Meet Greta

May 6, 2012 in Uncategorized

I have added another member to my sewing family, and it’s a dress form!

Say Hello to Greta!

As you can see, Greta’s been enhanced! See, there’s this awesome company that makes these special padding systems to make the dress form more.. you; the company is called Fabulous Fit! They sell dress forms, as well as the padding system (which can work with ANY dress form, not just the ones they make) Because let’s face it.. we’re not shaped like a flat chested and rear-end dress form.  This is in my opinion, a better alternative than doing the duct tape dress form method or any others out there.. because I do plan on losing that baby belly that’s in the front. And putting this together, I realized a few things about myself:

I’m BUSTY. My bustline measured something like 36 or 37 inches. That doesn’t seem like a lot for some of you ladies, but consider I’m only 4’11″. And part of it’s due to the fact that I’m still nursing, but once I wean Oscar, I truthfully won’t be losing that much more around the bust. It comes with 4 filler pads, and I had to use all 4 under the bust pads.

I’m not as chubby as I thought I was. I had my husband help measure me, and I adjusted the padding accordingly. When you look at yourself in the mirror or look down, you have this perception of bits of you sticking out further than they should, but when it’s brought to life on the dress form, the realization of “I don’t look as bad as I thought I did!” hits, and then you instantly feel better about yourself.. well I did anyway. Which is all that matters I suppose.

Here’s a picture of Greta’s profile:

Us from the side.

 Anyway, I’m quite excited about the possibilities and opportunities that this will bring me. I started out with sewing clothes initially, and I’ve been quilting for a while, and now I’m going back to garment making. This is presenting me with the ability to really get a proper fit on my clothes instead of having to guesstimate. In fact, I’ve already got the waistband of a skirt that I’m making taped off (more on that later when I blog the process of making the skirt) and I’m looking forward to many more projects we’re gonna make together!

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsered post by any means; I just simply bought the product and I’m sharing my thoughts about it! In case you want to buy some of your own, I found that allbrands had the best prices in terms of the cost of the fabulous fit kit, both in product and shipping. Shipping was fast and speedy, and I even bought my dress form from them as well. The total cost for me including shipping was just under $200.

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My first Wiksten Dress!

March 29, 2012 in Clothing, Selfish Sewing

So, there’s been this top that’s been going around the blogsphere that’s pretty popular to make, called the Tova. It’s really adorable, and I’ve seen a ton of examples, but the pattern price was steep, like $30 and that was because the designer, Jenny had to hand-draw each pattern. Then sometime around two weeks ago, one of the sewing folks that I “Like” on Facebook mentioned the patterns are now available via PDF download. Sweet! I didn’t realize when I clicked on the link that she actually had two patterns available, the Tova top and then the Tank top/ Dress pattern. So I bookmarked it later for a someday project. Well, then someday came last week, and I purchased the tank/dress pattern. It’s spring so I figured to purchase a pattern for an item that I’ll be able to wear for the next few months. I decided to make a dress because lately I’ve felt I need to bring more dresses and top/skirts into my wardrobe. I’ve been having a difficult time finding dresses that I both like and won’t break the bank, but it’s been difficult. So I decided I should just start making them instead!

Immediately after purchasing the pattern, I decided that I was going to make the dress out of Lizzy House fabrics.. there was no question there. Since Jeff was at work, and the last couple of items I’ve made myself he wasn’t a fan of, I decided to ask for his opinion. After he narrowed it down to two of her prints, he liked I decided to get Butterfly Sky in Green from her Hello Pilgrim line. I got the fabric last Saturday, and then finally on Monday I was able to sit down and start constructing the pattern to start making the dress.

I ran into a number of problems, although nothing too major that couldn’t be worked around.

  • First, when I was attaching the pattern together, it wasn’t laying flat. I ended up having to cut the paper between the front in the back so I could get it to lay flat. I also ended up using a glue stick, which works better than tape in my opinion. Besides, I didn’t have any tape to use anyway.
  • According to the pattern pieces, with my bustline being around 37 or so inches, That put me in a size medium. For those who don’t know, I’m 4’11″ and despite being 20 pounds over what I weighed before having kids, I still wear an extra small. (Hate me all you want, at 18, I went shopping at The Gap, and after not finding any pants that fit me, I was told to go to Kid’s Gap. Kind of embarassing, especially since my husband was laughing his head off while explaining what I was doing there. About 3 or 4 Gap employees laughed at my expense.) So, I figured with my larger than X-Small bustline, I would cut the neckline and shoulders at the XS line, and then grade the pattern out under the arms from an XS to the Medium. I eagerly sewed that up and realized it was a bad idea. It was so baggy! I took the seams out and ended up cutting an additional 1.25″ from each side, which worked out perfectly. It was actually slightly smaller than the grade from XS to Medium, which was fine with me.

