SewBaby News

Tina Givens has written a great new book, Sew Tina ,  for projects for clothing, accessories and decor for kids! I am just in awe of Tina's creativity. She is a great artist, who has designed fabric lines and stationery in addition to her own sewing pattern line. Her style is fun and whimsical, and totally Tina! We are so happy to be a stop on Tina's blog tour to announce her new book. We are giving away to one lucky reader a great gift that includes the book, 4 yards of fabric, 2 boxes of stationery, and 2 extra sewing patterns! The book is 144 pages and includes a gorgeous set of full size patterns.  To enter the giveaway, leave a comment at the end of this post  Good luck, everyone! I was able to ask Tina a few questions, and I think you'll find her answers very fascinating!  I'll intersperse from photos from the book along with her answers. This is what the patterns look like from the pull-out section. Where did you grow-up, where did you go to scho

Finally it's cool enough to wear this top!  I made this last month, but it had stayed in the 80's and 90's almost all of September.  This is a great rayon knit border print that I got from Fabric Mart.  I was constantly on the lookout for a pattern that could use a border print.  Finally I found Butterick 5527 .  This is laid out on the cross-grain, which means that the stretch of the fabric actually goes up and down. It takes a lot of fabric for a top- 2-3/4 yards is the recommended amount for the medium, so the lighterweight the fabric the better.  I would like to make it again in a cotton jersey knit, maybe as the top length.   This is one of their patterns that can be a short top, tunic or dress.  I cut out at the tunic length.  Because the pattern was curved, and my border was straight, I just straightened out both the hem curve, and the waist curve. The waistband is two 3/4" elastic strips inside a casing.  I had just enough of my border print left to

I'm sorry, Ms. Karan, but to save the life of this dress, we are going to have to amputate.  I often think that I should have been a surgeon.  It would have been a way to use my sewing skills for the greater good.  But alas, I don't like being in or even near hospitals, sick people, and especially hospital food.  Thus, surgery on my clothes is about as close as I'm going to get. In culling the herd in my closet, I came across this dress that I made last September.  It is Vogue 1119 , a Donna Karan pattern, and only wore it once.  Why only once?  I'm not sure- the print was pretty ugly, and I'm not sure that the fit was right.  The asymmetrical waistline seam hit me at my widest part.  But the fabric was a silk knit, the only silk knit dress that I have, so I decided I must try to save it. So, I cut the skirt off of the top to make separates.  The top is really short now in the back, so I could only serge the edge to finish it.  The skirt needed to be pull

It's done!  My entry into Patternreview.com 's Little Black Dress Contest.  I don't know why I waited so long to make a LBD, but I'm very happy with this one.  I used Vogue 1176 which is a Michael Kors design.  I love Michael Kors on Project Runway, so it is really kind of fun to be able to make one of his designs.  The fabric is a black floral jacquard satin that I got in a mystery bundle from Fabricmartfabrics.com.  Here is the bow close-up.  It looks hard, but as long as you mark everything really well, it goes together like butta.  I was pleased as punch with this one.  The directions and the fit were wonderful.  I recommend that you make your retail size on this one.  Usually, pattern sizing is completely different from retail sizing, but this one wasn't.  Make a muslin (sample from inexpensive fabric) before you start to make your life easier.  The back is pretty plain, but flattering.  It has a vent for walking, as the skirt is pegged, so it tapers in

Believe it or not, I have never owned a LBD (Little Black Dress).  Unfortunately, my lifestyle has never included cocktail parties or formal dinners where I would ever need one.  However, now Patternreview.com is sponsoring a Little Black Dress contest which is tempting me.   As I become an empty-nester next year, perhaps, just perhaps, an occasion to wear a LBD may arise, and wouldn't it be nice to have one all ready to go? So, after my last foray into Vogue's designer patterns, I'm feeling sassy and would like another challenging design.  So many to choose from, but I'm leaning heavily towards this Vogue 1176  designed by Michael Kors.  It has a great integrated bow that you can see better in the line drawing.  I'm thinking of making it out of some solid black silk shantung.  I'm sure that bow is going to be a little tricky, but I think that the dress is age appropriate for me, and hopefully a good shape for my body.  It would be fun to accessorize too. 

If you have a child who likes to do messy art projects or cooking projects, then you need our Sleeve Saver Smock pattern .  The beauty of this design over an apron, is that the sleeves are covered.  And the beauty of this design over a traditional smock is that it pulls over the head like a t-shirt, so there are no ties!  Don't you wish it came in adult sizes too? We are giving away two model garments used for our pattern cover.  One with dinosaurs (a size 3-4T), and one with cupcakes (a size 5-6X).   We'll also include a copy of the pattern with the sample, so that you can make your own! Give-Away Guidelines: Three ways to register for the giveaway: 1.  Leave a comment.  Tell me which sample you would like best to win.  (Please make sure there is a way I can contact you- such as enabling the e-mail contact info on your profile.) 2.  Sign-up to be a Follower of this blog or Like us on Facebook. 3.  Link to us from your own blog or Facebook page!  Here's a sample

My niece got married this past weekend, and I wanted to make a festive dress for the occasion.  I decided on  this Vogue pattern 1154 by Badgley Mischka thinking that it looked like a fairly easy project.  Hahaha!  In my nearly 40 years of sewing, this was my most difficult project to date. When I opened up the instructions, I was a little overwhelmed.  Thirty pattern pieces and 88 steps!  Should I turn back at this point?  Of course not, I won't let any pattern intimidate me! The jacket was no problem- it is lined, but I'm used to that.  The dress on the other hand.....The dress has a full boned  foundation, a lining, and an interfaced interior lining as well- 8 layers of fabric and interfacing for the bodice.  I eliminated the interfaced interior lining, but the rest of the layers really do need to be there. I had chosen a stretch cotton brocade for the outer fabric. The pattern called for china silk for the lining and the foundation layers, but I was afraid it might