Tata Nursing Tank Top Free Sewing Pattern and Tutorial available at BurdaStyle.com!

Hi, everyone! I'm so excited. The long, hard work finally paid off and I have uploaded my very first sewing pattern to Burdastyle.com. It is the Tata Nursing Top and it's the first ever pattern uploaded for maternity on their website!

You can find the pattern available for free download with instructions here.

This is huge for me and one of my biggest goals ever to accomplish in sewing and my main goal for my maternity leave. Hooray!

Brown Bow Baby Sweater (My first EVER FREE knitting pattern!)

Front:

Back:

Tie open:

Tie Closed:

This is my first ever knitting pattern released to you free of charge! I designed this sweater for Origany and got permission to release it as I see fit. So this will be hand-knit in Peru using organic, undyed Alpaca yarn and available for purchase in selected boutiques across the country and probably also at www.origany.com, along with other children's and baby apparel, some of which I designed, too! And, it's available for your knitting pleasure for FREE!

Enjoy!

Pattern (pdf file)

More stuff!

I forgot I never showed you some more things I finished, so here you go:

This is a sweater dress thing I made by modifying Burda Style's free pattern, Lydia:



This one is from Vogue 8280 and I made it for my class. It's made of cotton pique and lined with the same fabric as the jacket I made, tie material! I love the pattern!

Finished Projects!

Hooray! I finally finished some projects and got around to uploading them to show you! I have more I've finished and I promise pics are on their way soon as well as some new Etsy store items! YAY! I'm getting closer to having an inventory and I don't want to post too much until I'm there. I've been hard at work trying to figure out things like fit, etc. on some of the things I've made for myself. That's sucking up my time, leaving less time for posting. But... I'm back at work now so I'll be posting more regularly again. Thanks for your patience!

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Here's the bag I made for my mother-in-law for Christmas:



It turned out super well. The leather-look stuff is something weird and rubbery I got from discount fabrics this past summer. I was saving it to work on for something cool and I'd say this works well. I'm using the rest of it to try out a new clutch pattern and I'll have it out shortly for you to see! But this one is from a pattern: M5487 by McCall's. It wasn't very hard, but it was more labor intensive than I thought. Maybe it's just easier when it's your own pattern? I don't know. Either way, I learned some new, cool techniques that I can hopefully pass on to you soon.


Here is the jacket I was working on for my class. It turned out okay and it looks like it fits in these pics, but I swear it feels about a size or so too big, so who knows!?



It's from McCall's 5477. It wasn't very hard at all, even with the lining. I'd really recommend it. But, I need to experiment with fit, because my teacher had me change some things that I'm not sure I'm happy with... What do you guys think? Does it fit?

Jacket me...

Well, I had my very last sewing class last night, where I showed my final project, this jacket. I promise to have pictures soon. But my teacher gave me a huge compliment. She told me she thought the jacket was ready to wear and didn't realize I'd made it until I got up in front of the class to show it. She said I was, "Really good" which is a compliment I don't think she would give out lightly. Especially with the expression on her face that seemed to be amazement. She's been sewing for at least 30 years in a professional capacity and has designed lines and written books. So this is a very, very big deal for me.

I can't wait to show you guys, but I thought I'd let you have the preview of the pattern first. Last night, we saw everyone's garments and I saw just about every pattern on McCall's jacket page and let me tell you, these are some great patterns! Well, I have the jacket, my dress, and a handbag to show you. And, I'm probably going to finish another bag for my Mother In Law soon, so I'll take pics of that. I should have some great things up here and for sale after Christmas, if you have any money left! :-)

Made new stuff!

So my photographer friend Jonathon set up his studio last night with some new lighting and we took a bunch of pictures of stuff I'd recently completed. Here you are for your fun and enjoyment! Above: Skirt made of polyester charmuese and lace. My own design, but based off of this tutorial for a circle skirt. I added a waistband and zipper and hook and eye closures.

