web analytics

The Roly Poly pinafore pattern giveaway

By frances on June 9, 2013

roly poly pinafore : miss matatabi
OK, let’s try this again. I think I have commenting sorted out now. So would you like to win a Roly Poly Pinafore pattern? Rachael has very generously offered to give away a pattern to one reader. Simply leave a comment here telling us what fabrics you would use if you made the Roly Poly.

For extra entries follow us on facebook (and leave an extra comment for each) 窶 Miss Matatabi and Imagine Gnats.

Comments will remain open until Wednesday 12th June 11pm (Tokyo time) and I will announce the winner here on Friday.

p.s. in the time it took me to fix some bugs around here Rachael released another pattern. The very cool tumble tee. You can check it out here. That girl works fast!

June 12th. Comments are closed now. Thank you for joining in! I’ll be back here on Friday to announce the winner. xo

June 14th. We have a pattern winner!

RPP_winner

Erin is the lucky winner of the roly poly pinafore pattern!

winning comment random org

Erin could you please get in touch and let me know your email address so we can send the pattern to you.

Thank you!

By frances | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (14)

The Roly Poly Pinafore & giveaway

By frances on May 23, 2013

Welcome to day 8 of the Roly Poly Along!

I was super excited when Rachael, the sweet genius behind Imagine Gnats, asked me to take part in the Roly Poly Pinafore blog tour. Not only has she written a fantastic first pattern, she also happens to be a creative inspiration to me. She has so much enthusiasm and energy and always seems to be bursting with ideas. It’s hard not to feel motivated by a person like that!

I had the chance to test The Roly Poly Pinafore before its release and I can tell you it is a wonderful pattern. It is available in PDF format, in sizes from 6 months to girl’s size 10, and is reversible. Do you know how much I love reversible children’s clothes? A lot!

Roly Poly Pinafore : miss matatabi

I decided to make one to use as an apron for A although she wears it all the time as a tunic and even sometimes as a dress. The pinny I made is actually a little too short to wear as a dress but if you add some length to the pattern you can certainly have a pinafore dress version. I chose Melody Miller’s Ruby Star Sparkle Rollerskates for one side because I have lofty dreams of someday being as cool as that print. There is a giant pom pom on that rollerskate, friends. You do see that, don’t you?

Roly Poly Pinafore : miss matatabi

I used this calming fish print for the reverse side, because after a hard night at the roller disco a girl needs to relax. You may be wondering why I didn’t choose fabrics solely with my dear little A in mind. Well, if you know anything about this girl right now you will know that if it isn’t pink it isn’t happening. Sometimes you just have to go with the disco skates and hope the little monkey will wear it when the time comes.

Roly Poly Pinafore : miss matatabi

She wore it. Double high five self in the mirror. One thing I love about this pattern is how versatile it is. I went super simple with mine and made it without pockets and with snaps instead of buttons. Snaps make it easier for A to take off by herself and I think they are fun to insert into a garment. Plus I am lazy. Snaps are the escalator, buttons are the stairs, no? Don’t judge me too harshly for not deleting that sentence before I published this.

Roly Poly Pinafore : miss matatabi

This pattern is perfect for sewers of any skill level. It is intended as a beginner pattern but you definitely don’t need to be a beginner to enjoy making a roly poly pinafore. You can some other adorable pinafores in the Imagine Gnats flickr group here. There are some amazing versions out there! If you are a beginner sewer I really do recommend this pattern as a great place to start. The fact that it is reversible means all seams are safely hidden away inside so you don’t have to worry if your seam finishes don’t look perfect. Once you have your pattern and fabric prepared you can make a pinafore in no time too. This was one of the quickest garments I have made so far! And Rachael’s pattern instructions are very well-written and easy to understand.

Roly Poly Pinafore : miss matatabi

How would you like to win a Roly Poly Pinafore pattern? Rachael has very generously offered to give away a pattern to one reader here. Simply leave a comment here telling us what fabrics you would use if you made the Roly Poly.

For extra entries follow us on facebook (and leave an extra comment for each) – Miss Matatabi and Imagine Gnats.

Comments will remain open until Sunday 26th 11pm (Tokyo time) and I will announce the winner here on Wednesday. In the meantime don’t forget to visit the other blog tour guests and see what they have created with their Roly Poly Pinafore pattern!

