Yesterday I made some baby things for my daughter’s teacher. Love this cute organic fabric from Cloud 9 Fabrics, designed by Michele Brummer Everett. You can still find the fabric at Fabricworm and some other shops. I made two burp cloths and a blanket, all backed with Cloud 9’s new soft flannel that I picked up locally at Intown Quilters.
Backgammon Skirt Tutorial
Louise from I’m Feelin’ Crafty invited me to participate in her Sew Ready to Play series, where bloggers are sharing sewing projects inspired by games. Predictable as I am, I made a skirt for my girls. And I used triangles! Very similar to the bunting skirt that I made for the Moda Bake Shop a few months back, this is a simple elastic waist skirt with a patchwork hem band. Inspired by a backgammon board, this easy skirt uses bits of my new fabric for Kokka on a charcoal chambray background.
Visit I’m Feelin’ Crafty to print the .pdf tutorial and see the adorable projects that people have been making. Here are a few of them:
Hopscotch Hanging Organizer from The Southern Institute.
Super Mario Brothers T-shirt from Skirt as Top.
Memory Game, made by Louise.
Plush Pizza from Cirque Du Bebe.
Crafty Round-Up
Fall is here and you all are busy making things! Lots to round up today:
Apple Plush from A Beautiful Mess.
Basket Weave Inset from Colette Patterns.
Sidewalk Skulls from Hello Lucky!
Travel Bag from Noodlehead.
Mod Nine Patch (using my Quilt Blocks fabric) from Elizabeth for Moda Bake Shop.
Squirrel Skirt from Craftiness is Not Optional for the I’m Feelin’ Crafty Sew Ready to Play series.
Ruched Sleeve from Tilly and the Buttons.
How to Use Polycrylic Coating on Origami from How about Orange.
Stitched Screen Door from Aesthetic Outburst, featured on Design Sponge.
Paper Strip Tray from Say Yes to Hoboken.
Ten Favorite Placemat Tutorials from Sew, Mama, Sew!
Warhol Soup Can Vases from Under the Sycamore.
Machine Sewing 101 Class
I’m excited to be teaching a few classes this month! The first is a Machine Sewing 101 class at the Indie-pendent, here in Atlanta. If you haven’t been to the Indie-pendent yet, it’s a beautiful shop filled with handmade treasures from some of my favorite makers. Above the shop is a light-filled studio space.
In this class, I’ll be teaching the basics about getting started with machine sewing, cutting fabric and trouble shooting. You’ll need to bring your sewing machine and manual. We will have a couple of extra machines so if you need one, please let me know. The class is two hours, includes supplies and you’ll leave with a finished set of napkins! I’ll be teaching this class two times, Tuesday, September 11 and Sunday, September 16, so you can choose to come on a weekday or a weekend. For all the details and to register, head over to the Indie-pendent.
I’m also teaching an Improvisational Quilting class at Intown Quilters on Sunday, September 23. I’ll share some sample photos soon!
Figgy’s Sewing Studio
I’m so impressed with all the amazing things that Shelly Figueroa is doing these days. You may know her from the book she co-authored with Karen LePage, Sewing with Boys, or her pattern shop Figgy’s (shown in the images above). Now she has a couple of new projects in the works that sound really great.
Shelly is currently raising funds to expand her sewing studio near Portland to accommodate more kids. In our world of mass-produced items and consumer culture, I think teaching kids to make things is so important to help them understand the world and the meaning of everyday things that we take for granted. Shelly has a vision for her studio and hopes to raise money to buy supplies and machines, then offer an open day each month for people to drop in and sew for charity. Then she hopes to provide scholarships for kids who want to learn to sew, but can’t afford it. Watch her video to learn more. I have often thought about how sad it is that home-ec has gone and our high schools are spending time teaching kids skills that they’ll never use. I wish I’d learned sewing and woodworking instead of algebra and chemistry. Anyway, you can help her by donating here.
Shelly also has a new Craftsy class Kid’s Romper Revamp: Creative Pattern Adapting. This looks like a class packed with useful skills for those of us who want to learn to make clothes that really fit our kids.