Santa Monica Tankini

So I am the last stop on the Peek A Boo Pattern Tour!

I had a fun time looking through all of Amy's patterns when deciding which pattern to sew, and this cute little number jumped out at me.

The Santa Monica Tankini

Gigi needed a new bathing suit and I loved the little butt ruffle on the pattern!

Toddlers + Butt Ruffles = irresistible cuteness.

Totally random info, but we used to live in Santa Monica.

Great beaches and I miss the bike path.

I had a little bit of wide, red striped fabric left over from the strong man costume I made for the play I was working on last month.

As you can see this costume took quite a bit of fabric. I had some big scraps left over and was aching to make something cute like a bathing suit.

Sewing for little kids is a lot more fun and easy than sewing for big, grown actors with hard to fit bodies. 

But this actor was a real sweetie.

And the fabric was free!

This was the first time I made a bathing suit and it was quite painless.

The directions were clear and the fit is accurate.

I am itching to make myself one now.

Here are the little ruffles!

If I could get away with it, I'd wear them too.

I made the ruffles two and a half times the width of the bathing suit bottom, longer than the pattern advised. I like really full ruffles.

The ideal standard for a ruffle is usually 2.5 times the width of garment for thicker fabric and three times the width for very thin fabrics.

Ready to wear will often be less, so as to save on fabric costs.

It was a little chilly during this photo shoot. 

Poor Gigi is shivering a little.

We threw a sweater on her right after this.

I love that grumpy face!

I have been loving the color combination of aqua and red. It looks so fresh and modern.

If you would like to try making this pattern yourself it is on sale today for only five dollars, 40% off the normal price!

Not only is the Santa Monica Tankini pattern on sale today,

 but there is also a giveaway.

One lucky winner will win three patterns of their choice from the Peek a boo Pattern shop.

If you would like to win, visit the shop and come back here to leave a comment saying which three patterns you would choose.

This giveaway will remain open until Sunday, July 29, at 11:00 PM PST.

The winner will be announced Monday, July 30.

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Indygo Junction Pattern Giveaway

Hi Readers!

If you are stopping by for Sew & Tell Saturday it will be back in July.

 I needed to take a little break and think up some new ideas to change it up a little.

 Also, I was at the beach yesterday with my kids and I was so tired from the sun I conked out before writing the post!

Today, the Indygo Junction pattern giveaway continues and I will be giving away the

 One Yard Overlap Pattern .

A cute and simple apron/ smock combo that is perfect for arts & Crafts!

This giveaway is open to followers of the Sew Country Chick blog. 

To enter, let me know if you follow via GFC, Facebook, or a feed in my comments section.

This is an unsponsored giveaway and coming from my cache of patterns I won via the Indygo Junction Modern Vintage Contest.

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Giveaway Tuesday: Indygo Junction Pattern

Before I get to the giveaway I have to announce my new blog design!

I have been doing my own designs since I started but felt I needed some help getting the blog to be more organized so I hired Jacquelinne from Smitten Blog Designs . She did a great job working with me to understand my concept and she also added some of her own great ideas! Now I can work more on improving my posts instead of fiddling with my blog design for hours on end. I hope you like it! I love the navigation bars up on top there.

I have a new feature here on the blog!

Giveaway Tuesday!

I will be giving away a different pattern every Tuesday so be sure and stop by to check them out on future Tuesdays.

Recently, I won a contest sponsored by Indygo Junction Patterns called the Vintage Modern Design Challenge.

I was sent lots and lots of goodies including a stash of Indygo Junction patterns which I will be sharing with you.

This week's giveaway is the cute bubble shorts, baby shoes, & hat pattern shown above.

Perfect for summer sewing!

To Enter Giveaway :

Leave a comment below.

For extra votes

 You can follow my blog by GFC, FB, Twitter, or RSS feed.

For another vote you can follow my Pinterest board.

Or you can just leave a comment if you don't want to do all that other stuff!

The giveaways will remain open all week and I will announce a winner every following Tuesday.

Good luck!

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Seam Allowance Guide Giveaway and Sew & Tell Saturday

First off, we have a winner for the Emmaline Bags PDF pattern!

Lily drew numbers and it was 

Andrea from Four Square Walls!

