dress a girl around the world sew-a-long

I am so very excited to share a really great event with you!!!  I am co-hosting a sew-a-long, my very first, with two of my best bloggy friends!!!  Vanessa, Virginia, and I will be hosting this week long event for a fantastic cause!  This won't be your typical sew-a-long, we are shaking things up a little bit!  :)  The dresses you make will be to donate to a very worth charity!

Dress a girl around the world is an organization that takes donations of pillowcase dresses made by women like you and me and hand delivers them to girls around the world!!!  

From March 7th - 12th stop by Vanessa's blog every day for tutorials from some awesome bloggers!!!  We will be sharing ideas and fun ways to embellish your pillowcase dresses!  There will also be an awesome giveaway!!!  To enter, you need to make a dress and post a picture of the dress in the dress a girl around the world flickr pool (I will post the link as soon as I have it).  For every dress you make and post in the pool, you will get an entry in the giveaway!!!

Get your new and gently used pillowcases ready ladies and let's make some dresses for a great cause! Head over and grab a button so that you can share the love and spread the word!!!  

sponsor love

I LOVE Keyka Lou patterns!  I promise I am not saying this because she is my sponsor!  She has, in my humble opinion, the very best bag and accessories patterns out there!  They are so well written, concise, have tons of great pictures and easy to sew!  Michelle is super nice and has answered any questions that I may have had quickly and clearly.
I finally got to sew yesterday and made 3 of these cute pouches from her new keychain clutch pattern!

ADORABLE! I usually don't make things for myself but this one is staying here with me!

I have to give Cally from Calico credit for the awesome fabric combo on this one which I totally stole from her!  Thanks Cally!! :)

These 2 are up in my little shop!

Here are few other bags I have made with her adorable patterns!

charm school handbag

bracelet bag

pocket clutch

Michelle's (keyka lou) blog is jam packed with awesome sewing tips too!  She can tell you how to put in a magnetic snap, give you a comparison of the different types of interfacing and give specific tips and tricks on how to sew specific parts of lots of her patterns!!  I find it an invaluable sewing resource!  Head over and check it out!

hooded scarf

I took a little break from sewing for the shop over the Christmas holiday.  I really hadn't sewn for my girls or myself since starting my little business and really missed it!  I have to admit that before this scarf I had never made myself any clothing!  I have made myself pincushions and bags but never anything else.  I have tons of patterns that I would love to make but just can't get around to it!  Oh the amount of projects that are on my to do list, it is SO long!!!
Anyway, I bought this cute pattern off of etsy.  I love the idea of a hooded scarf, fun and practical!  The pattern comes with 5 different styles that you can make and also comes with kid's sizes.  And a bonus is that it is reversible!!  I made the ruffled version and it was easy and fun to make!  The only change that I made was to add a layer of cotton batting in between the exterior and lining fabrics to make it a little warmer.  I am from the south and these New England winters just kill me, I don't think I will ever get used to the cold!  I can't wait to make one in some type of tweed or wool.

I know who will be getting one next!  :)

Christmas dresses

For those of you visiting via Sew, Mama, Sew!, welcome!!!  To enter the giveaway just scroll down or click here.

I have been working on Penelope and Adelaide's Christmas dresses on and off for the last couple of weeks and I finally finished them up this morning!  Yea!  I am so glad they are done and I really love them!  I made them out of linen and Moda Bliss dots for the bias trim.  I really love those dots.  I am so sad that this pattern is no longer in print!  It is such a neat little dress and I was really hoping for more patterns from those girls, oh well!  There is a beautiful flickr group devoted to their patterns and it is fun to look through the different dresses.  As for my girls dresses, right now I only have pictures of them on hangers because they are both refusing to try them on!  Don't you just love that!!!  You work for hours and hours on something for them, then say "here is the dress I made you, let's try it on"  and your 3 year old looks at you with her sweet little face and replies, "NO, NEVER!!!".  Oh joy!  Merry Christmas everyone! :)

I will update with the girls wearing them as soon as I can bribe convince them to put them on.  

Sew, Mama, Sew! giveaway day is here!!!

***this giveaway is now closed.  thank you so very much to all of you who entered!***

This is the first time I have joined in on the fun for Sew, Mama, Sew! giveaway day and I am very excited!  When I started my etsy store I was making mostly handbags but now it includes accessories and children's items!  I still LOVE to make bags, so that is what I will be giving away!  The bag is an Ava Rose tote and the pattern was designed by Rebeka Lambert of artsy-crafty babe.  It is a great bag, roomy enough to hold everything you will need for the day but still stylish!  One of the best things about this bag is that is is reversible, so you are really getting two bags in one!  One side has a large pocket, big enough to hold a few magazines or books (please note that I am NOT including my japanese sewing book and my patchwork book in the giveaway, sorry)!

