Pattern Testing & New Azaire Pattern Giveaway [Closed]

Update: Giveaway closed & thank you for the comments. The pattern goes to comment number 4! Congratulations Carmen, I'll be in touch.

The Azaire dress and top is the newest sewing pattern from Gather and I was lucky enough to be a pattern tester. Caroline and Sandra (from Gather) have also offered me a copy of the pattern to give away!

 

 

 

The Azaire pattern comes with a detailed instruction booklet which includes size charts (sizes 8 to 18), fabric requirements, body and finished garment measurements, fabric and cutting layouts and very helpful diagrams illustrating the sewing instructions.

 

 

 

 

 

I sewed the Azaire dress (wore it to a wedding) and had an excellent pattern-testing experience particularly as the end result is a dress that I love wearing.

 

Though my measurements fall between 12 and 14, the "Finished Garment Measurements" included with the pattern indicate that the Azaire has a loose silhouette so I chose to sew size 12.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed the whole process of testing this dress. My choice of fabric wasn't the best, being transparent! This meant I had to add an extra lining to the centre front and back of the dress.

 

The details of this dress allow for customisation and mixing different fabrics to highlight the style lines. It has a curved yoke, boat neckline, hi-low peplum, two sleeve options and front and back seams for fitting. Initially I wondered if the silhouette was too loose, but the style lines mean that the dress and top can be easily fitted. After testing the pattern, I fitted the dress more at my waist by sewing curves on the front style lines.

 

The pattern includes short petal sleeves on the dress and these are probably the most complicated aspect of the pattern. The sleeves are lined and overlapped so there are four layers of fabric to keep under control. The instructions for the sleeves are detailed and easy to follow. My only suggestion would be to muslin or fit the sleeves as I found them narrow-fitting. My 'strong' upper arms from heaving lifting in my previous nursing career means that I often have to take account of this!!

 

 

 

 

 

The pattern pieces all fit together perfectly and I was particularly pleased with how neatly I was able to match the back seams at the invisible zip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was such a joy to test the Azaire and I would love to pass a little of that on.

 

Just comment below with a way to contact you by email and I'll randomly pick a name next next Monday Oct 3rd. I will post anywhere in the world.

 

 

 

 

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Free Tickets to Knitting & Stitching Show Dublin & Harrogate

22/10/2014 10.30pm

Edited to add: 8 names from comments/emails were entered and put into the very technological hat! 

The 3 winners of a pair of tickets each are: Fionnuala, Maeve and Jennibean.

Your tickets will be posted once I get your addresses.

Thank you for entering. 

Angela.

Original post:

The Knitting and Stitching show has been the highlight of October for me in the last few years. I generally go for fabric and some sewing supplies as well as the excellent exhibitions, but the show has something for all kinds of crafters.

This year I was delighted to be contacted by the organisers, offering complimentary tickets for a blog giveaway.

The show includes most textile related activities - 
  Cross stitch
  Dress-making
  Embroidery
  Felt-making
  Knitting and Crochet
  Lace-making
  Patchwork and Quilting
  Spinning, Weaving and Dyeing
  Tapestry 
as well as 
  Beadwork
  Card-making
  Jewellery-making

• • 

Scroll down for further details about the show. More information is also available at the Knitting and Stitching Show website.

GIVEAWAY

Win a pair of complimentary tickets to the show in Dublin, Ireland or Harrogate, UK - valid for entry Thurs, Fri & Sun (Saturday not included).

3 pairs to give away.

Event Details: The Knitting & Stitching Show at RDS, Simonscourt, Dublin, Ireland.

Dates: Thursday October 30th to Sunday November 2nd 2014

Opening TimesThursday/ Friday: 10am to 5.30pm / Sunday: 10am to 5.00pm.

OR

Event Details: The Knitting & Stitching Show at HIC, Harrogate, UK

Dates: Thursday November 20th to Sunday November 23rd 2014

Opening TimesThursday 10am to 7pm; Friday: 10am to 5.30pm; Sunday: 10am to 5.00pm.

To Enter:

Leave a comment with contact details or email in the comment section. No need to follow, unless you really want to!

OR

Contact me with by email with your address.

 

Closing date: Wednesday 22nd October 10pm. (To allow tickets to be posted in time for the Dublin show)

The 3 winners will be contacted by email and Tickets will be posted once I have address details.