There’s one more issue I have/had but I’ll address that at the end of the post, after the pictures.

There were some good points though:

The pattern is easy to cut out, and easy to follow. I was also able to successfully add in pockets! After searching for what seemed like forever I found a tutorial on Craft Gossip by Jess of Craftiness Is Not Optional for adding in seam pockets to a dress or skirt.. and it even included a free pocket pattern pdf download. It was way easy to include the pockets! I actually left them on when I picked out the seams and cut off the excessive fabric from the sides, and then cut them off via rotary cutter and reattached them. I was nervous about french seams with the pockets, but it ended up being painless.

It doesn’t take that much time to make. It being my first time, it took me 2.5 naps to complete, and this IS including having to take out the seams twice. The second time I only took the seams out from the pockets down, since the pattern calls to use French seams, and the frayed cut edges were poking out of the second set of stitches. Not attractive. I did however omit the breast pocket, since I have no use for one.

Now here’s some pictures!

My Wiksten Dress!

I love the pockets!

And here’s one without my sweater:

Without my sweater, but with weird puckering.

Here’s the weird issue I’m having. I don’t know why, but the back of the neckline poofs up. I pinned it super carefully without stretching the fabric, and I even lifted up the shoulders by half an inch, but this still happened. I’m going to have to figure out how to get it to lay flat; I’ll probably pleat it down. I did prewash my fabric, but I’ll try to wash it again and see if that helps. I don’t think it takes away from the dress by any means, but it does annoy me. By the way, if anyone has any insight or tips as to why this happened, that would be greatly appreciated! I recognize it might just be my narrow shoulders, but then again I don’t know.

I LOVE the dress. It’s cute, and perfect for my body shape and it’s so springy and will translate well into summertime as is, and early fall, especially with a long sleeved shirt. It’ll be easy to accessorize too; I’m thinking to buy a skinny belt (or even make one) to wear as an empire waist. But then again, it’s perfect -neckline issue nonwithstanding- and I will totally be making more.

 

*For the record, I was not asked to endorse Hawthorne Threads. I bought the fabric from their shop and figured I would just link to the fabric I purchased. Of course, you can see it anyway in the pictures.

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Another Fabric Bundle Contest!

March 23, 2012 in Uncategorized

So, over at i’m a ginger monkey, Katy is hosting a fabric bundle contest, with the gracious sponsor Brenda of Pink Castle Fabrics. There will be two winners of the contest, and they will not only get a Fat Quarter Bundle for themselves, their fabrics will also be sold as a bundle in her shop as well! Pretty awesome I think.

 

I have The Hunger Games on my mind, so I figured I would create a bundle based on the 12 Districts. (If you have no clue what I’m talking about, please stop living under a rock) Each district creates a specific thing for the Capitol, who rules over Panem. The synopsis of the book and movie is below:

 

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Acclaimed writer Suzanne Collins, author of the New York Times bestselling The Underland Chronicles, delivers equal parts suspense and philosophy, adventure and romance, in this searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present.

 

 

Each of the twelve districts produce or manufacture a specific type of item for the Capitol. The contest calls for us to pick 12 fabrics, so this was perfect! Here’s my Mosaic:

My Hunger Games Inspired Bundle

Anyway, starting at the top from left to right and going down, here are my fabrics and their corresponding district:

 

1. Free Spirit Designer Solids in Gold. District 1 Produces Luxury Items. Gold is a Luxury, so that’s pretty self explanatory.

2. Kona Cotton in Rich Red. District 2 is the Masonry District, so I picked a deep red to represent bricks.

3. Keyboard in Gray by Timeless Treasures. District 3 is the Technology District, so I felt it fitting to select a keyboard print. Computers = Technology in my book!

4. Waves Mist Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket. District 4 is the Fishing District, so I figured it would be appropriate to find an ocean/fish scale fabric.

