instaBLOG update - Desert bloom x Deer and Doe Blouse pictorial

LauraLovesPugs

Pattern  / Deer and Doe Datura Blouse from Guthrie and Ghani

Fabric   / Yoke front and lining : Rae Ritchie desert bloom available from M is for Make

             / Bodice, collar and yoke back: Pink crepe from Plush Addict 

Styling / Green shoes from SeaSalt 

            / Necklace made by Hannah Jane Fellows

           

Makers notes - Current Body measurements / 36, 30, 39
                         Size made                              / 40
                         Adaptations                           / 3 inch Length extension to back bodice at hemline                          

Thank you for Joining my mettre à jour

And the #internationalannaparty winner is......

I know it's been a little while since the party finished, you all went home and I managed to clean up the party left overs (by which I mean eat most of that three layer cake), but I wanted to wait until we were all fully recovered. Honestly I have only just come down from the excitement. Let's all give it up for the awesome Hannah Fellows who won in a landslide vote. She made the full length version with double (oh la la) side splits in a fantastic Ikat fabric, that I would steal in a moments notice. Hannah has a blog which you can find here, packed full of awesome stuff like sewing, and fabric and sewing!!! She also makes bow ties for her very lucky, dashing Husband. She has won a £20 credit for an independent haberdashery of her choice, and she assures me she will keep us updated via Instagram of her sewing plans  Also ByhandLondon provided not just one, but three PDF's for Hannah to get her style on in. I'm Jealous!

Thank you again to everyone who made a dress, voted, liked and even lurked over the party. I have been asked if I might do something similar again, and now I've recovered a bit I think the answer is HELL YEAH!!! 

Off to watch bake off, Elle xxx

International Anna Party final voting!

From Left to Right

Sasha_ffc  Charliewensley  HannahJanefellows

The By Hand London ladies votes are in and they have chosen these three fiercely talented ladies to go forward to the community vote! Just look at those fantastic creations. After getting what can only be described as an 'anna choosing hangover', I am very happy to be passing the job over to you guys.

How do I vote?

Voting is happening over on my Instagram - lauralovespugs.  Find the above picture on my feed and decide who you would most like to support. Vote by leaving a COMMENT under the picture. You can either tag the person by name or use the number they have been allocated. Just liking the post will not count as a vote.

How many times can I vote?

Only one vote for the whole of the voting period. The voting is open from now until July 25th Saturday 11.59 am (the early afternoon) BST.  No votes will be counted from either pip's or Ute's final picture post, so please consider that.

I didn't take part, can I still vote?

Yes of course! We're sad you didn't make it to the party, but happy your are involved behind the scenes. Look at you being all VIP!

I voted but I made a mistake, can I change my vote?

Votes will not be counted until after the voting time period is up on Saturday afternoon, so if you do make a mistake please rectify it before closing.

I've got a private account, can I vote?

I'm afraid to keep it as open and fair as possible all votes must be visible, and will be counted on a third party Instagram account that has nothing to do with the sewing community to ensure accuracy.

What are the prizes?

The three finalists will each receive their choice of By Hand London PDF pattern, which is being supplied by the awesome BHL themselves! The over all finalist will also win an evoucher/gift certificate/store credit to the equivalent of £20 to spend at your chosen Independent fabric shop, which is being supplied by Elle. 

I don't want people knowing whom I'm voting for, can I make a private vote?

The reason why were are doing open voting on Instagram is to keep the party:

A) On instagram where the party happened and not on a blog.
B) So you can all see that no favouritism or cheating is happening. There was always the chance that our friends would end up in the final, because the majority of you are friends. This way you can see that we are not taking any sides.
C) Doing it this way is easier than relying on blog voting systems.

I hope you all can support your favourite creation. We need a winner so I can get gifting!!

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me here, but remember not to vote here. It will not be counted.

GO, GO, GO!

xxx  elle  xxx

A tidal wave of Anna's and Inspiration.

First of all a massive massive thank you has to be said to every single one of you awesome awesome people. To the countless ladies who turned up in dresses, that have caused me to plan at least 30+ new Anna creations. The supporting bunch who commented and watched the Anna's flood in from all corners of the globe and to all my Instagram friends for not leaving me standing alone at the party. I'm utterly speechless at the amount of positivity and effort you all put in, and it made my Birthday the BEST i've ever had. (sorry mom, I still loved that 'wizardy woo' kids party where the real live white rabbit tried to escape during the performance)

Above are the 9 ladies who Ute, Pips and myself put forward to By Hand London for the semi final. Congratulations ladies!!! They are from top left to bottom right : 

@Sasha_ffc (blog)  @Sewhappyshop (blog)  @Hannahjanefellows (blog) 

 @alcreates (blog)  @Sewvee (blog) @Charliewensley (blog)

@Veronicadarling (blog) @groovybabyandmama (blog) @wethesewing (blog)

We all chose 3 Anna's that sang to us for various reasons, but believe me when I say that we found this part of the party the hardest thing ever. If I thought making friends as an adult was hard, this was like accurately cutting velvet with nail clippers. I apologise with all my heart that we couldn't fund everyone of you with a goodie bag, and if I could I would forward cake to you all. Actually I may have eaten all the cake, but lets not dwell on that.

