Sew Liberated Child's Apron

My son is starting Kindergarden on Tuesday. He has not been to school for longer than an hour, so I'm hoping he can hang for 7 hours a day. But he's super excited about it, and that's what counts. I'm a little sad about it, but it's not about me, so I turned to a little sewing to fix that. :-)

The supply list for school included an art smock, apron, or old shirt to cover up clothes when painting. When my husband heard that I was planning on making art aprons for the kids (because my daughter needed one too), he said what the heck and that boys don't wear art aprons, they wear old shirts. What the?!? The kids had already chosen their fabric, so I plowed ahead.

I used the Montessori Child's Apron by Sew Liberated, which is a free pdf pattern. This pattern is appropriate for children ages 3-6.

Fabric - Joann's had their character fabric on sale this week, so the kids chose Hello Kitty and Spiderman...big surprise there! I actually like the new Hello Kitty fabric that they had there a whole lot, it's super cute. The pattern calls for 1/2 yard of fabric. I altered the pattern to include front pockets, so if you're going to do that, you might want to get slightly more fabric, especially if you're fussy cutting like I did. Besides the fabric, you'll need 2" of velcro and 15-1/4" of elastic (3/4").

Pattern Pieces - There is only one pattern piece, and there is no taping needed! It is helpful to trace the pattern piece onto newsprint, since you will need to lengthen the bottom by 9". I used Pellon Tru-Grid, which made it extremely easy for me to add the extra 9" at the bottom.

Illustrations/Instructions - There is an illustration for just about every step, and the instructions are very detailed. I looked at apron patterns for awhile before I decided on this one. I chose this pattern because I liked the elastic strap around the next, which would make it very easy to put on, yet still maintaining a snug fit. Since neither of my kids can tie a knot yet, I appreciate the fact that this apron closes via velcro; will make it easy for them to put on themselves.

As I mentioned already, I just added the front pocket with dividers - I made two 3" dividers in the pocket and many 1" ones. I thought it would be kind of cool to have space for larger things and also for individual markers or brushes. Adding the pocket was really easy.

Conclusion - This was a great project. If you're a beginner, you'd definitely be able to complete this, and it's a nice introduction to inserting elastic and sewing on velcro. Plus it's harder finding cool things to sew for little boys, so my son definitely appreciated having something handmade just for him.

Seriously...please tell me all the boys in my son's class are not going to want this apron! Tell my husband he can suck on that t-shirt idea, heehee.

GIVEAWAY! Pellon Home Decor Goodies!

This giveaway is now closed. The winner is #50 Gene Black.

I have a great giveaway to share with you, for some brand new Pellon products! I just love each of these items, and what a great way to bring some more handmade goodness to your home!

Total retail value: $60!

- twin pack of Pellon Homegoods Decorative Pillows - perfect for patchwork or paper-pieced pillows! These are 16" x 16" pillows. I have a bunch of 'orphan' quilt blocks, and making pillows with them are just the best idea!

- Perfect Loft Cluster Fiber - this is a 16oz. package of white fiber fill for pillows, plushies, whatever you can think of! It's also hyperallergenic, which is great. I squeezed the big package and it doesn't feel stiff like other fiber fill I have used in the past. It's very soft, sort of like minky.

- Fabric Magic - this product is something I have never seen before anywhere else...it's an interfacing that will shrink your fabric up to 30% and greatly texturize it. If you'd like to see an example of what I'm talking about, check out this great free pattern for a pillow made using Fabric Magic!

- Cheesecloth - great for cooking, produce bags, and more! This is actually food grade and 100% cotton. This package contains a 3-yard piece.

- 300 Thread Count Fabric - I've made a pillow from this, and it's very soft and comfortable for sleeping! This is 100% natural long staple Indian cotton. I have no idea what that means, but some days I have trouble sleeping, so anything to make things more comfortable is alright in my book! This package contains a 1 yard piece in the color ivory.

So...want to win?! Click on the link below to enter! You have until Friday, August 31st at 7pm CT!
*so sorry, but due to the size of this package, I can only ship within the U.S. :-(

Click Here to Enter the Giveaway!

Pink Castle Fabrics and What's Up

I took my kids to the pool today, and I couldn't help but wonder how many more chances we would get to go swimming before the summer is over and it would start getting cooler (although, knowing Chicago, we might still have warm weather on Halloween, for all I know). It also made me reflect on all the finished projects I have been able to show you this summer...not that many. I've been working on something all summer, and unfortunately, that something means that I really have diddly-squat to post about. I'm hoping once we get more into fall, my blog will get a little more attention. :-) If you are a new-ish reader to my blog, I assure you that usually my blog is much more active with finished projects...hope you can hang in there with me for a little while longer!

