Monthly Archives

April 2013

Free Patterns Sew-along Sewing Tutorials

Free pattern and tutorial – Skirt with piped pockets.

April 30, 2013

This months free tutorial is partly inspired by the Skirts special in Cucito Spring 2013, my kids, and the Great British Sewing Bee! Yup! you heard me right. I heard so much about it but had given up hope of watching it since it is not showing on TV here. But luck would have it, someone posted a link to it on youtube and I watched it and got hooked! Many people compare it to Project Runway, but in my opinion Project Runway is more about the contestants than the craft itself. The Great British Sewing Bee is really more about sewing. It’s educational, informative, and you can actually see them sewing. My only gripe is that they keep referring to us as sewers. Aren’t sewers for sewage??? Anyway, the actual challenge that got me thinking was the pocket challenge in Episode 2, where they had to make pockets for a ready-made skirt in 60 minutes. I must say I was not impressed by any of their pockets. Maybe except for Lauren’s.

In the Cucito Spring, there were lots of skirts. Frilly skirts, gathered skirt, tiered skirts, but none with pockets. And kids need pockets. Kids love pockets. The last two dresses I made for them both had side pockets and the first thing they do when they discover a pocket is to find something to put in it. I’ve always wondered how to make this particular type of pockets, and I didn’t know what they were called so I couldn’t find a pattern. They are not quite side pockets nor patch pockets, so I decided to make up the pattern myself. I’m not even sure if this is the right way to construct them but it works!

So here you are, a new skirt pattern with pockets 🙂


Fabric used : A walk in the woods  by Aneela Hoey for moda fabrics.
Says Made in Japan on selvedge. Bought at clearance price of SG$9/yard!

I only had time to make one size this time, and the measurements for a 116cm size are based on a waist measurement of  58cm, but  as it’s a elastic band skirt so it is quite adaptable for sizes between 110-130. Model in picture above is 128cm tall but with a tiny waist.  Just adjust the length of the skirt and elastic band accordingly. You can also adapt this process to an adult size skirt.

Here’s what you will need for a 116cm size skirt.

Materials (based on 116cm size)

  1. Skirt Fabric –  1m (112cm wide)
  2. Elastic Band – 60cm (2.54cm or 1″ wide)
  3. Satin Bias Tape Piping – 25cm (approx 1cm or 3/8″ wide)

You will also need a zipper foot (see step by step photos if you are not sure which one it is) for attaching the piping.

Cutting Diagram (based on 116cm size)

Cut the following pieces from skirt fabric

  1. Skirt Front and Skirt Back pieces – 98cm (W) x 35cm (H)
  2. Waistband piece – 75cm (W) x 9cm (H)
  3. Pocket front pieces – 2 pieces that are mirrored images of each other, using pattern below.
  4. Pocket back pieces – 2 pieces using pattern below.

Please fill in the form below. The download link will be sent to your email.

Your email will be automatically included in my subscription list where you will receive once a week updates of my blog, and you will also be the first to know if I release any new patterns! Rest assured that I will never sell your email address to anyone. I hate spam as much as you do. 🙂

How to Make
Step by step photographs

Sad to say, there is no video this time round. I did take some videos of the sewing process but due to time constraints, did not have time to finish filming all the sections. When I make skirt number 2 I will fill up the gaps so hopefully the youtube video will materialize later on!

 

Giveaways

Spring Magazine Giveaway!

April 24, 2013

It’s time for a Spring Magazine Giveaway! Yay!

Up for grabs is this brand new, still in shrink wrap copy of the latest Cotton Friend Spring 2013 Magazine. You can read more about the contents in my previous review post here.

How to enter? Simple! Just leave a comment below. No need to like or follow anything.  You can say anything you want in the comments. For example, suggestions for future monthly features or new suggestions for the blog.

Even if you don’t have anything to say, it’s fine. You can still just comment to register for the giveaway. =)

Contest ends next Monday 29th April at 8am (Singapore time), which is the same as UTC 00:00 hrs. Find your corresponding time here.