5.13 Jill Made with Moxie / Stephanie The Crafty Kitty
5.14 Stephanie NeurosesGalore / Cherie you & mie
5.15 Ari Max California / Caila Caila Made
5.16 Veronica SewVery / Tara Girl like the sea
5.17 Nancy owen’s olivia / Adrianna Crafterhours

5.20 Ajaire Call ajaire / Sarah EmmylouBeeDoo
5.21 Laura Craftstorming / Jessica a little gray
5.22 Frances Miss Matatabi / Nicke kiss kiss quilt
5.23 Amy formwork design / Kat Sew Chibi
5.24 Joanne Rose & Dahlia / Amanda Kitschy Coo

5.27 Celina Petit a Petit and family / Delia Delia Creates
5.28 Christy a.Amelia handmade / Carolyn Fake It While You Make It
5.29 Bonnie Fishsticks Designs / Maria La Inglesita
5.30 Jane Buzzmills / Kate Things for Charlie
5.31 Polly Jack & GeeGee / Molly Rose & Odin

the roly poly along blog tour button

Update May 23rd. I have just realised my blog comment function is not working. If you have left a comment for the giveaway but cannot see it here that means I did not receive it. I’m going to temporarily suspend the giveaway until I can get it worked out and I will make another announcement when comments are open again. I apologize for the trouble and thank you for understanding. xo

By frances | Posted in sewing, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Make it Perfect Waterfall Blouse

By frances on April 12, 2013

One afternoon recently when the house was in dire need of a good vacuum I decided to make myself a new shirt. Vacuum house or sew?

Sew new top of course.

Apart from wanting to avoid housework, Made by Rae is hosting her annual Spring Top sewalong and I wanted in on some of that sewing-for-self fun.

I was super excited to see that Toni from Make It Perfect had started to make some of her patterns available for PDF download so I purchased her new Waterfall Blouse pattern and a couple of hours later I had a new shirt. Yippee!

Do you want to see some awkward photos? I really dislike having photos taken of myself but I know you probably want to see how a finished garment looks on a real person so I dived headfirst out of my comfort zone just for you guys. Everything I do is for you, ok. Don’t forget that.

Make It Perfect Waterfall Blouse : miss matatabi

What am I supposed to do with my hands at a time like this? Probably not grip the sides of the shirt. All garment modeling 101 advice welcome!

The Waterfall Blouse is designed to be either maternity wear or a regular shirt. I’m not pregnant though, in case you were wondering. The gathers towards the middle give the blouse the fullness that would accommodate a growing baby bump. I’m going to make this again and next time I will ease the gathering a little so there is less attention on the bump area.

Make It Perfect Waterfall Blouse : miss matatabi

I really like this shirt and especially love the neckline. I think a neckline can either make or break a garment and this one makes me really happy. I loathe making bias tape (am I the only one?) so I used pre-made cotton lawn bias binding to finish the arms and neck. As double gauze tends to fray I sewed french seams on the sides, shoulders, and under the arms so I can throw this in the washing machine worry-free.

Make It Perfect Waterfall Blouse : miss matatabi

Look! Something really funny is happening on the ground. And what should I do with my hands this time? Put them on my bum, is what.

The fabric is metallic pocho from 2013 nani IRO basic collection. I feel ready for Spring!

By frances | Posted in sewing | Comments (0)

Japanese sewing book series

By frances on March 28, 2013

Hello! Have you been following the Japanese Sewing Book Series over at You & Mie? I’m guest posting there today about pattern layout and I am so excited to be part of the series. If you are not already familiar with Cherie’s blog you really need to be. Not only is she incredibly warm and kind, this girl knows how to sew!

 

Japanese Sewing Book Series : You & Mie

As part of my topic in the series I made a ruffle sleeve blouse and a pair of shorts from Sewing Kids Clothes Lesson Book (蟄蝉ｾ帶恪繧ｽ繝ｼ繧､繝ｳ繧ｰ LESSON BOOK) by Yuuki Katagai. I haven’t found a Japanese pattern book I love as much as this one. It comes with 29 patterns and a full scale pattern sheet and the clothing styles are practical yet still very cute.

Kids Clothes Sewing Lesson Book : miss matatabi

Kids Clothes Sewing Lesson Book ISBN 978-4-529-05076-0

You may know that my daughter is currently going through a severe pink-or-nothing phase (is it a phase?) and in order to win the title of Best Mum Ever I went all pink for this ruffle sleeve blouse. I’m actually pretty nuts about this print. It is subtle and beautiful and the fabric was a dream to sew with. This is nuance MUJI from the new nani IRO collection and is a cotton linen blend.

nani IRO Ruffle blouse : miss matatabi

I enjoyed sewing with this pattern and found it quite straightforward. I think it would look great without sleeves too. A sweet pleated tank top! The pattern is H-1 from Sewing Kids Clothes Lesson Book, which I happen to have for sale in my shop. You know, just in case you cannot live without it.

nani IRO Ruffle blouse : miss matatabi

These shorts are pattern A from the same book and were ridiculously simple to make. The extra large pockets make them very appealing to my daughter as she is constantly needing a place to store treasures like rocks, rocks, and some more rocks.

