SRHarris

This photo of SRHarris was taken a different time of year, there actually are finally green leaves on the trees here now.

 If you are ever in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota you really must make a stop at SRHarris for fabric shopping. It's a 30,000 square foot warehouse with over 20 aisles of fabrics. All regularly priced fabric is 50% off! Here's a quick photo tour...

Neoprene for $6/yard

Outdoor fabrics

Camouflage and bottomweights

Bottomweights and cottons

Silks

Wools

Fashion fabrics

Fleece

More fleece

Laminates and quilting cottons

Trims

Solid cottons and gauze

Remnants

 This particular fabric shopping trip was done in a group. Several of us met up and here we all are in the knits aisle. That's me, Stacy, Cheryl, Rebecca, Amy, Rachel, and Donna.

At SRHarris you take your fabrics to their large cutting tables, measure and cut your fabrics yourself. Then put an orange sticker on it with the amount and price. And you have to return your fabrics back to where they belong, so you cannot forget where you found them. From this trip I took home pink floral laminate, solid cottons, 4-6 inch zippers, thread, elastic and buttons.

Thanks for the super fun fabric shopping day ladies!!!

Little One-Yard Wonders Book Giveaway!

  ETA: The winner is Ana!
*****
Yesterday I received a special package at my door step. The new Little One-Yard Wonders book arrived! I'm tickled pink because you can find me within its many fantastic pages. My Mushroom Tea Party is featured beautifully, thank you Little One-Yard Wonders!

Photo taken by Julie Toy

Between the covers of this book you will find 101 sewing projects to make for newborns through tweens, as well as parents of children. You'll find projects for the nursery, bath time, bedtime, home, kitchen, tops, pants, skirts, dresses, rompers, accessories, tactile play, dolls, plushies, imaginative play, games, hobbies, on the go, moms, and dads. Each project only uses up to a yard of fabric!

Photo taken by Mars Vilaubi

I have some exciting news for you today. Storey Publishing is giving away one copy of Little One-Yard Wonders to nest full of eggs readers! 

• This giveaway is limited to US mailing addresses only. 
• To enter the giveaway, please leave an answer in the comment section to the following question: what children do you sew for? Your own children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or those of good friends?
• The giveaway is open until Wednesday June 11th 9:00 PM (CST). 
• I will pick a winner and Storey Publishing will mail you the book.

Thank you for taking the time to visit here.

BurdaStyle Magazine

 Many thanks to BurdaStyle for publishing my vintage button storage idea in their Summer 2014 issue.

 The question was: "What organizing tip are you most proud of in your sewing room?"

 I shared my tip for storing similar buttons by placing them on a large safety pin, then closing it.

 Then I keep the buttons that are all the same color in one jar.

By the way, the rest of the magazine looks fabulous, have a peek inside here.

Double Layered Chevron Circle Skirt Tutorial

Long time no see. Just a quick announcement today to let you know that I am visiting Sew, Mama, Sew today. I'm over there sharing my Double Layered Chevron Circle Skirt Tutorial. It's from my Striped Dress, but just the skirt instead of the full dress. Enjoy!

Call the Midwife

 Boil some water and gather some clean towels, it's time to call the midwife! Last night I viewed the last episode of season 3 of 'Call the Midwife' which is a British television series set in the late 1950s in London. Have you watched the show? I look forward to the start of season 4. Being a huge fan of the show, I was inspired to sew up their midwife uniform, but in miniature version.

Let me tell you about each of the three pieces...

Light blue short sleeve A-line dress with a white peter pan collar:
Pattern: Oliver + S Jump Rope Dress (difficulty level of 3 out of 4 scissors)
Size: 6
Mods: View B with short sleeves and in-seam side pockets (pocket pattern from the Oliver + S Playtime Dress)
Fabrics: Turquoise Dot Aqua Chambray 80% cotton/20% linen from the Lisette Collection, white cotton for the collar
Notions: five 5/8 inch light blue buttons

 Red cardigan:
Pattern: Flashback skinny tee for big kids
Size: 7/8
Mods: I went one size up, made the front piece a v-neck and into a cardigan, added a folded 2 inch band all around the neck/front. This Slouchy Cardigan Tutorial was helpful.
Fabric: red knit that is 90% poly/7% rayon/3% spandex

 Gray Trench Coat:
Pattern: Oliver + S Secret Agent Trench Coat (difficulty level 2 out of 4 scissors)
Size: 6
Mods: View A without the shoulder flap, I topstitched the pocket flaps down, made the buttons button the girl way
Fabric: gray cotton twill
Notions: eight .75 inch gray buttons

My favorite piece is the gray trench coat, not only is it a classic piece of clothing and practical since it's dark and will hide dirt, but the gray cotton twill was a dream to work with (I love working with cotton twill).

