Why I Blog...

A couple of weeks ago, Carrie from Right Sides Facing asked if I'd like to participate in a blog hop where I would have to answer some questions regarding why I blog. This particular post topic has been overdue for me for a long time, and I actually have attempted to write about my reasons for blogging for sometime now. Apparently, I unknowingly played a small part in Carrie starting up her own blog (read about it HERE), and now in return, she has encouraged me to open up a little more about why I blog. Thanks, Carrie!

I know I have said a few times in the past that sewing and blogging have changed my life, but I've never gone into great detail on the specifics of "how".  I'll attempt to explain a few of those reasons for you now.

Why do I blog?

sewVery Sunny Pattern Tour - Day 1

Today I'm kicking off the week-long sewVery Sunny Dress & Top Pattern Tour! Be sure to stop by each day for some inspiring sewVery Sunny Pattern ideas from a group of amazingly talented sewing bloggers.

On Sunday, August 17th, I'll wrap up the party and announce the winners of the pattern tour giveaway! Yep! I'm giving away 2 copies of the sewVery Sunny Dress & Top Pattern to 2 lucky people. Keep reading to find out how to enter!

All this week, August 11th - 17th, use code SUNNY20 at checkout to save 20% off the regular price when you purchase the sewVery Sunny Dress & Top Pattern.

There are two ways to purchase: 1) through ejunkie and 2) through Craftsy (no code required for the discount here) (affiliate link).  You can find both of these links with more information on the pattern in the sewVery Pattern Shop.

Now on to my special guests for Day 1 of the sewVery Sunny Pattern Tour!

Kangaroo Pouch Pocket Tutorial for Skirting the Issue

I'm excited to be participating in this year's Skirting the Issue Series hosted by my friends at Simple Simon & Co. Today, I'll show you how to add a Kangaroo Pouch Pocket to the Tilly Skirt Pattern by Sewing Mama RaeAnna.  This tutorial would work on any basic skirt pattern that has two individual front hip pockets.

Skirting the Issue is all about making skirts to donate to girls in foster care.  All July long, Simple Simon & Co. will introduce you to a blogger who will either share a skirt tutorial or skirt round-up with you in hopes that you will feel the need to sew up a skirt or two for a girl in need in foster care.

The Zephyr Romper and Romper Week Giveaway

It's Romper Week again with Sewing Mama RaeAnna!  I love rompers and wish I were young enough to wear them still and not get funny looks!  Instead, I'll just have to sew up a few for Ella and live vicariously through her.

This year, I put together one of the prettiest and most detailed rompers I've ever sewn--The Zephyr Romper by Figgy's.  A long, long time ago, I bought the Kid's Romper Revamp Class at Craftsy (affiliate link) that has Shelly Figueroa of Figgy's walk you step-by-step through the process of sewing her Zephyr Romper.  I've now forgotten why I waited so long to take the class and make this romper, but I wish I had tried it sooner!  This Zephyr Romper is amazing!

The Tilly Skirt

Sewing Mama RaeAnna has just released her latest pattern, The Tilly Skirt!  Since we are good friends, she gave me a sneak peek of the design and pattern before it was released to the public.  I couldn't wait to sew one up for Ella, and it was one of the quickest projects I've made in a while!

I made this skirt back in late April, and Ella has certainly enjoyed wearing it over and over again since then. In fact, I desperately need to make her another one!  Maybe I'll do that this afternoon since it only takes about an hour.

Baby Sleep Sack and Giveaway!

Today I'm participating in the Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop (affiliate link) Lullaby Line Pattern Tour!  Get ready to melt when you see the sweetness on my blog today!

This post contains my affiliate links for Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop.  All opinions are my own.

As many of you know, I am good friends with Lindsay from Lindsay Sews and Craft Buds.  Well, Lindsay recently had a baby boy, and I needed a good excuse to go visit her so I could hold the baby! I sewed together a quick sleep sack using one of the patterns from the Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop Lullaby Line and then headed out the door to deliver the gift to little Elliot!

I think he likes it! Yay!

Baby Elliot is such a precious little one who is just 3 weeks old in these pictures.  He already weighs nearly 10 pounds, so I decided to sew together this 3-6 month sized sleep sack which only took about an hour to finish.  I used some left over Super Hero Shannon Fabric's Cuddle from a previous project I blogged about and added some black ribbed knit for the neck and armhole binding.

The Sleep Sack Pattern was a breeze to follow with its step-by-step written instructions and color photographs to use as a guide.  Installing the zipper was even a cinch!  The pattern even comes with a footed sleep sack option for bigger kids (sadly, my kids are already too big for that though!).

