Shana and emily Sew-A-Long Day 2!

 Welcome to day 2! Today we start the actual sewing of the tunic - yay!!!

The first thing I want you to do is to set your machine to the longest stitch length there is and sew a row or two of basting stitches in between the tunic front. 2 rows will help keep your gathers nice and pretty as you sew the collar on, just so you know why to take that extra time to sew that extra row :)

You can see here where the stitching goes and also the collar direction...

Gather lightly by pulling the bobbin threads - to match up with the collar center two notches (seen below)

and put your collar front right sides together with the tunic front - the collar piece should be looking down as seen in the above photo. 

Now pin pin pin! Seriously - don't be afraid to use many pins!

And here you can see the one collar piece all pinned together to the tunic front (see how many pins I used!)

Now be sure to set your stitch length back to normal  and sew about the collar along the pinned edge.

Turn your collar out and press the insides edges towards the collar facing.

Once you have the innards ironed to the facing get your other facing piece and lay on top of your sewn on one as seen below 

Now sew a long the outside edge (as seen below)

after stitching you will need to trim the inside down - I used pinking shears and they worked perfect and everything folded out nicely.

Then iron the piece you just sewed on all the way around so you have a bit of a folded about lip as per the patterns directions.

Now don't worry about finishing that front with topstitching just yet - we will get to that! 

You will now do your back collar/facing :) But tomorrow ! I think it is snack time which means time to stop for the day! Don't forget to find us on Facebook!

Who wants to tell me how the sew-a-long is going? or your favourite colour?? My favourite colour is pink :)

Welcome to the Shana/Emily Sew-A-Long Day 1 !

Hi! Jeanine here again!

We are starting the Sew-a-long today!!! YAY! First a few pictures to show you what we will be sewing up!

The Shana Tunic is super cute in corduroy for the fall I discovered! It is also great in cotton wovens as you can see in the product photo's below. The patterns are also on a limited time sale for only $5 each!

The Emily 

The Shana 

Now a quick note about printing the pattern up. I read the directions off my computer screen or tablet and so using the handy dandy print guide I just print the pages I need for the size I am (that is the top arrow). When printing be sure to print actual size/fit and double check you are not scaling (second arrow) and that the page size is set to 8.5x11inches (star). Once you have printed be sure to measure the one 1x1inch square that prints up with your pattern pages - each size will print one square on the first sheet of that size (hand).

Once you have printed it is time to assemble. I put the A layer, B layer, ect together first like you see on the bottom and then I put those layers together like shown at the top of the picture.

Once that is done we get to cut our fabric! Now I know normally I don't get as detailed with these steps for a sew-a-long but I wanted to point out a few things :) The notches - there are a LOT of them about the collars I know - but they are SUPER important!

I found it easiest to cut them using my little thread snip scissors since my big sewing scissors had a hard time working those little spaces.

For my Shana I decided I didn't want to do bell sleeves... Mainly out of concern for how the corduroy would gather up.... so I am going to show you how I did straight sleeves!

Take your Shana/Emily sleeve pattern pieces - the top and the bell and tape them together, and then you fold in the side I left mine angled out just a bit so although not gathered they are still a bit bell-ish for staying with the look, but you could do straight or even taper them in a bit.

Next get those collar pieces onto the interfacing and all together these are the pieces you should have!

And that my friends is day 1! Easy peasy right? Well tomorrow we start sewing! Don't worry - the collar is MUCH easier than it looks :) 

Remember to find us in our facebook group! The sew-a-long album will be in there for you to upload pictures into! Prizes will be given in the facebook group for participation (random.org picks the winners on Sept 4th, 2013) And we are always happy to help with any sewing troubles or questions you have!  

See you tomorrow!

The Jamie/Marissa Sew-A-Long Wrap-up!

If you have been reading the blog you know that we have had a Jamie/Marissa sew-a-long going on recently! We had our lovely seamstresses add their pictures to an album in our facebook group and then everyone had 2 weeks to get a picture loaded into the album to be eligible for a prize, this time around the prize was a 3pattern pack! (Winner picked by random.org)

I LOVED every one of the gorgeous entries in our sew-a-long album!!!! (As you can see by the awesomeness below there is a reason random picks our winner!). 

We had 81 GORGEOUS entries and here are just a few of them :) I absolutely love how this pattern looks great on everyone, little girls and ladies from xs to 3xl!  

Both the Jamie (womens) and Marissa (kids/tween) dress patterns can be found in our Etsy shop 

Terri's entry in beautiful butterfly print

Amanda's Jamie, I love how elegant this one looks, she's ready for a yacht!

Brianne keeping it summery fun in plaid 

 Bridgette rocking her Jamie is gorgeous Jennifer Paganelli fabric!

Candace made 2 Jamies in the sew-a-long!!! I can't decide which I like better the maxi length or the knee length!

 

Cara made this gorgeous Jamie, I just love the fabric choice! 

Chaiki just looks lovely in her Jamie, I love the soft colours on her! 

Cori made this Jamie for her sister!! (Lucky sister!)  

And then she made herself a Jamie too! the blue is lovely! 

Courtney made her little one this adorable Princess themed Marissa! I know my girl would be jealous! 

Crystal made a mother daughter matching set! I just love mother daughter matching! (I also love her use of fabric and fabric placement!) 

Darcie extended the front waistband around and decided "hems are for suckers" haha! LOVE this fabric choice as well! 

I LOVE the herringbone print Davette choose for her Jamie! 

Denise made this lovely Jamie, in a print that is too die for! 

I love how summer fun this chevron looks in this Jamie by Diana 

Gena was one of the first to get her Jamie completed,  doesn't she look just lovely in it !  

Love the pink and grey Heather! 

I just love the use of different prints with a solid that Jaqueline did! She is ready for date night I say! 

I will admit pink is my favourite colour, and this Marissa really showcases why! Great work Jane!

Janelle choose a lovely blue for her Jamie :) 

I love how classic this Marissa by Jo is! 

Julianna showing us all how to rock a Jamie into the fall! I have decided a cropped denim jacket is high on the to buy list! 

 Now you won't believe this, but this is the first selfish sew that Kari has done!!! Love the piping detail on the waistband!

Kelly in her lovely Jamie

These next two were made by Lisa, 2 Jamies and 2 completely different looks! 

I love how Martha added some flowers on her waistband ! 

Meghann looking lovely in her Jamie! 

and Michelle rocking hers! 

Next we have 3 dresses by  Naomi! One for each daughter and one for herself! 

Great job Naomi!!! 

Nin's Jamie is certianly one i want in my closet! The tiny little butterflies and this gorgeous blue just make her Jamie have that wow factor! (and she was even brave enough to include a zipper shot) Lovely construction!

 I love the soft summery colours Rachel choose for her dress!

 Rachel made a beautiful maxi length Jamie! We were all swooning over the Jamie in maxi length over at the Lab!

Rebecca made her daughter a dress in gorgeous blues and florals! Lucky girl!

Shannon ready to go out in her Jamie! Love it! 

Tera made 2 Jamies for the sew a long - and this linen one was the winner! 

and here she is rocking her floral one! I swoon over this fabric! and she is looking lovely as always! 

Lastly, this gorgeous Jamie by Jill! I ADORE this fabric!!! If you are a wedding photographer or know one you really MUST make her this Jamie!

So there you have it! If you were on the fence about this pattern or thought it might not suit you i think it is safe to say it looks GREAT on everyone! 

Thanks so much to everyone for participating in the sew-a-long!!!!! We will be having another sew-a-long towards the end of August so keep your eyes peeled for that announcement!