The Cupcake Goddess

In the Shop - Belt & Buckle Kits

Oh my goodness Friends! These are sold out, for now! Don't fret - I've got more up my sleeve and will be posting them very soon! I'll let you all know when they are available again!

Whatever happened to the belt and buckle kits of yesteryear? I remember coming upon my very first belt and buckle kit in a thrift store. Oh the excitement! The tingling fingers, flutters in my heart. It's a thrilling thing, you know. I wanted another one before long. I've found them here and there and I have a small collection that I truly treasure. I'm a belt person, what can I say?

Getting to the point, I've found a way to carry these. Now, isn't that exciting? These include everything from bygone days - buckle, eyelets, belt backing, the adhesive buckle pattern and prong. There's instructions for how to make it on the inside of the packaging. There are many ways to make a belt, and definitely one of the best is Casey's tutorial, so head on over to her place and check that out too.

For just this moment, these are very limited and I have a small supply of the hand cover buckles too. I'm carrying just three sizes, but don't fret many more sizes will be available soon. I also plan to be carrying the belt backing by the yard in the shop and I've got another variation of the belt and buckle kits coming out very soon (maybe this week!) too. For now, run over and snatch up one for yourself, a friend or even.....your mom - Mother's day is just around the corner and how much fun to give her a little remembrance from her youthful sewing days! Happy happy belt making!

xoxo,

Sunni

In the Shop - Wrist Pincushions

I'm so so so excited to finally be releasing a new product at A Fashionable Stitch. These have been a long time in the making. In fact, to pinpoint the exact moment was when Patty over at the Snug Bug interviewed me last year and was wondering if I would ever create wrist pincushions. To be honest, I hadn't really thought about them. Oh the power of suggestion! Ever since that time I've been toying with the idea. These were not easy to come up with. These have gone through several revisions, prototypes, stages and everything until I've finally been pleased with the result. So let's take a look, shall we?

Having gone through many samples I found that for wrist pincushions, the simpler the pin pillow the better with bells and whistles added to make wearing easier and more comfortable. To begin with there are two sizes - Small and Large. Small for those with sm-med wrists and large for med-large wrists (though you are welcome to have which ever you like). They have a metal base, which honestly, was the hardest idea to come up with. I found in my pincushion prototype travels that though those wrist pincushions with out a base seem alright at first, after a few wearings the pins sink down into the pincushion and cause discomfort by pricking your wrist. The most fun part is figuring out which pin/pins are causing the discomfort and moving them and really, who wants to do that? So having a base on these was not optional it was necessary! Next comes the wristband. These are real petersham ribbon. I wanted the wristband to be adjustable because I also found that your wrist can shrink or you want to move the pincushion to a different spot on the arm and such and having an adjustable band is much easier than having one that is not adjustable. The wristbands have a D-ring and velcro closure and are made to your size. They come in red and cream for the moment and are quite comfy, if I do say so.

These are also made with stabilized fashion fabrics paired with wool felt. There are a couple cotton cuties thrown in, but for these particular pincushions I found the aesthetic increased tenfold when thinking that they would look good to wear. I can't take total credit for that. I posted a thought on Facebook a few weeks back asking about wrist pincushions and why they are so good. Laura wondered if I could make some that had a more "elegant presence on the wrist." I had a few of these ready to go in the shop last week all done up in cute quilting cottons. After staring at them for a time, I kept thinking, this is just all wrong. I was after more of an elegant, feminine (though I plan to make a few manly options for the male stitcher) with a touch of whimsy rather than full blown "cute." The idea is that the fact that you are wearing one throws them into the category of clothing/accessory. You could say, they are the perfect accessory for a garment seamstress.

