Goobye London! & Walthamstow meet-up next week!

JL SEWING_015Helloooo my lovelies!

I’ve got exciting news, although they’re not “new” as I’ve known for a long time now. After a couple of years in Londontown me and the Mr are finally moving back to Germany!

I’ve been waiting for this to happen for a while and now that there’s less than a month left I’ve realised how much I will miss London and the incredibly busy sewing community. I will miss fabric shopping loads (as far as I now there’s nothing like Goldhawk Road or Walthamstow where I’m moving to) and, of course, all the fun sewing events happening across town. Not that there isn’t anything like that in good old Germany, but I’m sulking a bit and will have to get used to the German sewing community which I have ignored for most of the time so far (sorry German folks!).

Of course, most of the blogger friendships live on on the interwebs, but I’m gutted about all the meet-ups I will miss this summer.

This Blog Is Not For You will stay the same apart from a changing back drop maybe 🙂

Sooo, in case you haven’t made any plans for next Saturday (30th May) yet: Daniela and I are hitting the fabric shops in Walthamstow in the afternoon and if you want to join us, please give me a shout!

I would love to see you there!

(I promise it will involve an abundance of lovely fabrics and cake!)

xxx

Charlie

Sew Brum 2014 by thisblogisnotforyou.com


Happy sewing!

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Blog Anniversary & A Giveaway [CLOSED]

2nd blog anniversary

Woah! My blog turns two today! Has it really only been two years?

It feels like it is such a long time ago that I sat on my bed with a cup of coffee, laptop on my knees, setting up this blog. Much has changed in these two years and the blog has become quite a big part of my life. It has fuelled my sewing fever ever since I blogged about my first make. The first year had its ups and downs and I even thought about quitting at times, because uni (and later my job) were keeping me so busy.

I am so glad that I kept on going because this year has just been wonderful! I have met so many great people and went to so many fun sewing and blogging events. April was a special month as I officially registered the blog as a business so I could start selling my own patterns.

The blog keeps growing steadily and sometimes I look back in disbelief – when I started the blog I never thought others (apart from my family) would ever read what I wrote.

So here’s my THANK YOU for all you guys out there that pop by this blog regularly, leave lovely comments and contribute to keeping the blog alive and growing!

I have two bundles of goodies to give away to two lucky winners. Each bundle includes: a download link for my PDF patterns the Hepburn Dress and the Hepburn Skirt, washi tape and jewelry courtesy of Average Pony DIY and 3 vintage sewing patterns:

pattern giveaway thisblogisnotforyou.com

giveaway thisblogisnotforyou.comThe lovely Maren, mastermind behind Average Pony DIY, decided to throw in some really great goodies! Each bundle will include one roll of washi tape “made with ♥” (Check out more of the gorgeous washi tape she offers in her shop here!), a sewing machine charm and a necklace with a sewing machine medallion! Yes! THIS COULD BE YOURS! 

giveaway thisblogisnotforyou.com

Btw, if you see something in Average Pony’s shop and you’re not sure about ordering stuff from a German website, feel free to pop her a quick email. For those of you who are keen on reading a German blog, check out averagepony.com.

And last but not least I’ll throw in these vintage sewing pattern bundles, consisting of two dress and one jacket pattern each. I got these from the Mr.’s gandma who was a keen seamstress when she was younger. The patterns are quite rare, as they’re from former East Germany/DDR (GDR), published by “Verlag für die Frau” who published the sewing pattern brand “Neue Modelle” mainly in the 1980’s. The patterns I picked for you are in their original packaging and uncut and unopened.

They’re in German but look easy enough to be tackled by someone who doesn’t know a word German. Let’s have a look!

