The Savvy Seamstress - What's it All About?

I'm reposting from the C&T Publishing blog (with their permission), an excerpt from my book,  The Savvy Seamstress: An Illustrated Guide to Customizing Your Favorite Patterns. I've included some of the photos and added some annotations to to help explain a little more about how it all works.

“I’ve always been a garment maker. I was a child who made doll clothes, a teenager who was obsessed with sewing my own clothes, a fashion student, a designer pattern maker, and then a pattern designer and teacher. I still make most of my own wardrobe, often using the same small selection of basic patterns that I adapt with different fabrics and design details. I’m lucky to have a strong background in pattern making and sewing, but, as a teacher, I know that even relative beginners can learn to make the most of their pattern stash this way.

When I began teaching at a fashion college, most of the pattern-making and industrial sewing resources I found were pitched at a higher skill level than my students had. I had to break down the processes into small, achievable steps so my students could make the garments they designed. It occurred to me that the average home dressmaker could benefit from the same information.

By learning how to make a few key design alterations, you can keep transforming your favorite patterns— adding or removing collars and pockets, changing neckline shapes, and swapping a zippered back for a button front, a waistband for a facing, or vice versa. The variations are endless. I hope that this book gives you the inspiration and the confidence to try some of these changes, and that you are amazed by what you can achieve.”

The skirt started out in life with a waistband, and now it has a lowered waist with a facing. The same could be done to the pants in the photo at the top. Zippers can be swapped from back to front to side, and invisible zippers and lapped zippers can be used interchangeably. The pants could have a fly front.

These little blouses (above and below) are made from the same pattern. Apart from being on different sized kids, they look different because the design features have been changed. The one above has short sleeves, a lowered neckline and a rounded Peter Pan collar, and the one below has a higher neckline with a pointed collar, and long sleeves, gathered into a cuff. There was also a collarless version.

By adding a skirt, the little blouse could become a dress... and the front buttons could be swapped for a zipped back... 

...which is what happened with a heap of tween/teen dresses. Necklines were changed. Collars and pockets were added and removed. Zippered backs became buttoned fronts, and vice-versa. The one dress became many.

Mens' and boys' shirts were also tweaked with different collars, cuffs, pockets and sleeve lengths.

Classic styling can become casual, and even pajama styling... all from the one pattern.

The book itself does not contain the patterns, because it's about learning basic techniques to tweak the patterns that you love and want to expand upon. 

I had great plans to get the patterns for these garments all finished and ready to accompany the book, when it is released in November, but (insert one-woman-show-work-life-balance-(with-curveballs) story here..), that development has been slow. 

I'm currently working on instructions for the pants, which are graded from size 6-20. If you'd like to test the instructions and fit for me, I'll have them (to use for free) at my next class at Cutting Cloth, on the 18th Sept.

I also have skinny pants in size 8, a large men's shirt, a size 10 girl's dress and size 5 in the blouse and classic (boys') shirt. These have not been graded, but if you would like to make them IN THESE SIZES and with my guidance rather than written instructions, you can do so at my classes at Cutting Cloth over the next few months.

..and then this book arrived....

There have been many different things going on here lately, all of which I've failed to adequately photograph or document for blogging purposes.  Amidst it all, I took this photo (below) the day the advance copy of my new book arrived, for Facebooking purposes. (I'm afraid the ease of speedy updates means that I spend more time there, these days). 

 

If you follow me on Facebook, you've probably already seen these sneaky-peeks into the bag designs that are in THE BETTER BAG-MAKER, but here are a few more words to accompany the images. 

 

 

The book is all about sewing bags with finesse, no matter if you're a beginner or a confident, experienced sewing whizz. 

 

The first part of the book is filled with information, tips and techniques that apply across the board with bag-making - interfacings, reducing bulk, neat topstitching and methods of constructing basic straps, pockets and bases. I also show you how to change the proportions of the one basic pattern to make bags of different shape, size and purpose.

 

Then there is a basic bag, to walk you through the processes of making the basic shape ...and you make a rather nice shopping tote (below, in fabric by Ink&Spindle). 

 

Then, using the same pattern, I start introducing new techniques for details on bags, beginning with simple drawstrings and bag rings... (like this happy little number in Curlypops fabric, below).

 

 

Then the details get a little more detailed as the skill-level increases.  This is designed to walk you through at a pace where you can gain confidence and expand your repertoire, but it also means that confident bag-makers can jump in anywhere and have a crack at learning something new, like fancy (and very well-finished) gusseted patch pockets.....

