Panels and Borders and Patterns - oh my!

Patterns - multiple Love Notions patterns - links at the bottom of the page
Fabric - l'oiseau fabrics
Skills - working with panels and borders

It will come as a surprise to no one who knows me that I'm a little obsessed with panel and border fabrics!  This is probably an extension of my love of all kinds of puzzles, and hence my "handle" of puzzlnut!  I love a challenge and getting the most out of a beautiful panel or border is an exciting one.

Love Notions has lots of patterns that are tailor made for panels - and l'oiseau fabrics has the panels and border prints to perfectly complement them.  Let's looks at a few patterns first and then we'll talk about making the most of those panels.

Some panels are small enough to get a perfect little shirt and the L'il LDT in size 5 is wonderful for displaying all of the components that this zebra panel had and still leave large scraps for other projects.

Sometimes a panel must be pieced so you can get the whole project out of one panel.  This amazing bear and rabbit panel was picked by my grandson to make him a hoodie.  This particular panel was big - as in about 60" x a yard and a quarter!

The Vanguard Kit has options for colour blocking that allowed me to get a size 7 hoodie by taking advantage of the sleeve options.  I was even able to squeeze lining for the hood from the panel! I'm told it's my grandson's favourite shirt!

You can even make alterations to a pattern to get the most out of your panel.  I extended the Hazelwood Hoodie to a dress length to get the most out of the panel my granddaughter picked out.  Don't be fooled by her serious expression - she loves the hooded dress!

The picture at the top of the page is a beautiful border print which is no longer carried.  The Terra Tunic, with the mini alteration of making the front and back pieces the same length, worked perfectly to display the panel and give me a unique garment that always gets me compliments.

I used the Terra Tunic recently to make a shirt for my daughter who loves fantasy fiction.  I did cheat a bit as I had scraps left from making a shirt for an order which allowed me to get 3/4 sleeves.  I could have gotten short sleeves without it and still make the XXL shirt from the Terra Tunic pattern.

Here's the front.

And the back.

And then there's the La Bella Donna - with a few alterations it was perfect for this border print.  I evened the hem and put in a scoop neck - just because I like a scoop neck.  I also cut the sleeve cuffs from the border print.  This shirt is definitely one of my favourites to wear!

If there's not quite enough fabric to complete the garment, you have to find something that will echo colours in the panel  I used the Rockford Raglan to make this shirt for my daughter-in-law.

My original thought was red sleeves and neckband to echo the red in the umbrella, but my daughter-in-law preferred grey and I must say I agree with her choice as it doesn't detract from the panel.

Another pattern that is perfect for border prints and panels is the Prisma and it's what I used for this size 10 dress for a customer.  I'll use it to demonstrate how to get the most out of your panel.

The Prisma was perfect for this particular panel as it allowed me to get the front and back of the dress from the long tree/donkey pieces.

The first thing you need to do is to find the visual centre of the piece you're going to cut.

For me, the visual centre was right at the edge of the donkey's hat.

Now fold the fabric evenly along that line and see if your pattern piece will fit.

And the narrow a-line profile of the Prisma fit perfectly!

I've shown you a few patterns and how they worked with panels and I list them below, but there are more  You can click on any of my affiliate links below to get these patterns if you don't already have them.  And if you're looking for amazing panels, check out l'oiseau fabrics as they have a wonderful selection! A great pattern paired with a great panel, add a little imagination and you've got a unique one-of-a-kind garment.  Give it a try!

Love Notions Terra Tunic
Love Notions Rockford Raglan for Ladies
Love Notions La Bella Donna Top & Tunic
Love Notions Vanguard Kit
Love Notions L'il LDT for Girls
Love Notions Prisma Dress
Love Notions Hazelwood Hoodie

Sewing for the Christmas Bazaar

Right off, I have to warn you - we're not talking big bazaars here.  I live on a tiny island with a year-round population of about 350 souls so our Christmas Bazaar is pretty small, too.  Google Thetis Island and you'll see what I mean - I think we have 9 miles of roads!  This was my second Christmas Bazaar, although I do take part in our little summer markets. My stall was all children's wear so I'd like to tell you how I prepared for our Christmas Bazaar.

Know your Clientele

While the summer markets see a lot of summer holidayers and boaters, the Christmas Bazaar caters mainly to islanders and there are a lot of doting grannies and aunties!  I make special things for the Christmas Bazaar.  Grannies aren't looking for run-of-the mill clothes they can buy anywhere - they want something unusual!  I do have some basic things for my stall, but I also have a number of things made with amazing panels from the Netherlands imported by l'oiseau fabrics in Calgary, Canada.  You won't find these clothes anywhere else!

Here's a tunic I made using the L'il LDT pattern.