Pattern Bundle A

pattern giveaway thisblogisnotforyou.com

Aww, I love these 80’s illustrations. I tried to pick patterns which aren’t too 80’s and could be easily transformed into something more modern. Bundle A includes:

  1. A pleated shirt dress (bust sizes = 84cm & 90cm)
  2. A v-neck summer dress (bust sizes = 84cm, 90cm & 96cm)
  3. A jacket (bust sizes = 90cm, 96cm & 102cm)

Pattern Bundle B

pattern giveaway thisblogisnotforyou.com

Bundle B includes:

  1.  A maxi dress (bust sizes = 84cm, 90cm & 96cm)
  2. A summer dress with flared sleeves and buttoned up shoulder seams (bust sizes = 90cm, 96cm & 102cm)
  3. A jacket (includes skirt pattern, too) (bust sizes = 90cm & 96cm)

To enter the giveway:

Simple like Average Pony DIY on Facebook and follow Thisblogisnotforyou.com on either Facebook, Bloglovin’, Twitter or Instagram or become an email follower (see sidebar). Leave a comment below (make sure you enter the right email address so I am able to contact you!) and state whether you’d prefer pattern bundle A or B.

The giveaway is open internationally and closes at midnight  (GMT) on Tuesday 30th September. The winners will be announced on this blog (and also will be notified via email) in the following week.

THANK YOU ALL & GOOD LUCK!

Charlie
xx

Please note: I will randomly select two winners from all comments posted before midnight on 30th September 2014 and the two winners will receive the prize described above. There is no cash alternative, and your prize is non-negotiable, and not refundable. If the prize isn’t claimed within one week of the winner being notified, I will randomly select another winner.

 

The Blog Hop!

I was nominated by the lovely Lara of Dreaming of Avonlea to keep the blog hop tour going. She a very talented seamstress and I adore her style! If you haven’t done so yet, please hop over and check out her blog!

Nobody really seems to know where and when the blog hop started. If you have any idea – please share! The only thing that is known is when taking part in the blog hop, you answer four questions before nominating two other bloggers to keep the blog hop alive. And this is exactly what I’ll do! So here we go.

Why I write

Why do I write? Probably because I once started writing and just never stopped. I started writing as soon as I learnt how in primary school. I scribbled tiny stories on Post-its in second grade and the continued to fill notebooks with imaginary sequels of my favourite books. I had way too many pen pals back then. I continued to write stories when I was older, but soon noticed that I was a bit too impatient for that and had way too many other hobbies which consumed my time.

I always liked the whole idea of blogs and at some point really wanted to write my own, although I had no idea what to write about. When I moved to London I took the plunge and started thisblogisnotforyou.com. It started out as a personal blog for friends and family who wanted to track my new London life, but it changed into crafts and sewing very quickly. Luckily, the blog name gave me lots of freedom in terms of the content of the blog! So here I am now, writing and sewing at the same time! Add a little design, photography and picture editing to the mix and you’ve created my favourite hobby!

JL SEWING_015What I’m working on

Since the release of my last patterns I’ve been doing so many things. I thought I would need at least a couple of weeks to recover from my previous workload, but I was back at the sewing machine after only a few hours. Now that I do not have too many to-dos and tasks to get done, I can basically sew whatever I want! How awesome is that? (I forgot that it used to be like that all the time!)

So now I work on several projects simultaneously, inserting a zip here and cutting out fabric there. I’ve just finished another Hepburn Dress (scooped neckline version), photographed my new (and awesome) Coco (Tilly & the Buttons), printed out the Malvarosa (Pauline Alice Patterns) and another Hepburn Skirt is waiting for a waistband.

In planning are at least one Miette skirt and one or two Mimi blouses (Tilly & the Buttons), a quilted baby blanket, a knitted couch blanket and, fingers crossed, a pair of trousers.

thisblogisnotforyou.comHow my blog differs from others of its genre

Good question! I have no idea! Well, maybe it differs because I do not just strictly stick to sewing. I enjoy and love to write about the odd craft project, I shared blogging tips and love the occasional refashion post. I would also describe my process as quite experimental, I’m not the kind of person that follows instructions and patterns meticiously. I am a big fan of the trial-and-error approach and love to share all my fails along the way. I also started my own sewing pattern company recently and generally enjoy developing my blog further.

thisblogisnotforyou.comA little bit about my writing process

Whether there’s a process behind the madness really depends on my mood and how much time I have on my hands. Sometimes I feel all professional, making to-do lists, printing out schedules, writing blog posts in advance and pretending all I do is super duper important, like stock prices and that sort of stuff. And then there are days (and weeks and months) where I do not stick to my own blogging advice, because I realise that I need to focus a bit more on the real life – friends and stuff like that. That’s when I do not plan anything, do a bit of sewing here, a bit of picture editing there and then frantically put together a rather crappy blog post because I noticed I haven’t written any in the past three weeks. I really like my non-existing balance and so far it worked really well for me.

