You're going to love this color blocking tutorial from Carin of Art Bella Creates. She proved she's a master at color blocking in her Mini Season 2 creation! Here she is with an awesome color blocking tutorial:
I love color-blocking when I sew. I like that it makes your garment an unique kind of art. one of a kind, because no matter how you do it, it is in itself perfectly unique.
It starts with a vision, what pattern I am going to use, what fabric I have in my stash or sometimes it is something specific and I go searching for the fabric that I need. Once I picked the pattern, I am going to mark my cutlines. For this I recommend a curved and straight ruler. I will be honest and say for curves I rarely use a ruler and just go free hand.
If it is a top pattern I am going to line up my shoulder seams or side seams and only draw the block line on one pattern piece. I draw a couple of straight lines right through the line as you can see above where I will later cut diamonds on my fabric to know where the two pieces of fabric need to line up.
If the front and back have continuous color blocking, I will cut out my blocked piece and then flip it over right sides together to mark the back of the pattern . This is important so your seams are all matching between front and back.
I write my colors on my pattern pieces so I know which color to cut. It gets more complicated if you have different colors on each side but I'll explain later.
Now let's get to the specific jumpsuit I made for Week 3 of Project Run and Play's Mini season 2. It was definitely a challenge with lots of thinking involved but a very fun one indeed. It's like a puzzle fitting together. I mashed up two different patterns for the jumpsuit. Both are from Project Run and Play's Lounge Library collection. For the bodice I used the Biography Bomigan Pattern and for the bottom I used the Prose and Poetry Cargo Joggers Pattern.
I laid out my patterns and decided where my colors were going to go.
Once you draw your lines and notches, write down colors and cut pattern as explained above , you are ready to cut your fabric. For this particular jumpsuit I picked pink for the one side , teal in the middle and yellow on the other side.
As you know we mostly have pattern pieces for half of the garment. Everything gets cut as a mirror image so we don't have two left legs. The middle blue was easy and I just cut it like normal on a fold or wrong sides together. For the sides I used the right sides for my pink, flipped the pattern pieces over ( both of them I put on my right side of my fabric because instead of flipping my fabric, I flipped my pattern pieces.)
The same goes for the sleeves, the pink I cut with the right side of the pattern and I flipped the pattern piece to the wrong side for the yellow sleeve.
Before you cut your fabric, put all your pattern pieces together and make sure lines are going to line up. For the jumper I had to make sure my middles line up in front and back, upper and lower sides , again front and back.
Every extra color blocked line that you added is going to need seam allowance. For my top part I knew I was cutting on the fold and my pants had seam allowance so I had to adjust for that and make sure they will line up.
If you have a dress form it is very helpful to pin your cut pattern pieces to your dress form to make sure all looks good.
NOW you are ready to cut your fabric. With color blocking I recommend taking your time, check and check again before you cut. Make sure you have the right color and make sure you know if you should have the pattern piece right side facing you or if it needs to be flipped.
REMEMBER TO ADD YOUR SEAM ALLOWANCE TO EVERY LINE YOU HAVE ADDED TO YOUR PATTERN. Pattern pieces have seam allowance in already but if you added a line you will have to cut extra seam allowance JUST ON THE LINES YOU ADDED. When you change a pattern that has an open front like the Biography to a one piece you need to fold your pattern piece in and add your " place on fold of fabric" to your pattern.
Once you have your pieces cut, you can start assembling. I add those lines right through my color block line so when I cut my fabric I cut my diamond notches and I usually have at least two or more on one line.
Now I can match my notches right sides together of my fabric. If you have curves I recommend LOTS of pinning.
Press your seams after every seam you sewed. When I am working with a knit fabric, I always mostly use my serger but when I color block and I sew front and back pieces together that has a color blocked seam I pin it together, sew it together with my sewing machine first and then serge. The serger has a way of pushing one fabric out before the other with knit and because you can't serge over pins like a normal sewing machine, go ahead and sew it together with the sewing machine first. That way it gives you good sides that matches up. and press, press, press those seams always.
This is an example of color blocking I did over the weekend.
and there you have it. Lots of lines all lining up.
