Color Inspiration

I'm Speaking at Sewing Summit 2013

I'm so excited and honored that I was asked to speak at Sewing Summit 2013!

I'll be sharing my textile design process of how color moves me to develop a fabric collection. I can't wait for the conference! I hope to be inspired by all of the other speakers and teachers, and an opportunity to meet all of you in person. Please let me know if you'll be attending!

Until then... happy sewing!

What I'm Loving Right Now

Last April I did a "What I'm Loving Right Now" blog post. I've decided that will be my NEW blog post series! I have so much inspiration to share. And my personal wish list of things keep growing and growing. I have SO MUCH inspiration that I can't keep it to myself. So every now and then I'll share with you what I'm currently craving.

These are all of the thing that I'm loving right now. Vintage, tea, florals, and my new signature color: turquoise. I am a KENZO fan. I own the KENZO book collection and it's so amazing!

Do you want to know more about these products? Here are the links.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

I hope you enjoy these treasures as much as I do!

Love,

FREE project : "Love, Mom" Bed Runner

Hello lovelies, it's time for a sewing tutorial!

Every time I turn on the television there are commercials for back to school. ALREADY?!? It seems like summer just started. Back to school makes me think of all of the kids going off to college for the first time. I remember when my son went off to college. I missed him so. I called him every day! But what an exciting time for him to go away to experience life and education.

I'm  feeling heavy-hearted thinking of all of the moms whose children are going off to school. So I'm inspired to make a tutorial for you moms to give your daughters something to remind them of home. It's a bed runner that they can put at the foot of their bed to remind them of you!

Finished size: 24" x 60"

MATERIALS:
For this project, I used the Pure Elements solids that I handpicked for Art Gallery Fabrics.

• 2 7/8 yd of PE-427 Spiceberry
• ½ yd of PE-401 Verve Violet
• ½ yd of PE-432 Sandstone
• ½ yd of PE-413 Caviar
• ½ yd of PE-405 Cherry Lipgloss
• Fat Quarter of PE-425 Mauvelous
• 35" x 75" Non-fusible BATTING
• 3/4 yd SINGLE-SIDED Fusible Interfacing

NOTIONS:

• 10 pearl beads
• Hand Sewing Needle
• Color-coordinated thread
• Masking tape
• Safety pins
• Scissors
• Water Soluble marker

INSTRUCTIONS
Sew all right sides together with ¼" seam allowance. Press open.

Cutting:
For base quilt-

• Sub-cut PE-427 into four (4) 24" x 30 1/4" rectangles

For flowers (10 big flowers and 10 small flowers)-

• Sub-cut PE-401 into four (4) 8" squares and four (4) 5" squares
• Sub-cut PE-432 into four (4) 8" squares and six (6) 5" squares
• Sub-cut PE-413 into four (4) 8" squares and four (4) 5" squares
• Sub-cut PE-405 into four (4) 8" squares and six (6) 5" squares
• Sub-cut PE-425 into four (4) 8" squares
• Ten (10) 8" squares and ten (10) 5" squares of interfacing 

Step 1. Making the base quilt

• Grab the four 24" x 30 1/4" rectangles and sew them in pairs creating two rectangles that measure 24" x 60". One rectangle will be the TOP fabric and the other one the BACKING fabric. Place the BACKING on a large surface (wrong side up). Stretch it with masking tape against that surface.
• Place the BATTING on top of the BACKING.
• Place the TOP on top of the batting (right side facing up). Smooth away wrinkles using your hands.
• Pin all layers together and baste using long stitches. You can also use safety pins to join the layers.
• For this quilt, I chose a straight and modern motif. Start quilting right at the center where there is a seam. From there, create parallel lines 5" apart from each other and quilt. Use a contrasting color thread so that the stitching really pops out. I used beige on the Spiceberry tone.

After you have finished, trim any of the excess fabric or batting, squaring the quilt to proceed to bind it. To obtain the binding, cut enough WOF strips of Spiceberry with a 1½" width to create a long strip measuring 180" (about 5). For detailed instructions on how to finish binding, check out my Free Quilt patterns here, and at the end of each quilt, it has diagrams on how to do it!

