New Sewing Pattern: Lotte Blouse

My Lotte Blouse sewing pattern is finally ready! I really wanted to make this one available at a discount, so I decided to try something a bit different for this pattern. Instead of pricing it myself, I'm going to leave that up to you! It's yours for whatever you think the pattern is worth or whatever you can afford. When you click on the button for purchase, you will be redirected to the payment form where you will simply fill in the blank yourself. Easy! :)

I really enjoyed making this pattern. It's quick and fairly straight forward, so a beginner/intermediate sewer should find it a simple one to sew up in an afternoon. I've been getting lots of wear out of the blouses I've made and already have plans for some other variations for this blouse. I keep seeing these off-the-shoulder style blouses pop up all over the place and I think they are so easy to make. There's no need to buy one already made if you can sew!

If you are interested in sharing photos of your creations using my patterns, I would love to invite you to join my Flickr sewing group and post pictures! I am working on more sewing patterns and hope to have them added to my collection in the coming months!

If you would like to receive emails when I come out with new sewing patterns or clothing collections, feel free to join my mailing list for updates!

WWW.ANNAALLENCLOTHING.COM

A New Dress Inspired by The Moon-Spinners

I just finished this dress for a client who also shares a love for the 1964 Disney film The Moon-Spinners. She asked if I could make my Bachelor's Button dress with green fabric and a white collar/buttons. Custom orders like this dress are my favorite to make! I was so happy when I found the perfect green linen fabric in a similar shade as the dress Hayley Mills wears in the movie. I made the collar with white handkerchief linen and covered the buttons in the same fabric. I think it turned out rather nice and now I want a dress like it for myself! If you are interested in a dress like this one or you would like to talk to me about a custom order, please feel free to drop me a line! I love working with clients on custom orders. They usually turn out to be the most rewarding projects to make!



{And just for fun... click here to listen to "Nicola" from The Moon-Spinners soundtrack!}

Anna Allen Clothing: SS2014 Preview

This season I don't have a big collection to show you because a lot is going on right now while being away from home. But I did want to make a few things for the SS2014 season! This dress is perfect for spring and summer. It's light weight and the fabric is to die for. I bought this fabric from England over a year ago and have been waiting to use it for the perfect garment ever since. This dress is based off of the sleeveless blouse I am also including in this season's collection. It's a staple that can be paired with a sweater or jacket, which is what I love most about this style. This dress is slightly more fitted, with darts in the front and back. I love how it reminds me of a vintage 1960's shirtdress. I hope to have it available this week and will update here when it is ready.

SS 2012

Here is the look book for spring/summer 2012. All the photos and short film were taken by my brother, John Allen. Hope you all enjoy! Shop is opening very soon... I am working as fast as I can to get everything ready!

I also updated the old website, though we didn't have much time to give it a facelift, so I'm afraid all that will have to come a bit later. I'm going to enlist my husband's help (Jed writes code for a living!) because it has been years since I dabbled with html and all that. And while I realize I need to learn it all again, it will help immensely to have someone by my side helping me all of the way (thank you sweetheart)!! Please feel free to check out my website nonetheless. I did update with a few new links and pictures. www.annaallenclothing.com

P.S. John used his very old film camera to take these pics (these that I've posted, and a few others). I think they are my favorite of all the photos he took!

anna allen clothing: spring & summer 2012

Here is a short film my brother, John Allen made for my spring/summer collection! I'm so thrilled to finally be able to show you all. I really think he did a fantastic job on this film! I am working on updating the shop and website this week, so keep a lookout for the shop opening! This is a fairly small collection, but I thought it would be fun to add some new pieces throughout the season. Enjoy! xoxo

time for a second cup o' coffee.

Working hard on orders! Just wanted to pop in and say hello! I'll be back when I have a little time to write. I still need to decorate our little tree, but I did get an advent calendar up this year! More on that later as well. Hope everyone is enjoying this festive time of year! XO

p.s. i started a little facebook page, if you'd like to check it out and "like" me! :)

holiday shop open!

