Sew Illustrated Blog Tour and Giveaway

Hi friends! I am back with another blog tour and this one is very near and dear to my heart. Minki Kim was one of the first people to follow me when I started on Instagram last year; not only follow, but comment and encourage me as a very new maker. I remember the first time I saw her sewing illustrations I could not believe they were done by machine. To me they looked like ink drawings with very tiny, precise hand stitching over them. It boggled my mind to think that these beautiful works of art were done on a home sewing machine. I had the pleasure of trying some of Minki’s patterns earlier this year which you can see HERE and HERE. I have been looking forward to the release of this book all year and to be a part of the blog tour (not to mention along with ALL the super star makers!) is such an honor for me. Ok, enough babbling; lets get to the good stuff!

This beautiful Vignette pattern caught my eye right away, but in more of a “I’ll try that one some day” kind of way. Then after giving it some time and thought, I decided to just go for it. After all, the instructions and writing in this book are amazing! I am convinced Minki and Kristin (Minki’s partner in writing and equal in sweetness) could teach anyone to sew illustrations like a pro.

I pulled my stack (tower?) of Liberty fabrics and used my newest favorites form DuckaDilly Fabrics. It was so fun holding up the templates I had printed onto my Pellon Stick-N-Washaway and choosing just the right colors for each tiny piece. Even my boys got in on the fun of color selections and placements. If you ever enjoyed tracing, drawing, cutting out paper dolls or any other craft as a child, the art of sewing illustration will bring you back to those days. I can’t think of a more enjoyable way to spend a Saturday.

I’ll admit, I did not read ALL of Sew Illustrated, YET. I read just enough for making my pattern and I am saving the rest to read over our Labor Day weekend. This is a very well written book and has a wealth of information, step by step pictures, tips, tricks and ideas for multiple ways to try your own illustrations.

I wanted to make this beautiful design with my own spin on it and what better way than to add my signature Heartstrings! This is pretty much what my work desk looks like most of the time, Liberty mug with coffee, fabrics and threads all over with Liberty Hearts strewn about. Ok, so my actual sewing machine is boring white and I currently have seven stacks of sewing goodness instead of two. So let’s just say this is my sewing desk in an alternate, Liberty of London filled universe!

I used Aurifil 50 weight thread in a deep Navy shade #2745 which I think gives the “picture” an inky look to it. For a bigger piece like this, I started with the larger sections to sew it down, then moved on to the smaller bits. Taking it one small section at a time can take the “overwhelming”feeling you may have out of it.

I love, love, love this tiny “wire basket”! Note to self: buy wire basket to keep Liberty fabrics in… Also, MUST make  Capel pin cushion!

As you can see, stitches are not perfect. But they also don’t need to be. This is a super close up picture, the scissors is only about 4 inches and from where I’m sitting looking at it on my wall, it looks pretty perfect. So don’t stress the little imperfections, or mistakes; no one will ever know.

For the miniature Heartstrings I used 12 weight thread to give the “string” a bold look. Minki and Kristin have a section all about stitch length for sewing. I find I work best at a 1.o and 1.5 that way my mistakes are so tiny you can hardly see them anyway!

I turned my Vignette into a mini wall hanging with raw edge Liberty binding, keeping with the whole raw edge theme and saving on precious fabric which for me is a win win!

I also had the thought that any of the pieces from Minki’s designs could be framed in a hoop for a bit of wall art. But…

Perhaps I should have stuck to the patterns a bit more because now I have this girl head button smiling at me from in a “jar”! (Insert horror emoji here and read the whole story of the “girl in the jar” HERE).

So here we have it in my sewing space just above my rather messy desk. See the jam jar pin cushion hanging up there? That is a special giveaway I won last year and it is made by Minki herself!. And yes, the little doll head in the jar is there as well, what can I say; it gives me a good chuckle every time I see it.

I have a whole pile of ideas floating around in my head of sewing illustrations to be made! This book is just full of inspiration and I am happy to say that C T Publishing has offered to give a copy to one of you! Just leave a comment on this post and I will chose a winner on August 31st.

Thank you all for stopping by! Feel free to snoop around and follow along for more fun.

Edit:

Giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Mary S.