Tremendous YOU!

It's here! You are witnessing the official unveiling of my first published pattern, the Tremendous Tote:

I had so much fun putting this together, so I hope you all enjoy it too. This pattern is so versatile; I can see it as a beach bag, a diaper bag, or as a place to stash goodies as you shop (my personal fav). Check out the cuteness that one of my testers put together:

The pattern features full size printed pattern pieces, easy to follow directions, and professional illustrations to help you along. And a metric conversion chart and glossary too! While everything is clearly written, I'd definitely recommend this pattern for advanced beginner or intermediate sewers. If you have sewn a few bags and are not scared of zippers then you'll be golden (and my way of installing zippers is not scary, I promise!) Also, I will be adding tips and tricks to my website as it slowly goes live (get crackin, Mr. Webmaster!), so feel free to contact me and I'll make sure your questions are answered!

The pattern will be for sale starting today in my etsy store. However, shipping won't start until Saturday, July 26th while I wait on one last thing to be printed. So to thank you for your patience, I will be giving FREE SHIPPING to all "pre-orders" placed before midnight (CDT) on Friday, July 25. So pop on over to my etsy shop and take advantage of this deal.

I hope you love the Tremendous Tote as much as I do!

Best,
Kim



P.S. Want to get a head start? Here's the materials list:

Pattern Review: Amy Butler Anna Tunic

Summer is officially here and I find my closet sadly short on summer tops. Seriously, I'm still wearing sweaters (short sleeved) some days!

I grabbed another Amy Butler patter so I could whip up something quickly. This time, the Anna Tunic:

I used this crazy rainbow-esque Alexander Henry fabric I got on sale ($5.14 for almost 2 yards!) at my fav fabric store. Because the fabric was loud and I happened to have exactly the right amount for it, I chose the cami option. This would put the finished length right at my hip, which is what I wanted anyway. Hurrah for serendipity!

The result:

This pattern was reeeeaaaally easy to put together. Definitely a plus. I cut a straight large and it turned out nicely, with a good amount of ease.

The front has cute gathers to give it some shape.

And I love the buttoned back:

The only problem I had was the same problem I had with the Lotus Tunic. Again I had things wrong side out when I put the lining down inside of the exterior, and it was supposed to be right side out. Apparently I don't pay attention to that stuff! So remember right side out on step 3H! It was much later when I realized how wrong I was, but luckily it was easily corrected.

One small change. When hemming, I first turned up the hem the total 2 inches, then turned the raw edge down 1/2 inch. This ends up giving the same hem but helps ensure it is straighter...if you are like me, that 1/2 inch is hard to make perfect which could lead to a wonky hem. Oh, and every sewer needs this and this to save your fingers from a hot iron!

Overall I like how it turned out. The fit is good, but I'm not positive it's the right style for my body type. I saw a similar style as a dress on my much much more diminutive friend and it looked fabulous, so you thin or petite gals can eat this one up. I might not make another one, but I'll definitely wear this proudly on a hot summer day!

This is why you hardly see pictures of me in my creations - I always end up looking constipated...

Now on Etsy

halcyongreen.etsy.com

The Tremendous Totes are HERE!

Finally, after much patient waiting on your part, dear friends, I can announce that I've actually finished the Tremendous Totes!

Hurrah!

I know many of you have been anxiously awaiting these, so here's the scoop on how to get your hands on one:

1. The totes will be listed on my etsy site TOMORROW, Tuesday June 10th at (almost) exactly 7:00 pm Central Daylight Time. You can translate that to your local time here (I'm in GMT-6, the same as Chicago).

2. There are only five totes available in this color combo--I'm calling it "Georgia Peach", as I think it fits! There will be other colors (and maybe even a custom option soon), but if you've got your heart set on this exact one you better act fast cause I really really really can't make any more!

3. I'm throwing in a matching mini stuff stasher! They are just too cute and too useful not to be included :)

4. Okay, okay, the price. $147.00 US.

5. Shipping will be stated on the etsy site (check my shop policies later tonight--I should have it updated by then). In short, I'll be shipping USPS Priority with confirmation to US customers, and I will ship internationally as well. I'll figure out international shipping by USPS Priority International zones and spell that out. Please note that you'll have to be responsible for any duties or fees that your country imposes, so check that out before you buy.


