Make a Dolly Sling: the OriginalStitch Dolly Sling Sewing Pattern

Yes. That is a grown woman modelling it...!

Phew, we've been getting down and dirty with our Dolly Sling redesign.  We've tweaked and preened and primped a coupla things; they're much better designed now.

And it's all yours!  Click here to buy the PDF pattern download.

Aw, the Dolly Sling - it's just one of our all-time favourite products - it has a lovely cute shape, the size is just right for fitting in lots of different shaped and size toys and dolls, and it even fits some well-known toys such as Build-a-Bear and Born Again dolls.

So if you're looking for a really unusual gift to make, this one definitely has wow factor.

Why OriginalStitch Patterns?  Let me tell you...

1) No Wordy Cutting Lists!
Don't know about you, but honestly I find written lists tricky - I'm a very visual person, so I mean no offense at all to patterns which use them, but I likes pictures.  So we always use cutting list images - you can see literally every single piece you're going to need.

2) Consistently Named Pieces
When you sew from a pattern, you start off with lots of pieces, and halfway through you have half-constructed bits....now I can get confused in patterns when there's no 'halfway house' names; patterns often state "Now take this piece" or worse, omit the noun entirely - "Turn over and stitch along sides"  Um...turn which bit over? The bit I've just done or the thing I had to do before that?!!
We always make sure that once a construction is completed, we tell you what it will now be called, and when it comes up again in the pattern, that's how we refer to it.  Sounds basic - helps in the long run!

3) Integrated Seam Allowances
When you cut out our patterns, you won't be expected to add seam allowances.  I know this can in some cases be necessary, especially in the world of dressmaking, but we tell you every step of the way what seam allowance you'll need to stitch.  It's almost always the same throughout the pattern, but even so, you will always be told what it is.

4) A Besquillion Diagrams

It's one of my very favourite jobs here at OriginalStitch, so maybe that's why we have so many of them, but we use looooooads of diagrams in our sewing patterns.  I draw them myself, having designed the product myself or stood over Amanda while she makes it, so they are straight from the very horse's mouth - I draw them from the exact construction at that very point, so if there's still pins there, I draw them; if there's loose threads hanging down, I draw them.  We then have our lovely designer Jon colour 'em in all pretty so they're even easier to understand, and have shading where there would be some, and right and wrong sides of the fabric properly coloured.  Lovely.  If you're terribly clever, you can probably almost make something without even reading, which is what my mother does.

"What seam allowance am I using?" she said once.
"It says it right there look Mum - quarter of an inch, see?"
"Oh I haven't read the pattern, I'm just using the pictures." she said.

5) No Template Enlargement

When you cut out our templates, you won't have to enlarge them.  I'm quite happy to admit this may be a matter of preference, but I try to think of the person sewing from their abode up the top of a Welsh mountain, with no access to a photocopier shop, and as temperamental an all-in-one printer as we have (shh, don't tell it I said that, it's easily upset...).  So our templates are designed to fit on an A4 sheet, so that when you print them out, they're real-size.  You may have to join pieces together to make the whole template before applying to the fabric, yes - but we make this as easy as possible by including full written instructions and using nice little symbols.

6) They're available immediately!
Our patterns are currently PDF downloads, to which there is a link in your confirmation email, once you've purchased your Sewing Pattern PDF from the website.  We have chosen this method because of our eco ethics - we felt it was a little cheeky to go printing out reams of paper for our sewing patterns when we bang on about environmental concerns.

Having said that, we'd be interested to know if you would like them as a paper version, because we would seek to work with some lovely bonkers paper made from rhino poo, or beer dregs, or old Barbie packaging or something.   (We ain't joking, our tags ARE made from old beer dregs!)

7) Online Support
You can get support when making your pattern from our Facebook Page - just come and holler at our wall!  One of us will come and join in the discussion.  Of course you can always email us directly too.

 So, if you haven't taken a peek at our sewing patterns yet, have a little look.

Which of our products would you like to see a Sewing Pattern PDF for next?

Where Can I Buy Recycled Fabric Gifts?

Well what the devil on seven horses do we call this lot then?!

Don't know about you lot - but I turn to the internet for almost all of my purchases with a question like this title, because ain't many a high street that reliably houses the sort of ethical/eco-friendly/fairly-traded goods I've got my beady eyes out for.  I earmark certain local shops because I know they'll have what I want (you know who you are Freerange and Planet Health and Organics Thame), but for other stuff, it's no good me wondering the streets of Britain randomly hoping to stumble across a shop that might sell ethically traded tweezers, or organic cotton thread, or some nice environmentally friendly kids' school vests, or custom-made wooden turnip peeler. (Ok, so I never have actually searched for one of those).

We businesses who specialise in something effical or eco bust our guts trying to get our 'search engine optimisation' search terms right, because we know there is some soul out there looking for what we're selling, and they're not going to trip up in a dark alley and accidentally stumble into our shop.  T'intermesh is a big place.
(Wait.  Now get me, aren't I just the fancy one? Aren't you impressed with my impressive tinkleweb terminology?!)