I got a little envelope in the mail today with 3 Vogue patterns (by the way, Vogue is having a pattern sale online right, with all patterns $3.88!). One of the patterns that I got was V2903, which is pictured above. My friend, Kim, threw down a little personal challenge for making this dress. Maybe this is not your style, but me personally, when I saw this pattern, I thought that this was one head-turning dress (especially with a crinoline underneath, which I have, yay!).

I trotted on over to one of my favorite online shops, Pink Castle Fabrics, and pretty much the first link I went to, I found the fabric for the dress. Pink Castle just got these Yuwa fabrics by Suzuko Koseki, and I found this large-scale text print called 'Postmodern'. Oh my gosh, this one is awesome!! It also comes in bright pink and yellow, of which I am having a hard time deciding on what to get for the Vogue dress. What do you think?? Help a girl out, I'm kinda indecisive on this one. The pattern takes approximately 6 yards of fabric, but I did a bit of research online, and I think I can cut some yardage out (me being of the 5'2" persuasion).

Pink Castle also just got the new Trefle fabrics, which includes this glittery text print. Glittery...and text...I think it's just as good as chocolate cake with coffee ice cream, whipped cream, and about 10 cherries. I've been a really big fan of text prints lately, because they are the ultimate modern blender...I think it is appropriate to add a text print to just about any project!

I also noticed that the new Bella by Lotta Jansdotter was in stock...gosh, people have been talking about this fabric line forever, it feels like it should have already been out (well, it is now!). Gray, yellow, orange, blue, brown...I feel like this is a really awesome set of fabrics in colors that are a bit unusual for a color line, but they totally work! If I had a bit of extra $$ in my pocket, I'd definitely get some of the large floral for a bag. Maybe I should set up a lemonade stand out front.

 

I'm sure you probably already know that Anna Maria Horner's Field Study and Denyse Schmidt's Chicopee are just out. Not to be a fabric enabler, but all of the precuts and bundles are 20% off at Pink Castle using coupon code PRECUT20. This includes the ever-popular blogger bundles.

Things around here will be picking up toward the end of September. I have the Tula Pink Sew Along to announce next week (beginning September 25th!). I have guest bloggers debuting one each of all of the 25+ Tula Pink quilts, which should be really amazing (I have seen a few of the quilts already, SO GOOD!!).

I have a new free bag pattern coming in a few weeks...this is one sexy tote bag. I probably wouldn't even call it a tote bag, lol. I'm going to use some Tula Pink 'The Birds and the Bees' laminates (which are probably in my fabric stash all stuck together as we speak, but it's all good).

I'm also beginning to formulate my classes for Sewing Summit. If you are going, you'll be able to schedule all your classes in, in a few weeks. My first class is a 2-hour lecture on 'Advanced Bags', and the next day, I have a hands-on class for installing zippers (4 different techniques, and if there's time, we'll also do the invisible zipper). I've listened to what everyone's been wanting to learn, and I hope the classes will be interesting and relevant!

And I'm popping in for Quilt Market for a couple days, and I'm already plotting out the blog coverage for that...

That's pretty much what's in my mental calendar at the moment. Oh...and the most exciting bit of news? Maybe he doesn't want me to announce this in public yet, but my husband has designed a free quilt pattern for  Pellon! We're just waiting on the fabric (solids!), but I can tell you that these are very large-scale blocks. I'm super excited about it, and he did not bear in mind any of the sewing tasks in making this, so I had the challenge of writing the pattern myself, lol. We're actually going to double-team this quilt, it's going on our bed when finished, and it will be the first quilt I've ever had long-armed, so I'm really excited (he is freakishly intrigued by the long arm process, so I'm sure it's going to be something really crazy he's going to request - good luck Lisa). Haha, I think this has been the highlight of my week. :-)

Tutorial: The Pixie Hexie Wallet

This is a great project that is fully sewn and assembled by hand! If you have never made hexagons before, I will briefly walk you through how I made mine.

The fabrics I used for my wallet are all from Laurie Wisbrun's line for Robert Kaufman called 'Olive the Ostrich'. Laurie's signature animal prints (in this case, a super-cute duo of ostriches!) are combined with cute red and pink coordinating fabrics. I really love these...I have fabric from all of her lines and they are just so great for many things (I used Tufted Tweets for both a quilt and a dress, and I'm still hoarding a yard of each of them, lol!).

