megan nielsen design diary

country roads sketches

Meg — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:55:25 +0000

I thought it might be fun to share some of my original sketches for the Country Roads collection. It’s always interesting to me to see how the pieces change during the process… colours, fabrics, etc. Like the Highland dress above. Originally intended in a greenish chiffon, with a much lower neckline. The first test pieces were disasters. completely unwearable. But with changes to the fabric and making the neckline higher it became the dress i now love. The Sudley blouse & Chantilly skirt started out completely different colours/fabrics too. It’s funny, i can’t even imagine the collection in these colours anymore!!

And sometimes (unfortunately) pieces i love get cut, like the ones below. (though you may recognise that green sweater as being the early concept for the Briar sweater)

Since I got my Wacom tablet last year I’ve been using it for all my sketching and i absolutely adore it. I think my skill is definitely improving. Plus it really helps that since i’m using photoshop i can draw my form once, and then draw the pieces over and over – it just makes things a LOT quicker. Not exactly where i want to be yet, but i’m happy with the progress – thinking back to my Sunburnt Country sketches - I feel good about how much better these are!

tea towel toddler apron

Meg — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:04:39 +0000

Will you yell at me if i tell you i actually wrote this post last summer and totally forgot to post it? This is becoming a really ridiculous theme with me. I shudder at the thought of how many half written tutorials are unpublished in the background of my blog… yikes … hehehe okay, moving on.

Anyway, Bunny loves to cook. She’s always trying to help me make dinner – and ever since Grandma got her a play kitchen for her birthday she’s been play cooking a lot too (soooo cute!). So i thought it would be really cute if she had an apron to wear too! I was trying to find some fabric i liked when it struck me that a teatowel was a really great size for her! I love it when I repurpose things! I was going to use one i already had, but then when i stumbled upon this cute stripey one in a homewares store it was just too happy not to get.

Want to make one too? I promise it’s super easy!!

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Read the rest of tea towel toddler apron (315 words)

how my dyed clothing has held up after washing

Meg — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:25:15 +0000

You guys know i love dying things – and I’ve done a lot of projects over the last few years using my beloved RIT dye. One of the most common questions i get asked every time I post about a dye project is how the dyed clothing holds up after lots of washes. Up until now i had no idea, because I tend to keep my clothing on a wide rotation, and so no individual items had been washed enough yet to be a good test.

But since I’ve been wearing my pink jeans almost once a week since i made them, I finally have a good comparison for you!

The verdict? YES the jeans have faded! Am i upset? Absolutely not. The funny thing is, until i looked at these photos i didn’t realise they had faded at all. How funny is that?? Anyway – it took about a year for them to fade from a dark pinky/maroon to the lighter pink they are now. I could probably redye them to get them back to the original colour – but i must admit, i actually like their current colour best of all (happy accident).

I think the real question is whether they would have faded so much if I’d used some sort of setting agent. RIT recommends adding salt to the dye bath to help with setting – and to be honest i’ve never done this, because i always forget (naughty meg!!). Anyone had any experience with using setting agents in the dying process?

Even after this, i really don’t feel too stressed about the idea of my dyed clothing fading for 2 reasons:

As I mentioned before, these jeans are on HEAVY rotation in my closet and get washed way way more than anything else i wear. I’ve dyed many other things that haven’t faded much and i believe it’s because they don’t get washed/worn as much.
Every piece of retail clothing i’ve bought that started out a bold colour has ended up fading over time too. I bought a pair of black gap jeans 3 months ago that are now dark grey, so i think this is an issue that goes beyond home dying.

It’s certainly not enough of an issue to stop me from using dye at home. What do you think??

learning to knit

Meg — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:17:44 +0000

Sooo i’ve been learning to knit! Remember this post from earlier in the week?? That was my first successful scarf – yippee happy dance – just don’t look too closely hehehe

It started off frustrating – but i think i’m getting the hang of it now, and i’ve already made myself 4 scarves! yay! They are certainly not perfect, and full of their fair share of mistakes, but nothing that will stop me from wearing them hehe

I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who gave me suggestions for good knitting sites and tutorials/videos etc. You have no idea how helpful you were! And it’s just been so fun to learn!