I know I will be using the Sleep Sack Pattern as well as many of the others, like the Baby Gown, Body Suit, Pants and Shorts, and Baby Hat, from the collection whenever I need a quick baby gift for a friend or one of my husband's co-workers.  The entire collection of 6 patterns is a great deal for just $35, or you can buy them individually.

Be sure to visit all the other bloggers from this past week (including my other good friend, Sewing Mama RaeAnna) to see more squishy babies and adorable little clothes for them.  You'll be glad you did!

Add caption

And don't forget to enter the giveaway for a chance to win one of three $50 gift cards to Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop!  Wow!  That will buy you a lot of terrific patterns!  To keep up with all the latest pattern releases, be sure to follow the Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop Blog.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to Lindsay for taking pictures and allowing Elliot to be a model for me today.  I think he's already testing out the sleep sack!

Have fun sewing!

The Cupcake Top

Have you seen the latest pattern from my good friend, Sewing Mama RaeAnna?  If not, then let me show you the Cupcake Top!

In case you don't already know, RaeAnna and I are real friends!  We get together about once a week to talk sewing and blogging while our little models have fun and play.  So when RaeAnna decided to venture into pattern designing a few months back, I was super excited for her!

When she released the Cupcake Top Pattern for sale just before Christmas, she sent me a copy and asked me to try it out sometime.  I couldn't wait to sew one up, but then I caught the flu and all sewing came to a halt for a couple of weeks.  Once I recovered and my son went back to school in early January, I started sewing again every single day and have now made Ella at least 13 or 14 new pieces of clothing! Wow!

But one of her favorites so far is the Cupcake Top I made by upcycling an adult's size small basic long-sleeved t-shirt of mine.  I spruced it up a bit by overlaying the pocket and making the ruffles using some pink mesh fabric that has hearts on it--producing the perfect Valentine Cupcake Top!

Surprisingly, there wasn't much fabric to cut off of the bodice pieces to make Ella's size 6 top.  I really didn't have enough fabric from the t-shirt to make the pocket, so I used some cotton knit that was a near perfect match in color to sew it together.

I reused the existing neck binding and hem of the old t-shirt making this even faster to sew together. For the ruffles, I simply cut the mesh fabric to length according to RaeAnna's pattern, gathered the strips, and then sewed them to the existing hemline and sleeve cuffs.

The Cupcake Top is the perfect playtime shirt, and the added ruffles and pocket spruce it up enough to make it more interesting than a plain on tee.  Of course, the ruffles can be omitted to make a fun kangaroo pocket tee for a boy!  Or, leave the ruffles and pocket off for a great basic t-shirt!  People are even adding embroidery designs to the front to make boutique style shirts.

Be sure to stop by Sewing Mama RaeAnna this week to see other Cupcake Tops she's featuring and to purchase your copy of the Cupcake Top Pattern for 20% off through Friday using code SWEET.  There are lots of fun versions popping up!

Have fun sewing!

Snowflakes & Lace Series Wrap-Up

Thanks again to all of our very talented guests this past week who made some terrific projects with lace for our Snowflakes & Lace Series!  If you missed any of the posts from my blog or Sewing Mama RaeAnna's blog, please be sure to check them out.  All the post links are below.

Crochet Racer Back Dress by Sew Like My Mom

Add Lace to a Sweater Sleeve by Kid Approved

Eyelet Lace Lillian Pintucked Dress by Welcome to the Mouse House

Refashioned Lace Tee by House of Estrela

Vintage Lace Shoe and Bag Clips by RanaMama Designs

Ruffles and Lace Skirt Tutorial by Handmade Martini

Lace and Leather Clutch by sewVery

Polkadots and Lace by Get Your Crap Together

Lace Track Suit by Paisley Roots

Three Lace Projects by the Shaffer Sisters

Ballerina Lace Dress by Ali Cat & Co

Snow Inspired Dress with Treasure Pocket by Climbing the Willow

Lace Arm Warmers by The Berry Bunch

Lace Snowflake Sweater by Sewing Mama RaeAnna

Now to announce the giveaway winners!  Thanks to our generous sponsors shown below, we have three awesome prizes to give away today.  Prize Packs 1 and 2 are for US Residents only while Prize Pack 3 is open to all entries (US and International).  Winners have been emailed and have 24 hours to respond or another winner will be selected.

Prize pack 1 (US Residents Only)- Lindsay Conner of Lindsay Sews and Craft Buds recently published a quilt book, Modern Bee.  She will send the winner a sewing kit that includes fabric, thread, and notions!