Finished size: 6-1/2" x 3"

Supplies

- 40 squares measuring 3.5" x 3.5" (or a charm pack would work great!)
- 1/6 yard Pellon SF-101 Shape Flex fusible woven interfacing
- 16.5cm x 8cm metal purse full frame (I purchased mine here)
- hand sewing needle and thread
- fabric glue (I used Aleene's Original Tacky Glue, and also UHU All-Purpose Glue)
- small paint brush
- paper clip

Printer Friendly Instructions and Pattern Pieces

Making the Hexagons

1. Cut out your hexagons from the fabric squares using the template provided in the link above. I used the middle-sized hexagon on my Accuquilt die.

2. On your printer, print out copies of the hexagon template. Cut out each of the hexagons. You should have 40 hexagons (with 5 extra).

3. Take 1 fabric hexagon and 1 paper hexagon. Place the paper on the wrong side of the fabric, approximately centered. Fold down 1 edge of the fabric to the edge of the paper, toward the wrong side of the fabric, and paper clip in place.

4. Working counter-clockwise, fold down the next side of the fabric. With your needle and thread (the end should be knotted), baste through the first folded edge and come up on the second. Even though basting is a series of temporary stitches, you still want the thread to be taut and not loose, so your hexagon holds its shape around the paper. Fold down the third folded edge, then sew through the second/third. Repeat until all corners have been sewn through. Be careful not to sew through the paper! Tie off the end of the thread.

5. Press the hexagon well, then remove the paper.

6. Repeat Steps 3-5 for all remaining hexagons.


Sewing the Hexagons Together

1. Divide your hexagons into 2 separate piles. One pile will be for the front of the wallet, and the other for the back of the wallet.

2. Your layout for each side of the wallet will be as follows:

3. To sew the hexagons together, I just add 1 at a time. To start out, take 2 hexagons, right sides together. Choose the edge that you will be sewing them together, and place that edge facing you. Sew with small stitches, very close to the edge of the fabric (mine are approximately 1/16" away; just make sure that your seam allowance is the same while attaching all the hexagons).

4. Add your next hexagon! It doesn't matter what order you sew them together, but it can be helpful to add another one where your thread left off (so you can continue on sewing instead of tying off and starting a new thread). You will always be sewing the new hexagon right sides together with the edge of another. If you find that the new hexagon is intersecting the seam that you just made, be sure to flatten the hexagons against each other and especially pay attention to the corners to make sure you get a nice tight seam.

5. After all 20 hexagons are attached, press the unit flat. Repeat to assemble the other side of the wallet.


Finish the Wallet

1. Fold your interfacing in half. Take 1 of the hexagon units and place it on top. Trace around the unit on top of the interfacing, then cut out the interfacing. You should have 2 pieces of interfacing. Fuse 1 piece of interfacing to the wrong side of each hexagon unit using manufacturer instructions.

2. Take 1 hexagon unit and remove 1 of the shells from the wallet. Spread the fabric glue (I used Aleene's Original Tacky Glue here) onto the shell using your paintbrush. Make sure that the entire shell is covered, but be careful not to use too much so that the glue doesn't saturate the fabric.

3. Place the hexagon unit on top of the shell and apply light pressure. At this time, the hexagon unit should be overlapping the shell on all sides. There will be excess fabric at the corners; gently fold the corners over in a pleasing manner. Using a small amount of fabric glue, glue each of the folded corners down.

4. Using scissors or a rotary cutter, trim the excess fabric from all edges of the shell.

5. Place a small amount of fabric glue on the ridges of the metal frame (for this portion only, I used the UHU All-Purpose Glue - it's slightly messy, but has a really strong hold). You don't want to use too much because any excess will come up and onto your fabric.

6. Place the shell into the ridge and apply light pressure for a few seconds.

7. Repeat Steps 2-6 for the remaining hexagon unit and shell.

8. Leave the wallet open at least an hour to allow to dry.

I hope you've enjoyed this project! It's a fun little bit of sewing to take on the go. You can also embellish the front of the wallet with fabric flowers or applique before you glue the hexagon unit onto the wallet shell (I appliqued a larger hexagon onto the front of mine!).

