Vintage Vogue 8728

Vintage Vogue 8728
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

I was inspired by one of the entrants in the red dress contest at Pattern Review. When I read a few of the reviews of this pattern and how much everyone loved it, I got excited to make one for myself. My original idea was to make it entirely of lace and wear a cute slip underneath. Then I saw the Dolce Gabbana 2012 Spring line on Pinterest and was inspired to mix the lace and a feature fabric. My first draft mixed the lace and cotton and I made the original skirt which is very full and gathered - not good. For this version, I found a silky poyester with a nice drape and drafted a bias cut skirt. The pattern has quite a bit of ease, like 2.5" in the waist, so I think it would look a little better with a belt. I covered a strapless bra with the feature fabric to wear underneath.

Simplicity Catalog Page Summer 2012

Simplicity Catalog Page Summer 2012
Originally uploaded by studiocherie

The release date I got from Simplicity for my newest sewing pattern with them was March 23rd. I need to run by JoAnn's today and see if the new catalogs are in. Their models are cute as can be. I am really excited to have this dress and skirt in the catalog. Simplicity pattern 1821 for girls size 3-8.

Customer Success Show-Off Time

Ellen sent me this lovely photo of the duffle she made from my sewing pattern, and I wanted to show it off here for several reasons. First, I have not made any in tiny prints and I wanted to show you how darling that can be. Also to let you know it is perfectly fine to use whatever batting you like for these. When you use the thinner batting, it does not stand up on its own empty, but it will when you fill it up. I think it makes storing the bag easier too. The other thing is the straps. Notice she didn't use jute webbing. I thought maybe she had found a 4" wide twill tape, but it is actually 2 side by side pieces of 2" twill tape. She butted them against one another and zigzagged them together.  I like to dry clean my duffles because I like the jute handles.  For those of you wanting a washable duffle, I recommend using this 2" wide twill tape - prewashed of course. I would buy 8-9 yards of it to make sure I had enough after shrinking. Ellen just started a blog too, here she is, the crafty geek.

Another customer show-off that turned up in my Etsy feedback as an appreciation photo (I love those) for my luggage tags pattern. Here is what she said:

Thank you! This pattern is great; actually I liked it so much I incorporated the tags into my wedding invitations. Highly recommend this pattern!

I thought it was very clever how she made the paper long enough to easily pull out of the tag. Lovely photo too.

Anna Maria Horner

Anna Maria Horner, me, and Carrie Jarvis, owner of The Top Stitch. Last Friday, I had the very special opportunity to meet and hear from Anna Maria Horner. She is a lovely person, an artist, and a fabric designer. A few things I have made with her fabrics:

Listening to Anna Maria talk about her career path was encouraging for me. She still does pretty much everything herself. She does not have the staff I imagined. She does have one full time assistant. So now when I dream of being more productive, I can envision starting with just one person. Makes the dream much closer. She does the computer part of her design work on Gimp. (I am so glad someone asked her the question.) I have been reluctant to spend the money on Photoshop, but now I have a free alternative with Gimp. I have only just started playing with it, but it seems a lot like photoshop. If it is powerful enough for Anna Maria Horner, I know it can do everything I need too. It was such a treat to meet one of my design heros. Her upcoming book is going to be amazing. Here is Anna Maria's blog.

Sweater to Shrug

It was a boring cashmere sweater. I have a lot of boring sweaters. I will wear it more as a shrug. I left the sleeves long and wear them rolled up in the photos. I like that I can wear them up or down if it gets chilly. I hope this post encourages you to dig out a neglected thing from your own closet and turn it into something you will wear.  More photos on my Facebook cover page.

Sew Alongs

Quite a while back, while I was ignoring my blog, another super sewing blogger asked me if she could do a sew along with one of my patterns on her blog. I expected 8 or 10 women to make my bag all together, but it turned out to be more like 45 or 50. It was really pretty amazing. Here in the final post about the sew along, you can see some of the wonderful variety of fabrics chosen for the project. If you want to read it, you might have to use google translate. Just looking at the pictures is fun though. Sew alongs are quite the internet phenomenon. From quilters (who have done this kind of thing through quilt shops forever) to dressmakers, sewing along is a popular and fun way to push yourself out of your comfort zone or make yourself complete a project that might otherwise get left behind. Thanks for doing the sew along Karin, I hope all of your talented friends are enjoying their bags.

Ways to win a free pattern right now

There are 2 ways you can win a free pattern from me right now. On Pattern Review, I am sponsoring the red dress contest. If you can make a red dress and post a pattern review before the end of this month, you will win your choice of any one of my patterns. I love Pattern Review. It is a great resource and community of sewists. Click on the contest link to see the lovely dresses that have already been entered. The last time I sponsored a contest there, I think we set some kind of record for participation. I love that I can give everyone who enters a prize. They deserve it! Check out some of the great bags the winners have made with their free patterns. This link goes to their StudioCherie pattern reviews.

The second way is to become a fan of StudioCherie on Facebook. Use the contact me button there to send me a message with your pattern choice. The 3 patterns to choose from are here in this photo album.