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Makers Retreat – Indigo Dyeing

As a maker I can’t be tied down to just one form of making when there are endless ways to be creative.  I have always considered myself a hobby pickerupper (yes I made that word up) in search of the newest hobby that can take over my house and fill my creative brain.

If you pair this need to always have my hands making something with my absolute love of teaching and sewing you get the perfect recipe for a Makers Retreat.  So instead of searching out the retreat that might tick all of the boxes I was looking for I decided to just host my own.  For anyone who has been following me for any period of time or listened to my interviews on my podcast, A Coffee with Makers, you know this statement is a totally normal thing for me to say.

Espadrille Wedges

I feel freaking beautiful in these shoes.  What is it about a great pair of shoes that makes you feel fantastic.  What’s even better is that I made these shoes.  I also didn’t realize how great they would look with this sleeveless Leschi I made a few months go.  Perfect casual yet put together look.

When Melissa of A Happy Stitch reached out to me about participating in a blog tour for her Espadrille kits I immediately said yes… in my head.  Turns out I never emailed her, but thankfully she followed up so I could participate in this great make.

Cold Shoulder Montlake

Somehow I became the 30 something mom who sees a trend but by the time I get around to it all the ‘cool kids’ have moved onto something new.  I am pretty sure that is exactly the case with this cold shoulder Montlake.

I had no real interest in making one for myself but then I went and saw this cold shoulder Bellevue remix by Becca of Free Notion and just had to give it a try with my Montlake.

A photo posted by Becca DuVal (@beccaduvalphoto) on

Velcro® Brand Toss Game

It is the week of kids stuff and I couldn’t be happier.  I had forgotten how much I enjoy sewing things for my kids, whether it is clothes or fun things for around the house.  When Emily of Nap Time Creations asked if I would join her Summer Fun Series I quickly signed up, what a great excuse to focus on my kiddos this summer and making something fun for them.  For my project in the series I decided to go with a fun VELCRO® Brand Toss Game that actually turned into quite the scrap buster.

Wedgwood Invisible Zipper Modification

When I first gathered my testers together in the testing facebook group I knew ideas and suggestions were start flowing.  This may make designers cringe but I love getting feedback from sewists on what they like and don’t like about a pattern, because they really do represent a great mix of the people that will eventually be buying the pattern.  One of the first suggestions that started swirling around was the ability to modify the pattern to include an invisible zipper, while I think an exposed zipper is wonderful not everyone agrees.  The idea stuck and so today I am sharing with you my Wedgwood invisible zipper modification.

Maternity Montlake

Okay all you ladies with a baby belly I have a really fun post for you today.  There are no more babies joining the Paynes so I had to enlist the help of a new sewing friend, Holly, who has the cutest baby belly.  I met Holly only a few short weeks ago when she was helping me test the Montlake pattern and I knew instantly we would be great friends.  She graciously agreed to help me show all of you how you can easily modify the Montlake tee to be maternity friendly.

Montlake Tee into a Tunic

Montlake Tee into a Tunic

Many times it is hard to look at a pattern and envision how you could modify it to get a different look.  This is especially true for those sewists who consider themselves beginners, heck even I struggle with modifying patterns sometimes.

Today I am going to show you how I made the Montlake tee into a tunic with just a couple easy steps, to save you from having to try and figure it out.

This is the first of many modifications I have planned over the next few weeks to help you see that Montlake is so much more than just a simple tee.

Choosing Fabric for the Montlake Tee Sewing Pattern

Montlake Tee Fabric Options

Choosing fabric for a pattern is my favourite part of sewing.  I love walking the aisles of a fabric store feeling and stretching the fabrics to see how they will behave with the pattern.  When designing my new pattern, Montlake I realized very quickly that depending on the fabric chosen the final tee would have a different look.  The more stretch in a fabric leads to a deeper scoop neck and relaxed fit.  For those fabrics that have only slight stretch it is a more fitted tee.  All the looks are great, it’s just a matter of what kind of mood you are in when sewing up your Montlake.

Trick or Treat Bag

Sharing another fun tutorial over at Make It & Love It this morning, this time a trick or treat cat bag for your kiddos.

I am lucky enough to have kiddos that love picking out costumes at Costco!  I know it is total sewing parents dream.  I don’t think they have quite figured out that I could actually sew them a costume and I plan to never let them find out, because costume making is so not for me.

High Waisted Bikini

For my entire adolescence and adult years I have been very self conscious of my body.  I can look at a picture and pick apart the ways that I don’t look good.  I bypass the fact that I love my smile or the way a shirt looks on me, I am simply blinded by the flaws.  Since starting this blog and specifically my pattern business I am looking at pictures of myself all the time.  Sometimes I look at them and think DAMN I look hot, but other times I see the hint of a muffin top through my shirt or how wide my hips look and I get down on myself.