Swanky vintage patterns and giveaway day!

Have you seen the McCalls Pattern Behavior tumblr yet?  Go look.  It’s hilarious.

I enjoy vintage patterns.  I always learn something from them, whether it be a nicer hem finish, how to pad stitch a jacket (although I haven’t been brave enough to attempt that yet), or how to make gorgeous seam lines on a blouse for a special fit and finish.  I like the care that they suggest went into making garments – things could be beautiful and functional and a sewing project didn’t necessarily have to be finished in a couple of hours (although I appreciate the benefit of quick sewing projects, too!)

Since it’s almost spring and we haven’t done a giveaway in a while, I thought I would offer a handful of nifty vintage patterns that were part of a collection I was gifted recently.  I picked out some that I think would look great in modern fabrics, especially since it seems that the ’70s are back.

The power trousers are a little more ’80s, but I kept wanting to make up captions for that pattern cover in my head (“We wear our grey power trousers for work AND play.”  “Does this tie say ‘I will be the one to break the glass ceiling’?  That’s what I was going for.”)

The peasant dress would look fantastic in a drapey voile or even a lightweight knit and I can see the tunic dress in a chambray or light linen blend.

I am also including the unmentionables pattern in the mix above because I am somewhat taken with the idea of making my own delicates.

And, really, the cardigans are too much fun not to share.  I’m not sure why I don’t have matching argyle knit cardigan and trousers in my closet, but obviously everyone should.  And those knee socks… I die.

Anyway, the random number generator chose 3, so this bounty plus one of our patterns goes to Shari who said “I recently made a few Finlayson tops for my 15yo son. When complimented at school, he shared that his mom made it and his friends wanted to know if I could make them one too. When he needed a welding cap, his first question if I could make one. He’s now sporting a welding cap made of fun fabric that fits his personality! I love that he’s thinking make versus buy!”

Congratulations, Shari!  Send me an email at ohsnapdragonstudios@gmail.com with your mailing address and which of our patterns you fancy!

Who has selfish sewing lined up even though selfish sewing week is over?  I have a somewhat ambitious plan for an Easter dress, but if that fails I will be making a sweet Market Day Tunic shift dress to wear to church on Easter.  Other than that my sewing time has been spent working on some new patterns for Snapdragon Studios, so all of that is under wraps for a little longer!  What are you sewing these days?

randomly on a monday

i’m a winter girl, i admit it proudly!  i’ve always had a tough time accepting spring and it’s mucky wetness…that is, until the muck is gone and what’s left is fresh green growth and birdsong!  the last several days (with the exception of one dreary rain day) have been pretty glorious around these parts and i’m finding myself thinking spring!  dreading the weeding, edging and mulching but looking forward to the results.  the past week has turned my hillside from this…

to this…

not nearly as pretty, but ever so much easier to walk the dogs!!  and soon the green will come…and need to be mowed!
i found these popping up through the snow a few weeks ago.   i’m pretty sure they’re exciting to be bathed in spring sunshine!  and soon their colorful little blooms will bring me excitement too.

my selfish sewing was sort of a bust!!  i selfishly spent a lot of time working on some new designs, which i love. but i haven’t thrown in the towel on some sewing for me quite yet. this light flocked cotton will eventually become a top, whether in these patterns or another. and i’ve been wanting to make a spring trench for years…maybe this will be that year!!

and for no other reason than i think it’s beautiful i’m sharing this cake plate. a gift from amy this christmas, i love how the light reflects through it. inspiration.   in a couple of hours it will be holding cinnamon chip scones, hot from the oven…be still my cinnamon loving heart!

don’t forget our vintage pattern giveaway!! follow us and leave a comment telling about your favorite sewing project. some lucky sewist will receive a bundle of vintage patterns AND a snapdragon studios pattern of their choice. just in time for your own spring sewing!
kim

LOVE15

love is in the air this week!!  and we’re feeling the love around here too….sorry, no diamonds or chocolates….but we think we have something that you’ll love just the same.  a DISCOUNT!!  scoot on over to our website, click on “our patterns” and using the coupon code LOVE15 enjoy 15% off our amazing patterns today through monday 2/16.  we couldn’t think of a better way to say “we love you”!!

