Sew Chic Patterns

Today I am thrilled to introduce you to Laura Nash of Sew Chic Patterns. She is an Indie designer who brings a depth of knowledge and experience to her designs that is very impressive and it shows in her patterns.

I first discovered Laura's skills when I saw a review on Pattern Review for her Fifth Avenue dress design.  Do Laura's patterns have a vintage vibe? Yes, most definitely. But they are not the nod to simplistic fifties fashions that so many indies have over saturated the market with. Laura's vision is one of femininity with a big dose of elegance, the type of garment you could wear to a wedding or evening out and turn heads. Even with the backwards influence of fashion  her looks feel fresh and original. Just look at her pattern called "Phantom". This design can be a swing coat, a top, or something as elegant as what you see below.

This bit of sheer froth can be even more appreciated in the line drawings where you will see the shape and detail built in as well as how easily it could be interpreted into much different looking garments.

With that bit of tease I would like to share with you an interview with Laura that she was so gracious to accommodate. 

When you were sewing in your younger years did you have one particular project or garment  that you were particularly proud of?  Or that was particularly difficult to complete?

As a teenager, I think my sewing was fairly inventive. I also enjoyed coming up with costumes for school plays, performances, and Halloween. Of course I didn't know how to make a pattern from scratch like I do now, but I would use a fashion pattern as a base and create something completely different from it.  I don’t recall it as a challenge, but my best project from that era would be the wedding dress I made for my mother.  She had a dress in mind when shopping the pattern books, but couldn't find anything exact. She ended up buying a Vogue pattern as a base, which was really quite extravagant for her budget. I changed quite a few things adding in a yoke with mandarin collar and full sleeves with cuffs accented with rows of tucks, ribbons, lace, and buttons, and sleeve and skirt overlay of white striped chiffon.  My sister was married in the same dress.

What fabric has given you the most difficulty?

I really dislike brocade. It’s beautiful, but I just can abide the constant unraveling!   People complain about chiffon, but I don’t mind it at all.  I find that careful preparation of the fabric with attention to the grain when time to cut makes everything else go smoothly.

Your business is quite comprehensive and must be quite time consuming as well. Any hints for getting it all done? Do you find much time to sew now?

Oh Yes! I have found out for myself that running a company is more than full time work! And at least for a perfectionist, getting it all done just doesn’t happen, but at some point there is “acceptable.”  Being organized is critical to being efficient no matter what the job.  I wear a variety of hats, of course, and I can’t be without sewing completely but I don’t get to sew as much as I’d like. However there is a bright side to the situation; I see from my helpers what their difficulties are, which makes it easier to anticipate and look for solutions in assembly and techniques for best end results for people of all skill levels.

Your garments have a vintage vibe but in an elegant way. I love the tailored extras that you are unafraid to incorporate. Who or what inspires your designs?

What a nice compliment! For me, vintage means elegant, though you won’t find that in the dictionary! It’s kindness, poise, restraint, modesty, classic, gentle, beauty.  I hope my designs speak well to that definition. I try to create styles that are wearable in the marketplace as well as the workplace for the 20 and 60 year old alike.  Simple silhouettes definitely have their place, but I hope that adding special and even unusual details, it brings them to a new level of excitement. All of my designs are directly inspired by the first half of the 20th century.  Though I have bookshelves full inspiration by way of scrapbooks, notebooks and books about designers, old sewing manuals, and anything associated, I rarely need to look at any of it. It’s in my veins now!

Everyone loves a peek into the sewing space of other sewists. Care to tell us what your space is like? Do you work better with a bit of clutter around or must you have everything in its place to be creative?

In my main work area, I do have a certain amount of clutter because I like things to be near me and stored near first use. Some things never get put “away”, but I cannot operate in chaos, so I must stay with a certain level of of organization. All works in progress, along with the project materials, are kept in Rubbermaid plastic bins with lids, of which I have two sizes.  I keep all of my everyday sewing tools lumped together in a large plastic school box case, and have a tall portable stacking bin for things that may need to move with me, but things I need less often such as sewing feet, bendable rulers, electric shears, push pins and such. My cutting table is always layered with two cardboard cutting boards (Dritz Superboard) and elbow lamps and ironing board nearby.  To tidy up, I have a computer armoire that I have converted into sewing storage. I stow my sewing machine in the compartment where the computer tower would normally go, and notions and tools are contained on the pull out drawer where the keyboard would usually sit. Project bins stack below and the upper area is tall enough for narrow bolts of fabric I am working with.  I have three other rooms that get used for printing, packaging and storing supplies, materials, and equipment to vendor, teach, and produce product.