 Since the gray coat is not very girly, I added a pretty surprise in the inside by using light pink bias tape.

As much as I love this color combination, the outfit can be broken up and each piece can be interchanged with other articles of clothing in my daughter's closet.

If you haven't watched 'Call the Midwife' yet, you really must check it out!

Doily Circle Skirt for 18-inch Doll

  {18-inch doll skirt week :: day 7}

Today it's a doily circle skirt.

Supplies needed:

• doily 9 - 11.5 inches in diameter (I bought these doilies at vintage shops, a couple of the price tags were still on, one was $1.00, the other $3.50)

•  5/8 inch or 1 inch fold over elastic (Looking for some inexpensive fold over elastic? I got a package of 5 headwraps at a dollar store, that's only $1.00 for 2.5 yards of 5/8 inch fold over elastic. Although from my experience making these skirts, I recommend using 1 inch fold over elastic.)

•  ball point needle

 Instructions:

• in the center of the doily cut out a circle that has a radius of 1.75 inches (diameter of 3.5 inches)

•  take the fold over elastic and fold it over the raw edge of the waistline using lots of pins, sew around with multiple step zigzag stitch (it is suggested to use a 2 or 3 stitch length and a ball point needle). If you have never sewn with fold over elastic before I recommend watching a YouTube video to learn how.

•  cut off the excess fold over elastic.

 Although I will continue to share 18-inch doll skirts here in the future, that's a wrap for 18-inch doll skirt week ~ thanks for joining me :)

Quick round-up of all my 18-inch doll creations:

• Popover dresses
• Reversible skirts
• Tea Party dresses
• Doll carrier
• Elastic-waist skirts
• Katie dress
• Newborn onesies to t-shirts and nightgowns
• No-sew tutu
• Petticoat
• Chiffon bubble skirt
• Lace and tulle skirt
• Sequin skirt
• Layered trim skirt

Layered Trim Skirts for 18-inch Doll

  {18-inch doll skirt week :: day 6}

Today it's a layered trim skirt.

Supplies needed:

• 1.5 yards of 1 - 1.5 inch wide trim
• 18 inches by 6 inches of fabric
• 10.5 inches of 3/8 inch wide elastic

 Instructions:

• take the 18 inch by 6 inch piece of fabric, at the top and bottom of the skirt, fold over and press .5 inch and again .5 inch to the wrong side and topstitch

•  take the 1.5 yards of trim and cut it into 3 pieces of 18 inches
• place the first piece of trim along the hem and topstitch

•  place the 2nd piece of trim above the first and topstitch

•  place the third piece of trim above the second and topstitch
• place a safety pin at the end of the elastic and thread it through the casing

•  with right sides together sew the skirt seam with .5 inch seam allowance
• iron seam open
• turn skirt right side out

The white scallop trim was about 2 inches wide, so I only did 2 layers.

Different types of trims come with different price tags. To give you an idea the total cost of the trim for each skirt shown here, it was: $4.50 for the purple faux suede fringe and the pink box pleat, $.38 for the yellow eyelet, and $1.00 for the white scallop.

The t-shirts in these photos were made from newborn onesies, tutorial found here.

Next up, day 7 of 18-inch doll skirt week.

 Quick round-up of all my 18-inch doll creations:

• Popover dresses
• Reversible skirts
• Tea Party dresses
• Doll carrier
• Elastic-waist skirts
• Katie dress
• Newborn onesies to t-shirts and nightgowns
• No-sew tutu
• Petticoat
• Chiffon bubble skirt
• Lace and tulle skirt
• Sequin skirt