2009 March

From the monthly archives: March 2009

You can do it! Easy Manshirt

Posted March 30, 2009

On the topic of Spring Top Sewing, I thought I’d give out some pointers for an easy men’s top. It’s hard sewing for the man in your life when their clothes are, well…boring. All the patterns seem to be a variation of the same dress shirt, Hawaiian-style shirt, pajama set, or fleece pullover. There’s also a noticeable lack of guy-friendly fabrics in designer quilting fabrics, although it’s getting better for little boys. The patterns for menswear also seems ridiculously time-consuming. So last month when I was making shirts for Mr Rae’s birthday, I took Simplicity 4287 and streamlined it. I was amazed at how much time and sanity I saved with some easy alternatives to the traditional collar and…

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Spring Top Sewalong: Call for Pattern Ideas

Posted March 30, 2009

A few of you have asked about possible patterns if you are a beginner sewist. I usually make my patterns up, but you have to start somewhere, so here are a couple I think are pretty great:

Simplicity Built By Wendy 3835

Simplicity 3887 (warning: the neck is really huge on this one, so err on the side of smaller size-wise)

McCall’s 5388 (maybe try a Simplicity or Butterick before this one; it’s pretty easy but is maybe not the best beginner beginner pattern)

Generally, Simplicity and Butterick are the easiest of the mainstream patterns (but sometimes don’t fit as well), McCall’s is slightly more complicated (usually just more steps, not necessarily trickiness), and Vogue I usually only attempt if feeling very ambitious. There are…

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SPRING TOP WEEK (you know you want to)!

Posted March 23, 2009

I’m getting so excited about sewing tops for spring! Skirts I can’t get as excited about; as a toddler-mama I really just wear the same pair of jeans almost every day (gross, but who are we kidding?). Dresses are kind-of the same…I’ve had a couple of windy days at the playground that were touch and go, although I’m softening a little to the idea of wearing them as I see lots of comfy/flowy/casual ones around.

: : My picks so far for potential tops. Which one should I start with? :

So I’ve got my fabrics picked out for about 8 tops; realistically my goal is to make 5, one for every weekday of my upcoming Spring Top Week (April 27-May 1). The…

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Toddler Backpack Sewing Pattern PDF

Posted March 18, 2009

Toddler Backpack Sewing Pattern PDF (NOTE: this is the new updated version of the pattern, if you purchased the pattern between March 2009 – October 2011 and are looking JUST the add-on, click here)
Cost: $8
Buy Now
Purchase this version if you will use the pattern for yourself or for gifts for others (no profit, for personal use only).
**Please read my purchasing/printing instructions first if you have never purchased an instant download PDF pattern before. Thanks!** The digital pattern and instructions will be sent to your…

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Almost here…Toddler Backpack Pattern!

Posted March 16, 2009

:: Now there are two! ::

So just popping in today to say that I’ve been working all week (remember, that’s in Toddler Time, meaning during naps and after bedtime) on the PDF backpack pattern, and it’s almost ready for sale. My guess is in the next day or so, so check back. I’ll also be selling the little yellow backpack pictured above if anyone’s interested; not sure we need multiple toddler backpacks around here..

So glad you liked them; thanks for all the kind comments! And someone must have linked to me today because gadzooks my inbox is full…

Oh and thanks to the Riesen family, I think my Russian translator has finally arrived:
(for those just joining us I was wondering what the…

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Toddler Backpack

Posted March 9, 2009

This weekend I made up a new pattern for a little backpack with a zipper. Elliot’s birthday is coming up soon, and he’s been walking around the house with my two-strap purses over both shoulders exclaiming “Elliot’s Backpack!” (I suspect this may have something to do with the shopping trip his Aunt Sara and I took with him to the Coach outlet a few weeks ago). Poor child, he has no idea people don’t (usually) wear purses like backpacks. Why else would they have two straps?

I’m really thrilled that this turned out the way I pictured it in my head. The piping is key, I think; it just snazzed it up enough to make it look like something you’d buy in a store. It…

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Buttercup Bag Flickr Pool

Posted March 8, 2009

It’s so fun to see all the photos of “Buttercup Bags” that have been sent in over the last week! So I’ve put together a photo pool over at Flickr for you to put pictures of your Buttercup Bag creations. I would love it if you would add your pictures so we can all see them! [handmadebyalissa, 2. AFriend2, 3. summernightsmiles, 4. shastababee