Spoonflower Review and Custom Shirts

Pattern: Grainline Archer (women's) and BurdaSyle's Men's Shirt 7045
Fabric: Spoonflower Kona Cotton
Cost: $43/shirt

My friend tells me Spoonflower recently landed a major investor to the tune of $25 million. Can you believe all these people are interested in working with fabric? I am always excited when our little community gets some big interest.

While I have used Spoonflower, the online fabric printing service, once before, I have never used them for apparel. The perfect opportunity came up when the two grooms from this summer's weddings asked if I'd gift them and their brides Cal-themed shirts. While they quite liked the ones that Mr. Made and I sported last football season, I thought it might be nice to get them something a little nicer for their weddings. To make my own unauthorized gear, I marched on over to Spoonflower and designed my own. I started with our mascot and played around with colors and proportions until I got everything just about right. So easy!

From the outset, however, I was very concerned about the longevity of the fabric as I had read online that it fades extensively. I tried to research the issue, but it seems that Spoonflower has updated their printing process, so I couldn't be sure how relevant reviews were from a few years ago. While I tentatively went ahead with my plan, I did try to hedge my bets by buying the more extensive Kona cotton, which I read held the dye better.

My 8-yard bundle arrived promptly a few weeks later. I was impressed with the delivery time, and although the color was a bit lighter than expected it otherwise looked good. The detail was sharp and they had followed all of my specifications. Unfortunately, after washing in cold water with vinegar to set the dye, the colors started to fade. Worse yet, the colors faded more where the fabric had twisted in the wash, making it look like an old, faded shirt. This was really disappointing, and I think for this reason alone I won't be using their fabric for more projects. I just can't trust that the fabric will hold up to multiple washings, and that really is half the point of wearing clothes, isn't it?

After investing in all the fabric, however, I forged ahead with my project, proclaiming these "Vintage-Inspired" with faded charm. I loved the print, loved the colors, and loved the idea of gifting them these goofy shirts to wear together as a big, dorky family. And despite the fading, the results were truly unique. While the two couples will be over-the-top matching, it's guaranteed that no one has ever had a shirt quite like this before.

I turned these out assembly-style, cutting all four shirts in one night (well, three and a half, and then I had to order a few more yards), and sewing them two at a time before each wedding. I'm just going to call it my shirt-making boot-camp.

The first couple, who are both Cal grads, got all bear. But for the second couple, one of whom is a Michigan Tech grad, I mixed things up a bit and added some Husky details. The inside yoke and the under collar a done in Michigan Tech fabric ordered from their website. The details are small, but when they pop the collar or hang the shirts up in the closet you can see it. I hope it makes the bride happy!

So far, we have heard back from one newly-married couple, and they look amazing! I can't wait to see these dorks at the football games this year.

Was the Spoonflower experience worth it? I'm not sure. I love the look of these shirts, and it really was the only way to get such a cool, custom fabric. But there was a moment there where I debated scrapping the idea entirely - who would spend all that time making button-up shirts on faded fabric? In the end the couples loved them, but I'm not sure I'll be entrusting my precious projects to Spoonflower in the near future. Perhaps that $25 million will sharpen them up?

Sorbetto plus AGF Fabrics

Pattern: Colette's Sorbetto
Fabric: 1 yd knit (including Art Gallery Fabrics)
Cost: $10-$15 each


My friends and I have started a tradition of sending each other gift boxes twice a year - once for the winter holidays and again in the summer when we have birthdays spanning from May through September. The theme is 'favorite things' and they all have to be the same and cost no more than $25 each. With the five of us spread out all across the country, it's become a way to share our interests and do something fun together.

For our summer exchange, we were lucky enough to be able to meet up in Palm Springs, which I described here as four blissful days of poolside relaxation. My friends gifted us lotions, face masks, water floaties, and even a pair of bikini bottoms! For my contribution, I wanted to be able to make something (my favorite thing, of course!). I knew that for it to work it had to be quick, fit a range of bodies, and cost less than $25. With these constraints in mind, I decided upon lounge shirts, using the Colette Sorbetto pattern and knit fabrics.

The fun part was the fabric shopping. I found such great prints online that I made each shirt themed. I chose a bright bird print for my friend who loves nature and hiking, an alphabet print for my friend who's an elementary school teacher, and even a ninja-themed print after my friend's online screen name. I rarely have an excuse to go all out with whimsical prints, so I took full advantage!

I sourced the fabrics on Fabric.com, and for two of the prints I shelled out the extra money for some Art Galley Fabrics. I tend to hear a lot about this brand, mostly because they send fabric samples to a lot of bloggers to review. They have beautiful prints, but I'd never actually sewn with the stuff. Because knit fabrics vary so much, I was curious how they hold up in real life.

