Would you love to sew your own Inara, but worried about the length? I've got you covered! If you take a look at the measurements chart for this robe, you will find the back neck to hem measurement. This will help you to determine if you'd like to lengthen or shorten your robe at all. Once you figure that out, come back here for these easy tutorials on how to hack the pattern to fit you better!

I love my Huxley bag pattern as is, but I also love how versatile it can be. After lusting after a few roll top bags on instagram, I realized that my Huxley pattern could easily be converted to create one of my own! So, I decided one of my #MakeNine projects was going to be a hacked Huxley, with a roll top, using waterproof material. And because I can't go simple, I added in quite a few other hacks too. Here is a breakdown:

One of the things I love about sewing my own clothes is the ability to create meaningful garments for meaningful events in my life. There are the huge life events like my wedding (and yes I did make my own wedding dress) and then there are smaller but still meaningful events like running my first post baby road race. Running after giving birth has been a really difficult transition for me, and I felt like I needed to celebrate the hard work I'd put in to get ready for this half marathon. So of course, what better way to celebrate than by making myself a new Madi tank for race day?! Of course, in the end, life got in the way and I didn't end up finishing it in time to wear it for the race. But I still think of it as my Indy Mini Madi.

Hello everyone! Today I'm happy to inform you that my Felt Sewing Toys pattern is ready! And it is FREE to all my subscribers! Not a subscriber? No problem! You can click HERE to sign up, and get your code in the final welcome email. 

Already have your pattern? Then you are in the right place!
This is a tutorial for how to put those sewing toys together!

This is a guest post by Sonia Spence over at Fabric & Flowers. Go check out her awesome blog full of tips, tutorials, and patterns!

When I send out my patterns during the testing stage, I always make sure to tell my testers that they should go ahead and make any changes that they want to the pattern. I do this so that my testers can end up with a finished product that they actually love and will actually use! I also do this because I find it so inspiring to see all the different ways that people can take my patterns and make them their own. 

This blog post is going to highlight some of my testers, their bags, their thoughts on their bags, and some of the changes that you can make to The Huxley Bag!

A couple of my pattern testers made a particular request after reading through my Inara instructions. After seeing one of the photos of my grey robe at the end of the instructions, they each let me know that they would love to read a blog post about how I added the lace to it. The good news?? It was super duper simple to do!

The great thing about lace (most lace anyway) is that your can cut it, and it doesn't fray. So really, this beautiful lace overlay was really as simple as cutting out pieces of lace that I loved, pinning them in place where I thought they looked good, and then I chose a matching thread color and topstitched the pieces down. Easy as pie. I'm not sure why people say this, pie seems like a rather intimidating dessert to make. Easy as.....no bake cookies. There you go.

If that sounds wayyy too simple, here are a few details and tips of what I did, in case you are planning on replicating it:

- I placed the lace onto the robe after sewing the side seams but before the bottom hem step, and before adding the binding. In retrospect, the stiffness of the lace did weird things to my hem, so next time I'd hem and THEN add the lace overlay, and then put on the binding. I added the sleeve lace after hemming the sleeves, and as you can see it lays much nicer!

- The lace sleeve bands are 3" tall. The lace around the hem is about 4", except at the sides where it goes up to 8" above the hem. I LOVE the way the higher lace on the side seams accentuates the curve of the hem. 

- As you can see in a photo below, I didn't have one nice big piece of lace to work with. There are actually several parts that are pieced together. But the beauty of matching your thread color is that you can only tell that it's pieced if your eyes are about a foot from my butt. And I don't usually let people get quite that close to my rear end. 

- I added a final touch of lace to the center back neck of the robe. I love that it brings the triangular motif of the hem to the back of the robe as well. 

- Unfortunately I cannot point you in the direction of this beautiful lace I used. It was a small sample piece in my stash from when a local fabric store was downsizing. #makeyourstash
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​I would LOVE to see how you guys hack The Inara pattern to make it your own style, this way or any other way! And if you have any questions about what I did, just comment below! In the meantime, I'm now going to go make myself some no bake cookies....

I'm so excited to be releasing my third garment pattern! This is the my first pattern that uses my animal sizing, which I absolutely love. And it's already a staple in my closet! I've made three for myself, and I already have plans to make a fourth one! Robes are one of those garments that I never knew I wanted until I had one. My mother in law surprised me with a super fuzzy and warm robe for Christmas a few years ago, and now I barely take it off during the winter because I'm always freezing. But I decided I loved wearing it so much that I wanted a cute summery version too. 

​And voila! The Inara was born. The name is a nod to the show Firefly, because Inara is one of my favourite characters and a flirty robe seems right up her alley! The robe is short and sassy with a hem that curves up on the sides, and it works great with all the lightweight drapey fabrics in your stash. It can be a beach coverup, a bridesmaid gift, lacy lingerie, a maternity delivery robe, a house coat, or a light outer layer for summery days. So much possibility! 

And it's a great pattern for Capable (advanced beginner) sewers! The curved hem, the thread belt loops, and the homemade binding might be new skills to add to your repertoire, and they each come with step by step instructions, tips, and even a few videos to help you along your way. And of course, I'm always here as a resource! I can't wait to see all the fun you have with this pattern!

