a fabric bowl, a sponsor, + a giveaway, in that order.

Before I get to the sponsor and the giveaway, I’m going to show you what I made. You know, just trying to live up to my tagline.

I’m totally hooked on the Nesting Fabric Bowls pattern from A Cuppa and a Catch Up. This is my fourth bowl (the others can be found here) and most definitely not my last.

I love the look of Nova’s pieced center panels and wanted to try that, so I made a bowl to store Lila’s doll clothes and diapers and things – something I’ve been meaning to do for oh, say, two years now.

This is the 7-inch bowl and it accommodates all of Baby Girl’s accessories quite nicely.

The baby dolls don’t get quite the attention they used to (she’s much more interested in the real baby in the house!), but the new storage bowl brought on an afternoon of very serious doll play, so it was 100% worth it.

The fabrics are a random assortment (a Munki Munki nightgown that I decided to cut into, some faux bois, some polka dots, some crosshatch) plus Essex yarn-dyed linen in Flax.

And see that little scrap of Joel Dewberry Herringbone? Well I’m using that as a clumsy segue into introducing you to my very first sponsor, Llama Fabrics.

It feels really funny to say I have a sponsor! I never thought about seeking advertising for this blog (I honestly never imagined anyone would stop in to look, let alone want to advertise here). But last week I got an email from a reader named Chio saying she’d recently opened a fabric shop on Etsy, and she asked if I might be interested in advertising. She’s a stay at home mom with two young children, loves to sew, and has taken the plunge to start a family business – she sounds like someone I’d feel good about supporting, so I said yes.

They’re still building up inventory, but you’ll already find a lovely selection of fabric to choose from. These are some of my favorites – I’m always drawn to the blues and greens.

top row :: riley blake | patty young | lotta jansdotter

bottom row :: dena fishbein | joel dewberry | amy butler

See? There’s that Joel Dewberry Herringbone. And to its left is Dena Fishbein’s Tarika in Moss, which I used to make my very first Oliver + S Ice Cream blouse over two years ago. This little shirt is still hanging in Lila’s closet despite the fact she outgrew it ages ago. That print remains a favorite of mine, and seeing it hang there still makes me happy.

Anyhow, take a look around Llama Fabrics if you like, and then enter the giveaway!

Chio has generously offered up a fat quarter bundle of Lotta Jansdotter’s Glimma line – all 20 prints, valued at $52 – pretty nice, eh? Think of all the fabric bowls you could make with those! Leave a comment here and I’ll pick a winner at random at the end of the day on Friday, June 21st. Good luck!

***UPDATE*** The giveaway is indeed open to international readers, so wherever you live, enter away!

pattern testing :: zip-it

Last month I tested out a new pattern for Toni of Make it Perfect. She has a great selection of patterns for women, babies, and kids - I made her Serendipity Jacket this winter, and the Uptown Girl Jacket was one of my first major sewing projects for Lila. I’ve been a long-time fan of Toni’s patterns and blog, and I always look forward to what she’s got coming up next. It was really exciting to test for her and get to know her a bit in the process!

One thing I love about pattern testing is that it helps to get me out of my comfort zone. My sewing style pretty much matches my personality – I’m not much of a risk-taker. I feel like I get into a rut sometimes and choose very safe, conservative patterns, or just make the same things again and again. But this pattern is really fun – something I might not have chosen on my own, but am so glad I made. It’s called the Zip-It, named of course for the colorful zipper that runs down the front.

I wanted to pick some bright and bold colors to go with the style of the dress. The yellow dots are Lotta Jansdotter’s Scatter Dots in Citron from the Bella line, purchased locally at Cool Cottons. Not sure exactly what the solid is, I just got it to match my zipper. Speaking of which – I had trouble finding a good color selection of 20-inch jacket zippers around town, so I ordered a few from Zipperstop on Etsy. No shortage of fun color options there!

I was surprised by how incredibly easy it was to install a zipper in this manner – definitely manageable even for a zipper novice! If your zipper is heavy and your fabric is light, you may get a little waviness when the zipper goes in. I used some 1/2 inch stay tape along the front dress seams to keep the fabric from stretching with the weight of the zipper.

The remainder of this photo shoot is brought to you by my wedding ring – she begged me to take it off, and holding it apparently made her feel all responsible and grown-up. It was sweet, and it worked, so I went with it.

That’s it. Enjoy your weekend!

gingham sketchbook shirt + a winner

When I found out I was having a boy this time around, one sewing-related thing I was genuinely excited for was button-down shirts. Little boys just look so sweet in button-downs, and I’m glad for the opportunity to make one – and many more down the line, I have a feeling – for my little Oscar.

This one was inspired by the Milo Shirt from Bobinette, which I found on Pinterest almost a year ago. I immediately thought of the Oliver + S Sketchbook pattern, a must-have for boy sewing. I got my copy last summer when I sewed the Sketchbook shorts for the Shorts on the Line series, but this is my first attempt at the shirt. It came together really nicely (of course it did, being an Oliver + S pattern and all) and there’s something that feels all professional about making a shirt like this, even though it’s really not difficult (it’s just a two scissors pattern). Hand sewing the collar is the only tedious part…I’m so impatient when it comes to hand sewing!