So, If you want to win this bag, just leave me a comment at the end of this post!  That's it!  I will be randomly choosing a winner.  The giveaway will be open until Dec. 17 @ midnight EST and will I post the results on Dec. 18th.  Please make sure that I can contact you if you win, so please, please, please leave your email address with your comment.  I will be happy to ship internationally too so everyone can participate!  Thanks so very much for stopping by and good luck!  :)

the big reveal

So, I have kept you all in suspense long enough!  Sorry, sometimes it is just so hard to get decent pictures!  My sewing room is not huge but I think we really maximized the space.  I LOVE it!  It is so bright and cheery and is so great to work in!  I had 4 main requests when Doug asked me what I wanted in the room.

• a cutting table large enough to hold a yard of fabric
• a desk big enough so that my sewing machine and serger could be out at the same time
• a couple drawers large enough to hold patterns unfolded
• shelves to hold fabric so that it could be seen (I really didn't want it in the closet)

I got all of my requests plus a bunch of extras!  

The cutting table sits in the center of the room, like an island, so that I can get all the way around when cutting out a large pattern.  It also has shelves underneath to hold my iron and ironing board and some works in progress.

As you can see the table is quite large (40"x66") so I had to have a cutting mat cut to size.  The company I used was great and the mat is fantastic!!!  

One side of the island has 3 large, shallow drawers to hold all of my patterns and instructions and one drawer to hold tools.  The other side has 2 deeper drawers that hold a place for trash, a place for scraps and a drawer for my wrapping supplies.

The desk sits along the only plain wall in the room.  It is now home to 2 sewing machines and the computer and has a spot for my serger when I unpack it.  

I have a huge built in bookshelf to hold all of my fabric, notions and books.

The bulletin board is behind the door.  I still can't bring myself to put pins in it, silly I know!

I am also lucky enough to have a decent size walk in closet in the room that Doug put shelves in.  It is nice to be able to put the less attractive necessities out of sight. 

On the wall between the 2 windows, Doug put up a picture rail so that I can do a little decorating.  I have only found one thing that is worthy of the picture rail.  :)

I hope everybody enjoys the little peak into my space!  

christmas came early!!!

I have a fantastic sewing benefactor (aka my mom!) who gave me my Christmas gift a little early this year! I am so excited I can barely stand it.  Here she is!

My room is finished too!  Best Christmas EVER!  As soon as I can get decent pictures I will share them with you guys!  Have a great weekend!!

sew and tell friday: a favorite and a new pattern

I finished quite a few things this week but these are the two that I am most fond of!  I have made quite a few bracelet bags (it is my favorite at the moment) but I have to say that this one is my favorite!!  Heather Bailey fabric never disappoints!

I also tried out a pattern that I haven't made before, the charm school bag.  I cut this bag out this summer but just got around to making it this week.  I think the shape is great and the pleats add a little something extra but I must tell you that all of those pleats took forever!  Not a quick bag to make but a cute result.

Both are Keyka Lou patterns!
I am linking up to Amylouwho's Sew and Tell Friday for the first time!  :)

sewing room makeover

I have to brag a little because I have a really awesome husband!  He is super supportive of my little hobby and shop and it was his idea to make my room over.  I know, lucky me!!!  He is also a very talented finish carpenter.  Right now my room has an almost completed bookshelf and some beautiful crown molding.  Trust me, this is way fancier than the rest of the house (although it is hard to tell right now with it still in the works)!  I have to pick a paint color and haven't nailed down exactly what I want.  Suggestions are always welcome!!  :)

 It is going to be so awesome to move all of my stuff back in there.  Right now the necessities are in the den that we barely use, but it is right in the middle of our tiny house and you have to pass through it to go anywhere!  It is driving me a little crazy because it just looks like my sewing room blew up right in that space.


 It wasn't so bad but the barn boards on the walls were rough and really unattractive.  We had bookshelves from our old apartment in Boston that were functional but weren't really suited for the space.  All in all, it just needs to be more user friendly and have a lot more storage. Here are some before pictures.

Here are a few pictures of the progress.  As you can see, the girls are also having a lot of fun playing in the little cubbies.

sewing, sewing, sewing

I am still plugging away getting ready for the craft fair that I am doing on Nov. 6th!  I am trying to do things in an assembly line.  Today I finished up these little mini wallets, they just need their snaps.

I also made a few key fobs...

We are also repainting the outside of our house, and when I say "we" I mean Doug.  I will have pictures soon!  :)