Phew!...Now you know what I've been slaving away on. What do you think? These would make great gifts too! I'll be pairing them up with some Ham and Roll sets soon, so keep your eyes peeled. Jump over to the shop and have look!

xoxo,

Sunni

In the Shop - Shift Dress Madness

Alot of shift dresses came into my possession last week! Admittedly, this is not a design I have ever really favored, but after seeing many many patterns and sort of delving into the world of shift dresses a bit more, I'm somewhat converted. If you haven't yet, take a look over on my inspiration journal for a few modern takes on a shift. Planning to cut out a shift dress muslin this week in fact! Jump over to the shop where many have been uploaded and a few more will be added later this week.

Don't forget to check out the Bargain Bin either, where I've relisted a few "last chance" patterns.

xoxo,

Sunni

the Name Game

Good news! The shop is finally official. It's a registered LLC. With a fresh new name - A Fashionable Stitch. You'll find it in the same place, just giving my shop a more direct focus. I'm terribly excited about it. Mostly because its one more step towards what I want the shop to be. I'll still be creating some of my own sewing notions and some of them I'll be peddling - in other words getting from a supplier and providing in the shop. The goal? I want to provide seamstresses a place where they can get sewing notions and patterns all in one place. Why? I've always had this problem. Can't ever find everything I need for one project all in one place. And I usually want specialty things, fine things that I have to special order online. Wouldn't it be a dream to find and buy everything all in one place? Sigh....

As far as the new name, it's very much geared toward something specific. Sewing apparel. Granted, I don't know that I'll ever start offering fabric (you never know), but I really wanted it to be focused. There are alot of sewing stores and shops around and some are geared towards everything under the sun, some towards crafty sewing but I've only found one (locally) that is geared towards serious fashion sewing. It can be the same online to a certain extent. So A Fashionable Stitch it is. This and I've had a little trouble with my alias. I mean it does give the impression that I make cupcakes and lounge around all day wearing nothing but an apron.

What do you think? Like the new name?

xoxo,

Sunni

Shop Sweetness

The shop is finally at full speed again. Well again is probably not the best word as now I'm doing this full-time and have never done that before. I have to admit, this first week has been sort of strange. I feel like I'll be going into work next week or something and then I have to remind myself that that is not so. I work from home now. What's even weirder is that I was able to finish up a few hams and rolls for the shop in just a few days. It would have been shorter than that even if I hadn't been a little distracted here and there. That is very weird. Usually it would have taken me a good 2 weeks, if I was dilligent and worked all around the clock, left the kitchen in shambles not to mention the rest of my small apartment, put in my hours on the weekend, didn't do laundry, screamed in the midst of harrowing traffic frantically trying to get home....Oh sorry, I mean if I didn't get distracted by anything else whatsoever by means of living. Sheesh!

So now I have time to work hard, get things together quicker and do research. I'll be adding new products to the shop soon. Different things. Right now I'm working on belt and buckle kits. Yeah, I'm incredibly excited about them. I could faint, I'm so excited. Hopefully that excites you too. And I've been getting emails from friendly readers giving me ideas for things to go in the shop! Thank you! This really helps. Really. I have a lot of ideas, but I like to hear what people are looking for, haven't found and need. I have some red tape to sort through, not to mention tax stuff, possibly a new name for the shop and official things like that.

In the meantime I wanted to introduce a new version of my ham and roll sets. These are the Classics. They are less expensive than the other hams and rolls because they are covered in muslin rather than a printed cotton. Same quality and fun with a chic, tidy, classic twist.

I've also been contemplating tailor's ham and seam roll kits and/or a pattern. Are you interested in creating your own Tailor's Ham or Seam Roll? Some folks are interested making their own tools and some just want to buy them, because then they have more time for sewing. I felt this might be a good alternative for those of you stitchers who live overseas, because the shipping to your countries is a bit outrageous. I wouldn't be able to provide sawdust, so I'm wondering how many of you have access to sawdust? Even if you didn't there are other alternatives to sawdust that you could use. What say you?

I also wanted to give an incredibly big Thanks to everyone who reads me. Your support about my decision to quit my day job was so overwhelming and I truly felt kindred with those of you who commented. You have no idea how much it means to me. It brings a few happy tears to my eyes just thinking about it. Thank you so much!

xoxo,

Sunni

In the Shop - Spring Fling Pattern Sale!

