September Charity Sewalong

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Sunshine Coast University Hospital Queensland

Sunshine-Coast-HospitalThis month’s Sewalong is for Sunshine Coast University Hospital Queensland, who offer a range of free public healthcare services, supported by highly trained and specialised staff.

They are seeking our help to create a hospital gown kit for children and teenagers who have to go into theatre for a range of different medical procedures and scans. At present these children are wearing adult gowns that are far too large for them. With hospital visits already being a very daunting and scary process, the hospital thought it would be beneficial for the kids to have colourful, personalised gowns to wear at these appointments, which they can then take home for future appointments and scans.

Plus, thanks to Lindee Goodall, you can embroider a very special seahorse embroidery design onto your drawstring bag or gown.

SEWALONG BRIEF

Children’s Hospital Kit

Create this hospital gown kit for children and teens to take to their appointments and scans. It includes a hospital gown, drawstring bag and smaller pouch or bag to put personal items.

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Cupcake Charity Apron

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Apron

By Leanne Church

I love to be creative with all of my projects and it’s even better when I learn new techniques along the way. I find that challenging myself and adding something unique adds more interest to my projects.

So, with this month’s Brother charity apron I thought I would share some techniques that you can utilize for many different projects.

Not only do I love sewing gadgets, I also love accessories, especially feet and attachments. So this tutorial will show how to combine two embroidery designs and how to add ruffles, gathers and finish the edges of your garments to add a bit of creative flair!

I love to cook and always wear an apron, so having this challenge was an excuse to make one for charity and one for myself. Plus, when you’re in the kitchen it sometimes feels like a chore, so why not feel pretty while you’re doing it!

Pattern

There are some really great free patterns on craftsy.com. It won’t matter what pattern you choose because you can apply these techniques to any pattern you come across, not just aprons.

I paid for the Options Apron Project by Modern Vintage Designs, which is totally me – vintage and classic. This designer has some really beautiful apron projects if you’re interested in purchasing one of your own.

I followed the excellent pattern instructions which even included a shortcut sheet, which helped a lot. Aprons are great excuse to dig into your fabric stash. Plus, adding embroidery means that your apron will be fun, colourful and unique!

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August Charity Sewalong

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Brother’s Campaign to Support the National Breast Cancer Foundation

Apron.pngThis month’s Sewalong is for Brother Australia and their campaign to support the National Breast Cancer Foundation. They are asking everyone to sew a pink apron, which will be donated to individuals registering for the Pink Ribbon Breakfast events. This will also raise awareness for the campaign, inspiring more people to get involved!

Thanks to Lindee Goodall, you can also embroider one of her beautiful cupcake embroidery designs onto the apron for a bit of extra detail and creative flair!

Plus, by donating your pink apron to the campaign (see competition details below) you will go into the draw to win a Brother Professional Color Laser Multi-Function Centre Printer, valued at $1799!

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Embroidering on Problematic Fabrics

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by Leanne Church

Coat-Jacket-2

Project Description

This project involves creating the Echidna Sewalong Dog Jacket and then applying the Lindee Goodall and Animal Welfare League embroidery designs onto it. As the material used was fur and heavily patterned, I have created an instructional tutorial to show you how to create a background for your embroidery design to make things a little easier.

The project itself was very easy and recommended for beginner sewers. The embroidery designs by Lindee Goodall were also easy to follow with clear, step-by-step instructions.

How I Created This Project

I have used fur for the fabric and a stretch lining, which can be a very problematic combination. Therefore, I wanted to share with you some tips and tricks that I discovered along the way to deal with this type of fabric and pattern choice.

To start with, I marked out the pattern on the fur fabric on the right side with a sharpie pen. I wouldn’t normally do this on a garment but for this occasion it was much easier to see and since it was a pet project, I figured I could get away with it.

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July Charity Sewalong

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Animal Welfare League Australia

Dog-PhotoAnimal Welfare League are a national non-profit organisation caring for companion animals across Australia. They formed in 2007, when the Animal Welfare Leagues of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland united to become Animal Welfare League Australia. Dogs Homes of Tasmania joined AWLA in 2010 and SAFE Inc joined in 2014. Together they have more than 300 years of combined experience in caring for animals in need.

AWL work with local councils, state government, rescue groups and the community to
improve the outcomes of stray and surrendered pets, and they are nationally recognised for their unique and innovative programs, initiatives and re-homing strategies.

This Sewalong involves creating a number of coats for the animals housed in these shelters nationwide. They are desperate for large sized coats to keep dogs warm this winter, and thanks to Lindee Goodall who has once again sponsored our Sewalong, you can download a free “Adopt Me” embroidery design to decorate your dog coat.

Sewalong Brief

  1. March Sewalong will run from 1st July – 31st July, 2017
  2. Sewing – Sew a pet coat using your own pattern or use the free pattern below.
    Embroidery – Embroider a ready-made pet coat or one you have created with the “Adopt Me” embroidery design and the Animal Welfare League (individual state) logo.

Sew Your Own Pet Coat!

Dog-Coat

This is a great beginner project if you’re interested in learning how to sew. Use one of your own dog coat patterns or you can download the free dog coat pattern, created by Martyn Smith.

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Girl’s Craftsy Dress with John Deer Flowers

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by Leanne Church

Description: Create this cute little Abby’s Sweet V-Neck Crafsty Dress and apply your own embroidery design, or use the one included in this project.
Embroidery Design: This design is from the John Deer Ultimate Ladybug collection called Stylized Flowers in a Corner, which was edited using Embrilliance Enthusiast or higher.
Pattern: Abby’s Sweet V-Neck Crafsty Dress (Free when you sign up to Craftsy)
Skill Level: Intermediate

Photo

Watch the How To Video!

Leanne explains how to edit the John Deer embroidery design to suit this free Craftsy dress. Using the embroidery template she then shows you how to place it onto the dress and finish the project off with some embellishments.

Fashion and Fabric Tour of New York

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by Leanne Church

In May 2017, I travelled to the USA where I was lucky enough to start my trip as a guest teacher at Virginia Beach for Lisa Shaw of Embrilliance. It was here that I presented my recent trunk show of projects which I created using the ScanNCut CM900 and the Embrilliance software suite.

Sewing Guild of America

The second highlight of my trip was a Fashion and Fabric Tour of New York which I attending with the American Sewing Guild. I had been planning this trip since 2013 so I am very excited to share my experience with you.

This tour was hosted by Marsha McClintock and Marla Kazell who are very well-known garment teachers in the USA.

I stayed in the heart of Manhattan, which was the perfect location as it was within ten blocks of most attractions. However, you still end up walking a lot, so good shoes are essential! I met up with eighteen lovely ladies from all around the America, and I was the only one from outside of the U.S.

I feel lucky to have been part of this tour as I was able to access a number of incredible places that I may not have been able to if I was travelling alone.

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