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Picmonkey.com is a free online program that lets you fix, alter, and play around with photos, and it has a really easy collage option where you pick your outline and pictures and you can be done in 30 seconds! There is also Pixlr.com, but I think Picmonkey is a bit easier to use.

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I’m finding myself super inspired by this Flickr submission (and not just because of the amazing garment, but wow it’s lovely) it’s a collage of three photos in one, something that could easily be made in a free program like pic monkey, and I prefer getting to see all the details at once without having to flick through to the next picture. http://www.flickr.com/photos/52151674@N08/8564086870/in/pool-oliverands/

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Thanks for taking the time to reply! I’m going to have to remember to keep my head about me and not get carried away in grand sweeping gestures like giving away all the clothes. I will bring them back, but I suppose we can take the time to purge any clothes we can’t live without to keep our laundry day easier. I was happy to hear to just continue doing what you love, I wish I had family to sew for instead, but no children besides mine and my handmades haven’t been super well received among their friends. I suppose I will have to start looking harder for opportunities to sew for others! And I realized I sounded a little brash earlier in my frustration, the children have been helping to sort and put away their laundry for a long time, they know how to fold their own clothes or hang dresses ( I don’t expect perfection, just effort! Ditto to the comment about children rummaging through the drawers!) and they had a small pile of clothes to fold each, but they wouldn’t so much as look at the pile. It was a blatant, “I don’t want to do this chore, so I’m just going to sit here and not even attempt it” sort of attitude, which drives me crazy! Well, at least today is a new day, time to start over! Thanks again for all your replies.

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My first submission to flickr was the bedtime story pajamas that I sewed up in August of 2009, but didn’t get the guts to submit until December!

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/41810541@N02/4227811978/in/photostream

But my very, very first successful sewing project (ever) was a lazy days skirt, way back in February of ’09!

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/51885524@N05/7772518452/in/photostream

I had been wanting to sew up these cute O+S patterns so badly (there were only a few at the time!) that I went out and bought a sewing machine and through great trial and error learned to use it to sew all these cute things I was seeing on the web. I still remember puzzling over the directions with my husband like the total newb I was, “Right sides together? How can you tell which is the right side and which is the left side? I will never learn to sew!!” It sounds silly to tell most people, but learning to sew has been the (second) most fulfilling thing I have done in my life. So thanks, for all the inspiration!

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I used to just toss them and hope for the best, but now I stuck them in a mason jar with my sewing supplies. If I ever want to toss them out they are safe and contained, but I kinda like watching them pile up in the jar, a tangible way to gauge my sewing, I suppose.

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Jennifer1568, I use my serger to all of the seam finishing on the clothes I make. I sew the seam with my regular sewing machine, and then zip it through the serger, which cuts off the extra fabric and finishes the outside edge so the fabric doesn’t fray and come apart. I also find that the few times I have been too lazy to run it through the serger (which usually takes a total of 3 extra minutes per garment) the inside of my clothes become a mess, not only fraying but the seam allowance wrinkling every which way, where my serged allowances stay nicely where they belong. You can sew the majority of your seams with only your serger, but using your regular machine makes them stronger, better for kids clothes. For me, I really think it adds a great touch to my clothes, taking them from “home-made” to “handmade.” Add in the ability to make fast rolled hems and sew through knits like a dream (I love sewing knits now!) it was definately worth the money for me. I also use it whenever I am feeling lazy, because it is 2-3 times as fast as my sewing machine, if I want to make a quickie pillow cover, or a drawstring bag I use my serger instead and am done in a snap. I also serge all around my quilts before I put my binding on and it has made such a difference in my finished binding look, and makes it easier to handstitch on!

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I just want to pipe in and say that I have a cheap serger (cheap cheap!) and honestly I love it. I also have the Brother 1034D (What what scgoble! Serger twins!) that I bought off amazon. When I got it I was super intimidated, but eventually I conquered my fear and learned to thread that thing and away I went! I ended up taking a intro to serging class which ended up being two hours devoted to mostly teaching people how to thread their machine. But I did get to see a whole range of peoples sergers bought at different prices and I think my humble little brother did as good as almost all the competition, except for one fancy smancy $2000 serger which did the nicest rolled hems I’ve ever seen. So I am pretty satisfied , I don’t think spending more money on a “better” machine would make a difference for me. I think that as with any serger threading is the worst part, and if you don’t want to put in a few hours of practice right away to really memorize how to thread it, just buy big neutral cones of thread so they blend in with your fabric and you can be serging for months before you need to rethread. I also believe in buying the best equipment you can afford, I saved and spent more on my sewing machine than my last car, but I would make the same decisions over again. I don’t know if I will ever upgrade my serger, unless I win the lottery of course!