The verdict? They were pretty great! They were thick and buttery, and sewed nicely. I think they had better recovery than the other cotton knit I bought, and seemed more substantial. I steamed some of my wavy seams, and was very pleased with how the AGF fabric held up. I could see myself using this for knit tops instead of paper-thin jersey, as it sews so much better. The only problem I had is that one of my prints had a small ink blot on it that looked like it had accidentally been marked by a ballpoint pen. Unfortunately I didn't notice this until after, and it ended up front and center! Oops! I'll let it slide this time, but will report back if I notice anything again.

My friends were very gracious gift recipients, and some even lounged around in them all weekend if we could be bothered to get dressed at all. It's hard to get real feedback on how things go (and really, would you even want an honest critique?), but it was fun and the shirts themselves only took a day to make up. I only wish I had made one for myself!

Cat Pillows

Pattern: envelope pillow case (I like this tutorial)

Fabric: design by me, printed with Spoonflower

Cost: $38 for four pillows

Well, I'm baaack! After a month of studying, no sewing (no fun!), and 645 ignored posts in my blog reader, I'm happy to make a triumphant return to the sewing blog world. 

My first project back ticks the boxes for both selfless and social sewing: cat pillows for one of my bffs and my entry into Miss Crayola Creepy's Cat Lady Sewing Challenge. Who says you can't participate if you don't own cat?!

For my friend's birthday, she requested pillows of her beloved feline, Lucifer "Lucy" Chao. We were inspired by these animal pillows we saw in a shop in Austin, and so I made some up for her featuring pop-art renditions of Lucy. Each pillow has a different image on the front, and a coordinating color on the back. 

The images themselves are actually not that difficult to make. I played around in Photoshop until I found a technique that worked for me, and here's what I ended up with:

Step 1: Select photo
Step 2: Erase the background: Add layer mask - paint in black to erase/white to undo
Step 3: Desaturate: Image - Adjustments - Desaturate
Step 4: Add artistic effect: Filter - Sketch - Photocopy Effect (adjust as desired; may need to adjust contrast on original image)
Step 5: Cut out white pixels: Use the Magic Wand to select and cut out white pixels in image
Step 6: Color: Color fill layer - Choose desired line color - Make clipping mask
Step 7: Fill: Create a new layer behind the lines, paint in with desired fill color
Step 8: Add artistic effect: Filter - Sketch - Halftone Pattern Effect (adjust as desired)
Finish: Can be printed and ironed onto a pillow, or sent to Spoonflower

A zoomed in version of the final product:

I had Mr. Made blow up my images in Illustrator (complete with cutting lines), and sent it off to Spoonflower. While I had heard a lot about the service, this was my first time using Spoonflower and I have to say that I'm impressed! For $18.75 including shipping, they printed up my exact images on a yard of fabric and had it mailed to me in under two weeks. The cotton was a bit more sheer than I had expected, but the colors were true and bright. Of course, the yardage isn't cheaper than most fabrics you can get in a fabric shop, but for a special-occasion custom print I was very happy. Including custom fabric printing, coordinating fabric, and the pillow inside each cover, the total cost for each came to less than $10 per cushion.

The pillow cases themselves are just an envelope design, meaning no zip closures (similar to this tutorial). I used the selvages so I didn't have to hem around the opening, and they came together in under an hour. 

Of course, I couldn't leave our new puppy Beatrix out of the fun (I am most definitely a crazy dog lady now). With three images for my friend, there was space for one more of B. Ours is in a black and white style that more closely fits our decor, with a black backing. I can't tell if B likes it or is just confused!

Ornament Exchange - The Goods!

my mini dose of holiday cheer...

When I signed up for Kelli of True Bias's ornament exchange, I knew it would be a fun way to be sewcial, but I also realized it's a great way to start my very first ornament collection. Having moved in to my first real place with K this year, it might just be time to set up a few Christmas things of my own. Of course, I'm spending the actual Holidays with my parents, their Christmas tree, and all the bells and whistles, but it was nice to have a little something Christmas-y at ye ol' condo (even if we are currently undergoing some repairs/construction and the place is a mess!).