For me, i had a lot of trouble following pictures in books – but i found some wonderful video tutorials on knitpicks that were the real breakthrough for me. Incase anyone else is learning I thought i’d share some of my favourite ones.

Casting on – Video tutorial
Knit stitch – Video tutorial for continental method ( i found this method easier because it reminded me of crocheting, which i’m familiar with)
Purl stitch – Video tutorial for continental method
Binding off – Video tutorial

One of the things that has helped me the most is having a practice piece going all the time. Since i’m one of those people who likes to learn by doing a technique over and over and over again, this seemed like the best idea. It’s just a long piece of knitting now, and you can see every time i have something i want to practice i dedicate a section. Once i feel confident, i move on to the project. I can’t stress enough how helpful i’ve found that approach!

I’ve also found that I prefer to use the really really fat needles and the really really fat wool – because i’m impatient and things go a lot faster that way. hehehe probably shouldn’t have admitted that…

as seen on: True Bias

Meg — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:51:12 +0000

Well friends, I have a new favourite sewing blog. Kelli started True Bias this year after sharing a blog with her sister for a few years – and boy oh boy has she been blowing me away with her gorgeous projects! I am so hooked. This is her version of the Darling Ranges dress – isn’t it perfect? I love how the black makes it seem much dressier than other versions i’ve seen.

Please take a minute to visit Kelli’s blog and read about her experience making the Darling Ranges – and check out her other amazing projects (this top has totally won me over to the neon trend).

Becoming a Designer: Jennifer // Hound

Meg — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:32:57 +0000

I’m very excited to introduce you all to the next guest designer in our Becoming a Designer series. I stumbled upon Jen’s blog a few months ago and i was immediately in love. Completely hooked. It’s incredibly rare that i come across a clothing line which leaves me wanting every piece – and yet that’s exactly how i felt after perusing the pieces in Jen’s line, Hound. Jen is a complete sweetheart and incredibly talented and skilled. This girl really knows her stuff. I’m so excited to have her as this months Featured Independent Designer (you see that button on my blog sidebar?? click it, you will love her store i promise). Anyway, without further ado, Jen has kindly agreed to share with us the story of how she became a designer. I hope you enjoy it!! Once you’re done reading it I encourage you to check out her gorgeous clothing line, her wonderful sewing patterns and the array of incredibly good sewing tutorials on her blog

Hi everyone! I’m excited to be featured as an Independent Designer here on Megan’s blog, thanks Megan! I’m going to tell you a bit about my path to becoming a designer and about my line, Hound.

I did go to school for fashion design though it was not my first career path. I originally got a degree in photography and had to go back to school for fashion design. I spent most of my time in school focusing on the technical areas of design since I knew with all the student loans I had amassed getting two degrees nobody in their right mind was going to give me a business loan to hire the various technicians I might need. About 6 months before graduation I got my first job as a patternmaker which was super helpful not only because it was a job in the industry but also because I was able to put my production patternmaking into practice and learn new things which I could apply to my line. Yes!! While I do love patternmaking, it gets tedious making patterns for someone else exclusively, so on a whim a few months after graduation I decided that I would start a small line, just to give myself something to do. I hired a friend as my fit model and got down to business making patterns, doing fittings etc. and finally Hound was born!

With Hound I try to always adhere to a few principals, clean lines, classic, fun, and I’ve never been know to shy away from color either. Each season has a new inspiration and I like to carry over successful design elements of past collections so that each collection flows into the next, building on the most popular pieces. I think my favorite part of the having my own line and the design process is how you can pull together seeming unrelated sources that inspire you into one cohesive idea. That and setting my own schedule to a degree.

While there are so many fun and rewarding parts to having your own fashion line, it’s also really rewarding. Like a lot of small indepandant designers, at the moment I am my own patternmaker, cutter, production line, marketer, accountant, etc. Last season was the first season I actually hired someone, a friend who is an amazing printmaker / textile designer and it was such a positive experience that we’re currently working on prints for the upcoming year. I really look forward to being able to get an intern and a larger studio space, working alone constantly is for the birds!

My advice to anyone looking to start their own line would be to do the really boring stuff first. Make a business plan, figure out your target customer, maybe take a business class. Though mind numbing at times, these things will help you really discover what kind designer you want to be, who you want to serve and how to go about it. After that, work hard and stay positive!

vacation!

