Dragon Lovey, a New Pattern by Unlikely Handmade

I am so pleased to introduce you to the newest sewing pattern from Unlikely Handmade... the Dragon Lovey!

The Dragon Lovey is a pattern to make a blanket doll-- a soft toy that is mostly not stuffed, sort of like a shaped security blanket. The head is stuffed to give it a little shape, though! These toys are great gifts for newborns or infants, but they are also much loved by older children too!

Dragon lovey made with a recycled, felted sweater, ribbed velour, and wool blend felt for the back ridge. 

The construction of the toy is very simple if you have basic sewing skills and a sewing machine. You could certainly do it by hand too, but it would take a bit more time. The pattern includes step-by-step instructions illustrated with photographs.

The pattern also includes two fun variations. The first is a dinosaur... a Stegosaurus!

Dragon Lovey-- The Stegosaurus variation. This one is made from a recycled, felted sweater. The back ridge is wool-blend felt, and the belly is ridged velour. I added spots made from the same felt as the back ridge, sewn on before I sewed the body together. 

The second is a bit fantastical... a Winged Dragon!

Dragon Lovey-- the Winged Dragon variation. It is made of striped velour, with a white velour belly. The back ridge is wool-blend felt, and the wings are shiny gold fabric from my stash, left over from a halloween costume!

I wanted to launch this pattern in time for holiday gift making. Since it is hard to make just one, the purchase of the pattern also includes the rights to sell your handmade creations!

To celebrate the launch of the pattern, the Dragon Lovey will be on sale until November 5th for 15% off (regular price $7). No coupon code necessary, just visit my Etsy shop.

I love seeing your creations! If you make a Dragon Lovey (or Stego, or Winged Dragon), post them with the tag #dragonlovey and tag me @unlikelynest!

Winslow Culottes by Helen's Closet in Hand Printed Aqua Linen: A Pattern Review

I've broken out of my usual style to sew up the Winslow Culottes by Helen's Closet!

When Helen put out the call for pattern testers for her very first garment pattern, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. I've really enjoyed reading her blog and seeing her style and sewing evolve, and it was a pleasure to be able to join her for the very special event of testing her pattern.

Culottes are everywhere this year! Quite honestly, I've been watching the trend with some trepidation. I generally avoid anything that highlights my waistline, which isn't my favorite part of me, and I generally avoid extra volume at the hip, since I feel that my hips are quite voluminous on their own. These break all of my style rules, but they looked so fantastic on Helen that I thought I should at least give them a try.

The pattern is a joy to work with. It is thoughtfully and beautifully designed. The shapes in the pattern are surprisingly simple, which I really love... it is an elegant idea to take a rectangle and shape it to the body with pleats.

I made them in 100% linen, European Washed Linen from Fabric.com. The fabric washed up beautifully, but shrunk considerably, and I was glad I had an extra .5 yard. It is a medium weight linen, a bit heavier than I probably would have preferred, but I also didn't want anything too lightweight for pants. After shrinkage, it took nearly the full three yards to make View D (full length). I actually had a bit of wiggle room since I made the pockets out of a different fabric, but if I had made them out of the linen, I would have just squeezed it all in.

I jazzed up my plain linen fabric by stamp printing on the fabric with fabric ink. While I've been thinking about doing this for awhile, there was also a Seamwork article that helped me to further work out the details of this. I used white Speedball screen printing ink and my stamp was the ring from a canning jar. I did my printing after I cut out the pieces, but before I sewed them together.

I didn't use any special tools-- I just put some ink onto a paper plate, spread it out a little, and dipped my stamp into it. After the ink dried, I heat set it with my iron. I was going for an asymmetric design, so I only printed one side of the pants, the front and back pieces, in a sort of random but not overlapping pattern.

The pockets on these are fantastic, very roomy and a joy to sew. I chose to make these in a contrast fabric both for a bit of fun, and also to reduce bulk a little bit. I actually haven't made very many side seam pockets, so I mostly followed the directions word for word, and it worked out beautifully. For a bit of extra strength, I finished the pockets by serging the two pocket pieces together.

Perhaps the trickiest bit is the invisible zipper at the center back. It went in easily for me, but I have done quite a few of these. There are lots of tutorials online for invisible zips, but my favorite tips are from Lladybird, who taught me to sew both sides from the top down, and By Hand London's tutorial which uses pins to mark the waistband-- simple but effective. I also find it key to stabilize both sides of the zipper opening with strips of fusible interfacing-- I'm far more likely to get it right on the first try if I take this simple step. Above all, practice practice (from Grainline)!

I weighed a lot of options when choosing interfacing for the waistband. I generally prefer waistbands with a bit of stretch, but still firm enough to maintain their shape. I have a wonderful pair of linen pants that I made 4 or so years ago where I used weft interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply, which has a bit of give in one direction. I also love the waistband on my Ginger Jeans, where I used quilting cotton cut on the cross grain, so that it has a bit of give. I opted for the latter in these pants, using a bit of the same quilting cotton I used for the pocket bags.

I did a muslin for these pants, using one of the shorter views and standard muslin fabric. The fit seemed spot on, but when I actually sewed view D in my medium weight linen, the weight of the pants pulled them down to my hips. Not a good look in these pants, and very hard to walk in!

I took a good look at my mid-section, aided by a measuring tape, and decided that the narrowest part of me is probably up higher than my true waist, sort of at the bottom of my rib cage above my belly. This point on my body is 4 inches narrower than my actual waist, so I took 4 inches off of the waistband. Since I had the pants totally made at this point, I couldn't take the extra width off of the side seams... in addition, taking that much off of the side seams would have thrown the proportions off. So I distributed the extra into the pleats, which worked out nicely. If I were to make these again, I should probably sew a size several sizes smaller... although I sort of like the extra volume!

