Welcome to Pattern Parade catwalk Janelle from The Janelle Wind Collection! Janelle is a fellow Aussie pattern designer with a big heart who loves all things vintage, thrifting, sewing and her beautiful family (not in that order!) Each Wednesday on her blog, Janelle shares a fashion post often featuring thrifted clothing and accessories. I’m excited today for this post to coincide with her appearance on the Pattern Parade!
Isn’t she a stunner?! Janelle has such a gorgeous, unique style. I love her Poppy Tunic and entire outfit and could find myself quite comfortably wearing it every day. Make sure you visit The Janelle Wind Collection for more photos of this beautiful outfit.
The Make It Perfect Pattern Parade Virtual Catwalk introduces…
Well, my dear audience members of the Pattern Parade…we are half-way through the month! Hope you’ve enjoyed meeting some new bloggers, picking up some inspiration and seeing all of the wonderful creations as much as I have!
Joining us on the catwalk today is Laura from Craftstorming. Laura lives in the UK and is an avid sewer and baker – you will find lots of great sewing creations and tutorials on her blog, as well as mouth watering sweet treat baking. Laura has also designed a couple of great sewing patterns for children that she sells under her Titchy Threads label.
Check out the beautiful Poppy Tunic Laura is sharing in the Pattern Parade – this is still one of my absolute favourite patterns…makes me want to sew another! And she added pockets too, which I always wish I had done after I finish!!! See more and win a PDF pattern over at Craftstorming.
The Make It Perfect Pattern Parade Virtual Catwalk introduces…
It’s no secret that I love Nani IRO fabrics. Naomi Ito, the designer behind Nani IRO is my favourite textile designer by far. I love her style, especially for clothing sewing. Everything she produces is a careful mix of pretty and playfulness and her fabrics are one of the most luxurious textiles that I have sewn with.
My favourite place to purchase Nani IRO fabrics is from Miss Matatabi. Miss Matatabi has declared the month of June “Nani IRO Month” and has invited some of her friends to help celebrate! I didn’t need much encouragement at all to join in, another excuse to sew with Nani IRO fabrics…I’m in without hesitation!
I’ve got a looooong list of “things to sew” (mostly made up of things to sew for myself!) and a new Poppy Tunic was at the top of the list. Poppy Tunics are one of my favourite items of clothing for layering, and I especially love wearing them when it’s cold over a pair of skinny jeans or leggings with my boots. So, I thought I would kill two birds with one stone and sew a Poppy Tunic from Nani IRO fabric.
I had in my mind that I wanted to sew my Poppy Tunic from one single fabric, usually I make them with a contrasting chest piece and hem but have been wanting to try one out with no contrast fabrics for awhile now. I also had in my mind that I wanted my Poppy Tunic to be a dark colour, which narrowed my fabric choices right down and actually made it easier to decide on which fabric I wanted to use. The fabric that I decided on is Shine Many Ways B. It is completely different from fabric I would usually select, but now that I’ve sewn with it I love it. So wearable and a lovely, earthy colour palette with enough detail to stop it from being boring. If you look really closely in some of the photos, you might be able to see that the bronze colours in the fabric are actually metallic – so cool!
This fabric is a cotton sateen…I usually pick the double gauze when I purchase Nani IRO fabrics and I haven’t sewn with cotton sateen before. I wasn’t sure how it would go but it is AMAZING! Absolutely perfect for sewing clothing with. It has a heavenly feel and drape – kind of reminds me of that soft, buttery feeling of voile but has a bit more substance to it and isn’t as sheer.
Most Nani IRO fabrics are a double gauze, which I’ve sewn with lots but there are other substrates to choose from as well – such as this cotton sateen, brushed cotton, cotton canvas and even knits! I’ve got a big pile of Nani IRO fabrics in my stash, I will take a pic and share them and my previous Nani IRO projects with you later on in the month.
I know that I will get so much wear out of this Poppy Tunic. The only thing I wish I had added to this one is pockets in the side seams because I keep looking for somewhere to hide my hands! They will be easy enough to add in if I ever get around to it anyway.
Make sure you keep in contact with Miss Matatabi for the rest of this month as she shares more of her friend’s Nani IRO creations (see the list below for participants). And if you make (or have made) anything from Nani IRO – or even if you just want to share a photo of your stash, then hash-tag “ilovenaniiro” to share it with us all on social media! Thanks for having me Frances, love your store and grateful for your friendship and for doing cool things like hosting Nani IRO month!
When I designed my Poppy Tunic pattern I wasn’t intending it for maternity wear. The tunic is quite slim-fitting and I couldn’t imagine it accommodating a big belly. During the week, I was sifting through my Make It Perfect samples and came across some Poppy Tunics I sewed for the cover photo shoot. These tunics are a size bigger than I would usually sew for myself when I’m not pregnant so I thought I’d try them on and see how they fit me now.
Turns out, if you sew a Poppy Tunic a size bigger than you usually wear, the fit is great for maternity-wear! I like to pop them on with a belt, and they have been extremely comfortable and cool to wear this week. The shorter, top length will be great for post-baby too when I want to hid the excess baby fat and find it easier to feed in a loser fitting top.
So if you’re expecting, or plan to have a baby in the near future and are wanting to sew yourself up some comfy clothes to wear, give the Poppy Tunic a try! And keep an eye out here for a brand new “maternity-friendly” pattern coming up in the next few weeks…fun, I’m loving it!
Yup! Two more Poppy Tunics! Not for me this time…these ones have been sent to Kelani Fabric as samples and for Elissa to wear at the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair.
It’s always fun to work with someone else’s fabric choices. The blue tones are just delightful and would be really easy to wear.
I was really excited to cut into this Scandanavian fabric, Spira. The fabric is a little more pricey than usual, but is of superior quality and beautiful to work with.
They were very hard to send away, but I know Elissa will have fun with them! If you want to see these tunics up close and personal, be sure to visit Kelani Fabric at stand G40 at the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair from the 13th-17th June!
