Marfy Wishlist … :-D

Okay then!  Let’s see if this post works.  I’m pulling photos from Instagram and Pinterest and I will be interested to hear if the images are showing up for everyone.  PLEASE, if you aren’t seeing them, let me know (and let me know what browser you are viewing this in.)  Thanks so much!

So Marfy just released a few more patterns from their 2014 catalog.  It reminded me of the patterns on my wish list.  😦  I may break down soon and place an order.  Just saying…

Want to see some of my favorites???   😀   I knew you did!

Here goes ….

I love the simplicity of this next blouse.  Even busty, I think I may be able to get away with this style.  I may have to give it a try anyway.  Part of me says I can take a blouse that fits and create my own flounce.  Part of me says use the pattern that has been tried and tested.

http://instagram.com/p/k7DKDGM4qL/#

Don’t you adore the next suit?  Maybe it’s just me.  And Marfy is really choosing colors and fabric patterns that just call my name this season.  Have you ever noticed the difference it makes when a pattern is shown in a fabric or color that speaks to you.  I have totally discounted good patterns until I’ve seen it made up  differently.  The power of the psyche!

http://instagram.com/p/k7C9sPM4p3/#

The sleek lines in this jacket are awesome.  I’m constantly reminding myself that fitting a (way too) curvy figure causes disruptions in those nice lines.  Doesn’t stop me from wishing.

http://instagram.com/p/k7DGWlM4qE/#

This has been on my wish list a while.  It just looks like a comfy, knock-around jacket, doesn’t it?

http://instagram.com/p/k7DCF0M4p8/#

I Have Got To Have this next coat pattern.  I may need the plaid fabric as well.  Love, Love, Love it!

http://instagram.com/p/k7DOfSM4qQ/#

I’m looking for a pattern that is something like these two:

They appear to me to have kimono sleeves and an a-line silhouette.  (And the color of that teal(?) wool is absolutely awesome.  I’d love to find boiled wool in that particular shade.)  These next two Marfy may be candidates.  Modifications to the sleeve and/or collar may be needed.  What do you think?

http://instagram.com/p/k7DSqXM4qX/#

http://instagram.com/p/k7DZhjM4qn/#

I stop every time I look at this next coat and I have finally figured out it’s the fabric.  The fabric pattern and colors are fantastic.  I’m drawn to that blue and that oyster(?) color.  I definitely need to keep an eye out for something along those lines.

http://instagram.com/p/k7DWcnM4qg/#

And just because….I want to try a pair of Marfy slacks.  Really like the lines of this next pair.

Honestly, I have a few more on my list, but I think that’s enough for today!  Meanwhile, I may need to finish the projects on my table instead of dreaming up new projects.  What do you think??

Question:  How do you control the number of projects you have going at any given time??  I need to find a better solution.

Hope you’re sewing something awesome and having a blast,

Ramona

Miss Bossy Patterns, courtesy of The Monthly Stitch

I started following The Monthly Stitch at the end of 2013, and have enjoyed watching what others are sewing.  Members vote on the theme for the month and everyone sews and posts within that theme.  For March, it was decided to spice it up a bit.  We get to submit a choice of three patterns in our stash that we have not used and the other members will vote on what we get to sew!  May be intimidating.

I’m playing it safe.  There are so many things I want to sew that I will win regardless.  I had a hard time narrowing this down to three patterns.  Let’s see if I can do that.

The first pattern takes the most planning.  I have really been wanting to add a ‘shirt’ jacket to my wardrobe.  Something simple that I could put on over dress T’s or turtlenecks.  In Louisiana’s hotter months, it allows a cooler option that is still professional.  Recently I found this light weight, worsted wool plaid and fell in love with it.  One part of me wants to use this plaid for this shirt jacket and another part of me wants to use it on a skirt with pleats.  Your vote may help me with that decision.

This plaid is large and uneven.  The simplicity of this pattern, the lack of a center band and the minimum darts should help when matching plaids.   You can see below two possible pattern placements for the front piece.  Note that the right and left sides will not echo each other because of the uneven plaid, but I believe the general color columns should be the same.

I’m large busted and I’m attempting to keep the emphasis off the bust area.  Let me know what you think.  (Photos appear washed out because I used Illustrator to do an overlay of the pattern and fabric.)

