Sew Professional

We have been quite busy bees in the sewing room, and have some exciting pattern launches coming your way during June. Keep an eye on our online store to be the first to see when they are launched.

In the next week we are going to be launching two ladies patterns that are perfect additions to work wear and formal wardrobes.

Firstly our standard pencil skirt sewing pattern, perfectly suited to the professional woman, as well as a woman with that hourglass figure.

Secondly, we will be launching our ladies loose fit shirt sewing pattern.

This week’s patterns in review

The ProfessionalTrio Sewing Pack

 

We have created this pack as an ideal starter sewing pack for the woman who wants to create herself a professional  / formal wardrobe. It includes the following patterns:

Basic ten step tie pattern

I love ties, they are so easy to slip on and take an outfit from casual to formal or work ready. They look good on both men and woman (I personally own just as many ties as necklaces and scarves) and they are always fashionable.

Ladies Simple Waistcoat

This ladies waistcoat is extremely stylish, including front slit pockets, and straps with a buckle at the back for a fitted look. It will bring class and elegance to your professional wardrobe.

High Waist Business Skirt

This formal skirt is a must have for every woman's wardrobe.

Purchasing these patterns separately would cost you $7.97, but this sewing pack is going for $5.99. A HUGE SAVINGS.

And to top it off all those who purchase this pack between 31 May 2016 and 7 June 2016 will receive our Ladies “Boyfriend” shirt AND our Standard Pencil Skirt pattern for FREE as soon as they are launched!

Now that’s a good reason to start sewing yourself a brand new professional wardrobe!

Happy Sewing

Something for the guys

Can you believe that next week is June already! We are almost halfway through the year, how time flies!

June also means Father’s Day, and to celebrate we will be running a discount coupon through our Etsy store. When making any purchases use the discount coupon DAD001 to get $1 off any order over $5

Our June theme for our 2016 sewing challenge is “Something for the Guys”... so use any of our men’s patterns for your entry! Click here for more info on how to win the acer computer

This week’s patterns in review

Men’s Shirts

To celebrate father’s day and all the men in our lives we have recently launched not one but two men’s shirt patterns, our standard men’s shirt....

 

A young man modelling our standard men’s shirt

As well as a men’s fitted shirt sewing pattern

 

Our men’s fitted shirt with white cuffs and collar

You can purchase each shirt separately or save by purchasing the pack of both shirts together.

All those who have take advantage of our special offer to purchase the men’s simple waistcoat, would have received their men’s fitted shirt pattern already via email... so check your inbox now!

The Man Pack

 

We have also put together a pack of sewing patterns for menswear, it contains out standard shirt, our men’s simple waistcoat as well as our Easy ten step tie pattern. If bought separately these patterns would come up to $7.97 but as a pack you will be paying only $5.99 for all three patterns, a HUGE savings!.

 

Shirt, tie and waistcoat patterns all included in the pack

Have a wonderful week ahead and enjoy your last few days of May 2016!

Happy Sewing!

Competitions galore

We have so many things going on for our sewing fans right now, we really hope that you are taking advantage of all our competitions and FREE stuff that we are giving away! Click on the images below to find out more on each competition.

Our Sewing Machine Raffle

We are running this raffle through our Etsy store in order to raise funds for our charity, CO-SANC... for only $1 you can help us to raise funds for this worthwhile cause.

 

Mother’s Day Discount

A Mother's Day Gift from us to you during the month of May. Spend $5 or more in our Etsy sewing pattern store and use the coupon code MOM001FB to get a 10% discount. Valid until 31 May 2016

 

A free shirt pattern

This week we are launching two men’s shirt patterns.

We decided that everyone who purchased the men’s simple waistcoat sewing pattern in the last week of April would receive a free copy of out men’s fitted shirt sewing pattern being launched this week... GOOD NEWS! We decided to extend this special until the end of May 2016! So everyone who buys our men’s Simple Waistcoat Sewing pattern from 25 April to 31 May will receive a FREE copy of our men’s fitted shirt sewing pattern too!

 

Our 2016 Sewing Challenge

Join our sewing challenge that we are running throughout 2016 and stand a chance to win an Acer laptop!

Share your creations with us on twitter... click here for more information on the competition and rules.

