1 Pattern, 7 Bloggers - The Reveal!

The time has come for the big reveal! I must admit I am more than a little excited to see what the other girls have come up with.  So without further ado here is my creation....


So clearly it isn't your standard macaron dress.  I decided to go with something different and try to make it into a top.  I have been wanting a peplum top for a while so I am pretty stoked with the outcome of this project.


The fabric was an impulse purchase from Spotlight one day.  I went in for a meter of ribbon and walked out with a couple of meters of this fabric as well.  I mean, come on, who can resist bulldogs! It is a simple printed cotton poplin. The black is some leftover black cotton from my stash.


To make the peplum I drafted a simple half circle skirt.  Once I had the majority of the bodice made I measured the bottom of the waistband and used this as my measurement to draft my half circle skirt.  Then all I had to do was add it to the bottom of the waistband.


For a little extra detail I also added some black piping to the waistband.  This was my first time doing piping and I was super nervous.  I pretty much just winged it and thankfully it turned out ok.  The only other addition I made was to add a simple pleat into the top of each sleeve rather than gathering them into the bodice.

Now, the part that you have all been waiting for.......the giveaway winners!  Once again a massive thank you to our sponsors for donating the amazing prizes.

Thanks to the magic of random number generator our lucky winners and their corresponding prizes are:-

Lill - 1 x Macaron Pattern thanks to Colette Patterns 

Josephine - 1 x Macaron Pattern thanks to Guthrie & Ghanie 

MaciNic - 1 x Macaron Pattern thanks to Stitch 56

Elizabeth - 1 x Pattern of your choice thanks to Sew Squirrel

KathleenS - 1 x Colette Pattern of your choice thanks to Indie Stitches 

Joanne - 1 x Colette Pattern of your choice thanks to The Haby Goddess

Amy - 1 x $20 gift voucher thanks to Fabric Worm 

Sew Charleston - 1 x $30 gift voucher thanks to A Fashionable Stitch 

All winners have been contacted via email and your prizes will be on their way to you shortly.  Thank you to everyone who entered and I hope you have enjoyed following our little challenge.  Make sure you duck over to the other girls blogs to see how their finished projects turned out too.

Reana Louise

Buckingham Road  

My Messings

Jennifer Lauren 

A Stitching Odyssey

Sewing Through the Motions

1 Pattern 7 Bloggers - Inspiration

Oh my god guys, what an epic response to the first post and the giveaway!!!  You guys are loving this little sewing series.  Don't forget there is still time to enter so jump on over here and enter if you haven't already.  So this week we are going to share with you guys our inspiration for our macaron projects so here is mine....

I know your all thinking "Hey Kat, they aren't dresses" and you would be correct!  Originally I was envisioning something entirely different for my macaron project.  Think pink floral, circle skirt and a lace yoke.  Not at all what you are seeing above right?!  Well that's because I kept seeing these awesome peplum tops in the shops that reminded me so much of the macaron pattern.  Once I got that idea in my head I just couldn't shake it.  As fate would have it I had just purchased a cool print that I was dying to use a few weeks before.  A little dig through my stash for some contrast fabric and my project idea was born.  I am pretty excited about my finished project!  I just put the finishing touches on it last night and am so excited to share it with you all.  But you will have to come back next week for that.  In the meantime, don't miss out on entering the massive giveaway here!

1 Pattern, 7 Bloggers Returns & A Massive Giveaway!

Ladies & Gentleman, due to popular demand the amazing, the fantastic, the fabulous 1 pattern 7 bloggers is making a comeback!!!  Are you excited? I know I am.  Two years ago 6 other bloggers and I all got together to sew the same pattern.  It was an experiment in how different sewers with different styles would interpret the same pattern.  It was a lot of fun and there were a lot of great dresses made.  I am so happy to be back together with these lovely ladies having a crack at a new pattern.

Just in case you have forgotten, the lovely ladies I will be teaming up with are my fellow Aussie lovelies - Reana Louise, Sam from Buckingham Road and Rachel from My Messings.  The lovely Jennifer Lauren who is currently in Australia but soon to be headed back to her home country of New Zealand.  Over in the glorious UK is the supremely talented Marie from A Stitching Odyssey.  And last by most certainly not least, all the way from the US of A is the gorgeous Amy of Sewing Through the Motions.

You can probably tell from the little logo above that this time we will be sewing the adorable Macaron dress by Colette Patterns.  I have made this pattern once before way way back in 2010.  It was very early on in my sewing journey which is evident by the horrible finishing on the dress.  Despite this I got a lot of wear out of the dress but it has sadly fallen apart now.  On a side note - how bad were my photos back in my early blogging days.  Yay for better cameras and improved skills!

We'll be back next week to share some inspiration for our projects and then revealing our finished macarons the following Monday.  But in the meantime we have a giveaway!!!

