This past month I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to sew another strike-off for the talented ladies at Second Star Fabrics. Second Star Fabric is a UK based custom fabric store, set up and run to fill a gap in the UK market for quality custom fabric designs. Second Star has been running very successfully for over 12 months now and they’re 12th round is currently open for pre-order.

The fabric is predominantly ordered and sold on a pre-order basis, with new rounds of designs being launched every 4 weeks (or so) and then arriving 6 – 8 weeks later. For each new round of designs, the Second Star ladies receive a number of strike offs (a sample of the fabric from the printer) which they then pass on to other seamstresses and sewing enthusiasts for them to sew up and create something amazing with. These strike off creations are then used to help show customers how awesome the fabric looks once sewn up.

The design I was given the opportunity to work with is called ‘Brave’. It design includes a panel and co-ordinate, available in two gorgeous shades of pink and mint green.

As always, the panels are available in three different sizes – infant, child and adult. And, for the third round the co-ordinate designs are available on three different fabric bases – Cotton Lycra, super soft Double Brushed Poly and snuggly French Terry.

The Brave design is also VERY special…..

Brave is a design created by the talented Becca, one of the ladies behind Second Star Fabric. What makes it special is the fact that it was inspired by a very brave little girl called Lily.

Here are some words from Lily’s mum, Julianne (the brilliant seamstress behind Beau Bespoke), to explain what makes Lily so very brave;

“Meet Super Brave Lilypie. Second Star fans will be familiar with her sweet little face, but do you know what story lies behind that little blue eyed angel? For this little girl, every day is a fight to breathe and keep well. You wouldn’t guess from my normal pictures on here, but behind the pictures lies a brave soul that endures endless medication and treatments several times a day – even when she is well. When she is sick, these treatments increase and she will often end up… for two weeks in hospital for IV antibiotics. Lily has the life limiting condition Cystic Fibrosis. Our strike off pics are late because this brave little girl has been very poorly loosing weight and lung function. Shes not felt up to the modeling, and we have been busy trying to battle it at home. But we simply couldn’t miss the opportunity to sew up and show you all this beautiful print, that is made for all the brave souls out there. And if your like me and only pretend to be brave – you can wear it too. Brave is beautiful “

If you’d like to learn more about Lily and Julianne’s fundraising for Cystic Fibrosis, pop over to their Facebook Page.

Like lots of Second Star Fabric designs, Brave is so versatile! Not only does it look beautiful sewn up into clothes for your favourite little people, it also looks amazing as garments and accessories made for us adults! Wahoo! I do love a good ‘Selfish Sew’ and Brave certainly gave me the opportunity to do just that.

I chose to use the panel and co-ordinate I received as my strike-off for a new pattern, the Laney Hobo Bag by Swoon. It was my first ever bag pattern and I loved making it, the instructions were clear and easy to follow. The final product was stunning, I am so very pleased with how it turned out! The child’s panel was a great fit for the centre panel of the bag (the co-ordinate was used on the reverse!). I used Medium Iron on Interfacing to stiffen the fabrics and it worked a treat and my Sewing Clips came in very handy when sewing all the layers together!  I also made a top using one of my favourite patterns, the Willow Wrap Top by Love Notions (tweaked a little) which you can see in the right hand side photo below.

The smiley model on the left of the photo below is the lovely Stefania (from Sweet Lavender and Chilli Flakes) and she also chose to make herself something beautiful from a Brave panel. Doesn’t her tank top look perfect for summer?

Round 12 also features a great selection of other designs too, there’s something for everyone! From the colourful ‘Super Food Crew’ to the ravishing ‘Ruby Lace’ and the exciting ‘Aliens’ (which are perfect for your grown up little people!). Here are a few photos from the other strike-off seamstresses which show off how fabulous the other designs are. Don’t forget to place your order ASAP – the pre-order window closes on Sunday 12th March. You can find all of the designs over on the Second Star Fabric website NOW!!!