2012 September

From the monthly archives: September 2012

Puff-sleeve flashback tee + tutorial

Posted September 27, 2012

Want an easy way to “girl up” your Flashback Tees? How about a puff sleeve? It’s so easy, it’s crazy. Here’s what I’m talking about:

(she’s wearing a basic rectangle skirt that we sewed together, by the way…I put the elastic in and did all the pressing, but she sewed the side seam, the elastic casing, and the hem, with my help of course. It’s a nice quick project to sew with your kid!)

I made this tee with my Flashback Skinny Tee pattern but you can do this with any sleeve really. Here’s a quick how-to:

First, cut your sleeve pieces, but move the sleeve pattern piece at least 1″ away from the fold, keeping the edge parallel to the fold (this…

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Ship Shape Button Placket Tutorial

Posted September 26, 2012

I’m so excited to be part of Sarah Jane’s Out to Sea Blog Tour today! I’m going to show you the adorable Charlie Tunic I made for Elliot with two of the Out to Sea prints, along with a tutorial on how to add the button placket.

The Out to Sea collection is absolutely stunning. Sarah is so talented! We met last Spring at Quilt Market and got to see this collection first hand in all of its glory. I also really love her first line, Children at Play, with sweet illustrations that show the carefree days of childhood. I think it’s great that her fabric collections have both featured a number of designs for BOYS! …

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Printed Washi Dress patterns: an experiment

Posted September 25, 2012

I’ve been working on a little side-project, something very new and different to me: having the Washi Dress Sewing Pattern printed on paper. There’s been such a wonderful response to the Washi Dress and as a result I’ve had many requests from shops asking if they could carry it. It also works really well as a teaching garment, and I think it would be so fantastic to have fabric shops teaching Washi Dress classes (which is much easier to do if you stock printed patterns)!! Last week I sent out an email to about 30 shops I “know” in person to see if there’s enough interest to print a limited-run batch of Washi Dress patterns, and so far I’ve gotten a great response!…

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Weekend in Vermont

Posted September 23, 2012

photo by rochelle new, used with permission

Every few months or so, Mr Rae and I drop the kids off with his parents and go somewhere fun for the weekend. Last weekend it was Vermont, where we stayed at Blueberry Hill Inn, where I’d been wanting to return since I first visited as a participant at Heather Ross’ fantastic Blueberry Hill Weekend Sewing workshop two years ago. Some pictures from our weekend:

See more photos:

Sunday afternoon we headed over to Burlington where I gave a short talk on sewing women’s garments for the Nido 3rd Anniversary Bash. There were so many people there and it was fun to meet new faces…

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Time for Tea Dress

Posted September 12, 2012

I don’t even know what was happening with this photoshoot. What IS this??

Who knows. A chance to show off my new nerdy glasses? Or my favorite teacups?

OK, I know I know I know!!! So it’s a Washi Dress made with Lizzy House fabric and a peter pan collar, on a grumpy hostess!

At any rate you can plainly see I’m a weirdo. And I think I have a new bio pic (Yay! That other one was 3 years old).

I have no idea where I plan to go with this collar, if anywhere, but I just find this dress so ridiculously adorbsible, I had to post it. I’ve put up a couple of links on the

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Washi Madness!!!

Posted September 12, 2012

I can’t tell you how much fun it is to watch your Washi Dresses pop up in the Washi Dress photo pool. It’s been just over a month since I released the pattern and WOW you have been doing so many fun things with this pattern. There’s scoop-neck versions, classic versions, facings-on-the-outside versions (which is actually what I had in mind when I first designed this dress, so that’s fun to see!), sleeves, and more. Enough talk, let’s take a look some of the Washi loveliness you’ve been dreaming up…

Left to Right:1. Freshcut Flowers, 2. Charcoal Washi, 3. White Washi, 4. Light Weight Apparel Cotton

I think this

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Washi Maxi Dress Tutorial

Posted September 6, 2012

You are going to laugh that I am even calling this a “tutorial,” it’s so campy. But that’s how this one is happening. It’s been campified. New word. You would rather that I spent my time cooking up more new and exciting things for you rather than making my tutorials look more profesh, right? If not, now’s the time to speak up. S’all I’m saying.

So before I give you a detailed how-to, here are the key speaking points for making a Washi Dress into a maxi (floor-length dress):

Lengthen the skirt pieces so they are long enough
Widen the skirt pieces so they don’t trip you when you walk

The key points to remember if you want it fully lined:…

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Vermont, here I come!

Posted September 5, 2012

I will be in Vermont in just a couple weeks, and the lovely Phiona, owner of Nido Fabrics in Burlington VT, has kindly invited me to be a guest of honor at Nido’s 3rd Anniversary party on Sunday, September 16th! Details are on the invite pictured above.

I am so excited and honored to be asked! I will give a short presentation/demo on sewing garments and of course be around to chit-chat and eat snacks, so please by come and say “hello!” if you’re in the area. I’d love to meet you! As part of the festivities, Phiona is offering 20% storewide for the occasion. WOOT!!!

If you are nowhere near Vermont but would still like to shop…

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First day

Posted September 4, 2012

Kindergarten. Waaaaaaaaaaah! *weeps into coffee cup*

(Notably absent: a handmade backpack, which his mother did not make for him, having been distracted this weekend by her Heather Ross stash instead. I’d rather not say which licensed character appears on the back of this backpack)

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