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Thanks for the speedy reply, Todd! Also, upon re-reading my initial post, it seemed a bit demanding, oops, sorry. I remember having a case of the “hangry’s.” (You know, that short temper/anger that comes from being hungry?) Anywho, I overlooked this when I originally posted, but you are right, with the new site design I can absolutely access this info on my phone. With the old site it would come up in a pop up window that my phone couldn’t navigate, so I could usually only see a tiny bit of info, but now I have no problems. Lovely AND functional. I’m sure creating takes a lot of time and resources, but even still I would buy one. Sometimes I think my fabric store lines their walls with adamantium or something since I can only get service in a small corner by the batiks! Not where I usually buy the fabric for my children’s clothes…. Thanks for listening to me anyway. 🙂

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Good question! I personally have bought labels from WorldSaleLabel on Etsy. I bought the size tags in three different sizes 2t,3t,and 4t. It was about $17 for 50 of each, it’s cheaper than buying a multi-size combo pack. I wanted to get personalized labels to go with them, but chickened out on the designing part and haven’t followed through. It did take 3 or 4 weeks to arrive from China but now that I have them I love them, no more mystery clothes in our drawers! However, here are a few blog posts with different sources I have had bookmarked while I am trying to come up with a design for my labels. Anyone on here good at logos?

http://www.etsy.com/shop/worldsalelabel

http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2011/02/clothing-labelsby-100s.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MakeItAndLoveIt+%28Make+It+and+Love+It%29

http://www.dana-made-it.com/2010/06/1-most-frequently-asked-question.html

http://parrishplatz.blogspot.com/2011/02/im-into-labels.html

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Fabric Depot has it available in store. They sell the newer patterns on their website, but I bet if you dropped them an email and told them you have it on good authority they have it hanging with the other patterns they could work it out and sell it to you online, they are super helpful. http://www.fabricdepot.com/index.php?page=CatalogPage&pageid=234

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It was a blog Post. The Tea party Sundress, THe bubble dress and the 2+2 blouse and skirt. 🙁

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I just finished up 3 of these dresses, so I know it can be done! Although they were in quilting cottons and linen, the pocket gathering was a little tricky. If you have any heavy strength thread I would use that, if you haven’t already. I was able to just use my regular thread, and one line of basting stitches, ’cause I’m lazy like that. When gathering I always increase my tension so it does a bit of the natural gathers for me, and it would gather the outside edges but leave the whole pocket area flat. I then would very gently gather up the pocket one edge at a time, just as careful as I can be. I was able to get the pocket area to slightly gather enough to blend in with the dress, but it is not nearly as gathered as the rest of the skirt. But once the dress is finished I think the less gathered pocket area looks just fine, it even helps my little ones find the pockets, as they can be a little tricky for little hand to find in a mass of ruffles, At least for mine. Hope this helps, and you are able to make it work!

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Oh, shoot. Didn’t follow the link through, and got overexcited. Not to download, just a link to the O&S site. I got all twitterpated for a second. 🙁

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So, did I totally miss the memo that a chunk of these patterns are up on Burdastyle to download? I fell across them today, still missing some of the OOP ones though….Did this info come out and I just missed it?

http://www.burdastyle.com/profiles/oliverands/my_studio/patterns?page=1

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Bolt is the best! That is where I have scored all of my out of print patterns. http://www.boltfabricboutique.com/ Also, fabric depot has the bedtime story pattern in both sizes available in store, you could send them an email or give them a call to see if you could purchase them over the web, if there is someone still looking for one. http://www.fabricdepot.com/index.php?page=CatalogPage&pageid=234. Sometimes you have to be a bit firm with employees at the depot. I am constantly calling them when the new patterns come out each season to see if they are in stock yet and they are always like, Oliver and what? No, we don’t have those, or we don’t have that pattern, so I patiently explain they are on the right side of the pattern desk by the remnants and wait while they go searching. More than once I have been told they didn’t have a certain pattern and I went in the same day and they would! I can’t be too mad though, the depot is great and offer patterns at a discount. Just don’t be afraid to get assertive!