Sew Useful Designs: June 2013

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Life is Tweet!

…I mean, sweet!

The latest issue of Inspiring Country Threads magazine landed on my doorstep this morning, it’s the patchwork edition and features my “Life is sweet” sewing-machine cover pattern.

What do you think?

I described it to one of my friends as: “a bird who has swallowed an Ohio block!”

The method is called reverse-applique, and involves attaching a shape behind a cut out rather than stitching to the front.

It can be found in the newsagent’s now… Vol 14 No 3. The pattern will be available in PDF format real soon!

I love the way magazines photograph the projects, they make it look so effortless with their perfectly positioned props. I thought I’d have a go at an artsy attempt. The idea was that the shadow of the vines on the back wall would emulate the branches that the bird is sitting on. Hmm… I think I’ll stick to designing sewing machine covers!!

I was back in my comfort zone with the colours in this project, they’re right where I’m at! Do you cover your sewing machine to protect it from dust and keep it pretty? I’d love to see!

Till next time!

Vikki xo Smile

ps. I’m playing around with using a grey font in my blog posts at the moment – do you prefer the grey or pink? I can’t make up my mind!

An orange crush…

I had such fun making my most recent magazine project, and I’ve fallen in love with the rusty colours, which are so different from my favourite tones of soft blues and pinks.

Burnt orange and taupe go quite nicely together… I think I have a new crush!

What colour combinations are your favourites?

Hugs! Vikki xo Smile

Giveaway winner announced!

Thank you so much to those of you who entered the giveaway for my latest pattern release – Vintage Charm – it was great to hear from you!

It seems like so many of you enjoy stitching and spending time with friends… as well as getting involved in many other areas of craft. Us creative souls like to explore don’t we?! Plus we are known to be a friendly bunch who do not mind a good ole’ chat over a nice hot cuppa and maybe a piece of chocolate or two! Sound familiar? {smile}

I used the random number generator to choose a winner from the comments that were left and #34 was chosen which is Bonnie from Purrfectly loved quilts. Congratulations Bonnie! I have emailed you the pattern and hope you enjoy making the caddy!

But I couldn’t stop at one – I chose a second winner! Congratulations also to Gill Watson of the UK (no blog) who was comment #15. {smile}

We are celebrating the Queen’s birthday with a long weekend in both Australia and the UK, so I’m hoping that Gill and Bonnie might get a few extra hours to enjoy some of their favourite crafts! And YOU too, of course!!

If you would like to make a caddy for yourself or for a friend, the pattern is just $7.00 USD and can be found in my Craftsy store, here.

I will be releasing another pattern next week and am currently sketching up some new designs to keep Rosetta Rabbit company! They’re cute creatures… but I’ll share more on that over the coming weeks.

My little Rosie has some ongoing medical issues so I’ll be teaching her from home over the next few weeks… I know she will miss her friends at school but I’m so looking forward to having her around. I just need to be extra disciplined to ensure that we (both) get our work done before playtime!

I’ll speak to you in the week dear friends!

Happy stitching!

Vikki xo Smile

New pattern release–Vintage Charm- and a giveaway!

Good morning lovely people! I arrived at my pc this morning with a spring in my step and with great excitement, uploaded my latest pattern release, Vintage Charm.

This retro-themed sewing caddy was inspired by my love of vintage toy sewing machines, and contains every compartment you need to make those embroidery projects portable. There’s not even a need to put it in a bag as it has its own carry handle, and then you can just open it up over the arm of a chair and take up sewing where you left off.

Centrally situated is a pincushion which is neighboured by a comprehensive needle keep and a sweet pocket adorned with a vintage doily, which is the right size for nestling an A5 pattern. On the other side is a scissor keep, and a trim to hold pens, ruler and an un-picker together with any other needful things that you need for your projects.

So I think it’s time for a giveaway! To one lucky reader I will gift a copy of my Vintage Charm e-pattern. All you need to do is leave one comment on this post, and if you feel like it I’d love to know what it is that you enjoy the most about your sewing hobby – is it embroidery, piecing, quilting or just an excuse to get together with friends? I will draw the winner on Friday 7th June at 7pm Melbourne time.

If however, you want to get cracking on this project straight away, it is now available as a PDF download in my Craftsy store.

Happy stitching my friends!

Vikki Smile

Retro-themed Kokka is on the menu…

I love the fabric designs coming out of Japan at the moment, and I know I’m not alone. They’ve become increasingly popular over the past few years, because they’re utterly delicious with their quirky prints and linen texture.