Of course, it goes without saying that none of this could of happened without the whole team here at #internationalannaparty HQ. I love you guys.  I'd like you all to take a moment to gaze at this majestic piece of photoshop and join me in hoping that one day, we can unite our team and recreate this moment. Dreamzzzz.

Although the party gift giving is drawing to a close, the final voting is yet to happen. I hope you will all support the final 3, who will be announced on Thursday over on Instagram. How to vote has changed from the original plan, because so may of you joined in. I foresee spending ages cross referencing votes for days if we remained with voting across 3 accounts. More on that later. But now, let us bask in the post glow party happy feels and be inspired to make lovely and wearable clothing. 

The reason why #Internationalannaparty became a thing.

I don't know about you, but the biggest upset i've had about growing older isn't my grey hairs (which I love) or finding myself hoarding little packets of tissues in by bag. I'm not even surprised to hear myself repeating 'mum' lines such as 'as the crow flies'  or describing an outing as 'popping' somewhere. These things don't make warning peeps on my sadness radar. No No, the biggest upset i've become brutally aware of, is how hard it has become to make friends. 

Gone are the carefree days of childhood where i'd lurk at the holiday poolside, edging closer and closer to the child of about my own age waiting like a little child shark for a topic of conversation I could bite on to. No longer can I expect to sit next to someone in class with my surname initials, whom I might share gossip with until I get invited to a Birthday party or invite someone else to a party. Working from home has massive positives. For instance I could be typing this whilst wearing pug Pj's and unwashed 'up hair of knotted doom', but meeting new people (other than my poor abused postal service) isn't likely to happen.

I lived a very sewing solitary life in my own little English habitat. Sharing my makes was a little bit dry. I'm sure you know what I mean. There are only so many times our family, partners, pets and milkman can deal with us proclaiming 'BUT I MADE THIS'. Instagram has totally changed that. Now I post a simple picture of a make and I get real people, leaving real comments, making me feel really happy and positive. I've been inspired by so many people. Individual people, just like me. Sharing their makes from their little areas of the world.

I've now got a lovely amount of real humans who I talk to on a regular basis, and I can still wear pug Pj's and look like I'm auditioning for an adult Hermione. Life could not be better..... but then these two went and did just that. Made my life infinitely better. Ute and Pips are nothing less than awesome and I'm so so lucky to have met them.

I could gush on.... but you know, i'm not getting an oscar or anything. So i'll just leave it here and say that without them #internationalannaparty would be more like #elle wearing an anna in a room with pug. Actually, i'd just be wearing pug pjs in a room with a pug. 

Our Anna dress party starts tomorrow Friday 17th July at 6pm BST and I hope you can come join us with all your beautiful By hand london Anna dress creations. I will cry, but you won't see it. So all is good and everything is in it's proper place. 

Prize update time!!!

As Rafiki once said to Simba 'it is time'.  The party weekend is fast approaching us and as we at #internationalannaparty HQ dust off the camera (iPhone), drag partners/friends/selfie stick into gardens to help us get our whole bodies in frame and frantically stitch the hem just before doing these things...... you guys need to know about PRIZES!!!  I've been holding off on this post for so long, that i'm fully bubbling with excitement.  

I can now confirm that there will be 5 prize winners being gifted after our #internationalannaparty has finished. Even more exciting is that By Hand London themselves are being involved in the party gifting and will be judges on the semi final prize round!!!

So how are we judging the finalists and what prizes are on offer?? Read on my anna friends to find out.

We all should be aware by now how to enter the #internationalannaparty. 

Simply post a picture of your handmade 'By Hand London Anna dress' on your Instagram feed between Friday July 17^th 18.00 BST and Saturday July 18^th 23.59 BST 2015 using the hashtag #InternationalAnnaParty. More information and rules can be found here. 