Andrea, you are an awesome seamstress. I know you will make a great bag and I hope you post it on Sew & Tell Saturday!

I will be contacting you.

This week I have a new giveaway for you!

It's a  newly invented gadget sent to me by Hollie, the creator. 

It's called

The Seam Allowance Guide 

 It's a handy little magnet thingy that attaches to your scissors so you can cut seam allowances along the edge of a pattern without having to add them with a ruler. Two are included, one for straight shears and one for angled shears. Cool, isn't it?

Use it for: 

Burda patterns

Marfy patterns

Japanese pattern books

Copying your own clothes

 Altering patterns

It easily cuts out a seam allowance on patterns that don't have one.

I tried it on a Burdastyle handbook pattern last week and it worked great!

If you don't want to wait for the giveaway resultswant to order one visit Hollies' website. She offers free worldwide shipping.

To enter the giveaway to win a free shipped seam allowance guide:

 Leave a comment saying what you would use your seam allowance guide for to be entered in the giveaway.

For extra votes:

Like Sew Country Chick on FB or GFC and you can get an extra vote for each !

On to Sew & Tell Saturday!

Since I have been talking purses here are some featured purses from last week from the following talented bloggers!

Featured from last week:

What a cute coin purse made by Malaika  Hand Me Down Designs

A  fun patchwork  purse by Sew Very.

A tutorial for making this clutch at Sherri Loves..

lets' see what you have been working on....

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Lily's DIY Angry Bird birthday party and my giveaway winners !

Lily's 9th birthday party was a lot of fun. The pinata I worked so hard on was an epic fail and collapsed on us so  my two teens had to run out at the last minute to buy a pinata for the party. However, the cake  Liz made for the party turned out adorable!

Liz's Angry Bird cake

Angry Bird balloons...

 I painted an Angry Bird and created a game of "Pin the beak on the Angry Bird."

A rousing game of musical chairs. Old fashioned kid party fun! I had big aspirations for this party and spent a lot of time perusing some fabulous ideas on various blogs but ended up just keeping the whole thing simple.

My failed pinata and...

our bargain shop replacement!

A couple of  birds showed up for some goodies.

Happy birthday to my Lily!

On to the Giveaway winners!

Congratulations to Shannon from Vintage Violet Mama for winning the Shabby Apple Dress giveaway!

I will be contacting you to get your info to Shabby Apple so they can send you your dress ASAP.

For my sweater giveaway congratulations to number 11 from the random number generator which would be Deb who blogs at Stronger By The Minute. I'll be contacting you too to get your shipping info.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. 

Upcycled Baby Sweater Giveaway.

Sorry, Giveaway closed.

If you are stopping over from The SewMama Sew Giveaway page and it's your first time here, welcome to Sew Country Chick! Sewing, crafting,vintage decorating, and country living are what we do around here!

I'm Justine, mom, designer and sewist.

Well, I'm sure you are anxious to get to the giveaway so here it is:

An upcycled baby/toddler sweater I made from two sweaters with a little birdie applique for my Etsy shop, Country Chick Couture.

This sweater is valued at 40$ and today I am giving it away to one lucky winner!

It is a size 1 to 2 years. My toddler has a few I made her. They still fit her at two and a half. She has been wearing hers' since she was about 9 months old.

The sweater can be machine washed on cold on the delicate cycle you don't put it in the dryer because even though it was pre shrunk it will shrink more.

Good Luck!

To enter my giveaway:

simply leave a comment below. 

 You will receive a vote.

Not Required but for Extra Votes :

Visit my tutorial link on my sidebar or by clicking here. Check out my list of tutorials and let me know which one is your favorite by leaving a comment below. 1 vote

Follow Me 1 votes

Like me on FB 1 vote

This Giveaway ends Friday December 16.

Now for a really special surprise!

Visit my other giveaway which is going on here for a chance to win this Shabby Apple Dress.The Shabby Apple Giveaway closes Tuesday night.

Shabby Apple Giveaway and Linky Party!

Sorry, this giveaway is closed

 I was thrilled when Shabby Apple, the online women's dress boutique contacted me to host one of their fabulous giveaways for one of their pretty dresses here at Sew Country Chick.