Meg — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:05:40 +0000

As i mentioned yesterday my parents are coming to visit this month (YAY!). Can’t wait! Last time they were here we went to Florida (best holiday ever, FYI) so we didn’t get to show them around DC – this time we will, and i can’t wait!

Anyway, I digress. So what that means is I’ve decided to take a little store vacation while they’re here – starting this sunday (feb 11th). That means i won’t be taking any orders between Feb 11th and March 12th. Any pattern orders received this week will be shipped next week – so if you want anything urgently or were planning on sewing anything in the next month, it would be best to order before Sunday or you’ll have to wait till mid march :)

Does that all make sense? i hope so! But never fear, you won’t be left hanging – if you miss the cut off no worries, you can still get my patterns through one of these wonderful stores that stock them:

Whipstitch Fabrics (USA)- 1000 Marietta St, Suite 102, Atlanta GA & online here
Fairytales Frocks & Lollypops (USA) - online here
Grey’s Fabrics (USA) – 450 Harrison Ave, #63 , Boston MA & online here
Stitchology (USA) – 2400 Rio Grande Blvd NW, Suite D, Albuquerque, NM
The French Seam (USA) – 3909 East 82nd street, Indianapolis IN
Backstitch (UK) – online here
The Village Haberdashery (UK) – online

sewing along

Meg — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:01:31 +0000

Hello all! I hope you had a lovely weekend :) I had an incredibly busy weekend thanks to a very successful Banksia top pattern release. Thank you to everyone who bought patterns, I’m thrilled with the response! I have to admit, knowing my patterns are being enjoyed certainly makes all the hard work of creating them worth it – though i do need a week of naps now hehehe.

Meanwhile, after a number of requests I’ve decided it’s time we had a little Darling Ranges dress sew along! yay!

For those who haven’t participated in (or heard of) a sew along before – the general idea behind a sew along is that we sew the same pattern over the same time period. It’s fun because you kind of feel like you’re doing it together, and also there’s the added benefit of getting some extra help with tailored tutorials.

I plan on posting tutorials for each stage of the dress creation – as well as some on things like pattern alterations etc. Right now I”m thinking March would be a good time – my parents are coming to visit this month, so I want to keep my February commitments to a minimum. What do you think? This is gonna be fun my friends :)

Dress: Megan Nielsen, Darling Ranges dress
Tights: Hue
Shoes: Dolce Vita
Scarf: Megan Nielsen
Watch: Timex
Leather braided braclet: made using this tutorial
Gold bracelet: thrifted

teatowels

Meg — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:38:23 +0000

So after my first block printing experiment with a hand carved rubber stamp, i decided to try a real project. I rather like how they turned out! I absolutely fell in love with this screenprinted teatowel, and decided to try and mimic the pattern. The first stamp pattern i showed you was done with a rubber stamp – and this one was done with lino. Let me say this -> lino = evil. I much much much prefer the rubber. so much easier to carve, and the lino was so hard that i ended up cutting my finger really badly and it took days to heal.

Anyway, the yellow one was my first attempt – and to be honest, i’m not really sold on it. I wish i’d filled the whole piece of fabric, and i tried to use gold in one section and it just ended up looking dirty. ick. Also… i forgot to iron them before taking photos and now it’s driving me nutso… oh the shame!!! But lets forget that, can we?

But i do think the white one was a win! I really love it. I’ll give you one guess as to where i got the colour inspiration from hehehe

I’m more than a little obsessed with these mugs from West Elm. I may or may not have bought a bunch in every colour, raved about them constantly and then when they went on sale bought even more. I am pathetic… but i do adore them, so i figure it’s okay, right? hehe

Back to the teatowels: To be honest, the printing is not at all as neat as i’d liked – but i think that’s just the nature of hand blocking. I think if i really wanted something super clean then screen printing would be a better option. Though Chris tells me the roughness makes them more artsy – hehe i think that’s the explanation i’ll go with :)

introducing: the Banksia top sewing pattern!

Meg — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:32:23 +0000

Wonderful news friends! The Banksia pattern is finally available! Thanks so much for your patience, and for all the lovely ladies who helped me test the pattern – hugs to you all!

Get yours in store!