Let’s start the week with a giveaway!

Gifts to Sew for Special Occasions is filled with lots of different great stuff. First off, if you’ve been swooning over the teepee on the cover of Growing Up Sew Liberated, you’ll find a very similar pattern in this [...]]]> Comments closed. Congratulations Lawana!

Let’s start the week with a giveaway!

Gifts to Sew for Special Occasions is filled with lots of different great stuff. First off, if you’ve been swooning over the teepee on the cover of Growing Up Sew Liberated, you’ll find a very similar pattern in this book. Some of my other favorite projects are:

• drawstring gift bag with circular base
• fabric roses
• teddy bear
• rag doll
• clothes for the rag doll
• hobby horse

There are also some cool projects to get your creative juices flowing:

• making embroidered brooches
• sewing with canvaswork
• sewing accessories out of grosgrain ribbon
• Italian quilting
• heirloom sewing

You can take a look at the table of contents and index on amazon.com.

How to enter: Leave a comment on this post. Just say hello or let me know how the weather is in your neck of the woods. It’s cold and snowy over here.

Bonus entry: Share this giveaway on facebook, twitter, [insert your favorite social networking site here] and leave another comment.

I’ll close comments on Saturday, December 10th. Shipping is free within the U.S. International folks are welcome to enter, but I’ll need a few bucks via paypal to cover sending it overseas.

It’s time for another giveaway! This time I’ve got something for the knitting folks. Although, you don’t really have to be a knitter to enjoy Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s brilliant writing style. She’s terribly funny, and you can get a taste of her humor at her blog: Yarn Harlot.

This giveaway is [...]]]> Comments closed. Congratulations Laura!

It’s time for another giveaway! This time I’ve got something for the knitting folks. Although, you don’t really have to be a knitter to enjoy Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s brilliant writing style. She’s terribly funny, and you can get a taste of her humor at her blog: Yarn Harlot.

This giveaway is for Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot’s Guide to the Land of Knitting.

from amazon:
Using a travel guide format as her launching pad, Pearl-McPhee acts as tour guide extraordinaire, displaying her trademark razor-sharp wit as she describes and critiques every aspect of this land she knows so well — its people, native language, familiar phrases, strange beliefs, etiquette, and cultural customs. Readers will love her timeline of notable dates in knitting history and rarely celebrated knitting heroes, from the samurai warriors of Japan to the “Terrible Knitters of Dent.” And, while the land of knitting is a peaceful place, it does have its political arguments, such as the acrylic versus natural fibers and circular versus straight needles debates.

You can take a look inside the book at amazon.

How to enter: Leave a comment on this post. You don’t need to say anything but hello, but we could start a conversation on handmade holiday gifts. (Yes, it’s that time of year!) Have you started making gifts? Are you going to buy handmade? More of a gift card giver? I’m going to come clean right now and say I haven’t even started thinking about it. Yikes!

Bonus entry: Share this giveaway on facebook, twitter, [insert your favorite social networking site here] and leave another comment.

I’ll close comments on Wednesday, November 23rd. Shipping is free within the U.S. International folks are welcome to enter, but I’ll need a few bucks via paypal to cover sending it overseas.

I’ve been decluttering a lot lately. The past few weekends I’ve focused on paper: books, magazines and outdated files. Yes, you read the first one correctly — books — and there are quite a few craft books. I pulled them from the donate pile and decided it would be much more [...]]]> Comments closed. Congratulations Erica!

I’ve been decluttering a lot lately. The past few weekends I’ve focused on paper: books, magazines and outdated files. Yes, you read the first one correctly — books — and there are quite a few craft books. I pulled them from the donate pile and decided it would be much more fun to have a few giveaways. Everyone loves giveaways, right?

First up is So Easy…Home Sewing: 25 Fabulous Items to Make for Your Home.

from amazon:
It covers all the basics, starting with the seams and hems, through to piping and borders and tassels and trims, with helpful information about fabric selection, stitches, a sewing machine guide, the essential equipment, scissors, notions and other tools, needed to get started. The book is set up as a series of workshops enabling the sewer to first learn the techniques involved and then go on to create simple projects using those techniques.

You can take a look inside the book on amazon and see both the table of contents, which lists the projects, and the index. Here’s a look at some of the projects.

How to enter: Leave a comment on this post. You don’t need to say anything but hello, but I’m curious if anyone else out there has been decluttering. Do you do it regularly? Once a year? Once a decade?

Bonus entry: Share this giveaway on facebook, twitter, [insert your favorite social networking site here] and leave another comment.

I’ll close comments on Monday, November 14th. Shipping is free within the U.S. International folks are welcome to enter, but I’ll need a few bucks via paypal to cover sending it overseas.

If sewing isn’t your thing, don’t worry. Next up will be a knitting book. Good luck!

* * * * * Congratulations to the giveaway winner Shana Putnam! * * * * *

Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Day is one of my favorite times of year. I love participating: both in the giving away part and the entering for giveaways part.

If [...]]]>

* * * * * Congratulations to the giveaway winner Shana Putnam! * * * * *

Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Day is one of my favorite times of year. I love participating: both in the giving away part and the entering for giveaways part.

If you are new to my blog, let me tell you a little bit about this vase. I love to use recycled goods in my work. I’ve made a few of these. The plastic container has been rescued from my very own recycle bin. The yarn is from the big spool of wool. I talk about it a lot. It’s a big spool.

You don’t have to do anything fancy to enter my giveaway — just leave a comment on this post. I’d love it if you follow my rss feed or follow me over on my facebook page. I’d also love to hear about your handmade holiday plans. Are you making anything special?