The back side is just as adorable.  The L'il LDT was just perfect for this panel with the width displaying the beautiful features of the pattern.

Grannies just love dresses for girls and the Prisma Dress in the A-Line option is perfect for those longer panels.

Again - just as amazing on the back!

Keep it Simple

You don't need to make extra work for yourself - choose basic patterns.  Some of my favourites for girls are:    L'il LDT   Prisma Dress    Sloane Sweater.  For boys, Vanguard Kit can be adapted so many ways - and I've used it for girls, too.

This shirt is from the Vanguard Kit.

These panels were huge - about 60" wide and almost a yard and a quarter long with enough to get the front and back for this size 7 shirt.

Little guys can have panels, too - here's a size 2 Vanguard Tee that uses the colour blocked sleeves to bring in the details of the panel.

It doesn't have to be a panel to make an amazing garment.  Here is the Sloane Sweater for Girls in a hooded shirt using a cosy jacquard knit to make it special.

And the versatile Sloane produced this yoked shirt - using remnants I had on hand.  Take a close look at the navy and white pattern - it's all sewing supplies!

Be Economical with your Fabric

I tend to be a scrap hoarder and keep bits that I think someday might be useable - I can't bear to throw away those gorgeous fabrics!  Again, Vanguard Kit to the rescue!

This wonderful digital print is no longer available and the Vanguard Kit's tee with its colour blocking was the perfect pattern to make use of the scraps.

Take Care of the Details

You are sewing for customers, so things need to be right.  Make your hems precise, neckbands just right, finish the seams properly.

With the foxes shirt, I machine-basted the colour blocked bits of the sleeve before I took it to the serger to make sure that the seams matched.

Just a little extra step, but it makes all the difference.

The end result is a shirt you're proud to have on your stall!

Prepare to Have Fun!

I had a great time - sold everything pictured above plus others and got several commissions.

Christmas Bazaars (and summer markets!) are lots of fun - it's a chance to catch up with neighbours and friends, gossip with other stallholders and just enjoy yourself - so make sure you do!  And if you sell some stuff - great.  You now have money to buy more fabric!

You can get these patterns through my affiliate links below if you don't already have them in your collection:

L'il LDT for Girls 2T -16
Sloane Sweater 
Prima Dress
Vanguard Kit 2T - 14

And be sure to check out all the creative bloggers taking part in the tour for ideas to help with your own Christmas preparations:

Monday: Handmade Boy The Wholesome Mama Four seasons and a Roadtrip Sew Shelly Sew

Tuesday: Third Shift Creations Handcrafted by RED All Things Katy!

Wednesday: My Heart Will Sew On Ma Moose Seamly Behaviour

Thursday: Sprouting JubeJube Very Blissful Sew Like a Sloth SewSophieLynn

Friday: Back40life Sewing Curves Princesse et trésors Ruby Rue Creations

Working with Faux Fur

Patterns - Love Notions' Oakley Vest for Women, Acorn Vest for Girls
Skill Level - Intermediate
Fabric - faux fur from Fabricville Online
Skills - working with faux fur, using a craft knife

The newest Love Notions pattern is a vest - for women and girls - with the usual offering of options.  There's a simple, open fronted vest which can be made of faux fur.  Two zipper-fronted views give you a choice of straight front or princess seams.  Pockets, of course - and a choice of collar or hood.  I'd never worked with faux fur before, so of course I chose View A and hit the Internet for clues on how to handle it.

One of the first things I learned is that most faux furs have a nap - that means that the "fur" fibres will lie in one direction.  It's very important that all of your pieces are oriented in the same direction - either with nap going up or nap going down - or it will be obvious that your naps are in opposition to each other.  You can see from the picture above - left faces down and right faces up - the down nap appears darker than the up nap.  And the garment will actually wear better if the nap is facing down.

My View A is lined and I chose a heavy black satin to give the inside a luxurious feel.  Some faux furs will have a finish on the inside that doesn't need to be lined.

Cutting the pieces is another new thing to me.  You don't simply lay your pattern pieces on the fabric and rotary or scissor cut.  You trace the outline on the backing of your fabric - which is why the back pattern piece is a whole one.

If your backing is a light colour you can use a marker to trace your pattern piece.  Mine was black, so I used tailor's chalk to mark the outline.

And remember that with the front pattern piece, you're dealing with mirror images - don't forget to turn that pattern piece over to mark up the other side!

Now to cutting!  The best tool for the job is a craft knife.  Holding the fabric steady with one hand above where you'll be cutting, draw the blade of the craft knife down on the inside of your mark.  This way, your fingers are safe and the fabric is taut and easier to cut.  You are just cutting the backing this way - not the fur.  If you don't have a craft knife, just scissors, and the fur fibres are long, cut from the back, moving the fibres out of the way and making little snips.

