Colette Patterns

Via Colette Patterns

Have you ever seen Colette Patterns?

   I think they are by far, the cutest vintage inspired patterns for garments. This is the Violet Blouse which is my personal favorite. I love the peter pan collar, back yoke and mid-length sleeves that gather with elastic at the bottom.

Via Colette Patterns

   I also love the button-front and I even like the fabric they used for the sample. There's nothing I don't love about this blouse. If this came in plus sizes this would be the first garment I'd try to make. But someday I'll learn how to grade patterns and this will be one of my firsts victims. Buahahaha...

KAM Brand Polyresin Snaps

   I'm in love with these colorful snaps. I always use the heavyduty ones which are very practical but not as pretty. I sure will purchase a set when I have the money. This one comes with all the tools and enough pieces to make 200 snaps.

Via fabricbuttonsupplies

New Look for the Blog + Embroidery Inspiration

   I've been wanting to make a change to the blog since day one. I found the previous design to be kind of overwhelming, so I gave it a fresh look with only the right amount of cuteness. What do you think?

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   Embroidery is lately catching my attention a lot more than ever. I even bought the basic materials and I've been searching a lot for inspiration. These are some of those things that are currently inspiring me to learn to embroider.

Via doro k.

Via bekahjan

Via twinfibers

Via mellow_stuff

Aren't they cuper cute?

1st Craft Room Post! YAY!

   I've been meaning to write this post for a while now. I really wanted to tell you a little bit of how I'm doing with the craft room. I painted it purple, something between lilac and magenta on the light side, this picture doesn't show the true color. There's not much to show about the room yet, but as I told you in the last post I made the cupboard an important part of it.

   I don't know if you can tell but I took care of the weathered wood with some wood oils and dyes. It looks stunning! The closure had some minor issues which I fixed with epoxy and I cleaned it very carefully inside and out. I'd like to hang something from the closure, maybe tassels or pom poms but I'm not sure. I have to give it some thought.

   Yay! You can see all my fabric there, the first space is still random, there is a book and some notions. The second is holding my 5 yds of black gauze that I'll use for my blouse. The third has all the small cuts of super cute fabrics, you know fat quarters and scraps. I want a cute basket for the scraps but I haven't found the perfect one yet. The fourth is holding all the imported fabrics; the ones I buy from Etsy and such. They're also my favorites, you know cotton-linen blends, japanese imports, Michael Miller etc. The fifth has all the fabrics I purchase locally, Walmart, Capri and some smaller fabric shops. There's more fabric there because I take advantage of the sales, when they have $1 a yard and prices like that I like to buy 3 or 4 yards. The drawer that is pulled out has some random notions like: poly and cotton webbing, purse handles, trims, all of my cardboard patterns and all my solid colored fabrics. The bottom drawer that is closed has all the interfacing.

   As I was folding and placing my fabrics there I found out that I'm not a hoarder, not much I think. I think I'll have to fix that... :-D

Estate Sale Treasure

   I couldn't wait any longer to tell you about my first ever estate sale experience. The week before this happened I went treasure hunting to an antique store. When I went to ask for some help in the counter I found a flyer with the information of the sale. My expectations were not high, I thought I'd find super expensive stuff that wouldn't be worth the price. I was very surprised to find a house full of very interesting and curious things for a decent price. It was the house of an old lady that was going to be auctioned, so they needed to empty it ASAP. Among a couple glasses and mugs that I purchased for a super low price I found this jewel.

   I thought it needed a little bit of love because the wood looked weathered but I knew that could be done for a very low price with the right wood care products.

   Can you spot the antique portrait behind the cupboard? I loved it so much I even thought of purchasing it too but I quickly realized that it was probably the father of the person running the estate sale and I regretted it very fast. I also purchased this chair, they gave me a really good deal for purchasing it with the cupboard. I think it would look really good after a good revamp.

   Safety first right? As you can see it was a little bit tricky to transport it but I even buckled it up. The story with the cupboard was a little different, I had to pay the move guys to bring it home. But it doesn't matter because I was SO in love I couldn't part with it.

   I really wanted to use the cupboard in my new sewing room and so I did. I'll let you know more about it in another post. Stay tuned!

Happy Father's Day

   A quick note, because I wanted to wish all fathers in the world a happy day before I go see my grandpa and uncle.

I bought the fabric!