My two nominees 

Freya May who blogs over at The Dressmaking Diaries. We’ve followed each other’s blogs for a long time now and I consider her one of my bloggy friends, although we actually haven’t met IRL yet. Freya is always up for collaborations and fun projects and we’ve hosted the Hollywood Sewalong together.

Hannah from Made With Hugs And Kisses, also one of my bloggy buddies. Hannah is a very talented seamstress and she drafts and shares her own patterns on her blog every once in a while. Check out that Allie Dress!


Happy sewing!

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New pattern, new collaboration, new sewing equipment!

new pattern by thisblogisnotforyou.comOver the past couple of weeks it’s been very quiet over here. It was not quite a deliberate blogging break, but necessary in order to sort out a few things. I’m excited to share some news with you!

Blog Team

First of all, I’m super happy to annouce that I’m now part of the White Tree Fabrics blogging team. I’m looking forward to working together and trying out some of the wonderful fabrics you can find in their online shop! You can check out my profile on their blogging team page by clicking on the picture below.White tree fabric blogging team

Secondly, I bought myself a birthday treat a couple of weeks ago. Guess what it is? A stinkin’ cute little overlord. He’s now sharing a desk with Mr Thisblogisnotforyou, who is endlessly happy about this!

 

I went with my first choice, which I also got to try out during the John Lewis Sewing Bee: The Janome 9200D. So far I’m super happy with this overlocker and sewing has been even more fun since I got it!

new pattern by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Last, but not least! I can’t tell you how excited I am about this one! This has also been the reason why I haven’t been sharing anything on the blog for the last few weeks. I’ve spent every free minute working on my new pattern which due to working long shifts in my day job took me much longer than planned. Initally the release was planned for last month, but I soon noticed that this wasn’t going to happen.

I’m hoping that I will be able to get it out there by the end of the month. It’s quite late and the summer is almost over, but since it’s not a particularly summery pattern I think you will enjoy sewing it anyway. At the moment the pattern is still being tested and as soon as all the feedback has been taken into consideration and changes have been made, you will be able to get the pattern here on the blog.

Over the next couple of days I will be sharing a bit more information about the pattern(s). (shhh!)

I can’t wait to hear what you think! x


Happy sewing!

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Christine Haynes at Ray-Stitch

Christine Haynes at Ray-Stitch by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Hey everyone! Just a super quick post with a couple of pics from last Friday. The lovely Christine Haynes was paying London a visit over the weekend and the awesome people over at Ray-Stitch were throwing a party! It was great to meet Christine and some other ladies in person as well seeing some familiar faces.Christine Haynes at Ray-Stitch by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Elisalex and Victoria, two-thirds of the By Hand London ladies, were there, too. These ladies are absolutely amazing and so fun to have around! Christine Haynes at Ray-Stitch by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Tilly was there, too, as well as many other familiar faces and, of course, the Spoolettes.

Christine Haynes at Ray-Stitch by thisblogisnotforyou.comI loved meeting Sarah, who only started sewing this year and wore her 50th (!) Emery Dress that night! She got a prize for that. Well deserved! I loved the Panda fabric of her dress. She even had matching nails!

Christine Haynes at Ray-Stitch by thisblogisnotforyou.comChristine Haynes at Ray-Stitch by thisblogisnotforyou.comChristine Haynes at Ray-Stitch by thisblogisnotforyou.comChristine Haynes at Ray-Stitch by thisblogisnotforyou.comLoads of drinks and nibbles! Ray-Stitch is probably the cutest fabric store I have seen so far! I couldn’t leave without buying something, of course. There fabrics were amazing, but a bit out of my budget, so I went with a Georgia Dress pattern and some lovely colourful trim instead.Christine Haynes at Ray-Stitch by thisblogisnotforyou.com


Happy sewing!

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