Just thought I'd pop in to say...

School is on my brain lately. We still have a few weeks before school begins here but I'm definitely thinking about school supplies and school clothes, the onset of autumn and, of course, the busy-ness of the holidays (gulp). Picking out new school supplies was is always my favorite thing about the end of summer...fresh pencils, clean paper, brand new erasers...Ahhhh.

I didn't mind those standard yellow pencils as a schoolgirl, but how much would I have loved polka dot pencils?

My sophomore year in high school I visited France with a school group. I think it must have been between terms because all the kids were buying school supplies. I loved that the French school supplies were not only completely different from our own, but so much cooler. All the rage were these delightful, and magical, erasable pens and fancy French ruled notebook paper. The local kids didn't seem terribly impressed with their exotic writing goodies, but I was infatuated. I may possibly have to indulge in some super-cool international school supplies for myself this fall.

And store them in a cute pencil pouch.

Happy back-to-school shopping,
Kim

pillows with a purpose

I have limited storage space for fabric, which, obviously, once it’s full, can be problematic. Well, I'm there. My fabric cabinet is stuffed to the gills. No space for new prints, no space for stocking up on old favorites. Something has to be done. Such excess. It's a little embarrassing.

I set aside a few prints to list in my shop, but it's still hard to get over the fact that when I bought all these fabrics, I had planned to actually make things with them. And then, in my web meanderings, I happened upon a great way to create something useful with those gorgeous fabrics and then donate them to a wonderful cause. I expect that I'm nearly the last person to hear about the One Million Pillowcase Challenge, but local shops are still collecting pillowcases so I hope to inspire a few more of you to lend a hand.

So far I've made two pillowcases with Amy Butler's Belle prints in the aqua and clay colorway. Oh how I adore her coriander prints. I used this tutorial, except that I cut the trim 1-1/2" wide instead of 3" (the finished trim is 1/2"W). All you need is 1 yard of fabric and one narrow piece of trim. It's an easy pattern, and no serger is required. Simple, and fun. Please try it!

I showed these to my husband and he told me that I am not allowed to buy pillowcases ever again. Sounds good to me.

(Molly says "Hi!")

I hope you will consider joining me in some charitable craftiness. If you know of other organizations to donate fabric, yarn, sewing supplies, or finished handmade goods, please let me know in the comments and I will add it to the list.

One Million Pillowcase Challenge
Rainbow Around the Block
Project Linus
Knitting & Crochet Charities - lots of links

Thanks!
Kim

And the winners are...

As selected by the random number generator:

#4 Lynne

Lynne said...
I love that Retro Ruler print. So cute! Thanks for the great giveaway!


#81 Alette
Alette said...
I love the retro ruler print. And I would so love to win the give away of the pear ( ofcourse who wouldn't LOL) it is my birthday the 20th :)

Alette


Congratulations Lynne and Alette! I’ll be in touch shortly to send your pear patterns and sewing kits. Thanks to everyone who entered!

And just so you know...Aqua and red kits are now available (sorry, the finished pears are already gone!)

Have a great week!
Kim

Patchwork project for your unpaper products

Say that 5 times fast.

You don't still get plastic bags from the grocery store do you? Yeah, me neither. Well usually not. Occasionally the pups make a mess in the house and it's handy to have a bag for clean up that I can take straight to the garbage can. Why do they eat grass, anyway? It always ends up on the rug.

I came across this great tutorial for making a plastic bag holder (I'm actually thinking it will be awesome for dispensing washcloths or unpaper towels, a few at a time so I'm not always digging in the linen closet for them) and had to try it out.

My version:

The 50s kitcheny fabrics are from Anna Griffin's long discontinued Elsie's Kitchen line, American Jane polka dots and florals, and Alexander Henry's birdseed in yellow. Also some Michael Miller dumb dots in black mixed in. It didn't come out as photogenic as I'd hoped, but I still like it.

I did make some alterations to the pattern measurements which I'll share here in case you want to make one too, especially those of you in the US.

The changes:

1. First I had to convert and round the measurements up from the pesky metric system that nearly the entire planet uses but we Americans still view as incomprehensible. Silly logical rest of the world. Then I made it slightly longer: The measurements of the pieced fabric/muslin are 20"H x 18"W. My patchwork strips started out 6" long, and were trimmed down to the proper size while squaring.

2. Instead of using a long piece of fabric for the hanger, I just used a wide piece of grosgrain ribbon (3/4"W), about 10" in length. And instead of attaching it to the bag after the elastic was sewn in, I sewed the ribbon ends to the inside of the bag, right along the casing seam before inserting the elastic. One end I sewed to the center of the pieced fabric, the other end near the edge, next to where the edges of the bag are sewn together, but with enough room for about a 1/2" seam allowance.