A simple but elegant LBD dress from Shabby Apple

As well as their well known gorgeous dresses and skirts, they now make toddler, little girls, and maternity clothes. I wish they had been around when I was pregnant because their maternity dresses are adorable!

Wouldn't you feel just peachy in this maternity dress? It almost makes me want to get pregnant again.  Well, almost!

And after you have the baby, you can buy some of their new fitness wear to get in shape!

And lets' not forget the little one. This Boho dress was one of my favorites for kids. Of course, I'm partial to lots of color and patterns on little girls' dresses!

On to the Giveaway!!!

 A simple shift takes on a new form with a lei of tucks, folds and petal-like ruffles along the rounded scoop neck of the Bali H'ai dress. 

 How would you like to win this pretty purple dress? 

Because of its simple a -line princess shape. I think this dress would be pretty on a variety of figures and the deep jewel tone purple color is perfect for the season.

How to enter:

This giveaway is only open to U.S. residents.

For each entry leave a separate comment:

:

  1. Required: Like Shabby Apple on Facebook.

2. Required: After liking Shabby Apple, go to Shabby Apple and look through their shoes. Leave a comment here telling me which shoes you would wear with the Bali-Hai dress!



NOT REQUIRED BUT FOR EXTRA VOTES:

3. Follow Sew Country Chick via Google friend connect on my side bar OR Like My Facebook page. This isn't mandatory but I hope you like my blog and I will give you an extra vote for both things!

More Extra votes. One for each action: 

4.Tweet about my giveaway with a link.


5. Post on your Facebook page a link about the giveaway.

6.Post a link on your own blog.


If you do all six things you will get 6 votes, it's up to you. But you have to do the mandatory ones to enter. I hope I haven't confused you with all of these rules!

This giveaway will be open until Tuesday at midnight.

Now on to the linky party! 

This is one exciting post today, isn't it? I won't be posting any featured posts today because of the giveaway and this post would be way too long.

Good Luck!

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Giveaway: Burdastyle Pattern Magazine 6/2011

Today's giveaway is for my June 2011 edition of Burdastyle Magazine. As you can see there are lots of patterns : ladies, ladies plus sizes and kids. Burdastyle plus patterns are always very fashion forward.   There is also a whole section dedicated to creating the Bridgette Bardot look . The children's patterns in this issue are also very wearable and cute. Craft projects are included as well. You can make a whole wardrobe just from the patterns in this magazine! I have leafed through this magazine but haven't used any of the patterns. I just have too many other projects planned and don't think I'll ever get to it. You pattern collectors know how that goes, right?

Burdastyle Magazine isn't available at any newsstands in the So. California area and I have to have mine sent from Europe so you can't just rush down to Joanne's for this magazine if you are in the US!

Here are the entry rules:

Mandatory: Leave a comment this post with your e-mail . If you know where to buy Burdastyle magazine in the US let me know. Subscriptions are expensive!

Extra votes:

1. Follow my blog.

2. Like Sew Country Chick on FB.

Summer looks.

Check out the Anna Molinari pattern in leopard above.

Resort and evening looks.

Plus size patterns that are actually fashionable! Yay for Burda!.

Giveaway Winner Sertyan

Congratulations to Sertyan, you won my Giveaway pattern! 

Sertyan is a super talented designer and seamstress who blogs from Malaysia. One of the things I love about blogging is getting to know other bloggers around the world via their blogs and vice- versa. For instance, my last pattern winner was Little Betty Designs from Sydney, Australia. You should definitely check out her blog and the blog this week's winner Sertyan from Sertyan's Sewing Corner. I have been a fan of hers for awhile now and really enjoy reading her blog and seeing all the adorable creations she make for her little cutie like this Minnie Mouse Dress below.

Doesn't this dress just make you happy? I know I want one like this for Gigi!

Recently, she has started sewing for herself, and I was excited that her name was drawn from my trusty Mason jar and I can't wait to see her rendition of this pattern.

Sertyan's vintage inspired dress.
This pattern looks a little tough, so no pressure Sertyan ! That neckline does looks pretty tricky. I'm waiting till I find the perfect vintage fabric to make mine. Something slinky and fluid, like a vintage rayon crepe.