Prefontaine World Tour: Calling at Kitschy Coo

I'm beyond excited today to reveal my contribution to the Prefontaine World Tour!  Seriously, I fell in love with these shorts as soon as I saw testing pics pop up and I harangued Jill until they were released. 'AretheyreadyyetAretheyreadyyetAretheyreadyyet....'

Her approximation of Steve Prefontaine running, obviously

Because my jet-lagged brain failed at reading comprehension, I got confused with the sizing and erroneously believed that my kids were above the size range when they weren't.  So I did grade up a bit, adding 1" total at centre back, 3/8" to the rise and 3/8" to the inseam but actually a straight-up Size 5 probably would've been fine.  When I make another pair in a woven the extra width and rise may be beneficial as Maia's hips are close to 30"!  Jamie was atypically (for him) jealous of his sister's new shorts so I see some Prefontaines in his future too.

The star fabric is my newest acquisition, a nice and stable cotton lycra blend in awesome neon colours.  For the pocket edging I used a polkadot double-fold bias tape in lime green that has a sweet woven picot edge.  If you're sewing a woven binding onto a knit I suggest going slow and pressing the bejesus out of it.  The front pockets are a coordinating orange knit, and the overall edges are bound in red polkadot binding.  The only omission I made to the pattern was not adding the back patch pocket, which had zero to do with my love of the pocket (which is intense) and everything to do with my inability to decide which fabric it should've been made from.

The construction of the shorts is different from any other bottoms I've made to facilitate sewing on the binding as easily as possible.  I am in love with the overlapping sides and the flash of thigh.

Overall, awesome pattern and awesome shorts!  Anything that can persuade Maia to take pictures in the rain must be a winner.

Make sure to check out all the other awesome Prefontaines popping up in the tour (it's my girl Sarah tomorrow!) and you can snag the pattern here.

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This just in: Cerise Stars

We're safely home in the UK and the shop is now reopen for fabric orders!  I had a package waiting for me with this lovely bright star print so there's one new choice for you :)

Because Big Cartel is a pain in the bum and doesn't allow batch editing I had to go through every single listing to set it back to live so I also took the opportunity to add more functionality to the shop- you can now filter on not only Fabric Type (which you could do before) but also by Supplier (new function).  This means that if you have previously ordered a fabric that you love the composition of, it's now easier to find the same composition.  I've had some exciting emails during my holiday so hopefully I'll be adding even more suppliers over the remainder of the year!

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Lady Skater Pattern Tour: Lladybird

It's the last day of the of the Lady Skater Tour and we're going out with a bang with Lauren from Lladybird! Holy sh*t, right??  I've been the biggest fangirl of hers (which is no doubt a claim that many will contest) for such a long time- her makes, her fabrics, her writing style (the Vogue Pattern snarks alone are legendary)... everything ad infinitum.  All these Thurlows (and her associated Thurlow sew-along) actually make me want to sew some trousers, which is no mean feat.   I had to pull on my bravest big girl pants to ask her on the tour and I couldn't believe my luck when she agreed.

A kinda funny creepy story: last year Lauren posted a picture of some awesome tiger shoes she'd scored on pretty the same day as I got my tiger fabric.  I almost sent her some as a wee thank you (she mentioned my shop in her Conquering Knits post and is the second highest referrer to my shop after myself- ha!) but I chickened out lest I seem (accurately) a creeper.  I ran out of the tiger fabric, but then when I summoned the courage to ask her on the tour I received another bolt from my supplier on pretty much the same day again!  The universe wanted her to have those tigers... and now she does in Skater form.

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Lady Skater Pattern Tour: Sew Chibi

We're in the home stretch with only two Lady Skaters to go and today we have the incomparable Kat from Sew Chibi!  Hand on heart, I don't think there is anyone quite like Kat (and I genuinely mean that with the highests praise).  I have the honour of being one of a group of people that Kat bounces ideas off about what she's making and although I don't necessarily immediately understand what she's planning, I know it'll be epic.  We've partaken in quite a few of the same tours (and she's participated in tours  I've incongruously not been asked to do been too busy to do ) and there is never an occasion when she doesn't do something so unique and awesome that I don't gasp.  I'm not even joking, these cats are slide-able up and down that panel and she hand-stamped and painted the fabric.  If my mum wasn't knitting me a Wonder Woman sweater I'd seriously consider asking Kat to be my mum as I can't even imagine the glee I'd feel to have something like this as a kid (kidding not kidding , mum!).  One of the best sewing projects I've ever seen was how she turned a painting by her father into fabric via Spoonflower and made her daughter a dress with it; not a straight-up dress using the fabric alone but a fusion dress with a skirt in his painting with her own beautiful inspired bodice, sash, and self-made buttons.  She's one in a million / billion / seven point one billion.

 

Here's a sneaky peak of what Kat made... Click on through!

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Lady Skater Pattern Tour: Max California

Today the Lady Skater Tour is heading back over to Australia again with Ari from Max California! It hasn't been that long since Ari was last on my blog with her Baby Skater, but since then she's done heaps of tours and guest posts and even started her own Sew Geeky series with Sew Chibi (tomorrow's tour-ee).  Ari has the unique distinction of being a babe, a sweetheart, and a geek; here's a round-up of most of her Star Wars projects alone.  Although I find it suspicious how adorable her family are, I will give her the benefit of the doubt provided she continues to post many pictures of them.

So... Does anyone want to see a zippered mini-Skater with coordinating Steampunk shorts on a BAMF? Of course you do.

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Lady Skater Pattern Tour: Imagine Gnats

Today I'm delighted to have Rachael from Imagine Gnats on the Lady Skater tour!  Most recently Rachael was co-hosting the fab series Shorts on the Line for everybody's summer shorts needs, but you might also recognise her from the fab Cammy Pack Camera Strap guest post she did for Pellon. I tell no lies when I say that I'd definitely rather sport a robust be-pocketed Cammy Pack over a pair of trousers with lots of pockets any day of the week.  Rachael has embarked on a 'living the dream' initiative this year, releasing her first two patterns (Roly Poly Pinafore and Tumble Tee Tank) and she's shortly opening an online fabric shop specialising in double gauze and  cotton lawns.

Rachael was one of my initial testers for the Skater Dress so for this version she stripped it back to the bare bones for a simple a-line dress! Click on through for more information.

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Lady Skater Pattern Tour: Emmyloubeedoo

Today we're very close to my current location with Sarah from EmmyLouBeeDoo... In fact, so close to my current location that we're meeting up in real life this weekend! And Sarah and I (and my Maia and her Emmy) will all wear our skaters and have a Skater Pool Party and it won't be embarrassing at all. Since the last time Sarah was on this blog in the Little Skater Pattern Tour she's added another pattern to her shop, the lovely Doli Tank (that I made for Maia in Shattered Glass Voile here) and her trouser pattern, the Hosh Pants (that I made in rose-print sateen here), have rightfully taken the internet by storm.  Last month they were named by Imagine Gnats as her 'Best of Summer Sewing' pattern on Caila's Best of Summer Sewing series!  While there are many, many compelling reasons to be friends with Sarah in real life, one of the best things is having an inside line to which patterns she has in the pipeline and let me just say they're exciting.

Sarah was one of my testers for the Lady Skater so I knew that her next version would be awesome but I wasn't expecting chiffon shoulder inserts!  How cool is that??  Heaps, I tell thee.

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