Don’t forget to visit Sew, Mama, Sew! for tons of other great giveaways. (They’ll be posted on Monday morning.)

Mine will close Midnight, Central Time, December 17th. I’ll ship internationally, so everyone is welcome to enter!

I found one more thing of interest at the textile sale: a bag of Interweave Knits magazines for only 25 cents each. They are various issues from 2001-2003. Some had a few patterns that had been cut out, but for a quarter each, I figured they’d be great just for inspiration.
[...]]]>

I found one more thing of interest at the textile sale: a bag of Interweave Knits magazines for only 25 cents each. They are various issues from 2001-2003. Some had a few patterns that had been cut out, but for a quarter each, I figured they’d be great just for inspiration.

Well, I found quite a few things that I liked, actually. As I was cutting them out, I marveled at just how many patterns were left. Did the magazine publish more per issue back then? I could not bring myself to put these in the recycle bin. Now, granted, some of the pullovers are a bit oversized, but a lot are classic enough to be made and worn today. Here are some of the pattern highlights:

• double wedding ring quilt
• cherry blossom shawl
• hidden passion socks
• a lot of women’s pullovers (I even left a few cardigan patterns)
• nearly all of the men’s sweaters (I’m pretty sure they are all there)
• ann budd’s grand plan* patterns for vests, pullovers, and tams

*Grand plan patterns include every possible measurement imaginable for a completely custom fit.

How to enter: Just leave a comment and tell me about your current projects. You can leave a second comment for a bonus entry if you head on over and “like” me on my Facebook page.

Giveaway open until Thursday, September 2, midnight, central time. I’ll announce the winner next Friday.

Open to U.S. readers only. Sorry, international friends, but these weigh a lot!

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I’m participating in Sew, Mama, Sew’s giveaway day again. I just love this idea. You can enter my giveaway below and then head over to their website and enter hundreds [...]]]> Congratulations to Vicki for winning the Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway tote bag!

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I’m participating in Sew, Mama, Sew’s giveaway day again. I just love this idea. You can enter my giveaway below and then head over to their website and enter hundreds more! (Yes, hundreds!)

I’m giving away a tote bag. It’s a little smaller than some of my recent bags — the perfect size for knit and crochet, small sewing, and embroidery projects. It would also make a cute purse!

It’s got two big pockets inside and closes with a ribbon tie. The outside and pockets are from a really cute upholstery fabric sample.

How to enter: Leave a comment and tell me how you would use this bag — to hold creative projects? as a purse? something else?

Bonus entry: Subscribe to my rss feed and leave another comment to be entered.

Another bonus entry: “Like” my Facebook page and leave another comment to be entered. (Why did they change that? It sounds even weirder than “Fan.”)

I’ll ship internationally, so everyone has a chance to win! You have until Midnight CT, May 20th to enter. I’ll pick the winner using a random number generator. Good luck!

Now go check out more giveaways over at Sew, Mama, Sew!

recycle: All of the materials for this tote were thrifted (i.e., saved from the landfill).

Thanks to all who entered my giveaway. I’ve [...]]]> Trudy of Sewing with Trudy won her choice of a pillow cover. I’ve seen some of her work over at Wardrobe Refashion. She has pledged for LIFE — how awesome is that! Someday I hope to have the sewing skills to make that commitment.

Thanks to all who entered my giveaway. I’ve really enjoyed visiting everyone’s blogs. There is so much fabulous crafty talent out there on the Internet and I’m glad to be a part of it!

After much deliberation, and not much sewing over the weekend because of a sick little girl, I’m giving away one of my remote control pillow covers for Sew, Mama, Sew’s Giveaway Day.

You get to pick whichever one you want. You can even pick the decorative pillow cover, [...]]]>

After much deliberation, and not much sewing over the weekend because of a sick little girl, I’m giving away one of my remote control pillow covers for Sew, Mama, Sew’s Giveaway Day.

You get to pick whichever one you want. You can even pick the decorative pillow cover, even though it doesn’t have a pocket. That’s cool with me!

Just know that whichever one you choose, I’m only giving away the cover, not the inside cushion. It will keep down shipping costs and allow me to ship internationally.

Here’s how you enter: Leave a comment on this post.
Bonus entry: Become a fan on my Facebook page. If you do, leave a second comment on this post.

You have until midnight, December 6th to enter. I will choose a winner with a random number generator. After you leave a comment, check out Sew, Mama, Sew for more fabulous giveaways!

Anything else? Oh, did you know I wrote a tutorial on how to make one of these pillows? Check it out!

I’m participating in Sew Mama Sew’s Giveaway Day on December 2nd. Last spring I gave away this tote, made out of an upcycled tablecloth. This coming Wednesday I’ll be giving away another handcrafted item. I’m thinking another tote, because that’s what I do best. Any other suggestions?

The top has a slight curve because the tablecloth is round. I love how the trim fabric contrasts with the floral print. The [...]]]>
I’m participating in Sew, Mama, Sew’s May Giveaway Day. Remember that beautiful tablecloth I was going to make into tote bags? Here’s the first one!

The top has a slight curve because the tablecloth is round. I love how the trim fabric contrasts with the floral print. The lace tape really pulls it together!

I’ll be making three more for my etsy shop, but I’m giving this one away! I’ll even ship internationally.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post. Yep! That’s it! You have until midnight, May 31st to enter. I will choose a winner with a random number generator. After you leave a comment, check out Sew, Mama, Sew for more fabulous giveaways!

recycle: original tablecloth purchased from garage sale here

Like this tote? Subscribe to my RSS feed or follow me on twitter for more recycled crafty goodness!