Introducing... Club Havana

I am over the moon excited to introduce you to my newest fabric collection for Riley Blake Designs, called Club Havana.

This line was inspired by a vacation we took with my extended family last Summer to celebrate my parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary. My mom is Costa Rican and my dad is Puerto Rican, but one of their bucket list items has always been to go to Cuba, so we had to make it happen. I loved Cuba so much that I knew right away I needed to turn those scrumptious colors and vibrant imagery into some wearable art.

Once you step off the boat onto the streets of Havana, one of the most striking and memorable things you'll see is the abundance of American classic cars painted in bright, fun colors that are cruising the streets. These are called "Boteros" and are mostly used as taxi cabs for tourists or more affluent locals. Of course, I couldn't resist taking a few dozen pictures.

As soon as I saw these cars, I knew that I wanted this line to have a rougher, more "hand drawn" look & feel, much less tight and vectorized than all my previous lines. I started doing some rough sketches in Photoshop, and I immediately loved the result...

The "Boteros" print was born, and the rest of the line took shape from that point on.

I drew the rest of the line, including lots of florals, some happy pineapples, a very tropical IKAT print and a rounded cross, using the same loose hand drawn style as I had used for the Boteros print. View the full collection here.

This is truly one of my favorite lines I have ever drawn because it came from a place of happiness and love.

Next, I would like to share with you some sewn samples made with the Club Havana advance yardage. I knew I had to make a Stella Purse, because this is the very first pattern my mother designed for MODKID, many years ago. It's a very structured bag with a modern look and feel. It features a zippered panel closure with one outer pocket and two inner pockets.

I also made a pair of Natalie & Nate rompers because I wanted to showcase the sweetness of the Pineapple and the Boteros prints together...

Our dear friend, Maryanna Powel, of Marvelous Auntie M, sewed up this gorgeous Houndstooth Quilt using the 6 color ways of my Rounded Cross print. How fun is this?!?

And last, but certainly not least, the 3 color ways of my Pineapples print was selected to be printed in a super soft Jersey Knit, and I am beyond thrilled about it because I LOVE sewing with knits!!

Courtney Davis, of Sweeter Than Cupcakes, made the Modkid Malibu Dress for her oldest daughter and a Laguna Summer Top with Spring Break Shorts for the youngest. The result is the perfect sister set!

I Sew For Fun Blog Tour

When Deanna Springer, VP of Marketing at Nancy Zieman Productions, LLC. and long time friend of mine, contacted me about participating in their upcoming Blog Tour to promote Nancy Zieman's new book, I Sew For Fun, and coordinating line of kid-friendly sewing notions for Clover, I had a full range of emotions. I felt honored to be asked, excited to participate, and nostalgic about the thought of Nancy not being here with us to witness this momentous occasion. Nancy passed away last November after a long battle with cancer, but her memory will live forever in the hearts of her family, friends, and the hundreds and thousands of people she touched with her unending creativity and unmatched kindness. I was lucky enough to be able to film a couple of episodes of Sewing With Nancy back in 2014, and it is an experience I will never forget.

One of Nancy's last projects, and I'm sure one of her most favorite ones, was writing this book, I Sew For Fun, which is dedicated to her granddaughters and focuses on adults and children sewing together. The book includes 20 DIY projects, ranging from small quilts, to garments, to bags. She takes you step-by-step on how to create each projects and which one of her I Sew For Fun sewing notions to use. 

After much deliberation, Sydney chose to make the Drawstring Bag, which is project #13, because she always needs new bags to carry her dance shoes and accessories. She quickly ran to the studio to choose fabrics and trims for this project.

She chose a Teal Dot from an older collection of mine, Textured Basics (no longer in print) and paired it up with the Gray Scalloped Dot from Flit & Bloom, my newest fabric collection for Riley Blake. We used 3/16" cording instead of ribbon for the drawstring.

Since Sydney has been sewing for a couple of years now and knows her way around a sewing machine, I let her take the lead on this project. 

She loved using all her new sewing notions, with fun colors and shapes, but said she found this Seam Gauge especially helpful in helping her keep a straight line when stitching and topstitching, which is something she often struggles with.

Sydney thought pinning the outer pocket on her drawstring bag was extra fun with her new heart-shaped pins, which come with their own heart-shaped magnetic holder.

Just check out how pretty these I Sew For Fun sewing notions are!

This new book and kid-friendly sewing notions certainly take sewing to a whole new level for kids! I know Sydney will want to go through the whole book and make a few more projects with her friends!

Hope you'll check out the I Sew For Fun book and coordinating notions for your child! And don't forget to follow along with the full blog tour dates here.

Monday, February 5

Nancy Zieman Productions, LLC

The Sewing Loft

The Cottage Mama

Tuesday, February 6

Fabric Mutt

Diary of a Quilter

Wednesday, February 7

Amy’s Creative Side

Thursday, February 8

Simple Simon and Company

SewHere.com

Designer Joi

Friday, February 9

Stitch This! The Martingale Blog

MODKID

Saturday, February 10

Transient Art

Sew Positively Sara

Lindsay Sews

Halloween Retrospective

This is the first year since my two daughters were born that they are not wearing a mama-made costume. I've been dreading this day. Halloween is a favorite holiday around the Young household and I've always truly enjoyed not only the designing and sewing of costumes, but the photoshoot and editing that comes with it. I've been lucky that up until now, my girls have gotten as much into it as I have, indulging me with all my crazy over-the-top ideas. So, since I'm feeling a bit nostalgic, I thought I'd share some of my favorite creations through the years... (I'll include links to patterns for those that used them).

