Sewing frenzy

Sewing frenzy... ok, not really "sewing", more like "buying for sewing" frenzy.
In my past blog, I mentioned that I was so disappointed when I missed the Vogue/Butterick/McCall's pattern sales.
It's on again!
This time, I think it's even cheaper. $2.99 for Butterick/McCalls, and $3.99 for Vogue patterns.

Once again, I sat in front of the computer trying to decide which pattern I want to get.
Their s/h is $4 for first 3 patterns, and $7 for up to 7 patterns (I think).
So of course, the more I get, cheaper the s/h is, therefore I had lined up about 7 patterns in my shopping cart.

...But I settled on 3 patterns.
I figured, I have too much projects to do right now, that who knows when I'll even get to finish these 3 patterns, and by then they'll probably have another sale.
And I decided to stick to Vogue patterns, because I realized NONE of the stores in Hawaii sells Vogue patterns!!!
Even online, they're normally about $10 (not downloadable), so $3.99 is a steal.

So these are the patterns I got:

1. V1152 Rebecca Taylor Dress

This is what I'm most excited about...
Thanks to VeryPrairie's review on http://www.sewing.patternreview.com/.
www.sewing.patternreview.com/Patterns/36900
When I saw this pattern on Vogue, I didn't think much of it...
But when I saw VeryPrairie's top version, it just looks so much nicer!!!
I was so inspired by it...
I think solid pops out the details more.
I want to make it both in top & dress!

This pattern is made by designer Rebecca Taylor. Appearently she does sell these dress/top at the store (Nordstrom?).

I guess the dress is about $350, and top is about $250!!! Whoa!!!

This is when sewing pays off!!! And thank Rebecca Taylor for making the pattern!!!

2. V8379

I read so many reviews on http://www.sewing.patternreviews.com/ about this pattern. Appearently it won their awards for the past few years
I guess it's very simple to make, but very flattering, and can look different depending on the fabric you choose.
I'm debating what fabric to use... Big flower print (beige), small geometric print (orange/brown), or just solid.

3. V1152
I'm waiting for a pattern I got on Ebay (International seller, organic fabrics), and I wanted some plain knit dress to show off the pretty pattern. (Although the picture in the pattern is solid)

This was inspired by, once again. http://www.sewing.patternreview.com/.

This time, it was by http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/readreview.pl?readreview=1&reviewnum=42008

I was just cruising through their review gallery, and her fabric just popped.

She was so nice to list where the fabric came from, so I looked it up on Ebay, and the seller was still selling it. It's a silk jersey panel. Looks very nice and soft. :)
Hopefully I can pull it off. I think I really have to strategically place the prints.

Cats & Patterns

When I see blogs from other people, I noticed that alot of people seem to have cats - and they like to "interfere" with your project.

Mine is no exception.

While I was cutting the muslin for my Butterick 5319, my boy just walked on it and tried to fall asleep. Hmm... Why do they like to sleep on something you're working on...

I had to keep telling him "you're gonna get pinned!"

But of course he doesn't care! If he gets pinned, it's your fault, not his!!

Anyways, as I said, I'm SLOWLY making a progress on Butterick 5319.

I finally got to cut all the pieces...

Since I started sewing the patterns, I'm just so amazed how long it takes to just cut fabrics!!!

Of course, I have to do everything while my baby is sleeping... either his 1hr nap during the day, or after he goes to sleep at 8pm.

And this is after I finish all the house chores - cooking, cleaning, laundry... then I go to work...

Basically I only get to do a little bit of sewing at a time, so it seems like one project takes forever! (Not that I'm whining...)

By the way, I can't seem to find that many people that used this pattern.

There was only one review on reviews.sewingpatterns.com (which helped- thank you!), and maybe one or two more blogs.

It's such a cute dress. I wonder why?

www.sewingpatterns.com

I wanted to make a dress similar to alot of Anthropologie dresses, and found Butterick 5319 to be similar.




