Wild Things! – Free Pattern Design Software

Wild Ginger offers Wild Things!, which is “free software to easily design and print patterns for hats, bags, footwear, and other fun stuff.” Here’s more info from their website:

• Wild Things! is a fully functional FREE program for drafting patterns for hats, bags, wraps, footwear, and other accessories
• All of the patterns in Wild Things print to the dimensions you specify.
• It even has embroidery design planning tools to aid you in creating unique accessories for yourself and others.
• Wild Things! comes complete with a Help file to aid you in using the new tools as well as sewing instructions for each and every style.
• Wild Things! can only be downloaded from our website and is not supported through our telephone technical support staff.

I haven’t tried this software yet, but it’s on my list of things to do! Here’s where you download it: http://www.wildginger.com/downloads/demodownloads.htm

Also, here are four screenshots taken from their website’s tour of Wild Things! (click a thumbnail to see a larger view):

24 Beautiful Purse Patterns

Not sure what to make for the brown bag gift exchange? Here’s a list of projects from Tip Junkie: 24 Beautiful Purse Patterns. What’s great about Tip Junkie is that she includes photos and brief descriptions of the purses — sooo useful! Plus all of the patterns are free. 🙂 Enjoy!

Clicker Bags by Annette

The following instructions are for the lined clicker bags that Annette showed at our October meeting. For more information about clicker bags (such as how to prepare the metal carpenters tape), refer to the bluebonnet clicker bag instructions. The length of the metal strips in Annette’s bags is 8″, and no interfacing is needed.

Self-lined bag (using the same fabric for the lining and outside):

• One piece of fabric 8.75″ by 27.5″

Construction:

1. Fold the fabric in half, right sides together.
2. Stitch around the open sides using 0.25″ seam allowance. Leave a 4″ hole for turning in the short side.
3. Turn right side out and press.
4. Close the hole using your preferred method (Steam-a-Seam, hand-stitching, etc).
5. Tuck the fabric inside to create the pouch and press.
6. Fold over the top of the bag 1.25″ and press. This will create the casing for the metal carpenters tape.
7. Starting from a side seam, topstitch halfway along one side. Insert a tape strip.
8. Continue topstitching most of the way around. Slide in the second tape strip, then finish stitching. You’re done!

Contrast fabric bag (using a different fabric for the lining):

• Outside fabric 8.75″ by 13.5″
• Lining fabric 8.75″ by 15″ (the longer size hides the seam under the casing)
• The lining will be visible on the outside as the casing for the metal tape

Construction:

1. Place fabrics right sides together. Stitch both short sides using 0.25″ seam allowance.
2. Pull the two pieces apart. Fold the lining and outside fabrics in half and match the seams for the short sides in the middle. Stitch both long sides using 0.25″ seam allowance. Leave a 4″ hole in the lining for turning.
3. Turn right side out and press flat.
4. Close the hole using your preferred method (Steam-a-Seam, hand-stitching, etc).
5. Tuck the lining fabric inside the outside fabric to create the pouch. Press.
6. Fold over the top of the bag 1.25″ and press. This will create the casing for the metal carpenters tape.
7. Starting from a side seam, topstitch halfway along one side. Insert a tape strip.
8. Continue topstitching most of the way around. Slide in the second tape strip, then finish stitching. You’re done!

Free Download of “Modern Pattern Design”

Update: Many thanks to Kathy, who found another copy of the book! I’ve updated the links below per her info.

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Are you interested in designing your own patterns? I found a free download of Modern Pattern Design: The Complete Guide to the Creation of Patterns as a Means of Designing Smart Wearing Apparel, by Harriet Pepin (1942). The PDF does not include the children’s section and “four instructions to be missing pants skirts, and even on each side” (?!). The last bit is Google’s less-than-clear translation from German.

• Link to PDF (allow time for file to load)
• Link to blog that has PDF (in Spanish)

By the way, I found out about the download from Off the Cuff. It’s a nice blog from the owner of Fashion Sewing Supply, and it has various sewing tips, techniques, tutorials, etc.

(Actually, the PDF has a different cover design, but I thought this one was prettier. ;-))

Craft Gossip

CraftGossip.com is a blog full of crafty goodness. It’s divided into sub-blogs (sewing being one) that are managed by separate editors. These editors “scour the net looking for the best craft ideas and projects and review them for you.” They have tons of stuff! It’s fun to browse through the site and see the different projects.

If you like giveaways, they have a tab dedicated to those, as well as a sister site (Craftbits.com) that also has giveaways. (To be honest, I don’t care for Craftbits because it doesn’t show project photos until you click on the project page. I don’t think that’s very browse-friendly, but that’s just me.)

Click the image below to check out the site!

Kwik Sew 3460 — Ordered

Natalee has ordered 10 of the Kwik Sew 3460 patterns, and they will be in the store in time for our next meeting (July 21). She said the cost would be around $12. Thanks, Natalee!

Pattern Companies on Facebook

Seek and ye shall find… more pattern companies on Facebook!

• Black Cat Creations
• Butterick
• Kwik Sew
• McCall’s

I couldn’t find Brensan Studios, though.

Vogue Patterns on Facebook

Did you know that Vogue Patterns has a page on Facebook (FB) where they post photos of people who have made garments from their patterns? Perhaps someone who likes to use Vogue patterns (*cough* LORETTA *cough*) would be interested in having her photos posted on this blog/posted on FB for everyone to admire? Maybe if we pick a Vogue pattern for the next “one pattern for all” challenge, everyone could get posted!

Free Pattern!

I found a site that will give you a free pattern when you create an account (you have to print the instructions and pattern pieces yourself). Who wants to try it? The patterns are out-of-print ones that aren’t wildly exciting, but hey, did I mention they’re free??

http://www.printsew.com/

ClubBMV for McCall’s, Butterick and Vogue Patterns

Loretta recommends ClubBMV because “they offer sales almost weekly & you can get patterns sometimes as low as $3.99/each. This includes McCall’s, Butterick & Vogue. Shipping is pretty cheap too. I buy all my patterns this way.”

The ClubBMV website says:

Members Receive

• 10% OFF All Current & Out-Of-Print Butterick, McCall’s & Vogue Patterns!
• 10% OFF Vogue Patterns Magazine Subscriptions and Back Issues!
• 10% OFF Butterick, McCall’s & Vogue Patterns Catalogs!
• Club-Only Sales, Exclusive Offers and Downloads!

If you’re interested, you can purchase your 1-year membership for $15 online.