make a summer jazz dress with sleeves for your romantic valentine’s day dinner, a red hot market day tunic for your cozy day together or a comfy weekend rambler skirt for your weekend getaway.  and with the money you save….buy yourself some chocolate.  you can thank us later:)

kim

it’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s a sleeve???

what’s that you say?  you love the summer jazz dress, but fall and winter are coming and that flutter sleeve seems so summery?  you love the flutter sleeve, but you’re more of a 3/4 length kind of girl?  then you’ll be glad you stopped by today of all days!

announcing…..THE SLEEVE!!

the top photo you may have seen before….it’s a tunic i made to test the elbow sleeve when it was first drafted.  the bottom pic is a 3/4 length.  i haven’t made myself a long sleeved one yet, but it’s on the cutting table.

the great news about this sleeve?  it’s now available as a FREE download and is graded for all sizes in all three lengths.  this is only the sleeve pattern…you’ll need to purchase the dress pattern, unless you have a sleeve fetish and just want a new sleeve pattern!  (i’m sure there’s probably a support group out there for you somewhere.)  so if you, or someone you know already has the summer jazz dress pattern, just go to “our patterns” for your free sleeve pattern.  if you’ve been on the fence about purchasing….i think we just knocked you off!

we’ll have more pretty pictures to share soon as we begin to stock up our fall and winter closets.  i’m considering a lightweight flannel….now, how cozy would that be?

kim

And the winner is…

Oh my goodness, you guys, thank you so much for all of the well-wishes on our new little bundle.  I have loved reading all of the comments here and on Facebook and I wish I had all the time and money in the world so I could give every single one of you a quilt.

I put all of your names in a hat and let Jack pick the lucky winner.  He chose Regina DeCapite, who wrote “My favorite blanket is a pink seersucker receiving blanket that was given to my now 26 year old daughter as a baby. She carried it everywhere and named it ‘uh oh.’ Whenever she would drop it, she would say ‘uh oh.’ Still have it. Congratulations on your newest family member. Adorable!”

My favorite blanket as a little kid was the ugliest white printed receiving blanket imaginable.  It has a satin binding that my mom replaced multiple times after I loved it to tatters and we called it my “other blankie” because my parents would try to offer me any of the gorgeous afghans my grandma and great aunts crocheted for my, but I only wanted my “OTHER blankie”.

Congratulations, Regina!  If you would email me your address at ohsnapdragonstudios[at]gmail.com I’ll send your quilt to you!

Thank you again, everyone!  Samuel has been warmly welcomed into the world.

 

So here’s a gratuitous baby picture of Samuel’s first visit to River Road Coffeehouse to wrap up today’s post (two babies for the price of one!).  Also, some shameless promotion – see that snazzy Market Day Tunic I’ve accessorized with those delicious babies?  In case you didn’t see our announcement on Facebook, printed patterns are finally available in our Etsy shop!  If you have already made one of our patterns, we would love to see a picture and have the link to your blog if you’ve blogged it so that we can share your creations!

~Elizabeth

 

the fabric speaks

i haven’t been doing a lot of personal sewing of late.  there have been samples to make for a few shops who requested them.  and there are some other little projects going on behind the scenes….that we will fill you in on as they reach completion.  but not a lot of personal sewing.  ever since i made the summer jazz dress sample for sew to speak, i’ve been sort of obsessed with wanted one of my own, in a tunic length, from anna maria’s sinister swarm voile.  the fabric was purchased, but it’s just been sitting in the studio waiting for me…..today just might be the day!

and there are several other cuts of fabric waiting for me too…

this lovely chevron knit was supposed to become a tee of some sort, but recently i’ve heard it calling to me to make it into a maxi skirt.  this summer has been rather cool and what could be better on a cool summer evening than a maxi?

this picture refused to rotate….so you’ll have to!!  i’m not exactly sure what this fabric is, but it’s sheer and has a bit of stretch to it….it’s going to grow up to be a paloma top.  and yes, i’ll wear a cami underneath!!

and this sunny knit dot also wants to be a summer jazz top.  it’s a cotton jersey and i think it’s going to make a fun top for summer.

so, now that the fabrics have spoken, it’s time to head to the studio to make their dreams come true!  what are you making this summer?  or are you already looking ahead to fall/winter sewing?

i leave you with yet another pic of the sweet little man, samuel (and of course his mama!!).

kim

 

don’t forget to tell your friends about the quilt giveaway!!!  elizabeth will be randomly choosing a winner on monday…..someone is about to get very lucky!!