By cutting on the inside of the mark, your pattern pieces will be more accurately sized than if you cut through the middle or on the outside of the mark.

When you're finished, you're going to have fluff all over the place!  I even had to vacuum my cutting mat!  Be sure to have a vacuum cleaner handy.  Packing tape or a lint roller will help, too.  And to get all of fluff off your pieces and minimize the mess, you can put your pieces in the dryer on the lowest heat setting you have.  Toss in a couple of old towels to help keep the pieces tumbling and run them for at least 10 minutes.

When sewing, pin, pin, pin!  Or clip, clip, clip if clips are your choice.  If your fur fibres are long, tease them out of the seam to the right side to make your seam as invisible as possible. And once you start sewing, the pattern comes together quickly assisted by detailed instructions and videos to help you along the way.

The Oakley is the women's version and comes in sizes XS to XXXL.  There is also a vest pattern for girls called the Acorn and comes in sizes 2T to 16.  And, of course, you can buy both pattern bundled.  You can get the patterns through my affiliate links below.

Oakley Vest for Women
Acorn Vest for Girls
Oakley and Acorn Vests Bundled

The Sloane - My New Winter Friend

Pattern - Love Notions' Sloane Sweater for Ladies
Skill Level - confident beginner
Fabric - Fabricland rayon/spandex and brushed shirting
Skills - Applique

The Sloane Sweater is such a quick and easy pattern plus it's so comfortable, you want to make a bunch.  And with so many options, there's lots of scope to make sweaters that are unique.  But how about mixing things up - I mean - can you add a woven component?  I thought I'd give it a try!

I make most of my husband's shirts and for winter wear he especially loves brushed shirting so I usually have a lot of leftovers on hand.  I also had olive green rayon/spandex that was an exact match for one of the plaids which was a remnant from a shirt I'd made my son.  Perfect!  Click on any of the pictures to see them in more detail.

To make sure that there was "give" in the woven component, I decided to do my cuts on the bias.  First of all, I cut a square from the plaid and gave it a quick iron so it would lie as flat and square as possible.  As I was planning on adding elbow patches as well, I made the square big enough for both.

I folded the fabric diagonally, matching as best I could the stripes of the plaid, and laid out my pieces.

Using the rotary cutter, I had my woven component ready. Stitching in the yoke wasn't going to be a problem.  My big question was how to handle the patches.  Do I just stitch around and leave raw edges?  Do I use a straight stitch?  A zig zag?  I decided I was going to serge the edges and stitch on with a long, shallow zig zag.

But first, I should practice! I cut a second set of elbow patches and serged around the edge of one.  I wanted the end of the serging to be as invisible as possible, so when I met up with the beginning of my serging, I lifted the presser foot and turned the patch out of the stitching line, then dropped the foot and serged off.  The resulting tail would be pressed under the patch.  Great - I liked the look!

Now to practice stitching onto the rayon/spandex!  I pinned the patch to the knit fabric and chose a long, shallow zig zag on my sewing machine.

Since I had serged in black (picking up black in the plaid), I threaded my machine with black and the resulting stitching was lost in the serging line.  A quick press to take out the waviness and I was happy with the result.

I have inherited my father's long arms so I knew the patch would be too high on my elbow.  I wound up moving the patch down 3/4" - and probably could have done with a bit more!  I used lots of pins to attach the patches to the sleeve and the resulting elbow patches have turned out perfectly!

Attaching the yoke went as quickly as I'd thought it would - just one note here - you're moving from knit to woven (albeit on the bias) and back to knit again.  When serging on straight knit I had my serger's differential on 1.5.  When serging on knit and bias woven, I changed it to 1.3.  If the woven had not been on the bias I would have used N.

Once these two processes were out of the way, the rest of the sew was very quick.  And now I have another Sloane to add to the pack - bring on the cool weather!

If you don't already have the Sloane, you can get it through my affiliate link below.  And don't forget there's a Sloane for girls!  You just can't have too many Sloanes!

Love Notions' Sloane Sweater for Ladies
Love Notions' Sloane Sweater for Girls

Be sure to visit all the Sloane Blog Tour bloggers for some amazing versions of this super pattern!

Monday: Sew Shelly Sew, The Wholesome Mama, Ruby Rue Creations

Tuesday: Third Shift Creations, Sew Like a Sloth, Four Seasons and a Roadtrip

Wednesday: Seamly Behaviour, My Heart Will Sew On, Ma Moose

Thursday: SewSophieLynn, Very Blissful Blog, Kainara stitches, Sprouting JubeJube

Friday: Sew and Tell Project, Sewing curves, Princesse et trésors, All Things Katy!