3. I changed the elastic measurements to 6-1/2" for the bottom elastic, and 7-1/2" for the top.

4. Apparently I like to sew lots and lots of narrow little strips together. If you want to save some time, make sure your narrower strips are at least 2" to 2-1/2" wide, but use plenty of wider strips, in the 3-4" range.

That sounds more confusing than it is when I see it all written out. Would you prefer photos to illustrate?

I also wanted to mention that there are still a few days left to enter my sewing kit and pear pattern giveaway. So please enter. Right now!

Have a happy weekend!
Kim

Pick a pear

I was spending some quality time with my fabric stash the other day and lamenting how there just isn't enough time in the day (or week or year) for me to sew through it all. The time had come for me to share some of those favorite prints that I've been storing, so that others (you) can enjoy them too.

So, today I am announcing the arrival of Retro Mama pattern kits! Available now:

Hope Valley in Orange and Orchid (thank you, Denyse, for making me love this color combination)

Retro Ruler (this was my number one best selling pincushion, and I love these fabrics as much today as I did when I first discovered them)

I am also selling the sample pincushions from these photos. I don't have immediate plans to make more pears, so if you want a pincushion, now is the time to grab it!

Included in each kit is

*6 designer 100% cotton fabrics to make one pear
*Wool blend felt for leaf and stem
*3 colors of embroidery floss

Remember, the pattern is sold separately!

All the fabrics and materials are hand cut by me, and to minimize waste they are not shipped with extra packaging materials. The kits will arrive in the cute bundle pictured above, with some baker's twine wrapped around it that you can use for crafting or packages. I also ship these kits internationally. More kit prints will be available soon.

I'd love to hear from you--if you have a request for specific fabrics please leave a comment!

AND to make things interesting, as well as reward those of you who made it to the end of this post...If you leave a comment or vote for a new fabric kit, you will be entered to win your choice of one of the pincushion kits above. I'll randomly choose TWO winners on Monday, July 19 to receive a kit so please make sure there is a way to contact you by entering an e-mail address with your name when you leave a comment. One entry per person please.

P.S. The winners will also receive a copy of my Plush Pear Trio PDF sewing pattern :)

Good luck!
Kim

Tilly & Tommy

Everyone's response to these elephants has been wonderful--I'm excited that you're excited about them! My kiddos love these big huggable softies too, and have absconded with several of my samples. So I am more than pleased to share this brand new pattern with you, at last.

The pattern specs: The finished elephants are about 9" tall and 12" long, with giant floppy ears, embroidered eyes and sweet knotted tails. You can now purchase the PDF sewing pattern in my shop, or the sidebar of my blog. As usual, the tutorial-style instructions are accompanied by color photographs and the pattern pieces are full sized. I'll e-mail the pattern to you as soon as I receive payment, so you will be sewing up a herd of these plush pals in no time. With only four pattern pieces, this is a quick, fun, and easy project, recommended for all sewing levels. Pair one of these softies with a favorite elephant or zoo board book for the perfect baby shower gift!

And speaking of elephants, have you seen all the fabulous circus-y and elephant themed fabrics out there lately? I know you all are going to come up with some amazingly adorable fabric combos and I can’t wait to see them! As always, you are invited to post your Retro Mama creations in my flickr group.

Happy sewing!
Kim

P.S. The apple pictured is not included in the pattern, but stay tuned for that one in the future. I just thought it looked cute with the elephants!

The Umbrella Incident

It's possible that by now some of you have wondered what has become of me. I can assure you that I haven't run away with the circus, nor have I embarked on a glamorous cruise around the world, nor even, more likely, become really lost in a fabric store. The truth is, I've been on a rather long blogging/sewing hiatus due to an unfortunate run-in with a market umbrella. You know, the kind with that clever bendy pinchy part that tilts the shade? I don't want to overshare the gory details, so let's just say it started with my own clumsiness and ended with a very bandaged finger and a tetanus shot.

After a few weeks I have finally regained use of my hand enough for sewing and camera wielding. I sat down one afternoon and drafted up this fun scrappy apple, the pattern for which may or may not still need a little tweaking. And to keep myself from endlessly staring at my fabric stash wondering where to begin, I forced myself to use only fabric from my ridiculously crammed scrap drawer.

Before you ask...Every time I post a photo with this tape measure fabric, I get tons of emails inquiring about it, so I'll just go ahead and tell you the details here: the fabric is by American Jane, manufactured by Moda, and is currently out of print. Try searching eBay and you might get lucky! (The print to the left is also by American Jane, and the one on the right is a lemon print from Alexander Henry.)

