July is COMPETITION Month!

I love to see what you've made with my patterns and I'm always interested in hearing your experiences of using them.

I try to link to as many as I can on my testimonials page, but it's hard work to find them all and I don't get around to updating links as often as I'd like.

I've been thinking for a while now, how fantastic it would be to consolidate all these wonderful blog posts into a centralised resource.... but how?
Lately, I've also been thinking about how good it would be to have reviews to link directly from all my website pattern listings.

Somehow the penny dropped today and I've come up a way to deal with all these birdies with a single stone...

Nikki's "Review Round-up" Competition

The Prizes -
First Prize - $100 voucher from our shop
Second Prize - $50 voucher
Third Prize - 2 free patterns* of your choice (*excluding purse frame kits)

How to Enter:

1. Write a review of any Nicole Mallalieu Design pattern (hat, bag, purse or garment). See the FORMAT below.

NOTE: You can write as many separate reviews as you like (each will be counted as a separate entry). Each review needs to follow the format (below).

2. Post the review (and photos of the finished project) on your blog.

If you don't have a blog, you can submit your review to Pattern Review, as long as all the requirements are met (our questions answered) within the body of the review. You don't have to be a paying "Friends of PR" member to write a review, but you will need to have or create a members account.

NOTE: I've also created a Flickr group for you to showcase your work and attract people to view (and perhaps vote for) your entry into the competition.

3. Post the name of the pattern and a link to your review in the comments box below this post before 30 July 2010.

4. I'll then work out how to use one of those Google voting widgets, and everyone can cruise through the links to the entries and vote on the most useful/interesting/attractive review.

5. Winners will be announced on the 16th August 2010.

REVIEW FORMAT: Answer these questions -

1. Name of the pattern

2. Difficulty rating

3. Were the instructions easy to follow? (And did you learn anything new from them?)

4. Did the finished project look like the one on the pattern cover or did you 'tweak' it? (If tweaked, what did you do change?)

5. Were you happy with the finished project?

6. What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

7. Would you make this pattern again? Would you recommend it to others?

8. Review must include photo/s of your project.

Criteria for voting for your favourite review:

1. Quality of the finished project

2. Quality of documentation (Was the review informative and helpful?)

3. Style and attractiveness of the finished object (ie. Would YOU like to wear/have/buy it?)

Good luck, folks!

We're now part of the Pattern Review Shop!

It's all happening over at the Pattern Review pattern shop. Have you seen the latest addition to their pattern range?

Yep! Nicole Mallalieu Design patterns are now available through the PR shop!

You can place your order through Pattern Review and benefit from the Friends of PR discount (and at the moment - the drop in the value of the Australian dollar against the US dollar! We had to standardise the currency conversion and the shipping rate when our dollar was stronger, so right now if you're in the USA, Europe or Asia, you can get a better deal through Pattern Review than through us).

For now, it's just the patterns in the PR shop, as it's nigh-impossible to calculate a single flat-rate of postage that would take in the size and weight range of the kits (and still be fair to all). But as PR takes on more international suppliers, the options for postage may become more flexible. That could open up all sorts of possibilities.

If you want to do some calculations, here are a few links -
Currency Conversion calculator
Our Pattern Review Shop page
Our shop
Our shipping rates (or link from this page)

We'll still be shipping from Australia (hence the postage rate differeing from those sent from the USA) and the PR store has no field for a "within Australia" rate, so if you're in Australia or New Zealand, you're probably better off shopping directly with us or one of our local stockists.

We're a bit excited about it. Hope you are, too....

...
PS. Yes, the new pattern will be available on PR when we release it here.
PPS. Did you join the giveaway?

Pom-Pom Playdate

About six months ago, the wee girl begged me to show her how to make pom-poms..... and lost interest about a third of the way through the yarn-winding stage.

She picked the same pom-pom up last week and we finished it off. I whipped up a quick little beanie in polar fleece and sewed the pom-pom to its tip. She's been wearing it proudly ever since.

This inspired a playdate activity..... so today, we had two little girls winding wool around circles of cardboard.