Phew. I think that covers it. I'm so excited to get these out to you all. I'm hard at work at other colors, the pattern, and figuring out how I can handle custom orders, so stay tuned for much more excitement. Happy Toteing!

Pattern Review: Amy Butler Lotus Tunic

So way back when I was preparing for the previously mentioned Steeplechase I decided that I couldn't possibly wear an OLD dress to the sundress event of the season and thus decided I'd make one. Sure it's crazy to take on yet another project when I'm already super busy, but I'm also cheap (thrifty?) and didn't want to go spend >$100 for a dress I'd be wearing in a field (and while using a port-o-potty!)

I chose one of Amy Butler's patterns that I won in the contest as I knew it would be well written and likely to go together quickly. And I just thought the Lotus Tunic was cute!

I chose some REALLY cheap stash fabric as I wanted to make a wearable muslin (practice garment) first before cutting into some lovely AB fabric. I ran out of time and ended up wearing this dress. The main fabric is an IKEA quilt cover I got for $5.00 from their as-is bin. The contrast is a remnant from Jo-Ann's that I liked. I lined with plain white fabric I had on hand...may have previously been a bedsheet (shhhh!)

So, what did I think of this pattern?

Options:
The Lotus Tunic also includes a cami and dress length option. Based on the "back of neck to hem" measurements on the envelope, the cami falls at hip length, the tunic a few inches above the knee, and the dress to mid calf--on me. I am 5'9", so I think the tunic would make a nice knee length dress for most women. I went with this length as I didn't want to risk an unattractive mid-calf length, but it ended up a mini-dress that was close to pushing my modestly limits. Next time I'll lengthen a few inches...

Sizing:
The sizing seemed pretty standard to me, but if you usually fall below or above department store s-m-l you might have to do some major alterations. My measurements fit into a medium perfectly for bust and hip, but my waist measurement was closer to a large. I ended up tracing the pattern on to other paper and drafting a merged size that was a medium everywhere but the waist. I didn't want the hourglass shape of the tunic to be all clingy and have a replay of the fiasco at the boy's best friend's wedding last year:

• Crazy photographer: Aww, is there a reason he's rubbing your stomach?
• Me*: No, you jerk! I'm just fat and bloated on cake and neglected to wear my scary stomach-holding in granny panties. Take that ridiculous faux pimp hat you stole from the weird DJ and take someone else's picture...
  
• * May not have actually been said outside of my head
  

Whoa Nellie, back on track. Anyway, this change worked well on the side and back seams, but I took it out on the front panel as it made for some weird poochiness... Oh, and I cut the cap sleeves as a large as I was afraid of binding on my upper arms, which was also a wise decision.

Pattern:
The pattern pieces were nicely labeled, but printed on tissue like a commercial pattern rather than paper like most indie designers. I'm guessing this is because it is an apparel pattern, but I trace all my patterns on to other paper so I can make adjustments and still have the original to fall back on. Much easier with paper rather than tissue, but my only complaint.

Instructions:
The instructions were very easy to follow, in my opinion, especially if you have made a few garments before. It could easily be someone's first garment pattern, but they might want to allow extra time and make sure to read through EVERYTHING before starting. The mistakes I made were due to a lack of pre-reading, overconfidence in my abilities, and breaking my "no sewing after midnight" rule. I did have a few problem spots:
1. The first step is to put on belt loops and make a belt. What? I didn't even see a belt on the envelope...Totally just left that out as I'm not a belt person anyway. May have been good to label this "optional".
2. I put in an invisible zipper, which was easy even without an invisible zipper foot. Mine did turn out kinda puckery and not as neat as I would have liked, but I think that was a combo of thin fabric and no invisible zipper foot.

3. At one point it says to turn dress inside of lining. The next step talks about sewing the armhole together and specifies that it should be wrong sides together. The turning step didn't say that, so of course I put it right sides together and started sewing. I was almost done before I realized it would be impossible to put my arm through the armhole I had just sewn...
4. The binding on the cap sleeves is stitch-in-the-ditch like you would bind a quilt. Easy in theory, tricky in practice. I'm not a quilter, so one arm looks good, the other not so much. I'll only show you the good arm! :)

All in all, it is cute styling and I'll make more. I'll make the tunic longer for a real dress, or shorter for a real tunic. And fine tune the sizing, as that's the best part about making your own clothes!

