Twig and Tale – A Rebrand Tour

Sewing for my daughter is a big part of crafting for me. And anyone who has followed my blog will know that Big Little Patterns have been a staple for not only coats and vests but also trousers and hats and other accessories.

Big Little has changed! It has rebranded to become Twig and Tale.

The new look brand is full of the same great patterns, updated and remastered. Each pattern comes loaded with awesome features, more options and helpful additions like fully linked contents, easy to follow guides, added inspiration pictures, up-cycling guides and loads more.

To celebrate the new look and name Art Gallery Fabrics kindly sponsored some awesome sewing for this blog tour. Thank you Art Gallery!

There is an amazing group of ladies all sewing their favourite Twig and Tale patterns to celebrate. Check out the bottom of this post to see all the other contributors! Seriously there are some inspiring creations. I decided (with the kids help/instruction/dictator like demands) that a Pathfinder Vest was the best sew.

Vests get a LOT of use in this family. I used a wool outer quilted with batting and a beautifully soft and pretty Art Gallery lining fabric. Look at that beautiful cotton lining.

I even drafted a very basic peasant style top to go under the vest. The fabric was just so yummy! Its from Pat Bravo’s Heartland line, Liten Ditsy in Whisper.

I decided to make a home sewn, special Twig and Tale version of the ubiquitous ‘Kathmandu Vest’ that you see so much where I live. It needed to be warm, stylish, puffy and look really special. The vest itself was a cinch to sew. The great step by step instructions and easy to assemble pattern (using layers! go me!) meant I got the whole vest done in one evening.

I chose a synthetic batting and use basic horizontal lines to quilt it to the wool (please ignore the slightly wonky quilt lines) I think it would be even more luxurious if you used a wool or bamboo batting like those used for baby quilts.

The only slight snag I hit was pulling the front through the shoulders when turning it the right way round. It came through .. but I’m not sure I’d want to try it with a size much smaller than the 6 I made. At least, not with batting as thick as I used. I adore the dropped back that ensures not drafts and the hood which fits perfectly. The toggles weren’t the easiest to sew on and I backed them with small mother of pearl buttons to stabilise the lining side. I really adore how they look. Worth the extra effort.

This is not the first or only Pathfinder Vest I’ve sewn up from the pattern. We adore up-cycled blankets for coats, capes and vests etc. But for this tour I wanted to show that these patterns aren’t just for repurposing blankets and quirky clothing. They are also great for making a more mainstream look. This vest is home sewn and special, and has bundles of mumma love wrapped into its making, but fits in well in the playground when eveyone else is wearing Kathmandu or Country Road.

Link to the first blog tour annoucenment page: http://www.twigandtale.com/blogs/twig-and-tale-blog/blog-tour-announcement

Art Gallery Fabrics is kindly sponsoring 2 yards of Art Gallery fabric of your choice. To make the prize extra sweet, we are also adding a collection of 5 Twig + Tale patterns of your choice.

International entries are very welcome. Our bloggers come from every corner of the world to celebrate the global nature of Twig +Tale too.

Enter using the rafflecopter below.

(The winning entry will be checked to ensure all criteria are met).

a Rafflecopter giveaway