And now...how about that giveaway?!? One lucky winner will be chosen at random to be the recipient of this lovely fat quarter bundle of 'Olive the Ostrich', courtesy of Laurie Wisbrun and Robert Kaufman Fabrics!! Thank you Laurie!

To enter the giveaway, please click the link below to take you to the entry page. You have until August 31st at 7pm CT to enter!

This giveaway is now closed! The winner is #39 Anonymous (left an e-mail address).

Click Here to Enter the Giveaway!

Echino Swap and Coupon Code for Echino Fabrics!

I ran 2 Echino 10-square swaps last year, which were great fun! This time around I'm definitely a bit swamped, so Jen is taking over for the 3rd round of swapping! If you love Echino fabrics and want to build up your collection, this is a great way to do it! Keep on reading for more details from Jen!

Hi, I am Jen from Brave Little Chicken. I have been following Sara’s blog for over a year now. I am a newish sewer and quilter. My first handmade garment was through Sara’s Jamie dress sew along. I also participated in both of Sara’s previous Echino Squares swaps and loved them. When I saw that the new Echino line was coming out, I knew that I wanted more delicious 10inch squares. But because Sara’s life is a little too hectic to host right now, I volunteered! Today is the official start of sign-ups for the Echino Square Swap Round 3! Below are the rules of the swap with a link to the sign-up form. Plus make sure you scroll all the way down for some additional treats!

Rules

1. First come, first served. This swap is limited to the first 28 people who register. Internationals welcome!

2. The swap is Echino fabric that has been chosen by me to avoid duplicates from previous swaps. I have added all 20 prints from the new Echino Decoro line. Monica from Mountain of the Dragon is generously providing this fabric at a 20% discount. I have also added another 8 prints that were not included in previous swaps provided by Form and Fabric at a generous 20% discount.

3. You can view all 28 prints included in this swap at my Flickr Group.

4. The Echino decoro fabric is scheduled to arrive at Mountain of the Dragon soon and once it's in I will be ordering and receiving the fabric for the swap from the sellers. I will then cut all 28 prints into 10 inch squares and send them out to each participant. Payment to me will be due by August 29, 2012 so that I can place one large order. Your payment will include the cost of the fabric ($32 for 2 yards), shipping/insurance to me ($2 per person), cutting fee ($2 per person), Paypal fee (2.9% plus $0.30 US/ All Others) and shipping the cut squares to you ($5.15 US / $12.95 CAN / $16.95 All Others). Total comes to $42.65 for US participants and will vary for international participants. I will be sending individual invoices out through Paypal for payment. Please make sure that your Paypal shipping address is correct so I can print shipping labels.

Sign up
here!

And now a little treat for everyone. Both of the shops providing fabric for our swap have generously extended coupon codes so you can save on even more delicious fabric!

Receive 20% off all Echino fabric at Form and Fabric with coupon code Save20%OnEchino. Expires August 31st, 2012.

Receive 15% off the entire store at Mountain of the Dragon with coupon code bravelilchicken15. Expires October 15, 2012.

Coupon Code and Sponsor I Don't Do Dishes!

You are really going to love this one! Today, I'm happy to tell you about the Etsy shop, I Don't Do Dishes (...I sew instead!). By the way, the shop name couldn't be more accurate in my house! The owner of the shop is named Caitlin, and she has all the fabrics that you've been waiting for!

Firstly, I know that you've been eagerly anticipating the arrival of Denyse Schmidt's Chicopee. You can find bundles and yardage of all the prints right here! They have literally just arrived, so be one of the first to get your hands on these beautiful fabrics.

Also just in at the shop are these Riley Blake tonal chevrons! These are great modern blenders and a must for any quilting stash! I also think they would make a great women's dress!

If you've missed out on the recent arrival of Madrona Road by Violet Craft, now is your time to get in on the action!

Another staple of I Don't Do Dishes is the Quilter's Dream batting. There are several sizes and varieties in the shop, and the prices are really great, too!

See something you like? Hop on over to I Don't Do Dishes to see what else is in store...patterns, color cards, interfacing oh my! Right now, use coupon code SEWSWEET10 to receive 10% off your order! This coupon code is good through August 20th. Happy shopping. :-)

Winterkist Weighted Pincushion/Thread Catcher

I made this cool project as part of the Winterkist Blog Hop to celebrate Monica Solorio-Snow's new fabric with Lecien! Check out the blog hop link for details on how you can win some awesome prizes, it's as easy as leaving a comment!!