I'd say that advanced beginners or intermediate sewers would be fine with this pattern. Do as I say, not as I do and read through before beginning and you'll be golden.

Oh, and of course I had to dress up my hat for Steeplechase. It's not a horse race without a hat! I made fabric flowers from the Anna Tunic (also by Amy Butler) and pinned them to the hat.

So cute!

The mini stuff stasher - free pattern!

That's right, loyal blog readers, I've finished a pattern! And I want to give it to you for free! Hurrah!

This pattern is for the mini stuff stasher that I showed you earlier. It's a great little bag, and a fun way to use up scraps and play with color combos (so you'll be all set when the Tremendous Tote pattern is available!) Check out the cute one my tester made:

Okay, so how do you get this pattern? I've posted it as a pdf download here. Save the pdf to your computer to aid in the printing process. And how do you print said pdf? Glad you asked, as this is important.

1. Make sure you have the free Adobe Reader. If you don't, you can download it here.
2. Open the print dialog box (File->Print) and set page scaling to NONE like so:

3. Verify that the test square on the pattern page (page 4) is exactly 2 in by 2 in (5 cm by 5 cm for my non-US friends).

4. Get stitchin'!

But Kim, you say, I don't want to mess with all that printing nonsense! And I don't want to have to go to the store and find the little key clip and twill tape so that I can clip my creation to things!

No worries, my friends. I'm going to have a lovely color printed pattern plus hardware kit available on my etsy site starting tomorrow. Yippee! All you'll need is to dig up some fabric (which I'm sure you have plenty of...), a 7 in zipper, and some interfacing if your fabric is lightweight and you'll be good to go. Aren't I the nicest?

And the Tremendous Tote pattern? Patience please, it's on the way!

Have fun!

Book review - Amy Butler's Midwest Modern

On a soggy soggy Saturday the poor mailman braved the downpour to drop off yet another fun package at my door. This time it was the books I won, sent from Christina at Chronicle Books. I haven't perused the project books yet, In Stitches and the Stitch-it Kit. I was way too distracted by this beautiful book:

First of all, the cover doesn't really do it justice. It's a cute picture, but the overprint of Amy's pattern doesn't show up well and it really makes the whole thing very impressive. Plus it's a really thick book. Wasn't expecting that. From the heft alone it's worth the $35 cover price, but amazon has it super cheap so it's a steal!

Anyway, the inside is ridiculously inspiring. This isn't a project book, mind you. There are a few DIY instructions, but mostly it's a primer for your creative spirit. The book is chock full of pictures taken by Amy's husband David and features their home and studio, their garden, Amy's sketches and designs, and many items made up in her fabrics.

Written in first person, Amy shares her personal philosophies on design, and on life: "I think that in everything we do, in every style of life, there is art to be found. Not just in the studios of talented artists, but in the gardens, homes, relationships, spirits, voices, and fashions of people you see everyday."

I'd have to say that the most inspiring part of this book is how it shows the creation of a home aesthetic that is an ever changing reflection of the people inside and the world outside. If you hadn't picked up on the nature influences in Amy's design before, you'll be able to recognize it when you see her designs pictured alongside the plants, flowers, and objects that inspired them.

Apparently Amy also has an enviable knack for finding and incorporating vintage items into her home and design. I obviously had no idea where to look when I lived in Ohio! Amy includes some of her local sources...if anyone knows of cool places like those in Nashville I'd love to hear about them.

The photography is stunning, and each page is visually dense without being overwhelming . I spent most of the weekend pouring over this book, and I know I'll be back to it soon for more inspiration. I've already rearranged our mantle to make use of some cool vintage glass the boy had hidden away in a dusty corner!

Not wanting to step on any copyright toes, the above images are all from Amy Butler's website. I did want to share the one thing that I'm lusting after the most from the book, which happens to also be on the back cover:

LOVE! I'm on the hunt, armed with many, many ideas from this lovely book!

Pretty things for you and me

Sorry about the short/lack of posts these past few days. My poor hands were all scraped up due to their unfortunate encounter with the pavement during my last human-powered transportation experiment. Long story short, klutzy gals like me shouldn't ride scooters (even if they are super fun)!

But now that I'm bandaged and on the mend I can show you this:

It's the Mini Stuff Stasher! A cute little version of the Tremendous Tote, complete with mini ric rac and a clip for hanging it inside the tote. Fun!