Now that the base is done, I will show you how to construct one of the big flowers and you can follow the same steps for the rest of the flowers, big and small.

Step 2. Flower Construction

• Start by grouping the flowers. For each flower, grab two squares with the same size and color and one square of interfacing (also with the same size). Place one fabric on top of the other (right sides facing together), leaving the interfacing on the bottom (fusible side facing up).

• Now trace the Flower Template on the top fabric, making sure you transfer all the points. Pin the edges of the three layers.
• Sew on top of the line, going all the way to the points. Go over the first stitches you created to secure the stitching.

• Trim down the excess fabrics to 1/8" all around the stitching line and clip in between each petal to allow for better turning.

• To turn the flower inside you, draw a 1½" long line on the center of the flower.

• Being super careful in order to cut JUST the top layer, pinch the fabric so that you can cut the line you traced.

Try to separate the top layer from the bottom and interfacing.

•  Carefully turn the flower inside out through the hole.

• Press well.

• Close the hole using a hand needle. Press the raw edges towards the inside of the flower and close with a slip stitch.
• Repeat this process to finish all of the flowers.

Now that you have the base and the flowers ready, it's time to sew them together!

Step 3. Putting it all together

• Pair one big flower with one small flower in a contrasting color so that you have ten combinations. 

• Place them on the base quilt to establish the order that your prefer. Pin them in place.
• Grab one big flower, one small flower, and a pearl bead. You will now begin to hand sew them to the base of the quilt. First start by putting the needle through the center of the wrong side of the big flower and go through the center of the flower, catching the bead as well by going through the hole.

• Now, go back through the center of the small flower, then though the big flower and catch the top layer of the base quilt.
• Repeat again.

• Do this a couple of times to secure the flowers well. To finish, do an extra stitch on the bottom of the piece, or in a hidden portion, and pass the needle back through the stitch to form a knot. Do it again to double the knot. 
• Repeat until you have finished attaching all the flowers to the base quilt.

I hope you enjoy making this bed runner. To creating great off-to-school memories!

xoxo

The Groovy Instagram Contest is Now Over

Hello everyone! I hope you all are enjoying your summer. I can't believe that we're midway through July already! Thank you for the 85 entries to my first ever Instagram contest! I've enjoyed the last two weeks admiring all of your sewing projects made with my fabrics.

Last week I announced the first two winners. Without further adieu, are the final two winners are:

Congratulations @suchasewandsew and @chelseapinkfig! They each won one 1/2 yard bundle of the Carnaby Street fabrics in the Cool Peace colorway.


The detail and craftsmanship of @suchasewandsew's fabric star with my Indie fabric is just simply wonderful. This Carnaby Street hippie maxie dress by @chelseapinkfig screams summer fun! I need an adult version myself.

Thanks again to all who participated! You can see all of the entries here. And please visit my Flickr group, Sew Pat Bravo, to upload your Pat Bravo sewing projects.

Happy sewing!

 

Color Inspiration

The Boho Dress Pattern

Hello! How has everyone been?

I want to share with you my very first CLOTHING PATTERN! It's called the Boho Dress and I couldn't be more thrilled about it.

There is a sewing trend that I perceive is growing bigger and bigger, and it's definitely planning to stay for a while... I also have been noticing that there are so many quilters that didn't sew at all in their lives but want to start now. The emails with requests I receive are more or less like these: Can you make a pattern that is simple to follow? Or... Can you do an easy and forgiving dress pattern? What about a nice skirt that I can complete in an afternoon... without knowing how to sew!  WOW!! These are exciting requests!

So I sat down to think. I went through fashion magazines. I teared pages from those magazines. I put them up on my inspiration board. I sketched. And then sat down to think a little bit more. My desire was a dress that could be both functional and easy to sew, without losing its style. The Boho Dress is the result!

As you can see, there are two options to this dress: option A is a short, sleeveless sundress to wear alone or with leggings.

And option B has a longer hemline and features long tulip sleeves.

See? Totally different styles but all in one pattern!

But this is not all.