Stamped Cheater Print shorts : miss matatabi

The fabric is Cheater Print in grey from the Stamped collection by Ellen Luckett Baker for Kokka. I had a hard time choosing which print to use because they are all wonderful but I knew I wanted to use grey. That was a selfish sewing decision. I know selfish sewing usually refers to sewing for yourself but in this case it refers to me choosing a colour I love over something more um….pink!

nani IRO Ruffle blouse and Stamped shorts : miss matatabi

Those of you with a keen eye for detail and who have read my post over at Cherie’s will notice that these are in fact the back of the shorts. I didn’t make any great effort to match up the butterflies thinking it wouldn’t bother me. Guess what? It really bothers me. ha! Let’s move on.

And an action shot of the back of the blouse. The green ribbon paired with the pink reminds me of Sakura blossoms.

Nani Iro Ruffle Blouse : miss matatabi

Mr Matatabi kindly took these photos for me and the majority of them are of A running away from him. This kid is a runner. Anyone else have a child who constantly runs away from you, laughing and shrieking as they go? Fun.

nani IRO Ruffle blouse and Stamped shorts : miss matatabi

If you have any interest in sewing with Japanese pattern books do head on over to You & Mie to see all the posts in this wonderful series.

Thank you for visiting! See you. xo

nani IRO Ruffle blouse and Stamped shorts : miss matatabi

By frances | Posted in fabric, sewing | Comments (2)

MADE kids pants

By frances on March 18, 2013

Those pants I mentioned A needed a while back did get made shortly after the dress and tunic. High five self! I used the kids pants tutorial by Dana from MADE and followed her excellent instructions to make them with a flat front, lining, and pockets. The pattern is one size but thankfully they just happen to fit A perfectly right now, and the blue ones in particular have almost become her preschool uniform.

Basic kids pants : miss matatabi

The pants on the left were made with navy corduroy and lined with the softest jersey. I don’t sew with solids as often as I would like so I loved making these, and now love having them as part of A’s wardrobe. I modified the pattern to make the floral pants slimmer. This fabric is a stretch twill and is a little nuts but I’m nuts about it so I could not resist buying it. When I first showed these to A she loved them and wore them happily for months. A few days ago I pulled them out for her to wear and she said “no, they are scary!” and refused to put them on. Does she see something in the print that frightens her? Or are they scary purely from a fashion point of view? I’m guessing the latter.

And so we enter the Age of Honesty.

By frances | Posted in fabric, sewing | Comments (0)

nani IRO 2013 has arrived!

By frances on March 7, 2013

I am excited to announce that Naomi Ito’s incredible new collection for Kokka, nani IRO 2013 has arrived and is in the store.

From the top : Field STAR wow, BIRDS EYE shinsei, DEAR MOTHER'S GIRLHOOD gratitude

From the top : Field STAR wow, BIRDS EYE shinsei, DEAR MOTHER’S GIRLHOOD appointment

I am still waiting on three woodblock pocho prints, but they should be here sometime this month. In the meantime, I am happily overwhelmed with how gorgeous this collection is and have a lot of sewing planned with these amazing prints.

Which print from the collection would you choose to sew with first and what would you make?

By frances | Posted in fabric, sewing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

Candy Party tsuzuki drawstring bag

By frances on March 6, 2013

With lots of wonderful new fabrics arriving for the shop recently I have sewing constantly on my mind. What to make, what to make? The little one needed a bag to take to preschool for her toothbrush and cup so I whipped up this small drawstring bag for her.

tsuzukiyellow

The fabric is Candy Party tsuzuki by Kokka. Isn’t it amazing! It is a panel full of leopard print, metallic, chevron, geo, bright colours and has so much potential. I gave some to my friend, Sake Puppets and she turned it into a tiny punky needle book. Adorable!

Candy Party Tsuzuki A

See the lining fabric peeking out here? That is Ruby Star Sparkle telephones by Melody Miller for Kokka and is another fabulous collection I am nuts about.

