Published!

I was asked awhile back to contribute to an e-book of tips for Etsy sellers by Julie of On the Dot Creations. She has the cutest blog featuring fabulous finds from Etsy sellers (finds that are almost too good, my wallet doth protest) and so I was happy to help out. Well the e-book is now available, so for anyone out there who might be looking for some great tips to improve their shop, or for those of you considering starting your own crafty business on Etsy, check out Julie's great--and free--e-book, Hints of Savvy Etsy Sellers! Lots of super talented sellers/artists have contributed some excellent ideas and I've learned a few new things, too.

Now, this is not the big project that I was referring to in my last post, so stay tuned for more about that very soon! Are you on tenterhooks yet? (Don't you just love that saying? And I have no idea why, but it reminds me of Harry Potter, perhaps because I'm on tenterhooks waiting for the next movie? I don't get terribly excited about most new movies, but for that one I'll make an exception. Okay, maybe also this one, too. Did I just reveal a bit of my inner nerd-child? I believe I did!)

Although, someone, somewhere, has already guessed it (too obvious, right? Oh well, I've already told you how I am with secrets. And have I mentioned that I like parenthetical phrases?).

Until next time...
Kim

New project

I know I've been quiet lately. I've been rather busy putting together a new project that I think you'll like. But I can't tell you what it is. Yet.

But soon.

Promise!

(My little helper, raiding the photo shoot.)

Although, it's not as though I'm a very good secret keeper, not for my own secrets anyway. I'll bet you know what it is already.

But now, I'm off to enjoy 78 degrees and sunny skies, and try to stretch out some stiff shoulders from hunching over in front of a computer for days. I never had such poor posture until the internet. Must work on that. Also, I think there might be some Oreos in the kitchen with my name on them. Yep.

Have a lovely day!
Kim

Last minute Easter crafts

Thanks to Jennifer at CraftSanity for including my tutorial in her latest podcast, which you can watch below for some quick and fun last minute Easter crafts:

Those paper flowers look so fun and easy!

Happy Easter everyone!
Kim

Congratulations to.....

It's official--I'm not the only one who loves American Jane! Thanks so much to all of you who entered for a chance to win the fat quarter of this fabric, I wish could give some to everyone!

The winner is: Rae!

Rae said...

I have been dreaming about this fabric since I saw it on your blog the other week! I can't believe how generous you are to give up a piece of this coveted fabric! Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

Thanks also to everyone who tried out my Fabric Easter Egg Tutorial. Your feedback has been great and it's the hugest compliment to me that many of you found the instructions easy to follow. I will definitely post more tutorials in the future and I hope you'll add your pictures to my flickr group (check out the fabulous photos from the group in my sidebar)!

Have a great day everyone!
Kim

As promised

As you may have noticed, I didn't get a chance to give something away in a previous post, because I miraculously solved my little technical glitch on my own (betcha I couldn't do it twice). So instead, I'm going to give away a fat quarter of a much loved fabric to one of my blog readers without your needing any technical knowledge at all! Just leave a comment below along with some way of contacting you, and I will draw a winner next Friday (April 10).

This is one of my very favorite prints ever, and judging by how many inquiries I've been getting about it, it's a favorite for lots of other folks, too!

The vital stats, for those of you who are curious: this measuring tape print is by American Jane (a.k.a. Sandy Klop) for Moda, from her discontinued Building Blocks line, as are the polka dot and floral prints found on my Easter eggs. The oval prints are from American Jane's Peas and Carrots line, also discontinued. Unfortunately these prints can be difficult to find, but perhaps some are hiding in your local quilt shop, a small online shop, or will suddenly pop up on eBay or Etsy. Good luck to anyone searching for these prints (don't you wish Moda did reprints?) and to those of you who toss their name into the hat for a chance to win!

Happy Thursday,
Kim

P.S. American Jane does have some other ruler prints in her Wee Play and Recess lines.

Questions Answered

Boy has my inbox been full lately! I am loving all the fantastic messages/comments you've been sending/leaving for me, and I really enjoy answering your questions. I've noticed, however, that several of the same questions are being asked over and over, so I thought I'd post answers to my most frequently asked questions for anyone who may be interested:

1. Where do you get your labels/tags?

I get my labels from ClothingLabels4U.com and I am super pleased with them. The customer service is fantastic and the labels arrive lickety split!

