Custom Yoga Bag and Giveaway Winner

The (late) winner of November's pattern giveaway is Amaratha, aka Megan from The Quirky Kiwi. Email me with your mailing address at mollysewsblog@gmail [dot] com.


I made this yoga bag quite a while ago, perhaps during the summer before I went back to work?

 I spent a long time on it- probably too much time, to be honest. I measured my thick yoga mat and made a rectangle. The base is a circle and I math-ed it out so it fit perfectly. I added the big pocket for a water bottle; the neck has elastic so the bottle doesn't fly out.

 The bottom of that pocket is a semi-circle, which prevents it from sagging too much.

 It closes at the top with a drawstring tie. The drawstring flap should have been more shallow, so it balloons up at the top a little too much. The shoulder strap is a really nice 2 inch wide braided trim. The fabric and trim are all from Jo-Ann's, since this was a spontaneous project. I had been using a fabric shopping bag for all of my yoga stuff.

Near the top of the bag, I made three pockets. One is for cash or my credit card. One fits my keys. The other can hold a lip balm and kleenex. That's basically all I need for yoga!

I spent an absurdly long time matching the print to make them invisible. I used the plastic baby snaps to close them, which is kind of a pain to use. The pockets are annoying to use because they are a bit too small for each item because I didn't account for enough ease. That makes them poof out when in use.

~~~

So the yoga bag worked reasonably well, and then I went back to work in September and haven't gone to yoga since. I do work on my feet all day as a special education co-teacher, which helped me finally drop back to my pre-baby weight! I do need to work on toning my sad and stretched out stomach muscles though!

Sweet baby Max is now ten months old (maybe 8 or 9 in this picture) and I hope that for 2016 I can sew one project a month. I miss sewing, but it is so hard to sew when I am so tired. I need mental energy to sew, otherwise everything is backwards or wrong ad I spend more time with the seam ripper than actually making things!

Here's hoping that 2016 has more sewing in my future!

August/September Giveaway- Vintage Fabric

Both giveaways are for one piece of vintage fabric each. They were purchased at an estate sale and have been laundered, but may still have that old house stink. Leave a comment stating which month (or both) you would like to try to win. I will ship these within the US! Enter by Thursday, September 25!

August Giveaway:

This is vintage polyester with a brown background and a slightly raised white/cream dot design. It measures 60" wide and 2 yards long. It has stretch in both directions, but more in one way than the other. 

Quarter and 1 Euro coins for scale

 September Giveaway:

This is a polyester chiffon. It has a white background and is covered with small pink circles and black dots. It is magenta pink and somewhat sheer, mainly on the white parts. It is 40" wide and 5 yards long.

Leave a comment by Thursday if you would like to enter one or both of the giveaways! Happy September!

2 Vintage Pattern Giveaways

First, there are four patterns for April's giveaway. They are all for a 35-36 bust.

 Butterick 2363 for a 60s jacket/vest/skirt. Simplicity 6249 for a nightgown and housecoat with scallops.

 Simplicity 5737 for a really cute 70s dress. Spadea 1244 for a fitted dress with military style, postmarked '59.

For the second giveaway (June), there are five patterns. Again, they are all for a 35-37 bust.

 Simplicity 8353 has a vest, skirt, pants and cape wardrobe. Simplicity 6341 is for making your own Swirl-style wrap dress. Advance 6653is a double-breasted dress.

 Simplicity 3983 is a skirt with pocket details and Butterick 9961 is for a 60s suit.

Leave a comment mentioning which giveaway you want to enter (or both) by Thursday June 26. I will ship anywhere on Earth. Thanks for giving these patterns a new home where they will hopefully be used and enjoyed!

Winners for March and April Giveaways!

The winner for March's small child patterns is...
Debbie!

The winner for April's large child patterns is...
Kristy!

Ladies, email me at mollysewsblog/gmail with your mailing addresses!

Winners and two NEW giveaways!

The winner for January's patterns is: Sharon!

The winner for February's patterns is: Nina!