5. Circuit in Black Mechanical Genius by Mo Bedell. District 5 is the Power district. I initially picked this print for district three, but once I saw that district 5 was power, I thought it fitted better for this particular district.

6. On the Go in Aqua Sara Jane Studio Children at Play. District 6 is the Transportation District. So, I picked a bicycle print. They are a mode of transportation after all!

7. Aviary 2 Woodgrain in Vintage Yellow by Joel Dewberry. District 7 is the Lumber District. Again, that’s also pretty self explanatory.

8. Moda Cross Weave Woven Fabric in Wasabi. District 8 is the Textile District. I had a tricky time figuring this one out because there really wasn’t any fabric in Brenda’s store that represented textiles. So, I picked the crossweave because the weave and wefts are done in two different colors, and I figured that it would really emphasize textile industry by showing a noticeable weave in the fabric.

9. Seeds in Turquoise Fruit Slice for Anthology. District 9 is the Grain District. I picked these mostly because they were seeds.. and I’m sure that some grain seeds are shaped like the ones in the fabric.

10. Donkey in Grass Jack and Jenny by Laurie Wisbrun. District 10 is the Livestock District. I consider Donkeys to be livestock, although I’m sure the Donkeys in District 10 don’t wear wellies…

11. Fruit in White Fruit Slice for Anthology. District 11 is the Agriculture District. Since District 9 covers grain, I figured District 11 covered everything else. The female tribute from 11, Rue describes how her being small statured is beneficial since she’s able to climb trees and reach the smaller branches at the top to pick fruit. So fruits it is!

12. Kona Cotton in Charcoal Gray. District 12 is the Coal District. The color charcoal is pretty close to coal, so I figured it would be a good pick.

 

Well, there’s my bundle! It’s for the most part light-hearted and fun, although the books have a darker theme to them. Either way though, I think it’s a good representation of each of the districts. I’m excited to be going to see the movie in the morning!

 

One more thing, if you’re a fan of The Hunger Games, you can go to TheCapitol.pn and discover what district you’ve been assigned to. I got assigned to District 6, and when I told my husband, his response was “You’re from Detroit!”. Silly Jeff.

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Me & Lizzy House

February 18, 2012 in Uncategorized

I forgot to blog about it when it happened, but back in December I was able to go to Lizzy House’s studio sale; which was convenient since she was holding it near my inlaws’ house and then afterwards Jeff & I were able to do some Christmas shopping.

It was nice visiting with her again; I went back in 2010 and ended up spending something like 1.5 hours hanging out with her and her sister; I even help fold up fabrics for some bundles!

 

I bought a stack of 6 fat quarters and one of her prints -I need to hang it up. It was really fun chatting and sitting with her again; she commented on how nice it is that I always tweet with her, and that I make really beautiful things which of course made me feel warm and fuzzy.

Anyway, here’s the pic of the two of us!

Lizzy House and Me!

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My first 241 Tote!

February 7, 2012 in Finished Project, Selfish Sewing

Well, I once again jumped on an internet bandwagon and purchased Anna of Noodlehead‘s 241 Tote. I’d been seeing the bag in various ways all over the blog0sphere and on Flickr, and I’ve been contemplating buying the bag pattern. So I took the plunge at the very end of December and purchased it. And of course, I didn’t jump right on it and make it. After two purchases of fabric, I finally decided this weekend it was time. So the first step was to select my fabrics. After looking and pulling and putting back fabrics, I finally decided to use these fabrics.

My lovely fabric pull

I didn’t mention it before, but about 2 weeks ago, I scored this MASSIVE eBay auction that was nothing but OOP fabrics; all but 4.25 yds of 23 yds of it was fabric from Heather Ross; and 9.25 yds were from her Mendocino line (the rest of the Heather Ross fabrics were from her Lightning Bug and other Mysteries line, in very large cuts)

Anyway, the mermaid fabric is part of the Mendocino line, and the purple fabric is actually from Lizzy House’s 1001 Peeps; I purchased this sometime last fall, and set it aside, waiting for a good project to use it with. And the last fabric is Robert Kaufman Essex linen in natural; just recently purchased from Fabricworm along with several other cuts of Essex linen in various colorways. I LOVE this stuff. It’s got a sort of rough texture to it unwashed, but it really softens up every time it’s washed. Out of all the colors I purchased, natural is my absolute favorite; I’d love nothing more than to buy myself a bolt of this stuff!