So, it goes without saying that I couldn't be any more grateful that my first ornaments were handmade by beautiful and talented sewing women from all around the country. I was blown away by the craftsmanship, care, and creativity that was put in to each ornament that I received. Even without a tree (or even a branch), they brightened up my little place all on their own. To see for yourself, here is a peak at the ornaments I received:

Jessica was the first to send out her ornaments, and made these adorable Christmas stockings. The hand stitching was so cute:

Next I received an ornament from Alison, a handcrafter of "trinkets, toys and treasures" who blogs at Acorn Cottage. I was blown away by her craftsmanship! I guess she's used to working with tiny things:

Erin, a fellow Bay Area sewist who blogs at Seamstress Erin, sent over this clever little tree. You can read her tutorial for how to make one here. It's made from pom pom and a cork:

Kathy, the girly sewist and photographer at The Nerdy Seamstress, made these cute little sewing machines. Look at those little buttons! My favorite part is the real thread that runs down where the needle and thread go:

Just a few days before I left for vacation, I received this precious dove from Molly, who sews for herself and dolls (cool!) on Toferet's Empty Bobbin. 

Plus, I have a feeling I have one more waiting for me in the mailbox from Rian, Kelli's sister who sews and blogs about her life at Trachties.

Thank you so much to all the ladies who took the time to make up these beautiful ornaments. They really brightened up my home, which otherwise is in a sad state of construction and dust right now! I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!

Ornament Exchange

Pattern: Helika's Doll Coat Pattern and Agus Younet's Clothes Hanger

Supplies: felt, embroidery floss, and a paperclip

Cost: remnants :)

To finish off the year, I signed up to participate in Kelli from True Bias's Ornament Exchange. I couldn't help but make my ornaments sewing-themed, so I made up six little jackets for the ladies in my exchange. The ornaments are machine sewn at the seams and decorated with embroidery thread by hand.

Admittedly, I'm not the best at hand sewing, but I'm hoping these little guys have just enough home-made charm to lighten up someone's Christmas tree. 

If you're interested in making your own, here's a quick tutorial. For my little jackets, I used a doll coat pattern provided by Russian blogger Helika shrunk to 25% and lengthened slightly, and a paper clip clothes hanger tutorial by Argentine blogger Agus Younet. (Click to enlarge tutorial.)

As you can see, I had a lot of fun coming up with different embroidery options for them. For someone with a bit more skill, I think they'd look really cute with little embroidered peter pan collars or cuffs. The possibilities are endless!

I packaged mine up Tuesday night to send off to everybody. Hopefully I'll have a chance to share everyone else's ornaments soon, too! (Spoiler alert, they are gorgeous!)

Wearing Handmade Christmas

As a follow up to my 5 Days of Handmade Christmas, I wanted to show you some of the gifts in action.

First up, my little friend with her new jacket and teddy bear:

Next up, my main man in his birthday coat (still to be blogged):

And finally, my ridiculous fur & silk bathrobes on two of my ridiculous besties:

5 Days of Handmade Christmas: Bonus Day!

Pattern: Kwik Sew's Unisex Bathrobe #3177

Fabric: cotton silk robe with Moda faux fur collar

Cost: $40 each

I wanted to wrap up the holidays with some ridiculous gifts for two of my friends--matching fur collar bath robes! Despite how silly they are, they are actually pretty high-quality: silk cotton robe, Moda faux fur, french seams throughout, and a button closure. My buttons were once again a mess (maybe it's time for some new technique?), so hopefully all is hidden by the button. They were made over the course of a week when I didn't really have time to sleep, but they were done before the holidays and shipped off as a New Years gift.

In fact, despite all this recent gift-giving and receiving, I'm not a huge fan of the Christmas materialism, and didn't even exchange gifts with my immediate family. But the fur robes were an idea I had had in my head for a while (who doesn't like lounge wear + cozy fur?!), so I decided to send them over as a "just because" gift. And who knows, if these turn out maybe I can do some more random gift-giving to some more friends in the future.

Happy holidays everyone!

You can read my review of this pattern at PatternReview.com.

5 Days of Handmade Christmas: Day 5

Pattern: seed stitch pattern + beads (see below)

Yarn: 2 skeins Malabrigo Twist in Pearl Ten

Cost: $35

On day 5, I want to admit that making gifts for others is hard. I usually try to do something that fits their style but that I still love--if I don't love it, there's no way I can expect them to! But there's always the agony, the second-guessing. This scarf I have probably done a quarter way up and undone at least 3 or 4 times, not to mention all the different patterns I tried out beforehand.

For this special lady I wanted to make something in a dark color that she would wear but that fit her taste for the sparkly and special. After picking out the yarn, I knew I wanted beads to add that extra something. After buying some beads (and then exchanging them for others), I threaded them onto the yarn and wove them in as a went. I was reassured by some lovely ladies on public transit who have complimented my knitting. 