I hope this tutorial was helpful and if you haven't tried it yet, you should.
Happy Color blocking.......till next time.
Thank you so much, Carin! Be sure to come back tomorrow when we reveal the winners of the Mini Season 2 sew along!
Next up, we have Annika sharing a tutorial from her amazing Week 2 look; Cool Kids with Style.
The Slash and Spread Method – (how to add volume to any pattern using pants as an example)
In this tutorial Annika from Näh-Connection will show you how to use the slash and spread method to add volume WITHIN your pattern piece. Just to be clear: This is not used to adjust sizing, but rather to add an interesting design element. With this method you could change a normal sleeve to a gathered sleeve or a bishop sleeve or turn a straight skirt to an A-line skirt or...
In the following, I’ll explain this fun technique by manipulating the front of the Joseph Joggers pattern to accommodate pleats along the waistline. First, decide WHERE on the waistline of your front piece you want to add a pleat. Then start to draw a straight line (parallel to the grainline; on your paper pattern piece) right at that pleat marking and all the way down to the hem. Cut your paper along that line, BUT leave about 2 mm / 1/16 inch at the hem connected. Pull your pieces apart to add volume to the area at the waistline that will later be pleated (Please ignore my adjustments to the hem of the pants. I did not use the cuffs, but sewed a turn up hem for mini season 2. This will not be part of this tutorial here. The method works just the same if you sew cuffs. You will just cut the paper pattern piece almost all the way through to the bottom line of the front piece).
Cut your two front pieces (from fabric) using the altered paper pattern piece. Make small notches within the seam allowance to mark where the area with the added volume starts and ends. Put the paper pattern piece away.
Now, it’s time to make your pleats. Fold the fabric right in the middle of both notches and align the notches. Then, decide in which direction you want to fold the pleat. To do so fold the fabric that is behind the notches to one side or the other. Pin everything together and baste the pleat in place. Then follow the normal sewing instructions.
As mentioned above, this method works for all kinds of design elements: Use it to add volume to the top and/or bottom of your sleeve. Then either pleat the added volume or gather it. You will get some nice statement sleeves. If you want to make an A-line skirt, you want the added volume to be at the bottom of the skirt. So, in this case, you will have to cut through your pattern piece from the hem upwards. Really, the possibilities that slash and spread offer are almost endless. Just try it yourself!
That looks so fun and easy, I can't wait to try it!
Come back soon for the next tutorial from Mini Season 2.
Today we get to share the first fun tutorial from Mini Season 2: Bleach Dyeing. Here's Wendy from W. Pratt Crafts with the tutorial.
One of the things I love about participating in Project Run and Play is that it always forces me to stretch and challenge myself to try new things. When it was announced that my week's theme would be Stash Bash I will admit that I was a little disappointed that I didn't get an excuse to go on a fabulous fabric shopping spree to pick out just what I wanted. But, in limiting my resources it pushed me to try a technique I'd never done, but had wanted to try: Bleach Dying!
Bleach dying is basically the opposite of tie dying where your intention is to remove colors rather than add them. You can achieve similar design effects using tie dye techniques to manipulate the fabric before you add the bleach which can create some really interesting effects.
Bleach Dying Tutorial
Supplies
Fabric to Bleach
Bleach
Spray Bottle
Gloves
Water (optional)
Rubber bands (optional)
Large Tub (optional)
I found some plain black French Terry in my stash and knew they would make some great Joseph Joggers. But, I wanted to add a bit of design detail and decided to try and bleach the fabric. Before I began, I read a few tutorials which told me that natural fibers tend to bleach better than others and they suggested some variation of a bleach to water ratio. As my fabric had a higher polyester content I decided to use a pure bleach solution with no water. I also made sure to do a small test patch before jumping in and spraying down my whole fabric piece.
Once I saw that the bleach would indeed have an effect on my fabric, I loaded up my spray bottle, spread my fabric out on the lawn, and began spraying! If you don't want to try spraying, you can use rubber bands to section out pieces of the fabric and create different textures and looks depending on their placement, then either spray or submerge the fabric in a large tub. Almost any tie dye technique can be repeated using bleach instead of dye!
