Here is a little something for your viewing pleasure. I originally painted a version of this piece in my sketchbook and loved it so much that i decided to paint it as a finished piece. I used Holbein watercolor, Holbein gouache, and Sakura gelly roll gel pens.
P.S. I've finally found a good angle to film at which means that there are more videos to come. YAY!!!
Happy Mother's Day to all of the beautiful mom's out there!
Aloha friends! Spring is in the air and it's officially time to bust this dress (and these pictures) out of the archives. This lovely is my second Emery dress and i must say... I love it just as much as my first Emery. The shilouette is classic and can be dressed up or down depending on the fabric used and the alterations (i.e. shorter skirt, no sleeves, flowy fabric). If you would like an in depth review of this sewing pattern then check out THIS POST.
Garment: Emery Dress by Christine Haynes // Fabric: Pear by Call Me Chartreuse
There are so many benefits to sewing your own clothes (can we talk about the customization!!!!), but it can be hard to know where to start since there is a ton of information out there!
Because I love you all, here are 5 Sewing Tips for Beginners that have helped me the most in my sewing journey.
1. Oil your machine! I know, I know...sounds way too simple right? Trust me, wether you have a $50 machine or a $1,000 machine a clean machine makes all the difference. It'll run a whole lot quieter and smoother if it's free of lint and freshly oiled.
2. Get yourself a walking foot. A walking foot provides you with an extra set of grips on top of your work to help the fabric feed easier, which prevents the top fabric from shifting while you sew. It's especially great for matching stripes, slippery fabric, and stretchy fabric. This presser foot is by far my favorite sewing accessory and very rarely leaves my machine.
Bernina Walking Foot... insert heart eye emoji.
3. Use a pencil for tracing pattern pieces onto fabric. This tip I learned from Jen of Grainline Studios. Pencil is great because it shows up on a wide variety of fabrics, doesn't smudge like a chalk tracer, and doesn't disappear after ten minutes. Cut just inside the pencil lines when you are done tracing and you are good to go.
4. Start with a pattern that has a sew-a-long. When an indie designer releases a new pattern often times they will also host a sew-a-long on their blog with in depth pictures and instructions regarding that particular pattern. This is a great option if you find yourself staring at the original written instructions going "wait....WHAT?!" every 5 seconds.
5. Unsure about the fit of a pattern? Make a muslin!!!!! If you are unsure about how a garment is going to fit buy some cheap fabric and make a practice piece. For my first Emery I was pretty sure i'd have to shorten the bodice and was positive i'd have to do a small Bust Adjustment (SBA), so instead of cutting directly into my final fabric I cut out the bodice pieces in some cheap fabric and basted it together to see where i'd have to make those adjustments. which means you will be much happier with the fit of the final piece. If it's my first time sewing a pattern that has techniques I haven't done before or if I want to test the fit (but still be able to wear the piece if it comes out good) I make a wearable muslin from a low cost pretty fabric.
**Bonus** Head to Sprout Patterns for easy peasy customizable cut-and-sew projects. Sprout combines Indie sewing patterns with designs from the Spoonflower community. Just pick a sewing pattern (from pouches to baby clothes to adult garments) and chose the design. All you have to do is cut it out and sew it up! To pair a garment with one of my own designs search by designer when choosing a design and type in Call Me Chartreuse. I purchased a Lark tee in my Camera pattern, so i'll be sure to report back.
Pear fabric//Call Me Chartreuse
What sewing tips would you give to a beginner?? Let me know in the comments!
Hello lovely people! I bring you the (drum roll please...) Fruit of the Day Survey! Now is the time to vote for all of your favorite fruit patterns from the past month and help me create my spring/summer collection! I will be turning the top pattern sketches into proper patterns that will be uploaded to my shops.
Below you will see a compilation of each Fruit of the Day numbered and labeled, as well as the survey to fill out at the bottom. You can vote for as many or as few as you want. If you would like to be added to my newsletter to be notified when the collection goes live, feel free to leave your email. The survey will remain open until Friday April 17th! Thank you for coming along this journey with me. I can't wait to see what y'all pick!
Giveaway Details:
Because you guys are awesome, each survey entry will be eligible for my very first giveaway! One person will win a 8" x 10" print of one of the final patterns (winner's choice). The winner will be announced on my Instagram, on this here blog, as well as contacted by email. Winner will be announced Monday April 20 at 3pm EST! One entry per person.
p.s. please be aware that some of the colors are not completely accurate in the below photos.
Day 21: Pomegranate
Hi guys (and gals)! Here are the stragglers from week 5 of Fruit of the Day. I was originally going to include it in the post along with the survey, but I don't want anyone to get confused. Since the last week of March is only 2 days long, I finished up day 15 (grapes) on the first of April.
Day 22: Boysenberry
Boysenberry was a last minute Facebook request, so of course I had to oblige. Did you know that boysenberries are a hybrid between raspberries and blackberries? I surely didn't.