2009

Sophie was a witch. I used the Penny pattern (or what would eventually become the Penny pattern, as it had not been released yet), lengthened to the floor and roughly cut the bottom hem into peaks. All other accessories were purchased.

Sydney was a fairy. I used what eventually because the Bubble Dress from Sewing MODKID Style and added a faux corseted panel in the front (the ribbons were just sewn onto the fabric in a criss-cross fashion). Wings and other accessories were purchased.

2014

Sydney was Wednesday Addams. I used the Avery pattern for her dress and I modified it as shown at the bottom of this post. I made a Potty Girl from my Playdate collection and a matching dress, free printable pattern found here. Sydney and I went to two local cemeteries to shoot these pictures. One of them had graves as old as the 1700's. See more photos and details here.

Sophie was a zombie. I used the Melanie Misses pattern to make her dress. Lots of details including the fabrics are found here. We shot these pictures just down the street from our house in front of an abandoned barn.

We even did a little movie to celebrate the occasion...

2015

Sophie was the most perfect "Dorothy" from Wizard of Oz along with her own "Toto" (er... our Miniature Schnauzer, Duke). I used the Avery pattern for the blouse and the pinafore dress was self-drafted. But if you want to learn all the details, look here.

Sydney was a "Broken Little Red Riding Hood Doll" (her own costume mash-up idea after not being able to decide between "Broken Doll" and "Little Red Riding Hood").  I used the Charlotte pattern for her dress. The Hooded Cape tutorial can be found in my newest book, Patternless Sewing Mod Style. If you're interested in learning how we did the make-up (including full product details), check out this post.

2016

Sydney was "Eleven" from the Netflix series "Stranger Things". I used the Elle pattern for the dress. We used tempera paints to paint in the green and yellow stripes on plain white crew socks because we could not find the right color combination anywhere! All other accessories were purchased. Read all the details here.

Sophie did not want to dress up in 2016, so I got in the game and dressed up as Joyce Byers to go along with the Stranger Things theme. Sydney and I attended a costume contest at a local Record Store and we won! :)

I hope these have provided some inspiration for upcoming costumes. I am still hopeful that at least one of them will ask me to make something for them between now and then... I have been known to pull all-nighters before for a great costume!

Introducing: Primavera by Patty Young

I am over the moon excited to introduce my newest quilting cotton fabric collection I've designed for Riley Blake Designs titled, Primavera.

It was late January 2016 and I had been mulling over what the theme of my next fabric line would be for what seemed like days. When it's freezing out (I live in the frigid Midwest), I usually design bright, warm, happy fabrics, so I knew I wanted to do that again, but hadn't quite settled on any concrete ideas yet.

The night of January 28th, I had a bout of insomnia, as usually happens when I have a deadline looming. When I finally fell asleep, I dreamt about grasshoppers. It was such a vivid dream! And confusing as well, because I probably hand't seen a grasshopper in months, or at least since my last trip to Florida, which had been a while ago.

When I woke up, I looked up the significance of grasshoppers in dreams. Wikipedia said: When grasshoppers appear in dreams, these have been interpreted as symbols of "Freedom, independence, spiritual enlightenment, inability to settle down or commit to decision".

That last bit resonated with me and made me chuckle, given my current state of mind. So, I said to myself, "That's it, I'm drawing a grasshopper today!" And that's how this little dude came about.

Believe it or not, this little dude sat on my computer screen for a few more days all by his lonesome because I didn't know how he would fit into a fabric line. Eventually, I created a funky damask and sort of camouflaged him in it. 

I loved it, but still didn't know if Riley Blake would, So, I started drawing some flowers and other complimentary prints to show Riley Blake, still not knowing if my friend, the grasshopper, had a place in the line. By then, my creative juices were flowing beautifully. I was drawing, picking color palettes, and drawing some more. When I finally showed Riley Blake my concept for the line, I did not include my Mad Hopper. I'm not sure why. Maybe I was afraid they would find him odd or scary and kill the whole thing. This was my initial pitch, which Riley Blake accepted immediately.

When I finally had the whole line drawn out, my Mad Hopper found his place and I submitted him along with the rest of the prints, still thinking in the back of my mind that there was a possibility he would not make it. But he did!!

I named the line "Primavera", which means "Spring" in Spanish, as a nod to my Latin heritage, my desire for warmer temperatures, and my friend, the Mad Hopper.

I hope you love it as much as I do! The Primavera fabric has started shipping already, so it will be available very soon (if not now) in most independent fabric stores and online fabric retailers. 

It is available already on Etsy and at Hawthorne Threads.

Here is some inspiration to get your creative juices flowing (see end of post for a coupon code for any of these patterns).

Courtney sewed a Julia skirt and a Penny top for her youngest daughter, Tandy. This was for a pattern cover re-print. She used the Main Print in Teal for the skirt main fabric and the Paisley in Pink for the underskirt. The flower appliqué on the Penny shirt (template included in the Julia pattern) is made with the Paisley print in Green and Pink.

Courtney also made this adorable Dakota top for her oldest daughter, Avery, using the Tile in Tangerine print from Primavera. Learn how she made and attached the tassels in this easy tutorial.

And lastly, I made this modified Vivian Shirt for my daughter, Sydney, using the Plaid and Paisley prints in the Teal colorway. Learn how to modify the Vivian dress into a shirt in this easy tutorial.

More is soon to come, but for now, enjoy these and any other MODKID pattern at 25% off for a limited time! Coupon code PRIMAVERA2017 gets you 25% off PDF Patterns on our Etsy store and anything off our web store, including books, paper patterns and ribbon samplers. Code expires at midnight EST on January 21st, 2017. Happy Shopping!