Details about the Knitting and Stitching Show in Dublin:

Needles at the ready for The Great Irish PicKnit!
Join the PicKnit at the Knitting & Stitching Show, RDS, Dublin, Oct 30th – 2nd Nov

Thousands of knitting enthusiasts are invited to pack their needles and wool for The GreatIrish PicKnit which features at the Knitting & Stitching Show in the RDS, Dublin, fromOctober 30th – November 2nd

The show organisers are predicting that The PicKnit, a social gathering involving knitting andfood, will become the next big pastime in Ireland’s towns and cities, saying it is the perfectrecipe for a darn good time!

More than 25,000 visitors are expected to attend the show, which will feature a uniquecombination of inspirational galleries, workshops and exhibitors selling everything fromstunning fabrics, wools and threads, through to sewing machines, patterns and books.

A new attraction will be The PicKnit, brought to Dublin by the UK Hand Knitting Association.Under the theme of ‘Knit One, Hook One and Pass it On’, visitors to The Picknit can learn,create and share their knitting and crochet skills with other visitors. There will be free one-to-one knitting and crochet tuition for beginners, and a chance for the more adventurous toexperiment with some exciting new designs.

Helen Marriott, The Knitting & Stitching Show, said: "For decades, knitting has been asociable pastime with knitters happily chatting over coffee and yarn. PicKnits takes that ideato the next level, combining a love of food with a love of knitting, stitching and craft.Knitting PicKnits don’t have to be big formal occasions though - all you need are needles,some snacks, a few friends and some space. Importantly, Knitting PicKnits, like the onecoming up in the RDS, help keep the traditional skills of knitting and stitching alive."

Thanks to celebrity knitters such as Cara Delevingne, Ryan Gosling, Kate Moss and Lily Allen,organisers have noticed a huge increase in interest in knitting and sewing. "Knitting andsewing have both been around for centuries, but celebrity knitters and sewers are helping to bring the hobby and craft to a whole new audience." added Helen Marriott.

Visitors to the show, which is Ireland’s largest textile and craft event, can also look forwardto:

•  Artists at work in the ‘Artists in Action Studio’

   Learning a new skill at one of the 100s of ‘Learning Curve’ workshops

• •  Professionally-curated galleries including one featuring the 1913 Lockout Tapestry,designed by Cathy Henderson and artist Robert Ballagh

  •  An exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War One

  •  An inaugural display by the students from the Cork Crawford College of Art and

    Design.

  •  An exhibition of new textile artwork exploring relationships betweencommemoration and memory by Nigel Cheney of NCAD

  •  A Design & Crafts Council of Ireland exhibition, called ‘Entwined Memories’

  •  ‘Explorations’ by the Irish Patchwork Society.

  •  116 hours of workshops ranging from Beginners’ Crochet to Embellishing Bed Linento Sewing a Vintage Clutch Bag.

    Visitors will also be able to browse and buy specialist supplies and ‘hard-to-find’craftmaterials from more than 200 retailers.

    Tickets for the four day show at the RDS Simonscourt in Dublin are now on sale throughwww.theknittingandstitchingshow.com/Dublin. Advance tickets cost €14 for adults, withconcession prices available on-line.

    Twitter: @KnitStitchRDS #KnitnStitch

Good Luck!

 

 

 

 

 

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Sewing on a Budget!

I follow The Sewing Directory on Facebook, and it's an incredibly useful resource for UK fabric and dressmaking information. About a month ago they posted that Abakhan Fabrics were looking for bloggers who would take on a monthly challenge of working within a budget of £15 using their products. So I got in touch with Abakhan Fabrics and was delighted to get the go-ahead.

Though I don't splurge too madly on fabrics and patterns, I am also very lucky that I don't have to work within a really tight budget. So I wanted to see if I could keep within a limit and still sew with my same kind of style (ribbons and twirliness!!) using mostly cotton fabrics.

It took me a while to decide what to sew, but I chose Simplicity pattern 2171 (cost £5.65) inspired by similar dresses sewn by Kathy, and she has this wonderful Facebook page all about Handmade dresses where I have seen other pretty examples of the knot/apron dress.

