May Sew-Along!

Hi all! Just a quick note to remind you that you've still got a few days to get your Sophia Bag entered into our April Sew-Along! Stacy had her baby this week, so I'm sure she's happy to have finished this project early in the month :) Congrats again Stacy, and welcome little Easton!

So... with the Sophia Bag project coming to a close, it's time to announce our May project. Stacy and I didn't even discuss this one - we both thought of this pattern immediately! The prize is yet to be determined, but we're thinking of something involving some of Amy Butler's yummy new Midwest Modern line and perhaps a sewing pattern or 2.... Stay tuned! I'll make a new side-bar button at the start of the month. This sew-along will end on May 31.

The Emmeline Apron Pattern by Montessori by Hand

Can't wait to start this one!!!! I think I might make 2 simultaneously b/c I can't decide on fabrics (again....). Check out the Montessori by Hand FLICKR group for some fun ideas! And be sure to add your pics to their group in addition to ours :)

I do have some of the patterns (and fabric kits!) for sale in my shop in case you're needing one. CLICK ON THIS LINK to receive 10% off your order until May 15!

And don't forget to leave a message on my last post for a chance to participate in my April drawing - have a great weekend everyone :) Kris

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day everyone!!!! In honor of this day, my monthly give-away will be one of my favorite green products from my shop - a large wet bag made with this gorgeous new 40% bamboo/60% cotton fabric from Robert Kaufman. I love it! And if you're curious as what you can use the wet bag for, click here :) To participate, just leave a message to this posting by April 30th and let me know your favorite green tips (what you do to try to be more "environmental" and to decrease your carbon footprint) . I'll use the random number generator to pick the winner :)


RK has some fantastic environmentally friendly fabrics in their greenSTYLE collection - check it out!

And for anyone who receives the magazine PREGNANCY and NEWBORN, you'll find mention of my small wet bags on Page 42. Pretty neat!


Steph tagged me a little bit ago to share 7 things about myself... it's kind of sad that I was able to come up with even more random oddities without much thought!

1) Hubby's nickname for me is "Signs"... ever see the movie? There's a little girl in it that has a really annoying habit of leaving half-filled glasses of water all over the house (which eventually ends up saving the family from aliens that low-and-behold get hurt when water touches them). I have this annoying habit as well and every night I have to go around and gather up the glasses.

2) I had my 15 minutes of fame a few years back when my dentist recommended me to a Boston news station to do a feature on teeth grinding. It was actually a pretty neat experience - they came to our apartment and filmed there. I had to pretend that I was sleeping in my bed - too funny!

3) I am REALLY, REALLY, REALLY clutzy for some reason. Hubby's family were up this weekend and kept commenting on how many bruises I have on my legs. You can only blame so many on the infant car seat....

4) I am *so* not a morning person.

5) Whenever I've taken a hiatus from running and return, the first couple of times my upper thighs itch so badly!!! It seems like wherever the most fat is, that's where it itches. It's really weird, and annoying.

6) I mess up regular phrases all the time. My latest offense was: "waiting for the other foot to fall". WHAT?! I know that's it's supposed to be "waiting for the other shoe to drop", but there is a disconnect in my brain somewhere...

7) I also make up words all of the time. The latest? "SNOOGIE" as in "Honey, can you SNOOGIE the SQUIRT (aka windshield wiper fluid) between the boxes in the trunk so that it doesn't roll around?" (I can't take credit for squirt - that one is from my Dad)

I'm opening this tag to everyone! Have fun!

I'd like to introduce...

Sophia :)

Side View (I used the Green Dancing Mums for the end pieces to bring a little more POP to the bag)

Top View


Zipper Pulls (97 cents at Walmart) - they really do help with opening.


Bag Bottom - Love the feet!


Inside view

It's not too late to join us for the sew-along! In case you haven't heard, Stacy and I are hosting and Amy Butler Sophia Carry-All Bag Pattern Sew-Along this month (the last day to post entries is 4/30). We have 29 participants to date - can't wait to see everyone's creations!

As for my experience with this pattern, overall I'll say that I like it. My least favorite parts were joining the bottom (I made a VERY thick bottom with lots of layers) and installing the zipper to the lining. I think that there has to be an easier way to do the zipper - I'd like to install it with the outer and inner fabrics at the same time, rather than one at a time, and be able to machine sew the entire zipper to both fabrics as well (maybe leaving a hole elsewhere in the bag for turning somehow?). Any ideas by fellow Sophia Bag makers would be greatly appreciated!