First two prizes to be announced Tuesday 21st July

The first two prize winners will be chosen by #internationalannaparty HQ members Ute and Pips. Ute will be choosing her winner completely at random, which gives EVERYONE who enters an Anna picture a sporting chance at winning - no matter their sewing skill or chosen fabric. Ute is supplying some hand 'chosen by herself'  Berlin fabric market cloth! She chose my Anna dress fabric from the Berlin market and it is beautiful. Click here and here for her chosen fabrics.

Pips is choosing her favourite modified anna (modified meaning a mash up of the anna pattern but still clearly an Anna) and is offering a lithuanian linen tea towel with an exclusive Bella & Bee screen print on it!! It's so darling. These two winners will be chose and announced on Instagram by Tuesday 21st July.

How the finalist will be chosen and voting

Then we will move into round voting for the final 3 prize winners. All the members at #internationalannaparty HQ will choose their 3 favourite anna dresses, giving us 9 people that will go forward to the semi final. We will all be choosing our 3 Anna's in different ways and the semi final 9 will be confirmed on Instagram by Monday 20th July. 

These Lucky 9 people will then handed over to By Hand London, who will be choosing their 3 favourite Anna dresses (one each for each By Hand London team member). This will be confirmed on Instagram by Thursday 23rd July.

The final 3 will then go to a public vote on instagram and be chosen by counting how many individual votes each finalist gets by saturday 25th July 2015 11.59am BMT.

The finalist winner will be confirmed on instagram on Sunday 26th July. 

The final 3 prizes.

The three finalists will each receive their choice of By Hand London PDF pattern, which is being supplied by the awesome BHL themselves! The over all finalist will also win an evoucher/gift certificate/store credit to the equivalent of £20 to spend at your chosen Independent fabric shop, which is being supplied by Elle. 

So there we have it. I've compiled a few rules and other Q&A below, but if you need further answers please leave a comment and I'll get back to you ASAP. (please note I do sleep, sometimes)

Monday 20th July - 9 Finalists revealed on Instagram 
Tuesday 21st July - Ute and Pips winners revealed on Instagram
Wednesday 22nd - Rest day :)
Thursday  23rd - 3 Final prize winners announced and public voting starts
Friday 24th - Public voting continues 
Saturday 25th - Voting ends 11.59am BST
Sunday 26th - Final winner announced

Prize rules

Rules about how to enter #internationalannaparty can be found here.

The two intial prize winners being chosen by Ute and Pips will be informed publicly of their win via Instagram by Tuesday 21st of July. 

The winners will have their gift organised and sent to them by the corresponding #internationalannaparty HQ member who is supplying the prize.

As this is an international party please keep in mind that prizes may take a while to be delivered. Postage cost is included in the gift, but insurance isn't. No responsibility will be taken by the sender if the item is lost in the post. 

All prizes are final and no alternative will be considered.

If the prize winner does not contact #internationalannaparty HQ via the means described on the Instagram post by July 27th 2015 23.59 BST they forfeit their prize. 

Round voting and prize Rules

The initial 9 finalists will be announced on Instagram by Monday 20th July 

3 Final prize winners announced and public voting starts Thursday  23rd July and will run until Saturday 25th. Voting ends 11.59 am BST on all instagram HQ accounts on Saturday 25th. 

You can vote on each #internationalannaparty HQ team member for your favourite anna.
Only one vote per person on each #internationalannaparty HQ team member will be accepted. (giving you three votes)   * A Change to the final voting rules has accused due to the awesome response to the party. To help #internationalannaparty HQ count up votes, all votes must on Lauralovespugs 'final three' instagram post. You will only have one vote for the whole voting period. Please use it wisely. 

Your account must me public for votes to be counted and this will be confirmed on a third party Instagram account.

PDF patterns will be supplied by By Hand London. Winners will be given instructions on the winning post of how to claim their prize.

No alternative prize will be considered. 

The final prize of an evoucher/gift certificate/store credit to the equivalent of £20 to spend at your chosen Independent fabric shop, which is being supplied by Elle. Details on how to claim this prize will be included in the winning post. 

If any of the winner do not contact #international HQ by the means described in the Instagram post by July 27th 2015 23.59 BST they forfeit their prize. 

Good luck to all you Anna's and let's have a great party!!! 

Official #InternationalAnnaParty invite and First prize draw!

Over at #InternationalAnnaParty HQ we have been working very hard organising and prepping for your arrival on 17th July. Prop cakes need to be taste tested, and choosing which shoes to wear with my currently unmade Anna is more complex than I initially thought....

We are all so very excited by the wonderful positive response we have received about the upcoming party. Seeing all of your sewing plans on Instagram and reading such lovely comments have got us all inspired. Because of this we would like to get you all in the party mood too, and what better way than starting the gifting early! Yay! Everyone likes prizes.