2. What pattern did you use?

All the items that you see pictured in my shop, on my blog, or my flickr photostream are made with my own patterns unless I specify otherwise, in which case I always let you know where it came from and link to the pattern designer. I'm actually pretty terrible at following other people's directions, which is how I got started making my own patterns in the first place. This also explains why you may find an annoying level of detail in my tutorials. I'm very much a visual learner and sort of assume that everyone else is, too, so I try show every step with photos.

3. Where can I buy your patterns?

My patterns aren't currently for sale due to my lack of ability/appropriate software for getting them off of my sketchbook and into a computer. I am pretty technologically impaired, so please bear with me as I stumble through this process! I do plan to offer more free tutorials, as time allows. In my wildest dreams you will one day be able to find a book of my patterns at your local bookshop.

4. Where did you get that fabric?

Most of my fabric is purchased online at etsy and occasionally on Ebay for some of the rarer or out-of-print stuff. I don't typically give specifics on sellers because everyone's stock varies so much and I don't want to give you out-of-date information, but I'm happy to tell you the name and designer of a print if you ask. Then you can just search for that print via the etsy search engine under "supplies" and voilà!

5. Did you ever get around to finishing [fill in the blank] project?

Probably not. But I can tell you that [fill in the blank] is sitting on my cutting table, watching me with pound puppy eyes, and will be finished eventually. I usually tackle UFOs whenever I have spare time (rarely) or an impulsive moment (occasionally), and I'll be sure to show you how they turned out when I get the chance. My UFOs thank you for the reminders, though!

A little help from my friends

ETA: Thank you for letting me know that the problem is solved. For anyone who is interested, I burned my feed with FeedBurner and updated the link in the "Post Feed Redirect URL" box in my Blogger settings, which I believe did the trick. I think I may have to have a little giveaway anyway since I didn't get the chance to hand out any prizes, details to come!

Thank you for all the wonderful comments about my fabric Easter egg tutorial! I can't wait to see some photos of your eggs!

Now I'd like to ask for a little favor...It seems that my blog refuses to update in Google Reader; it appears to be stuck on an entry I made nearly a year ago. If someone can help me fix this problem, I'd love to offer a freebie bit of coveted fabric or pear pincushion. It's probably something incredibly simple to fix, and I got so far as to find out there are some parsing errors, but the idea of scanning the html to figure out what's wrong is daunting, not to mention way over my head. So please feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment and hopefully I can get this sorted out with your help!

Thanks in advance!
Kim

Easter is in the air

I had one of those moments in Target the other day while walking (well running, actually, as I had a screaming toddler in my cart) by an endcap, and instinctively, reflexively even, bent down and grabbed this fantastic cake platter as we sped past. The first thing that popped into my head to describe it was "Barnyard Chic" -- check out the chicken wire detail on the foot! Completely fantastic --

Driving home, this strange urge to make Easter eggs came over me. Strange in that I don't usually get this kind of inspiration until either, a) after the holiday has passed, or b) it's so close to the holiday that there isn't enough time to complete the project. In any case, not only did I finish the eggs in time, but I've come up with a little tutorial (my first!) far enough in advance for anyone else who wants to make fabric Easter eggs, too. These are just a bit bigger than real eggs and a terrific way to use up those fabric scraps! Please be sure to tell me if you have any trouble printing the pattern (it should be 2-1/8"W by 4-1/4"h) or if any of the instructions are confusing so I can fix them!

