutorials, and just plain fun projects! you guys are awesome.

:: Week 1 ::

jess’s faux gingham romper // kristin’s flap pocket skirt

delia from delia creates // miriam from mad mim

dana from made // jessica from a little gray

heidi from elegance and elephants // melissa from melly sews

alida from alida makes // an from straight grain

:: Week 2 ::

jess’s feedsack geranium // kristin’s gingham swing jacket

jen and autie from icandy handmade // miranda from one little minute

kirstin from kojo designs // shannon from luvinthemommyhood

jessica from happy together // erin and caroline from hungie gungie

disney from ruffles and stuff // vanessa from lbg studio

and while our guests were sewing up a storm, so were many of you! here are a few of my favorites from the vintage may flickr group! thanks to everyone that sewed along – you make this so much fun for us!