New Pattern: Sunday Picnic Blouse or Dress by Sew Liberated

New from Sew Liberated, the Sunday Picnic Blouse and Dress. I can't wait to try this one myself! It has a flattering faux-wrap design and is the perfect next step for those who have already made a Schoolhouse Tunic (which is, by the way, back in stock)

Find the pattern here.

Shipping Now: Monaco by Monaluna

Shipping resumes tomorrow, and Monaco by Monaluna is now in stock!

PS - the new Ottobre magazines are now in stock and shipping!

Pattern Review: Linnea Knit Top from Ottobre Design Woman Spring 2010

Earlier, I attempted to make myself a new summer top based loosely on a popular tutorial and adding my own ideas to the mix. I failed. I actually gave up at the point where I knew I could spend hours and hours more to end up with something I would never wear. Fresh off that failure, I started a top that I knew would be easy.

This is the Linnea knit top (#1) from Ottobre Design Woman Spring/Summer 2010. The magazine makes the top with a linen knit and it's a much more formal top. But by looking at the construction, I realized any knit would work if you're going with a more casual look. I used an organic cotton coral knit jersey.

This top really, very seriously, went together in one night. There are two pieces to sew together. Hem the armholes, neckline and bottom. You're done. The pattern calls for elastic tape around the armholes, but I didn't have any therefore skipped that step. The elastic will prevent the armholes from stretching, important for a more formal look to the shirt. I think I can get away with slightly stretchy armholes on mine.

I love patterns that look easy and are easy. Sometimes you just need a win :)

On a related note, we are now stocking Swedish Tracing Paper in the shop. Perfect for tracing your Ottobre patterns!

Help Me Decide: Organic Cotton Knit Fabrics

Many of you expressed interest in organic cotton knit fabrics in the little survey I conducted a few weeks ago. I used to stock a variety of solid color organic cotton knits, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in them (what I have left is currently on clearance). It seems that prints are what you're looking for in knits. I'm having a very hard time sourcing cute, organic cotton knit fabrics. I did find the striped fabrics below, which I think are quite cute. They are high quality, European-made, organic cotton knits - mostly jerseys or fine-rib jersey. They do carry a higher price-tag as well, they retail for around $25/yard (60 inch width).

So what do you think? Do you like the designs? I know the price is steep, but you don't need that much fabric for clothing for babies and young children... Opinions please :)

These come in both wide stripes and thin stripes, as demonstrated by the grey/black:

These come only in the stipe width as seen below:

Help Me Decide: Herbal-Dyed Fabric

Many of you expressed interest in herbal-dyed fabrics in the little survey I sent out a few weeks ago. You also seem to love bright colors. Well, herbal-dyed fabrics have a very limited color palette and bright is not in the vocabulary. Also, color-fastness is not great with the darker colors (but excellent with medium and lighter colors). Knowing that, would you still purchase herbal-dyed fabrics?

So, help me decide! Here are some options I'm considering stocking in the shop. Please note that I do not have to order them according to the sets I've made up here. The first set are shirting weight, handloom and fairtrade. The other sets are poplin, similar to quilting weight. All are 100% certified organic (certified organic fabrics do have provisions for fairtrade as well).

Note: The colors are solid with no washed out parts. The quality of my photo swatches is poor. The colors are correct, though.

Let me know: what do you like? I'd love specifics!