Tag Archive for 'Tana Lawn'

VICTORY PATTERNS ROXANNE : LIBERTY GROWING FONDER

Published on May 14, 2014 in clothing, stitchery, textiles and the workroom. 5 Comments Tags: Growing Fonder, Liberty of London, Me Made May, Tana Lawn, Victory Patterns.

Victory Patterns : Roxanne Top
Liberty of London : Growing Fonder Tana Lawn Cotton

We’re halfway through May and if you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that I have been doing the Me Made May challenge for this month. Me Made May is an opportunity for people who knit or stitch handmade clothing to celebrate their wardrobe. I am NOT sewing a new garment everyday! I’m using this opportunity to celebrate my years of building my handmade wardrobe. I’m also taking the opportunity to document newer garments that I’ve never really shared and to re-document some old favourites. I’m loving looking into my closet each morning with fresh eyes and picking an outfit to share with you.

This is my second Roxanne top. I just loved the other version and wanted to try the second option with sleeves and the tie. I decided to use the beautiful Liberty of London Growing Fonder Print. I love the detail of this pattern and the fine lines. If you look closely you will also see there are metallic accents here and there. It’s just gorgeous. I decided to do some extreme pattern matching for this tunic. When I was sewing this, I was also watching the Great British Sewing Bee and imagined Patrick Grant judging my work. He’s a tough cookie, but he would appreciate these fine details. This really inspired me to push myself! I was very careful to centre the pattern on the front , the back and also each of the sleeves. I cut each sleeve separately and made sure the pattern was identical on each one. I also made sure that the pattern lined up as you go around the top from front to sleeve to back. To be extra extreme, on the back, I carefully calculated so that the pattern matched up in the centre from the back yoke to the back bodice, ACROSS THE SEAM! No one will ever know, but even the facing on the front neckline perfectly matched the piece it was sewn to. This took a fair bit of time, but I really enjoyed the challenge.

The one little snag I ran into was just a result of me not fully reading the pattern. When you sew in the sleeves for this, you use a smaller seam allowance of 3/8″ rather than the 5/8″ that you use for the rest of the pattern. When I figured this out, it really made a difference on how the sleeves fit!

I love the drama of this pattern! When you wear it, the way the back flows out and the way the back hem curves down just feels so fancy and fun!

I’m collecting all my Me Made May photos here and I’ll be posting lots of new garments for the rest of the month!

PORTFOLIO TUNIC : SCILLY FLORA

Published on April 15, 2014 in clothing, stitchery and the workroom. 12 Comments Tags: Liberty of London, Lisette, portfolio tunic, Scilly Flora, Tana Lawn.

Portfolio Tunic : Lisette for Simplicity (out of print!)
Liberty of London Tana Lawn Cotton : Scilly Flora

I loved this top in the shorter version, and I love it even more in this longer version. It’s the cute pockets that make it. The Portfolio is just a super pretty design. It’s a shame that the pattern is out of print. But the good news is that Liesl just re-released a new version of the pattern called the Cappuccino Dress.

As always, Liberty is the perfect fabric and this particular print was from the Spring/Summer 2013 collection called The Flower Show. The Scilly Flora print is actually made up of hand drawings done by a class of students in a range of ages. The grey with peachy accents is pretty much my dream colour combo.

When I get hooked onto a pattern, I can’t help but make a few. I can tell that this is going to be a new staple style in my wardrobe.

MATHILDE : POPPY & HONESTY

Published on May 6, 2013 in clothing, stitchery and textiles. 11 Comments Tags: Liberty of London, mathilde, poppy & honesty, Tana Lawn, the great british sewing bee, tilly & the buttons.

Mathilde Blouse by Tilly Walnes
Liberty of London Tana Lawn : Poppy & Honesty
Photos taken at the High Park Cherry Blossom Hill

I’ve been working on my Mathilde blouse for a few weeks now and finally finished it up last night. To celebrate, I woke up super early this morning (6:30am!) and rode my bike over to High Park for a special photo shoot of this lovely top. What a gorgeous way to start the day.