I added some of the same details as the Bobinette version: snaps in lieu of buttons (though I used pearl snaps, because like silver thread, I think the world needs more pearl snaps!), and a bias-cut pocket, placket, and yoke.

And then some orange top stitching and a matching twill tape tag – because orange and gray are nice together.

The gray gingham is from Hawthorne Threads – look at all their Riley Blake gingham options! There will most certainly be a version #2 of this shirt in one of those other colors.

I had this all cut out and ready to sew for KCW this spring, but it got bumped down the list since I knew it would be awhile before it fit. The 6-12 months size is still big on Oscar, but I couldn’t resist trying it on for a photo. And while I’d love to keep him tiny forever, I can’t wait for this shirt to fit!

And….we have a winner! A copy of the Fancy Pants Leggings pattern goes to nurturemybaby.  Laura will contact you by email very soon!

binky catcher + quilt market

We’ve been experiencing a little problem over here, but never fear, I sewed something up to fix it.

Yep, that’s right. There was a pile of pacifiers on the nightstand with no fabric bowl to hold them.

Actually, the problem was that I was tired of searching – on my hands and knees, in the pitch dark, at all hours of the night – to find the binky that Oscar had accidentally kicked out of the crib. So I decided there’d better be a handful of spares on the table. And if there’s a handful of spares, they’d better be in a cute little dish. Or better yet, a fabric bowl.

That’s when I remembered seeing this thread catcher, and figured I make a little binky catcher. I bought Nova’s Nesting Fabric Bowls pattern back in January and made this one out of linen and Echino right away:

It’s the 6-inch size and I’ve used it all over the house – to collect baby toys, mail, random junk – I just keep moving it around because it looks nice everywhere. Here it is on top of the toy shelf for scale.

((And yes, I can’t help it, I love to arrange stuff on shelves more than just about anything.))

Anyway, I absolutely love this pattern, and while there are many tutorials and freebies out there for fabric baskets and bowls, I’m so happy I bought this one. Everything you ever wanted to know about making a structured fabric container is included in this pattern, right down to the proper method for fusing your interfacing. It’s super detailed and thorough and wonderful, trust me.

The pattern comes with a formula to make any size bowl you like – her lovely little thread catcher is 3 inches, but I made the flowered one in the 4-inch size thinking the smaller size might be too tiny. But then I made a 3-incher in some Kokka robots just for fun. You can’t have too many binky bowls, right?

But back to this one for just a moment:

The floral fabric is from the Carnaby Street line, and was a free sample I picked up at Pat Bravo’s booth when Quilt Market was in town a few weekends back. Now let me just say, it pays to be friends with Kristin of skirt as top, not only because she’s all-around awesome, but also because she’s in with all the cool kids, including the amazing Rae of Made by Rae fame. And between the two of them I got to go to Quilt Market – thanks for the hook up, ladies!

That’s right, I got to meet Rae, and she was just as fabulous and delightful as you might imagine (and the only one of these three who could be bothered to look up from Instagram for my photo! ). I also had the pleasure of spending time with Cherie (left) of You & Mie, who was also, no surprise, utterly delightful. And that’s the ever delightful Kristin in the middle! What can I say, it was wall-to-wall delightfulness!

And, AGAIN with the connections, Kristin introduced me to Liesl of Oliver + S, which was just totally surreal. It goes without saying that I adore all things Oliver + S – these are patterns that got me really excited about sewing in the first place, and to me they’re in a class of their own. It was such an honor to meet Liesl, and I’m preeeeety excited to have photographic evidence of the event (plus, look! she’s touching me!)

Anyway, those were the Quilt Market highlights for me – it was exciting to see all the beautiful booths and upcoming fabric lines, but even more fun to spend time with some very lovely and talented members of the sewing community. Thanks again to Kristin for facilitating it all!

p.s. I’ve got a giveaway going on through tomorrow for the Fancy Pants Leggings pattern, so enter now if you want a chance to win – details in my last post!

fancy pants leggings pattern tour + a giveaway

I’m excited to be the next stop on Laura’s Fancy Pants Leggings pattern tour!

I first discovered Laura last spring during KCW when she made these wonderful pajamas for her boys, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Her blog, Craftstorming, is full of sewing and crafting and baking inspiration, and she’s recently started selling patterns at Titchy Threads. The Fancy Pants Leggings are her first pattern, though you’d never know it – it’s one of the most thorough, professional patterns I’ve ever used. The leggings are so quick and easy to sew, and come together so nicely – I highly recommend this pattern!