He’s here!

And, just like that, Paul and I no longer outnumber our progeny.  Samuel Atticus was born over the weekend after a short, fairly easy labor and we are over the moon excited to welcome him into our family.

Jack is settling into being a big brother, alternately showing us that he’s a big boy and self-sufficient at 20 months (and man, does he feel big compared to holding our 8ish pound newborn) and wanting to be cuddled and snuggled like the baby he still is.  He learned to say Samuel while he was on the way to visit us in the hospital (“Sam-ool!”) and I died a little from the sweetness.

Paul is tickled pink (blue?) to be a papa to two little boys.  (Two little boys who will not hold still long enough to get a picture together, I might add.)

So, after 9 months of speculation, that’s a small mystery solved and marks the opening of our quilt giveaway!  We’ll be offering the “girl” quilt (Cluck Cluck Sew‘s Scout pattern) to one of our readers.

All you need to do to enter is to follow us on Facebook, follow the blog (enter your email address in the sidebar) and leave a comment on this post telling us about your very favorite blanket ever.  We will choose a winner at random on Monday the 28th.

Good luck to all of you, and welcome to the world, baby Samuel!

-Elizabeth

*The giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Regina!*

Baby sewing: done!

Yesterday I finally finished and photographed the baby projects I was hoping to get done before our baby makes his or her appearance sometime in the next week or so.  Two quilts plus two little bitty outfits.

You’ve seen the quilt tops a few times now in various stages of completion, so I’ll start with the outfits.  For the boy’s romper I found this super sweet pattern by My Taylor Made on Etsy.  I made the pants version and added cuffs and the belt.  I took photos as I was adding to the pattern, so as soon as I get those edited I’ll put up a tutorial for you on adding those details to a standard romper pattern.

For the little girl’s dress and bloomers, I started with Melly Sews’ Criss Cross Dress and ruffled bloomers pattern and tutorial (available for free when you sign up for her newsletter).  I had been looking for a pinafore dress in an infant size because I don’t have an infant handy to test a self-drafted pattern.  Melly’s wasn’t quite what I was looking for (hers has the long straps come up from the front with an open back and I wanted the dress to wrap around and cross in back like tulip petals), but it was a good start.  Her version is super cute – I just had a specific design in mind and couldn’t be satisfied with anything else.  Her pattern starts at 6 month size, so I knew it was going to be a little big for what I wanted, but you can’t beat free.  🙂

I kept the pattern I adapted for the pinafore dress, so I’ll work on getting that into PDF form and making a tutorial for that, too.  I followed Melly’s instructions and pattern exactly for the bloomers except for pinking the edges of my ruffles and putting them on in wavy lines instead of straight.

I made both in about a 3 month month size in hopes that they would be small enough not to look totally huge and silly in newborn pictures but that they might still fit for a little while after we come home from the hospital.  I’m notorious for making homemade outfits for kids that only fit on the day for which they are intended and that are outgrown in two seconds, so I’m hoping that these will get some wear for the rest of the summer.

So those little bitty outfits wrap up the baby sewing for now, and at this point I’m totally ready to meet our kiddo and stop being super pregnant in the July heat.

Anyone care to venture a guess as to whether we’re having a boy or girl?  Jack’s first response to whether he wants a brother or sister is “motor!” [motorcycle], but after we told him he was going to be disappointed on that front he’s been saying “gill” [girl] or “ister”.  We’ll see if he’s right!

Don’t forget to watch the blog and follow us on Facebook for the baby’s birth announcement with details on how to win one of these quilts!  What special projects are you working on these days?

-Elizabeth

 

 

The Summer Jazz Dress as a maternity top

It was totally a happy accident that one of the patterns we designed for our spring ’14 season works fabulously for maternity wear.  When we started Snapdragon Studios last August, Paul and I had no idea that we’d be welcoming a new baby into our family this summer and Kim and I definitely didn’t design any of our patterns with a baby belly in mind.