Onto the bag and pattern. At first glance, it looks very intimidating; which is probably why I put off purchasing it for so long.. silly me! Anna writes VERY clear instructions, and if you purchase the pattern, you’ll see that she really does deliver with color photos and clear instructions; there’s 15 pages of instructions with the last two pages that are the pattern pieces; it’s all in a PDF format. Instead of printing out all of the pages, I would recommend just printing out the pattern pieces, and then just viewing the instructions on your computer (or laptop); or in my case I used my Nook! I’m not sure if any of the other e-readers have PDF reading capabilities, but if they do and you have one, it’s an excellent and handy way to have the instructions nearby. And of course, if you have some type of tablet, I’m sure it will work fine as well. It’s possible you could get away with doing it on a smartphone, but then the pictures would be really small. Do what works for you! I just know I like to save ink, and printer paper.

Cutting out the fabric took me longer than it would probably take other people; mostly because I was trying to line up the front panels just so, to showcase the beauty of the mermaids; there had to be a balance between getting the mermaids lined up just so, and also conserving fabrics. Luckily the repeat on the fabrics allowed fabric conservation. Then of course, I was attempting to fussy cut the bracelets for the outside pockets, which mostly worked but they aren’t exactly 100% matchy; which is fine with me. I really didn’t worry about matching up the inside though; which is also from the pearl bracelets. I ended up with a nice pile of scraps and very little fabric waste; Anna in my opinion really thought things out with this pattern; especially since it only takes 3 half yard cuts of fabrics, or yardage equaling 1.5 yards.

The actual sewing of the bag went smoothly; I had a project first and didn’t need to rip out any seams! It did take me longer than I anticipated; mostly due to it being my first time making the bag, and I’ve also got 3 children that seem to need me every time I sit down to sew. It’s one of those patterns that once you go through it once or twice, you can easily get the hang of it and finish the pattern relatively quickly.

 

Here's my bag in it's indirect sunlit glory!

Here are some of my observations and tips, of course without giving the whole pattern away, because that’s not cool to do.

  • The pattern calls for darting at the bottom of the bag on the front panels to give shape; Anna helpfully puts the darts onto the pattern piece in a V shape. Now, I’m not entirely sure if it’s just me or what, but I had a difficult time getting the dart lines to match up properly. I ended up just marking the two spots on the edge of the bag, and then just sewing a line roughly the same  length as the legs of the V. This ended up working out very well, and the darts matched up flawlessly. both on the outside and the inside.
  • The pattern did not call to do this, but I ended up opening the bottom seam and sewing it open when attaching the side panels; I did this so the stitches would lay a little flatter and more evenly; however the rest of the seam was left alone. Next time I make the bag I plan on opening up the seam and adding stitching to keep the seam flat to give it that extra finished touch and of course to add reinforcement.
  • Anna mentions the importance of pinning with the side panels, and I cannot stress the importance of doing this.  When I was attaching the side panels; they lined up perfectly on one side, but then on the other side the edges were off by about 1.5″. I had to undo my pinning on that side, and manipulate and stretch the fabric to match up. It was worth using about 30 pins total per side, because I was able to get the fabrics to match up PERFECTLY which to be truthful is a rarity for me.
  • I made the strap length to the full width of fabric. She gives a recommended length for the strap; but she did mention you could make it as short or as long as you want to meet your personal preference. Considering I’m under 5′ and petite, the WOF length strap allows me to wear it cross-body, and then by adding a small knot to the strap I can also wear it to sling over one shoulder; For some reason, I like how the knot looks; in the past when I’ve had bags that did not have the traditional sliding toggle mechanism for adjusting the strap length I’ve always done this as a means to adjust the strap length; kind of a necessity.
  • I like the options she gives for the bag; there’s an exterior pocket option for the beginners, and then exterior zippers for the more advanced sewist. I’ve got the skill set to do the zipper; however I decided because of the fabrics I used; I did not want to take away from the fabric design. I was planning on adding a zipper inside of the bag along with the interior pocket, but I changed my mind and just did a pocket. No biggie there of course.
  • One last thing; If you are using different weight fabrics, I highly recommend interfacing all your exterior fabrics unless you’re using exclusively home decor weight fabric. Depending on personal taste, you can use a very lightweight interfacing, or a medium weight interfacing depending on how slouchy you like your bag. I used Pellon SF101 All-Purpose 100% cotton fusible interfacing. My honest recommendation is to buy a bolt of interfacing, instead of buying it by the yard. (I got mine from Overstock at a super reasonable price, and be sure to try and find a free/low cost shipping code before completing your purchase.) I LOVE the weight of this particular interfacing.