It was interesting to watch the colors begin to change, but it was also somewhat challenging to know just where and how much bleach was on each section. I noticed that the grass helped create some cool textures in the spray patterns based on how the fabric was laying on it.
When bleach dying, it's important to give the bleach enough time to do it's thing, but you can also stop it from processing by rinsing it then giving it a go in the washer and dryer whenever you feel you like what you see. I think I waited 15-20 mins before I rinsed and washed my fabric.
One thing I did notice about the color, which other tutorials had prepared me for, was it had a rusty orange tone to it. Oftentimes when lifting black you won't get a gray or white look. You will end up with orange or pinkish tones where the bleach is.
Knowing I wanted a less orange look to coordinate with my planned outfit, I decided to dye over the fabric with a grey pearl color from Rit Dye. This helped knock out some of those rusty hues and left me with a more taupe colored finish on the bleached areas. It ended up working perfectly with the other color tones of my fabrics.
One thing I may consider doing differently next time is to make the garment completely and then bleach it so I can control exactly where I put it on the finished piece. Though it was much easier to do an entire piece of fabric laid out all together, I just had to be careful with how I cut the fabric to get the desired look in the end.
I hope you enjoyed this short tutorial on bleach dying and would love to hear if you try it! To see more patterns and inspiration from the Project Lounge Library Capsule Collection click here.
Thank you so much, Wendy! Wow, I can't wait to try that fun technique! See you back here soon for the next super cool tutorial.
This week we get to share some really fun tutorials. The talented designers of Mini Season 2 have agreed to share how they created some of the designs you loved during their Season.
Watch this space tomorrow for the first tutorial...you're going to love it!
In the mean time:
HURRY this is the last day to link up!!! Link up YOUR creations here for a chance to win. (P.S. EVERYONE who links up will win the Bookish Beanie and two will win bigger prizes!!)
Wow, talk about a grand finale! These ladies really knocked it out of the park. Before we share the results, we have 2 announcements:
1: If you're inspired to sew along please link up here. And here's the announcement part: EVERYONE who links up a sew along creation will WIN the Bookish Beanie pattern!!! (This is in addition to the other 2 larger prizes!) Yay, go link up!
2 - Our Week 3 sponsor, Surge Fabrics, just got in the PERFECT t-shirt fabrics, and they're on sale! Go check them out and grab some for yourself!
Are you ready??? It's time for some C.O.M.F.O.R.T. don't you agree?
Before we show you the designer creations for this theme, we are delighted to tell you about what they'll be winning! This week's sponsor is new to supporting Project Run & Play, so we encourage you to give them a warm welcome (and do thank them with your business!) Surge Fabric Shop has some of the most beautiful fabrics for COMFORT sewing! They will be rewarding this week's designers with $100 and $75 gift certificates.
Personally, I've got this fabric in my cart for my kids, and this one for myself!
Now let's see what Carin and Tami did with the Week 3 theme.
Colorblocked Comfort - Art Bella Creates
I am so glad to be here this week. It's been a rough past couple of weeks full of loss but here I am and sewing always has the ability to put me in a better mood. Creating helps me process things too. I am going to jump right in....
Here was my challenge:
Comfort Encapsulated - No one knows what 2021 will bring, so prepare to be comfortable no matter what happens! With the Project Lounge Library patterns as your paints, and fabric as your canvas, art will soon appear!
The very first thing that came to my mind for comfort was a jumper in soft terry fabric. Bella child loves a good jumper and would live in them if she cans. The patterns I picked was the Prose and poetry jogger pattern for the bottom and the Biography bomigan pattern for the top.
There were quite a bit of thinking and taking my time in assembling the jumpsuit but there were no major issues and both my daughter and myself is in love. I would love to have a version like this for myself. I already knew the fit of both the patterns which made things easier. I omitted the waistband of both the jacket and pants. I added pockets where the fabric meets between the bottom and top part and used mint green fabric for the inside of the pockets. I added elastic on the inside of the middle, bronze grommets and a mint green shoelace for the string around the middle. I added a zipper to the raglan shoulder seam with a folded over lining flap so the zipper's teeth doesn't bother her on the inside. the neck was finished with bias binding that was folded in and stitched around.