I have a new PDF pattern for you guys!! It is a super quick and easy anatomical heart appliqué!

As I'm sure you know by now, I'm obsessed with all things Halloween. I love the big elaborate costumes, but I also love little touches of macabre. Things that I can wear all October long, simply as a part of my outfit, without drawing a ridiculous number of stares. And this simple little heart is absolutely perfect! You can add it to a tshirt, a dress, a coat, or a costume. Make it really  stand out with contrasting fabric, or make it a subtle addition as I did here.

I appliquéd this thrift store sweater last friday, and then immediately wore it out to Kings Island for their Halloween Haunt night and it was perfection!
Now I just need to make about ten more!
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If you haven't picked up the pattern yet, you can head on over to the shop to grab it. I have the basic written instructions on the one page pdf as well, but if you want a more detailed tutorial, you are in the right place!
Read on! 
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​Cut out the 2 (only two!) pattern pieces, and use them to cut your fabric. I really like the look of having two different tones for the two different pieces of the heart. A super easy way to do this is to use the same fabric, just flipped to the back side, which is what I did here! One is right side up, and the other is right side down. 

Transfer the dotted line markings from your pattern to your fabric. I honestly just used a black marker since I planned to sew over them in black thread anyway.
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If you are using a fabric that may unravel along the edges, you can use fray check or some sort of stabilizer to help keep your fabric intact. 
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Once the fray check has dried, intertwine your two heart pieces together so that they look like so:
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Pin them into place on your main fabric (whatever you are adding this appliqué to) and topstitch them in place! I just followed along the edges of my heart pieces, and then sewed down a few of the dotted lines as well. 
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Then, if you like, you can use embroidery thread to really make your heart lines pop! 
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Boom! Done! Enjoy your new anatomical heart! And don't forget to use #anatomicalheartapplique so I can see your creations!!

Hello and welcome to the Tombstone Pillow Sewalong! It's time to start thinking about Halloween decorations (I just got mine out of storage today!) and this creepy pillow is a great addition to any spooktakular home setup! 

If you don't have your own copy of the pattern yet, you can pick it up in the Goheen Pattterns shop, or in my GreenGraves Etsy shop. 

If you would like to order a custom Tombstone (you get to pick what the epitaph is) I can do that too!

The Tombstone Pillow Sewing Pattern is rated CONFIDENT on my sewing levels chart. This means that you sew on the regular, are familiar with sewing patterns, and you know your sewing machine like the back of your hand! Basically, if you have never sewn anything before in your life, this one might not be the pattern to start with.

Over the next few weeks, I'll publish a series of blog posts taking you step by step through the entire process of making your own tombstone, from PDF pattern to finished pillow. You can sew along with me, ask me questions, and share your techniques and advice with other sewists following along as well! You can leave comments and questions here on the blog, in our Goheen Patterns Sewing Group on facebook, or on instagram with the hashtag
​#TombstoneSewalong. 

I'll try my best to answer any questions as quickly as I can, but feel free to jump in and help each other out too!

The Tentative Schedule for the Sewalong is:

Aug 17th - Part 1 - Intro, Gathering Materials
Aug 20th - Part 2 - Putting together the pattern
Aug 23rd - Part 3 - Cutting out the fabric, and Quilting the front
Aug 30th - Part 4 - Making cording and Sewing your tombstone together
Oct 7th - Part 5 - Flipping, Clipping, Stuffing, and Closing your pillow
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Show off your finished pillows! To be featured, email me a photo at madeline.goheen@gmail.com or use #TombstoneSewalong 

So if all goes according to plan, you will have a finished decoration by Oct 7th! Plenty of time to use it for Halloween 2017! 

Materials and Tools you need by Aug 20th, for Part 2:
- The pattern (available in the pattern shop)
- A way to print the pattern (printer at home or at a copy shop)
- Paper Scissors
- Clear Tape
- A ruler or measuring tape

Materials and Tools you need by Aug 23rd, for Part 3:
- 1yd (1 meter) of any 40-60" wide woven fabric, prewashed. I love using a nice textured grey fabric from the home decor section!
- 1/2 yd (1/2 meter) of "lining", prewashed. This can be any fabric at all, it will not be seen on the outside of your tombstone, so it is a great stash buster. 
- 1/2 yd (1/2 meter) of any quilt batting (18"x22" for you scrap busters)
- Thread
- Contrast Top stitching Thread (black thread is great on a grey tombstone)
- 145" of 5/32 of welt cording (370 cm) Etsy is a great place to find this if it's not at your local craft store. You can also sub in 5/32 inch clothesline found at a hardware store or even a grocery store!
- Fabric Scissors
- Fabric marker/chalk
- Sewing Machine
- Pins
- Handsewing Needle
- Skinny Black marker
- Press and Seal OR Transfer Paper OR Tissue Paper

That's it for now! I'll see you back for Part 2 on the 20th!
Let me know if you have any questions about gathering materials!