Mandy Sews

Happy Lunar New Year to those who celebrate it! I love this time of year. Its a celebratory time filled with dancing lions, amazing asian sweets and treats, dinners with loved ones and beautifully decorated streets and restaurants. As my daughter is half Chinese,  I decided to sew her her first Cheongsam / Qi Pao dress. I couldn't for the life of me find a Cheongsam in a size small enough for her (6 month old) and the smallest pattern i could fine (free or paid) was to fit a 5 year old! I ended up deciding to just create my own pattern by hacking the Tadah Tea Party dress. The hacks are as follows: Added two slits down the side of the dress Turned the dress from a gathered skirt to a straight skirt. combined the dress skirt with the bodice to form one single piece for the front and another for the back Added a collar and decorative front. Added 4 press studs down the side in place of zips. This was a challenging sew as it was my first time working with brocade. This fa...

Oh my gosh you guys! I've found the most amazing way to organise all my sewing projects. If you know me, you'll know I'm huge into organisation. So much so, that I have to bookmark, label and document all the things I plan to do, have done, want to do (but probably won't) etc etc. Thanks to Sophie over at Sophie Bach's Blog  for blogging about this amazing app. You can use it both on your laptop and phone - so no excuses to not be organised this year! I have organised my pattern wish list into pants, dresses, tops, lounge wear and skirts. I also have my pattern wish list on patternreview.com, but i needed something a little more customisable, and this was it! I plan to do a board for my completed projects and maybe even a board for my cross stitch projects. Im afraid organising will probably take more time than actually sewing! haha.

Happy New Year! (I'm only a whole month late to the party) With a new year, comes a new years resolution. I figured it was about time I started to really ramp up my sewing and get back into the swing of it. So my aim for this year (lets not call it a resolution just yet) is to create one garment per month. Why do i set myself impossible goals?! I don't have a lot of time on my hands with a 5 month old, BUT I am determined to stick with it and learn as much as I can on the way. I bet you were expecting a resolution like, 'no more junk food'. Haha as if! I have recently signed up to sewing.patternreview.com, which, if you don't already know about this site, has soooo many pattern reviews, machine reviews, everything reviews! It also allows you to follow other sewists that inspire you and or have the same fashion tastes, and allows you to create wish lists of patterns you desire.  This is where I will be tracking the patterns I intend to make, and even the...