[badskirt]

As someone who works in a quilt shop, I’d just rather see the OOP patterns reprinted on paper. We still have customers asking for them all of the time. Just last week, we had the Australian distributor dig around through all of their backstock and they find several OOP patterns including the Playdate which we are now happily selling again.

[badskirt]

I’d like a pattern for a polo-knit dress like the ones worn by Gwenth Paltrow in the movie Royal Tenenbaums. I’d also like a kimono/wrap style dress that looks good on a short people (I’m only 4’10”)

[badskirt]

As a transplant to Australia, I feel comfortable using my favourite Australian analogy:

Australia is a lot like Wonkaland. Everything about it is fun, wonderful and a little bit quirky. Take a wrong step, and it’s a little bit deadly too.

Snakes, spiders, cliffedges. Everything about this country can kill you.

[badskirt]

Ooops. Sorry starting a new thread. I somehow completely missed the other one on this topic. It’s 4am. That’s the only excuse that I have.

[badskirt]

Ooops… yes. I did miss this thread, sorry for starting a duplicate one. There’s additional photos in another thread. Sorry about that.

[badskirt]

My absolute favourite dress that I ever made was the Playdate. It might be number one for me in terms of Oliver+S patterns and it’s the most popular pattern I sell at markets.

I think the samples I take help with that. There’s always a bit of a surprise when they see the samples and then look at the pattern cover. The cover picture doesn’t let on about how awesome of a pattern it is.

I’m weird though. I love the discontinued patterns most of all… Playdate and PuppetShow are tops in my book.

[badskirt]

I wouldn’t count myself as a pro, but I do sew quite a bit on my machine. I, too, have a Bernina. Mine is an Activa 230 PE. I bought it at the time I was doing weekly markets and sewing 6-8 hours a day. I wanted something reliable and powerful. Roughly a year ago, Sew,Mama,Sew collected hundreds of “interviews on sewing machines” to help with the buying process.

here is mine: http://badskirt.blogspot.com/2009/06/sewing-machine-interviews.html

[badskirt]

On behalf of the Australian retailers, rest assured they aren’t gouging you are $28.

Without getting into the math behind it, that’s exactly in line with what we pay for them. Those of us who squeak them by at $24 (or $20 as I am for the next couple of weeks) aren’t really making much profit, particularly when you consider the cost of carrying stock and general overhead.

Those City Weekend prices are out of line though, if you are talking about the quilting cottons. Maybe they paid more to have them express posted over from the states? I’d expect to see them at $22-26. Knits will definitely be higher though.

[badskirt]

The only think I can think of that might make that dress even more exciting is to bedazzle the neckline and add pompoms hanging off the bottom. My husband probably would have picked the same fabric.

I have a whole room full of fabric (a whole store actually) and his favourite pick is this dayglo stripe: http://shop.badskirt.com/product/sublime-warm-stripes

He asked me to make some pajamas out of it for him. I thought he was joking, but he was completely serious. It’s a nice fabric for contrast, but I definitely can’t see it for men’s pajamas.

You are a good sport for making the dress. Were you picking glitter off your machine for days?

[badskirt]

Not helpful at all, but I wanted to nod my head and agree about being able to save subtantial yardage with clever layouts on some of the patterns.

[badskirt]

I have a multipurpose printer/copier. I photocopy each section that I need for the size I need. Then I cut that out.

For the main bodice sections, I often need 2-4 photocopies to get the whole thing in, but this is easily taped together into a complete piece. In order to make sure I’m lining things up correctly, I put a few extra strips of tape on the actual pattern to use as alignment guides along with the notches and labels already there. Once together, I compare to the actual pattern to make sure I haven’t gone crooked or omitted a bit.

With the largest size pattern sheets, I sometimes cut them into pieces to make putting them on the printer more wieldy. Still, my pattern is basically intact and I haven’t cut through any actual pieces or sizes.

Multifunction printer/copiers are dirt cheap these days and it’s worth every penny in terms of time and hassle saved.

[badskirt]

The Australian distributor still has stock of them, so when sources above dry up check with Australian stores. I took a small batch on last week, but they presold before they made it into the online shop.

I’m out of town next week, but I’m placing my next O+S order for a mid-October arrival

[badskirt]

We have Fabric Store in Sydney too. I’d offer to help you, but I’ll confess that my knowledge of wool is nil and I’d probably do worse than your husband. I have to ask…. do you ever actually need a wool coat in Queensland? We lived in Brisbane for a bit, but I can’t remember owning much more than a raincoat.

[badskirt]

Have you tried Tessuti? They are usually a more expensive option, but I think they seem to stock a lot of wool. I haven’t ordered any but have been in their shops. They may be a tad pricy though?

http://www.tessuti-shop.com/collections/wool

[badskirt]

Quick quiz – Can you name the pattern shown on the cutting table shot by looking at just four pieces? I’m pretty certain I can…

yay for sneak peeks.