In addition, there are many possibilities for adding extra touches to suit your personal tastes. It called for a magnetic snap; I had one on hand to use; but truthfully I’m not a huge fan of them, and the one I had is gold tone; I’m a silver tone kind of gal. There are various options you can employ; such as not using any type of closure; the bag is quite deep so your items will still stay secure. You can also do a button/button loop closure, a twist turn lock -which comes in metal and plastic- or a hidden magnetic snap closure; or if you’re feeling adventurous, you can even do a set in zipper! Great, I’m giving away all of my ideas. You really can do lots of things with the exterior, like including piping on the edges and patchwork for the center panels. You can also create an adjustable strap to allow you to wear it either cross-body or just slung over one shoulder like I did. The possibilities are endless!

I highly recommend purchasing this pattern! You will not regret it. And of course, here’s a closeup of the mermaids.. so beautiful.

Beautiful Mermaids. Love the starfish bra!

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Embroidery Pattern Testing

January 31, 2012 in Finished Project

So, I was able to do my very first pattern testing! It’s been one of those things I’ve always wanted to do, but this was the first time I volunteered and was accepted! Rachael from Imagine Gnats is one of the more recent bloggers I’ve started following; she was taking part of the Sew Mama Sew giveaway week last December, and I was attracted to her blog content to become a follower! She did a casting call for pattern testers and I’m glad I was able to test out her patterns (which can now be purchased from her esty shop or directly from her blog) and give her my feedback.

So of course you want pictures, and here they are:

The super-heros stand united!

 

The super-hero girl!

Super-hero boy!

Okay so here’s my experience with the patterns. Firstly, they are beyond adorable. No seriously it is! Rachael in my opinion is talented with her art and images that she creates, which is why I really wanted to pattern test for her. The instructions were clear and well written, however I was having some difficulty determining which colors were which on the color key. This wasn’t Rachael’s fault by any means; to save paper I had just printed out the pattern images and was working off my computer for the color key guide, and of course all screen resolutions are different. And I’m not implying that stitching the patterns up while watching Star Trek: Deep Space Nine* on netflix had anything to do with it either**..

I ended up deviating (mostly by accident) from the color guide; which obviously isn’t a big deal, and I think it still came out pretty well. In addition, I did some different stitches than what the pattern called for, mostly because I couldn’t get a very good straight stitch due to me being left-handed. I did some chain stitches, couching, and lazy daisy to make the hearts on the girl’s cape; this was the most personalized touch I did. But this is the wonderful thing about patterns; they are guides not rules! In addition, I gave super-hero boy a garnet streak in his hair, just because he’s giving off this ‘teen angst’ or ‘punk’ vibe and dare I say even.. emo.

I consider myself beyond intermediate, but not an expert, but I made a rookie  mistake.. I forgot to double up on my fabric because you can see my threads showing up in the back! Woops.

I want to thank Rachael for giving me the opportunity to test out her pattern! I was able to give her some feedback on the color guide and I’m sure she implemented them. If you buy her patterns, you won’t regret it! They are fun and are actually good patterns to get your feet wet if you’re new to embroidery.

And here’s a closeup of the hearts together.. my favorite picture I took of the embroidery work:

The hearts in the center

For now, I haven’t decided o n what I plan on doing to the piece. I know I can’t just leave it on the fabric, but I’m not really a fan of decorative holiday pillows, so for now it’ll stay safe in my sewing room. I can see myself making it into a mini quilt to hang onto the wall, but I’ve got other commitments that need my attention!

*Yes, I’m a closet Trekkie.

**Actually I am. Dr. Julian Bashir is dreamy to look at.

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Wonderful Peeps

January 24, 2012 in Online Swaps

So, one of the things I’ve participated in is the Modern 4×5 Quilt bee. I was a caretaker for the inaugural round, and then I had stayed on as a caretaker for the next one. Unfortunately, it was going on right when I hit my low point, and I decided it would be best to step out while I took care of myself.

