How to 'sew' a Christmas card (or a dozen!) - with Tutorial

Is it possible to  'Sew' a Christmas card? 

Could I turn my compulsion to sew into something  apart from a dress?

And could that sewing compulsion be mass produced to make a decent batch of cards?

 

And it seems that I can! The latest experiment worked! This was a bit of a sewing revelation. I wanted to create something that didn't matter too much whether it was 'neat' or not. The lack of perfection, I hope, would add to the charm.

And in just a couple of hours I've created a decent batch! Enough to send to distant friends - and my blogging friends around the world! Hurray!

And it was very simple. A strip of velvet in the deepest burgundy, which sadly I've failed to photograph adequately. Then a piece of white cotton, an extra layer of sparkly organza, a nd a simple green triangle to finish them off. The biggest slog (and it wasn't too arduous,) was hand-sewing the star shaped sequins. Then I literally stitched the velvet sparkly 'wintery landscapes' on to the cards with my sewing machine. This was immensely satisfying, and so, so easy! For fuller details see the tutorial below.

My little 'photo shoot' turned out to be more complicated than stitching the cards!

I had an idea to create a snow scene - and used icing sugar. Which proved to be slightly crazy. Picture the scene - the cards, houses, white table cloth are precariously balanced on my stairs, because the stair window gets the morning sunlight. In one hand I am shaking icing sugar through a sieve, in the other I am trying to click the camera to 'capture the moment.' I'm kneeling on the stairs, my fingers are getting sticky and sugary, my beloved camera is at risk from icing sugar. And I'm thinking; "If anyone knocks on the door now, they're going to think I'm nuts."

And I failed to capture the 'sugar blizzard' on camera.
But I am fairly happy that I created a little sewing love to share with a lot of people!

Victoria

Tutorial

1. Stitch a strip of velvet to white cotton. (Or any fabric of your choice! Think winter!)

Top stitch sparkly organza along the seam. I deliberately kept the raw frayed edge. Looks a bit frosty! (Apologies for photo quality - all my sewing is done at night, in lighting that isn't great! And please don't mention the stem of a wine glass that has sneaked into this picture).

2. Cut the strip to a long rectangle.

3. Cut the rectangle into small oblongs. Use the size of your card as a guide. Cut Christmas tree triangles and pin.

4. Stitch the triangle trees in place with the machine. No need to be neat! These are tiny, it's a fiddle, Christmas cards aren't designed to last forever. Handstitch a couple of sequins.

5. Stitch each rectangle landscape directly to the front of your card, using your sewing machine. Sorry forgot to take a picture of this step. But honestly, it is as easy as it sounds.

6. Et Voila! Lots of cards, write a message of love, send it to a dear  friend, preferably someone who will say "Wow! Sewing!"

Take One Dress #11 - Kid Approved

We're in for a treat - Two Take One Dress Creations just a week apart! This week, I'm welcoming Olga from Kid Approved for the penultimate stop on the Take One Dress journey.

Olga is an impeccable seamstress, with great taste combined with real sewing skill. This mac and dress is one of my favourite sewing creations from 2014! 

And now she's here on As it Seams - Over to you Olga...

Hello, I am Olga from Kid Approved. I am super excited to be one of the participants in the Take One Dress series. What a brilliant idea! 

The dress for me was chosen by Laura of Behind the Hedgerow. I love the bright colors and the simple, kid friendly silhouette of the dress.  

I loved the colors of the original dress, but couldn't quite find the right fabric. Nothing really spoke to me, until I looked through my stash and found beautiful linen by Anna Maria Horner. I loved the color palette. It also seemed to go very well with the gorgeous fall weather we had. 

I wanted to keep the A-line silhouette of the inspiration dress. My original plan was to keep the long sleeves as well. Unfortunately, I only had one yard of fabric to work with, so long sleeves were not an option. The pattern, slightly modified,  came from the 6/2013 issue of Ottbore magazine. I love Ottobre! The fit is always spot on, the designs are interesting and kid friendly. This particular issue might be my all time favorite, so many awesome patterns.

Ania loves it! She wore it to school it a few times paired with striped tights in rainbow colors and patterned leather boots. Add bigger then life personality and a mop of curly hair to that and it's quintessential Ania.