To be in with a chance of being randomly chosen to win an evoucher/gift certificate/store credit to the equivalent of £15 to spend at an Independent fabric shop of your choice, simply head over to our Instagram feed where we are posting the above official Invite, and follow the instructions below.

1. Repost the invite on your Instagram feed using the #InternationalAnnaParty hashtag. 
2. In the comment section of your Instagram tag at least one of the hosts (@lauralovespugs, @Magdalenesmuse or @ute_ig)
3. In the comment section tag at least one sewing friend (you can tag as many as you like)
4. Have a public account open  between June 23^rd – July 17^th 2015  23.00h BST

So why not get involved? This part of the party is open to all the sewing community, whether or not you have an Anna dress or plan to upload a picture. I told you we don't like leaving anyone behind!

International Anna party invite repost prize draw rules:

Regram on your instagram feed the Anna party Invitation picture using the hashtag #InternationalAnnaParty

Tag one or all of the party hosts @lauralovespugs, @magdalensmuse or @ute_ig on your regram AND any of your sewing friends that you think might want to join in.

Post between June 23^rd – July 16^th 2015 23.00h BST, and you will be entered into a randomly chosen prize draw.

The prize on offer is an evoucher/gift certificate/store credit to the equivalent of £15 to spend at your chosen Independent fabric shop.

You do not have to follow any of the party hosts to be entered but if you like my feed (lauralovespugs) or pips feed we would love you to make friends with us. We will be doing Anna dress inspiration and prize updates leading up to the event and we wouldn’t want you to miss out.

Entrants can repost and tag sewing friends as many times as they like during June 23^rd – July 16^th 2015 23.00h BST but only one entry per account will be recorded. It does not matter if you tag an already tagged sewing peep.

This prize draw is open to all the sewing community and not just those entering into the main International Anna Party.

Only public accounts open between June 23^rd – July 17^th 2015  23.00h BST will be entered into the regram prize draw. Private accounts will not be entered, sorry.

Winner will be notified via public post on instagram July 17^th 2015 and the prize will be organised within 2 weeks of that date.

Only entrants who have:

1.    Reposted the invite picture on their feed
2.  Tagged at least one host (@lauralovespugs, @magdalensmuse, @ute_ig)
3. Tagged at least one sewing friend
4. Used the Internationalannaparty hashtag on the post 
5.    You have a public account between June 23^rd – July 17^th 2015  23.00h BST

 Will be eligible to win the prize.

As we are celebrating independent retailers and so the regram prize cannot be for any big box retailers.

No cash or prize alternatives will be considered.

The regram prize will be organised and paid for by lauralovespugs

Open Internationally.

Currency conversion will be done using XE currency converter on July 16^th.

Instagram is in no way affiliated or part of this competition.

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment below. Good luck everybody xxx

You are invited to #InternationalAnnaParty

Ever wanted to party with all your beloved Instagram friends but can't afford to travel the world to meet them? 
Do you enjoy being part of our positive and creative sewing community and feel you'd love to express that happiness?  
Do you want to share the chance of getting gifted by a Birthday girl, because Prizes? Sure you do!! 

Over here at #InternationalAnnaParty HQ we are organizing just the event that does all the above things right from the comfort of your own sewing room/bedroom/garden/bath tub. No need to purchase an around the world plane ticket or sell your first born to finance it!

So you want to know how you can join in? All you have to do is post a picture of your handmade By Hand London Anna dress on your Instagram feed between Friday July 17^th 18.00 BST and Saturday July 18^th 23.59 BST 2015 using the hashtag #InternationalAnnaParty and have a public account.

There are a few rules that we are asking you to follow, so please read the Q+A below that covers everything from prizes to party plans. Over the next three weeks I will be updating @lauralovespugs
Instagram feed with everything from Anna inspiration to prize updates.

International Anna Party dress prize draw Rules.

What is an International Anna Party?

It’s a party held on Instagram! You are all invited, no matter where you live - simply post a picture of your handmade 'By Hand London Anna dress' on your Instagram feed between Friday July 17^th 18.00 BST and Saturday July 18^th 23.59 BST 2015 using the hashtag #InternationalAnnaParty 

  

I don’t use Instagram, can I still party?

I’m not one to stop anybody partying, but I’m afraid this is an Instagram kinda thing. Get on over there and join in.

How did this party come about?

It’s Elle of @Lauralovespugs Birthday and she wanted to party with her International friends Ute of @ute_ig and Pips of @magdalenesmuse but we all live far away from each other. The answer to this was to have a party on Instagram, which is how we all met. A party isn’t a party without guests so that’s where you come in. Think about it as us three being the Hosts and you our guests.  

