StudioCherie: April 2013

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

summer pants

summer pants
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

I made my favorite pants in a floral voile. Even if I say, "these are not pajamas," nobody believes me. So I am in search of lightweight fabrics for my new favorite Summer pants. I am also adding details to my pattern to make it obvious, "these are not pajamas!" They are as comfy as pajamas, but with tailored lines. My next step is to eliminate the side seam and add a back seam instead.
This fabric is Kaffe Fassett shot cotton in Galvenized. It is made with orange threads and turquoise threads. Together they appear grey. In certain light you get glimpses of color. It is a shirt weight fabric, but that is the point of these pants - to be able to wear pants in the Summer. I will be doing these in handkerchief linen and voile as well. Once I get the pattern to where I want it, I will be making them available as a made to order item in my Brandybuck shop.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

2 New Patterns and a New Fabric

I created a custom bag for a customer and I thought it would be one you might like too. Here is the new pattern. It's the duffle, re sized with some changes and improvements. The new size makes it a lot easier to sew. As you can see, I even quilted it more. For those of you who like to quilt, the more manageable size makes the quilting more fun too. The end pocket on the right holds a magazine perfectly. I found a better way to explain the pleated zippered pocket and a new way to put it on that is a lot easier - that pocket is still on the other end. The ends are rectangular - taller than they are wide, so it sits atop your rolling luggage better. There is a sleeve on the back side that slides over the luggage handle to attach the duffle to the other luggage. Since this bag is a couple of inches shorter than the original duffle, I was able to use 2" wide webbing instead of the jute. This is going to give you some fun design options with color, and it makes the bag machine washable. I wrote it up with a new, faster way to attach the straps. (One of the benefits of making more than a hundred of something.)

Most of you probably know that the zip around wallet pattern is out. I have it on Etsy and Craftsy. Craftsy is actually better for me as a shop than Etsy, but whichever you like to use is great. I decided to size it down as small as possible for the first version. I think it works great and have great feedback from those using it. Of course, my first custom order for one on Etsy is for someone with the iPhone5, and I researched just to make sure it will fit - and it won't. If you are making this pattern for the iPhone5, you will have to make it 1/2" taller. So you will split the base pattern in half at the center and add a 1/2" there. Also add the same to the interior and exterior pockets. The spine will need to be 1/2" longer and the zipper 1/2" longer. I will have to adjust the pattern pieces and release it again with both options. It is an advanced pattern though, so those of you who have it should be able to make all of the adjustments with no problem.

Just because I am not blogging, don't assume I am not creating anything. I drew those bears the other night. For my son's graduation, I am making him a special quilt from fabric I have designed. My daughter and I drew the vans, and I have a friend in Seattle who colorized the drawings. The vans fabric is available on Spoonflower. It has 6 different colorful vans on a fat quarter. They are great for a quilt sized project like mine. I will have to scale it down if I want to use it for Kindle Fire cases and smaller stuff. As soon as I decide on the size and layout for the bumper sticker bears "Cher Bears," I will get that uploaded as a fabric too.

Mail Chimp makes me feel like a chump. I have a list of people who have signed up for pattern and product updates, but I haven't used it. I am hoping you all are reading the blog too.

Maybe someday I will be one of those sewing bloggers who learns how to post a picture and some words everyday. Or maybe even one of those who has a schedule: Mondays WIP, Tuesdays a recipe, Wednesdays something I drew, Thursdays Pinterest, Fridays Flickr, or something like that. Doesn't sound too hard, right? I don't think I could do the same thing every week. Maybe I need something more like a list of things to cover monthly, and I check them off as I do them. It's on my to-do list to blog better. Making the stuff is more important though.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Sew South Giveaway

50 fantastic women made duffles from my travel duffle pattern at the Sew South sewing retreat in North Carolina. Awesome!

Sew South was a BIG success!

Lots of sewing, creating, laughing and FUN!

Want to see for yourself? Take a look a this video to get a feel for what Sew South is all about.

Sew South has some very gracious sponsors and friends that sent some FABULOUS swag and today I'm sharing it with you!

Three lucky winners will receive a Sew South Swag Bag full of amazing sewing products that I am sure you will love! Each swag bag is valued at over $200!

Here's a closer look:

Here's what you get:

Dritz Rotary Cutter, Dritz Flower Pins, Omnigrid Cutting Mat, Free Spirit Notting Hill Bundle, Jo Ann Fat Quarters, Insulbrite Batting, Warm & Natural Batting, Steam-a-Seam Sample, Baby Lock Pattern Books, Andover Charm Pack, Michael Miller Cotton Couture Charm Pack, Fabricworm Fat Quarter, Art Gallery Fat Quarter, Alison Glass Fabric Sample, Spoonflower Quilt Label, Windham Fabric Samples, Modern Patchwork Magazine, Generation Q Magazine, Aurifil Thread, Coats & Clark Thread, Phoomph Sample, Moda Mini Charm Pack, Downtown Tape Washi Tape, Pellon Interfacing Guide, Green Bee Pattern, Straight Stitch Society Pattern, Kati Cupcake Pattern, Favorite Things Pattern, Block Party: The Modern Quilting Bee Book