Fast forward nine months, and I was already in my third trimester when we went to Quilt Market.  It was a challenge deciding what to wear since we knew we wanted to show our designs as we went around talking to people there.  I could still *just* fit my tummy into one of the Market Day Tunics, but otherwise it was the Summer Jazz all the way for me.  Just for fun, I cut off one of our SJ dresses into a tunic length to wear with jeans or leggings, and I’ve finally gotten around to taking pictures to share with you.

Paul and I went on a date night Friday night to see a summer stock production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), and I had him snap these pictures before we left, so I’m considerably further along here than when I first wore the tunic.  In retrospect, I wish I would’ve shaped the hem a bit more where it goes ove rmy belly instead of cutting it off straight, but at the time I was thinking that if I cut it straight it would still be long enough to cover and I would be able to wear it without any changes after having the baby.

To make it a tunic length, I shortened the dress length of the pattern by 4″ and hemmed it as usual.  Here’s how I will do it if I’m ambitious enough to make one more before the baby arrives (unlikely, but just in case…).  I’m a size M in a woven and size S in a knit, so I drew my dashed line for the medium size, but these proportions should work for any size.

 

Sorry about the terrible lighting for that picture, but hopefully you can see what I’m getting at.  I should have come up 4″ on the side and only two inches at center front.  You could cut the back skirt off straight across at 4″, but if you wanted to be kinda cute you could also curve the back hem this way and then when you’re not pregnant anymore you’ll have a fun tunic with a shirt-tail hem.

The Summer Jazz as a maternity top is super comfortable and I’ve gotten lots of compliments on it, which makes it a win in my book.

 

Don’t forget to keep watching the blog and Facebook for our baby announcement and the opening of the quilt giveaway!  T-2 weeks (or less!  gulp!) and counting!

-Elizabeth

The List

Jack has been really into the Frog and Toad stories by Arthur Lobel lately.  We have a collection of them, and one of the stories in the collection is called “The List”.  In case you’re not familiar with the story, the gist of it is that Toad wakes up in the morning and decides to make a list of all the things he’ll do that day.  He (wisely, in my opinion) includes things like “wake up”, “get dressed”, “eat breakfast” that are easily crossed off, and only then moves on to “go to Frog’s house”, “take walk with Frog”… and so on.  While he is walking with Frog, a gust of wind blows his list away, and when Frog suggests chasing it Toad wails that he can’t, because chasing the list was not on his list of things to do today.

I’m totally with Toad on this one.  I live by my lists, and while I always end up doing things that aren’t on my list (or more likely, adding more things to my list as the day goes on), it’s nice to start the day off with one.  I like to see what is on other people’s lists, so just in case you’re nosey and have sympathetic list-making OCD like I do, here’s what my list looks like these days (in no particular order):

 

*Finish tops for quilts (Don’t forget to keep watching for the giveaway in the next few weeks!)

*Arrange to have them quilted

*Wash bassinet bedding/ wipe down bassinet (make new sheet for it?)

*Get infant carseat out of the garage and wash cover

*Clean out car/ swiffer it (I drive an Element – the car you can mop.  So great.)

*Install carseat

*Reorganize closet/ put away stuff in bedroom that has been sitting by my side of the bed for ages so the bassinet can go there.

*Upload pictures to Snapdragon albums on Facebook, Pinterest and Flickr (links to come when I get to this)

*Choose and order materials for Snapdragon press packets

*Order mailing envelopes for Snapdragon print patterns (coming in three weeks! Just like the baby!  Yikes!)

*Make girl and boy newborn outfits (rompers?) for first picture

*Clean house

 

The real trouble is that what I want to be doing right now is sitting on my daybed in a pristine house finishing Liane Moriarty’s The Husband’s Secret.  If you’re looking for a great summer read, I highly recommend it.

What’s on your list these days?  Doesn’t it feel awesome to cross stuff off?  I’ve been known to put something on the list that I’ve already done just so that I can check it off immediately.  🙂

-Elizabeth