Because I didn't want to purchase beads for the entire scarf, and wanted to distribute them more towards the ends and away from the neck, they beads are concentrated at the end and become more and more distanced as they go up. You can kind of see that here:

The scarf really does look lovely when the beads glint in the light, but is subtle enough for everyday use. I plan on adding tassels to the end, too, just as soon as I finish knitting the darn thing. Haha. Here's some final shots of the beads:

For those of you knitters who are interested in a beaded scarf pattern, here are my instructions:

Thread the first skein with 28 beads, then CO 23 sts. The entire scarf is worked in seed stitch (RS: k1, p1; WS: p the k's and k the p's)

Because I am a visual person, here is the graph (click to enlarge).

And here are the written instructions:

The scarf alternates between 4-bead rows and 3-bead rows. After casting on and working 2 rows in seed stitch, start with a 4-bead row, work 4 rows, then work a 3-bead row. After that, work two more rows between each bead row (e.g. 6 rows between bead rows, then 8 rows, then 10 rows...). The last bead row will be the 3-bead row with 12 rows between it and the previous row. Then you will alternate between L 2-bead rows and R 2-bead rows until 1 bead remains. The bead rows are worked as follows:

• 4-bead row: work 3 sts, slide bead into place, work 1 st, 3x(work 5 sts, slide bead into place, work 1 st), work remaining 2 sts
• 3-bead row: x3(work 5 sts, slide bead into place, work 1 st), work remaining 5 sts
• L 2-bead row: work 3 sts, slide bead into place, work 12 sts, slide bead into place, work 8 sts
• R 2-bead row: work 9 sts, slide bead into place, work 12 sts, work 2 sts

Work mid section until you reach the other side, and work bead pattern in reverse.

You can read my review of this pattern at PatternReview.com.

5 Days of Handmade Christmas: Day 4

Pattern: How Joyful's Teddy Bear (free pattern!)

Fabric: Sweatshirt Knit and Fleece (remnants)

Cost: free (remnants)

As much as I enjoyed making Taylor's coat, I fully acknowledge that most kids don't ask Santa for clothes for Christmas. To accompany the too-cute-for words garment, I made up a mini teddy bear out of the coat remnants. I think it is a adorable, and a perfect companion for her new outfit. 

This pattern comes from How Joyful's Teddy Bear Pattern, one of the few free bear patterns on the internet that came  with pictures, some instructions, and didn't require leg or arm joints.

She does warn on her pattern that this is not for beginners, and includes some directions. I thought the pattern pieces were great, with lots of numbered and lettered points for matching edges. The instructions included pictures, which I love, but were also a bit confusing, with the written instructions often conflicting with what the captions next to the pictures instruct you to do. Nevertheless, I would say this is definitely one of the best free bear patterns on the internet, and it was so nice of her to throw them up there for us!

Check out the cute little tail!

To make a smaller version, I printed four pattern pieces to a page. Here's the bear with a spool of thread for size reference. It still came out a bit bigger than I thought, but I think any smaller would have been nearly impossible to sew. 

Christmas sewing has nearly killed me, but I'm so please with how it is all turning out!

You can read my review of this pattern at PatternReview.com.

5 Days of Handmade Christmas: Day 3

Pattern: Kwik Sew's Girls' Coats #K3818 

Fabric: Sweatshirt Knit and Fleece Lining

Cost:  $25

I am beyond excited to show you this coat, made for my little 10-year-old friend Taylor (manfriend's baby sister). 

Without any babies on my side of the family, it has been truly fun to finally sew some kids things. I'm always super inspired by the likes of Cirque du Bebe and Groovybaby... and Mama, and now I finally got to do some kids sewing of my own. With all the fun color options and the petite details, this was so much fun.

Back

Inside

I wanted to make the coat super comfy, washable, and kid friendly, so it is sewn out of sweatshirt material and flannel. Kids grow quick, so nothing too expensive. It isn't lined, so it was super fast to make up, and the sweatshirt material makes for such a soft inside. 

I also personalized it with handmade tags, done on my mom's Bernina, which has some decorative embroidery functionality. It says "TaylorMade" for the top, and has my own little "MadeByMeg" tucked into the side seam. 

"TaylorMade" Tag

"MadeByMeg" Tag

The pattern itself was super quick to make up because there's no lining or crazy tricks. The whole thing, plus Day 4's gift, only took 2 days. What I like most about the pattern though are the little details, from the contrasting hood lining to the belt in the back. I am disappointed to say, though, that my button holer totally ate my fabric, so the button holes look like crap. I cleaned them up with a little fray-check, but they are less than stellar. 

Front Buttons

Back Belt Buttons

Another one of my favorite details is the pocket welt, complete with contrasting pocket lining. I will definitely be using this technique again--so easy!

Welt

Inside Pocket

Day Four is a matching gift for this little girl--can't wait to show you!

You can read my review of this pattern at PatternReview.com.