I wasn’t expecting anything due to my having to drop out, so imagine my surprise when a package showed up for me yesterday.

And here’s what was in it!

Everything in the package, sans chocolate.

Since I wasn’t mailing out any blocks, my understanding was to not expect blocks back. But of course since these ladies rock, they sent me blocks anyway. from the top, going left to right, the owl block is from Em of Little Bits & More, the whirlygig block is from Jen, and the cross block is from Pam. The bottom left block is from Tina of Seaside Stitches and the bottom right block is from Katherine of Honeyhill Designs. Also in my package were cards, chocolate and what I think is a hatpin.. I’m probably wrong but I’m not sure.

I gotta say, each and everyone of these ladies are amazing. They did not have to do this for me, and yet they did. I’m grateful to have the support from quilty friends like this. Each and every one of them put time, care and love into my blocks -as well as blocks for each other- and it shows.

To all of you, THANK YOU. You have each made this process that much easier for me.

 

edit: I realize I haven’t blogged the 3rd quarter blocks, I will do that later!

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Happy January 23rd!

January 23, 2012 in Uncategorized

No, there’s not a personal significance with today’s date for me. Not yet anyway *wink

I’m finally feeling like my old self again after struggling with Post-partum Depression and finally getting help (7.5 months after having a baby) I’m now back to blogging and even sewing after a week or two of getting used to my medication. I knew I hit a low when I no longer felt like sewing anymore; quite sad really!

So, first things first. Part of the problem with not wanting to sew wasn’t directly related to my PPD, but it was mostly due to having a hot mess of a sewing room with fabric EVERYWHERE. I couldn’t find anything and it was typically all wrinkly and balled up under 20 gajillion different things. Not being able to easily find anything put a serious damper on things. I currently have two rooms dedicated to my crafting and creating; and my eventual plan is to consolidate them into one room, and turn what’s currently my sewing room into a guest room. I know some people are thinking either “What a brat, I don’t even have one room, much less two.”  or “Woman, you’re crazy to give up a room!” but it really comes down to simplifying my life, organizing and decluttering. With my papercrafting and sewing stuff sharing a room, I’ll be better about what I bring into my house and hopefully that means spend less money*.

If you think it still looks like this, think again. Pics taken in August 2009

Not 100% sure how I’m going to do this, but on the opposite wall of the countertop, I’ll put Olga there as well as my $20 IKEA sewing table that’s currently in there. We need to replace the socket on that wall though because when you plug something in, it falls out. Luckily my neighbor is an electrician, so he can come over, show us how to do it once, and we can do it ourselves in other rooms. And since I have a new computer, I’ll be able to put my laptop in there to watch tutorials or movies or whatever when I’m sewing. I’m also going to take the plastic shelving out of the closet, replace it with something else and we can use the plastic shelf for something else. Better start looking for ideas on Pinterest!

However, this consolidation is probably another few months out. In the meantime, I’m sorting through my fabric stash, ironing and folding and putting my fabric into a plastic bin as temporary storage.

Fabric I've iron and folded so far. Got loads more to sort through. Don't ask how much yardage that is, I don't want to know.

This isn’t including my scraps, pieces that are too large to be scraps but too small to ruler fold and precuts and of course my trade/sell pile. I’ve still got quite a bit of fabric I need to iron and fold that’s going to stay in my permanent stash. Luckily I’ve got another 2 of these bins, plus an under the bed bin that I could put fabric into. This isn’t meant to be long term; however it’s good for now until I can merge rooms. It’s keeping my fabric nice and neat, and of course it’s easy to see what is there. I’ve got a rough system going on with sorting and organizing, but eventually, I’ll do some finetuning. Either way I’m excited at the prospect of having my spaces simplified! And of course this will be giving me a fantastic incentive to finally start using my business license and making things to sell. BTW, does anyone know how to get glitter out of french terry fabric? (don’t ask)

*That was actually for my husband’s benefit; I don’t know if I’ll actually be saving money but it’s a nice thought.

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Fat Quarter Shop Bundle Contest

January 5, 2012 in Uncategorized

Last week while flickering through my flickr feed, I found a mosaic of fabrics from one of my contacts. Intrigued, I went and clicked the link and discovered she put it together to win 15 half yard cuts from Quokka Quilts. Of course, I was going, “Ooh, a chance to win free fabric? A total of 7.5 yards? HELL YEAH I’m entering! So after perusing for a few hours on Fat Quarter Shop, I finally had my mosaic put together, after a small hiccup of accidentally not saving it and having to redo it. Woops.

