Thursday 26 November 2015

Sew Very Christmas Dress: Lavender bag tutorial

Here's a tutorial using the Christmas Dress from our  Sew Very Christmas pattern set to make a lavender bag dress hanger to hang in your wardrobe.


To make one lavender bag, you will need:
  • Sew Very Christmas pattern set
  • Free hanger template download here
  • Fat eight lightweight linen (Robert Kaufman Essex linen blend is ideal
  • Small scraps floral fabric
  • 6" square backing fabric
  • Lace trims, 6" lengths
  • Hanging Ribbon, 10"
  • Six strand embroidery floss in grey
  • Perle cotton thread
  • Embroidery needle
  • Dried Lavender
  • Button for decoration 

Finished size 4 ¼" x 5" (not including lace trim)
Seam allowances are ¼" throughout

1. Print the dress pattern at 75%.   This will make a 4.5" block rather than a 6" block   I find it easier to use the square pattern on page 9.  I also added on ½" at the top of the pattern to create extra room to add the hanger embroidery.   Cut your pattern along the section lines.  Print the template pattern.  Cut out.



2. Foundation paper piece your dress block following the pattern directions.  Leave large seam allowances around the outer edge.  Remove paper but do not trim your block.  Place the hanger template over the dress and using a pencil, lightly trace around it on to the background fabric only.  At the top of the hanger shape, lightly drawn in a question mark ? shape without the dot.


3.  Using three strand of floss and starting at the left armhole of the dress, stem stitch or back stitch following the pencil line to create the hanger.  When you come to the dress section, run your thread underneath catching it in the seams on the reverse side of the block.


4.  Trim and square your block keeping the dress and hanger central.  You will need at least ⅜"" above the top of the hanger to provide ¼" seam allowance.   The finished size will vary according to how much you allow but mine came out 5" wide  x 5 ½" long.  Place on top of your backing fabric, right sides together and use it as a template to cut out  the same size backing fabric.



5. Fold the hanging ribbon in half and place the raw ends at the centre top of the lavender bag front with the loop hanging down.  Baste in place inside the seam allowance. Place lace along bottom edge of the lavender bag front and cut to the same size.  Turn ¼" seam allowance at the side edges of the lace.  I double turned these edges using the ¼" seam allowance.   Place the lace right sides together with lavender bag front and with the scalloped edge facing upwards and stitch along the bottom using ¼" seam.


6.  Press lace downwards creating a hem  along the lower edge of the lavender bag front If you wish to add another narrower piece of trim on top of the lace, cut the length and finish the edges as in step 5 and sew on top of the  lower edge hem. 



7. On the bottom edge of the backing fabric, press and turn ¼" hem along the bottom edge.  Place lavender bag front and backing fabric right sides together, pin side and top edges and sew together using ¼" seam- check hanging loop is hanging down freely and not catching anywhere!  Turn  bag through bottom opening and press.


8.  Hand sew a running stitch around side and top edges of the bag using perle cotton.  Do not sew along the bottom opening.


9. Lightly fill the lavender bag with dried lavender and slip stitch the opening closed on the backing side.   Sew a button to the bottom of the hanging loop.  Your lavender bag is complete!


Let us know if you make a hanging dress lavender bag- tag us on Instagram, @sewichigo and use the hashtag #sewichigo, we're also on Facebook  and Twitter or send us an email, we'd love to see!

Black Friday 30% Discount

Our annual Black Friday sale offer starts today at Sew-Ichigo! There's a whopping 30% off all our patterns throughout our Payhip shop  ending Sunday night.


We'll be posting a free tutorial today to make a lavender bag using the dress from our Sew Very Christmas pattern selection:



You might be tempted by our popular Kitchen Classics set:

Latte to Go  is great for seasonal gifting especially with the free gift card holder tutorial:


Latte to go and  Strawberry-Ichigo are our best selling designs- I think it's because they are great for swap items and quick gifts! 
With all the cooking that goes on over Thanksgiving and Christmas, maybe In the Pantry is the set for you?  It celebrates our love of kitchenalia and the patterns combine together nicely - see our mini quilt tutorial ideas here and each design would work well on aprons too.




we hope you enjoy whatever you choose and for those celebrating Thanksgiving, have a great time with friends and family xxx

Happy thanksgiving to USA readers!  Kerry and Penny xxx

Wednesday 1 April 2015

Big Spring Clean Designs for Love Patchwork and Quilting

So here is it, the Big Spring Clean cover booklet that we have designed for Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine with eight new retro themed designs.  It goes on sale in UK shops today and hits USA in around 4-6 weeks.


It includes a step by step tutorial for the radio block.  This includes using templates to cut more accurate pieces, fussy cutting and adding appliqué details.


This is Penny's design, an atomic sparkle! 


The soap bubbles was a joint design, started by Penny and finished and sewn up by me.


Shine is one of my favourites, and I used the minimum number of separate sections for the text to simplify the construction. 


Penny picked the most perfect fabrics for this brush, the bristles have got so much movement!


Penny's Wash and Go block shows how effective fussy cuts can be in foundation paper pieced blocks.  The text print is the first piece to be added in that section which makes construction much easier


This retro light was by me- I think it has the wrong name on.  Its a quick straightforward design to sew!  It is such a happy collection of blocks and we both love the art work and layout from the Love Patchwork and Quilting team- thank you to Jen and Alice and all others involved. You can find Love Patchwork and Quilting issue 20 in the UK in WHSmiths, Supermarkets and large newsagents.  

sib blog

Saturday 28 March 2015

Spring Cleaning at Love Patchwork and Quilting Magazine

Hot on the heels of our Spring Fever bird and flower patterns releases comes 'The Big Spring Clean" but these patterns as a coverbook for Love Patchwork and Quilting April issue, out next week in the Uk, and in 4-6 weeks in USA.  The big reveal of all eight designs comes next week when the magazine is on sale, but meanwhile some sneaky peeks…


Thankyou to Love Patchwork and Quilting for the beautiful pics!  More coming very soon!




Wednesday 18 March 2015

Spring Fever- a new pattern set

Who is ready for spring? We are!

http://payhip.com/b/BhCv

Kerry and I have been feverish for spring, so we decided to bring it a little early with a new pattern set "Spring Fever". You can buy them as a set, or as singles  (links below).

http://payhip.com/b/Icu9


http://payhip.com/b/CexR  


http://payhip.com/b/CgZl


http://payhip.com/b/0Qwm

And make sure and check out our other pattern sets here in our shop.

Happy Spring to you!












Friday 9 January 2015

Moving forward with VAT

As most of you know by know, the EU VAT laws took effect the 1st of January.
In order for Kerry and I to meet these new laws, we have decided to switch to a new payment platform, Payhip. (Here is our Sew-Ichigo shop page on payhip!)

You will still find our patterns for sale in our shop here, however, we have removed our Craftsy and Etsy patterns until they change the way their sales are completed.

We are so happy that payhip has allowed us to continue selling our patterns! You will notice our shop page is slightly different now. Just click on the photos to purchase whichever pattern you like.




Happy shopping!
Penny and Kerry

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