Watch the behind the scenes Video for Nectar!
There's nothing quite like buzzing bees and fluttering hummingbirds to remind us to stop and taste the Nectar, both literally and metaphorically. Our newest collection celebrates the sweetness of life, time relished like a good cup of tea fragrant with the smells of summer, and sweetened with a taste of honey. Of course, ever the yardstick for the passage of time, our kids remind us how quickly the days pass; my own two little sprouts are shooting up right along with those sunflowers!
We can all fall prey to that frenetic pace of life that too easily becomes the norm. If we can't freeze time, perhaps the next best thing lies in a lazy afternoon. So let's take a cue from the honeybees and stop and smell the flowers, shall we?
Every year we look forward to a family run, pay on the honor system, Pick-Your-Own Flowers and it offered the perfect spot to enjoy some of the things we've sewn up with our new Nectar fabrics.
As we were finalizing the design for our bold Bloomerie print, I was envisioning a pencil skirt centered on the bouquet motif, so I was so excited to see that vision realized.
The pattern is the Pleated Pencil Skirt from Delia Creates, available over on Indie Sew. If you're looking to make a capsule wardrobe, then a pencil skirt should definitely make the cut. The high-waisted fitted silhouette of this garment will flatter nearly all body types and pair with a plethora of tops for all year wear. An invisible zipper and full lining makes this a polished piece to hone your intermediate sewing skills.
And a back kick pleat makes this pencil skirt one that you can actually move in! I wound up going with the Bloomerie fabric in Ink, but the Gold would be a particularly nice choice for fall.
My Annie continues to reap what we "sew" here in the shop, and she loves this newest addition to her wardrobe.
The Clover Field in Gold is a sweet print for girls at any age, and the Taylor Shift offered a more grown up silhouette for this growing girl.
Since my daughter runs hot, she wanted to have the sleeveless version to wear throughout the school year, reminding me that she can always add layers of clothing if she gets chilly but she can't take off the dress if she's hot! You can't argue with that logic. This dress will transition through fall nicely with a jean jacket or woolly sweater.
Like all of the Simple Life Pattern Company patterns, the Taylor comes with lots of options to try out different styles.
We added the optional hem band, using the coordinating Painted Stripe fabric, to coordinate back to the tie back closure at the neck.
In a rare departure from his normal uniform of a revolving line up of soccer jerseys, I managed to get my boy looking sharp in his new digs.
I know this shirt will only see the outside of his closet on the rare school picture day, or a night out to dinner, but I'll take what I can get!
This Classic Oxford Shirt Pattern is available from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop, and fits true to size for my 10 year old. The fabric is the coordinating Medium Buffalo Plaid in Ink. This design is one of our basic patterns, available in over 50 colors for quarter, half, and 1 inch size options.
Fashion trends come and go, but this Buffalo check has remained a classic staple that's perhaps more popular than ever. Part of the popularity is certainly attributed to the design's shear versatility, going from rugged, to casual, to downright dapper. I'm going to go with dapper for my Aidan; now if he could just freeze right there...
Now of course, it wouldn't be a lazy afternoon without a proper picnic, now would it?
The quilt goes together in a flash, as the Honeycomb hexie print is printed as continuous yardage. We quilted some of the hexies to really make them pucker and pop after the wash. The back (or front?!) features our Nectar Quilt Panel in Ink. The binding is Manchester Yarn Dye in Denim. And if you follow us on Instagram, you might remember this bee-utiful pillow that's a perfect compliment to these Nectar projects! The Paper Pieced Spring Bee Block is available for free from Modern Quilting by B over on Pattern Pile.
And after a sweet treat, those hand picked flowers made for some still life painting inspiration! My daughter loves painting, drawing, and sketching of all kinds so I wanted to try out the Creative Maker Supply Cases. The pattern is available in our shop from Sew Sweetness, and they are great for back to school supplies as well.
The cases are wonderfullyl sturdy and can hold brushes, watercolor crayons and pencils, and pens of all kinds.
When I gear up to plan our next outing, It'll be tough to beat plein air painting on a sunny afternoon!
It's time to pack up, but that means, you can get a better idea of the scale on our Nectar Quilt Back! It's 56" x 72", and makes a striking piece.
This one is the Ink version, but it also comes in Gold as well to go along with the Sweet color story.
'Till next time! We hope you'll try some of these projects, and if you'll tag them with #NectarFabric and #HawthorneThreads on social media, we'd love to share!
And be sure to watch the Nectar Video - here's to lazy afternoons!
