Sew alongs and Kickstarters

I mentioned recently that thoughts of Spring and better weather had put me in mind of garment sewing.  There are a few things going on with dressmaking around the blog world so here is what Ive seen.

I had already mentioned the Gabriola sew-along, mid way through at Sewaholic and remember these sew alongs are always there for you to dip into.  I am also planning to Slip Sew Along with Gertie as I was much taken with her new lingerie pattern for Butterick which comes in different cup sizes (hurray).  I bought my pattern here but there are other sellers on Etsy too.  Gertie is currently selling a kit which is priced just under £15 so under the Post Office £15 import limit and contains all the fabric and findings supplies to make at least a slip and knicks.  Check her shop as they do seem to move out of it rather fast.  Similar UK lingerie supplies can be found here and here.

The By Hand London girls are busy with a sew along for Flora dress coming up and also a Kickstarter plan for print on demand digital fabric printing.  Perfect for quilters, crafters, dressmakers- with a low minimum quantity of 1 metre, this could make fabric printing accessible to so many.  Watch this video for an explanation...

If you aren't familiar with Kickstarter, it is a funding platform  for new creative businesses.  It is a great way to launch a new idea, state the funding you need and what you need it for and you then have a limited time period to achieve it.  If you fail to make the target in the time period, no money is taken.  Businesses offers different amounts and rewards for pledging- for example, you can pledge just £10 and in addition to supporting the project you will receive a By Hand London Tote Bag, for £50 you get to print and have sent to you 2 metres of fabric from their fabric gallery before the project goes live.  Each pledge has a delivery date so you know when this will happen.  Kickstarter is an amazing organisation.  For the cost of a coffee and a cake you can help a fledgling business get its new idea off the ground.  You can support local or international and your donation does not have to be big.   By Hand London have proved themselves to be pretty industrious in a short time- with seven sewing patterns and an app developed in a relatively short space of time, they could be just the right people to change the world of online, on demand fabric printing in the UK! 

And finally, Sewessential has Simplicity patterns at half price or less for a limited time, a great time to stock up:

I bought some that I'd had my eye on for as little as £2.80 ( 1606 and 1755) .  Some of my past favourites, Cynthia Rowley 2215 for example are available and I have had all the patterns in the picture on my pattern radar for some time.  Bargain.   Have a lovely weekend xxx