The size range is 0-3 months to 4T, and I tested a size 3-6 months for Oscar. He’s a tall, skinny 5 month old in these photos, and the fit is perfect (and still is today at almost 7 months). This was my first attempt at sewing a bum panel – it’s such a cute feature and allows for some extra diaper room, as well as an opportunity to use a contrast fabric, which I’d love to try next time. For these I used a thrifted gray and white striped knit (subconsiously trying to channel Laura’s striped jammies, I think!) with an aqua cotton/lycra blend for the leg and waist bands.

In the final version of the pattern the waistband for this size is one inch wide rather than the two inches you see here, but it would be super easy to customize the size of both the waist and leg bands should you choose. You can also hem the legs instead of adding bands, or use exposed elastic for the waistband. And there’s a shorts version, too. Lots of options, and they’re all explained very clearly, with plenty of photos and detailed instructions. And if you’re new to sewing with knits you’ll find lots of helpful tips within the pattern. It’s rated “Confident Beginner” – even if you’ve never sewn with knits, you can make these leggings!

You can get your copy of the pattern here, and check out all the stops on the pattern tour below – lots of fabulous Fancy Pants Leggings to be seen!

20th – Abby from Things for Boys
21st – Rachael from Imagine Gnats
22nd – Celina from Petit à Petit and Family
23rd – Jane from Buzzmills
24th – Heather from Feather’s Flight

27th – Stacey from Boy, oh Boy, oh Boy
28th – Gail from Probably Actually
29th – Jenny from The Southern Institute
30th – Ros from Sew Delicious
31st – Carla from Small + Friendly

Oh, and you can win a copy of the pattern by liking Craftstorming and/or Titchy Threads on Facebook and leaving a comment here that you did! The giveaway will be open through Friday, May 31st – just make sure your comment is linked to an email address so that I can contact you if it’s your lucky day

cloudypants

Oscar seems perfectly happy with those star knee patch pants I made for him (at least someone likes their new clothes!), so I decided to add another pair into the rotation. I’m a sucker for clouds and thought they might make cute little patches, so I went with that.

The crosshatch fabric is from the Architextures line, and I machine stitched around each cloud twice with silver metallic thread to give them “silver linings” – kinda cheesy and hardly noticeable, but it made me happy. Silver thread should get more use, if you ask me.

I actually made two pairs of these – the first pair came out looking like pajama bottoms to me….which, admittedly, isn’t such a big deal for a six month old, but since they take all of 45 minutes to make, I decided to try again with the black Carolina chambray. Here’s the blue pajama/hospital scrub version, which I think is destined to be given away:

The pattern for both pairs is the same as the star pants – Rae’s free Basic Newborn Pant pattern, with 1.25 inches of added length. I added a contrast cuff to these, and a fold-over cuff to the gray pair, which increased the overall length by another inch or so.

So yeah, I like adding knee patches to stuff. Boy sewing isn’t so bad after all.

I couldn’t get him to crack a smile for any of these photos, so I’m settling on this one in case anyone was hoping for a face shot. Kind of a serious, just-woke-up look, but at least he’s sitting still and not complaining that he hates his new pants. Good boy.

swingset skirts with sprinkles

Sewing for Lila has been a total crapshoot for awhile now. Remember the Beachy Boatneck I was so sure she was going to love? She’s worn it zero times, and has assured me that she never will. Apparently she does not like 3/4 sleeves, and the sequins were too scratchy when the shirt came off over her head. Luckily it’s big, so I’m hanging onto it in hopes that she may develop into a reasonable human being sometime in the near future.

But in the meantime I’m sticking with skirts, and from patterns she’s already tested and accepted. I made two Oliver + S Swingset skirts last fall, and she has worn them non-stop for the last eight months. In fact, I may become physically ill if I have to see her in either one of those skirts again. So out with the old, in with the new.

Even though I’d kinda like to burn those first two, I really do love the Swingset pattern. It has a nice full, swing-y shape, and I like the look of the skinny elastic rows at the waistband. And the lining makes it feel substantial. I’ve lined all four swingset skirts and my Roller Skate dress with Robert Kaufman Savannah batiste – it’s super soft and lightweight and makes perfect lining fabric.

This time I left out the drawstring – it’s a lovely addition, but the bow is forever coming untied on those first two skirts I made. And since there were no buttonholes, I threaded the elastic between the lining and the skirt exterior, same as the Roller Skate dress.

The fabric for the polka dot skirt is Dear Stella’s Sprinkles from the Piper collection. And skirt #2 is Essex yarn dyed linen in denim, which has recently surpassed Essex yarn-dyed linen in black as the fabric I want to use for everything. In fact I made this very skirt for the Handmade Kids Clothing Swap.

I added rows of running stitches along the bottom like Lila’s rainbow sprinkles skirt from two years ago, which is long outgrown (along with those red shoes, which have been replaced by pink). The colors don’t pop as much on this version of the skirt, but I think the denim will be a little more practical than the white, considering all the tire time her skirt hems see. Then again, the polka dot skirt is pretty much white (now with a black hem). Maybe a pair of shorts should be next on the list.

Here’s a little Mother’s Day flower for everyone….have a happy weekend!