 

These are just some of the photos I snapped before the bags were sent to the publishers.  You can see a few of the real pics from the book (and more of the bag designs) on their Flickr page here.

 

 

You can see more of my photos and some of my pattern-tester's photos on a group I've started on Flickr here.  Feel free to join the group if you are interested.  You'll be able to share your own photos of bags made from the book, if you so desire.

I hope that some of my pattern-testers are more on the blogging ball than I am, lately, because they are now allowed to share the details of what they made while sifting through unedited piles of notes and separate files of images.  The all deserve medals for working with that unwieldy format. 

 

 

 

There were 6 projects cut from the book in the first edit (it was a page-count issue), and I'd like to thank the fabulous pattern testers who put in so much effort on these ones, but don't get to show them off.  Believe me, I know how you feel.  I'm trying to work around ways of using these designs and all this work in another format.

 

 

Stay tuned over the next few months.  I'm sure there will be more sneak-peeks, reviews and giveaways in the blogosphere, and I'll keep you posted on that.

 

In the meantime, I'm teaching a lot, around the traps, and must get back to organising a few things.  If you're interested in coming to a class, keep your eye on this page, (as well as on Facebook...).

 

 

After the Rain....

As I watch my new garden flourish in this weird Melbourne Summer (rain and winter temps one day, hot summer day the next... and then more rain...), I feel my mind, body and spirit hedging closer to feeling ok.   

 

I'm reminded of the regrowth that follows a bushfire. 

 

 

A front garden full of heritage roses makes me stop, inhale heady perfume and wonder at the gobsmacking beauty that can exist in a single moment and all that nature provides.

 



  

There has been work of various kinds, book edits, teaching, dramas on both large and miniscule scales.  There has been no design-mojo and no inclination to unpack any more boxes or think about the myriad to-do lists I could be looking at....

 

In between tasks, I stop.  Breathe.  Swim. Sleep.  I have made time for making bread (we haven't bought a loaf since we moved in a month ago). 

  

 

There has been time made for mothering.  And picnic dinners on balmy evenings, by the local lake....

 

 

...and sometimes in the back yard.

 

There is even a tentative return of the long-lost cooking-mojo.

 

 

I'm slowly clawing back that 'life' part of the life/work balance.  It appears to have been lost over the last two years and it's like I'm learning to walk again.  Breathe again.

 

It hasn't all been about stopping, 'though.... I just couldn't stop crocheting that Summer Lace Tank Top.  It's now my Summer Lace Dress. 

 

  

Oh... keep an eye on that old couch in the background up there... I have big plans (and a big roll of fabric) for that one. (I also had optimistic plans to use that blue yoga mat a bit more frequently... but that hasn't really happened.  It just looks like it's kept handy enough to be rolled out each day.)

 

 

 

The recent house-move coincided with the wholesale Quilt Market in Melbourne, so I didn't stretch myself to doing that as well (I HAVE turned over a new leaf, haven't I..?). 

I popped in to see old friends and met some wonderful new people, too.  And once again, spending time with other people in the biz, who just 'get it', there was much laughter, a few tears and a sense of being a part of a community.

 

 

In other very exciting work-related news, the new book - due for release in May 2014 - is already available for pre-orders online. 

Yikes.  It's real!

 

 

 

 It's nice to be back in this space.  I have a feeling you'll be seeing more of me here, again.

 

 

 

Grampians Texture - Part 1

If you like your textiles and want to have your mind completely blown away by all sorts of talent and creativitity, Grampians Texture is definitely your kind of event. 

 

My head is still spinning, and I've too many photos and thoughts to put into one post, so here's a quick overview of the work done by some of the workshop participants in Hall's Gap last week.

Above - Shibori with Jane Callender (from the UK).

 

Below - Art Book Binding with Adele Outerridge (Brisbane)

And Isobel Hall's students made beautiful fibre vessels....

Teresa Dair's students got to fondle and knit with the most extraordinary yarns... and leather...

 

Trace Willan's students made these very intriguing bundles... which are a part of the Natural Dye workshops she conducted.

 Nichola Henley's screenprint workshops produced some gorgeous results (below).

 Martien Van Zuilen's felting workshops looked like oodles of fun.

There was much, much more... and there was the fabulous setting of the Grampians... all it's natural beauty (and a few nearby bushfires, that we were kept reassured wouldn't reach us!) and fabulous sunsets....

That light is the sky, not the bushfires.  It looked like fire.