Or, I have another option for you. If you happen to have Flea Market Fancy prints that you could be convinced to part with, I would love to work out a trade with you for some of this retro ruler fabric. I also have several coordinating prints, so if you're interested, please send me a note! You can find my email address in my Blogger profile.

Speaking of sewing, I sort of left you hanging awhile back, for an unintentionally long time. So, here is another glimpse of my next project, which will hopefully soon be your next project!










I love these squeezy soft elephants and I can't wait to share the pattern with you!

Things may remain quiet here in Blogland as summer rolls around (though I hope not). The boys have just a couple of weeks of school left, and then I will be keeping them educated and entertained full time over the next few months. I'll try to pop in and at least post photos of whatever projects I'm able to squeeze in during the hours that I'm supposed to be sleeping.

Have a safe weekend, everybody!

Kim

nostalgic daydreaming

I may have mentioned that I was doing a bit of spring cleaning in my last post. Actually, that is somewhat of an understatement, just ask my garage full of things I've set aside for a yard sale. A Clean House style yard sale. Well, almost. (You try cramming 2300 square feet of stuff into a 1400 square foot house, that's all I'm saying.)

In the course of sorting through my things, this sweet little doll appeared, who I believe was made in France, and given to me at the age of 8 or 9.

The name Elizabetta is penciled in on her bloomers and I think she is delightful.

I'm not a frilly sort of gal, and I'm definitely not a doll person (is it something about the way their eyes follow you??) but I think Elizabetta will be a nice companion in my sewing room.

Getting rid of lots of things sort of cleared out some space in the house, and...well, I might have brought in a few new/old things as well. I found myself in a thrift shop yesterday (don't ask me how these things happen, I swear I was only going to the fabric store for thread), and was strolling along the bedding aisle when my feet came to a sudden, involuntary stop. Apparently I had just stumbled upon where vintage sheets go to heaven. Well, I was in heaven, anyway.

I found this lovely number



And these



And then I let out a little schoolgirl squeal when I came across this one



For two reasons:

1. I immediately recognized this as my beloved bedsheet pattern from childhood. (Yes, Mom, you read that right, I was quite enamored of those flowers, for whatever reason)

2. Almost immediately after this, I did some mental math which told me that my childhood sheets were now considered vintage. Very vintage.

Now I just need to decide how I want to use the sheets. I daydream about this bunting, which might be just the project for my thrifty finds, and the perfect addition to our Spring decor.

Well. In that case, I'd best get sewing!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday,

Kim

spring cleaning

These granny squares have been lurking around my craft area for awhile, pretty much ever since Hope Valley arrived, so I figured I was past due in posting photos. Leave it to Denyse Schmidt to make me fall in love with purple + orange.

Visit this great granny squares tutorial if you're in the mood to try a little crochet yourself.



I've spent very little quality time with my sewing machine lately (boo), but I have managed to put together a little something that I think you'll enjoy. Soon. Even those of you who don't sew.



Check out my new tags, aren't they the cutest? That little blue bird makes me so happy. Oh yes, I still get excited about every little thing. And before I receive another slew of e-mails asking...I got the labels here.

Now, Easter is coming up and I know that many of you probably remember my fabric egg tutorial from last year, but I wanted to make sure to remind you that there is still have enough time to whip up something adorable (and easy) in time for the holiday! My kiddos played with those eggs long after the Easter Bunny's tail disappeared over the horizon and I'm sure yours will love them too. So many of you have posted your gorgeous egg photos in my flickr group, thank you so much, I love them all!

Now, back to whatever it is I should be doing right now. Oh yes, sleeping!

Hope you're having a wonderful week...
Kim

Tea-riffic

After my last post, I was excited to see that lots of you wanted to run straight to your sewing machine and make your own tea cozies, or tea cosies, as our friends across the pond might say.

Well, I'd like to introduce you to my Posy Cozies PDF sewing pattern, now available. I hope that plenty of teapots will be sporting brand new quilted jackets this season!



This sewing pattern is fun, quick, and as with all of my patterns, comes with full color photographs and tutorial style instructions, great for beginners and beyond.Your tea cozy will have an adorable hanging loop and the lining is fully attached.

In my instructions, I'll show you how to make two different patchwork designs, Layer Cake and Coin Sandwich. (You all know how much I love coins!)

Also, you can drool over my fantastic new vintage teapot. I never had strong feelings one way or the other about Fiestaware in the past, but once I laid eyes on this heavenly aqua tea set, well, you know the rest of the story. It just makes me want to tie on an apron and throw a tea party.





As usual, you can find this and all of my patterns at my shop or in the sidebar at right.

Bon Appe-tea! (sorry, I couldn't resist)

Kim