These fabrics are really awesome for Christmas...I love that they are in non-traditional Christmas colors. I love experimenting with color, and the idea of using these bright beauties for a Christmas/winter project sounds right up my alley!

My Winterkist project was made using Elizabeth Hartman's Weighted Pincushion and Thread Catcher tutorial over at Sew Mama Sew. Elizabeth's tutorial calls for using several fabrics for each of the parts of the pattern (the organizer, pincushion, thread catcher, etc.). I decided to cut my Winterkist into 2.5" squares, since this looked like a small-in-size project, and I thought I could showcase a bit of patchwork that way. My fabrics were pinks and oranges, so I used the pink fabrics for the exterior portions, and the orange fabrics for the lining of the bag and for the bottom of the pincushion. I also have thrown in a bit of text fabric, because I didn't have enough Winterkist to finish the whole project (also, it looks kinda awesome).

The instructions only call for interfacing the loop on the thread catcher and the facing on the thread catcher bag, but I'm a bit of an interfacing freak, so I used Pellon SF-101 fusible woven interfacing on everything. You can read more of my thoughts on interfacing here.

The pincushion is actually filled with a satchet of uncooked rice. The pattern calls for flannel for the rice satchet, but I didn't have any around, so I just used a small piece of Pellon batting instead.

I really love this tutorial...Elizabeth really has thought of everything. It also has a nice pocket organizer to hold all your small notions that I use all the time (like my seam ripper and my fabric marker!). The thread catcher has a little button on the inside, so you can easily remove it from the organizer and dump out all of your little scraps and threads.

I had loads of fun making this project! Be sure to check out Winterkist, available August 2012! Thank you to Katie from There and Back for having me along the blog hop today!!

Giveaway and Coupon Code for New Sponsor Mwendas!

This giveaway is closed. The winner is #223 Marci Girl!

Today I would like to tell you about fabric shop Mwendas! There is also a Mwendas Etsy Shop, in case you prefer to do your fabric shopping over on Etsy! I have purchased from Mwendas several times, and the shop owner, Fridah is very helpful and shipping very prompt!

Mwendas specializes in authentic Japanese fabric sourced directly from Japan, and carries limited yardage of each design to ensure consistent supply of fresh designs in the shop. Fridah had the priviledge of going to the Tokyo International Quilt Festival in January this year and met with some of the "greats' of Japanese fabric design, including Suzuko Koseki, Kumiko Fujita and Keiko Goke; you will find more than occasionally she will have their designs in the shop.

One of my favorite things from the shop are these elephants, which I got in several different colorways last year. :-) They are perfect for Zakka-type projects! They're terribly cute, aren't they?

I also have my eye on this Jungle Border Print, which I am fixated on for a skirt or dress. I think it would make a really bright and unusual outfit!

Mwendas also specializes in Japanese craft books. Although the instructions are usually written in Japanese, the patterns are manageable using the photos and diagrams.

Mwendas is currently having a special destash in the Etsy shop, and you can like on Facebook to receive special coupon codes and sales! AND...you can receive 15% off your purchase at Mwendas on Etsy using coupon code SEWSWEETNESS15. This coupon code is good through Friday, August 10th.

Now on to the giveaway! Fridah is offering 1 lucky reader a terrific Mwendas prize pack worth approximately $88! The pack includes 1 yard of Newspaper Retro print on blue from Suzuko Koseki, a copy of Suzuko Koseki's new book, 'Color Couture', and a $30 gift certificate to Mwendas!!

The following photos are all from Suzuko Koseki's new book, 'Color Couture'. The book is essentially divided into 10 main color chapters: Rouge, Orange, Pink, Purple, Yellow, Green, Blue, Brown, Grey and Scrap Color,  each beginning with a foundation block with the main dominant color. Subsequent pages in each color chapter show variations of that main color block in different fabric prints (all SK of course) in different projects like bags, pincushions, totes, pillow covers, drawstring bags, lanyards, potholders, etc

In total there are 26 project plus 9 blocks with illustrated how-to's at the back of the book and full scale patterns for some of the projects. Just to mention again that the book is in Japanese and this is suitable for readers who have had some experience reading Japanese pattern books.

If you are new to sewing with Japanese fabrics or books, this would be a great introduction to that, and if you are already familiar, what a great way to add to your collection!

To enter the giveaway, please click on the link below to take you to the entry page. The giveaway closes on Friday, August 10th at 7pm CT. Good luck!

Click Here to Enter the Giveaway!