And two other options are a couple I’ve had in my stash and have wanted to sew for a little while now.  One is the Scout tee by Grainline Studio.  I’d really like to make this with a mock  turtleneck or cowl neck and thee quarter length sleeves.  The other is Cynthia Rowley’s Simplicity 1783.  I really like the pleated, blousie look of this top.  Yet the pleats at the waist and hip brings it back to a fitted look.

The fabrics shown are a sage green polyester(??), toast colored polyester, and ice blue silk charmeuse.  The green is much prettier and a vivid shade of sage green.  (Can anyone tell me why greens photograph so badly!!??  So Frustrating!)  It has a silky, almost charmeuse, texture and fall.  The toast colored polyester leans towards a caramel color and has a very nice fall and texture.  And of course silk charmeuse speaks for itself!  It has a nice weight and not tissue thin.  All of these fabrics have a nice weight and ‘movement’ appropriate for these patterns.

Well, I had this post ready and was so proud that I kept the patterns to three.  But as I was proofing it, I remembered I had this one in the lineup as well.  Hmmm.  I got close, does that count?

There’s this blouse by Marfy.  Marfy recently released a jacket, skirt and blouse pattern as free pdf’s.  To get them, you go to there site, click on ‘My Account’, and either create an account or sign in.  At that point, you can click on ‘Patterns’ and there will be a ‘Free Sewing Patterns” option.  Fantastic way to try these patterns.  There are no instructions and no seam allowance, so they can be intimidating depending on your sewing experience.  I find them intuitive and have had fun with them.

I recently picked up this piece of rayon on a remnant table.  It just shouts ‘Spring’ to me.  It is Rayon and the feel and movement of a nice weight chiffon.  There is only a yard (55″ wide) and options are limited, but it’s perfect for this blouse.

So, there you go.  You’re turn.  Boss me around, why don’t you!  😉

Feel free to leave comments with fabric selections.  Thanks for visiting and have fun sewing!

Ramona

Marfy Sew Along

While there hasn’t been a lot of sewing going on, I’ve still been pretty busy.  The Gammill Charm I won in December was delivered and installed yesterday, so I was able to play a bit.  I also got back on my French Jacket!  (About time!)  I’ve missed talking to my bloggin’ friends and really need to get back here.  But in the meantime, I just read a blog post and had to share it with you.

A month or so ago, I blogged about the free patterns Marfy had offered.  For all of you who took advantage and are now wondering how to sew with these patterns, Leisa, at a Challenging Sew, has the answer.  She has started a sew along specifically for these patterns.

She begins with the blouse and already has three versions made and shown on her blog.  Seriously, go check it out.

 

Have fun!

Ramona

Marfy 2014/2015 Catalog

I would like to begin this post with a disclaimer … I’m not affiliated with Marfy in any way and receive no compensation for promoting them.  I’m just a little fascinated with their style and want to pass news to those of you who, like me, don’t have ready access to their patterns.

So, having said that, I received this in my inbox yesterday.  I’ve mentioned in the past that while Marfy catalogs are dear, they include free patterns which often make it well worth the cost.  Not to mention the fun of having these style books at hand to browse and be inspired.  I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve pulled out my Marfy catalogs looking for inspiration on a style change I wanted to make.

Did you notice this catalog has TWENTY free patterns.  That’s many more than I’ve seen in the past.  Honestly, they are not all patterns I would use, but I think the patterns I do like make up the difference.  Here are a few of my favorites.  The center blouse is simple, classic and elegant.  I can see getting good use of that one for work.  And the dress at the far right is precious.   (The photo here is pretty small.  If you want a closer look, click the photo to go to Marfy’s site.)

And the shipping cost is fabulous!  That’s half of what I normally pay to the ‘States.  I’m browsing the patterns to see what was on my wish list so I can combine a catalogue and pattern order.  The last time I did that, the patterns did not increase shipping costs.  Crossing my fingers that holds true this time.

You know, at some point, I really need to start cutting into these patterns and stop adding to my ‘library’.  I know none of you do that, right?   There is a New Year’s resolution list building in the back of my mind.  That may have to be part of that list in some way!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!  I hope this season finds you and yours richly blessed.

Ramona

Craftsy.com and The Iconic Tweed Jacket

In my recent post, I shared that Craftsy.com was running an awesome sale on their classes.  If you read it, you know I had quite a few classes in my cart and was trying to decide if I should cut it down a bit.  However, it was too hard to choose, so I didn’t cut any classes from my cart.  Shocker, I know.

