Skip to main content

Teaching and Designing

Wow! This school year starting took me totally by surprise! Some of you might not know I am a school teacher by day and seamstress by night. That is probably why when I started making my own sewing designs I decided to write them out and share them with you. I love to teach and create. But to teach others how to create something new, that is where I find the most enjoyment!

I have recently receive many emails about my plans for new upcoming designs. For instance, “When will you release another bag?”, “Are you going to publish a pattern for the pleated wristlet in a larger size?”, “Will there be another Ladybug design? I am a collector.” or “Are you going to write a sewing book?” All are great questions and I love receiving emails from you, it inspires me to write more! My answer is yes...hopefully all of these will happen in the near future. Bags are my favorite things to sew. If you looked into my closet you would see more bags than shoes, so a new bag design is always in the works. I did make a few large wristlets this summer and I love the larger size and shape. I am planning to make this new large pleated wristlet available soon. As for the ladybug pleat style, I have drawn a Ladybug Garment Bag. It is only in the first stages, so it won’t be available until 2011. Finally, I would love to write a sewing book. I have a collection of projects I have put together for a book. Whenever a project idea comes my way and it does not fit a blog entry or PDF pattern then it goes to the book idea pile.

Let me share with you a little bit of the process or stages I go through to make a Sew Spoiled pattern that you might see in my shop. Maybe it will inspire you to write.

The first part is my favorite, drafting the idea! I keep a journal by my bedside table and most often wake up with images of designs I want to try to create.

Second, I make the bag many times. (many, many, many times) Usually it takes many attempts to make it perfect.

Third, I write the detailed instructions from beginning to end.

Fourth, I make it with beautiful fabrics and take a zillion pictures.

Fifth, I put the instructions and pictures together using many different computer programs.

Last but not least, we proofread, evaluate, dissect each step and put it all back together to make a Sew Spoiled Pattern.

If you have any questions, please feel free to write me at leah.sewspoiled@gmail.com. I enjoy receiving emails and pictures of your Sew Spoiled creations. Also I have created a Flickr photo sharing group called your Sew Spoiled Projects! We currently have 60 members and 29 pictures. My hope is that this will be a place for you to showcase your Sew Spoiled projects. It could be a free Sew Spoiled tutorial or an ePattern from the shop.

Happy Sewing!

6429E12C38E1D1A63D84EB0D937554A4-2010-08-27-07-48.png

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sweet Coin Purse Tutorial for Teacher Gifts

This time of year is so special to me because I get to show my gratitude for all of the hard work that goes into teaching my daughters. I love to make handmade gifts and this year is no exception. Since money does not grow on trees around here, I looked at my stash (I keep my scraps in hat boxes ) and tried to see what I had a lot of; small zippers, trims, Peltex strips ( from making iPad cases ), fabric scraps and some hardware for key fobs. So I set to work.  Materials: Plastic multipurpose 5" Zipper  Fabric Scraps Lightweight interfacing 808 Pellon Trims (We clipped  key fobs  with 1.5" swivel hooks onto our coin purses . There are tons of tutorials on making key fobs .) Step 1: Print out the Coin Purse Template  PDF.  Cut 2 main fabric, cut 2 lining and 2 interfacing using the template.  Optional: Cut a 2"X2" square of your choice main fabric or lining. This strip of fabric is used to clip a key fob to your coin purse later....
81 comments
Read more

Veruca Salt Dress

Every year we perform a musical and one of the highlights for me as a theater mom and seamstress is I get to make costumes! I love sewing and when I can sew for a show or for a music reason it is awesome! This year was Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and I was able to recreate Veruca's red dress. The first step is to find a sewing pattern that I can manipulate to look like what the character needs.  I wanted to make the dress out of Pont de Roma fabric so it moved with the actress. Then I remembered the  Marianne Dress by Christine Haynes , it is perfect because it also had a peter pan collar. The peter pan collar did have some issues. I did not want a t-shirt binding. Also, the back of the collar did not have a collar. I drafted a back collar piece and since the opening was not stretchy, I created a keyhole with a button and loop closure. I lengthened the sleeves and used the cuffs from the pattern for long sleeves. Next, we added the buttons! We al...
4 comments
Read more

Fun in the Sun Mermaid Tutorial

Sewing Materials: 1/4 yard of Lycra or  5T or larger old swimsuit Thread Stretch Needle (helps) Sewing Machine and Sewing Notions Print the PDF patterns pieces out and tape them together. ✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄ ✄✄✄✄ ✄✄ Step 1: Cutting Layout-  Place the templates over the fabric and cut. ✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄ ✄✄✄✄ ✄✄ Step 2:   Fold the top edges of the mermaid tail and sew across. ✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄ ✄✄✄✄ ✄✄ Step 3: Place the mermaid tale pieces right sides together. Sew around the mermaid tail using the stretch stitch, it looks like a bolt of lighting. ✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄ ✄✄✄✄ ✄✄ Step 4: Flip the mermaid tail right side out using a chopstick.   Option: You can add Poly-fil to make the end of the tale puffy.   Set aside. ✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄ ✄✄✄✄ ✄✄ Bodice   Step 1: Cut a bodice measuring  4.5” X1.5” or use template. ✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄ ✄✄✄✄ ✄✄ Step 2: Fold the bodice right sides together and sew the  short ends making a loop. Use the e...
42 comments
Read more