Here is what I have chosen for Victoria.  I love everything about this dress (well, besides the price). I like the mix of slightly preppy and slightly whimsical.  It's practical and fun. I also have a soft spot for border prints, show me a good border print fabric and I am in love (here is a similar dress I made for Ania last year) . :) Can't wait to see your interpretation Victoria! Good luck. :) Thank you so much for inviting me! 

 

Olga - I love it! The fabric is one I've been swooning over for months, and you had it in your stash! And you've sewn it for Take One Dress. I am so grateful. Love that you've kept the style so simple and clean lines.
And my sewing brain is heading in all kinds of directions now, with that 'inspiration' dress....Where to start? A city skyline? A shirt collar? Border print.....hmmm possibilities.
I'll be unveiling my creation, Take One Dress# 12 in Mid December, just in time for Christmas. 
I would love it if anyone out there wants to sewalong? Where would this dress take you?
As a Christmas special, if you sew a creation inspired by Olga's choice, I'll publish it here as a 'guest post'. Get in touch, via email or a comment and let me know!
 It's been an incredible year of creativity....Do pop back for the final installment!

Follow As-it-Seams here, to make sure you don't miss the last post.

And check out the Take One Dress gallery.... There have been some stunning creations throughout 2014 from Do Guincho, Sewpony, Nat and the Gang, While She Was Sleeping, Groovy Baby and Mama , Elegance and Elephants, C'est la Vie, Nearest the Pin,  and Glitter and Wit

Take One Dress #10 - Behind the Hedgerow

Take One Dress is back!! And we're welcoming Laura from Behind the Hedgerow!
Just in case you've forgotten, Take One Dress is a monthly series, where a different blogger sews something inspired by the previous month's blogger's challenge.

It's a chain of creativity and this, the tenth installment, is fantastic. 

It's from Laura, who blogs at Behind the Hedgerow.  I'm so delighted to that Laura's joined this series. She always sews fantastic fabrics, both for her children and herself.
This post was due a few weeks ago, but we all know what it's like when you  try to cram too much into one month, and nothing goes to plan? Well October was like that, and the Take One Dress series slipped a bit. But that's fine by me; sewing and blogging should be fun  - and I was completely happy to wait for Laura's creation.

And it's been worth the wait! Laura was given the challenge of sewing a dress, inspired by Tasha of Glitter and Wit, and she's done something really fun! Over to you Laura...

 

I'm Laura from Behind the Hedgerow and last month Tasha (Glitter and Wit) set me my challenge for the Take One Dress series...and this time it's personal! 
The dress she chose as my inspiration was none other than one she'd sewn herself! 

So this post, and the dress I made, can be seen as an interpretation of Tasha's own personal style - how lucky for me to be given a challenge which includes so much life and joy! More specifically, here is the dress given as my inspiration.

 

When I saw this dress for the first time, something about it immediately reminded me of Straightgrain's Hanami Dress which I recently made. 

The style is 100% Tasha - contrasting fabrics, unexpected combinations, quirky details - and I was immediately rolling numerous ideas around my head!

  

Upon further reading, I discovered that the pattern Tasha used here is indeed a Straightgrain pattern - the Peplum Bubble Dress. 
So for this project I decided to keep with the Straightgrain theme and sew the Tinny Dress (which has been on my 'to-sew' list for far too long!).

  

The Tinny Dress pattern, like all of Straightgrain's patterns, is full of versatility and room for personalisation so I had lots of play with in terms of finished style. I let Tasha be my inspiration here!

 

If you're not familiar with Tasha's blog, Glitter and Wit, then you're missing a real gem in the world of sewing bloggers. Her style never ceases to surprise and wow me. She is the epitome of a fearless sewist - never afraid to try something new be it with fabrics, styles, colours, trims or, where she particularly excels, mixing it all up to create something that just oozes personal style. She always shakes up the status quo and helps keep other sewing bloggers - myself included - on our toes; you just never know what's coming next! 

  

But Tasha does something more than just throw lots of styles, fabrics and colours in the proverbial sewing blender with a finished garment spat out at the other end. Sometimes it all may seem a bit wild but the patterns, palette, and textures all hang together, creating stunning, well-balanced pieces. With all of this in mind I now turned my attention to choosing fabric. Here I've tried to harness Tasha's fearlessness to create a dress with statement and flair...and I've loved the whole process! The bodice and collar/cuffs are both Kona cotton in one of my favourite colour combinations. The skirt fabric is a linen/cotton blend by Echino for Kokka fabrics that I bought here (there are other colourways available). I just adore those rhinos! The pom-pom trim gives the whole dress a circus feel which I love (not that I've ever seen rhinos in a circus!).