This is my prototype. I've got a few things to work out and then I'll have the pattern and bags available for you all. And the totes, you ask? Well...Linings on parade!
The tote are very temporarily on hold as I ran out of ric rac. OH NOOOOO! But I'll get more soon and then they will be out the door.

In the mean time, I'm putting all my other creations in my etsy shop on sale for 25% off. I know there is only one there now, but I have other bags that aren't listed. I'll get those up as soon as I can nag the boy into taking pics with his good camera. :) These ones are one of a kind, never to be made again, FYI!

Oh, I almost forgot. I am the lucky recipient of some pretty things from Amy Butler herself. I had forgotten that one of my prizes for the contest was Amy Butler fabric. She sent me a package with a very nice note, three yummy fabrics (love!), a set of her new note cards, and a bunch of her new patterns. I'm stoked about trying out the patterns and I'll be sure to review them here for you.

Have a lovely almost-Friday, everyone!

More shameless self-promotion

Just a quick post right now (I have something else I want talk about, but that'll have to wait until later).

Mucho thanks to Rory for pointing out this:

Yup, on Amy Butler's site! Want to see it for yourself? Go to Amy Butler Design, click on NEW, then scroll down.

Toooo cool! :)

By the way, her new fabric is awesome, is it not? One day my whole house will be swathed in pretty things like that....

Lucky you!

It's official! Lucky blog readers, there will be more Tremendous Totes soon!

I went to the crazy quilt shop yesterday and am now the proud owner of what may be some of the last of this fabric:

Hurrah!

Here's the deal. I have enough material to make 5 (maybe 6) of these bags. That's it. No mas. Eeek!

I'm currently cranking away on these bags, but I'm just one person and I do have a day job, so please be patient with me.

I will post here before I list the bag for sale in my etsy shop Halcyon Green so you'll have a chance to prepare for that. I'll keep you posted on cost and shipping once I figure that out. One thing at a time, people!

But wait, there's more!

I also scored this loveliness, and I'm super excited about it:Yes! Another colorway! The same AB print in a pink and green version. I'll be making the same bag in this as well, with green faux suede accent/straps (on the left of the pic) and pink piping/binding (a little bit is peaking out on the right of the pic).

Not wanting to get too crazy, I only have enough material to make 2 (maybe 3) of these bags. So, friends, please keep chatting up the comments so I stay motivated to sew and not worry that all my family will be getting the same bag for Christmas this year!

Keeping tabs on the goings on around here..

After yesterday's announcement (wheee!), I had a whole bunch of nice people stop by my little blog. Not that I mind! :) Good motivation to post more often, I suppose.

Anyway, as promised, I'm plugging away on getting a pattern made up for this bag. I'm also making a few finished bags as well. The main Amy Butler fabric is discontinued, so this is going to be a VERY limited edition bag!

So, to those who are craving one of these bags, I want to make sure you have access to the latest info on their progress. I'm practically a blog virgin, and for being on the cusp of the so-called blog generation, am woefully inadequate at this. But I've learned that the whole RSS/site feed thing is uber-important. Who would have guessed? I just tag my fav blogs in del.icio.us and visit daily. Apparently there is an easier way...

Subscription!

For those of you who like the easier way, I've added links for subscribing over in the side bar. I stuck with RSS, yahoo, google, and via email for now. Are there others that people use a lot?

For now, I'm hanging with my bazillion bookmarks. Maybe one day I'll join the site feed party!

WOW

So today I'm plugging away at work, cursing my fickle experiments and wishing I was outside enjoying the taste of spring we're getting. I take a little brain break and pop over to the Amy Butler contest Flickr page. They promised to announce the contest winners today and I was curious which of the beautiful bags had one. And, well, see for yourself.


Seriously? Seriously!

I almost jumped out of my desk when I saw that! Are you kidding me? The winner!?!?! Wow...

Okay, I'm super excited and just totally flabbergasted. I mean, I love my bag, but who would have thought that Amy Butler would love it too. I mean, the woman's designs are just so cool. And the competition was so stiff. Did you see some of those? Awesome...

Yeah. A good day after all. Happy happy!