Here are the themes we have already been running during 2016:

January: Ties – sew any of our tie patterns

February: Dresses – sew any of our dress patterns

March: On Top – sew and share any of our tops, jackets, waistcoat... pretty much anything you would wear “above the belt”

April: Black and white – sew anything you wish from our patterns in this colour combination

May: For The Ladies – make anything from our sewing patterns for women, and remember to share it with us on twitter @MySewingPattern

HAPPY SEWING

Some latest sewing news

What an exciting week. We have so many patterns in their final stages, and we’ve launched a few new ones. Most importantly though, this week we launched our biggest competition!

Join our monthly sewing challenge and you could stand a chance to win an Acer Chromebook (click on the featured post to the right of the page to view all the finer details).

For our January sewing challenge the theme is “TIES”. I look forward to seeing all your entries on twitter (Remember to follow us at @Booleheart)

 

This week’s patterns in review

Our high waist skirts

There are a few items that every woman should have in her closet that are not only stylish, but timeless too. The pencil skirt is second only to the little black dress on this list.

 

Our knee length under dress makes the perfect LBD

Since we launched an ideal little black dress pattern last year, we thought that naturally the next best thing to do is launch out High Waist Business Skirt. It really compliments any business wardrobe with it’s strong, professional lines.

 

Me doing a selfie in the new skirt

This skirt is incredibly simple (only 2 pattern pieces) and very quick and easy to make. You can make a few of these skirts in different fabric options.

We decided to even create a shorter version. The Short High Waist Skirt really makes an ideal summer and party skirt. Make one in a fun print to suit your personality, or in simple black for a more elegant look.

 

Selfie time in the shorter skirt

Have fun with these skirts, they can even add a pin-up style to your current wardrobe, they are so straightforward and look like they are professionally made and not home made.

Happy sewing!

JOIN OUR SEWING CHALLENGE AND WIN

Do you want to get more sewing done in 2016? Whether to practice and hone your skills, or to simply create a fun and affordable wardrobe for you, your friends and family? Then join our sewing challenge for 2016.

By joining our challenge you also stand the chance to win an Acer Chromebook. 

How do you join?

Every month we will be posting a sewing theme, for example for January the sewing theme is ties. Create a sewing project, in theme, take a picture and share it with us on twitter using the hashtag #MySewingPatterns

An example of how your tweet must look

There are a few rules of course:

1. The projects posted on twitter must be from the Boo Lè Heart / My Sewing Patterns range of sewing patterns (CLICK HERE or click on the button to the right of the page to visit our online store).
2. A new pattern theme will be tweeted every month, so remember to follow us on twitter @MySewingPattern
3. Entrants can make any of the 12 themes supplied at ANY time during 2016, as long as you mention which month it is for. For example, you can still make your January tie in March 2016 or sew all 12 themes in the 12 days of Christmas, the choice is yours.
4. You don't have to make a specific pattern, as long as it's in theme. For Example if the theme is "make a dress", you can make a dress from ANY of our available dress patterns.
5. For an entry into the draw to win the computer, entrants must create at least 6 of the sewing challenges.
6. Entrants who create all 12 challenges will receive 2 entries into the draw.
7. The last sewing challenge must be shared with us on twitter no later than 30 December 2016. The draw for the winner, and announcing the winner on twitter will happen on 31 December 2016.

Feel free to add your own sense of flare and style to the patterns!

Here are the themes we have already been running during 2016:

January: Ties – sew any of our tie patterns

February: Dresses – sew any of our dress patterns

March: On Top – sew and share any of our tops, jackets, waistcoat... pretty much anything you would wear “above the belt”

April: Black and white – sew anything you wish from our patterns in this color combination

May: For The Ladies – make anything from our sewing patterns for women

June: Something for the Guys - use any of our men’s patterns for your entry
July: Anything Vintage, Pin-Up or Rockabilly style - bring those classic styles back to life
August: For the Home - Make something that makes your house feel like a home

Good luck and Happy Sewing!

Demystifying our digital patterns

Our patterns come in a very easy, printable format. They are downloaded as pdf, and can be printed on any home based printer, on standard A4 paper.

I even did the maths, and most of the time it works out cheaper to purchase and print patterns in this way, than the traditional way of going out to purchase a physical pattern.

For today’s blog post I just want to go through the basics of how to use our patterns so that you can see that they are so user friendly, anyone can use them.

What you will need:

• A printer to print out on
• Plain, normal A4 sheets of paper
• Sellotape
• Paper cutting scissors
• Additional: I like to put my patterns in an A4 PVC envelope when I’m not using them, just to keep them safe.

 

How do you do it?