This weekend, I watched The Iconic Tweed Jacket with Lorna Knight.  There seems to be so much going on with this style jacket right now.  I’m participating (and way behind!) in the French Jacket SAL hosted by Inna at The Wallinna and Leisa of A Challenging Sew.  I also recently picked up Claire Shaeffer’s book Couture Sewing: The Couture Cardigan.  So when this class came out, I was VERY tempted.  At the same time I wondered how much of the information would be a repeat of what I already have available.  In the end, I took the chance and added this one to my Craftsy cart during their fabulous sale.

While some of the material does repeat, a lot of it is still fresh.  Lorna approaches this jacket a little differently in places.  I found myself mentally comparing the different techniques and choosing which I thought would be my favorite method.  To begin, she constructs her jacket using the seam allowance and not by marking the seams as I’ve been shown previously.  I love her method of stabilizing the front center, neck and sleeve hem.

Most of all, I enjoyed her teaching style.  (Of course I’m a sucker for the accent…I thought it might be Irish, but she appears to be British??)  She is very methodical and seems to anticipate the questions you are thinking in your head.  The pace was wonderful, neither too slow or too fast.  Lorna offers great tips along with her reasoning for the methods she chooses.  I will definitely be referring back to this class.

If we’re lucky, Craftsy will have plans to bring Lorna back for other classes!

Another review you might find interesting is Red Point Tailor’s:  The French Jacket courses review – part 1

I also watched most of Angela Wolfe’s, Sewing Designer Jeans, and I finally finished Sandra Betzina’s Pants Fitting class, but those reviews are for another day.

And by the way, did you see A Challenging Sew’s post yesterday?  Leisa is planning a sew along (SAL) beginning in January using the free patterns Marfy has made available.  For all you newbies to Marfy, and to current fans, this should be a fun SAL.  (See previous post for more info on these patterns.)

That’s it for now.  Happy Holidays!

PDF Sewing Patterns

Marfy just offered a few free patterns that I immediately took advantage of.   If you’re interested in giving them a try, take a look at my previous post for more details.

Just a warning for others like me printing on 8.5 x 11″ paper, these patterns are drafted for A4 paper which is a bit longer.  I printed the skirt on 8.5 x 11″ and made it work but it was a bit short.  At the bottom of some pages slips of paper were inserted to make up what was missing.

For the jacket I switched to 8.5 x 14″ paper and it worked much better.  One tricked I learned in the past was to trim the bottom and right sides of each pattern piece.  It makes matching pages much easier.

Marfy seems tricky since there are no instructions included, but if you’ve sewn garments before, then a lot is intuitive.  Marfy marks their match points with letters, matching ‘A’ to ‘A’, etc., and putting the pieces together make sense.

 

Another pattern I worked on is the Brazilia Dress by Rachel at House of Pinheiro.  This is  a new pattern  and I was lucky enough to be one of her testers.  The pattern is beautifully drafted and, other than that tricky deep ‘V’ at the side, went together well.  It’s all put together and waiting on my daughters to get back in town for a fitting.

What I should have been doing is cleaning house and working on that Little French Jacket.  Maybe tomorrow after church.

How about you?  Have you been working on anything fun?

Lagniappe, courtesy of Marfy

Here in Louisiana, Lagniappe is that little something extra.  That’s exactly what I found in my email inbox yesterday!

Marfy is offering three free pdf patterns to their newsletter subscribers.   What a fantastic way to try their patterns.

Being in the United States, shipping costs can be a bit dear when ordering.  If that has stopped you from ordering a Marfy pattern in the past, this is a great opportunity.

Marfy patterns are cut without seam allowance.  Although I learned to sew using the seam allowance as most US patterns are drafted, I recently moved towards marking the seam instead and have found it really works well.  It is becoming my favorite way of marking fabric to sew.  I love that I can leave extra fabric in the seam allowance in those problem areas.  If an adjustment is needed, I know I have that extra fabric there to play with.

Also, another note on shipping costs.  I recently ordered a catalog and three patterns from Marfy.  The shipping cost on the catalog is just as expensive as the catalog itself.  By combining the catalog and patterns, you can save on the shipping cost of the patterns.  And the catalog always includes free patterns which is pretty awesome.

So jump over to Marfy and sign up for the newsletter.  You can then take advantage of these great patterns and fall in love with Marfy yourself.

Just curious … which is your favorite pattern maker?  and why?  I have always been a Vogue girl myself, but I am falling pretty hard for Marfy.