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What Would Lady Mary Do? Sewing Patterns for Downton Abbey Ladies

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At AllFreeSewing, we know you’re just as fond of Masterpiece’s Downton Abbey as we are. From the start of Season 1 to the much anticipated US release of Season 4, we’ve followed the triumphs and tragedies of the Crawleys and all those associated with the great estate.

After an evening on the edge of our seats watching some favorite episodes, the editors couldn’t get the characters of Downton Abbey out of their heads the next day at work. Every sewing project we stumbled across reminded us of one of our favorite (or not so favorite) players in the heart-wrenching drama. What would Lady Edith choose to sew given the chance today? Would Mrs. Patmore like these apron patterns or scoff them? The possibilities are infinite and indeterminable, but we gave these puzzling questions our best shot and chose patterns we thought some of our favorite characters would sew and sport today.

Lady Mary’s Picks

Brooklyn DIY Tulle SkirtAlways on the cutting edge of fashion, Lady Mary would most likely opt for the trendiest pieces when it came time to settle on a sewing pattern today. The amount of time to create these pieces would be of little consequence for the future duchess, since she’d hardly stoop to picking up a needle.

 

Unexpectedly Stylish Designs for Lady Edith

Simple Dress with TankOn the back burner of the Crawley girls, Lady Edith’s style is often overlooked. If you take a closer look, however, you’ll notice a dynamic character reflected in both her wardrobe and actions. Because of her insatiable desire for recognition, the character of Edith begs for our attention. Whether this is through hooking a man (or not), or getting noticed through the written word, the editors at AllFreeSewing feel that sister #2 would gravitate towards these patterns.

Lady Sybil’s Sewing Patterns

DIY Little Black DressSomething that differentiates Lady Sybil from her two stately sisters is her progressive independence. Given the choice of patterns today, Sybil would likely go for eco-friendly, artistic, and functional pieces.

Anna’s Sewing Projects of Choice

Downton DIY HeadbandAs Mary’s lady’s maid, Anna is notably below Mary in social standing. While her selection of sewing patterns would probably be less extravagant than any of the Crawley sisters, Anna is still towards the top of the totem pole as far as servants are concerned. Her close position with a central member of the family would entitle her to some extra coinage, and therefore some goodies that someone like Daisy couldn’t afford. Here are the sewing projects we think Anna would use her sewing skills on.

 

Mrs. Patmore’s Ingredients for Style

Sew Retro Lace ShirtAs the head cook, Mrs. Patmore is of a position and age of superiority for a servant. Earning a livable salary, she’s been around the block enough to know when and what to spend her hard earned cash on. As such, we believe Mrs. Patmore would go for these types of projects; cheap fixes but completely functional.

O’Brien’s Mischievous Homemade Goods

Necklace TherapyIf O’Brien were to choose her types of patterns, she’d probably go for those that involved pockets and compartments to match her menacingly mysterious air. It’s always handy to have a place to hide a secret. See if you agree with these diabolical designs for the most two-sided lady’s maid.

Daisy’s DIYs

A Handibag from a Pillowcase The runt of the long list of players at Downton Abbey, Daisy basically has next to nothing to spend on fabric. While she might be skilled when it comes to sewing, she’d be the most money conscious of the bunch selected here. As such completely refashioned and upcycled projects like the ones below would be near and dear to the scullery maid.

What do you think? Did we hit it on the head or get it completely wrong? Let us know if you agree or disagree by telling us,

What do you think the characters of Downton Abbey would sew today?

 

 

 

30 Days of Sewing: Convertible Blouson Tunic

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In honor of National Sewing Month, FaveCraftsBlog will feature one free sewing pattern every day this September. To follow along, visit the blog daily or sign up for the RSS feed.

Here is today’s free sewing pattern: Convertible Blouson Tunic

Designer: Carly J. Cais of Chic Steals

Difficulty: Moderate

Rating: 

Use three men’s Xl sweatshirts to create this convertible blouson tunic. You can wear this tunic in a variety of ways, as the project demonstrates.

