An inspiring young crafter

This week I came across the most amazing you woman, and I really wanted to share her story with you.

 

I am Zuane. I’m a 13 year old homeschooler from Mpumalanga, South Africa. I have two passions in my life, dance and crochet.

I’m a dance student at Rene’s Art of Dance and I participate in 12 different dances. I won a gold medal at a recent dance competition and qualified  for South African Championships.

I am really excited about this opportunity but I need to raise money to cover my expenses for the championships and was inspired to use my love of crochet to raise these much needed funds. I designed handmade, crochet beanies to help me to achieve my goals.

My beanies are unique in the sense that girls with long hair never know how to wear a ponytail with their beanies, these beanies have a ponytail hole!

 

My love of dance has inspired me to create these unique beanies. Each one will be handmade by myself, as a result each one will be absolutely unique.

What an inspiring young lady, she reminds me of myself at that age. To assist her to raise the much needed funds she requires I have offered her the opportunity to sell her very cute beanies through my Etsy store. Pop in to have a look and help a young lady reach her dreams.

She has until the beginning of October to raise funds, let’s help her get there!

Patterns of the week

HQ Hoodie

 

This comic book character inspired hoodie is based on one of my favourite characters, which is why I was so excited to create it.

Perfect to keep you snug in winter, as well as a fun addition to a themed wardrobe for us geeky types

For every HQ Hoodie Sewing Pattern sold between now and the end of September, we will be donating $1 towards Zuane’s fund to help her raise funds and be a part of the South African Championships!

 

Happy Sewing!

Pattern weights

 

I will admit, I’m not big on watching that much TV, I find I would rather spend my time with my wonderful wife, or creating new patterns and expanding my small business. Though I felt myself suffering from a bit of FOMO, when the twitter community was busy chattering about the Great British Sewing Bee.

Eventually I gave in and watched an episode... an then another and another and another until I eventually had to come out of the fabric closet and admit that I am hooked!

One thing I noticed how a good few of the sewists were using pattern weights instead of pins to cut out their patterns. Coming from generations of avid pinners I began to wonder what all the fuss was about, and decided to give this weight business a try, for the first time in a lifetime’s worth of sewing, and let me tell you, it was WONDERFUL!

 

Weights versus pins

As any busy seamstress knows, time is just sucked into a black hole during the processes of pinning (pinning and pinning some more) as well as transferring pattern markings. So the chance to reduce time in either of these areas is ALWAYS welcome.

The only question now is what do I use as fabric weights? Well the answer is simple... anything that is heavy enough.

With my new excitement of fabric weights I rushed off to the nearest hardware store and came back with two options.

Firstly, some nuts and bolts. These are really well suited to very small fiddly pattern pieces, especially ones being cut out of lightweight or delicate fabrics.

 

One thing I like about using bolts with nuts is that if you need to add more weight, you can add on extra nuts to your bolts. O_o

 

The second option I decided to give a try was some heavy washers. I got square ones as these seemed to be more weighted than the round ones. As singular weights they are quite well suited for light to medium weight fabrics. If you need something heavier (or just something prettier looking so hubby doesn’t lay claim to your washers) below is a quick tutorial on how to make yourself some custom pattern weights with a little more heaviness to them.

Just a note: Fabric weights do work well with scissors, however very stretchy or heavy fabrics may be a little difficult to cut. In this case I would suggest using a rotary cutter instead.

Tutorial: Pretty up those pattern weights

 

You will need:

• Circle of fabric, Poly-cotton is ideal, about 12cm / 5 inches in diameter
• 3 heavy washers about 3.5cm / 1.5 inches in width
• Stop Fray or fabric Glue
• Thick upholstery thread
• A decorative button.

 

•  Secure the washers together with some of the upholstery thread to prevent them from moving around.

• Finish the edges of your fabric circle with the Stop Fray or fabric glue to prevent the edges from fraying.
• Once the glue is dry, place the washers in the center of the circle of fabric.

• Fold the first two sides over the top of the washers, secure with a pin while you hand stitch them into place,

• Fold the fabric edges on the other sides to more triangular shapes.

• Fold them over the washers and secure with a pin while you hand stitch the ends into place.

• Finish off with a decorative button.

And just like that, no more bent pins, torn patterns and frustration with stretch fabrics, I am sold on pattern weights!