Fabric Easter Egg Tutorial

Materials:

10"w x 5"h Quilting cotton, linen or other non-stretchy woven fabric in one or more prints
Thread
Fiberfill, Nature-fill or other similar polyester or natural stuffing
Disappearing Ink Pen
Scissors
Pins
Hand sewing needle
Pattern (I recommend printing it on card stock for easy tracing)

Seam allowances are 1/4"

1. Cut out the pieces. Place pattern piece perpendicular to the fabric selvedge, trace the pattern with disappearing ink (see photo below) and cut four pieces from desired fabric prints. You may cut multiple pieces simultaneously from the same print by folding the fabric over one or more times, cutting up to 4 pieces at once. (Tip: If you're using a scrap and don't know which way the selvedge is, test which direction the fabric is stretchiest. The fabric is stretchier going perpendicular to the selvedge, and less stretchy going parallel with the selvedge; you want the stretch going from top to bottom of the egg, not side to side, so your egg doesn't get too "fat" when you stuff it. Hopefully that makes sense.)

2. Place pieces together for sewing. Always keeping track of which end is "up", place 2 fabric pieces, right sides together, pinning if desired. Do the same with the remaining two pieces. Transfer the two dots from the pattern to the fabric pieces on top. If using two different fabrics, make sure both pairs have one of each print and that the same print is on the top of both sets.

3. Sew a seam along the right side of one set of egg pieces, from top dot to bottom dot, backstitching at the top and bottom. Do the same with the second set of pieces.

4. Put the two halves together. Turn one set of egg pieces right side out, and place inside the other set of egg pieces, so that right sides are together on the inside.

Match the seams at the top and bottom and pin. (Note the purple ink marks on the lower righthand side in the photo below that indicate where I will leave a hole for stuffing)

5. Sew the two halves together. Sew around the outside edge of the egg, leaving a 1" hole on one side for turning and stuffing, backstitching at the beginning and end of the seam.

6. Trim the seam allowances, taking care not to snip into the stitches and leaving the seam allowances wide around the open hole.

7. Turn the egg right side out through the hole and it will look something like this

8. Stuff the egg firmly with poly-fill or other stuffing, and close the hole with small slip stitches/ladder stitches.

9. Voila! You have a completed egg.

10. Now make bunches and bunches of these and post your photos in my new flickr group dedicated to projects made with my patterns!

I hope you have as much fun making these as I did!

Have a fun and happy (and warm, if you're lucky) weekend!
Kim

edited 2/2/11 to add updated link to pattern

Talking Stash

I couldn't resist when I heard that they're talking fabric stash over here, so I had to join in! As a certifiable stash-a-holic, mine is ever growing, especially lately. I just can't believe all the good stuff that's out there these days.

What do you usually sew?

I spend most of my time sewing pincushions, but I'm dreaming of new bags and quilts that I hope to start soon. Selling my pincushions does help expand the stash, however, and there's something kind of nice about the repetitiveness of making them, leaving my mind free to wander and dream of new projects.

When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy? (i.e. If you see something beautiful, but you don't have a use for it right away, how much do you buy?)

I typically get full yards of each print to keep my options open. Sometimes I'll get half yards or fat quarters if I have a specific smaller project in mind and think I won't need more of the fabric later. Occasionally I get a wild hair and fall so rampantly in love with an out of print fabric that I snap up a bunch of it the moment I spot it.

Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need?

I usually shop for something in particular, but to get my money's worth in shipping I'll top off that envelope or box with a few impulse items.

Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you're ready to use it?

I prefer working with unwashed fabric, but if I do need to prewash for making something like clothes I'll do it right before I need it because I hate dealing with a huge pile of fabric that needs ironing!

Do you iron it?

I always iron fabric before I cut into it, whether it's washed or not. It makes a huge difference in cutting fabric precisely.

How do you sort it? (color, print size, collection, etc.)

This probably makes me kind of nerdy, but I sort my fabrics by manufacturer, subdivided by designer, and then loosely by color. I tried organizing by only color once and I could never find anything because I keep prints categorized in my head by designer. Knowing which manufacturer the fabric came from makes it simpler when it comes time to add to the stash, and can make color mixing easier when I'm choosing prints for a project.

Do you have any special folding techniques?

Yes, I use the ruler method of folding fabric, except that I’ve done it so much that I no longer need the ruler. Because I now fold by eye, my fabric piles aren't perfect, but I have a well used stash and am constantly taking out and putting away fabrics so this more casual method is quick and works great to keep things pretty neat.

How do you store your fabric?