   Yay! After spending over a week without internet, I'm finally back. Not that my situation has been solved; I'm still using a neighbor's connection. For about a month my internet provider has been working mysterious magic with my account that seems to be reserved for superior eyes.

   I need to share with you that I'm nearly finished with the manatee task. There's still a few that are not assembled but that's the easy part, I hope I can be done by next Wednesday with all the papers filled and everything clear.

   Ok, now to the fun part. I'm really happy because I already purchased 5 yards of black gauze for my Easy Yoke Blouse. The pattern asked for around 4 but I wanted to make sure I had enough fabric to make up for any inconvenience, this being the first time I make a garment and use a pattern.

   I also wanted to tell everybody about this book, I find it very interesting and informative. It is very helpful for me now that I'm starting to make clothes and I think it would be to any plus sized seamstress. 

Sewing For Plus Sizes by Barbara Deckert

   It is not a new book but it sure has timeless tips and tricks, I think I'm learning a lot from it and I hope I can use all these things in the future.

Do you have a favorite sewing book that you'd like to share?

The pattern is here!

   Just a quick note to let you know that the pattern for my Easy Yoke Blouse was in my mailbox yesterday. I opened it and skimmed through the instructions, they look clear. I have yet to see if they help me turn those tissue papers into a blouse.

   I think I'll be making View B, I always use sleeves and it looks long enough to use with leggins. At some point this week I'll be purchasing the fabric that I'm going to use. I think it will be gauze if I can find enough fabric. Also, I would like to know if you think there's any tool I'll need to make this. Please let me know so I can get it when I go fabric shopping.

Yay! Wish me luck!

Japanese Kawaii Fabric

   When I started to make purses and search for new fabrics on Etsy, I found Japanese kawaii prints to be really awesome. I purchased some and used it to make wallets and pouches.

   When time passed, I felt the need to have my own style. I mean, not only relying on cute prints to make an identity and personality for my sewn items. I'm on that stage now, trying to build a style and identity for my products, being it in a cool shape or a different detail. I don't think there's anything wrong with prints, in fact I LOVE them, but I'm learning to use them as a tool, not let them dictate what I make.

I'll try making garments... Again!

   When I started to learn to sew I had in mind a whole new closet that I would have loved to sew for myself. I really wanted to start making garments as soon as I learned to stitch a straight line. I made a skirt and a blouse but I wouldn't dare to show them to you, Yikes!. Guess what happened? I got stuck in purse making because they seemed to be selling well in my Facebook profile. As recently as a few weeks ago I started to feel the urge to make clothes once again. I purchased this pattern from Fashion Patterns by Coni and I am planning to make it in a black gauze (I live in a tropical island) that I'll purchase from my local fabric store.

   I am a plus sized lady so it was a bit hard to select a pattern. I'm normally in love with those vintage patterns that seem to be all the rage in the blogosphere, but I KNOW they don't come in my size. I also love patterns from Colette Patterns, patterns from Japanese sewing books and I even love some of the baby clothes that Rae makes for her daughter, but these don't come in my size either. There was no way I could sew a decent garment for my body with any of those patterns so I searched a lot and decided to purchase the Easy Yoke Blouse pattern to test drive my garment making abilities. The description says that this is a pull-on blouse with simple seaming so I hope I can understand the pattern and manage to make a decent blouse that I can be proud of. Do you think I'll be able to tackle this task?

Do you believe in reincarnation?

   A few months ago I purchased a pack of 100 precut 2"squares of vintage fabrics. All ranging in decades from the 30's to the 90's. They were different from each other and each square was gorgeous in its own way. I guess they were part of quilts, curtains, aprons and many other things in their previous life, but I can only tell the story of their journey after they appeared in my mailbox.

   When I saw them for the first time I fell in love; I wanted to piece them together and make something ASAP. I was in need of a purse, so I quickly made a small cross-body quilted tote with a pretty bow sash.

   I made this in the early stages of my sewing life so forgive any uneven seams. I used it for a while, but I quickly felt the need for something bigger. I washed it and recycled the patchwork into a Pocket Clutch made using a Keyka Lou pattern.

   This is how it turned out, I used the patchwork for the outside, and used other vintage scraps for the inside of the clutch. Even the button was vintage on that clutch which found a loving home the moment I put it up for sale on my Facebook profile. This made me think of reincarnation, I have no idea if people can reincarnate but I'm sure fabric does. I wonder if it will ever become anything else.