The color-blocking took some thinking so I cut and sewed part by part to make sure all my pink is on the one side and my mustard on the other.
The jacket is a flip on the Story top pattern. Another favorite from the library lounge pattern collection. I used an active knit I had ordered way too much from and quilted the bodice pieces together with fleece and diamond top stitching. The jacket is fully lined with a minty green knit on the inside. I split the story in the front and added a zipper. The hood is from the George hoodie and it worked out perfect. A mint green shoelace is threaded through the bottom so she can cinch it in the waist if she wants to.
I love it when an idea I have in my head turn out just like I imagined. My favorite parts are the pop of mint everywhere. She can easily hang out at the house or out shopping . Style and Comfort all in one. Please head over to Art Bella Creates for more details and photos!
Easy Like Sunday Mornin' - SewSophieLynn
When Audrey asked me to step in for Gemia this week, I was full of emotions. My heart aches for the Carroll family and I wanted to be able to pay tribute to the incredible friend and seamstress that Gemia is. It really was a pleasure to sew alongside her in Season 15 and I'm in awe of her talent. That said, with just a weekend to sew, I was so grateful for the theme this week, Comfort Encapsulated. Through all my sewing adventures, comfort is always top priority, especially this last year. This theme was meant for us! First step, I headed to Raspberry Creek Fabrics: headquarters of ALL the comfy fabrics. The most important element in comfortable clothes is fabric and RCF carries all of my kids favorites. For these looks I used a combination of silky double brushed polyester, cozy waffle knit, plush sweatshirt fleece, and soft ribbed knit. With fabrics in hand, the Project Lounge Library patterns came to life so easy!
I created three looks- one for each of my three youngest kids. They have very different personalities and these pieces are just perfect for them. My youngest lives in casual, sporty clothes and won't wear anything even remotely itchy. His whole wardrobe is really Comfort Encapsulated. I used a denim look dbp for a pair of Joseph Joggers. I stuck with the pattern, only changing the waistband to use a wider elastic and adding extra top-stitching. For his top, I used the Theodor Raglan (also in the PRP shop) and added the hood from the George Hoodie. Those two patterns have become my go-to's for him and it was fun to combine them. He also got a Bookish Beanie in ribbing to complete his look. This outfit is the perfect little boy outfit and he may or may not be going on wearing it two days straight (don't judge!). Pretty sure I'm going to have to peel it off of him! My cute little tween is obsessed with all things rib knit and I knew I could make her dreams come true with a head to toe rib knit look. I used the Story Top and Nini Noni Pajama bottoms to create this dreamy lounge set. For the top, I created a mockneck (another current trend she can't get enough of) and cropped the length about 4 inches. For the bottoms, I added a yoga waistband to really up the comfort factor. I love that she can wear these pieces separately and she's already dying to wear the top with her favorite jeans.
My oldest daughter is my style idol. Any trend that I'm loving, I can guarantee she's already got it on her radar. She really wanted a sporty sweatsuit and it was so fun to plan this one out with her. I used the George Hoodie and Joseph Joggers to easily create this look. I color blocked the bodice pieces and cropped and added a drawstring hem. The joggers got a wide side stripe. I used a cuff ribbing on the pants and sleeve cuffs to tie the two pieces together. I'm seriously coveting this whole outfit and I'm looking forward to the day (coming all too soon!) when we can share wardrobes! For more details and tons more photos head over to SewSophieLynn. Thanks for your support of Project Run and Play and I hope you join in the sewalong fun!
Now it's your turn! Please use the voting form below to support these incredible designers with your VOTE!
This is how the scores are being determined for Mini Season 2:
50% of the designers scores are determined by YOUR vote!
50% of the designers scores are determined by the other 4 designers!
We're really sad to announce that Gemia of Phat Quarters/Pier Avenue Patterns is unable to participate in Week 3 of Mini Season 2. Gemia and her family have suffered a truly heartbreaking loss and can use your support, thoughts and prayers.
