New Fabric!
These are from the “Portugal” line by April Cornell for Moda. Gorgeous, soft colors and beautiful all over floral designs define these pretty summer cottons. I can see pretty A-line skirts, sleeveless tops, or summery sundresses made from any of these.
The second bunch of fabric to arrive this week is also from Moda. This time it was the “Pumpkins Gone Wild” line from Sandy Gervais. Really fun and bright. I love the falling leaves one and the all-over funky floral is really cool. I think I see a groovy witch or seasonal apron coming soon out of some of these.
A bird in the bag?
Emily and Lauren are sisters who have been coming in to learn to sew this past month. Their first projects were cool pajama pants (sorry no pictures). Then they chose Amy Butler’s new pattern, The Birdie Sling for their second project.
They did a great job choosing coordinating fabrics. Amy’s great colors and patterns make it pretty easy anyway! Emily chose Temple Garden and Full Moon Polka Dot from the Lotus collection with Oxford Stripe for the lining. Lauren selected her fabrics from the new Midwest Modern line; Optic Blossom in linen, Martini in mustard and Happy Dots in grey for the lining.
This was my first time making this pattern too. As with any pattern, I’d advise reading through the directions before starting. Amy Butler patterns are very clear and detailed. This one doesn’t have a lot of diagrams and there were one or two steps that may have been clearer with a diagram. Also we had a little trouble getting the top of the bag pieces and the top bands to match up evenly. We managed to fudge around enough that the end result was fine. I haven’t found any references to this problem in other online reviews of this pattern so it may have just been our mistake. I’ll have to make another sometime to see if we weren’t precise enough in our cutting this time around. This turned out to be a two session project. On the first day we got through the first 6 or 7 steps in the pattern and finished up the last 4 or 5 on the second day. The laying out and cutting of the pattern pieces always takes longer than you expect it to and with the last few finishing steps it is always important to take your time and be sure you do a nice neat job.
The finished bag is very roomy and the pattern includes instructions for two interior pockets. One is divided and quite deep, Lauren commented that this one is the perfect size for her eyeglass case. It wouldn’t be difficult at all to add a zippered pocket to the lining or a smaller cell phone sized pocket to the nice wide strap. I’d also suggest adding a magnetic snap. The other feature I like about this pattern is the use of fusible fleece for the lining interfacing. It gives the bag a nice body and protects your belongings a little bit. (One caveat: the fleece interfacing I ordered came in non-fusible so we used a temporary spray adhesive to stick the lining and interfacing together during assembly. This worked just fine, maybe better than using fusible as my luck and experience with some fusible fleeces has been hit or miss.)
Overall I’d give this pattern an A and Lauren and Emily an A+!
Filed under Classes, The Business, Uncategorized, sewing | Comment (0)Crafts for Boys
This may be the coolest thing I’ve seen all summer! Over at Skip to My Lou they have a fabulous tutorial on how to make a Duct Tape Bullwhip!
I’m frequently asked if I have craft classes and activities for boys. I always answer in the affirmative because I think boys can and should sew, knit, paint, make books, felt, etc. etc. But in all honesty, it isn’t always easy to find projects that would interest boys. Add to this the fact that I’m a Mom of two girls who grew up in the shadow of two older sisters. I do have an older brother but he is 10 years older than me so I don’t really remember him as a kid. So I’m stuck in a no (wo)man’s land of having no clue what boys like to do and make.
I would really appreciate any ideas, links, books, or suggestions to help me add to my crafty repertoire some boy friendly projects and activities.
Filed under Free Patterns/Tutorials, Uncategorized, kids parties | Comment (1)