The winner of the Simplicity Sewing Book is....

Ruth Procter!  Drop me an email Ruth and I'll get your book in the post.

Thanks to everyone who entered - sorry I don't have copies for everyone!

The Original Pattern Pyramid comes to town!

I was lucky enough to be the next stop on the Pattern Pyramid!  This is the original one started by Karen from Did You Make That when she was generously gifted a trove of vintage patterns from one of her blog readers.

You can read the original post here.

I got these patterns when Marie from A Stitching Odyssey hosted it recently and it's a great stash!

There are vintage dresses galore:

Vintage separates:

A host of 1970s goodness:

Some 1980s and modern patterns:

We get to choose a pattern to keep.  I chose this gorgeous 1950s pattern which Marie added.  I fell in love with the neckline, and although I might have to do a bit of grading down, it'll be worth it!

Damn you Blogger for the sideways pic!

In return we have to add a pattern.  As there was a bit of a shortage of mid-sized patterns in there, I added these 3 from my stash:

If you would like to be the next stop for the Pattern Pyramid and have the chance to choose one of these for yourself, here are the rules:

• Any blogger with an active blog can enter.  You can live anywhere - these patterns are pretty well-travelled!
• You can keep one pattern for yourself, and then you have to host your own giveaway!  You must be happy to post internationally if you win.
• Most bloggers have added more patterns to the mix to keep it fresh (but it's not essential)

Want to be part of it?

Comment below by 12th March (midnight GMT), I'll draw a winner by random number and the patterns could be winging their way to you!

Giveaway - Win the Simplicity sewing book!

Those lovely people at Simplicity have a new book out and they have given me a copy to give away to one of my readers!

It's called Simply The Best Sewing Book and it's an update of Simplicity's original book published 20 years ago.  They have updated it to include timesaving tips and up-to-date info on newer sewing machines.

It is spiral bound with a hard cover so that it stays looking nice on the outside but lies flat so you can refer to it easily when sewing.

The fitting section

It covers tools and equipment, fitting (with a focus on tissue fitting but it also covers muslin making), using patterns, cutting and marking, the basics of sewing and how to work with more difficult fabrics.  At the back there are a few basic patterns to get you started.

Love the retro style illustrations

Before I was sent this, I was told it would be great for anyone who has recently started sewing, but having seen it, I think it's the kind of thing that would be useful to more experienced sewists as well. There are some great tips on overlockers which I have found really useful and are not normally covered in "Learn To Sew" books.

Sewing a flatlock seam

The section covering working with difficult fabrics has great tips on how to cut, mark, press and sew fabrics like velvet or lace:

Sewing with velvet

Matching patterns on lace

 The glossary of sewing terms is excellent and there's a really good index to help you find the things you need (and who doesn't need reminding of how to set in a zip from time to time!)

Hand sewing tips

Leave a comment below if you would like to win this book.  It's relatively heavy so only open to people in the UK - sorry!  I am planning a giveaway of my own soon which will be open internationally for everyone!  Please leave me an email so I can contact you if you win.  I'll pick a winner at random from all comments received by 12 noon (GMT) on Friday 7th March.

If you like (but not essential to enter) tell me what your top sewing tip is!

Mine is that you can shorten fabric on the bias by pulling it on either side of the presser foot as you sew.  It's a great way to ease in sleeves without puckers.

Edited to add - if you don't win, you can buy the book from Simplicity directly here!

Giveaway is now closed.  Winner to be announced shortly.

Simplicity Giveaway - the winners!

Thanks for all the entries to the Simplicity patterns giveaway!  I'm glad you all liked the ones I chose!

There were 12 entries for the lovely 1882:

...and the winner is:

Katja from GJeometry!

There were 7 entries for 1606:

and the winner is:

Debbie Brooker!

Congratulations ladies!  Can't wait to see your versions!  Can you drop me an email to the address in the sidebar above and I'll arrange to post your patterns?

Thanks very much to everyone that entered - I wish I had a prize for all of you.  And thanks to Simplicity for so generously giving away their patterns to us.



Simplicity giveaway - I made a mistake on the sizes!

I am a fool!

The Simplicity 1882:

 is actually a size 6-14.

The Simplicity 1606:

is a size 14-22.

Sorry!  If this changes the one you would like to win, please comment again on the original post!

Giveaway: Those lovely people at Simplicity...

I'm sure you will have seen on several blogs that you follow that the lovely Simplicity people are working with bloggers to give away some of their patterns.

Some people are blessed with the ability just to see the style lines of a pattern and see beyond sometimes dodgy envelope artwork/ fabric choice.  I am unfortunately not one of them!  I think this is why I sew a lot of indie patterns - I see lovely versions on bloggers with fabrics and styling I prefer.  So great initiative from Simplicity to get more involved with the community!

If you haven't done so already, tweet @SewSimplicity with your blog address to get involved with some of their plans!

Anyway, on to the giveaway!

We were asked to choose a pattern for ourselves and 2 to give away to our readers.

This was my pattern:

Source:  Pattern Review

The fabric choice on this is actually pretty cute!  I have loved this pattern since I saw Karen's gorgeous versions in teal and purple tulip print.  No idea which I like better - I can't decide!  I googled for some more pictures and came up with the wondrousness that is A Sewing Life's fabulous turquoise version. Great inspiration and a new blog to follow!  As the Spoolettes (Clare, Nicole, Sally, Roisin, Fiona, Alison and Rehanon) are planning a bowling trip to a gorgeous restored 1950s bowling alley, this version could have that perfect combo of bowling shirt/ diner waitress for me! Love the colour and the piping!

The other pattern was this:

Source:  Pattern Review

This was actually sent to me by mistake instead of 1609 (the shift dress Gertie has been obsessed with recently).  But it's a prime example of looking past the somewhat bridesmaidy fabric on the envelope to the line drawing:

Source:  Pattern Review

Leaving off the bow it's a cute princess seamed summer dress with the option to have a lace overlay - I'm seeing a fancy version of this similar to Zilredloh's fabulous Macaron.  Or a vintage style halter dress?

I have one copy of each pattern to give away - Simplicity 1882 in size 6-14 (edited to correct the sizes - see this post) and Simplicity 1608 in size 16-24 (Edited to correct the sizes as before).  Let me know in the comments below which one you'd like (and if you like, tell me what version and fabric).  It would be cool if you followed my blog, but you don't have to!  I'll choose a winner at random on 1st August.  Happy to post worldwide.

And hopefully the good hair/ good weather/ non-stroppy child stars will align so that I can get some pics of my lovely just-finished Simplicity 2444 to show you!