Day 15 makeup: Grapes
In the beginning this seemed like a daunting challenge and was sure I'd run out of fruit to draw. Ha! How wrong I was! March is over and yet I'm still thinking about all the fruit haha. The only fruit on my list that I didn't do was mango...blame boysenberry. Stay tuned for the survey to vote for your favorites!
Day 16: Pear
March is quickly coming to an end. I think we can all agree that March is a pretty lengthy month ( 31 days is just craziness if you ask me), but it's amazing how fast it goes by when you're a busy drawing fruit all day. Here is week 4's roundup. Enjoy!
Day 17: Cherry
Day 18: Grapefruit
I think Grapefruit is my favorite pattern from this week. The colors are intoxicating. I may be biased, but I swoon every time I look at it.
Day 19: Blackberry
Day 20: Papaya
I had a small freak out this past week when I realized that the moonlight gel pens don't take well to scanning. I'm going to try photographing these and see how that turns out. If anyone has had any luck scanning neon please let me know.
Which is your favorite from Week 4?
p.s. There will be a survey to vote for your favorites at the end of Fruit of the Day. I'll be making proper patterns from fan (and my own) favorites, so stay tuned :)
Hello lovely people, here is week three's roundup for Fruit of the Day. We are out of town at the moment, so you might notice that these are pictures form my Instagram and that there are only four fruits this week. Which means that you'll be seeing an additional fruit at some point in time next week... YAY!
Day 11 was Blueberry (my favorite fruit of allllllllllll time). I used the metallic blue Gelly Roll pen to add a little glam and depth.
Day 12: Pitaya a.k.a. Dragon Fruit. I've never had Dragon Fruit before, but it looks like a very interesting fruit. If you want something festive dragon fruit is the way to go haha. I've been obsessed with black and white + neon lately. It's just a stunning combination.
Day 13: Raspberries!!! They look like they're flying in outer space!
Last but not least...Day 14: Star Fruit. I restarted this one once and ended up really liking the first crack at it after I finished this one. So if you see Star Fruit again at some point don't be surprised :)
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!!
Do you guys remember Gelly Roll gel pens? You know, the ones we used back in middle school to add a little pizazz to a top secret note you were writing to your best friend. Well I pulled out those last few gel pens that I had to accent some watercolor drawings in my sketchbook. They wrote for 2 minutes and then nothing. I knew they'd be all dried and gross, but I was hopeful. This past week I stopped into the craft store and picked up a brand new set of Moonlight Gelly Roll gel pens. Fast forward to today and my love affair with them is stronger than ever. They're so luscious and opaque and bright and just WONDERFUL! The ink dries matte and is so fluid that i can move it around with a small brush (which also saves ink). They kind of remind me of gouache.
I bought the set with the intentions of just playing around...add a little color here or there. I wasn't looking for a long term relationship or anything, but they swept me off my feet. I started out drawing some kiwi and inadvertently started a March challenge for myself called Fruit of the Day! The colors make me dream of nothing but fruit....which makes me giddy for spring.
A challenge needs a few guidelines right? Here are the guidelines I have set for myself:
List as of today. Fruits with a number to the right were suggested by others. The number indicates the amount of votes for that fruit. The checked ones are the ones I have drawn already and the number to the left indicates the order they were done. I hope my handwriting is somewhat legible :)
If you just can't wait for the weekly round up you can follow me on Instagram (@CallMeChartreuse) and you can also search #CMCfruitoftheday on there as well. i hope y'all enjoy this as much as I am.
Don't forget to suggest a fruit in the comments and i'll add it to my list!
Hey guys! Sorry it's been a tad quiet around here, I had more bad days than good ( health wise) during the month of January, so i've been trying to rest up as much as possible. Fret not though... I have managed to get two new patterns (Milky Way and Heart of Stone) finished as well as start on another. I decided to play around with taking some video of my process while i finished up the latest pattern repeat. The video above is the result...hopefully that makes up for my lack of posts this month :) My desk lamp needs new light bulbs, so it's a little dark.
p.s. follow me on Instagram for more day to day stuff.
p.p.s. this forced me to make an actual youtube account...so maybe ill make some more drawing videos...we'll see.
Happy (almost) New Year!! 2015 will be here very soon. This is the last new pattern of 2014...crazy huh? I told my dad i'd have this camera pattern done by the end of December and by golly I made sure I stuck to my word. If you would like to see work in progress pictures (because i actually took some this time haha) then check out >>this post<<. It's in four different color variations and is now available in my shop.
I hope everyone has a safe and festive new year's eve!!
Hey gang! Sadly Holidaze is coming to an end, but don't fret because for the last holiday promotion all mugs are by 3 get 1 free. Click the above picture to go get you some. I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!