The patterns in the shop are becoming a bit overwhelming and it's time to get things moving! What better way than to have a pattern sale. Today, tomorrow and Wednesday you can get 50% off every pattern in the shop by entering the code SPRINGFLING in the coupon code section at checkout. All patterns have been checked to ensure that all pattern pieces are present, but please read the listing as I may have posted patterns that have been cut to a specific size and such. Looking for my hams and rolls, maybe a pincushion? The shop will be back to normal come Thursday. Hams, rolls and pincushions galore are coming very soon! Head on over to the shop and treat yourself to a vintage pattern or two!

xoxo,

Sunni

Stitching Spotlights

I have missed so many Stitching Spotlights, I don't even know where to begin, so let's just start over. Right? Right. It's November. NOVEMBER! You know what that means right? Leaves falling, hot drinks, stocking-ed feet and fall fashion, of course. I love this time of year. The colors are so pungent, you can almost taste them.

Cue. Music. Have you seen Dan In Real Life? I bought the soundtrack, I loved it so much. And this is my favorite song by Sondre Lerche. Here's Modern Nature.

kokuryu from Burda Style

Have you visited this girl's website? She makes the sweetest things, takes the sweetest photos and stitches like a mad woman. And look at this Jackie O inspired dress. I saw this pattern on Burda Style awhile back, one of the new patterns from the Burda Mag that you can download. I think I need one of these. The color, oh the color she's used is just superb!

I bought this delightful book not too long ago. Mr. Coffin definitely knows how to write a sewing book that will peak your interest. He's got shirtmaking down to an art and it's all put so eloquently. Love it. Highly recommend. And now I think I need his trouser making book. And I need to get with it and put together that pants sew-a-long. Almost there.

Want to get your hands on pin hem marker? Well Ms. Gertie posted a link to these here that seem to be reproductions of the one I have. There are several vintage ones on etsy, however you may find that they are not quite high enough to give you the skirt length you desire. This one from B Black and Son's could definitely give you a mini length or below the knee length. Have a look. Put it on your wishlist for Christmas as these are definitely a gift worth getting. Then you can have your own contraption in action, like me.

Happy Friday Everyone! I'm up to my ears in velvet dust from the boyfriend's jacket. It's looking rather lovely though, if I do say so myself. I've got a few sneak peeks planned for next week. Have a lovely weekend!

xoxo,

Sunni

Ho Hum

So, you won't be seeing me much this week. I've decided to take a little break to get caught up on some things and more behind on others. You know, the usual. I thought I would at least give a plug to those of you looking for tailor's ham and seam roll sets. I've just updated the shop with a fresh batch. Only three sets! I know, I should have more. Anyhow, I've found that some of you participating in Gertie's Sew-A-Long have been looking for a special set just for this occasion.

Have a happy week! I'll be back next week for more fun and drama!

xoxo,

Sunni

In the Shop - Party Pack Vintage Knitting/Crochet Patterns

As I've been keeping a keen eye on knitting odds and ends, I came across these sweet little vintage leaflets from the 1950's and 1960's in my thrifting travels. I thought all of them were super darling and all things that I plan to make once I get a handle on knitting and possibly crocheting. And I thought they would make a great addition to the shop for others to have as well. I've scanned all of the leaflets I found and put them into party pack PDFs so you get a group of them when you purchase. All party packs are $7 or under too and are emailed straight to you with no shipping charge! And what with the Holidays just around the corner, these would make super sweet gifts all done up. Just a little fun and vintage sweetness for your day! Enjoy!

In the Shop - Vintage Pattern Madness

Last week I was lucky enough to find some great vintage patterns to put in the shop. Seriously lucky. There are some real sweets in this bunch. Definitely have a gander and buy yourself a new sewing project in honor of the Fall that's soon to come!

Update: Found even more vintage patterns over the weekend, will be adding them throughout the week! Keep your eyes peeled!

xoxo,

Sunni