Sugar Ink Fabrics - Bioluminence

I love Sugar Ink Fabric - they always have a great selection of prints at preorder and you can order on so many different base fabrics. My favorites are the organic cotton lycra and the performance knit(it's perfect for leggings).

This time, I sewed up a strike off of the Bioluminence print. I love abstract prints and wild prints - so this was right up my alley. Since it had such feminine colors and design, I decided to make the Patterns for Pirates Sweetheart Top/Dress. But I'm no sweetheart, and made some modifications to the pattern to eliminate the sweetheart bodice. I of course made the top version since I rarely wear dresses, but I may have to try the dress version one day.

This beautiful print and others are available for pre-sale through April 1st. 

Star Dust Textiles - Harry Potter Prints Quilt

Star Dust Textiles is part of a group named Star Dust & Moon Beam Textile Company. Star Dust Textiles is run by Christina Coyle and Moon Beam Textiles is run by Kris Opsal. Kris is a wonderful graphic designer and produces designs for other custom knit groups. She designed a series of Harry Potter prints for Fabric Igloo. The owner of Fabric Igloo ended up never ordering the prints and scammed a lot of people by taking their money and never producing the fabric. Many people still wanted to but the fabric, so the Harry Potter prints are being run by Christina Coyle over at Star Dust Textiles. The preoder is open through March 31st.

Christina sent me strike offs of the cotton woven and minky. I received about a fat half of each cotton woven. The 100% cotton woven is heavier than your typical quilting cotton at 140-150 gsm versus 120 gsm. These are approximately 57" wide, making them wider than most quilting cottons. This weight of woven would be perfect for making handbags, totes, upholstery, clothing such as pants and jackets, and quilts - obviously.

I was also sent a fat half of the minky for the quilt back. The minky is nice and smooth. It has a little stretch to it.

The cotton woven was a breeze to cut and sew. The colors and print were crisp and vibrant. The minky was also easy to cut and since it did stretch a little, I did have to pin it a lot and try to make sure it did not stretch as I sewed it.

Here is my completed quilt.

We own several Harry Potter books, but I could only find one on the shelf in the study - and it happen to have lost it's cover.

I made the quilt approximately 35" by 35". The minky fat half was just a little to small, so I added a strip of minky to each side to make it big enough for the quilt.

I didn't have time to plan out any complicated pattern, and wanted to use good size squares to show off the fabric designs, so I just did a simple diagonal pattern.

Showing the minky back side.

This is the perfect size quilt for a baby or toddler. I don't have either, so this will be in the Weekly Auction for Gwen Edwards this weekend. Join the group to bid on it!

Thanks!

EYMM Blog Tour - Freestyle Harem Pants

I signed up for this blog tour, not knowing exactly when it would happen. I love participating in the Everything Your Mama Made (EYMM) Blog Tours - so it didn't really matter, I'd find the time. Well the blog tour dates were announced as I was getting ready for vacation. So I selected the last day of the blog tour, to make sure I'd be home and able to get my post up on time.

Make sure to check out the rest of the Freestyle Harems Blog Tour during the next week. (Note: The links below won't be live until their scheduled date.)

March 9 - Joelle at EYMM

March 10 - Patricia from Sew Far North

March 11 - Tami from Sew Sophie Lynn

March12 - Kelly from Analog Bytes

March 13 - Lore from Blessed x Five

March 14 - Larissa from Connected by a Thread

March 15 - Aimee from Capture, Craft, and Cook

During the blog tour, you can get the Freestyle Harem Pants on sale! Use code FREESTYLE to save 25% on the women's or youth sizing or on the bundle, expires at 11:59pm PST on 3/15/2016.

I was headed to southern California on my vacation, and decided these pants would be perfect for my trip. The Freestyle Harem's can be made with a variety of materials - wovens or knits, and had options for length and hem style. I decided to go with a Bohemian kind of look and found this cool border print lightweight woven in my stash. I purchased this fabric at Golden D'or during one of their inventory sales and paid $1/yard.

Normally, I take photos of the sewing process, but I honestly didn't have time. I finished sewing the pants on a Saturday and we were leaving on Monday.

Here I am in my Freestyle Harems. They are really comfortable. I fell between the Medium and Large size and decided to go with a Medium. The fit is good, and they were actually very easy to make.

Well, it ended up too cold to wear this on my vacation. We had snow the first night! Each day it warmed up to the low 70's, but we started each day in the upper 30's or low 40's. But I will definitely get some use from these as it gets warmer.