Michelle of Handmade Martini will be sending 2.5 yards of vintage lace trim!  And Heidi of Elegance & Elephants will send the winner one pdf pattern of their choice from her shop.

Prize Pack 1 Winner: Stacy

Prize pack 2 (US Residents Only)- Brianne of Ali Cat & Co. has a license to sell the Buttercup bags and has an adorable finished bag to send to the winner!

Chelsea of Get Your Crap Together has a great bundle of organization patterns for school!  And RaeAnna from Sewing Mama RaeAnna will send 1 yard of vintage lace trim and the winner's choice of either the Bumblebee Dress pdf pattern or the Cupcake Top pdf pattern!

Prize Pack 2 Winner: Carrie

Prize pack 3 - Karly of Paisley Roots will send the Saffron Twirl Dress Pattern!  And Hayley of Mouse House Creations will send a pattern of choice to the winner!

Prize Pack 3 Winner: Nicole

Thanks again!  Please be sure to let us know what you thought of the series and if you'd like to see it again in the future!

Have fun sewing!

Snowflakes & Lace with sewVery

Wow!  What an exciting week!  Co-hosting the Snowflakes & Lace Series with my friend, RaeAnna from Sewing Mama RaeAnna, has been such fun.  I've truly enjoyed seeing all the projects our guest bloggers contributed to the series, and I've discovered so many new ways to use lace from those that joined our linky party and pinned to our Pinterest board.  Thank you so much for making the series a success!

As promised, RaeAnna and I are both sharing with you today our ideas for using lace.  For me, I knew immediately what I would make for this series--a Lace & Leather Clutch!

About a year ago, I visited my local Goodwill Outlet Store where you literally rummage through bins to find treasures, and that is where I found this beautiful piece of vintage lace!  The original piece was roughly 18" long, and I found a similar green lace piece that is over a yard long with it.  I assume both pieces are vintage since they were in a pile with several old patterns and other notions from most likely the 1970's. I knew I couldn't let these beautiful pieces end up as trash, so I snagged them for mere pennies!

Months pass and I'm watching Project Runway All-Stars when I see a clutch with a hand strap used with Christopher Palu's Bonnie & Clyde look.  I thought that was such a neat idea, so when I was deciding what to make for our Snowflake & Lace Series, I knew I would sew the same style of clutch.

Since the cream lace I had rescued at Goodwill was wide, it was a natural choice to use it to embellish the hand strap on the clutch.  The clutch itself is just a basic zipper pouch made from wool suiting material I had on hand.  I topstitched leather to the bottom corners of the clutch to add even more texture and color to the bag and then sewed the lace to a strap that is attached across the front of the bag.

The inside is lined with a neutral duck cloth and the wool fabric is fused with Pellon Shape Flex 101 for added structure.

This bag took me about an hour to make, and I just love it!  I have enough of all the materials to make one more identical bag which would make a perfect gift.

Front

Back

Since we started this series, I have had lace on the brain and am beginning to use some of your ideas to incorporate it into my sewing more.  I hope you found some inspiration too!

Please be sure to visit RaeAnna to see the adorable Lace Snowflake Top she made her sweet little girl. Her project makes we want to crank up the embroidery machine again!

Also, you have just a few more hours to enter our giveaway.  We have three awesome prizes up for grabs!  Enter below.  Winners will be selected and announced in our wrap-up post on Sunday!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks again to you and all our guests!  Have fun sewing!

Snowflakes & Lace Day 5 - Handmade Martini

I'm sad to say today is the last day of our guest posts for the Snowflakes & Lace Series.  I've so enjoyed getting to know all these wonderful bloggers better and discovering so many new ways to incorporate lace into my sewing projects!  Tomorrow, Sewing Mama RaeAnna and I will do a final recap of the series and share with you our own lace enhancing ideas!

If you missed our guests yesterday, be sure to visit House of Estrela, RanaMama Designs, Ali Cat & Co., and The Berry Bunch to see what they made.

Up today is Michelle of Handmade Martini.  Sewing is in Michelle's DNA--seriously!  She has two great-grandmothers that sewed professionally, so it's no surprise to me that she loves to sew and feels an internal need or calling to create with needle and thread herself.  Lucky for her she has three little ones--two boys and one girl--to sew for when she's not busy homeschooling or running marathons!

For today's Snowflakes & Lace project, Michelle's daughter is the recipient of her time spent sewing.  Be sure to visit Handmade Martini for her Ruffles and Lace Skirt Tutorial!  

