Welcome to the Breaking Ground Blog Tour 2019. This year over 25 bloggers from around the world are joining with Mahlica Designs to break new ground by trying a pattern designer that is new to them, try new techniques, new styles, or whatever way they want to push themselves. (There is a giveaway happening! Info at the bottom of the post)
Note: Affiliate links (if any) are marked with an asterisk (*).
I’ve taken part in the Breaking Ground Blog tour hosted by Mahlica Designs in the past. You can check out my previous posts here and here. I only decided to sign up for the tour this time around a couple weeks ago after debating doing it for a few weeks. Until a few days ago I hadn’t actually sewn anything on my machine in over three months. I had a craft fair the first weekend in December and afterwards I just never got back to it.
I meant to make the girls pjs for Christmas but that didn’t happen. Then, I ended up having another miscarriage a few days before Christmas so I just sort of checked out for a bit then decided to take care of myself. In January I decided I wanted to dance again and started taking Intro to Ballet classes at Les Grands Ballets Canadiens (it’s been great!) Then I started taking mommy and kids Zumba classes with my girls (also fun!) Also in January I was asked to run the lunch time craft club at my daughters’ school until March break so all in all I was busy planning the craft club and I guess healing..
Anyway, it was finally time to get back to sewing. A couple weeks ago I started doing an embroidery project that I’m slowly working on that I’ll share soon hopefully. But I needed to sew, so a small, quick project like the Cosmos pattern that’s part of Galaxie 2 collection by Jalie was perfect for my needs. When I turned on the sewing machine a few days ago, I felt relaxed and anxious at the same time. Anxious I think because I was worried I’d mess up my project, and relaxed because well, I love sewing, ha.
The purpose of the of Breaking Ground tour is to sew up something from a designer that is new-to-you and/or sew something new-to-you and/or using a new-to-you technique. Now, I’ve known of Jalie for ages (I even interviewed them for my blog a few years past that you can read here) but although I own many of their patterns, I’ve never actually SEWN any of their patterns. It was time to change that!
I was intending to do a few more pieces from the Galaxie 2 collection but decided to keep things small and not get overly ambitious and set myself up for (possible) failure by getting overwhelmed and not actually finishing it. I decided to make the placemat for my husband, he nags me all the time to make him something and I had talked about making placemats to bring with me to work in the past and he thought it was a great idea too. This pattern was perfect since it has a zip pocket to store utensils and another to hold a napkin.
As my husband works as a longshoreman he wanted something nautical. The only fabric I had in my stash that was remotely nautical (and didn’t involve narwhals or mermaids) was this from the Out to Sea collection by Sarah Jane Studios for Michael Miller Fabrics. (White/cream are probably not the best fabric choices for a placemat, but I like it!) I then paired it with a mustard fabric from Kona also found in my stash. (Stash sewing for the win!)
It’s possible that I purchased the mustard fabric from Flare Fabrics but I’m not 100% sure on that (it’s been awhile). The Out to Sea fabric has been in my stash for years(!) but it was most likely purchased from Fabric.com since I used to buy from them a lot. The backing fabric is canvas and I used twill tape for the ties instead of sewing them from fabric. All fabrics are 100% cotton, and Kona and Michael Miller fabrics are some of the highest quality quilting cottons out there.
The Cosmos pattern was great and went together easily. The instructions are bilingual (French and English) and easy to understand. My only suggestion would be to include the zipper size at the top of the instructions for the Cosmos directly instead of just at the beginning of the instructions for the entire collection. My tablet broke so I needed to print the instructions out as my computer and sewing machine are on different floors. I only printed out the two pages concerning the Cosmos placemat and had to go back later to find the zipper size. Not a big deal but would have been helpful.
It went together really quickly. It took me about an hour from cut to sew as it was the first one. I think sewing two at a time would have taken about the same amount of time, so next time that’s the plan.
Once the photos were taken, I realized I had forgotten to do one last simple sewing step. The stitching line that closes off the zip pocket from the rest of the placemat. I didn’t have time to retake the photos so there should be a stitching line to the right of the zip pocket (which is on the left). Without that stitching it’s basically one big pocket.
That’s all for now! Don’t forget to visit the rest of the stops on the tour! Everyone’s makes look great!
The Full Tour includes all these creatives… we hope you’ll visit us each day:
Monday March 11– That’s Sew Lily, Sewing A La Carte, Mijn 11jes & ik
Tuesday March 12– mahlicadesigns, Embrace Everyday, Jot Designs, auschick sews, Raising Stripling Warriors
Wednesday March 13– Musings of A Seamstress, Very Blissful, Sew4Five, Just Sew Something, Hazelnut Handmade, Crafting Through Time, Tales From A Southern Mom
Thursday March 14– Make It Sew with the Bear and Pea Atelier, Ronda B Handmade, SequioaLynn Sews, Sewing with D, The Sewing Goatherd, OOYAmade, My Golden Thimble, Custom Made by Laura
Friday March 15– Sew Cute Couture by Kathy, Sewing Novice, Ronda B Handmade, Momma Bear Sews, MeMade, My Golden Thimble, Lulu & Celeste
Breaking News: Tour sponsor Phat Quarters is offering 2 patterns of choice from her pattern shop to one lucky winner.
Enter Here!
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We’d love to see how you’re Breaking Ground this month. Share with us what you’re working on by using the hashtag #BreakingGround2019 across social media.
I like it! I’ve never seen a placemat with a zip pocket or a napkin pocket.
That is really cool!!
Great job! I mashed the aprons together to make a woodworking apron for my husband when the pattern released, but haven’t had a chance to sew more things from it! I hope you get a chance to sew up the rest of your Jalie patterns!! Spray starch does help – I really like the one JoAnn have – Best Press. And a great iron helps too. I recently replaced mine with a gravity feed from Wawak. The whole thing was $100 with free shipping, and I’ve refilled the water twice since buying it in August!! And I sew almost every day!
Thanks! ok I’ll have to try out the spray starch then. And I’ll start putting aside some money for a new iron. Mine isn’t super old but it never really seems to get any wrinkles out.
Great job – new to me, too!!
This is a good idea for bringing to work! I can’t help you with ironing-tips, my placemat would look the same 🙂