Golden Rippy - Cinnabar Sky Top Konstant Krafter Natural Dream Catcher

I received a strike off from Konstant Krafters - Natural Dream Catcher. This is a beautiful print of feathers and dream catchers is so pretty. I decided to pair it with a brown gold glitter flecked jersey knit I bought in the Dallas Fabric District for $1/yard. This print is available for pre-order from March 11th - March 21st. Pre-orders can be placed through the website at www.KonstantKraftersFabric.com Also, join the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/Konstantkrafter/

I decide to use a new to me pattern - The Cinnabar Sky Dress & Top by Golden Rippy.

I loved the look of this pattern and thought it would be very flattering on me. I went by my measurements and found that I needed a medium top, but a large for my hips. I also saw, that the waist was going to be low on me, and decided to raise it up.

When I cut my pattern, I cut it at the large cutting line up to the arm pit. I moved the waist up about an inch and put my pattern together. I found it interesting, that when I did, the medium cut line above the waist now lined up perfectly with the large below the waist. How perfectly divine! This made grading the size super easy since the waist is typically where I make the transition when grading between sizes. I also added about 2 inched to the length of the top, since I did not want my top shorter, and preferred it longer.

Once I had my pattern adjusted, I cut out all my pieces. Here they are.

Here is a closeup of the dream catcher fabric. The feathers are pretty and I love the little details in the design.

First the 2 overlapping pieces are attached at the shoulder.

Then the pieces were hemmed. The entire neckline was hemmed from one piece to the other. Then the bottoms of the overlapping pieces were hemmed.

My coverstitch makes it look so nice.

Then The overlapping pieces are laid out to line them up and baste the sides together.

Pinned, I mean clipped, into place.

Now for the lower front piece. The pattern is designed to be nursing friendly, but the access areas can easily be sewn together. So the front lower piece is shaped with a scoop. It attaches to the sides of the overlapped pieces at the top.

Then the overlap lays on top of it and the sides are sewn together.

Now for the sleeves.

Sleeves are hemmed and attached.

Last step was to hem it. I love this handy iron-able hemming guide my sweet friend Sharon gave me. I use it all the time.

After I tried it on, I saw immediately that the top across the bust was way too big. There was no easy way to take it in, so I decided to put in in the auction at Operation Santa that was benefiting a single mom who is trying to care for her son that is six months into treatment for cancer and has to move within a month (under very unfortunate circumstances).

I did have to sew the top together in a few places to keep everything together, but still kept it nursing friendly.

Here are a few photos of me in it.

Terras Treasures Lisse Cowl and Konstant Krafters Impressionist Night

I received a strike off from Konstant Krafters - Impressionist Night. This is a beautiful print reminiscent of Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night. When trying to decide on a coordinate to go with it, I decided to use some space dyed Supplex from Zenith & Quasar. I think it paired very well with the Impressionist Night. This print is available for pre-order from March 11th - March 21st. Pre-orders can be placed through the website at www.KonstantKraftersFabric.com Also, join the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/Konstantkrafter/

Here is a look at the beautiful print.

I decided to try a new to me pattern - the Lisse cowl by Terra's Treasures. This is a cute top that can be made with a cowl or a hood. I opted for the cowl. What I love is the tulip petal front. It makes for an interesting detail.

Here are all my pieces cut out.

I really love how the space dyed supplex has the same shades of turquoise and blue as the Impressionist Night. They look so pretty together.

First the top of the shoulders were sewn together.

Then the cowl is constructed.

The pattern has a drawstring in the top of the cowl. but I decided not to do it.

I then attached the cowl to the bodice.

Cowl attached.

Now I made the skirt part and sewed the pleats.

Then I placed the 2 petal pieces on top of the back to sew them up the sides.

Then the entire edge of the skirt was hemmed.

Then I attached the sleeves to the bodice. I folled the pattern as it was written, but I think they have the steps in an illogical order. I would have finished the bodice part first, then made the skirt, then attached the 2 together.

Then I sewed the side seams.

Now to make cuffs for the sleeves. One is constructed and one is not in the photo below.

Attaching the cuff.

Cuffs are done!

Now to attach the skirt to the bodice.

Here I am in the finished top. After I made it and tried it on, the waist was way too roomy, so I had to take it in about 2 inches on each side. I thought this top was really cute and comfortable. My husband on the other hand, does not like the tulip style skirt on it. But he's not the one wearing it, so I don't care.