Lately I've been seeing this sewing trend specially among the younger crowd; it's really amazing to see how young these girls are, and I think it's great that they are dusting off their mom's sewing machines and learning how to make their own stuff. They want to learn. They want to do it. They want cool, quick and stylish. It is also exciting that quilt shops are really happy to see a newer generation visiting their stores and shopping!

So I thought, what would be the best way for them to learn? We all know there's nothing better than a class; having a real person by our side teaching us step by step how to follow the instructions and such is priceless! But not everyone has the time to attend classes; specially college students or young mommys, with their fast-paced lifestyle and crazy schedules, there's really little time to fit a sewing class in there.

Plus, we're talking about girls who didn't have the chance to take home economic classes like a lot of us did, so they might find themselves in the situation of buying a pattern, getting home, start reading, and be like... "WHAT??!! I don't understand!!"

Some of you may be reading this and nodding your head and be like"YES! THAT'S ME!" So I have great news for you: I'll be your teacher! I'll be with you step by step, explaining you all the basic terminology, telling and showing what to do (and what not to do), so you'll end up with a fabulous, error-free dress in no time!

Now some of you might be thinking... "Okay... so... exactly how are you planning to do that?"

Well the answer is: DVD! Yes, the Boho Dress pattern comes in a DVD format, in which you'll be able to follow me by playing it on your TV or computer, and watching me making both options of the dress, step by step, in real time.

How does that sound?

All throughout the DVD there are super detailed graphics, definitions, and close-ups to help you truly understand and learn how to make the dresses; plus, the DVD comes with the one sided, printed real size paper templates, so you just basically have to pop in the DVD, have your fabric, thread and sewing machine ready and you're good to go!

But enough about me talking about it! Here's a little preview of the video so you can get the feel of it.

Are you ready to make your Boho Dress? You can visit your local quilt shop or order online.

See you in my sewing room!

Love,

And the winners are...

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a relaxing and festive 4th of July weekend! I'm just getting back from a week in the Bahamas with my ever so wonderful husband. I enjoyed looking at all of the #sewpatbravo Instagram entries while I was on the beach daydreaming. They are all SO WONDERFUL!

Without further adieu, the first two winners are:

Congratulations @sew_christy and @alyfrog, who both used fabrics from my Indie collection! They each won one 1/2 yard bundle of the Carnaby Street fabrics in the Cool Peace colorway.

I'm in awe by @sew_christy's massive queen sized quilt. I know that had to take forever to sew. And @alyfrog's girl's tunic is just too precious.

The contest is NOT OVER! You have until July 15th to Instagram a photo of your projects using Pat Bravo fabrics.

This is how you can play:
1.  Follow me, @patbravodesign, on Instagram.

2.  Upload a pic to Instagram of your sewing project with Pat Bravo fabrics. Don't forget to USE THE HASHTAG #sewpatbravo when you post your photo. Your sewing project can be complete, or a work in progress stage.

Here is a list of my fabrics for your reference.

3.  There will 4 winners total. I'll pick the next 2 winners, on July 16th, based on creativity. (All previous entries are still eligible.)

4. Contest runs July 1 - July 15, 2013.

Feel free to join my Flickr group, Sew Pat Bravo, and post your image there too.

Good luck! I can't wait to see more! Also check my FaceBook page for daily posts of my favorite entries.

Until next time, xoxo...

A Groovy Instagram Contest

Hello everyone!

It's July 1st and it's almost time for the 4th of July festivities! So to celebrate, I'm having my very first Instagram contest!

This is how you can play:
1.  Follow me, @patbravodesign, on Instagram.

2.  Upload a pic to Instagram of your sewing project with Pat Bravo fabrics. Don't forget to USE THE HASHTAG #sewpatbravo when you post your photo. Your sewing project can be complete, or a work in progress stage.

Here is a list of my fabrics for your reference.

3.  There will 4 winners total. I'll pick 2 winners per week base on creativity.

4. Contest runs July 1 - July 15, 2013.

Feel free to join my Flickr group, Sew Pat Bravo, and post your image there too.

Good luck! I can't wait to see what you're going to make with my fabrics!

xoxo,