Kate & Rose Pattern Review

My favorite pattern of 2013 was the Roza pattern so when Kati of Kate & Rose asked me to review her new pattern, of course I said “YES”!

For those unfamiliar with Kate & Rose, this is an independent pattern company based in New York that specializes in Hungarian embroidery motifs. Kati, who grew up in Hungary, is the mastermind behind the company and her desire is to preserve the beautiful handwork by inspiring new generations to embroider.

Her latest project is hot iron transfers. She sent me a package to try and I must say they are wonderful. I am a big fan of iron transfers and love trying new designers. Since I am impatient and don’t want to have to pull out my light box and trace designs when I am ready to sew iron transfers work well. Kati sells 4 different designs and the one I chose was Faraway Garden.

Each package comes with a 12″ x 18″ transfer sheet and instructions. Though the instructions recommend transferring to light fabric, my rebellious side kicked in so I chose to use dark red fabric. I had no issues with the image transferring and was able to iron the design twice with no problem. If I had used a light colored fabric I would be able to transfer three or four times before the design became too light.

After transferring the design, I opted to use white thread instead of the traditional multiple colors. My main reason was so the napkins could be used for both Valentine’s and Christmas. One of the nice things about these designs are the multiple sizes. Some are intended for borders or to be used down the front of the Roza blouse while others are suitable for single motifs.

The instructions include information on how to transfer the designs as well as how to sew each embroidery technique. The design I chose used both stem and satin stitch which were easy to master. I love how these napkins turned out and my next project is going to be a simple a-line skirt with an embroidered border!

As a thank you for reviewing her pattern, Kati graciously offered a couple of patterns for my readers to try. Please check her shop and post a comment about which of these patterns you like best and I will randomly choose a winner next weekend.

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And The Winners Are…

Just a quick update to announce the winners of my recent giveaways. Please send me an email with your mailing address and I will get your items in the post!

Congratulations go to cathynd95 who is the recipient of 8 balls of St Tropez Gedifra yarn and ebonierika who is the recipient of 4 vintage patterns. I can’t wait to see what you make!

I also wanted to thank everyone who voted in the Miss Bossy Patterns challenge. There was a tie between two patterns for several days but shawnta715 finally put Simplicity 2017 over the top with 47.62% of the votes. I hope to do this pattern and fabric proud!

The Monthly Stitch Miss Bossy Patterns March Challenge

There is a twist on the March challenge over at The Monthly Stitch and I need your help! The normal process is for the collective to vote on the theme then stitch whatever theme the majority chose. I haven’t had a chance to complete any challenges since my Date Night dress entry for the Frocktober Challenge but that hasn’t stopped me from cutting out the dresses and getting them ready to stitch.

This month requires each sewist to have their blog readers choose between three patterns in their stash that are new to them. I have A LOT of patterns I haven’t sewn but actually want to complete one of my never sewn “hibernating” projects so my March Monthly Stitch entry will be one of the following. Please post a comment and let me know which one you think I should stitch up for the challenge and the pattern with the most votes will be my entry!

First up is Vintage Pattern 9387 which is a sleeveless, princess seamed dress that I originally intended to make for the September Vintage Patterns Challenge. I chose an emerald green marbled fabric and have all the pieces cut and ready to sew.

The second option is the Licorice dress from Colette Patterns Sewing Handbook and was supposed to be my November From a Sewing Book Challenge entry. The fabric is the lovely Liberty of London Tana Lawn Alma in black and red. This one is also cut and ready to sew.

The final option is Simplicity 2017 which is a sleeveless shift dress with a square yoke. The fabric was a prize from Anneke of Annette Tirette.  This fabric is an African wax print and should suit the pattern quite nicely!

New Dress, New Challenge & New Giveaway

Greetings from the SNOWY south ya’ll! I have been stuck inside for two days with my husband and very bored teenager so you can imagine how happy I am to be able to share my latest make with you.

This is my third version of the Peony dress from Colette patterns. I used short sleeves on the first one and the second one was a sleeveless version but I wanted this one to have longer sleeves so I could wear it through the winter. The fabric is from Art Gallery’s Splendor 1920 collection and is called Adorneament in Royal. I love the vintage Downton Abbey look of the fabric and plan to wear it for a Valentine’s Day dinner with my husband if the weather eases up long enough for us to get out of the driveway! I bought this fabric last year from Hawthorne Threads along with the fabric for my Date Night dress.  I also still have three lengths of fabric from that order waiting to be stitched up so I hope to show you some more lovely dresses soon!