There was a bit of Mummy-involvement in the construction, which we managed over tea and delicious home-made fig and walnut bread (thanks Veronika!) and we still had time to chat.

I made the first (red) beanie by freehand-cutting a shape that looked "near enough" to the right shape - and somehow it was SPOT ON! I traced off a pattern from the red hat (see below) because I don't expect to be so lucky every time.

The pattern was used to cut out two pieces of polar fleece for each hat. The overlocker (serger) was fired up to sew the hat pieces together (on the curved side seams) and then whizzed around the hemline to neaten the edges.

(The playdate girls got to choose their own colour fleece from a huge bag of offcuts in my fabric stash. I cut and sewed.)

The girls then each chose a fancy-schmantzy stitch on my fancy schmantzy machine. I turned a 3.5cm hem and stitched it up with the chosen fancy stitch.

Pom-poms were attached with a few stitches of yarn and the 'designers' were happy with the beanies 'they' made. I think they also liked the fact that they looked like little pink polar-fleece twins for the rest of the afternoon.

I wouldn't expect the pom-poms to survive a machine wash, but it's not too much effort to remove the few stitches attaching them to the hats, should the need for laundering arise. Failing that, a gentle hand-wash should be fine.

All in all, I highly recommend it as an activity for a FREEZING cold Sunday.

...

...

PS. If you missed my last post, take a peek. It's a giveaway!

Nearly there!

It's only taken about a year to get back to this design (!!) but the pattern is currently finding its way out to testers, and should be ready to print very soon.

I've been busy writing and sewing.... the same bag design....again and again. It's the way I do things.

Making the bag with gathers, with pleats, with flat piping, corded piping, no piping....

...with one strap, two straps..... different rings...

...making it in monochrome wool and leather and then in super bright and summery Tina Givens prints.

Switching the contrast panels around. Making it all in the same fabric....

Making an adjustable strap with double o-rings....

Changing the direction of the pleats....

And now I understand its construction inside out ...and back again.

My only problem (as always) is that I don't know what to call it. The working title has been "that panel bag"... but I think that moniker lacks the-certain-something that a bag pattern ought to have.

I'm open to suggestions....

Anyhoo - GIVEAWAY TIME! I'm going to give away a free pattern the day we release it. Leave a comment here - with either a name suggestion or an indication of which one you'd like to see on the cover (I have my favourite, but I'm always interested to hear from others). I'll get Mr Random Number Generator to pick a lucky winner.

EDITED TO ADD: Please know that unless you have your email address listed on a Google profile page (or have a blog where I can leave a comment) I won't be able to contact you if you win. You can leave your email address in the comment box or WATCH THIS SPACE for the announcement of the winner, and contact me then.

The pattern is written with basic sewing skills in mind. Explanations are super-clear and illustrated, and the design looks more complicated than the construction actually is.

Bag Base Tutorial for Peltex or Fast2Fuse

I've been meaning to update this bag base tutorial for a while. Not only was the original hastily put together from a black & white pdf document (long story involving band width), but I've ever-so-slightly changed my method since it was written. (And colour is always nicer than grey, don't you think?).

This tutorial is for a base in any boxed corner bag (and it can be adapted for other bag constructions).

1. Measure the length of the base seam (above) and then the boxed corner seam (below).

2. Round both measurements down by around 6mm (1/4 inch). For example, on the boxed corner seam below, I'd round down to 6.5cm.

3. Cut a piece of Peltex (it doesn't matter if it's single-sided or double-sided fusible) or heavy weight Fast2Fuse to the (rounded down) dimensions of the base seams. (I find that a rotary cutter and quilting ruler are the business for this job).



4. Roughly cut a scrap of fusible woven interfacing large enough to wrap about 2 and a half times around the base piece - folding along the long edge. You'll also need a generous seam allowance (overhanging the Peltex/Fast2Fuse) at each of the short ends. No need to worry about accuracy here, folks!
5. Wrap the interfacing around the base piece and fuse it all together with a hot iron. The interfacing will stiffen as it cools. You can add further layers of interfacing if you'd like to make the base more rigid.