Can you give us any hints about upcoming patterns? What is your favorite to design?

I admit a weakness for dresses.  Pants and tee shirts are a necessary part of our modern life, but I don’t find them interesting to make or to wear.  I have several projects in the works, but the one I can tell you about is a redesign of the Pendleton pattern.  As one of the first to be published, it’s been on the market for quite a while, and rather than retire it, I decided to give it a refresh. I’ve finished the first sample and it will have a view B option as well. The dress has a much younger look to it and a whole new personality that I’m really excited about. The only thing left to decide is whether I should also give it a new name too!

Thank you so much, Laura, for taking the time for this interview. It is my pleasure to introduce you and your work to my readers. With that in mind, here are a few of Laura's designs, some for day, some more for evening, and others that can be interpreted either way. 

 The Tia Dress 

The Fifth Avenue

The  Pendleton

These are just a few designs from Sew Chic Patterns. Others include hats, luscious lingerie and more. Laura is truly a gifted designer. Her experience and skills are obvious. I look forward to making one of her designs in the near future. Get to know her work through these links and I trust you may feel the same. 

Butterick 4409 Completed!

The Retro bag is complete and really was quite simple to pull off. I like that it puts me in a more summer type of mood. I say that as I look out the window at all the snow and ice we still have up here. As far as the pattern, Butterick 4409, a little "beware" is in order. I did View F, the one with the fabric straps and outside pockets. At first site it looks just like View E, which has a different handle and contrast gusset. As I raced thru the tissue pieces I mixed my Es and Fs. Its easy to do as they look exactly alike. I know, you are saying I should have read the tissue more closely but I did (yeah, right). So then there was more gusset to fit into the sides than would fit. I had extra, about a half inch extra. I immediately blamed it on poor Big Four drafting and proceeded. When my lining, which had separate pieces, went together perfectly, I took a closer look at all the tissues. The E is not the same size as the F and it was all my own rushing around fault. Will I ever learn? It was an easy fix and you can't even tell now that the bag is completed. For the interfacing I used Decor Bond. It worked out OK, but just OK. Next bag from 4409 I will use a fusible fleece. I think this small bag really needs the heft that the fleece will give it.

I will say I don't like the way the outer pockets are drafted and that is not my fault. There is barely room to cover the outer pocket with the flaps and get them to lay nicely so I added a flange to the flaps and this worked much better. I sewed the flange on so that all the edges were enclosed and thought it came out nicely.

The lining is a tomato red washed silk and I love it. It did have a mind of its own and at times I thought I would go crazy but it ended up fine. It is totally fused to Armo Weft, something I do to all my bag linings. I just like a heftier lining. I did not do the inner pocket as per the pattern, choosing instead to use the technique of cutting the pocket on the fold and then sewing RS together and turning. I think this gives a much neater and prettier finish than clean finishing the edges. This is often seen in Vogue bag patterns.

For the straps I zigzagged the ends and then wrapped them around the rings. I sewed over the zigzag with a 1.0 stitch back and forth. Then I changed to a zigzag again and did that back and forth to cover any exposed edges. I thought it was a neat clean finish.

I did my feet first poking thru the holes with a dental pik-er that DDDentist gave me. Those make the greatest sewing tools, by the way! After the hole was poked I pushed thru a large brad, opened it inside and covered the legs with a blop of glue gun glue. I didn't want those legs wearing a hole thru the cloth.

Next came the rigidity! Bag patterns seem to all specify plastic canvas for the bottoms. I find this is still too flexible, even when doubled. I like to use foam core board. It's waterproof and more rigid. I use blue painter tape in the area where I will be cutting. This gives me a really clean cut. I hate those little foamy things muking up my cutting! The piece of foam core goes in and is also glued down with the glue gun.

This is a great little bag and I am already lined up to do my next one in a large oriental print. I may start that one tonite. I am thinking bags for Mother's Day gifts for DDs.

Paula asks if I find the fusible fleece slouchy. It definitely can be, particularly in wool bags. In those I found it necessary to then fuse a layer of Decor Bond on top of the FF. Let me tell ya', it can be awkward getting it thru the machine but its doable. I cut away all seam allowances from the fusibles before fusing. That eliminates a lot of the bulk when sewing.

Update on the silk smocked blouse: I am almost completed smocking. I need to put some sort of trim where the smocking meets the bodice. My intent was to insert piping there all along but somehow, in my haste, I totally just forgot to do it. So I am having fun playing with some different trims to put in that area and probably elsewhere. I'm thinking raw edge..... Tata', Bunny