I did my normal modifications to the pattern:

• Graded up to fit 47″ bust
• Used bias tape instead of facings for the neckline
• Lengthened the skirt by 4 inches
• Sewed a lapped zipper instead of using an invisible zipper

This time I also opted to add the contrasting sash which was a pain to get a good fit. Since my waist-to-hip differential is so large and I am short waisted, it is hard to get belts wide enough to accentuate without riding up above the hip fluff. I did manage to get this one to fit after a couple of attempts by using snaps instead of a single button.

Another thing I did when the power and internet were restored was visit my favorite blogs for new sewing inspiration. What I found was not “new” inspiration but “vintage”. Marie of A Stitching Odyssey has decided to challenge herself to finally use some of her vintage patterns instead of merely collecting them. She challenged other sewists to also use their vintage stash and I have decided to join her Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge by committing to use at least three of my vintage patterns this year.

While searching through my vintage pattern stash to determine which ones I plan to sew, I realized I have way TOO many and will not possibly get around to sewing them all. I hope to finalize my vintage sewing list soon but in the meantime, there is a good way to share my love of vintage sewing with you by sending these four patterns to one lucky sewist. Just leave a comment by Wednesday, February 19th and I will choose a winner next Thursday.

Congratulations to the winner of last week’s yarn giveaway: Cathynd95! Cathy, please email me your address and I will get the yarn in the post!

Sewing Mojo, UFOs & a Giveaway!

I had a few days off at the first of July and spent the time organizing my sewing space. I went through my fabric and pattern stash, happily making plans to get both under control. After completing several items though, I feel like I really should finish all of my UFO’s before starting something else. I am not looking forward to fixing all of the issues that prevented me from finishing each garment in the first place so I keep putting them off. The pile is growing and at my current rate the UFO pile will be bigger than my fabric stash soon! Any ideas on how to keep my sewing mojo (or sewjo as  Lizzy calls it!) going while also reducing the UFO pile?

As an added incentive for both you and me, I am going to give away a pattern of your choice from my “willing to share” stash to the person with the best idea for keeping my sewjo going and conquering my UFO pile. The giveaway will close on next Wednesday, August 14 and I will announce the winner next Thursday so get those ideas coming!

My current UFO’s include:

Colette Crepe in vintage navy dotted swiss. This dress has been in the UFO pile since early 2012. I got as far as adding the piping then got stuck. The dress has a sweetheart neckline so it requires some finesse to get the piping and facing to lie flat. After trying a couple of times, I got frustrated and tossed it. In order to finish the dress, I would need to unpick the neckline and restitch the piping then sew the sides seams and hand hem.

Colette Ginger in embossed suede microfiber. This was my second attempt at this skirt and has been in my UFO pile since mid 2012. The first one is a tad too tight in the hips so it rides up. In an effort to correct that issue, I cut a larger size expecting to simply add a few back darts so the waist would fit appropriately. Unfortunately the fabric is so thick and stiff I can’t get the waistband to lie flat and get all these weird puckers. In order to finish the skirt, I would need to unpick the waist darts and figure out how to get the waistband to fit properly. The skirt also needs to be hemmed.

In House Patterns Blossom in Amy Butler sketchbook voile. This blouse has only been in my UFO pile since early spring but the fabric is so lovely it is a shame to have it languish. There are a couple of issues with getting this one finished. First the back neckline gapes so somehow I need to find a way to “tighten” it up without removing fabric from the shoulder area. I also didn’t have enough fabric to grade up the sleeves as the pattern is written so I opted for a tulip style instead. I got the first side on correctly but struggled with the other sleeve so much I put the whole blouse away and never came back to it.

Colette Hawthorn in minty green eyelet. Not so much a UFO as a hard to get started. I have all of the pieces cut out but can’t seem to wrap my head around how to line and add the facings. The fabric is scalloped along the button edge instead of the hem so any ideas on how to get the facings and lining stitched without losing the scallops would be most appreciated!