That’s all and good luck!

 

And the winner of the Giveaway is Natalie!

Congratulations Natalie!

For those of you who didn’t win, thank you all for your participation! There will be more Giveaways coming your way 🙂 Very Soon.

Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Magazines Kids Sewing Patterns

Cucito Spring 2013

April 22, 2013

Finally got my hands on this. In Singapore’s Kinokuniya, the magazines come from two sources. One is directly imported from Japan, and the other is through a magazine supplier in Hong Kong. I don’t know how it works because both copies are printed in Japan and similar in quality, but the direct import which arrives at the bookshop much earlier, is double the price of the one from the magazine supplier. Maybe one is flown in and the other takes a ship. The official publication date was 28th February, and I only found this magazine in the bookstore slightly more than a week ago which means it is more than a month of waiting. The price difference was significant enough to make me wait, so here it is at last 🙂

The magazine starts off with a series of co-ordinates for both boys and girls. There are 23 projects in all covered in the co-ordinates section. Like this twirly knit tunic with giant collars.

It has very pointy sides and large buttons on the cuff. Very interesting shape 🙂

 Pattern for all the co-ordinates you see in the pictures are included. Each of the co-ordinate item is given a number,

so that you can combine the co-ordinates in different ways to give you a variety of different looking outfits.

 Just follow the numbers to achieve the same look!

 This looks like a one-piece dress,

but it’s actually a blouse + skirt made using the same fabric.

Clever isn’t it? You can then use the co-ordinates separately in other outfits.

 Some stylish looks for the boys too…

 Check out the baggy pants! I hear Ice Ice Baby in my head when I see pants like this 😛

 Next up, a section on matching Mama + kids outfits. I love that fabric on the skirts! Very Marimekko but not quite. I’ll see if I can track it down.

The skirts project come with step by step photographs.

Complete the matching outfits with matching bags. Patterns are  provided for the bags as well.

A very cute matching set. A little too balloon-y on the Mum but so adorable on the girl!

 Matching bottoms for Mama, girl and boy. Not quite the same pattern for each but co-ordinated in terms of fabric choice. A great way to have a matching outfit with your kids without looking identical.

A regular feature on Cucito, sewing projects for school goods.

 Raincoats are perfect for school excursions!

 This cute little waist pouch is a great idea for turning fabric scraps into something pretty and practical. Great for kids to carry their favorite collections around with them at all times, but keeping their hands free for more important things like climbing 😛

Some of the projects in the school goods section come with colored diagrams like this.

Hair accessories for the girls. This section is actually to promote a new series of products called Laco Lab where the co-ordinating fabrics and lace is ready cut for you in the right lengths to make the hair accessories. But the dimensions and how-to-make are provided in the instructions, so you can make them with your own supplies even if you can’t buy the same kits.

 Combination of lace + crochet ribbons.

Now, some sewing for the little ones… Cucito is a sewing magazine for kids, so baby patterns are included as well.

 Everything looks cute in miniature sizes doesn’t it?

Super cute pants with a sewn on apron and a ribbon tie at the back. Too cute!

 A bib with shoulder straps as well. I’m hope it helps to keep the bibs on for slightly longer. What caught my eye is actually the cute giraffe print!

Now for some accessories. What’s trending in the fashion world for girls?

 Fake collars! Jazz up a plain t-shirt immediately with a fake collar.

 A very sweet combination of lace and embroidery.

A Skirts special!

For those dress-up days.

Ruffly skirts. Love the fabric combinations on these.

 Remember this fabric from the fabric post two weeks ago? Here’s the picture of the skirt on the little model. Awww…..

Flare skirt with frills details on the hem.

 Step by step photos are included for the ruffle skirt pattern.

 For the rest of the projects, instructions are given in diagrams.

 Patterns are included at the back. The pictures of the project on each side of the pattern paper is indicated in pictures, which makes it a lot easier to find!