   

The Tinny dress has a lot of options and I chose the open collar, notched cuffs (to mimic the bunting of the skirt), and the pleated skirt. I made a size a 6 for my 6.75 year old but I extended the bodice by 3cm. While I was sewing I thought it might be too small but in fact there's still room for growth.

  

This is a real party dress for Margot. As any little girl would, she loves the pom-poms and the quirkiness of the fabric. In addition to this, I love the colours, the playfulness, and the details of the design. In short, it's a dress to make us both happy - whether it's for parties or simply climbing trees! Thanks Tasha for such rich inspiration!

  

So, now it's my turn to pass on the inspiration baton. I am handing over to the ever-capable, Olga from Kid Approved. 

  

Here's what I love about this dress: bold print; simple and retro design; room for lots of personalisation and accessorizing; it's made by the Dutch company KidsCase which I just love; it's 100% cotton. I love this whole look with the patterned tights, cardigan and shoes. I think secretly I just want to wear this myself! Have fun Olga - can't wait to see what you come up with! 

  

Victoria, thanks for inviting me to take part in this series - I've enjoyed the whole process and think it's such a fun, fresh idea for a sewing series. Can't wait to keep following along with all the creations. Thanks for reading, Laura x

   

Laura! That is simply brilliant! I love the colours and the pompoms and the rhinos. Irresistible! And it is so Tasha's style. Thank you so much for taking part, and for cramming this post into your busy life! Greatly appreciated! 

Take One Dress update!

So we had to wait a little longer for this month's installment - but the good news is that Olga's creation will be here super-quick! Next Monday in fact! Come back here on Monday November 10, to see where Laura's inspiration dress takes Olga...

Follow As-it-Seams here, to make sure you don't miss her post.

And check out the Take One Dress gallery.... There have been some stunning creations throughout 2014 from Do Guincho, Sewpony, Nat and the Gang, While She Was Sleeping, Groovy Baby and Mama , Elegance and Elephants, C'est la Vie, Nearest the Pin,  and Glitter and Wit

Sunday Picnic Dress, and some Harry Potter adventures...

Oh I really treated myself (and Missy), when I sewed the new Sunday Picnic Dress pattern by Sewpony vintage.

This gorgeous fabric might look simple, but it is UN-BE-LIEV-ABLE...

And look! Is that some Liberty lurking there too?

My vision for the Sunday Picnic Dress was to sew something practical and wearable. Missy  needs dresses that stand up to this little girl's adventures

My original thought had been denim, but it looked too harsh. And when I discovered that local shop, Herringbone, sold Merchant and Mills linen AND Liberty bias binding - I was hooked. I sincerely hope Mr As it Seams doesn't read this post - because that Liberty bias was a SERIOUS treat...

This linen is just heavenly. The colour has both depth, texture and softness. Honestly, just staring at that blue makes me happy. The colour is both soft and deep. I know this is going to look better and better with every washing.

Suz' pattern is so professional. Straightforward instructions, lots of notches for pattern matching - and a good fit. This is size 5 on my four-year-old. It's also the first time I've installed an invisible zip and lining so neatly. Thanks Suz!
My fabric choice also led to  a few 'flips' to the pattern. I wrestled with a V-neck for a girl's winter dress, knowing I would always be putting a vest underneath, which would spoil that neckline. The solution was to add a triangle panel behind the neckline. If I had been clever I would have slipped this between the dress and lining, but that flumoxed me. Instead it's simply stitched in place, the stitching hidden by that pretty collar.

And  I modified the Sunday Picnic dress' square collar. I wasn't confident that I could get the Liberty bias neatly round a sharp corner. Plus I fancied a softer look with the linen. The collar pieces have been cut slightly narrower and rounded off. Adding the bias trim was a different technique to piping, and I've got a tutorial coming up. Watch this space! I added the Liberty bias to the pockets too.

And because  the blue linen was so minimal,  I cut the skirt pieces fuller than the A-line in the pattern, and added gathering at the front and back.