However, we're awed by Tami of SewSophieLynn who agreed to step in at the last minute and participate.
After each of these talented designers introduce themselves, we have a SURPRISE for you...stay tuned! These ladies have been challenged with this theme:
Week 3: Comfort Encapsulated - No one knows what 2021 will bring, so prepare to be comfortable no matter what happens! With the Project Lounge Library patternsas your paints, and fabric as your canvas, art will soon appear!
Let's get to know Tami and Carin better:
Hi all! I'm Tami from SewSophieLynn and I'm humbled to be stepping in for Gemia this week. I was lucky enough to compete alongside Gemia in Season 15 and my heart goes out to her and her family. I love our Project Run and Play family and the community that surrounds us. I am a mom of 5, ages 18-8, and just sent my oldest son off to North Carolina to serve a mission for our church. I have loved the slower pace this past year and all of the extra family time we've had. I still shuttle all the kiddos between soccer practices and dance lessons but we also manage to throw in lots of movie and game nights too (The Game of Things always gets us laughing)! I started sewing in high school but didn't really get into it until my oldest daughter was born. I've learned lots through pattern testing and working my way through my massive pdf pattern collection. You can follow me at SewSophieLynn on Instagram.
My name is Carin and I am wife, mom to two and live in Illinois. I currently homeschool both my children and we are loving it. Both my hubby and myself were born in South Africa , lived in Switzerland for 2 years after we got married and have been living all across the USA for the past 16 years.
My love of Sewing? The phrase “I got it from my Mama” rings very true here. I grew up in my Mom’s sewing room. She is a self-taught amazing seamstress that went from sewing for herself, us and many other people into teaching sewing classes out of her garage. I have a B.Sc in Home Economics and even though the art of sewing, designing etc. was a huge part of it, my love and skill comes from my wonderful Mom.
I grew up in my mom's sewing room. I didn't sew for a while after college but after my now 10 year old was born, I started and haven't stopped since.
My style includes lots and lots of color, I love technique and always try to improve on my own. I love old-fashioned sewing with a modern twist. I view every item I sew as a piece of Art – from the moment I put it together in my head, to picking out fabrics, sewing and pressing the very last hem.
I love flipping a well designed pattern and putting my own twist on it. Sharing my craft with people is always a blessing.
You can follow my makes on FB here and my blog here on IG at carinberg
The 18" Doll Nini Noni Nightwear pattern is for a set of pajama pieces that are perfect for dolly's lounging or sleeping. There are options from a classic maxi length nightgown all the way to a casual top and bottom sweat set that is super cozy and appropriate for everyday wear. Made with knit fabrics with moderate stretch, the 18" Doll Nini Noni Nightwear pattern pieces are perfect for use in any season.
Each of the four tops (including the two nightgowns) can use any of the four sleeves: short, long, gathered head (pued) short, or gathered head (pued) long. Using dierent sleeves is a great way to extend the use of this pattern. There is also the option for a functional or decorative drawstring on the waistband.
The 18" Doll Nini Noni Nightwear pattern was designed by Ajaire of Call Ajaire, so you know it's going to be packed with options! We're going to celebrate this NEW FREE release by offering a sale of the Nini Noni Nightwear pattern!
The Nini Noni Nightwear pattern is on a huge 25% off sale. (No code necessary. This is the biggest sale ever on this pattern, and the ONLY sale on them this month! Sale ends February 1 at midnight Eastern Time Zone.)
The Nini Noni Nightwear PDF pattern is for a set of pajama pieces that are perfect for either lounging or sleeping. There are options from a classic maxi length nightgown all the way to a casual top and bottom sweat set that is super cozy and appropriate for everyday wear. Made with knit fabrics with moderate stretch, the Nini Noni Nightwear pieces are perfect for use in any season.
Each of the four tops (including the two nightgowns) can use any of the four sleeves: short, long, gathered head (pued) short, or gathered head (pued) long. Using dierent sleeves is a great way to extend the use of this pattern. There is also the option for a functional or decorative drawstring on the waistband.