OAL2016 Winners // Camp Workroom Social // Fabric Stashin’

Ok, seriously, LAST OAL POST for this year!
(OAL-skippers – there be more to this post at the bottom! Scroll on down!)

As with previous years, I had SO much fun co-hosting the OAL this year with Andi, and I loved seeing all the participants and their completed outfits! SO MUCH has been added to my to-make list as a result, ha! Thanks to everyone who participated! Y’all are the best! ♥

While we don’t necessarily consider this a contest (~we all have finished outfits, we are all winners~ etc etc haha) – that doesn’t mean we can’t still have prizes, yeah? 🙂 We had two sponsors this year – Indie Stitches and StyleMaker Fabrics. Our winners get a free pattern of these choosing from Indie Stitches, a $20 gift certificate to StyleMaker Fabrics, plus a free knitting pattern of their choosing from the Untangling Knots shop. For the drawing, we compiled a list of all the posts on the OAL Finished Outfits thread that were submitted on or before the deadline on 7/31 and included a full outfit. The names were put on a numbered spreadsheet, which we used random.org to pull the winning numbers.

So, onto those 3 winners!

Meg’s sparkly Hetty cardigan, purple Hollyburn skirt, and Eyelet Collared Top

Yep, right off the bat we have Meg here, making us all look bad 😉 (kidding!) She managed to not only sew her skirt and knit her sweater, but also sewed up that adorable little top with an eyelet collar to really pull the whole outfit together. I love everything about this, but ESPECIALLY the pretty ribbon she used for the button bands on her (sparkly!)sweater. Go on, look at it!

Irene’s Wiggle Dress + My Poodle is Blue cardigan
I love the combination of this wiggle dress with that incredible cardigan! The cabling is beautiful, and the dress almost makes me sad that I don’t work in an office anymore 😉 (I could really only get away with dressing like that if I’m gonna be sitting all day – which I don’t do anymore haha). My favorite part about this picture, though, is how happy Irene is! She KNOWS she looks good 😀

Helen’s Agatha and self-drafted dress
I have a massive soft spot in my heart for the Agatha pattern – it was the first cardigan I ever knit (a whopping 2 months after learning haha), and I still think it’s the best pattern! So maybe I’m extra biased, but I just LOVE Helen’s version! The color is perfect and it looks fantastic on her. I also love the self-drafted dress – hell, I’m just impressed whenever people draft their own instead of following a pattern! I definitely do not have the patience to learn that particular skillset hahaha 🙂

Congratulations again to our lovely winners, and thank you again to everyone who participated! I always look forward to the OAL every year, and so far I’ve yet to be disappointed 🙂 Thanks again to everyone who played along, I hope you had as much fun as we did! To see all the finished outfits in all their glory, check out (lurk, oogle, drool over, etc) the OAL Finished Outfits Ravelry thread, and the hashtag #oal2016:)

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Ok, couple more things while I’m here!

Y’all remember Camp Workroom Social, yes? (if you don’t, here’s a refresher highlights video to get you excited about it again!) Well, it’s back this year – and not only that, I’m tagging along! YESSSSSS!!! I’ve been matched up with Amy (of Cloth Habit fame), who I will be assisting in her Bra Making Workshop! I have been following Amy’s blog for a long time now, and have sewn the hell out of her Watson Bra pattern, so I’m pretty excited to finally get to meet her and bask in her lingerie-sewin’ glory 😉 Plus, talking about boobs all day? SIGN. ME. UP.

The bra-making class is already sold out at this point, but there are still a couple spots left for other classes – such as Surface Pattern Design, which is taught by fabric designer Elizabeth Olwen and sounds amazing (aaaaand I’m a tiny bit sad that I don’t get to take it! Anyone want to sign up for me and show me what they learned? :P). If the videos and photos from last year were any indication, Camp Workroom Social 2016 is going to be ridiculously fun. Not to mention, I am majorly excited to check out the Catskills in the fall! I can’t wait – October seriously can’t come soon enough! 😀

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Last thing! A fabric stashin’ app!

I am sure most of y’all have heard about this since it’s launch last month… but for those who haven’t, there’s a new fabric stash app making the rounds, and her name is Cora. I actually started using this app during beta mode (I was a tester) and it surprised me at how useful it has been. I don’t normally do well with digital filing – I’m a pen and paper kind of girl – but this app was designed by someone who actually sews and you can definitely tell. The app is very intuitive and easy to use – you take a photo of your fabric, and there are spaces to include where it’s located (should you be the kind of person who stores fabric in more than one place ;)), the yardage and width, the type/weight/content, where it originally came from – you can even designate whether or not it’s been prewashed! Once everything is loaded, it displays your whole stash in a really beautiful way that’s easy to scroll through and check out at a glance (see the above screenshot for a little slice of my personal stash. Yes, fake fur. Yep.). Like I said, I am not normally one for digital filing – but this is INCREDIBLY useful when you’re fabric (or pattern) shopping and can’t remember what you have or if you need to buy more yardage of something. I have been sharing this app with everyone who comes into Craft South because it’s that good! Again, her name is Cora and you can find her in the app store!

I believe the app is free for the first 5 fabrics you upload, so you can see if it will work for you – and then after that, it’s $6.99 to add unlimited fabrics. There *was* a promo when it first launched where you could upgrade for cheaper, but I’m an ass and didn’t get my shit together in time to mention it here. Sorry about that! I do think it’s worth the $6.99, but, again, I got mine for free because I was one of the testers. So take that as you will! At any rate, you should definitely download it and try the first 5 freebs to see if it works for you – personally, I cannot WAIT to take this shit with me next time I hit up the Garment District 😀

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I think that’s all for now! Tell me things:

• Did you participate in the OAL? Did you make a bomb-ass outfit that you love? LET ME SEE.
• Are you coming to Camp Workroom Social this year?!
• How do you organize and keep up with your fabric stash? Don’t be smug and tell me that it fits in a small bin. Nobody likes a liar 😛

Tags: bra making, camp workroom social, cloth habit, cora, oal, OAL2016, workroom social