I’ve been wanting to make the blouse for a while and finally got to buying the pdf pattern. This happened to coincide with my discovery of The Great British Sewing Bee (courtesy of some nudging from Guy). First off. Have you watched this amazing series?? You MUST. What a triumphant piece of television that had me on the edge of my seat, cheering and crying over a brilliant group of people SEWING their way through challenges. I won’t give anything away, in case you haven’t seen it. But please do give it a watch! There are just 4 episodes and it is delightful. Through the first episode, I was wondering why one girl seemed familiar and then I realized it was Tilly from Tilly & the Buttons! This got me very inspired to work on my Mathilde while watching each episode.

I’ve been saving this piece of Liberty from our last delivery at the shop. The Poppy & Honesty print was my favourite and in blue & grey, no less!

The blouse fits me perfectly and I love all the details, like the tucks running down the sides of the front and the full, gathered sleeves. Instead of buttons, I chose to do silver snaps down the back and I love how they look with this Liberty print! I’m a sucker right now for snaps. I followed the pattern, almost to the letter. Tilly has the most thorough instructions on her blog that walk you through each part of the process. It really couldn’t be more clear. I will definitely be making more. There are so many easy variations you can make on this pattern.

This is actually the first new clothing pattern that I’ve made in a while (so many Wiksten Tovas & Tanks!), so it was such a treat to finish this project, try it on and be delighted that it all worked out beautifully. At times, I did imagine myself as a contestant on the Great British Sewing Bee while I was making this along with the videos, but I don’t think I’d do well with a timer on my sewing. I really do a lot of dilly dallying while I’m working!

Thanks for the inspiration and fantastic pattern, Tilly!

Also – Congratulations to Lauren, one of the other contestants on the GBSB, she just opened up her own sewing shop, Guthrie & Ghani! Clearly, it’s time to take a trip to the UK!

WIKSTEN TOVA IN PAMELA JUDITH

Published on August 30, 2012 in clothing and stitchery. 3 Comments Tags: Liberty of London, Pamela Judith, Tana Lawn, Tova, Wiksten.

Wiksten Tova Sewing Pattern by Jenny Gordy
Pink Pamela Judith Liberty of London Tana Lawn Cotton

A couple months ago, Angela posted a sleeveless Tova in Pink Feathers. What a brilliant idea. I just had to make one for myself. I chose this pretty pink Liberty print.

I didn’t make any alterations to the pattern, besides just leaving off the sleeves and doing a bias binding for the armholes. I already loved this pattern, but now I’ve got another version that’s perfect for summer weather.

You know the drill, there will be more versions posted. These Wiksten patterns just seem to sew themselves. Here’s Tova #1 & Tova #2.

SIMPLICITY 2472 : WIDDAS WALTZ

Published on May 30, 2012 in clothing, stitchery and the workroom. 5 Comments Tags: Liberty of London, Simplicity 2472, Tana Lawn, Widdas Waltz.

Simplicity Pattern by Cynthia Rowley #2472
Liberty of London : Widdas Waltz Tana Lawn Cotton
Photographed at the Black Walnut Chalet, Mount Horeb, WI

We’re out in the Madison area for about a month. That’s a long time to be cooped up in a hotel room, even an extended stay one. Even though it was all very last minute, I was able to find a log cabin that we’re renting for two of the weeks that we’re here. It’s the exact opposite of the one room hotel that will make up the other half of our trip. It’s an absolute treat to have a bit of room to stretch out and there are lots of great places around here to take photographs.

This top is SUPER easy. There is literally a front piece, a back piece and three pieces of binding for the neck and two sleeves. I can’t really say much more about it. It takes no time at all to make. I used a Liberty of London fabric called Widdas Waltz. It’s like a flowery sunset, with so many layers of pattern. So pretty. Speaking of Liberty. Our next shipment should be arriving in about two weeks!!!!

I’ve discovered Ciao Bello Sorbet. YUM. I finished off that blood orange tub and I’m about to crack open a raspberry one tonight.