After redoing the waistband and the top of the zipper, I had a pair of pants that was made for walking!

These are such fun to walk in! I think they would be great to attend a festival, or a summer party with lots of mingling. The drawbacks for me are that they aren't so great for sitting since the waistband has to be very snug to hold up the weight of the fabric, and I'm not so tolerant of firm waistbands for any length of time. So I probably won't be wearing these for work, or for sitting on the ground playing with my kids.

In any case, they were a lot of fun to make, and the end result is a garment that is quite unique! I'm even thinking that I might make another pair, perhaps in the midi length in a rayon or silk-- it might be a very fun look for tango dancing.

The pattern was just released today, and it's on sale. You can get it here!

The Bunny Lovey: A Free Sewing Pattern with Illustrated Instructions

The Bunny Lovey is a sweet little blanket doll. It would be a lovely gift for a newborn! And it is quick to make if you have a sewing machine and some basic sewing skills. 

The pattern is FREE... just sign up for our mailing list on the sidebar. After you confirm your subscription, you will be sent a "Welcome" email that has a link to the pattern. 

With the free pattern, you can make as many bunnies as you like to give as gifts or for charity. If you would like to make bunnies to sell, please purchase the paid version of the pattern from my Etsy Store... it is just $5, and includes the right to sell your handmade creations. 

UPDATE August 2016... the PAID version on Etsy now includes downloadable, illustrated instructions. But once again, you can totally make this for free by subscribing to the newsletter and using the instructions here on the website.

If you sign up for the newsletter and you don't see the "Welcome" email, be sure to check your spam folder or the "Promotions" tab if you use Gmail.

Materials:

--1/4 yard or a fat quarter of your main fabric. I used an organic cotton fleece, but this could could be any fabric that is soft and snuggly. It would be lovely in a french terry or a velour!

--A very small amount of contrast fabric. I used colorful quilting cottons.

--The Bunny Lovey pattern. It is free-- just sign up for our newsletter on the sidebar. After you confirm your subscription to the email list, you will be sent another email with a link to the pattern. It is just two pages, and no taping necessary. 

--Embroidery floss for the eye.

 --Stuffing for the head and tail. I use wool batting or roving, but you could also use cotton batting or poly fill.

Instructions:

Sew all seams with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. 

Print out the PDF pattern on letter sized paper. Make sure the printer resize the page, I always set scaling to 100% on my printer. 

Cut out the paper pattern pieces,and lay them out on your fabric. Make sure the arrows on the pattern pieces align with the grain of your fabric. If you are using napped fabric like velour, the arrow should point in the direction that the fibers naturally lay down. Cut your pieces from your fabrics, as indicated by the directions on the pattern pieces. Transfer markings for the placement of the ears, eye, and tail. 

Sew together the two tail pieces, right sides together. Leave an opening at the base of the tail for turning and stuffing. Sew together the ears with each ear having one piece of main fabric and one piece of contrast fabric, right sides together. 

Clip the point of the ear straight across, close to but not touching the stitching.

Turn the ears and the tail right sides out. If you have hemostats, use them to grab the tip from the inside and pull it through. Otherwise, use your fingers and a stick (like a chopstick). Press them flat. 

Put the head pieces right sides together. Sew around the head leaving the neck open. Clip the curves, being careful not to cut your stitching.

Cut a slit in the head for the ears, where indicated by the pattern. Cut through both layers of the head.

Fold the ears in half, with the contrast fabric on the inside.

Stick the ears up through the neck into the head and through the holes you made. The fold should be to the back of the head.

Arrange the head so that the seam allowance is in the center, and the ears sit flat. The folds of the ears should point towards each other. Sew across the top of the head from ear to ear, catching the raw edges of the slits you made. 

Pull the ears to turn the head right side out. Smooth the seams flat with your fingers. Stuff softly with wool (or your choice of stuffing).

Sew the bunny nose and mouth. I used a double strand of white sewing thread to give just the shape of bunny cheeks and nose. You could also use pink embroidery thread to give a stronger impression of the face. Hide your knots inside the head.

Decide where you want the eyes. Use the markings on the pattern as a guide, but make sure it looks right for your bunny, with the personality you want to give it. I use a pin with a colored head to make sure I like the placement.

Sew the eyes with embroidery thread. I used blue on this bunny, but I also use brown or pink (albino bunny!). You could also just leave the eyes off to make a super minimal bunny. 

Hide the knots inside the head. Here I have knotted my strands, then threaded both ends through the needle and pulled them back through the head. I'll clip the strands close to the head and the ends will disappear into the stuffing. 

Attach the tail to the body. Cut a slit where indicated on the pattern, about two inches from the bottom of the bunny. Stuff the tail.

Slip the tail through the slit, with the tail of the tail on the inside. Sew across the base of the tail from the inside, catching the raw edges of the slit. Taper to nothing on either side of the tail. 

Sew the body together. Leave about two inches open at the center of the neck for turning and inserting the head. Clip curves.

Insert the head into the body. Push the stuffing up into the head so that the neck is as flat as possible. Make sure that the raw edges of the body pieces are turned to the inside. 

Starting about 1/2 inches before the opening in the neck, sew cross the base of the neck, catching the turned under edges of the body and the neck. Sew past the opening by 1/2 inch. I use a zipper foot on my machine to get as close to the head as possible. 

And you are done! You now have a beautiful toy that you can feel totally good about giving to some little person you love. 

Oh, and please send me pics if you make one, I would really enjoy seeing your creations! You can send me an image, or post on Instagram #bunnylovey