Patterns of the week

Easy as Pie Rockabilly Dress ALL SIZES

We have decided to create a pattern pack that includes all the sizes of our Easy as Pie Dress. Sizes range from a petite dress size 6 to a plus dress size 20.

This cute dress is not only a flirty party dress, but can also be used as a bridesmaids dress for a Rockabilly themed wedding.

 

Happy Sewing!

Cold weather and little outfits

I seem to have the tendency to make little outfits during the colder months. It’s 8 degrees Celsius (that's about 46 degrees Fahrenheit), I tried my best to suck it up while trying to get a picture for you of me in my latest vintage style shorts sewing pattern.

This is me bravely doing a selfie in freezing temperatures

Patterns of the week

Ladies loose fit shirt

I am not a fan of a fitted formal shirt, it’s just my personal preference, I have always felt uncomfortable in a slim fit shirt... maybe it’s my way of saying No to “The Man” o_O

 

So I was very excited about the launch of this shirt, I just absolutely love the style and fit and I have to say that this is currently my favourite sewing pattern.

We have it available in a wide variety of sizes from Petite to Plus Sizes.

 

Strike a pose... selfie fun!

Flared High Waist Shorts

Over the past couple years our Really Easy High Waist Shorts sewing pattern has been consistently our favourite pattern with our fans.

Our original 1940’s style shorts

So it’s about time that we launched the sequel, and here it is... the flared version of these 1940’s vintage style shorts.

 

We hope you have as much fun with this pattern as you did the original, and we are looking forward to our fans sharing pictures with us on twitter @MySewingPattern or on Instagram @Booleheart

For those who have not yet got either pattern there is good news, we do have a pattern combo of both pairs of shorts. Click Here to take advantage of this combo at a reduced price!

 

Happy Sewing!

Lace appliqué

This form of embellishment is an incredibly easy way to take a very simple garment and turn it into something special. Lace appliqué, when done right adds elegance and beauty to your outfit.

 

Our knee length batwing dress before and after lace appliqué

It can be incredibly time consuming (3 weeks is the most time I’ve spent applying lace to a single garment) but it is definitely well worth it.

Step 1:

Find the perfect lace. You cannot use just any lace. Stretch laces and jacquard laces are cheap but they are NOT suited at all to lace appliqué. The best type of lace is a little on the expensive side, and price will vary according to quality and whether or not beading is included.

 

Corded lace with scattered motifs that are easy to cut out are the best option.

Corded lace and some bridal laces are the best options, and you often don’t need as much as you think. I recently appliqued an entire bridal wardrobe made of a bodice and two separate skirts and only used 2.5 meters. For a simple design and effect you will seldom require more than half a meter of corded lace, though remember it really depends on how often, far apart and the size of the motifs on the lace itself.

Step 2:

Once you have selected your lace, carefully cut the individual motifs out of the tulle as neatly as possible. I find small, sharp embroidery scissors are best for this.

 

Try not to cut the cord or embroidery on the lace, as this can result in the motif unraveling. If you do find that you accidentally cut the motif, or you need to trim a section to separate 2 motifs, then use a small touch of fabric glue, appliqué glue or Stop Fray glue to protect the cut area.

Step 3:

PIN, PIN, PIN FIRST! Always pin your motifs into position before making anything permanent. Take a step back and look at the design. You will then be able to see if anything is out of place or lopsided, and you can adjust your lace accordingly until the design looks right.

 

Step 4:

Make it permanent. Though there are many ways of applying the lace, from using glue to an interfacing with glue on both sides (these are just really quick solutions, but they WILL eventually come undone).

The only way to make the lace definitely permanent is by stitching it on.

It can be very awkward and difficult to machine stitch the lace into place. The only time I would suggest you do this is if you are VERY experienced or if the lace is along the edge or hemline of the garment.

Otherwise go with the age old, time consuming method of a small, neat hand basting stitch. It will take time, but the quality of your work will shine through at the end and people will gasp in awe at your amazing abilities.

Patterns of the week

Trumpet style gown

This is our sewing pattern for the trumpet style gown, but we have appliquéd lace along the bottom of the skirt to give the dress that little something extra.

 

The Pencil Skirt

Our most recent pattern launch. I created this skirt for a bridal client. I appliquéd lace along the top of the skirt so that it flowed with the bodice she was wearing, and gave the illusion of it being a one piece instead of a top and skirt.

Happy Sewing!

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