Please email me your mailing addresses to mollysewsblog/gmail/etc/etc/ and I will try to mail them this week! Yay!

Ok, on to the belated March and April giveaways. These are all vintage children's patterns, which are not everyone's cup of tea, but if you have kids or know a tiny kid you want to sew for...then these are for you!

March is for the small child and/or doll for a child:

 You have eight patterns ranging from doll size to size 4. Simplicity 4560 size 4 skirt and jacket, DuBarry 5924 size 4 skirt and jacket, Simplicity 4114 size 4 overalls and jacket, and Simplicity 9584 clown-baby jumpsuit dealie.

 Simplicity 1809 for a 22" doll layette, a different Simplicity 1809 for a 8" doll, Hollywood 1511 for sz 1 year jumper/bolero/blouse, Simplicity 6208 for 60s style Barbie doll clothes.

 If those look appealing, leave a comment about March's giveaway.

On to April, which is seven patterns for larger children.

 Simplicity 5524 for a girl size 12, Simplicity 8127 for girl medium pajamas, Simplicity 8292 for boy's size 14 robes.

 Simplicity 5732 girl's size 8, Simplicity 5417 girl's size 8, Simplicity 3212 girl's size 10, Butterick 8255 for a girl's 10/bust 28.

If any of those look appealing, leave a comment about April's giveaway.

I will ship anywhere. Leave a comment to enter by Thursday, June 5th!

Belated Giveaways: January and February

I finally made something, but it is patternt esting so I can't show you. School is almost over, only three more weeks! I am finally feeling relaxed, the weather is getting nicer and nicer and now I will sew some cute stuff. I organized my sewing area, packed away my Vogue coat until the fall, and went through all my patterns to see which ones would work for Spring/Summer. These are all patterns that I know I will never make, so they will be my belated giveaways starting with Jnauary and February. :0 

This is January's giveaway: Please note, these are all teen patterns and are very tiny! I'm talking 28-30 bust. So if you are tiny, or have a tiny tween daughter or really enjoy pattern grading, these 8 patterns are for YOU!

 Close-ups below: 1940s patterns McCall 4062 for a 30 bust, and Simplicity 1221 for a 29 bust.

 60s-50s-40s: McCalls 5936 for a 31 bust, Advance 9423 for a 30 bust, and Simplicity 1180 for a 29 bust.

Tangent:
People email me from time to time trying to get me to sell /scan and email/copy and give them my Advance 9077 pattern, for an adorable sundress, which was one of my first projects I ever posted on my blog. I don't know why this pattern in particular is so important, but there is a picture of Marilyn Monroe wearing a similar dress, so maybe that's why?

I have no plans on selling it or doing work for strangers, but maybe people should consider similar options like the Advance 9423 in the center. Only the sleeves are different, all the other pieces are identical. Maybe one of the independent pattern companies should recreate it, certainly people think it's cute.

 Simplicity 6159 for a kilt style skirt for a 23 inch waist, Simplicity 9375 for goofy overalls for a 22" waist, and McCall 8073 for a goofy puritan look I think a 31 bust.

 So those are "January's" giveaway, now on to Feb!

Feb's giveaway is for six patterns for a 32 inch bust and are kind of a random mix of things...

 Simplicity 7423 jumpsuit, Simplicity 6973 wardrobe pattern for knits, Simplicity 9164 peasant dress.

McCall 6814 coat, McCalls 6018 pyjamas, Simplicity 6498 for more knits.

If either of these options sound appealing, leave a comment and make sure to say if you would like January (tiny) or February (32 bust). Enter by Wednesday, May 28th if you're interested. I will ship them anywhere.

Thanks for looking at my (not yet abandoned) blog!

Giveaway winner and a coat dilemma

The winner of December's giveaway is Nina A! Congrats and please email me your mailing address to Mollysewsblog/at/gmail/com

On to my coat question: should I sew on the cuffs or not? They are just pinned on for the pictures.

The wool is thick and therefore the cuffs are really thick. I think they look space age and costume-y. The main detail of the coat is the inverted v of the buttons and I don't want the cuffs to detract from that. 

Sans cuffs...

What do you think? Should I add them or just leave it simple?

Happy New Year! 

Late December Giveaway

December's giveaway is four vintage aprons!

Anyone anywhere is eligible and the winner will receive all four of them. Leave a comment to enter by midnight on 12/31.

