Monthly Archive for April, 2011

Toddler Harem Pant Pattern

Published on April 28, 2011 in Handmade and Sew beautiful. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Pattern: my free harem pant pattern I increased pattern by 3″ and went a size up
Fabric: Andy’s Studio 54 Tee Shirt in front, black soy, cotton blend in the back.

I finally managed to figure out the page tiling for my harem pant pattern.
I had promised many times to post several sizes and here it is! Including instruction booklet in english and german. So here we go:

Just click here or on any picture and the tiled .pdf pattern should download immediately.

For instructions in english, click here.
For instructions in german, click here.

 

 

QfQ – nearly 30 quilts to be shipped!

Published on April 25, 2011 in Handmade, quilts for quake survivors and Sew beautiful. 1 Comment

Quilts for Quake Survivors - Japan Shipment all quilts!

Oh whow! After Patty and Amy dropped their finished QfQ quilts off at our house, Susan and I counted all of them and there are 29 quilts! Nearly 30 quilts are going to be shipped out tomorrow in three big boxes.

It’s absolutely amazing that we were able to get that many together in about one month!

Thank you everybody!

Quilts for Quake Survivors – Shipment for Japan

Published on April 24, 2011 in Handmade and Sew beautiful. 0 Comments

Quilts for Quake Survivors - Japan Shipment

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Created with fd’s Flickr Toys

Whow, what a whirl wind April was so far. Lots of piecing, sewing, binding, finishing, sewing classes, book launches for Susan, signing events, QfQ sewing events besides starting a business, our families and kids, work deadlines, and Easter – Happy Easter everyone! – you get the picture. I somehow even managed to sew two easter dresses for L which she didn’t end up wearing. I’ll post some pics later this week.

But here we are. Tomorrow, about a month after we launched QfQ, we’ll ship off the first batch of quilts to Japan. Above a couple of pictures I took of all the finished quilts I have in my house right now. There are 16 finished ones with one being close to finished. It only needs binding and at least 3 more finished quilts to come tomorrow. It would not have been possible without everybody who donated fabric strips, pieced them together at home, work and at our sewing events, the lovely Ladies at Sew On Studio who did so many of the quilts on their long arm quilting machine… and then – the members of Portland Modern Quilt Guild who dug in and hand stitched bindings during the meeting and finished 5 last Thursday.

We still have many, many quilt tops, fabric strips and yardage that will be turned into new quilts benefiting Japan. On Tuesday, I’ll be hosting a sewing event at Modern Domestic at Alberta, from 7-9pm. If you are in the area, just come on by, chat and sew with us – there is plenty to learn and do. No need to bring anything but yourself – or maybe some batting, if you feel like donating some, that is the only thing that we don’t have A LOT of. All of the quilts we are making from now on will be listed for sale in our etsy shop with all proceeds going to Mercy Corps/Peace Winds in Japan.

Please check back again especially on our QfQ website.

 

Home

Published on April 7, 2011 in Green. 0 Comments

If you are a reader of my blog, you might know that during my two year sabbatical from the apparel industry, I resorted to made by hand and especially made by myself. And while I started blogging to market my wish to continue my eco-friendly, ethically made yoga line seek, and a means to keep track of the projects I did while I was waiting for my work permit, it soon also became (hopefully) an inspiration for others to start creating themselves. What you might not know was my personal ethical struggle at the end of my corporate career: the seasonal output of a lot of not so ethical products. But throughout the wait for that coveted work permit, I also craved to work for ‘for a greater cause’. And the wish to create change with what I love to do. I think, as a designer, it is our responsibility to utilize all means we have to create ethical products. Unfortunately the ‘green trend’ seams to have lost steam over the last couple of years. And this is what I wrote on my thegestalter blog:

All the latest polls and information lead us to assume that the ‘trend’ of sustainability has passed. And most certainly we have seen a fatigue in the market regarding cotton replacement fibers like bamboo and soy and the higher cost associated. However, isn’t it our responsibility as designers to continue to search for new and better solutions. Or even just pushing to utilize those that are already available?

Maybe this trailer for HOME might sounds a bit dramatic at first, but the visuals are certainly stunning. It’s not about protecting the environment, it’s about protecting mankind. Natural forces are beyond us, and will certainly sustain, the question is, will we?

The movie can be seen for free here.

Twinkle – sewing project

Published on April 4, 2011 in Handmade and Sew beautiful. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

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Pattern: Twinkle Sews – Take Manhattan
Fabric: Italian double weave linen blend from Mill End

I made this tunic maybe two months ago as a classroom sample for Modern Domestic. But then, life kicked in and with teaching another Sewing Japanese class and my QfQ (Quilts for Quake Survivors) schedule plus working on some super interesting design projects for TheGestalter, I felt like I couldn’t squeeze a class in on how to make this cute and easy to assemble style. It’s the third style I sewed up from the Twinkle Sews book, but the first one I actually blogged about.

The guy on the left is the Tunic in a darker color. I’ll definitely will try to whip another one up in a darker color once fall kicks in again. And that will then actually be the time, we’ll offer the class at MD for those who are interested in making the style.

Generally – you will need to have quite some sewing experience to assemble the piece (and follow the directions) There is no cutting layout and I definitely had to do a lot of nesting in order to get all pieces cut. However, I ended up not lining the collar or the body at all. Thanfully the double weave had such an interesting texture that it wasn’t really necessary to line the collar. But if you are planning on lining the collar, you’ll need at least 1/4 yard more fabric then quoted.

 

 

And the winner of a signed copy of Susan Beal’s book is….

Published on April 2, 2011 in quilts for quake survivors. 1 Comment

Quilts for Quake Survivor strips and quilt submissions.

 

Thank you, Studio Bibelots, Markmikasen, 2ndavenuestudio, katarat, Me1issa, banquopack and Hilary for your generous support of the Quilts for Quake Survivor project. I picked up the first couple of boxes and envelops up from the UPS store yesterday and am just so thrilled to show them to Susan later today.

But I guess, you all are excited to hear who the lucky winner of a signed book by Susan and fabric selected by me is! I used random.org to determin the winner.

And the winner is: MarkMikaSen!

Congratulations!

I will contact you through flickr to get a shipping address for your signed goodies!

If you haven’t won today, make sure to check Susan’s blog as throughout the blog tour, there are many more copies of the book up for winning. Also, please continue to check the Quilts for Quake Survivors blog and flickr group to see the progress. If you are in Portland, I would love to see you at one of our piecing or quilting events. Time and details here.

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