:)



P.S. To add to the flattery, people have already been asking if I sell these. TOOO COOL! Anyway, if you are one of those, I don't have anything officially worked out yet. But when my new machine comes (!), I'll definitely be stitching up more of this design, probably by special order only. Contact me through the comments here if you have to have one (I won't publish your info) and we'll work out the details.

The tremendous tote makes its debut

I've finished the tote and posted the pictures in Flickr for the contests. Check them out here:


This bag was so fun to make, although it was definitely a challenge. Stitch, rip, stitch, rip, stitch... Although it's practically perfect, so completely worth it!

The bag itself is a wonderful prize, but I sure would love to win that grand prize... Sewing many layers on my baby machine precariously balanced on a TV tray is a tad bit tricky, to say the least!

Closing in...

Almost done with the front!Tick tock, tick tock! Gotta hurry if I'm going to finish...

Making progress

The lining is done! One small step towards completing my super duper tote.
One side features a zip pocket and paisley embellishment, plus a ring for clipping reusable shopping bags.
The other size features multiple slip pockets for my many modern gadgets that need a home plus a key chain so the little buggers don't get lost in the bottom.

Still much more to do...Back to sewing!

Uh oh, more fabric

I spent a good portion of the day at Stitcher's Garden in Franklin yesterday. I even called Mom while I was there to see if she needed anything, and she was incredibly jealous.
Anyway, that store has all sorts of goodies. They had the AB oxford stripe I was thinking about, but I wasn't so in love with how the Waverly fabric went with it once I saw it up close. Never fear, I found something even better:"Vintage" Amy Butler Charm fabric. I don't even remember seeing this when it was first out, but I LOOOOOVE it. It has the yummy peach color, so it goes with my faux suede. I picked up some green light weight twill to use for the piping. I'm even going to attempt to isolate some of the paisley motifs for the front. This store never gets rid of anything as they still had quite a bit of this fabric as well as other discontinued AB fabrics. And the ladies working there actually have a method to their madness and know all the fabric they have, even if it does look like a textile truck barfed up bolts...
Apparently they don't ever get rid of notions either. I picked up these too:
Cover-a-buckle? I don't think they even make these anymore. If they did, they would certainly be more than $1.75. The plastic is all brittle-I stuck my finger through the front pulling it from the bag! Ha! Gotta love those little small town shops...

FABRIC! (and so the sketch changes..)

I was out in suburbia this weekend, and went into JoAnn's. I had a coupon, they were having a sale, so I couldn't resist. But I did find something for my "Amy Butler" bag:
On the right is a faux suede and I just loved the color. Yummy, like peaches. Or lilies. Or other warm weather-like things that I'm craving now. It wasn't quite the right color for me to use with some reclaimed shower curtain fabric from the old house. Never fear, the waverly print in the middle is much nicer! I know, not very green, but I figure this is special circumstances. And then the requisite matching cotton for lining.
I love the fabric, but it required reworking of my sketch:Yeah. So I've decided I need even more fabric! I'm picturing an Amy Butler stripe for the piping, like this one:
And maybe I'll take a flower motif from another fabric to appliqué on the front pocket. Of course, I'll have to look at all this in person as I'm insane about color matching. Next weekend I'll take a trip to the quilt shop in frankin. That place is crazy, with bolts of fabrics floor to ceiling. If they don't have it, no one will!

The brainstorming begins...

I'm working on developing my "masterpiece" for the Amy Butler Contest.
So far I've decided I want a tote/ridiculously large bag for work and shoving stuff into when shopping and whatnot. And it has to be both fun and functional. Amy's work is the best of the midwest: a little trendy but still traditional, chic but relaxed, genuine and unpretentious. I figure if it makes me happy then I've stayed pretty true to the theme of the contest (and made a bag I love in the process).
My preliminary sketch:Blurry, I know. But it will be interesting how close the final bag comes to this. I'm guess not even close, based on past performances!

I wish I was as cool as...

Amy Butler! Sigh. That woman is ridiculously talented. When her house in Ohio (!) was profiled I was insanely jealous. My thrift store/vintage finds are never that cool or look so chic--we still have the college dorm room-esque vibe going on with most of our furniture! So I was uber excited when I saw this:
Make a handbag inspired by Amy Butler!?! And win a sewing machine (the one I was looking at buying!)?!?! It's like they read my mind...
Apparently I'm a little slow on the uptake as this has been up for a while. Better get a move on!