Embroidered Moon Shirt

I started this shirt about two years ago. It was one of those crazy ideas — hey, this would look so pretty if I  hand embroidered the fabric for the cuffs and collar! Yes, a great idea. But soon after I started, it became very clear that it was going to be one of those projects. Yep, the ones you get a little bit into before you realize how tedious an idea it really was. Do I really want to wrestle with this stupid thread and needle, or would I rather go do those dishes I’ve really been meaning to get to. Organize the sock drawer, yeah, that definitely needs to happen!

Okay, well, I’m not sure I ever organized my sock drawer, and many many sinks full of dishes were washed, but I eventually finally finished this project. There are plenty of projects I’ve dropped and never picked up again, but I was too excited to actually wear this shirt to let it moulder on the “in progress” pile forever.

I am so glad I powered through and finished this shirt. It is everything I hoped it would be. The pattern is the Archer Button Up shirt by Grainline Stuido, and I used Sprout Patterns printed fabric to make life easier. The shirt uses two designs from Spoonflower fabric, poly crepe de chine, by designer Marketa Stengl. You can see why I was inspired to add embroidery to these gorgeous designs, I wanted to add a bit of depth and texture to the lovely embroidery inspired designs.

Moon Phase Embroidery fabric by Marketa Stengl on Spoonflower

Stitches on Blue fabric by Marketa Stengl on Spoonflower

I got the effect by doing a simple straight stitch over top of the drawn design in sulky silver thread. Given that the fabric is so fine and drapey, I interfaced the cuff and collars. I love the texture it adds to the garment, and just that little subtle something special. I love that using Sprout Patterns takes out the irritating parts of sewing, leaving me more time to add unique design details.

Embroidered Moon Shirt

Embroidered moon shirt front

Embroidered moon shirt collar detail

Embroidered moon shirt, collar and buttons

Embroidered Moon Shirt cuff detail

Embroidered Moon shirt back

Embroidered moon shirt back yoke

Embroidered Moon Shirt collar back detail.

Blue Flowered Birthday Dress

I think I’ve mentioned how every year I like to sew myself a birthday dress. This year was no exception.

I used Sprout Patterns once more, and this time chose a dress I’ve had my eye on since the very beginning. This pattern is the Anna Dress by By Hand London. It is super simple to put together, but still feels elegant without being intimidating.

I think my favorite thing about this dress is that I made mistakes all over the place, but because its got simple lines and a relaxed flow you can’t even tell. Most obvious, I wasn’t paying attention and bought the wrong size zipper. Which I didn’t even notice until midnight the day before I wanted to wear it, no craft stores open now! (As a sideline, I’ve always wanted to start a business that makes craft supply vending machines for moments like this.)

What do you do when you only have 9″ of zipper to close up 22″ of back seam? You modify the dress to have an open key hole back! I simply inserted the zipper in the 9 inches of the narrowest part of the waist, cut out a curve in the rest of the back seam, and put a button at the top! Its even a self-fabric covered button, because I had a few left over from a previous project.

Its not a perfectly fitted alteration, but it works for the casual look I wanted anyways. And besides, thats not even the worst of it. Halfway through I mixed up the skirt panel pieces, and discovered way too late that I had attached them in the wrong order, with the front three halfway around the back. Can you tell? Not a bit! I’m pretty sure the front seams were supposed to line up with the pleat lines in the bodice, but oh wait, I kind of screwed those up too.

And yet, with all that, I love this dress. Its obviously hugely forgiving of mistakes, you can put it together half asleep and still look incredible.

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Sprout Patterns Blouse

This blouse was another excellent project I completed from Sprout Patterns.

The biscanye blouse is a simple and elegant pattern. The collar and placket add a touch of interest and detail, without too much complication. The instructions were very simple to follow, and easy to get a clean nice result. I left out the welt pocket this time around, but I love the option to add it in.

I reviewed this pattern here: Hey June Handmade Biscayne Blouse ★★★★

The fabric is spoonflower’s poly crepe de chine, which is always one of my favorites. It has such a light flowy drape, but still a crisp hand. The fabric was designed by scrummy things, and is unique and colorful without being quite as far “weird” as I frequently like to go.

This blouse is comfortable and flattering, and perfect for the office, or can be dressed up for a night out. It turned out great, and I’m definitely a fan!

The Cat’s Pajamas

The moment I saw the tulip-like construction on the back of these pajamas, I knew I had to make them. They’re another offering from Sprout Patterns, which I know I’ve written about before. Then I found the perfect collection of designs, and I couldn’t resist.

Want to see what this project looked like at Sprout Patterns? Check this out! You can see all the designs, and the 3D model, and if you click “customize this project” over on the right you can even spin it around, see the back, play with the designs and even change it yourself. Its so much fun to play with.

The pattern was super easy and fun to sew, once I got finished making the miles of matching bias tape. The construction of the back is just as fun and interesting and flattering as I knew it would be. The shorts are comfy, and shorter than anything I’d normally wear to the gym, but not unreasonable for most people.

A big thank you to Caroline Okun, who took the photos for the Sprout Patterns website, and Paula who was kind enough to model!

 

Pluviophilia Rain Dress

I mentioned my involvement in the new Spoonflower project called Sprout Patterns before, but to repeat myself: there is an amazing new thing out there called Sprout Patterns and you really really must go check it out. The idea is that Spoonflower will actually print the pattern for various garments and projects directly on the fabric for you, filled in with your chosen design. They’ve partnered with a whole bunch of indy pattern makers to bring you a really diverse and excellent set of options. In addition, you can actually see your project before you buy it, projected in 3D in your browser. You can even shift the pattern around if you care about design placement, and they’re working on allowing design rotation so that you can accurately place border prints. Its so cool. This is what my dress looked like when I built it in sprout patterns.

The bit on the left is literally what your printed fabric will arrive looking like, with obvious cut lines, labels, et al. I find the sense of scale invaluable when trying to judge how a various project will look with a spoonflower fabric design. Not to mention, the bit where you have to print out a pattern, tape endless sheets of paper together, tediously cut out all the bits and only THEN start playing with your fabric is completely removed when you use Sprout Patterns for your project. I cut out the pieces for this dress while sitting on my couch watch tv. I just followed the lines on the fabric. And it turned out fantastic, if I do say so myself.

I actually designed the fabric for this project as well. I’m one of those people who actually really love thunderstorms, cloudy days, even sometimes just the steady drum of of a rainy wet day. You know, when I can sit inside, warm and dry with a book and just watch it. So awhile ago, I designed myself a set of curtains with watercolor and ink pen clouds, pouring forth a stream of words, all quotes about rain. When the sun is too bright and sharp and loud, I can pull the curtains closed and it all gets softer.

I re-used the cloud elements to create a fully repeating cloudy day fabric design. If you like it, you can buy it yourself on spoonflower in small scale like my dress below, and large scale.

The pattern for this dress is the Colette Myrtle, and it was perfect for this project. The fit is very relaxed, obviously, without a whole lot of pieces, or a need for exact fitting. Considering the steps that sprout takes out, it was also very very very fast to put together. I even did french seams on the side of the skirt! The fabric is Spoonflower’s poly crepe de chine, which is still one of my favorites. Light, flowy, slightly textured, super easy to sew.

I reviewed this pattern here: Colette Myrtle ★★★★★

Also as promised, more pictures of myself, wearing my creations. This one is definitely a crowd pleaser, a winner, and something I actually get to wear frequently.