A mat. No, a coaster. No, um, a holder. Thingy. Thing.

When I was first doing this website shenanigan, I was totally bamboozled by the search terms I had to think about putting in my (know-it-all voice again please) global metadata, oh yeah....
Hang on, to be honest, I still am, so I have to frequently sit down and have a good trawl through the site, asking myself if I have peppered it with enough of the words my customers might be typing in to Ye Olde Google, so that we find each other in the dark alleys of the internet. Ooerr, Mrs.

The most bonkers was our Pencil Rolls, and Double Pen Totes.  Now, I know they're called Double Pen Totes, and YOU know they're called that, but supposing you've never heard of them? Or OriginalStitch? What might you type in then?  Well, you should see some of the daft things I've got in me globals, love - here's a selection of what I imagine you lot might search for.

pencil roll, double pen tote, pencil bag, crayon holder, crayon bag, pen pockets, pen storage, pencil storage, pencil roll-up, pencil pocket storage, fabric pen pockets, recycled fabric pen bag, recycled material pen pocket bag, vintage fabric pen bag, vintage fabric kids pen storage...

Because not only do I have to think about what we should call the darned products in the first place, but then I've jolly well got to predict what you nutters are going to call them, and now it's all just gettin' a little bit philosphical, man, right?! 
Never mind metadata, it's gettin' metaphysical innit?
I've got to make sense of what's in my own head, then try and see inside yours.  Hell's Bells on a stick.

Can you imagine how much fun we had with the search terms for the Dolly Sling? Can you?!

So tell, me, empty the dustbins of your brains for search terms.  Answers on a postcard please!  What would you type in, if you were looking for one of these?!
Ah go on. Tell me in a comment what you would call this, and I'll enter it into the bowels and nooks and crannies of the website!

Celebrating Stitchery

Teddy's going the right way for a smacked bottom, Donkey. Sorry, it's not often you'll find me quoting Shrek.

One of by very very very FAR the nicest things about being me, apart from the fact that I can make an excellent and surprisingly loud woodblock sound with my mouth, wiggle my eyebrows separately, and whistle like a strutting sailor at a magnificent 100 decibels, is when the postman knocks on my door and gives me lovely parcels full of the work of OriginalStitchers.

We are very excited to be stocking some of our delicious kids bits and bobs in a new shop opening in Princes Risborough - Gorgeous Giggles; and so we set to and sent orders off to, in strict alphabetical order - Bev, Jennie and Katie, three of our first stitchers.

I love our designs, if I do say so myself, but I have discovered I love them even more when they are made by our stitchers. The fabrics they've all chosen are just so fab, and I hate to say it, more exciting than the fabrics I have here, so the products they made are super cool and gorgeous.  And as more and more of the parcels tumble in, and we unwrap the beautifully stitched makes, the colours all pile up and remind us of one of the central tenets of OriginalStitch - a riot of colour, pattern, shape and stitching!

Click on the slideshow for a very silly look at them - aren't they smashing?  I can't bear to see them go to their loving new owners' hands without capturing them in all their gaudy glory first - so here they are, very much enjoying a photoshoot in this delicious sunshine we're having today.  As you can see, I was ably assisted by Brown Teddy, who apologises for the state of this rapidly unravelling, increasingly thread-bare nose.  As he pointed out to me, it's like the teddy equivalent of bogeys hanging down from his schnozzer.  Teddies are a little on the gross side aren't they? I would never use the word bogeys in a blog post.

Thanks Bev, Jennie and Katie - you've done us very, very proud, and I'm sure Helen from Gorgeous Giggles will be delighted to have these in her shop x

Personalize your own free picture slideshow

Dolly Sling Tutorial: Quick-Make Straps

And the imaginatively named Brown Teddy comes too....

Well, I don't know, you write a pattern, or a recipe, as I like to call 'em, and you think, ooh, i like doing it that way, ooh, I should change the pattern, oooh this is a nice way to do that, ah, maybe I should change the pattern, ooh i could add a little sketch in there...

Luckily I am able to recognise these thoughts for what they are - my inability to just leave things alone!  Everyone does things differently, and the recipe is fine.  It's fab, in fact, but it is one of our "Needs Loving Care" difficulty ratings, so of course, I'm always worrying about whether I've communicated it properly.

But oh hello - blogs! Aren't they just perfect for precisely this sort of refining touch to the published article.  So I'm sharing a little Dolly Sling tip for you here, to help you make the perfect sling from your pattern.

Just before we start, here is where you can buy the Dolly Sling Pattern for just a few of your finest shiny coins. 

The Signature OriginalStitch Straps

Dolly Sling in all its strappy glory

When the first Dolly Sling prototypes were cranked out of Old Mother OriginalStitch's (that's my mum) machine, she had used what have now become our signature strippy things.  We use these for our Backpacks too. I love this method coz I have never got to grips with rouleau loop turners, the darned pesky varmints, so I hate having to do the turny-inside outy thing with narrow straps. And this zigzaggy patchworky look (yes, those words exist, people. In my world.) is very much our thing - great for using up scraps and fun and funky.  But I have discovered some people find 'em a bit tricky and fiddly.  I don't, which is unusual because I have almost always fallen into all the pitfalls other sewists have, but even so, there are long-winded, and short-winded (now I'm not sure that's a word....) ways of doing it.