To celebrate the 1 Pattern, 7 Bloggers project we’re hosting a huge giveaway thanks to 8 fabulous sponsors! 

The Prizes

1 x Macaron Pattern thanks to Colette Patterns 

1 x Macaron Pattern thanks to Guthrie & Ghanie 

1 x Macaron Pattern thanks to Stitch 56

1 x Pattern of your choice thanks to Sew Squirrel

1 x Colette Pattern of your choice thanks to Indie Stitches 

1 x Colette Pattern of your choice thanks to The Haby Goddess

1 x $20 gift voucher thanks to Fabric Worm 

1 x $30 gift voucher thanks to A Fashionable Stitch 

To enter, comment on this post before Saturday 31st August with your email address! Make sure you head over to the other participants' blogs for 7 chances to win!

Terms & Conditions

• Prizes will be randomly allocated to each of the 8 winners across all seven blogs.
• One entry per blog. 
• You can comment on each of the 7 blogs for 7 chances to win (!)
• The winners will be drawn and contacted by email on 2nd September 2013.

Now I am off to put the finishing touches on my macaron.  Make sure you pop over to the other girls blogs and enter the giveaway on their blogs as well.  I'll see you next Monday with a few of my inspiration pics.  See you then!

New Collar, New Dress

Remember this dress that I made during the 1 pattern 7 bloggers challenge?  Pop over here to read all the posts if you missed that.

Anyway, the other week I was pulling out all the clothes that I packed away while I was pregnant (in anticipation of being able to fit back into them).  During the search I stumbled upon this dress and realised that I wasn't really happy with the collar. I hadn't sewn it that great and the uneven shoddiness of it was really annoying me.  So I did what any sewer would do and unstitched it.  Without the collar though the dress looked pretty boring.

The next week I was at Spotlight with Corey and while I was looking at stuff he goes to me "want a collar?"  At first I looked at him like he was crazy then when I realised what he was talking about I got a bit excited.  Spotlight has a range of vintage style crochet/knit collars that I assume are new cause I have never seen them before.

I couldn't resist snapping one up and sewed it on as soon as I got home.  I am pretty much in love with this dress now.  It's amazing how a quick little change to a garment can renew your love for it.  I am so excited to be able to wear this dress again.  Hopefully it won't be too long till I fit into it again.

1 Pattern, Seven Bloggers - The Big Reveal

I can't believe the reveal date is already here! When we set the date of June 1st it seemed so far away but it has come around so quickly. So quickly in fact that I was still sewing my dress this morning. Poor time management on my part lead to me spending my day off today finishing my dress but it was a very nice relaxing way to spend the day. So the moment you have all been waiting for......my dress!!!

I am really happy with how this dress turned out. I was lucky enough to not encounter any of the fit issues that the other girls encountered. My muslin was a little tight but I let the seams out a little and my final dress material has a bit of stretch to it so that issues was dealt with easily. I didn't encounter any issues at the waist as the other girls did either which was lucky. I am also super glad that I took so much care to make the inside of the dress look neat. It is the best garment internally I have ever made!!!

Another great thing about this dress is it cost me nothing to make. The black material, bias binding and zipper all came from within my stash. The main material was gifted to me by my mum from her stash which saved me a lot of searching and money. Even the pattern cost me nothing! My dad works at company that delivers magazines and flyers to newsagents and other places and he is allowed to bring home magazines every now and then. About 1 week before this challenge was proposed he came home with a copy of Burdastyle for me and it just so happened to be the one this pattern was in. Lucky hey! So this dress cost me a total of $0. Whats not to love about that!!!

I had so much fun with this challenge and I am so glad I was asked to take part. I think there should be more challenges like this in the blog world because they take us out of our comfort zone and push us to be a little bit more creative and take a bit more pride in what we make. I know sometimes I can just want to get something made as quick as possible so I cut corners and end up with an inferior garment. This challenge made me slow down and take the time to enjoy the process and appreciate the garment I was making. It has also reignited my sewing mojo which I was struggling to find after our trip to Europe. So thank you to all the other girls for making this challenge possible and for letting me be a part of it. It was great fun!!!

Don't forget to check out the other girls dresses on their blogs too!

Sam: http://hand-quilter.blogspot.com/
Rachel: http://mymessings.blogspot.com/
Marie: http://asewingodyssey.blogspot.com/
Reana Louise: http://curvespatternsandpins.blogspot.com/
Jen: http://the-paperdoll.blogspot.com/
Amy: http://sewingthroughthemotions.blogspot.com/

1 Pattern, Seven Bloggers - Week 4

Ooh only 1 more week and we will be posting our finished dresses!!! That means I better get my act into gear otherwise I won't have a dress to post about. This week we are meant to be creating a tutorial about some of the methods/techniques we have used to make our dresses. The problem is I have actually used a few tutorials myself in aid of making this dress so it seemed redundant to write a tutorial for something that someone else has already written a very impressive one for. So instead I am going to share the tutorials that I have chosen to use for my dress.