Hey team! I have three (soon to be four) garments I still need to photograph for the blog, but here's a new pattern I'm currently working on. My dad's a photographer and has been looking for a camera themed phone case, so since I'm such an amazing daughter I gladly took on the task of creating a pattern.
I actually took a few progress shots this time (yay me!). Cameras can be kind of weird to draw. I'm on to the color and should have it done by sometime next week. A friend of mine mentioned that she thought It'd look great as a letterpress print and I'm strongly considering getting letterpress prints done of this pattern and maybe a few others. If you'd be interested in buying a print let me know.
Holidaze will be coming to an end soon :( But on the bright side today you can receive $5 off All phone cases plus free shipping. Click the ^^ pic ^^ to treat yo self.
I leave you with these amazing donuts I made the other day (they have all been devoured since then). Gluten free, vegan, cinnamon sugar and chocolate covered goodness.
Hey gang! Happy thursday. Day 4 of Holidaze brings you $5 off all Tote bags! My this week is passing quickly, although I must say that it feels more like a friday than a thursday. Anywho…click the pic above to access the promotion.
Hey gang! For day 2 of the holiday promotions get $10 off of framed prints and canvases. Follow the link to treat yo self >>> http://tinyurl.com/m6pmaen.
click the picture to take advantage of this promotion
Hey gang! Happy monday! Time is winding down to get those holiday gifts… I haven't even thought about what i'm getting people. Is there anyone else who waits until Christmas eve to buy presents? hahaha it's such a bad habit…or is it tradition?? hmmm.
Anywho, to celebrate this holiday season, there are going to be huge sales each day this week. Each day i'll post the daily deal
This week: From now through Dec. 14th there's $5 off each item + free worldwide shipping (free shipping offer excludes framed art prints, stretched canvases, and rugs)
Monday Dec. 8th: $5 off all apparel + free shipping worldwide
Click the pictures or click http://tinyurl.com/m6pmaen to take advantage of this promo. You must use the promotion link provided in order to take advantage of these promos.
Posted to instagram
Hey team! For awhile now i've been wanting an awesomely snazzy To-Do list. After searching around the world wide web I realized that all of the free ones were pretty boring…so i made my own. I got a really great response to the drawing on Instagram and Facebook and decided to make it into a free download (since it is the "season of giving" haha). If you enjoy the drawing without all the gobbledy gook then fear not because I love the drawing so much that i'm going to re draw it as a pattern :)
Click the image above to download or head to the free downloads page. Feel free to make it your own by coloring it! To save paper, frame it and use a dry erase marker to write out your lists ( that's what i'm going to do). If you customize it feel free to post a pic on instagram and hashtag it #CMCtodolist.
This download is for personal use only.
Earthy in one of three color variations.
Hip hip hooray for new patterns! I recently added Earthy to my portfolio as well as to my shop. I must admit, it's a rather strange pattern for me considering I despise anything that crawls or flies, but i love it dearly.
P.s. Who knew coloring earthworms would be soooo difficult. They either looked way to real or like they were pumped full of toxic matter… cool for some people, but just freaked me out haha.
Hide and Seek tote bag.
p.p.s. I have been slowly adding other patterns to my shop and also recently added Hide and Seek to my shop as well :)
It's that time again folks, time to reveal my latest quilting creation made for a beautiful baby girl. Imagine your favorite refreshing beverage, that's as colorful as it is flavorful. That's what this quilt reminds me of…which is why I dubbed it Pink Lemonade.
courtesy of my Instagram
I knew I wanted to create a design that used half square triangles, but wasn't sure on the layout. Instead of jumping in without a plan, which would have led me into a dark hole of indecision, I drew a quick sketch of a rough layout (I changed the middle row to all yellow), so I knew how much of each color i'd need. If you follow me on Instagram then you've already seen the above picture of the sketch.
I'm seriously ubber thrilled with the final product. It definitely looks like how I imagined it. I also remembered to add my label which is a feat in itself since I often forget. Our friends who are now in possession of the quilt love it just as much as I do (fist pump!!).
Question of the day: Do you like to plan out a project before jumping in head first or do you just dive right in?
I don't know about you, but I need my sketchbooks to look pretty on the outside. A plain brown or black cover is really boring to me. Usually I just draw on the cover or collage bits and bobs onto the front, but I decided to switch it up this time and made my own sketchbook cover (actually i made it sometime last summer and just never got around to photographing it).
I freestyled the sewing pattern which means the fit could be better, but it's functional. I really LOVE the look of it. There's an area for my pens, so I don't have to dig around my bag for 5 minutes looking for the one pen that actually works, and there's a larger pocket for random stuff. If the fabric looks familiar it's because it's one of my own designs, which can also be purchased through my spoon flower shop ( shameless plug haha ). The green polka dotted binding is from a random fat quarter in my stash.
How do you like your sketchbooks to look? Plain or with all the fixings?