Candy Party Tsuzuki Drawstring Bag pink

Perhaps the best thing about this bag is that it has enough pink to satisfy my 3 year old. When I gave it to her this morning she looked at it, gasped, and said “Mummy, I love it!”. Heart + melt.

By frances | Posted in fabric, sewing, Uncategorized | Comments (4)

Geranium Christmas dress and tunic

By frances on January 9, 2013

Hello sweet ones. Happy New Year!

2013 has gotten off to a pretty slow start around here but I guess that is not a bad thing. I’m super excited for a year full of sewing though and this year I am going to make a serious effort to document everything, no matter how simple the project.

Before that I have a few things from 2012 I want to show you. My daughter suddenly stretched in the last few months of the year and most of her pants were becoming too short. She really needed some warm, long pants to wear to preschool. So a couple of days before Christmas I made her a dress and then the next day I made her a tunic. Makes total sense, right?

I can hardly be blamed. In December I received some yardage of the newest nani IRO collection, 2013 Basic New. This print had me in a frenzy right away. Neon + dots! It kinda reminded me of a Christmas tree and I thought it would make a pretty great Christmas dress for A but had no firm plans to make one. That is until Rae released her latest pattern, Geranium Dress. As soon as I saw that I knew what the fabric would become so I bought the pattern, did all the necessary preparations, and stayed up late into the night sewing like a tipsy elf.

Nani IRO Geranium Dress

This is the second Made By Rae pattern I have sewn with and I love it as much as I do the Washi Dress pattern.

Geranium Dress

I made both the dress and tunic in size 3, View B with faux cap sleeves, pleats and pockets. For some reason I thought hand sewing snaps on the back of the dress would be faster than making buttonholes. Not so, friends, not so. The hems on both are also hand sewn as I prefer that look on double gauze but I think I will re-do the tunic hem with a machine stitch as I don’t love the way it currently sits.

Geranium Tunic

The tunic version is made with this beautiful Kokka corduroy and the bodice is lined with a favourite from my stash. I have had it for years and I *think* it is a Kei print. Does anyone recognize it?

Geranium Tunic

The best thing about the dress and tunic is that A loves them. They have pockets for her treasures and she can twirl in them and that’s pretty much all a 3 year old asks for, isn’t it.

Geranium Dress

View A of this dress is also really pretty. It has flutter sleeves and a gathered waist and I will be making this version too for sure. You can see many more Geranium dresses over in the flickr pool. They are all beautiful but I think my favourite is this one by Cherie from You and Mie. That eyelet fabric is perfect!

Did you sew any clothes for the holidays this year?

By frances | Posted in fabric, sewing | Tagged , , | Comments (10)

Sewing a lot and blogging a little

By frances on December 18, 2012

Looking back over this past year I realised I have done a lot of sewing but almost no blogging. That has made for a pretty lonely looking blog so I’m going to make efforts to change that, starting right about now.

Earlier this year I made a lovely double gauze scarf which is perfect for those days where it is neither too hot nor too cold here in Japan. That means I could comfortably wear it for about 7 days in May and another 3 in October. I’m only partly joking about that.

nani IRO figure 8 scarf

This is basically Anna Maria Horner’s Figure 8 scarf, however I followed Jeni’s modifications to make a longer, thinner scarf.

nani IRO figure 8 scarf

I used nani IRO pon pocho UFU for one side and nani IRO Waltz for the other and I really love the way these two prints and colours complement each other.

By frances | Posted in fabric, sewing | Tagged , , | Comments (4)

nani IRO Washi dress

By frances on December 2, 2012

Hi, hello. I recently made a dress that I love, in fabric that I love, with a pattern that I love. That’s a lot of love! It’s the Washi Dress by Made By Rae in nani IRO brushed cotton.

made by rae washi dress in nani iro : miss matatabi

There are so many beautiful dresses in the Washi Flickr pool but I was especially drawn to this one by Kristin from Skirt as Top and this fabulous Autumn version. I really love the scoop neck on Kristin’s dress, as well as the the neckline on Rae’s long sleeve version so I decided to change the look a little on my dress too.

made by rae washi dress in nani iro : miss matatabi

If you’re more pear than hourglass you will already know that a wide neckline is your BFF but really this pattern is so great no modifications are necessary. I did taper the sleeves in about 2″ from the sleeve hem as I wanted a more fitted look there and I love how they turned out.

made by rae washi dress in nani iro : miss matatabi

I love how simple this dress was to sew, how flattering the style is on so many body types, and how versatile the pattern is. In Japan I usually share a size with Godzilla so extra bonus points for the fact that I could make this in a medium. Yipee!

By frances | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (8)