I just listed the items in the shop! Thank you so much for all the comments on my holiday collection! I'm just so grateful to my brother John who was able to take pictures last minute for me! Hopefully every year I will be able to have a little holiday shop. They are so much fun to put together! Thanks again for all of your support! It really means a lot to me!! xo

: : H O L I D A Y S H O P : :

holiday 2011: lookbook

I worked all day trying to update my website and various things on the web. It took me forever to upload the lookbook! Something that should have been incredibly simple turned into hours longer than I planned. Oh, well. I got it uploaded anyway! Next I'm going to be working on my shop and will open it soon, so be on the lookout! I might surprise you with an earlier shop update. I hope you enjoy the photos of my holiday collection. John did a simply fabulous job. He has a way of capturing exactly the feeling I am going for. I was a bit worried that we wouldn't find any color among the grey, but you know there is a lot of color in nature during this time of year, you just have to look for it!

This year I wanted to do something really special and festive and one day I got the notion that I would like to make something in silk velvet. I've heard it is a rather troublesome fabric to work with, but I was determined! It's absolutely gorgeous. The color in this velvet is so intense, I knew it would make even the simplest of designs sparkle. I picked a beautiful rust for the top and a very deep dark black for the dress. The fabric is not easy to work with but with a few tricks, it's definitely manageable and actually, I find working with this fabric quite rewarding!

Btw, I updated my blog banner today as well and cleaned up a bit. It has been awhile since I've updated here. Hope you like it! xo

Photographs by John Allen

holiday 2011: coming soon!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday! At least for those who celebrate it. Jed and I came home yesterday and the journey was a bit more exhausting than usual, complete with pouring rain. But we finally made it home, safe and sound in our cozy little apartment. Thanksgiving was really a wonderful time and quite relaxing! But now is the time to get back to work and get a lot done before our next holiday! I'm going to be opening the shop again on December 1st (at least that is the plan), though I admit I'm itching to open it before then. Starting tomorrow, I'll be sharing some pictures of the new things I will be selling. Everything will be made-to-order so if you are interested in anything, plan on an extra 2-3 weeks from date of purchase. I hope you will enjoy my little festive collection. xo

photo shoot for holiday 2011

Yesterday John and I went out to photograph my holiday collection and we were able to accomplish the whole shoot in about 2 hours. Pretty good I'd say! It was cold and rainy, though the rain stopped by the time we started shooting. I was glad to have it done, but it really was fun spending the afternoon with my brother! He knows his way with the camera. I only wished I had a camera to take a few shots of him taking photos. This season I didn't have time to rope someone in to model for me, so I did it myself. Sometimes it's just easier, since this was pretty last minute. I'm very pleased with this collection and am super excited to have something for the holidays this year!

These photos are all "blooper" shots (however even John's bloopers look awesome!). I wore grocery bags over my shoes and oversized rain boots when walking around since the ground was so muddy. The first one was taken just as the kitty was about to jump on me, before John stopped him, thank goodness!!!

So far our thanksgiving break has been marvelously fun. I hope you all are enjoying the holiday! xo

it's getting darker...

It's getting darker now with the time being an hour earlier. Took these quick photos after finishing a sample dress. Will make a few changes to the design, but I'm pretty happy with it! It's quite twirlable, I'd say. ;)

shop is open!

The shop has been updated with all of my new spring/summer 2011 collection, finally! I also have a new website including the spring and summer lookbook that you can peruse. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you all for your patience! I know it has taken me a little longer to get my new collection completed, but I hope it is worth the wait! Have a wonderful weekend! xo

a first look...

Chelsea of {frolic!} has an exclusive peek at my new collection over at babble.com. Please step on over if you'd like to take a look! My new website is almost finished and the spring summer collection will be added to my etsy shop by next week. I will be sending out an email to let you all know when that happens! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy a few pictures from the new collection! Thank you, Chelsea! xo

just a little peek...

New clothes coming soon, and a new website...