This dress had it's first proper outing in the perfect Sunday location - Gloucester Cathedral. It's 1,000 years old and just magical. It's such a wonderful place to explore. These cloisters might look familiar! All the Harry Potter movies have been filmed here, with these cloisters becoming Hogwart's corridors....

And there are so many things to explore! This statue!, This tomb! Look at that ceiling!

Right now there's an incredible sculpture exhibition at the Cathedral, with works by some of our greatest British artists; Damien Hirst, Anthony Gormley, Henry Moore. Missy loved it almost as much as me.

Except I'm not sure you're allowed to do this...

Or this...

But, like I said, this is a dress for adventurers and adventures...!

This is the first day of the Sunday Picnic Dress blog tour, and Rachel at Stitched Together and Erin at Our Family Four have sewn some gorgeous, and very different Sunday Picnic Dresses....Click on the pictures to take a look!

There's a 15% discount on the Sewpony Vintage Picnic dress pattern with the code SUNDAYTOUR15 until November 7  available here and on etsy. 

First visit to As it Seams? Follow me here.....

Secrets of Great British Sewing Bee with Dr Dawn - plus that GIVEAWAY!

Do you harbour a secret dream of competing in the BBC's Great British Sewing Bee? Or does the idea of cutting up a man's shirt to create a little girls dress in less than an hour fill you with horror?

I'd love to be a competitor - mostly to get my hands on all that lovely fabric. 

So when I heard that TV presenter and real life doctor, Dr Dawn Harper was a 'celebrity competitor', I couldn't wait to talk to her.

Dr Dawn Harper, picture from BBC Children in Need

Dr Dawn presents TV's Embarrassing Bodies, but she's also a working doctor in a health centre near my home town. This week she's swapping the surgery for the Sewing Room for a special 'Celebrity' version of The Great British Sewing Bee, in aid of BBC's charity Children in Need.

She'll  be on TV screens in the UK on Tuesday evening, competing against Hairy Biker Dave Myers, DJ and presenter Edith Bowman, Coronation Street actress Wendi Peters. And she kindly gave me five minutes to share the secrets of the Sewing Room.

“My sewing experience was almost zero,” said Dawn.

“When I was at school it was domestic science was taught at the same time as Latin, and I learnt Latin.

“My mother is an amazing seamstress and cook, but those genes didn’t pass to me!”

Dawn admits she was a last minute addition to the series.

“I had a call on a Friday saying, can you come in tomorrow? So I had no chance to cram in any sewing lessons.

“When my children were little I went through a ‘nesting’ period and tried to sew for them. But they’re 20, 19 and 17 now. It was a long time ago.”

“It was a very, very steep learning curve. I had to be shown how to thread a bobbin.”

Dawn sewed all day from 10am to 4pm for three days, with three challenges.

“The first challenge was to make an A-line skirt from a pattern, then in the afternoon, change a Hawaiian shirt into a child’s garment.”

Sunday’s day-long challenge was to make a dress from our favourite era.

“I made a Charleston dress,” said Dawn.

“I don’t think I’d feel confident enough to make proper clothing, but to know I could make a fancy dress in one day is quite a nice feeling. It wouldn’t stand up to close scrutiny, but I was quite pleased.”

Dawn won’t reveal the result, but said; “I didn’t disgrace myself”

But she says, the refashioning challenge was the hardest.

“I’m not a great TV watcher, so wasn’t familiar with the format of the show.

“Trying to think how to convert the shirt into a child’s outfit was the hardest challenge. I sewed a little dress, but I think I could have been more imaginative.

“But I’m quite good at following instructions, so making the skirt from a pattern went quite well.

“I love clothes and fashion. I’ve got a few dresses that I now look at with awe.”

“We had a really lovely time, it was great fun - If I had the time I could see myself getting into it.”

Dr Dawn will appear in the episodes on BBC Two, 8pm on Tuesday 21 October. Two further episodes will be shown on Thursday 23 October and Friday 24 October.

GIVEAWAY REMINDER!

Speaking of lovely fabric - that 1.5 metres of this gorgeous double gauze by Nani Iro is still up for grabs, plus three copies of Straight Grain's Hanami pattern. The giveaway is open until October 31. Simply click over here for full details and to enter; Nani iro giveaway