It's not too late to still join in on all the lace fun! Click HERE to add your lace inspired projects to our linky party and to enter the giveaway for a chance to win 1 of 3 super prizes!  Winners will be announced on Sunday!

Thanks for stopping by today and be sure to visit Sewing Mama Raeanna to meet our other Snowflakes & Lace guest of the day!  See you back here tomorrow for our round-up of the series and to see our own Snowflakes & Lace inspired creation!

Have fun sewing!

Snowflakes & Lace - Day 4 House of Estrela and RanaMama Designs

Today we have two guests here and at Sewing Mama RaeAnna to introduce as part of our Snowflakes & Lace Series.  If you missed yesterday's guests, then you'll want to be sure to go back and see the adorable things that Welcome to the Mouse House and the Shaffer Sisters made.

First up is Magda from the House of Estrela.  Like many of our other guests, I first discovered Magda's blog through link parties, and I pretty much always see her joining in the Project Run and Play sew-alongs. The pieces she creates always catch my eye and make me want to see more!

Magda's refashioned tee with added lace sleeves and a bottom ruffle is definitely one of those projects that I want to see and read more about!  In fact, she is hosting her own series called January Refashion Month.  I love how she transformed her basic tee into something special that will work with both the Snowflakes & Lace Series and her January Refashion Month Series!

To see more photos and read how she made the refashion, read her entire post HERE.

Next up is Regina from the fairly new blog, RanaMama Designs.  Regina is a mom to four busy little ones, but somehow she manages to find time to make lots of fun sewing and craft projects. She even helped RaeAnna translate her Cupcake Top Pattern into Hungarian!

Today, Regina is sharing with us her version of Vintage Lace Shoe and Bag Clips.  Isn't this a fun and clever idea?  Love it!  To see more pictures and read the full post, visit her blog HERE.

Want to join in on the fun?  Then click HERE to add your lace inspired projects to our linky party and to enter the giveaway for a chance to win 1 of 3 super prizes!

Thanks for stopping by today and be sure to visit Sewing Mama RaeAnna to meet our other Snowflakes & Lace guests of the day!  See you back here tomorrow for the last day of our guest contributors.  On Saturday, RaeAnna and I will each share our own Snowflakes & Lace inspired creation!

Have fun sewing!

Snowflakes & Lace - Day 3 Welcome to the Mouse House

We are half way through the Snowflakes & Lace series as of today!  I have been so amazed by all the lace projects our guests are sharing this week.  If you missed yesterday, be sure to visit Kid Approved and Paisley Roots to see what they made.

Today's guest is Hayley from Welcome to the Mouse House.  Hayley has a keen eye for designing vintage inspired clothing patterns as well as the skills to fully redecorate (including new paint, wallpaper, accessories, furniture, etc) a room in a matter of days! Plus, she has two of the most adorable kiddos that she sews for and who help model all those amazing outfits on her blog.

In addition to all that, Hayley recently started designing pdf clothing patterns that she sells at Mouse House Creations, and she is one of the designers for the soon to be released Willow & Co. collaboration.  I just want to know how this woman finds time and energy to get all this done! Whew!

For our Snowflakes & Lace series, Hayley has a gorgeous pin tucked eyelet dress to show you. I'm guessing hoping there is a future Mouse House Creations pdf pattern so I can sew this one myself?! Just head over to her blog at Welcome to the Mouse House to see more pictures of her lace inspired creation.

Want to join in on the fun?  Then click HERE to add your lace inspired projects to our linky party and to enter the giveaway for a chance to win 1 of 3 super prizes!

Thanks for stopping by today and be sure to visit Sewing Mama RaeAnna to meet our other Snowflakes & Lace guest of the day!  See you back here tomorrow when I introduce 2 new guests for the series!

Have fun sewing!

Snowflakes & Lace Series

Tomorrow is the big day!  The start of the Snowflakes & Lace series that I am co-hosting with my good friend, RaeAnna, of Sewing Mama RaeAnna!  This is going to be so much fun!

Adding just a little lace to a project--whether it be a piece of clothing, home decor, or even a craft--can take it from good to great with minimal effort.  Plus, I love the feminine, delicate touch lace gives an item.

Each day this week, RaeAnna and I will be introducing you to the fabulous bloggers listed above as well as linking you to their projects using lace.  We have some super serious talent here, so expect total awesomeness!  RaeAnna and I will finish up the series on Saturday when we post our own lace inspired creations.

We also want to see what you can do with lace!  RaeAnna has set up a linky party for you to share your blog post link and picture.

We also have a Pinterest Board called Snowflakes & Lace where we are repinning projects you find and tag with #SnowLaceSew.