Sizes included in this magazine :
Babies : 70cm-90cm
Kids : 90,100,110,120/130 (some projects include up to 130, some only include up to 120)
Mama : S,M,L

Next issue is due 28th of May. We probably won’t see it here till June, but the Summer issues usually contain a lot of useful projects for me because of our hot weather over here. So I’m definitely getting that one.

Also, there will be a Spring magazine giveaway coming up soon, look out for the announcement in the next few days! 🙂

 

 

Japanese Fabrics

Kawaii Japanese Fabrics

April 19, 2013

I’m a big fan of kawaii (かわいい means cute in Japanese) fabrics. Well, I’ve been a Sanrio fan since I was a kid. Not just Hello Kitty, but also My Melody, Little Twin Stars, Tuxedo Sam, Minna no Tabo… so many more! But today’s fabrics are not about these famous characters, but characters from storybooks and TV shows.

Some of the fabrics are new releases for Spring 2013 and some are not so new but new fabric discoveries for me. I subscribe to a couple of Facebook pages of Japanese zakka and fabric shops, and I discovered this new fabric shop called Tree Big on Rakuten with lots of character prints. I was so excited to discover so many of my favourites in one store.

Image from Tree Big on Rakuten

This was the first fabric that brought me to this website. I subscribe to the Shinzi Katoh Facebook page and first found out about this new release from it. If you haven’t heard of Shinzi Katoh, you have to check his website out! His zakka stuff are quite easy to find in stores in Japan. There are also some shops in Singapore that sell Shinzi Katoh stuff. But fabrics seem to be hard to find in stores. Every time I go to Japan I try to hunt down the fabrics but I’ve never managed to find any.

The Little Red Riding Hood is just one of the storybook character series that he has done. Others include Snow White, Cinderella and even collaborations with famous characters such as Disney, Paddington Bear, Hello Kitty.

Image From Tree Big on Rakuten

Another print that shows off Shinzi Katoh’s style of drawing people and animals.

Image From Tree Big on Rakuten

Le Sucre is one of my recent favourites and my older girl loves it to bits. I only discovered this character through their fabrics a few years ago. Apparently this fabric was not just designed for kids, but also to attract ladies in their 20s-30s. This character was designed by Naomi Tozaki for Santan.Co. Ltd. Check out the online shop here for other zakka stuff.

Image from Tree Big on Rakuten

Another fabric from le sucre. This fabric is a sweet border print, perfect for making bags!

Image from Tree Big on Rakuten

A fabric featuring Heidi stamps! I was trying to find out the designer of this particular version of Heidi, since there are so many storybook version of the original story by Johanna Spyri, when I realized the character looks very familiar and realized that it came from the 1974 Japanese cartoon version of Heidi (where the title is actually ハイジ pronounced Haiji). According to Wikipedia, this character was designed by  Yōichi Kotabe – a Japanese manga artist and animator. Many of you might have watched this when you were kids since it was apparently dubbed into many languages.

Image from Tree Big on Rakuten

This is new to me. Karl and Curious Tower – A quick search on on Google tells me that this is a Japanese cartoon with the following synopsis –

“The story centers around a mysterious tall tower built from an (unsteady) stack of building blocks. Every morning, noon, and evening, an old timekeeping man rings the bell in the tower to confirm the time for the local townspeople. However, one day at noon, the tower bell fails to ring — leaving the townspeople confused about when to eat lunch. The fantasy adventure begins when Karl, an inquisitive boy living in the town, decides to go to the tower’s plaza to see what is the matter.”

Haha, even the synopsis is so cute!

Image from Tree Big on Rakuten

Babar! One of my childhood favourites. I remembered watching this on TV and borrowing the books from the library. My brother even bought me a vintage Babar print (from a vintage storybook) from a flea market when he went to Europe. I love the green fabric in particular, it’s a very Babar color!