Firstly, this french seams tutorial from Colette Patterns. Lately I have been trying to take as much care with the inside of my garments as I do with the outside. I know I am the only one that sees it but it makes me feel good knowing my garments look just as professional from the inside as they do from the outside.

Source: colettepatterns.com via Kat on Pinterest

I will also be using this bow belt tutorial which was posted by Tilly and the Buttons ages ago.

I love bows and I am really looking forward to making a belt that I will be able to wear with

this dress as well as with other dresses that I make in the future.

Source: tillyandthebuttons.com via Kat on Pinterest

And lastly I will be making a peter pan collar for my dress using this tutorial from BYOV. I really like peter pan collars but all the dresses I find with them have high necklines which can make me look huge so I have wanted to make my own for ages. I love this tutorial but I don't think I will make my collar scalloped. Decisions, decisions!!!

Source: byov.blogspot.com via Kat on Pinterest

Well I guess I better get started on my dress now since I only have 1 week left. Eeek!!! Wish me luck!!!

1 Pattern, Seven Bloggers - Week 3

I know, I know, I'm a few days late on the 1 pattern seven bloggers post but I went to Sydney for a work conference and did not get back in till Wednesday night and then yesterday was a crazy day with work and our nephew's 6th birthday. So anyway last week before I left I made a muslin. Now I have to confess I never make muslins. This is the first time I have ever made one! I usually just fit and adjust as I go.

But I am very glad I did a muslin this time because it taught me two things. Firstly, I need to let out the seams because this bodice is a bit tight as evidenced by the pulling around the bust. Secondly, I need to use a longer zipper. I just used one I had on hand so I am going to find a longer one for the final dress. Apart from that I am pretty happy with the fit. I don't mind the sleeves which I thought I was going to hate but they are not too bad. I love the neckline!

So I can't say that this has taught me to start doing muslins for everything I make but I think for the more fitted styles I will be more inclined to make a muslin in the future. Now I can get onto making the proper dress!

1 Pattern, Seven Bloggers - Week 2

This week is the week to share our fabric choices for our dresses. I spent the day fabric shopping with my mum trying to find fabric for the bridesmaids dresses which she will be making for Corey's and my wedding in November. We found a fabric in the perfect shade of yellow and just have to do a test run to see if it will work for the pattern I have have chosen. Anyway, while shopping I was trying to find a nice tartan wintery fabric to use for my dress but had no luck. Luckily, when I dropped mum home she said she had some fabric that might work and pulled this gorgeous red and black check fabric from her stash.

It is perfect! It matches exactly what I have in my mind for my dress. I am going to be doing some contrast details in the black cotton which is just a simple cotton poplin. I am not sure what type of fabric the check stuff is but it is a bit thicker than the poplin. I am going to be starting on my muslin this week and should be able to share that next week. Although, I am going away to Sydney on Monday and won't be back till Wednesday night so my post may be a day late.

Don't forget to stop by and see what fabric the other girls have chosen for their dresses!

Sam: http://hand-quilter.blogspot.com/
Rachel: http://mymessings.blogspot.com/
Marie: http://asewingodyssey.blogspot.com/
Reana Louise: http://curvespatternsandpins.blogspot.com/
Jen: http://the-paperdoll.blogspot.com/
Amy: http://sewingthroughthemotions.blogspot.com/

1 Pattern, Seven Bloggers

About a week ago I was contacted by the lovely Sam from All Things Quilty And Sewy asking me if I would like to take part in a sewing project that she had come up with.  The idea as Sam puts it "is simple, one pattern, seven bloggers, infinite possibilities".  So over the next month we are all going to be making the same dress pattern and posting about varies aspects of the project.  Today is our introductory post and sharing some of our inspiration.  The pattern we have chosen is this one from Burdastyle.

Now I love the summery look and feel of this picture but here in Australia we are heading into Winter (or trying to at least) and I am starting to crave stockings and boots and cardigans so I am going to be making a more wintery version of this dress.  Here is some of my inspiration so far....

Source: google.com.au via Kat on Pinterest

Source: google.com.au via Kat on Pinterest

Source: google.com.au via Kat on Pinterest

Source: dahliafashion.co.uk via Kat on Pinterest

I have a pretty good idea in my head of how I want the finished dress to look but now I just have to see if it will actually work.  Stay tuned for the next update on the project next week.

And don't forget to go and say hello to the other girls taking part:

Sam: http://hand-quilter.blogspot.com/
Rachel: http://mymessings.blogspot.com/
Marie: http://asewingodyssey.blogspot.com/
Reana Louise: http://curvespatternsandpins.blogspot.com/
Jen: http://the-paperdoll.blogspot.com/
Amy: http://sewingthroughthemotions.blogspot.com/