So I went to the local fabric store, and found out that Butterick patterns are not on sale, as opposed to Simplicity or McCalls.
So it's $16.95.
If you've read my past blogs, you know me already.
I don't want to pay $16.95 for a pattern, on top of getting a fabric.

So I looked around on the internet.. and realized that I cannot find this pattern on Ebay, or Etsy, or anywhere for cheaper than $16.95.

Then I saw http://www.sewingpatterns.com/.
This website not only sells patterns for cheaper, but also does downloads.
I found the Butterick 5319 pattern for $5.99 for download.
The only thing is, this website's review is HORRIBLE!!!
I see that people don't get their patterns shipped, or get a wrong one, and if they order downloads, although the website says you'll receive it in 15min, they never got it even after few days... And supposedly this site doesn't have a contact phone number.
So people would email a question about their orders, and never got it...

I was so debating if I want to get it from them.
But it's either take a chance and get it for $5.99, or $16.95.
Hmm... I decided to take a chance, since I had some spending cash in my PayPal account.
(whatever I have on PayPal account is my "play money".)

I ordered from them, and checked my email every couple of minutes.
...and VOILA! I did get it!
I was pleasantly surprised.
I got their download pattern, printed, and ready to go.
I'm excited to make this dress! :)

I just wanted to write my own experience with http://www.sewingpatterns.com/, and hopefully other people wouldn't be too scared to order from them.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

3/22/2010 Adding on...
I have written that I got my patterns from sewingpatterns.com just fine.
Yes, it was fine.
But just to let you know... whoever is interested in downloading a pattern...
Putting together the pattern is already alot of work.
The pattern came in 45 pages (!) of letter-sized paper (you can choose different sizes of paper), then you put each of them together at the matching point into one humongous paper of pattern with a tape.
Then you cut the pattern.
It wasn't too big of a deal to me, because I like crafts in general - cutting, taping, whatever, so I'll probably order download patterns from them again.
But if you're the type of a person who doesn't like these tedious work, I recommend you get an actual pattern from the store!

OH.MY.GOD!!

I was on VoguePatterns.com forever to figure out which pattern I want to buy...
Because they had a St. Patricks Day sale for $4.75 for all the patterns.
I picked some, checked out the review from patternreviews.com...
I was going to get at least 3.

THEN IT HAPPENED.
All of the sudden, everything was at full price!!!
WHY!? I looked at the clock, and it's 7pm.
...Meaning, it's 12AM ET.
THE SALE HAS ENDED!!!!!!!!
AGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I tried to find out when the sale ends, either PT or ET, and never figured it out, and completely forgot about it.
Obviously it was ET!!!!!
Sigh... oh well...
I have too much recon projects to do.
I guess I'll wait for the next sale... :(

No more "relaxing"

So, I finished all my projects -
I've made a linen drawstring pants, pleated top using the Nani Iro fabric, and some bridal jewelries for a customer from Etsy.

Since I've been so busy with them, last night I figured I'd take a break and relax after work so I went straight home, around 7:30pm.
When I got home, my baby (ok, I guess he's no longer a baby since he's 14months old now) was still awake.
He was half asleep, but when he saw me he got really excited and didn't want to go back to sleep.
So sweet... but so... sigh... change of plans...
He ended up not sleeping until about 8:30pm.
I lied down next to him to put him to sleep, and passed out, probably before he did.
_____________

Anyways...
So I'm looking for a pattern & fabric for my new project.
I'd like to make a nice top or dress that I can wear to a party.
We went to a birthday party this past weekend, and the host (baby's mom) was wearing such a nice dress!
I'm looking for a fabric like it, and found it at gorgeousfabrics.com for $8.50.
I probably need 2yds, so $17.
...Then their shipping is $10.
Hmm... $27 for a dress... I can probably get a nice dress from BCBG outlet for a little more.
But I still want to make my own, so I'm off to looking for a cheaper fabric.