THE NIGHT BEFORE LIBERTY

Published on August 24, 2010 in textiles and the workroom. 17 Comments Tags: Liberty of London, Tana Lawn.

There’s a shipment of Liberty of London fabrics in transit to the workroom. So, of course, I am up late looking at each of these six prints and wondering just what fun things they will become.

Mauvey, Kate Ada, Kitty Grace, Ebs, Douglas Stripe and Clemmie – we’re going to have so much fun together!

PARIS TOTE WITH 'FAIRFORD' LINING

Published on June 29, 2009 in stitchery, textiles and traveling. 16 Comments Tags: Fairford, Leather & Sewing Supply Depot, Liberty of London, Magic Pony, Paris, Perfect Bunny, Tana Lawn, Tanaz Ghaffari.

Liberty of London Summer Challenge : Project 2
Paris Tote Bag with ‘Fairford’ Tana Lawn Cotton Lining

I was determined to have a specially designed bag for our trip to Paris. The key feature being ‘impossible to pickpocket’. I was heavily inspired by the Leather Ruffle Bag by Tanaz Ghaffari. I especially liked how the bag closed with a zipper that sits under your arm as you held the bag on your shoulder. And of course, it’s hard to resist anything with ruffles.

For supplies, I decided to head to the Leather & Sewing Supply Depot (7 Vanauley Street, Toronto, ON – 416-913-4868). It was the first time that I had been there, but they have an incredible selection of zippers and I was looking for some heavy duty metal ones. I also happened to find the cool taupe-y denim that I used for the outside of the bag.

In my limited bag designing experience, I’ve found it really helpful to create a mini mock up version, in order to work out any problems with the pattern and figure out the construction. It’s a great way to test out your pattern quickly without using too much fabric. My mock up looked good but when I blew up the pattern and cut out the fabric, the bag was way more over-sized than I wanted. As I went along, I just adjusted the pattern to make it work.

The bag is lined with Liberty of London Tana Lawn Cotton in the Fairford print. I have to say that it is delightful to sew with. Every time my fingers ran against the fabric I had a little thrill. This sweet little floral goes perfectly with the denim I used.

There is a little zippered pocket sewn into the lining and inside the pocket is a special typewritten label in French. For the trip, I left my big wallet at home and only carried my snap coin purse. The snap coin purse was kept in the inside zippered pocket. Thus, any pickpocket would have to get under my arm to unzip the first zipper and then unzip another zipper to get to my money. My Euros were well protected!

I added the cutest popsicle zipper pull from Magic Pony as a final touch.

The bag is not the most refined design, but it fit all my requirements. It was big enough to carry around my camera, a sweater and anything else we needed for our days around Paris. I was also able to fit everything I bought into it while we were shopping, so I only ever had to carry the one bag. Lastly, my money was secure without me having to tape it to my body.

The last photo here was taken at Pearson Airport waiting for our flight to Paris. Perfect Bunny did join us in Paris, but this was the only shot I got of her!

LIBERTY OF LONDON DAYDREAMS

Published on April 6, 2009 in textiles and the workroom. 18 Comments Tags: Liberty of London, Tana Lawn.

I’m not sure what it’s like where you are, but here in Toronto, it is grey and there is a slushy snow falling from the sky. It’s my day off and after running some errands with Maisy, I’m going to tuck in and do an oddball mixture of sewing and accounting. Hopefully working on my Double Wedding Ring quilt will offset the hours of accounting I have to tackle.

I thought perhaps these photos of the Liberty of London fabrics that I ordered for the shop last week might perk up your day. I have been looking at them constantly, carefully considering what lovely things I might make with them. Perhaps you’d like to do a little fabric day dreaming too? This Tana Lawn cotton has a really high thread count and is so lovely to work with.

For me, this is a big milestone. Liberty is the pinnacle of timeless fabric design. Flipping through their swatch books was such an incredibly delicious experience. It is unheard of to see that many amazing prints in one collection. Narrowing my selections down to just six bolts was a bit of torture, but I managed by telling myself that this is just my first order of many more. The fabrics don’t arrive until the end of May, so lots of time to imagine the perfect projects for them.