The green apron is gingham with white rickrack trim. The orange gingham one has hand embroidered roosters on it. The blue gingham has small Xmas trees embroidery and bells that pin on, which you can take off to wash it. The sheer pink hostess apron has a little pocket with flowers on it. It has some tears and some of them have stains, but they are cute and functional! 

Thanks for entering!

November Giveaway Winner!

Sorry for the late drawing! The winner of the November giveaway of four patterns for a 38 bust is....

Jenny!

She is a mom of three and has made some cute projects like the Squid and the Duck birthday party. So cute. Email me at mollysewsblog (akkkk) gmail.com

For December, in the spirit of the holidays, I am going to give away some actual things. Still sewing related of course, but more like the stuff I acquire at estate sales claiming I will sell on Etsy and then never do...
If you want to buy a Swirl wrap dress, I do have three listed right now. Probably fits a 34-36 bust, they are too big for me. :( for me, :) for you.

November Pattern Giveaway!!!

Here is November's giveaway. These patterns are from an estate sale a few weeks ago. While they don't fit me, they were too cute to pass up and now to pass them onto a good home!

There are four total and they are all a bust 38. Leave a comment to enter and I will choose a winner on Wednesday November 13! 

Advance 3030 has a circle skirt, vest and blouse with a bow at the neck.

Simplicity 5891 is such a pretty dress!

Butterick 2353 has a simple skirt suit and blouse.

Simplicity 3331 is a slightly weird 40s blouse and jumper outfit. 

I will ship them anywhere! Good luck!

August Giveaway!

August's giveaway is only open to US residents, as the box may be a little heavy!

Winner will receive all three pieces of swimsuit Lycra with a two way stretch. Now these are leftover from the suits I made, so my guesstimates are of the amount left, not including long stragglers.

The nude lining was originally 2 yards of 60" and I would say there is well over a yard left.

There is about a 1/3 to 1/2 yard of the pink and orange animal print left and at least a 1/2 yard of the green/blue. They are both 60" wide.

I would say there is enough of each to make a bikini and probably enough of the green to make a one-piece, for sure. 

Leave a comment by Thursday at midnight and I'll enter you in the giveaway! You can listen to Easy (who knew Sheryl Crow is signing country now, yay) and sew a swimsuit to wear for September or next year's dream vacation!

I bought all the fabric at Discount Textile Outlet in Pilsen and the prints were 11.99/yd and the lining is like 2.99.

June's Double Giveaway!!

Unfortunately, I completely forgot to do a May giveaway! So for June, I am going to do a double-giveaway to make up for it.

There are two sets of patterns, four in each set. If you want to enter, for either or both, just leave a comment by Wednesday at midnight and make sure you say which set you would like. I will mail the patterns anywhere, even internationally.

Giveaway May: (Bust 34)
I call this 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s since you get one pattern from each decade. Simplicity 2407 is from the 50s, featuring a full or pencil skirted dress with a little bolero jacket. Simplicity 8498 is from the 60s with a long or short dress with interesting bodice seaming. The 1970s give us Simplicity 5588 with a skirt or pants and a safari style tunic shirt with many pockets. For the 80s, you get a loose and blousey dress-shirt thing with big patch pockets.

 Giveaway June:  (Bust 32)
These are all quite random, but can meet the sewing needs of a very interesting lady. Simplicity 5315 is a nice lounge-tunic. I made the Vogue version of this for Mardi Gras and it is quite comfy and awesome. Simplicity 4524, for all those times you really NEED a beanbag and a football pillow. Simplicity 2980 is for that 40s style suit that you need for a job interview at an antiques mall. Simplicity 8411 is for all those times you need some casual sports wear.. in a jiffy!

Anyways, if any of those strike your fancy, leave a comment to enter. You can enter for both if you want!

March Giveaway Winner!

T-Rex would like to present this month's winner:

 Carmen! Carmen, please email me your mailing address so I can send off the patterns! (mollysewsblog at gmail [.] com)

