Archive for the ‘New’ Category

We may have slimmed our footprint down but we’ve really beefed up our notions. In addition to carrying Superior Threads top 50 colors of King Tut thread, we are now carrying pretty awesome gadgets like the Bendable Bright Light and additional Mounting Brackets, Jumbo Wonder Clips and Wonder Clips, Story Patches, Temporary Glue Sticks and Refills, Karen K. Buckley’s Perfect Scissors, Seam Fix (the newest craze in seam rippers) and coming soon Bohin’s new Extra-Fine 3-in-1 Chalk Pencil!

So wether you are in search of the perfect modern fabric or a perfect gift for your sewing family or friends you can find it in Monument, CO – situated between Castle Rock and Colorado Springs, and not too far from Denver! Stop on in and spend some time discovering Monument!

This week will be receiving 8 pieces from Jenean Morrison’s Beechwood Park Collection! The blue color way is perfect for 4th of July – read what she says about the collection below:

Beechwood Park is a collection about summer. Memories of summers long past; dream summers of the future. A park is, for me, the perfect summer place. Whether you go alone for a quiet walk down a shaded path, or go with family and friends for a festive summer picnic or party — a park is a place where you can make summer yours. And Beechwood Park, with the colors and patterns and JOYS of summer, encapsulates MY perfect summer. I hope you will share it with me. ~ Jenean Morrison

Sewing 401: One of the most fabulous things about sewing is getting to create something unique for yourself. In this class, the pattern may change, but the outcome is always the same – a Skirt! Like 201, regardless of the skirt pattern, the class curriculum will be similar and includes: cutting out a pattern, transferring pattern markings, and pattern reading. You will need to pre-wash and iron your material and in most cases it is a good idea to transfer your pattern pieces to tracing paper. In addition, we ask that you read the pattern before attending class.

January 8th: 12pm – 2pm and January 10th: 10pm – 2pm (2 part class)

$50, Plus Pattern & Materials

The Fina Skirt is a flattering A-line skirt with a contrasting yoke, lining and a side zipper.

I know I run with a generous crowd…so we always have “thank-you’s” on hand – okay, who am I kidding?! In recent months – 6 to be exact – I am scrambling to find time for just about anything. But, I always like to send a timely thank you! So while my time may be a little more sparse these days, it doesn’t take long to make these cute little notecards for a personalized “thank-you!”

Using my embroidery machine – I embroider several “A’s” on a scrap piece of fabric that is backed with Decor bond (fusible interfacing). Once embroidered I cut around each “A” with pinking shears and sew onto a flat card. Sewing around the “A” with several haphazard squares gives it a fun little touch! I never worry about matching my thread on this project. Instead, I take the opportunity to use any last bit of thread I have on a bobbin.

Having lived in the south most of my life, I have been exposed to things too cute for words. And in the case of the “pillowcase” dress – too easy not to try! This is a great project for new sewers because with very little money or cutting involved, you can practice basic sewing skills like: measuring, working with bias tape, hemming and threading elastic or ribbon through casings.

In my search for instructions on-line, there were lots of results that showed up. Some had variations in their constructions but many of the sites boasted instructions that were identical to the next. What I did find in common with most is the size of the armholes: cut a 3” armhole for smaller children and a 4” armhole for larger children. Of course, if you are making this for a 1-year old, the armhole is probably going to be quite different than if you are making it for a 4-year old. My suggestion: take an article of clothing that fits the child (like a tank top) and use the armholes as a guide. Most also agreed with the following chart for lengths of the dress:

• 6 months – 14 1/4in
• 12 months – 16 1/4in
• 18 months – 17 1/4in
• 2T – 18 1/4in
• 3T – 19 1/4in
• 4T – 20 1/4in

And, with the repeated observation that many pillowcases were just too wide for the skinny little ones they were putting them on. May I suggest determining what your finished width needs to be and sew up one side of the pillowcase?

Here are the sites I checked out in the process: Baby Rabies, Grace Violet, Sewing Mamas & Bumblebee Linens

With that all out of the way, let’s get started.

Step 1: purchase a pillowcase or make one yourself. The one I am using in this tutorial comes from a pillowcase pattern on All People Quilt.

Step 2: Figure out the desired finished length of the dress (measure from your child’s shoulder to where you want it to fall at her knees), add 1 ½” and cut the top edge (or sewn end) of the pillowcase off using a ruler, rotary cutter and self healing mat. This would be a good time to change the width of the dress too, by stitching one side of the pillowcase, trimming off the excess and finishing the edge using an overlock stitch.

Step 3: Fold the top edge under 1 ½” using an ezy-hem ruler (these are the best). This will be used for the ribbon casing.

Step 4: By folding the pillowcase in half lengthwise, and cutting the armhole you will have identical armholes. Your armhole will start 1 ½” down (b/c of the casing) and you will want to allow for the seam allowance when you attach your biased tape. I allowed for a ½” seam allowance. If you want a finished 3” armhole, only cut it 2 ½”.

Step 5: Using the ezy-hem ruler, press the top ½” of your 1 ½” casing towards the wrong side of the fabric. Now you will have a finished edge when you top-stitch your casing.

