Sharon Sews

Or, as Becky put it...I have succeeded in "corrupting" another to sewing. Love that phrase Becky! This time the convert truly is a beginning sewer. J hasn't sat before a sewing machine since a class in junior high, which wasn't that long ago for her, but long enough for her to feel unsure of her ability to sew some clothing items. She stopped over last weekend with the goal of wanting to learn to sew "some cute summer tops". But as we spoke she thought perhaps a tote would be a good first project, so I had her look through some of my books for something that caught her eye. As she browsed through the projects in Sew Easy Bags and Sew Easy (both authored by Linda Lee and designed with the beginning sewer in mind) she changed her mind about the tote when she came across a tube top. Seems she wears tube tops underneath her suit jackets in the office because the temp in her office is quite warm (oh how I wish that was the case where I work...but that'

I received this email notice this afternoon from the publisher of that fabulous new magazine Make It Mine . Sadly, after only two issues, the decision was made to not continue to publish the magazine. Dear Newsletter Recipient, We thank you for your interest in Make It Mine magazine and for registering to receive our newsletter. However, we have decided we will not continue to publish the magazine, the Web site, or the newsletter. We received a very positive response to Make It Mine , but not enough to warrant further publication. The Web site will remain active through the on-sale date of the magazine. Voting for the purse challenge will continue, as promised, through June 18 at midnight central time. We will announce the three winners for the purse challenge on the Make It Mine blog before June 30, 2008. For other craft- and jewelry-related Web sites, periodicals, or books you may find interesting, please visit our Web site, BeadAndCraftBooks.com. If you need further assistance, p

--Clears throat dramatically-- Hi!!! The name is Caitlin , but i go by Kait . I guess you could say I'm a normal teen. One that likes to hang with friends, go shopping, and of course buys clothes! Clothes are like pictures. All different in some kind of form. Especially when you have a chance to make it yourself. That's exactly what i did when i made a somewhat surprising stop at her house last weekend. Saturday night to be exact. Her sewing room is amazing I must say. She has like literally everything. I spent twenty minutes just looking at all the patterns she has. Moments later she took out the fabric I picked out online as well as seven patterns. There I stood looking back and forth thinking, "which one to pick? which one to pick?" I was like a child in a candy store deciding between the Twixs or the Snickers . Well i did finally decide on the cute yellow poke a dots with the pink beneath them. Which i must say are total fabulous summer colors. I also pick

While I personally didn't get much sewing done this past weekend, my overnight guest did. Using an Amy Butler cotton print ( fuchsia martini ) and a vintage 1972 sewing pattern (Simplicity 9927 ) she sewed herself a summer dress. A few hours of supervised sewing time and "Ta-Da!" she was busy modeling her fabulous retro halter mini. She was thrilled with the dress - as well she should be. She looks adorable and she did it all herself. She hasn't done any sewing for more than five years and I think she did an awesome job for a fairly new sewer. I sure hope she remembers to add a lot of sunscreen before wearing this one outside for any length of time. See? She's already busy contemplating what her next sewing project will be. Hee, hee - she's one of us now! I've invited her to be a guest blogger here to tell us about sewing this dress from her perspective, so watch for a future post regarding the sewing adventures of a beginning sewer.

As usual, I sewed something I would want to wear myself. My original plan was to sew view D from Butterick 4945 - that's the full apron with the flirty flounce at the hemline shown in the center of the envelope. However, I felt my fabric needed angular lines to not distract from the crispness of the red/white stripes and the sharp blue stars outlined in white. So, view C was chosen. The ties on the apron are quite long, so they could also be pulled to the front and tied in bow if the wearer desires a more fitted look. The fabrics, while not intended to be coordinates, matched surprisingly well. The body of the apron is a patriotic cotton print from Joann's. Not only are the colors bold and traditional for Independence Day, but there is a slight sparkle in the fabric which hints at fireworks - another tradition. The blue trim fabric, also purchased from Joann's, is one of their cotton batiks. And just to add an extra bit of pop, I used a white ric rac with blue polka do

Since there were only 12 of you interested in the drawing, everyone had a pretty good chance of their number being picked. Number 12 came up first using the random integer generator from Random.org Sally was number 12 - congrats Sally. I'll contact you via email. Thanks so much for your kind messages regarding the blog.