Here’s my fabric choices:

(top row, left to right) Outfoxed Pink and Purple Wild Vines by Lizzy House, LouLouThi Scotch Hugs and Kisses by Anna Maria Horner, Happy Mochi Yum Yum Tangerine Fiji by Monica Solero-Snow, Pear Tree Cream and Orange Allover Eggs by Thomas Knauer

 (second row, left to right) Bazaar Style Night Morrocan Streets by Patricia Bravo, Domestic Bliss Eggplant Out of Doors by Liz Scott, Storyboek Coral Cobblestone Stripe by Birch Fabrics, Mimosa Orange Chevron by Dear Stella Fabrics

(third row, left to right) Dazzle Yellow Basketweave by Melissa Avernos, Power Pop Strawberry Girlfriend by Jenean Morrison, Modernology Rose Mod Vines by Patricia Bravo, Outfoxed Purple Triangle Toss by Lizzy House

(last row, left to right) Kona Cotton Coral, Kona Cotton Dusty Peach, Kona Cotton Eggplant, all by Robert Kaufman

Anyway, I have a chance to be one of three winners.. so I hope I’m one of them! *crosses fingers* I’ll find out sometime later this month.

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Sewn Spaces Swap: Needlebook Edition

November 9, 2011 in Swaps

So, I participated in a ton of swaps this past summer, and I realized I never actually blogged or followed up on them. So, over the course of four posts, I will go ahead and blog about them, in the order they were due in.

The first swap I mentioned was a Needlebook Swap. I participated in this because I figured it would be fun, quick and easy! And two out of three isn’t bad. It was NOT easy for me at all! In previous swaps, I heavily relied on the assumptions that everyone that participated in swaps also blogged.. not in this case! I had to completely rely on my partner’s Flickr set and her Mosaic. A few things I noticed in her Mosaic (I’m having to recall this from memory because she no longer has the mosaic up in her Flickr set) Was that she had a TON of needlebooks with Birds on it, and she had a few things that were Little Red Riding-hood Inspired. And in the questionare, she said her favorite color was green.

So this is what I ended up making her:

Mosaic of the pictures of the needlebook I created.

The print of the larger sewing case is made out of some Hope Valley fabric by Denyse Schmidt, all of the solids are Kona Cotton, and I’m not sure what the fabric that I used for the small needlebook is made by; It’s some Japanese Linen Print that’s absoultely adorable. Oh, and the fabric for the bird’s wing is a piece of fabric by Lizzy House from her 1001 Peeps line. I free handed the bird on the cover, and used double sided fusible to attach it to the front, and then I hand embroidered it with black gutterman thread and the branch and the nest was done with DMC floss, as well as the embroidery on the spine of the cover. I did that to give the spine a bit more stability. Oh, the bias tape was some bias tape that came with Olga, one of the drawers was FULL of bias tape. And of course I used my snap pliers by Kam Snaps to put the snaps on everything. I absolutely LOVE the snap pliers, and this was actually the first project that I had an opportunity to use them with!

Apparently I did a fantastic job of picking the fabrics, because my partner reported to me that Hope Valley is one of her favorite lines of fabric. PHEW I feel like I should mention that I did not in fact send everything you see in the last picture to her; the rotary cutter, scissors and fabric marker are mine; I just used them in the needlebook to demonstrate what everything was for. She did of course, receive the green Mettler thread.

And of course, here’s what I received:

Sewn Spaces Swap SetPhoto by Sewwunderful on flickr

My partner picked really cute fabrics for my stuff. I was really feeling a nautical, undersea creatures vibe when I created my mosaic, and my partner did not disappoint. Not only did I get a needle case, I also got a hexagon needlebook.. and as you guys may know, hexagons are my most favorite shapes on this planet! And the large square on the upper right is a pincushion that she left unstuffed for me to stuff at my own leisure. I also got quite a bit of pins and needles, including a curved needle, something that was missing from my stash! I was very grateful to receive this as my gift.

Anyways, that’s all for this swap! I keep my hexagon needlebook on my desk, and I use it all the time. I still haven’t stuffed my pincushion -woops- but I keep my fish needlebook in my sewing room and I use it on a regular basis.

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