For the main fabric, I picked a yellow cotton which was on sale. It is described as 'Fine cotton gauze with self coloured, raised dobby spot'. (2 metres for £3.40) It's not a colour I sew a lot with so I had a look at a colour wheel and found that blue would be a good match. So I added the blue fabric (polycotton) (1 metre for £2.65),

ribbon, (3 metres for £1.14); interfacing (1 metre for £0.89); and thread (1 spool of 457 metres for £0.59), to the list.

Total Cost £14.97

I used a yellow ribbon from my stash for the apron, and also used my own yellow thread. But didn't add these to the cost as I had the equivalent of blue ribbon and thread left over.

 

I followed the pattern fairly closely and found it easy, with steps well explained. I made size 5 and at the moment the hairband and ruffled pants can be adjusted to size.

The dress is perfect for summer, though we're still not seeing much of that here in West Cork, and the matching bag is just the right size for carrying around 'buddies' (soft toys).

This last picture is blurred, but included because it shows the ruffles on the pants best, as well as a glimpse of the hairband, which is reversible - blue on one side, yellow on the other.

As I was given credit to spend in Abakhan Fabrics, I would like to 'Pay it Forward' by having a Giveaway. My daughter likes this dress a lot, but when I told her that we could give it to someone else, she wanted to have a raffle.
GIVEAWAY CLOSED

• The Giveaway is for Dress, Bag, Pants, Hairband. Size 5, but would fit ages 4 to 7 depending on measurements (exact measurements of dress: Chest 66cm; Waist 67cm, Length 62cm adjustable)
  
• Simply leave a comment about what you would like me to try to sew for £15 from Abakhan Fabrics
  
• I will pick randomly a week from today and post it anywhere in the world.
  

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

Overall, I came within budget and sewed items that would cost much more to buy ready-made.

It didn't take too long to sew. The most time-consuming part was interfacing the bag, straps and hairband, because I like to leave these interfaced pieces lying flat for a day before I use them.

The seams of the dress and pants are finished with flat-felled seams and French seams so, no raw edges anywhere.




The best part, I have enough fabric to make another dress/ tunic. I'm deciding between a dress from May Burda (lt below) or the dress from June Burda (rt below)

 

 

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Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

I have lots of sewing (dresses, hobby horses, bags and more) to post, and lots of reading to catch up on, but as I've been missing in action from here lately, I thought what better way to get posting again than a giveaway.

Sew Mama Sew coordinate a twice yearly Giveaway Day for bloggers which is well worth checking out.

So what I have for you.........
firstly there's an unused/uncut Vogue pattern for a girl's occasion dress age 7-10.

Secondly I will include a Spanish pattern magazine 'Patrones' issue 307
I wanted this magazine so badly for the child's coat, that I got 2. There are no English instructions with this magazine, but if you have some experience you would be able to work from the pattern pieces.

Also included will be a lovely half yard (generously cut) piece of 60 inch wide Liberty Jersey (which I have prewashed) originally from Sewbox

How to enter:
Leave a comment to let me know what you would sew with this piece of Liberty jersey. (I'm looking for ideas, as I'm not sure what to make with it :-)

There's a bonus second entry if you have commented here before.

Be sure to leave contact details/ email
Giveaway is open internationally
I will randomly pick a winner Saturday 17th at 12 midday Irish time (GMT)

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Do you want...

Edited on Mon 22nd 12md, to add: Comments Closed!

a Zakka book, or a toy pattern, or a childs dress pattern, or a pincushion?




I started this blog March 18th 2009 - so 1 year blogging and almost 100 posts - a milestone on this journey.



Many bloggers mark these with giveaways - so maybe I will too!

I love Japanese Sewing books, especially those with childrens clothes, but of course they are all in Japanese. I was looking forward to an English book with Japanese style and this book on Zakka Sewing seemed to fit the bill


image from Superbuzzy

However........... though the book is gorgeous, in English, and the projects (mostly household related - purses, bags, slippers, teatowels- some patterns need to be enlarged) are sweet and well explained, someone out there might make more use of it and enjoy it more. So do you want it?




or a Wee Wonderfuls pattern (includes pattern for bunny and 2 outfits and could be hand-sewn) which is sold out on the site




or a Little Prairie Girl dress pattern (age 1-12, new) from Favourite things





or a pincushion I made specially from Sandi Henderson Fabric, which looks good even if it were never to be used as a pincushion:)


















Just let me know which you would like ........

(last day for comments Mon 22 March at 12md ) Pin It Now!