NOTE: If you use double-sided fusible Peltex or Fast2Fuse, you can use calico or fabric scraps instead of interfacing. (That's what I used to do before I discovered the benefits of layering up fusible interfacing).

6. Trim the seam allowances on the short ends to about 1.5cm (5/8 inch).

7. To make the base durable (through machine washes etc), machine stitch around the outside edge and through the centre to hold all the layers securely.

NOTE: Nobody will see this bit, so there's no need to worry about neatness.

8. Lay the base over the base seam of the bag.

9. Fold back the overhanging seam allowance at each of the short ends of the base and line up the Peltex/Fast2Fuse edge about 3mm (1/8 inch) from the boxed corner seam of the bag.

10. Stitch the seam allowances of the base to the seam allowances of the bag - about 3mm (1/8 inch) from the other side of the seam (towards the raw edge of fabric, rather than on the body of the bag). Look carefully at the photo below.

The base is attached with a little bit of movement to avoid accidentally making it too tight (which looks awful). When the bag is in use, the base will sit firmly and exactly where it ought.

When you turn the bag through to the right side, you'll see that the base creates structure but is flexible enough to not damage the fabric with wear and tear (as template plastic can). It's also comfortable when the bag is worn against the body.

Have you tried Peltex or Fast2Fuse as a base? You can find it all in the shop.

More free patterns, tutorials and sewing tips, are over here....

Any Ideas?

There's a green-recycle-earth-friendly op shop between my studio and the post office... and I'm at the post office every day. Needless to say, I'm quite friendly with the op shop people.

Anyhoo.... they recycle all manner of things. I think these little copper-wire thingamies come out of computers. Apparently they have a LOADS of them. The waste-not-want-not in me can't let them go to landfill or sit idle in a warehouse.

If I could knit, I'd be thinking about knitting that wire into astounding art-jewellery collar things. The plastic foundation cog-like bits look to me like they could be stacked and made into table legs. If I had time to make wearable art I'd be linking them together in some sort of awe-inspiring chainmail configuration..... the options seem limitless to me.

As it is (what with books to write, child to raise, patterns to develop etc), I'm unlikely to do any of those things.

When I find the perfect centre-piece for my little cog-like computer bit, it'll become a brooch.... but I don't need a mountain of copper-wire coggy brooches.

If you can think of a use for one - or for a mountain of them - let me know and I'll organise to get it/them to you. Let me know what you make and I'll link/post them here.

OR - I'd love to hear any inspired half-baked ideas you might have for them (like my snowflakes-hope-in-hell knitty one). Who knows - you might inspire someone who has the time to follow the idea through?

Call it a challenge to think outside the square, so to speak....

EDITED TO ADD: Thanks for the suggestions as to how to make my fortune :), but if any selling of copper is to be done, I think the op shop can use the funds for better causes than I have. It's why they were saved in the first place, but there's probably some reason why nothing has been done with them as yet.

It was put to me as a creative exercise in recycling.... so put on your creative thinking caps, peeps....!

Paper Dolls

Sometime mid-morning, the wee girl asked where her paper dolls were. These are the paper dolls she played with for about half an hour over a year ago (the dolls I used as preparation for these ones, which I still have hidden away). No idea what prompted the recall of memory, but her interest in them lasted about five minutes before she packed them up.

Feeling guilty for letting her ruin her concentration span on so much children's TV.... I jumped in with , "Well, how about we MAKE some paper dolls...?" (with absolutely no plan of action to follow through), knowing that the idea of "make" is a surefire means of engagement for more than five minutes.

We took a photo of the girl in the last layer of clothes, printed it out and cut it out. We had a dolly. I traced it. We had a template for garment design. A plan was developing (phew!).

We started with two designers for the clothes, but one of us was having problems with the tracing techniques that the other suggested. Labour was then divided into the drawing of clothes and the colouring-and-dressing-and-telling-the-drawer-what-to-draw departments.

It worked a treat. The wee girl was "too busy" to have lunch and reluctant to leave by early afternoon for a Daddy's-family gathering.

I spent the quiet of the family-free afternoon with the sewing machine set up in front of the dvd of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, with the plan to do lots of sewing.