Oh and hey, you don't have to buy our patterns to make these - these straps do look great anywhere.  Apron straps, bag handles, loops, drawstrings...you've got projects that could use them, right?

So, here's what you need
* 2" wide long strip
*1" wide long strip
*Double Sided Fusible Interfacing (herein known as DSFI, I think, don't you?!)
*Iron, contrasting cotton, sewing machine

1: Cut your DSFI to fit the 1" strip of fabric, or even better, slightly narrower.
 
2: Iron the DSFI onto the Wrong Side of the strip (stitcher Katie, who has made a few Dolly Sling orders in her time, puts baking parchment under and on top of hers to save ironing board and iron from 'orrible sticky goo - it's good advice!)

3: Peel the waxy layer away from the fabric

4: Now place the 1" strip Right Side up onto the WRONG side of your 2" strip and iron

Et voila. Your 1" strip is now cunningly stuck down, and you don't need to use pins.

Next, press the overlapping edges of the 2" strip down on to the Right Side of the 1" strip, ready for sewing.  Straight to the sewing machine now then.....where your fabric suddenly mysteriously turns into a different fabric entirely....hm, weird.  Continuity Officer!  Emergency!

5: So all you need to do now is be tuck the raw edges under a quarter of an inch, and neatly stitch the folded edge down on to the 1" strip. You can see here the left edge is not stitched yet, and the curling under of the right edge as I tuck in the raw edges.

6: And here is the nice zig-zagged edge, all neat and stitched in place.  Repeat with the other edge, and your work here, as they say, is done!

Giveaway Winner

Ooh, and can we just say congratulations to Mairi, who won the TopCat Red Kite Canvas Giveaway from the last post, extoling the virtues of buying handmade.  Well done, and can I also say that I know, she's my sister, but I promise you, the Hat and the Names Out Of process was entirely legit!

OriginalStitch Giveaway

Well now.  It's about time I did some intelligence gathering!

Goodness knows my poor local friends have been bombarded with questions and demands for the last three weeks. I've shoved bits of fabricky loveliness in their mitts and demanded to know what they would pay. I've asked them to put pencils in pencil rolls and tell me what width a pencil roll pocket should be. I've requested alternative versions of things that don't work. Got them testing handles, loops, flaps, rolls, ribbons. Stood arms crossed and assessed their child playing with a product. Got them designing products on the spot.
And not a stitch of remuneration don't you know. Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch.

'Er Nextdoor was very cross with me the other day. The afternoon previously, I not only brought my daughters round for tea, where they made a mess in her son's bedroom, and ate her food, and she had to give me copious cuppas; but I also grilled her mercilessly on my prototypes, pummelled critiques out of her, and instructed her to come up with new ideas, oh and another cuppa please love; and then she couldn't sleep all night for trying to think of the perfect memo-board magnet-pad pocket-tastic anti-husband's change device all night.

Blast you and your fabric things, she said over the fence the next day as I handed her pan back (I stole the remains of the children's tea for my own tea - class act ain't I?) I'm sure I didn't get a wink all night for thinking about colourways and drop-down menus. You.

A...n...y...w...a...y.......
So as you can see we have been very busy making things for this 'ere Christmas Fayre I've signed up for, at which we have decided to focus on Kids' Stuff.
And I would love to know your thoughts on any of them....see some pictured below. And more next week when I have prototypes.
I don't mind what thoughts, just thoughts.
Do you like?
Would you buy?
Like the fabrics?
Would you buy for a boy or a girl?  Or both?
What ages would you buy them for?
Or maybe give me a thought on something totally random, like "We found a baby toad today". It's not at all connected, but that's what Isla said to me when I said what do you think of this backpack Isla?
O...k....
So, dear opinionators - put your comment in the comment box below, and I will choose one at random out of a woolly bobble hat (or rather one of the daughters will) and you will receive one of my fabricky bits of thing. Not even a prototype, but a real OriginalStitch product, homemade with love, labelled, wrapped, and sent just as if you had ordered it. Even more excitingly, it will have been made not by shoddy old me, ooh no, but by one of my lovely new OriginalStitchers. I don't know what it will be yet, and it may have to wait till after the fayres, but think - you'll have forgotten all about it and then it will turn up out of the blue, ah! The surprise! How lovely!
Can you just imagine?!
Wherever you are, whoever you are. Tell me your thoughts. I'll post to anywhere on the planet.  The daughters will be shoving their mucky mitts in the bobble hat on Halloween, 31st October and I'll announce the winner shortly after that!
Up in the next Giveaway - the Cafe Set, Pocketiddle Bag, and Hide'n'Seek Pops.  Aren't you just dying to know what the devil in a pencil roll they are? Hm?