Free Shipping on Fabric Dye Products

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We recently published a round-up of blogger projects using Tulip Fabric Dye products, and were blown away by the great things that our blogger friends made. They dyed clothing, tablecloths, and even baskets, many with the help of the projects and techniques in the Free Fabric Dye eBook.  We just want to remind our readers that you have just 3 weeks left to use the offer for free shipping at ILovetoCreate.com on any of the fabric dye products. Enter in the code “fave1009” for free shipping at checkout.  This offer expires 11/30/09. With the holidays quickly approaching, you can start making holiday presents with these products. You could make:

Just a few ideas! Find many more ideas in the Fabric Dye eBook and go to ILovetoCreate.com to purchase fabric dye products with free shipping before November 30.

Fabric-Dye Review Round-up

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Recently, Tulip sent out a whole bunch of tie-dye and fabric dyes kits to our blogger friends to review. We are so very impressed with their ideas and fabric-dye skills! You will find all the results below with links to the individual reviews. For more information about the Tulip fabric dye products reviewed, please go here. Better yet, if you are interested in purchasing any of these projects, you can go to ILoveToCreate.com and enter the code “fave1009” for free shipping at the checkout.  Please note that this offer expires 11/30/09 though!

My Review for FaveCrafts– Spiral Shirt Made with the Dye Techniques Kit

Basket Master Weavings’  Tie-Dye Baskets– Made with Tulip Super Big One-Step Tie-Dye Kit

Fab Miss B’s Beach Tablecloth and Runner– Made with Tulip Permanent Fabric Dye

The Sometime Crafter’s Painted Fabric Dye Leaves– Made with Tulip One-Step Dyes

Chic Steal’s Tie-Dye Denim Skirt– Made with Tulip Permanent Fabric Dye and Crumple Technique

Crafterella’s Tie-Dye Fabrics– Three versions made with Tulip Permanent Fabric Dye

Many Creative Gifts’ Tie-Dye Pieces– Yoga Pants, Onesie and Spiral Shirt (FAR superior to mine) made with Tulip Super Big One-Step Tie-Dye Kit. Make sure to check out Parts 1 and 2 of her tie-dye adventure.

Lil Blue Boo’s Heart Tie-Dye Fabric– Made with Tulip Super Big One-Step Tie-Dye Kit

Inspired at Home’s Tie-Dye Picture Frame– Made with Tulip Dye Technique Kit

Create!’s Tie-Dye Pillows– Made with Tulip One-Step Tie-Dye Kit

Tie-Dye Fun for Everyone

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Tulip® Fashion Art recently sent me the Dye Techniques Kit to try and review here at FaveCrafts. We recently put together the Fun with Fabric Dye eBook full of fabric dye techniques and craft, so I was very excited to give this a try. I never knew how many things you could do with fabric dye!! The kit comes with everything you need to tie-dye the fabric of your choice including:

  • three 4 OZ bottles of Tulip® Permanent Fabric Dye™ (fuchsia, lime and turquoise)- These colors are bright, but work well together. You can use one, two or all three for your project. You can also blend the colors for solid coverage…I was thinking about adding turquoise to the fuschia for a deeper purple color. The best thing about these dyes is that they do not bleed everywhere. Precision application was surprisingly easy with the fine-tip squeeze bottles. And, I had a dyed product in about 4-6 hours.
  • one 2 OZ bottle of Tulip® Resist™- This nifty gel material allows you create areas that resist the dye…useful for creating white designs with the stencils, or you can create your own designs. Image painting an abstract design on you shirt with a the resist gel and then using the fabric dye.
  • three Tulip® Multi-Surface Stencils™
  • two sponge brushes
  • Reusable spray top- This can be placed on any of the dye bottles for spray technique…really cool and easy to use
  • 4 pairs of gloves- These are absolutely necessary. You will also need big garbage bags to protect your work surface. I did this in the kitchen near the sink and did not have much trouble with mess.
  • Rubber bands- Thick, sturdy rubber bands for a variety of dye techniques.
  • Instruction guide that includes five outrageous techniques; Shibori, Spray, Batik, Brush and Urbanesque.