 

I've already seen a lot of projects with lace on the Pinterest board that I now want to try.

Want even more fun?!  We've also put together a giveaway for the series that includes 3 prize packs!

Prize pack 1 (US Residents Only)- Lindsay Conner of Lindsay Sews and Craft Buds recently published a quilt book, Modern Bee.  She will send the winner a sewing kit that includes fabric, thread, and notions!

Michelle of Handmade Martini will be sending 2.5 yards of vintage lace trim!  And Heidi of Elegance & Elephants will send the winner one pdf pattern of their choice from her shop.

Prize pack 2 (US Residents Only)- Brianne of Ali Cat & Co. has a license to sell the Buttercup bags and has an adorable finished bag to send to the winner!

Chelsea of Get Your Crap Together has a great bundle of organization patterns for school!  And RaeAnna from Sewing Mama RaeAnna will send 1 yard of vintage lace trim and the winner's choice of either the Bumblebee Dress pdf pattern or the Cupcake Top pdf pattern!

Prize pack 3 - Karly of Paisley Roots will send the Saffron Twirl Dress Pattern!  And Hayley of Mouse House Creations will send a pattern of choice to the winner!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
So please be sure to come back tomorrow to meet our first guest bloggers and check out how they have incorporated lace into their sewing or craft project.  Sewing Mama RaeAnna will also be introducing a guest blogger on her blog, so be sure to visit her as well.

Until tomorrow...have fun sewing!

Happy 2014, Updates, and a Project That Will Keep You Warm

Happy New Year, everyone!  Yes, I'm still here.  It's just been rough around my house the last three weeks.  My kids and I all had the flu which started for my son the day before school break. I caught it two days later, and Ella got it a week after me (two days after Christmas while we were out of town visiting family).  My son recovered the quickest (like in 4 days) while Ella and I are still dealing with chest congestion, coughing, and fatigue.

Oh, and did I mention we adopted a second cat during all this?  Well, it's more like he adopted us! He showed up at our back door two weeks before Christmas, and after chasing down a lead on a missing kitty we thought was him but wasn't, we resolved to keep him.  He's named Aubie (surprisingly, my Alabama fan husband came up with it) and sometimes called Pumpkin, and we all love him dearly.  As my son says, "He's the cutest kitty in the world!"  I must agree, Aubie is pretty cute and one of the sweetest cats I've ever owned.  Our 15 year old female cat is not as pleased about this family addition as we are, and we are hopeful that she will finally come to accept him and share her space with him.

The past couple of days, I've finally had the energy to get back into a routine of sorts.  I've managed to sew up two or three things for Ella for some upcoming posts later this month.  Please be sure to check back here often or sign up to follow sewVery through the Bloglovin' button in the sidebar to your right.

One project I'm very excited about is the Snowflakes & Lace series that I will be co-hosting with my friend, RaeAnna, from Sewing Mama RaeAnna.

Starting on January 13th, RaeAnna and I will be introducing at least two bloggers each day with links to their amazing projects that involve lace! RaeAnna and I will share our own creations at the end of the series on January 18th.  The series will include a link-up party so you, too, can share your lace creations, and we'll even have a giveaway for patterns and a little sewing kit!

We'd love for you to help us all find lace inspiration by pinning projects you've made with lace or pictures you've found of clothing, accessories, or home decor that is adorned with lace.  Just be sure to include the hashtag #SnowLaceSew when you pin the item so we can find it and add it to our Pinterest board.  It should be a lot of fun!

 

And speaking of Snowflakes, there are still a few on the ground here and the temperatures have plummeted to the single digits for the high.  Definitely not what we are used to here in the South. Our heat pump is just not designed to heat extremely well in temperatures this low.  As a result, it's running constantly to try and keep the house just barely warm, and my feet are freezing still!

If you are experiencing the same sort of weather right now or even colder temps, then I highly recommend you make up a few of these--my sewVery Simple Hot Pads!

My sewVery Simple Hot Pad Tutorial is my No. 5 most viewed post, and I thought it was definitely worth sharing again today.  It's a really quick project that you can use with rice or dried corn.  I use them to warm up our beds at night or to warm our feet while watching tv or while sitting at the computer to blog. Our new cat is even enjoying the warmth they provide!

There you have it.  An update of sorts.  Sorry for the long absence, but I hope everyone had a terrific Christmas with many wonderful blessings.  I wish you all the best 2014 possible, and I thank you for following my blog and leaving me comments every now and then.  I love hearing from those of you who have used a tutorial of mine!

See you soon, and have fun sewing!