The bag is a great size - I'm very tempted to use it as a diaper bag, but I didn't make any special pockets for a sippy cup and all of my cups leak :( My plan is for it to be part of a set with a matching Weekender (summer project?) and it will likely carry toiletries and books/knitting.

I definitely recommend this pattern - just take your time with it and read all of the instructions. You won't regret the time spent with this one :)

For tips on making the Sophia Bag, please visit our Sew-Along discussion thread.

They say that good things happen...

... to those who wait :)

(I just liked this shot - I had to crop a sippy-cup out of the picture though...
note to self to look at what's on the counter before taking a picture...)

Thank's Jen for the inspiration to take some still pictures- it had been a while...

Also, thanks for the tip re: www.picnik.com - what a neat site!
Check out what it did for the pink flower!

60's effect

Matte effect

Vignette effect

Orton-ish effect

Sepia effect

Warning! Lots and lots of pictures ahead - it's been a fun week!!!

Lots of fun crafty stuff to talk about :) Last week I was bound and determined to do something about this table cover:

I had picked up this vinyl remnant at Joanne's a few months ago for a dollar or so - while it's fun and great for Sydney's crafting and other messy endeavors, it's not so pleasant on the eye on a day-to-day basis. I saw this tutorial for a double-sided SPLAT MAT, bought some of Michael Miller's laminated cotton and went to town. The instructions call for a couple of fiddly things (like using fabric tape to keep the layers from shifting, and putting masking tape over your feed dogs). I like to live on the wild side (okay... I didn't feel like dealing), so I skipped both. I used the quilters clips (look like little metal barrettes) to keep the layers snug and didn't have any problems. Honestly, I think the hardest part of the project was getting the 2 pieces of fabric to be the same size.

I love the new mat:

And it looks so much better!

I also whipped up a little something for my niece, Jordan. She wanted a pink sling for her favorite friend, Pinky, so I followed the tutorial that Laurie of the blog THE WOODEN SPOOL put together. It was an easy-to-follow tutorial and the only changes that I would make are to make it a little longer (I ended up adding ~ 8 inches) and to use larger rings (she calls for 1 1/2" rings - it was really tight for me, so if I do it again, I'll look for slightly larger ones).

Also finished up the quilt! YIPPEEE!!!
I did make my March deadline (finished hand-stitching the binding on the 31st...).
Here's a picture of the quilt front and the pillow that I won from Joy's blog - matches perfectly! And most importantly, Sydney loves it and her new blanket :)

Here's the quilt back:

Thursday brought some pretty fun things in the mail:

Flowers from my buddy, Sara, in NYC - just because :)

And..... the BEST goody box from my sewing pal, Julia, from Singapore!
THANKS AGAIN JULES!

(Ben is checking to see if there is anything else in the box...).
She wrapped everything up and included little notes - it was Christmas in April!

Here's a gorgeous bag that she made (with one of those neat collapsing metal frame openings) and a Japanese pattern book that I've been eyeing.

A new handmade dress and book for Sydney:

Some fun knick-knacks for the kids and I (although I doubt that I'll share - it's all too cute!)

And some baby music toys (Decole) for Ben (of course Syd has since claimed them as hers)

As for projects I'm working on this week, this is basically where I'm at with the Sophia Bag Sew-Along. I've made the piping and started the ironing (there is a bunch of interfacing with this project) - I think that if I can find 2 chunks of time, I'll have this bag done (barring no big catastrophes).

I also received my partner for the Bend The Rules Sewing Pleated Bag swap, so I'm working on some ideas... I'll post pics once I figure out what the heck I'm doing.

Lastly...

What is Syd peeking at? My new sewing machine!!!!!

I am doing cartwheels over this one! I've had my eye on the Janome 6600P for a while now and couldn't resist a good deal when it presented itself. I have a ton of things to learn still on it, but I can at least straight stitch for right now :) I'm in heaven....

I've been tagged by Steph, so next time I'll be sharing a few more random tidbits about myself (I think I'm running out!). Good night! :) Kris