I shared a cabin with the wonderful Nichola Henley, and we discovered many things and friends we have in common (she lives in Co Clare, Ireland, which is where I lived for 5 years).  We both are also fond of walking around in the rain to soak up pink-and-gold sunset light.

There were kangaroos EVERYWHERE in Hall's Gap.... this one was laying low... trying to blend in with the cement statues on the motel lawn.

And one thing that completely blew me away, was seeing this wrist band on the arm of one of the other tutors, Michael Sheill. I  made it in Ireland, and sold it to him there, nearly 13 years ago.  It hasn't been off his wrist since then.

 

After  a week at Grampians Texture, I came home, spun around and took off to Addicted To Fabric in Canberra, to teach a couple of weekend classes.  I arrived home last night and am still trying to unpack and tackle the to-do-lists (read: piles of stuff). 

 

I'll be back with more very soon.   

-----

 

..Actually... sooner than  I thought... with a completely unrelated point...

 

 Did I mention that my book YOU SEW GIRL! is now available in the USA through Book Depository?   You can order it HERE...

 

 





Back to it

Ahhh... back to the school routine.  School holidays are over. 

 

I know that many parents find that a bit sad, but as a small-business-running single parent with a few very pressing deadlines, I must admit to doing a little happy dance (and having a swim) after school drop-off this morning.

 

In preparation for the new school year, one of the holiday projects the girl and I made was a new lunch bag (based on the project in One Yard Wonders... tweaked slightly).

As is our new way of doing things, it was a joint effort (and I was allowed to advise). 

 

The smallest of us did the quilting...

And the largest did the very fiddly bits. 

 

The smallest was so excited as we packed her lunch this morning (I only hope it encourages her to actually eat her lunches, this year...).

 

To get into the study mood, she began a 'research' (or "reserch") book.  I love her synthesis of the books she's reading (and her little back-to-front Fs). 

We also had some lovely mail over the holidays....

These beauties from Lara's new shop....

And almost-edible fabric (and postcard) from Yardage...

 

..and ..ahem...a bit more from Yardage... 

I also finally got around to picking up this book for my little resource library. 

And in between times, I've used evey spare minute (and a few too many graveyard-shifts) working on the new book.

 

I'm looking forward to being able to work in normal daytime hours now, and the girleen is very happy to be back with her friends, and the non-stop stimulation and structure that school provides for her over-active mind.

Back to it, then....

The Thick Of It

I still haven't tidied the studio. I sweep occasionally and load the dishwasher.

 

The rubbish bin is full of interfacing trimmings and Mini Magnum wrappers. 

 

And now, on top of the fabric, foamcore board and general clutter, there are samples, toiles and finished designs.  And there are more to come.  My head is full of them.

I've just passed the halfway mark in developing designs (and writing instructions, shooting how-to photos and drawing diagrams) for the new book. When I'm not feeling worn out and overwhelmed, I'm feeling inspired and capable and full of hope. 

 

This new book-writing biz has been a see-sawing, hot-cold, drought-flood sort of affair, so far, but all the time I've had to work through it. The deadline is pressing, and I still have to organise getting myself to Grampians Texture, various teaching gigs around the country and I have to get to Quilt Market in the USA.

 

And all the time, I'm loving beautiful fabrics by Saffron Craig, CurlyPops, Ink&Spindle and Kristen Doran.

 

I'm also in the throes of overhauling lots of pattern covers with new samples, in fresh new fabrics. These are all from Riley Blake "Flutter" and "Hello Sunshine" ranges.  Don't they just SING?

For the first time since the girleen was 2, I've had to delegate the sewing of samples. I've realised the limits of my time.... which is a shame, because I'd love to be playing with these.

 

And as any Australian parent-of-school-age-kids knows, it's the loooooooooong school holidays right now.

 

I've seen 3am more times lately than I dare to think about it.

 

Speaking of school holidays, there have been other bag designs emerging from studio You SEW Girl.

 

 

Of course, I opened it.

 

 (I helped to make it, so there were no surprises). The pocket was especially designed as a "book pocket".  That's my girl.

Busy times.

Throw in a few miniature and major dramas, a whole bag of grief, a bunch of uncertainty, a little bit of optimism, some good times with good friends, some disillusionment with others, some wonderful big blue Melbourne skies, a few marvellously meditative swims, the appreciation of good air-conditioning during a heatwave and the realisation that Mini Magnums really need to start getting bigger (or that I have to admit to some sort of addiction), and you pretty much have my "summer break".

We'll be back to normal business hours next week.  Hope to catch you somewhere in 2013. 
xxx