Step 6: Make your bias tape – or buy some. In this picture, I used my ruler, rotary cutter, and self-healing mat to cut a 2” strip on the bias. Press the bias tape in half long ways and pin to the right side of the armholes with all the raw edges aligned. Before pinning, open up the creases of the casing. Make sure you are pinning top edge to top edge of dress, this will conceal any raw edges of the bias tape within the casing.

Step 7: Stitch using a ½” seam allowance. Then trim away excess seam allowance leaving about 1/8”.

Step 8: Press, pin and top-stitch bias tape to inside of armhole. Now you have a finished armhole that lays nicely, even though it is curved.

Step 9: Re-iron the top ½” and 1” that is forming your casing down. Top-stitch, leaving the sides open. This is where you will thread your ribbon through.

Step 10: Thread your ribbon through the casing using your preferred method – mine happens to be using a loop turner, but you can also use a safety pin or bobby pin. Using a continuous piece of ribbon, tie one bow at one should. Or use two lengths of ribbon to have bows on both shoulders!

Thanks to Traci, I was tempted to try using Anna Maria Horner’s technique for this uber-cute faux smocked – elastic gathered skirt that is a FREE tutorial on her blog. And thanks to Crafty Laine I had the perfect fabric at my fingertips: Kate Spain’s Central Park!

Now I don’t think that I have followed a pattern exactly since I was in jr. high, so of course there are a few changes I made. Mostly in the construction because I like feeding elastic through channels as much as I like scooping up pet poop. And, since I decided to do an extra channel of elastic, it became imperative to use a nifty little tool that I guess will have to make my “favorite tools” list: the loop turner.

It can be used for turning loops, but you can get creative. I have customers bying it to feed the beads on a special jewelry that the get at Santa Fe Jewelry , and I use it to pull elastic in a flat situation. Here in lies the problem, a skirt is not. So, I left openings on either side of the waist, used my loop turner to pull all 5 pieces of elastic through one side – secured the end with a pin, then started pulling it through the other side. This is when it really starts to gather, but with patience, it’s a heck of a lot easier than using a safety pin.

If you have attended our gift bag or wine bag making class, we use the same technique putting the ribbon drawstring into the bag!

Supplies needed:

fabric

zipper

fusible interfacing (optional)

Step 1: Cut out 4 hearts. 2 will be your outer fabric, 2 will be your lining fabric. Cut a 5th heart out of fusible interfacing and fuse to the heart that will be used as the back of the zipper pouch.

Step 2: mark a line on the back side across one of the hearts that are used for lining. Start and end 3/4″ from each edge.

Step 3: Pin 1 outer heart with right sides together to the lining heart that you just drew the line on. Sew 1/8″ around the drawn line – through the two layers. * Click the picture to see the detail.

Then, cut along the line and at angles into the corners, making sure you don’t cut your stitching. Like shown in the diagram below:

Step 4: turn right side out – and press. Your 2 hearts should be wrong sides together. Place and pin the zipper centered into the opening.

Step 5: Using your zipper foot, stitch around the perimeter of the opening – close to the edge – this will secure the zipper in place.

Step 6: Trim the zipper tape.

Step 7: Pin the outer hearts with right sides together – sew with 1/4″ seam allowance. Repeat this process with the lining hearts  - sew with a slightly larger seam allowance (this will give it room to fit into the outer heart), leaving a 2″ opening on a straight edge for turning later. Trim seam allowances with picking shears – clip the deep v’s.

Step 8: Start turning the lining right side out through the 2″ opening, poking the curves and corners with a blunt object (we use a bone folder) as you go. Pin the opening and topstitch closed.

Step 9: Turn the pouch right side out through the zipper and press.

* we used Central Park fabric designed by Kate Spain

For the past week, I’ve been working on our new retail location with the help of two very dear friends from Dallas: Jill and Abby, plus others like Sierra, Donna Lee,  Todd and of course, Tobin!! We’ve accomplished so much on the outside and inside of our store in a short amount of time. We still have a lot of work to do before we open up in a few short weeks, until then…enjoy the progress pics, make some Sangria and sit back while we do the work!

Super Fruity Sangria

1 Bottle of your favorite white wine (This recipe is just as delicious with a good red wine, if you so choose)

1 Lemon cut into wedges

1 Orange cut into wedges

1 Lime cut into wedges

1 Peach cut into wedges

1 Cup sliced strawberries

½ Cup lemonade or limeade

½ Cup Sugar

2 shots of apricot, peach or “berry” flavored brandy

2 Cups ginger ale

Optional: one can of diced pineapple pieces with juice

Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon, orange and lime into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and add sliced peaches, strawberries limeade/lemonade, sugar and brandy. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale and ice just before serving. If you’d like to serve right away, use chilled white wine and serve over lots of ice.

I had big plans for the four days that Tobin was gone – for some reason I have more energy, eat less and stay up much later when he’s not at home to hang out with. Anyway, I didn’t get everything done that I wanted to, although I did get a large chunk! Since this is a continued post, here is the chair and mirror that I was able to complete.

I think I decided against painting one of the side tables – I’ll have to see how it looks in the room with everything else before I take on the task. I am hoping to finish up the bed this afternoon so you can see it all put together in the room with the other furniture that I have painted!