Image from Tree Big on Rakuten

In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.
In two straight lines they broke their bread
And brushed their teeth and went to bed.
They left the house at half past nine
In two straight lines in rain or shine-
The smallest one was Madeline.”
― Ludwig BemelmansMadeline

I did not read this as a child but I bought Madeline books for my girls and they love her. I’ve read the stories so many times I can memorize the opening lines 🙂

Image from Tree Big on Rakuten

This fabric is based on the storybook series called The Family of Fourteen. This is a very cute story about a family of 14 mice by Kazuo Iwamura. I first stumbled upon the Chinese version of these storybooks and just fell in love with the illustrations. The books have been translated to many languages including English. You can see a picture of the entire family here and even “mouse” over 😛 the characters to see the profile of the individual character. The fabric in border print even shows their names below each mouse.

How many of these characters did you recognize? Are you tempted like me to buy the fabrics? I’m really tempted to get Babar for myself and Madeline for the girls.. oh, and the Shinzi Katoh, and the Le Sucre fabrics. Uh oh 😛

 

Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Magazines Ladies Sewing Patterns

Magazine review – Sewing Pochee vol. 15 Spring 2013

April 16, 2013

Time for another Spring magazine! Today’s review is on Sewing Pochee volume 15.

Sewing Pochee is one of my favourite books/magazine. But I realized I haven’t done a review on it for a while now (last one was done a year ago).

Spring wear is mainly about layering pieces, so these can be worn individually or layered on. This is a long shirt dress which can be worn like a coat as well.

A similar shirt but in a shorter version with a peter pan collar and ribbon tie in the front.

And it comes with step by step photos!

Close up of the process.

A side slit tunic which you can leave untied (on the left model) or tied up (on right model)

V-neck tunic in khaki linen.

V-neck blouse with frill sleeves and ribbon tie detail at the back

Butterfly sleeve tunic.

My favourite section in this book! Do you remember this book that I reviewed – Everyday Clothes for Girls ? Well, they have reproduced the same patterns in adult sizes! Which means…

I can now make a matching smock blouse for myself to match the ones I made for my girls 🙂

This is a the dress version of the smock blouse, without the buttons in front.

Another adult version from the book – border print (stripes) coat.

Then there are Mama and Girl matching sets,

Mama and Boy matching sets, and wait there’s more!

Papa and Boy matching sets! For far too long the fathers have been left out of the handmade love. Now you can make matching outfits for father and son. Start working on this now for Father’s Day?

Close up of Papa’s shirt

There is also a two-color pants pattern but in boy sizes only.

Simple projects for lazy sewing days 🙂 Sewing without patterns!

Very pretty tulle skirt.

As with all sewing magazines, there are usually sections devoted to crafters, bloggers and a peek into their sewing room for some sewing room envy. Her fabric storage cabinet is made from recycled vintage kindergarten cubby holes!

Vintage drawers for storing patterns, tools and notions.

Other than clothes, there are also patterns for bags and accessories.

An insulated lunch bag

Jazz up your measuring tape with these cute covers.

Dress up your soap (yes! soap) with some decoupage.

Now for the how-to-make section. There are some basic techniques that will be used throughout the projects. Everything is in diagram form which makes it easy to understand. You can also cross reference the techniques by matching the names when you come across it in the how-to-make.

Most of the how-to-make pages look like the one below.

There are very few text instructions which in a way is good because not much translation is necessary. Follow the order of make using the numbers on the main diagram.

A closeup of the diagrams.

The sizes included for this book are :
Adult (ladies) : S,M,L,LL
Kids : 100,110,120,130

Sewing Pochee vol.15(2013spring) / Nihon Vogue

Title : Sewing Pochee vol.15(2013spring) (Heart Warming Life Series)
Click on link to buy (affiliate link)
ISBN : 978-4-529-05178-1
Publisher : Nihon Vogue
Next week I will go through the latest Cucito Spring 2013, and maybe a giveaway is coming up 😉 so be sure to check back often!