Bamboo socks (above), wool/acrylic striped socks (below)

McCall's Pattern 5241 with cheapo knit fabric I found at Walmart. Not bad overall.


Wristlets! Made with Terra yarn in Merino/silk blend. REALLY nice yarn, super fast and easy pattern. PDF pattern here.

Yarn I dyed myself! With beets. Turned out yellow even though the dye bath was bright red. This is 100% wool - fisherman's wool at that.

This is a modification of a burdastyle.com pattern. You can find the pattern I used here.

All photos: Jonathan Reyes

Made a decision...

You all remember the "Fashion is Exhausting" post I made? Well, I finally decided! YAY! Only took me like 3 weeks...

I decided on the above shoes in brown. I decided I have way too many shoes in black and I'd already sort of met the black oxford/bootie trend with this pair of patent shoes I got in August. SOOOOO... here we are. :-) I returned the other ones to DSW and they paid me $8 to give them back.

Story: My first receipt was $43 for 2 pairs of shoes and when I returned the black oxfords the lady was like, "Okay, $85 will go back on your card." and I'm like, "Wait, as much as I'd love for you to put more back on my card, that's not right." So she doubled checked it and the total back on my card became $51. And I'm like, "That's still too much." She did some more checking and decided it was right... Sooo... not only did I end up getting the above $200+ shoes for free, I got paid to take them off their hands!

Oh, and I'm gonna stay blonde. It's huge next spring. :-)

Shop Shop Shop Time!

I don't know about you guys, but the day after Thanksgiving is my most favorite shopping day! I know, I know. You either love it or you hate it, and most people I know hate it. But, for me it's fun. There's something about the energy of hundreds and thousands of people all around you surging the stores for fantastic deals. There's so much excitement and anticipation and camaraderie. You stand next to the guy in line at 5am and ask him how long he's been waiting. We all swap stories about years past: great deals, crazy late-night waits, and mishaps. It's not just a day to shop it's an entire EXPERIENCE! And, I get all my Christmas presents for great deals!

So, this year I'm again considering going shopping at midnight. Got this in the mail about the outlet malls. It's the third year in a row and I've considered it every year, but never done it. This time, however, I might caffienate myself and bite the bullet. Stay up all night and then wait in line at 4am at an electronics store or something. Although, the deals this year don't look that great and, I must admit, it seems like the same deals are going on at Midnight as on Saturday, so what's the point? Still, it would be a true test of my shopping endurance that I can use to swap stories with future people in line in years to come. Hmmm... what to do?

I'll be in LA at the Camarillo outlets. What do you guys think? Are the deals worth it?

FO's! And my Etsy store is up! Hooray!

Last night I did a photo shoot with my friend Jonathon. I've been wanting to get some decent photos of my outfits and FO's for awhile. Then I met him and found out he's a photographer who wants to take more photos and viola! Here we are! So, I'm writing this to show you so many cool things! First, I have finished lots of items I'm FINALLY getting around to showing you.

Second, I opened my Etsy store today! Only scarves on there right now, but I will very, very soon be adding additional scarves and maybe even a few handbags! Hooray! Just in time for the Christmas season! Above is one of the pictures displaying the scarves I am currently selling on Etsy.

This is my version of the Labarynth by Wendy Bernard from Stitch Diva Studios. The black yarn was a random 100% linen yarn I found on a cone in a yarn swap. From Belgium. The green yarn is also from a yarn swap and is Classic Elite Wool 80%/Cotton 20% blend. Not sure the name... It was easy to knit up and wears fantastically! I highly recommend it!



I'm holding another item I plan to sell on Etsy, but I haven't listed it yet. I originally designed it to be a clutch, but it ended up becoming a sort of big envelope/possible laptop sleeve instead. Inside is polyester satin recycled from a very old shirt. It is lined with thick interfacing, so the envelope is very thick and sturdy. It would definitely keep a laptop safe. The outside fabric is unknown, but I'm guessing it's VERY expensive fabric. I bought it as a remnant from a lady at a flea market and I could tell she wanted to charge me a ton for it, although she didn't. I'm going to guess it's either silk or a very fine cotton or wool. The embellishment on the front is an amazing gilded thing. i don't know what it is, but the fabric is FAN-CY!