Why the Anna dress pattern?

For many reasons equally as important as each other. Both Pips and Ute have been making inspirations Anna’s, which Elle has been lusting over for some time.

When Elle heard that By Hand London were stopping their paper patterns and turning to PDF’s she thought ‘I’d love to show my support for their changing independent business ’ and purchased the pattern.

The hosts have been gifting each other fabric and treats on and off because gifting is awesome, and Ute gifted some beautiful Berlin fabric to both Pips and Elle to make very special Annas.

We also needed a pattern that's completely international and available to all sewers who want to join in and as the Anna is available as a PDF it’s perfect!

Do I have to sew a New Anna dress?

Absolutely not. You can post a picture of any Anna you’ve already made, as long as you’ve made it. Of course we are giving you just under a months notice in case you haven’t ever made an Anna (like me) or you want to make a new one.

I don’t have the pattern, where can I get the pattern.

The pattern is now available as a PDF from By Hand London’s website. Head over there and support them.

I don’t want to sew an Anna, can I enter with another dress?

Well, that wouldn’t really be an International Anna Party so this time only By Hand London Anna’s will be eligible to enter for party prizes. But you can still party with us! We are happy for you to turn up in any dress you like for fun, and you also can repost the invitation for a chance to win a prize. There are two rules in the sewing community. "Do not use my fabric scissors on paper, and no one gets left behind!"

My account is private, can I still enter?

Here at International Anna Party HQ we understand the need for privacy. It’s your right to add and talk to only people you want and we don’t want to mess with that. Sadly if your account is private and even if you follow one, or all of the Hosts, the Independent Judge will not be able to see your entry and for that reason we are only allowing public accounts to enter that are visible between Friday July 17^th 18.00 BST and Saturday July 24^th 23.59 BST 2015.

I have 20 Anna’s. Can I enter 20 times?

To keep it fair to all party goers we are accepting only one entry per person.

You are very, very welcome to post as many pictures as you like of your Anna over the competition period (we love a good outtake) but your first picture will be the one we judge/put into the draw so keep that in mind.

My Anna is not a straight Anna. Can I still enter?

We love diversity and creativity. Not all bodies are the same and because of this you can enter Anna’s that have had modifications for size for instance or other pattern pieces added like a different skirt. But the dress/playsuit/top MUST be recognizable as an Anna and have at least the top or skirt part of the Anna clearly visible.

Do I to wear my Anna in the picture?

I know that sometimes selfies and pictures of ones face can be stressful. After MeMadeMay you are probably selfied out! No, you do not have to be modeling your Anna, but consider that the picture needs to appeal to the judge’s eye.  We here at #InternationalAnnaParty HQ would love to see some silly, themed, quirky and fun photos (as would all our guests) and we strongly encourage you to have fun with this. If you want to chop of your head in the picture (not literally please) that is fine.

I don’t follow any of the Party hosts, can I still enter?

Nobody likes being made to follow someone they don’t want to and we understand that. You do not have to be a friend of any of us on Instagram but if you like sewing (and what are you doing here if you don’t?) and find our feeds interesting we would love to make friends. Also there will be prize updates, and Anna inspiration posts on @lauralovespugs and @magdalensmuse

over the month and you don’t want to miss that do you?

 

I’ve been following the party and someone has entered my Anna!

What a very naughty person! Please send  @lauralovespugs and @magdalensmuse a direct message with a picture of your Anna or link us to where they stole the image and we will remove their entry. We are only letting public accounts party with us to stop anyone stealing pictures and posting in private.

I put my Anna picture up outside the specified time. What should I do?

Like all parties, you've got to have a start and end time. Otherwise life would just be one very long party, where we don't get any sleep. If you submit a picture before the start time, please resubmit it during the specified times otherwise you won't be entered into the contest. If you miss the deadline then I'm afraid it's to late. Remember times are in British Summer time - check a time conversion site if you want the time that translates to where you live.

I heard there would be prizes?

You heard correctly. As it’s Elle’s Birthday, why not gift other people?

There are two separate prize-giving events. The first being the International Anna party invite repost prize draw and the second being three individual winners who post Anna’s during the Anna party.   Currently all the hosts are providing a prize and the Amazing 'By Hand London' are also offering the grand prize winner one PDF of the winners choice from their online shop!!!

The prizes are being finalized and announcement will be made on Instagram before the party starts but we can confirm that one will be chosen at random so everyone who enters gets a fair chance of winning! The grand prize will be chosen by an independent judge.

If you have any questions or just want to express you excitement about joining in, please feel free to leave a comment below.  Let the party begin! 

 

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