TT is now almost 7 and he has just learned to "pretty sit" on his back legs in the last 6 months or so. It is so cute! Now he just does it to show off. When I bought him, the breeder said they sometimes do that, but he hasn't until now. Old dogs can learn new tricks!

February Giveaway!

Here is February's slightly late giveaway, but just in time for my birthday tomorrow! In honor of the illustrious day of my birth, I present to you:

Butterick 2137, a 1960's pencil dress with sleeve and collar variations in a 36 bust!

McCalls 3240, a 70s pattern for a yoked tunic/dress with or without giant ruffle and crisscross ties! (36 bust)

McCalls 4085, a 70s A-line dress for a maxi or mini. Mmm, just look at that mini with a slit! So fun cause you get to wear tiny shorts under it (wat?). Lady in blue looks like she stepped of the set of Star Trek. 34 bust.

 And finally, Simplicity 8820 in a 36 bust! A 70s sailor wardrobe pattern makes all the garments you will ever need: a bra top that looks like a sports bra, wide leg pants, an actually cute sailor dress and a costumey sailor coat, which it seems you can also wear sans pants. Who needs pants anyways?

Winner receives all four patterns and I will mail them anywhere! Leave a comment to enter by Monday, Feb 25 at midnight and I will choose a winner next week! If you want, link to an even funnier 70s pattern! Just to get you started:

Image from here, and there's more!

January Giveaway!

For January, one person will win all five patterns! Leave you name and a comment by Monday, January 7th at midnight. I will mail them anywhere in the world!

I chose one from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, plus an extra bonus 60s pattern as I have an overabundance of them. These are all for a 32 bust. 

 Left to right: McCalls 3247, a 1970s tunic pattern in two lengths. I know you always wanted a big old caftan.
Next, Simplicity 6594, a 1960s A-line skirt pattern with optional suspenders! Oh la la!
McCalls 9049 is the extra bonus 60s pattern for a little A-line dress with a notched neckline.

On the left is Vogue Special Designs 4097 for a 1940s suit with a jacket and long, slim skirt.

For the 1950s, you have Simplicity 4330 for a simple button-down shirtwaist dress with tiny waist pleats. 

Leave a comment to enter! Thanks!

December Giveaway Winner!

We drove to Woodstock, Il yesterday and cut down our Xmas tree. It is so beautiful! We got a blue spruce again. It was raining and cold, but we found a great one. It is really blue with that "snowy" look. Which is nice, since it has yet to really snow here in Chicago. 

 Today we decorated it and it looks delightful. I have a nice assortment of horrific estate sale ornaments mixed with the cheap ones from Kmart that come in a tub. I used my tree skirt that I made last year, as well.

 Yes, that is a jug of beer to the right. Andrew and my brother have been brewing beer. That is actually batch two and batch one turned out pretty well!

The winner of the patterns is....

Kristin! Kristin, please email me your address at mollysewsblog@gmail{dot}com.

Thanks!

December Giveaway!

This month I am giving away these four vintage patterns to one winner! Leave a comment by Friday at midnight to enter and I will choose a winner this weekend. 

These patterns are tiny (30 ans 31 bust) but have some cool features that might make them worth grading up. 

McCalls 9407 is a 1953 pattern featuring a halter dress with an out-sized collar. Bust 30. 

Simplicity 1283 is a 1955(?) dress pattern featuring a dropped waist, full skirt and kimono sleeves. Bust 30. 

 Butterick 7205 is a slim "stem" dress that "flowers out" with an optional overskirt. Bust 30. 1950s?
McCalls 6487 is a 1946 Junior 2 piece suit dress pattern. Bust 31.

Leave a comment to enter!

November Giveaway Winners!

Andrew and I went to my friend's wedding and it was super fun. 

 No, that is not the dress I was making...more on that later this week.

Luke and Andrew are beginning to brew beer. I bought them a kit as a joint b-day present (3 days apart).

 Luke and I had a Molly & Luke Thanksgiving II. It was delicious.

 We did not dress up. I am experiencing zit face remorse for passing out after the wedding without washing my face. So stupid. I now have six giant zits.

 And the winners:

Heather won the fabric!

Jeannine won the patterns!

Ladies email me your addresses at mollysewsblog[at]gmail (dot) com