1. Print your pattern on your standard, every day printer.
2. You will see that each A4 page has a grid border, these grids are marked on the sides to help you to match up the pages.
3. Each page shows a column and reference number to help you to line them up in the correct order.
4. Once you have assembled your pages (like a really big and super easy puzzle), you tape all the pages together. You will now clearly be able to see your pattern on the pages in front of you.
5. Cut out the size you choose, and just like that your pattern is ready to use.

 

You also still have digital copy on your computer, so if you need a different size our your pattern gets damaged, no problem, you can easily print a new one.

Remember to check our previous blog posts for the competition we are currently running.

Happy sewing!

Holding my horses

What a busy start to the new year! I am already in the process of creating a whole lot of new patterns being launched over the next month and am really excited to be sharing them with you soon.

I often find I am so impatient and just want to start sharing everything with you straight away, but alas I have to hold myself back, as hard as that may be. Creating samples and testing the patterns is time consuming, but necessary, to at the very least make sure my patterns work before I launch them.

With my bridal range though, as this process can take longer than expected, I do like to post the patterns available for pre-order sales. Keep your eyes open for these as the pre-order sale prices are much lower than the final pattern prices, so you really get a huge bargain by taking advantage of these... and I usually throw in a free gift pattern too.

This week’s patterns in review

Our Sunglasses pouch

I must admit, the popularity this pattern gained absolutely blew my mind. It become a much bigger seller than I thought, but let’s face it, who doesn’t own sunglasses (or even normal glasses at that), and these are items that we do want to keep safe and in good shape for seasons to come.

 

And for beginning sewing fans, this really is an ideal starter pattern to give a try and hone those skills in creating fashionable homemade accessories.

Available for pre-order

Our next bridal pattern is in the process of being created to be launched in February 2016.The Taryn dress is a simple yet elegant strapless dress. It is a timeless design that is ideally suited for the woman who has an effortless and confident sense of style.

 

It will go on sale for the price of $9.99, but for now is available for pre-order for only $5.99.

As a bonus gift, whoever takes advantage of the pre-order special will receive a FREE pattern and instructions for our long thin tie. This is the perfect accessory for a date who would like to wear a little something to compliment the woman wearing our Taryn dress. It can be made in matching fabric or colours to the dress itself.

 

Remember to check our previous blog posts for the competition we are currently running.

Happy sewing!

Tacking or basting stitch

A loose, looped stitch used for tacking purposes, or as I call it, loose tacking. This is a simple, large hand stitch that is used in sewing, usually to hold something in place temporarily or to show pattern markings. It is also known as basting.

I am as guilty as the next seamstress, yes I have tried to use pins instead of tacking stitches before... usually it ends up with blood being drawn and machine sewing needles being broken... I might have even cried with frustration once or twice, but I can say I have learnt my lesson... and hopefully those reading this can learn from my mistakes too.

It can seem like a waste of time, and sometimes you might feel that it is better to use pins instead, this stitch helps not hinders. The short amount of time you would take to tack or baste something together, will help you save time and stress from fighting with your fabric while trying to feed it through your sewing machine, or fighting pins (and shedding blood) while trying to sew or even hoping that pressing will be enough to keep a seam in place so that it holds its shape and size (it often does not).

This is a temporary stitch and is meant to be removed once the garment has been completed, or the seam has been sewn into place.

It is usually a long straight stitch, but a loose X stitch can be used at times too.

This stitch can also be used to temporarily attach parts of the garment together to allow for fittings, that way when changes need to be made to individual parts of a garment, the stitches can be easily unpicked to allow for this to happen. This stitching function can also be done by machine, where you can sew using your largest, loosest stitch function.

You would also use tacking when it comes to creating gathers in a garment, quickly sewing a loose stitch and then pulling the thread through until the garment is the desired length with the right amount of gathering.

This is such a simple stitch, but I do feel it is important enough for me to mention it in a blog post as not only can it save you time and effort but it can and will help you to produce a better quality garment.

I have created a short you tube video for you to look at to see how to create a tacking stitch from scratch (click on the YouTube button to the right of the page), I hope it helps.

Happy Sewing!

Easy ten step tie

I love ties, they are so easy to slip on, with a well fitted shirt, and take an outfit from casual to formal or work ready. They look good on both men and woman (I personally own as many ties as necklaces and scarves) and they are always fashionable.

Sew this very easy tie pattern in just ten easy to follow steps.

Click Here or on the button the right of the blog to purchase and download this easy to follow pattern