SewBaby News

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of working with Sarah McFarland, of Threads magazine, on an article about our sewing studio makeover.  Last summer, we transformed our shipping area into a classroom for local community education sewing classes.  Sarah wanted to share that transformation with the Threads readers, and when she found out that I had my own sewing space which was an entirely separate room, she thought the readers would want to see that too!   Today, I just received my issue in the mail with the complete article, and I couldn't be happier with it. This is a fantastic issue with lots of wonderful articles, and I'm so honored to be included in it.  The complete interview is online here:  From Drab to Decorated.   For the "before" pictures, you can see my original blog post here.   Run, don't walk, to get this great issue!  Then, go to page 75 to see my smiling mug, and my artificially clean sewing room!  I'll have yo...

Patternreview.com is having a contest based on using the Spring 2013 Fashion Color Forecast!  The challenge is to make two items that you can wear together that incorporate some of the forecasted colors.  Here are the colors: I had a piece of silk chiffon that had in it several of the colors this year, and decided to use it to make a short sleeved blouse from McCalls 6702 .  This is a shirt with a placket, mandarin collar, and a back yoke.  I only had about 2 yards, which isn't a lot of fabric when it is just 45 inches wide.  I was able to squeeze View C on my fabric and lengthen it about 3 inches.  I see Dusk Blue, Nectarine, and African Violet in this print. Even touches of the Lemon Yellow and Linen if you look closely.  I did a baby hem on this top.  This wasn't the best style for sewing silk chiffon.  Between the crinkly texture, and the general elusiveness of chiffon, sewing the placket and the yoke wa...

Summer 2013 Ottobre Issue We just got in our Summer shipment of the Children's Ottobre Design magazine!   Every issue, I'm amazed at the gorgeous and NEW looks that they create!  This one is no exception.  There are 40 styles in this issue, ranging from infant through a child's size 14. Here are the line drawings from this issue: If you aren't familiar with Ottobre, they are a Finnish company that produces pattern magazines for both women and children.  We carry all of them at SewBaby . The magazines have a master pattern in the center of each issue that is color coded, so that you can find which size and style you need to trace more easily.  The sizing is European and is done by height, so if you know your child's height, just adjust it to centimeters, and choose which size you need. Here are some of their creations from this issue: Adorable Baby Shirts and Pants  Knit Dress with Snap front Classic Jean Jacket! Color blocked ...

Okay, I know this print has a lot going on.  Maybe too much.  But turquoise, hot pink, coral, black and cream all in one?  Those are all of my favorites.  Plus an Art Deco border hem on a knit?  Be still my heart! But with all this going on, I needed a super basic pattern.  I chose McCalls 6752 .  This one can be a top too. You really can't get much easier than this one.  The draped neck looks fancy, but it's actually just turned under and sewn into the shoulder seam.  You don't even need to finish the edges! The skirt has a straight bottom edge, which means that all I needed to do to line up the border was make sure the bottom of the pattern was at the edge of the fabric for both front and back pieces. My alterations- adding 3 inches to the hem of the skirt, and taking up about an inch on each shoulder seam, because it was a little low cut initially. I will definitely be making this one again and highly recommend it to anyone...