Popular Pattern Links

From over 700 comments left on my giveaway post, here are the links to the twelve most popular designers and bloggers, as recommended by you.

Please note: I've provided links to where I thought it was easiest to find the patterns or tutorials. Often they're listed as links along the sidebar of a blog. Any troubles, let me know!

Amy Butler - patterns for clothing, bags and other accessories - her bag patterns are particularly popular. The Anna Tunic is on my to-do list:

Elizabeth Green-Hartman (Oh, Fransson!) - patterns and tutorials for quilts and small projects, including the Mod Sampler Quilt-Along:

Made by Rae - tutorials and patterns for bags, quilts and baby clothes. The Buttercup Bag is a big hit.

Noodlehead - tutorials for various small and cute projects. The gathered clutch is a favourite. I have no idea how I didn't know about this blog! I've already made a couple of lil cutie pouches:

Oliver + S - clothing patterns for children and babies. Personally, I love both the finished product and the patterns - the patterns leave no questions unanswered. Here's an Ice Cream Dress that I've sewn:

Moda Bakeshop - wow! I really haven't explored this site enough. It has patterns for everything using all types of Moda precuts.
Cluck. Cluck. Sew - mostly quilt patterns and an entertaining blog.
Made (dana made it) - another site I can't believe I missed (thanks for the tip!). Full of a broad range of patterns and tutorials from clothing to accessories to home decor.
Sew Liberated - patterns for clothing and accessories, including the very popular Schoolhouse Tunic. There are also tutorials listed on the sidebar.
Ottobre - a magazine from Finland featuring patterns for kids
Anna Maria Horner - this talented woman designs patterns as well as fabric - including clothing and bag patterns, free quilt patterns, and two great books.
Pink Penguin - another blogger I somehow missed - great tutorials for really cute accessories.


Phew! That is quite the list, but I couldn't finish without mentioning some talented and popular Australian designers that I think everyone should know about:
Make It Perfect - great looking clothing patterns for women, girls and boys.
Kate Conklin - beautiful quilt patterns and tutorials, often made using great modern Australian quilt fabrics.
Red Pepper Quilts - Truly inspirational. I'm always amazed by her fabric choices, detail, accuracy and beautiful quilting. Click on patterns on her blog sidebar to view her quilt patterns.

Lastly, since it's one of my main interests, here are a few children's clothing designers introduced to me through your comments:
Heidi and Finn
Leila and Ben
Little Lizard King - and I won her Sew Mama Sew giveaway! I got to choose a pdf pattern for free - I chose the Elizabeth Claire Peasant Dress

Well, there are certainly enough links, projects, tutorials and patterns there to keep you busy for a lifetime. However, if there's interest, I'll write another post with links to more of the designers and bloggers you recommended in those giveaway comments. I can't promise that it will be as thorough as this post!

Hope you find some inspiration in these links. Happy Sewing!

Ice Cream Dress #2

I am so happy with this one! And even happier that I even managed to get my model to wear it for a few quick snaps on a cold morning.

Pattern: Ice Cream Dress by Oliver + S, View C
Size: 12 - 18 months; as you can see in the photos, plenty of room to grow!
Modifications: lengthened to size 2 length for my long girl!
Fabric: Calme by Lecien, lightweight

Nearly a year ago I bought a pair of handmade bloomers at a local market, made out of this fabric. I've always loved the fabric, but couldn't really find anything to 'match' the bloomers. So I was delighted to find the fabric, on special, and quickly stitched the blouse to match.

This blouse was so much quicker to make than the dress, for many reasons - no pockets or double hem for View C; I was familiar with the pattern already; I only needed to cut out one extra pattern piece since I'd sewn View A in the same size. On the other hand, the fabric was more challenging to work with as it is so lightweight, but the result was well worth the fiddly-ness.

 I love this pattern - It is simple enough to sew yet looks elegant and better than what you can buy at the shops!

Knitting Pattern: Magic Mitts

Ever since I began knitting, I have adapted patterns, improvised, and written up my own patterns to meet my needs. A while ago, I formally wrote up a pattern and made it available as a free ravelry download. Now that I have a blog, I thought I'd replicate it here, so that it's available to all web users. My next free pattern, another pair of mitts, will be available soon.

Magic Mitts

This simple mitt pattern, with a thumb gusset, is knit the same for both hands. It uses 2x2 rib cuffs and plain stockinette stitch to show off the lovely self-striping colours of the yarn. It would work well with other self-striping, variegated or solid yarns with a similar gauge to the Lincraft Prism, such as Patons SWS. While this pattern is written to be knit using the magic loop method or 2 circulars, it could also be knit on double pointed needles by dividing the stitches equally amongst 3-4 needles. They can easily be knit 2-at-a-time.

Size

Women’s S [L]

Materials

Lincraft Prism: 70% wool, 30% soybean, Approx 65m per 50g ball; 2 balls

1 x 4.5 mm (US 7), 40” circular and 1 x 5.0 mm (US 8), 40” circular needle for magic loop OR 2 circulars of each size OR 4-5 double-pointed needles of each size

4 stitch markers (only 2 required if knitting one-at-a-time)

Approx 24 inches smooth waste yarn in a contrasting colour

Tapestry needle

gauge

22 st = 4 inches

Pattern Notes

pm – place marker

sm – slip marker

m1L (make 1 left-leaning stitch) – insert left needle from front to back, under the strand of yarn between the last stitch on the left needle and the first stitch on the right needle; knit this stitch through back loop.

m1R (make 1 right-leaning stitch) – insert left needle from back to front, under the strand of yarn between the last stitch on the left needle and the first stitch on the right needle; knit this stitch.

Directions

Cast on 32 [36] stitches on smaller needle. Divide equally and join to knit in the round.

Knit 14 rounds of K2 P2 rib.

Switch to larger needle. Knit 6 rounds stockinette.

Next round – Begin thumb gusset: K16 [18] pm m1R on the first needle, then K1 m1L pm K15 [17] on second needle.

Knit 2 rounds stockinette.

Next round – Thumb increase: K16 [18] sm m1R K1 on first needle, then K2 m1L sm K15 [17] on second needle.

Continue to increase in this manner, every 3^rd round, until there are 9 [11] thumb stitches between the markers. Note: the increases are always immediately after the first marker, and just before the second marker.

Next round: K16 [18], transfer 9 [11] thumb stitches to waste yarn, cast on 1 stitch in the gap (backward loop method) on the second needle, k15 [17].

Knit 3 more rounds stockinette.

Change to smaller needles and knit 7 rounds K2 P2 rib.

Cast off in rib.

Thumb:

Using the larger needle, pick up the 9 [11] stitches from the waste yarn and then pick up 3 more stitches in the gap. 12 [14] stitches.

Divide stitches evenly and knit 6 rounds of stockinette.

Cast off loosely.

Weave in ends and block if desired.

variations

There was quite a bit of yarn leftover, so you can easily add length by knitting more rounds before starting the thumb gusset.

Use 1x1 rib on the cuffs instead of 2x2. Or 3x1, etc.

For a medium size, CO 34 and use 1x1 ribs on cuffs. Increase thumb to 9 stitches as with smaller size.