I keep my most used fabric on open shelves so I can gaze upon them for inspiration and get to them quickly. Fabrics that are shorter than a yard are kept rolled up in colanders, also in plain view so I can grab them as inspiration hits. My lesser used or bolts of fabric, interfacing, felts and non-quilting fabrics are kept in closed cabinets.

What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash?

I often think fabric in terms of "main print/coordinating print". If I get a larger scale floral fabric, I know I'm going to need a coordinating smaller scale print like a stripe or polka dot as well. I also tend to get prints in sets, so if I like a particular fabric line, I'll buy several prints that work together, which keeps my options open for quilting projects. I'm also trying to veer outside of my usual color preferences, because there are so many wonderful projects you can do with a full spectrum of color, which is difficult if all your fabric is green or blue.

When do you say enough is enough?

There is no such thing as enough! There are always new prints coming out that will add new project possibilities to my stash.

What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects?

Small patchwork projects like clutches, softies, or pincushions are great for using up scraps. Bags and quilts are excellent for using up larger pieces.

Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? Let's see it!

There is no way I could pick one favorite, I'm not even going to try!

What's your definition of the perfect stash?

The perfect stash has a full spectrum of color, a good variety of print scale, and has all your favorite prints both for projects you're planning and for those not yet dreamed up. It's also well-behaved enough to stay nicely folded and safely hidden when your husband asks if you've been fabric shopping, again.

Sewing. Snow. Crafting. Cabin Fever.

This year sure has gone off to a running start. So I'll kick off the blogging season with the top 10 reasons that you haven't heard from me this new year until now:

1. It's been so dark and dreary and cold that I've been in a bit of a funk the past couple of weeks. It seems like a weak excuse, but I honestly thought we'd get a bit more sun up here.

2. Despite this, I've been sewing up a storm. Voilà, clothespin aprons (obviously, dreaming of sunny days which are still far, far away).

How fabulous are those Garden Party fabrics? Kind of retro with an edge. I wasn't sure how to approach this line at first but then I just woke up one morning completely in love with it.

3. Did I mention that it's 15 degrees below zero outside and Brrrrrr!

4. My children have come down with a serious case of cabin fever (see no. 3) and so we've turned our house into an obstacle course. By the way, the bilibo is the coolest toy ever, which we found at one of the coolest toy stores ever.

5. I've been playing with my new camera and photo editing software, both enlightening me regarding the extent of my lack of technical skill and knowledge, in a fun-challenge kind of way.

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Is that not the most mischievous smile? Love this kid.

6. An influx of fabric has forced me to rearrange my crafting space--a big time sponge, albeit a fun one.

7. Possible TMI alert, unless your kids have special needs: We've been checking out local places for therapy and activities because the boys have had some sensory issues brought on by the winter doldrums. We decided against having them attend a place that I would classify as a "therapy preschool for autistic children" for various reasons and the kids are now enrolled in lessons at a nearby gym. It's fantastic, and I don't think they could be getting better therapy, especially of the sensory integration type, anywhere else. We were so fortunate to find an instructor with training in special education, and what the boys experienced in one hour at this gym was better than any session they've had with private occupational therapists (who often promise SI therapy and then deliver something vastly different, oy-vey, not a rant I'll subject you to today). I definitely recommend checking this option out if your kids have sensory or other physical issues that aren't being fully addressed with your current therapies, or if you're just looking for a place to go that you can all have fun as a family.

8. Necessitated by certain overactive children (see no. 4), I am turning the family room into more of a play room. Lots of paint shopping, which you already know that I love, and drooling over all the incredible stuff I'm finding online. Like this rug, this chair, and this seriously adorable train.

9. Netflix watch instantly. More cheesy 80s movies and romantic comedies than you can shake a stick at.

10. Cleaning carpets. I go through this every winter. I will not delve into the sordid details of what four dogs and two children can do to carpet, but suffice it to say that we're getting our money's worth out of the steam cleaner. Ugh. I cannot tell you how much I hate carpet.

On a side note, I wanted to mention that the Indie Fixx Shop is closing (ack! so sad!) but you can score some really great deals there, so be sure to stop by before the doors close in March.