I picked up a few white t-shirts at the local thrift store to experiment. Since this was my first time tie-dying, I wanted to try something with all the colors. The five techniques included in the kit booklet were great, but I picked the Swirl Tie-Dye Technique for my first project.

 

Here’s how my spiral-dyed shirt turned out.

tie_die

Fun right? I love it! The technique was super-easy and I used the rubber bands from the kit.  I also used the spray bottle and the vaporization technique explained in the booklet to create a shirt for a friend, but I forgot to snap a picture before giving it away!  The look is very modern, different from the classic hippie look with my shirt. I’m planning on dying an apron soon with the shibori technique explained in the kit booklet too, so I’ll make sure to take more pictures. I amazed that I still have dye left!

If you are interested in purchasing this kit or any fabric dye products, you can get free shipping at www.ilovetocreate.com. Enter in the code “fave1009” for free shipping at checkout! Offer expires 11/30/2009.

Christmas presents perhaps?

Break Out the Tie-Dye

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Have you heard? Tie-dye is hot again! And not just in the classic hippy-esque spiral shirts way (though always fun). Thank to some great new craft projects from Tulip, we are seeing modern and stylish fashion using tie-dye techniques (think refined skirts and applique sheaths) and great home decorating ideas.  At this past MTV Movie Awards, celebrities even tie-dyed shirts and tanks. While popular with adults again, tie-dye has always been a favorite activity with kids and teens. With tie-dye, kids can make their own colorful clothes.

The FaveCrafts editorial team is having a blast putting together a new collection of tie-day techniques and craft projects from Tulip for an eBook to be published next week! Keep an eye out for it. Here are just a few projects as a sneak preview:

Batik Tie-Dye Technique

Felt Tie-Dye Sheath Dress


In addition, all this tie-dye talk had me searcing for some great ideas out there in the crafting blogosphere. Here are some of my favorites:

  1. For the most impressive tie-dye you are likely to see anywhere, check out Amethistle. She has this amazing origami tie-dye on the front page right now. She also has some helpful youtube videos on folding for tie-dye.
  2. Tie-Dye with Tissue Paper – Alison Lee of Craft Cast shares how you can tie-dye inexpensively with colorful, store-bought tissue paper. Dollar Store Crafts took this idea and applied it to dying a onesie. Aww!
  3. The teenage daughter of craft celebrity Crafty Chica, Maya, made this great tie-dye how-to video. What a star!

Product Review and Giveaway: Tulip Fabric Spray Paint

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With stencils and fabric paint, you can decorate your own t-shirts. With Tulip’s Fabric Spray Paint, painting fabric is simple and you can even try unique techniques such as “Crumple,” described on Tulip’s website. We are giving away 3 bottles of Tulip Fabric Spray Paint in assorted colors to one lucky winner. Read the full review of Tulip Fabric Spray Paint and enter to win here!

Contest ends September 4, 2009. You can enter once daily, so return often to improve your chances of winning!

More Tulip Reviews and Crafts:

Tie-Dye

Favorite Spring Crafts

4 Brand New, Easy Sewing Patterns + Weaving Without a Loom

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I am so pleased to tell you about these brand-new projects just posted at our website from Jenya of MyEvaForeva. Jenya has two Etsy shops at forEvaMore and EvaForeva, and was kind enough to share 5 projects with FaveCrafts.com, 4 sewing projects and 1 weaving tutorial that shows you how to weave without special equipment. These are such creative and helpful tutorials with tons of step-by-step photos.

Heating Pillow with Buckwheat– This heating pillow calls for buckwheat, which is hypoallergenic and holds heat (or cold) better than any grain.