I did lots of watching Tess of the D'Urbervilles, instead. (I missed it on telly recently because I was too busy meeting a deadline).

...

I must remember to get a lighter storyline next time I plan to simultaneously sew and catch up on missed costume-dramas.... or give up on the idea of straight topstitching.

The almost-wordless weekend

I have a very sexy voice at the moment.... which is a great improvement on this morning, when I had NO VOICE whatsoever. This cold I've been trying to shake off for the last couple of weeks seems to be settling in nicely, thank you very much. So it's a weekend at home. No mending camper-trailers in freezing sheds for me.


I made another pair of Dortje pants before I left the studio last night. My model made a chalk-on-cement chessboard today. While she called inside to the dinner-cooking-Daddy to help her with the placements of the chess pieces, I tried to snap photos of the new strides.

The spirit of co-operation was obviously otherwise occupied, and I should have known better....

I must say, I'm LOVING this pattern (well worth the effort of tracing it off!). I stocked up on pinwale corduroy at Spotlight on Thursday and immediately cut out three more pairs. I haven't got around to doing the proper panel in the leg - least of all the frills and elastic rouching bizzo in the book (the wee girl LOVES that!). I've been patching over the knee with a bit of fabric and bias binding - or simply leaving them plain.

My sewing buddy and I have a label to excuse shoddy workmanship on things we make for ourselves. OFM = "Only For Me". I have another one. OFMK (Only For My Kid). We're going for speed, here. ..for kindergarten-wear. No fancy-schmantzy details (and occasionally no matching overlocking thread). The thing I love about this design is that - despite any lack of care or overlocker re-threading - they still manage to look super-duper-stylish and cute. I think that the cut really is a CUT ABOVE the average kid's pants pattern.

If I can drag myself out tomorrow (further than the footpath in the backyard), there may be more Dortje-making in the studio this weekend. (Otherwise there'll be hot whiskeys and dvd's). I won't bore you with the details if I make more, but I'd certainly recommend the pattern.

My Creative Space

It's all up-close-and-personal here. Delving into the minutae of making a well-finished bag and turning it into step-by-step instructions.

Trying to put the "HOW TO DO" (rather than "WHAT TO DO") into plain English. Plain and succinct English. (Tough gig for a chatterbox like me).

Hoping I'll get this new bag pattern finished soon.

(I'm also wondering what a thief would think, if ever they stole my camera..... ?)

..

Head on over to the hostess with the mostest to see what everyone else is up to this week.

Dortje Weekend

While I'm in book limbo, I thought I'd bite the bullet and trace off the pattern for the Dortje pants in this book. Tracing patterns is something I'll happily put off for years, but the wee girl is growing like a weed and I need a quick whip-em-up pants pattern with a bit of style (or the poor thing will forever be dressed in New Look 6719).
I made this pair and thought them a size too big. I traced off the SMALLER size and made them up.

Too small.

Washed this pair and they were just right. (Sometimes cheap Spotlight corduroy shrinkage is a blessing).

They passed the run-around-the-yard-like-a crazed-hippy-child test, anyway. (She's determined not to cut that hair!)

So we made another pair.... in the larger size. In orange corduroy. I felt that if one is to make orange corduroy flares, one should add a little garish something-or-other in the knee area.

The wee girl - bless her - busied herself in the studio and made a pattern "for Tania... because she made our frog pattern" (I daren't tell the wee one that the frog pattern wasn't just for us!).

We thought we ought to test it out...

Tania - your GIRAFFE wheat bag pattern is in the post ....;)

Today there was a lot of solo design work by the girl and then serious art direction when it came to the sewing bit.

There was a specific plan for construction in mind and she guided me through it like a professional.

I had to offer a few suggestions - like stiff vilene interfacing for the skeleton instead of stuffing (I was OVER bagging out skinny little drawings on calico that had been cut out without seam allowance) but I was very proud of her thought processes as she worked through the idea. Her slightly sideways way of looking at things amuses me.

So.... all that and a camper-trailer..... and ummmmmm... was there a bag I was supposed to be working on?