This is a sweater of my own design that I just finished. I needed a sweater dress for fall, so I knitted this one on size 15 needles with some Lion Brand Thick 'N' Quick I had lying around. Buttons are random. If anyone is interested, I can make a pattern!

All Photos: Jonathon Reyes

Finished Projects

There's even more coming, but I thought I'd show you a sweater I completed awhile back. I have 2 more I need to get pics of to show you, but here ya go!

Fresh Faces in Fashion SF tonight AND I'm working on launching my store!

Hey, Readas, I'm going to Fresh Faces in Fashion SF tonight! YAY!!! I spent 1.5 hours working on my outfit last night (not including the last couple months I've spent thinking about it). I didn't get a purse made in time to take with me (boo), but hopefully what I'm bringing will suffice. I just don't want to look lame, ya know?

So, I wanted to let you know, too, that I'm working right now on launching some new stuff. I'm working on a new site: www.mskirko.com. I'm having technical difficulties at the moment and I'll let you know when it's up. Hopefully by Jan 1, 2009. I'll have some time over Christmas to figure it out.

Second, I'm working on launching an Etsy store! Hooray! It should be at www.mskirko.etsy.com. I don't have anything up yet, but I'm going to hopefully be loading a few things in time for Christmas. A few things I plan to sell starting out, anyway: 1. Custom Fabric Sewing labels, 2. Wool Knit Jersey scarves, and 3. Rolled purse handles.  And, being the cheapskate that I am, I plan to sell everything in my store for $10 or less, because I know what it' s like not to have or want to spend much money, but still have nice things. I'll let you know when it's launched. Wish me luck!

Designing is fun!

Pattern: Simplicity 3773

Pattern: Simplicity 3539

I am in a designing frenzy. FRENZY! Well, actually, designing isn't the correct word. The correct word is creating because I've been using commercial patterns. Or, rather, I purchased 6 commercial patterns because joann's is having a sale and I want to learn some sewing skills so on the list of projects are:

1. Shorts E from Simplicity 3773 (above).
2. Dress B from Simplicity 3733 (above).
3. Dress A from Simplicity 2998.
4. Dress B from Simplicity 3539 (above).
5. Dress B from Simplicity 3778.


Also, sometime, Dress A from Simplicity 3533 and everything from Simlicity 2925.

Maybe I have an obsession with dresses... hmmm... It's just they are so easy to make! I'm making all the projects without zippers and not made of knits first... except maybe the shorts because I think they will be FAST! YAY for fast!

My first bag designed and implemented all by me!

Here is the first bag I made and designed! I designed the bag from a sketch then used several tutorials to create it. Inside features 5 nice open pockets and 1 zippered pocket as well as the 2 on the front. The handles were originally supposed to be rolled, but I ran out of time and my sewing machine was being difficult, so the result was what I could do fast to get it done before I leave for Europe today. Tell me what you think! I'm so excited to have customized my own bag. YAY!

I GOT A SEWING MACHINE!

I got a sewing machine! I had one, but it was really old and hard to work with. Now I have a pretty, computerized one and I've been making all kinds of cool stuff!

I made a dress from the magazine "Quick projects to sew" by Tauton Press (publishers of Threads magazine) that I got at the Maker Faire last weekend in San Mateo, CA:



And then I made this bag from an online tutorial by ric-rac:



I made it reversible by putting a button on both the inside and the outside and putting a small piece of elastic on the top.

Great, huh? I also made some tote bags and now I need to learn how to make a zippered wristlet. I'm also going to try to make that dress again in a wrinkle-free fabric so I can take it to Europe with me and have a nice travel dress while I'm there. So exciting! You can see more pictures of my projects (as I update them, too) here.