Sweet Collar– Sew up a sweet little collar with embellishments to finish any outfit.

Easy Applique Flowers– Even without a sewing machine, you can add fun applique flowers to garments with scrap frabic.

Eco-Friendly Felt and Leather Bag– This bag is made from sustainable and biodegradable industrial felt and recycled leather. This is one sturdy, reusable bag for shopping.

 

How to Weave without Special Equipiment– Instead of purchasing a loom, use an old wood frame and nails to weave a piece. Jenya turns her piece into a handy little pouch.

 

Thanks so much Jenya!

Celebrities Love to Tie-Dye Too

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At the recent MTV Movie Awards, Duncan gave out more than 120 Tulip One Step Tie-Dye kits to celebrities who tie-dyed a tank top or shirt. Celebrity participants included Slash, former lead guitarist of Guns N’ Roses and actor Eric Estrada. Check out the pictures at Duncan’s Flickr Page!

Tie-dye is such a fun summer craft project and we have a bunch of projects using Duncan’s easy One Step Tie-Dye kit. Girls will appreciate this Flower T-Shirt or this Girl Stuff Bag, perfect for overnights or camp. The tie-dye kit can also be used to create these painted Garden Accessories for any member of the family.

How to Sew on a Button

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Yesterday, Linda LaSala of Girlawhirl contributed a few ideas at FaveCrafts for updating old clothes with brand new touches to give them life. One of the ideas was adding new buttons to a cashmere sweater.

Cashmere Sweater Before

Cashmere Sweater Before

Cashmere Sweater with New Buttons

Cashmere Sweater with New Buttons

Fabulous no? With this idea in mind, I thought that some of our readers might appreciate a basic tutorial on how to sew on a button. Even if you know how to sew, perhaps you might like to see our version of how to make a strong, reinforced button. There might be a few tips in here you find useful.

  1. Select thread that will match your button. Cut off at least 5 inches of thread with sharp scissors. You want a straight cut.
  2. Thread your needle by inserting the thread through the eye of the needle. Licking the thread makes this easier. To reduce the number of times you have to thread the holes in the button, double thread your needle. To double the thread, simply pull the thread through the eye of the needle until you have equal lengths of thread extending from both sides. You can repeat this with another thread for a super-strong quadruple-thread.
  3. Tie the ends of the thread together for a beginning knot. If you did not double the thread, tie a knot at the end of the thread.
  4. Align the button on the fabric. Make sure it lines up with the button hole on the other panel. If a button was on the garment previously, use the old button holes as a guide.
  5. Push the needle through the fabric up from the button through one hole in the button and slowly pull to the knot.
  6. Before you start stitching across the button, place a needle, pin, or toothpick across the button and hold it there while you make the first stitches. Removing this pin when finished creates the necessary space between the button and the garment so that it can be buttoned.
  7. To match the other buttons on the garment with 4-hole buttons, check whether the stitches are crossed or parallel. For parallel lines, push the needle down through a hole next to the first hole. For crossed X lines, push the needle down through the hole diagonal.  For a 2-hole button, you only have one choice!
  8. Bring the needle up through a new hole in a 4-hole button, or the first hole in a 2-hole button.
  9. Repeat the process until the button is secure, making sure the stitches are equally made. Remember, you have to do this less times with a double or quadruple thread.
  10. On the last stitch, push the needle through the material, but not through a button hole, in the area between the fabric and the button. Pull the thread through.
  11. Remove the pin or needle and pull up gently on the button to give you some space.
  12. To reinforce the thread between the button and the fabric, take the needle and wrap it around the thread five or six times.
  13. Push the needle back down through the fabric.
  14. To secure the thread, backstitch a couple times. Stick the needle into the fabric near the knot, push the needle over a quarter inch to the left and bring it back up, pulling taut. At the left end of your stitch, repeat this process. Do this a few times. You can also make these stitches at the beginning before sewing on your button.
  15. Cut off any excess thread and you are done!

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