Category: Uncategorized

Poppytalk is holding a virtual awards event, and I’ve been nominated in the Handmade Artist’s Blog category. (Thanks to Grace for nominating me).

I am not a very competitive person, and I have to admit, the term “artist” makes me feel uneasy as I don’t consider myself an artist. Am I a crafter, a maker, a blogger? I don’t know. When asked my occupation on a school form the other day, I wrote “Sewing Pattern Designer.” Since I’ve started working on this book I’ve put my Etsy shop on hold. So now I can say that I’m writing a sewing book, but I’m certainly not ready to call myself a writer. So anyway, if you enjoy reading my blog and you feel inclined to vote for me in the Poppytalk awards, that would be really sweet. There are some incredibly talented artists nominated in this category. I do appreciate all of you out there who read this blog and give me positive feedback. Thank you!

Congratulations to #7, Sarah!  She’ll receive a $50 gift certificate from Brooklyn General Store.  Look for another December giveaway soon!

Lucky #38, Kylie, is the winner of the gift certificate from Magpie Lovely.  Be sure to check out Holly’s shop and order this week for holiday delivery!

Here’s a repeat project from last year, but a really sweet toy to make for the holidays — or modify to make a year-round version.  Instructions are here.   Or you could try the sewn version — bunny bowling — my project featured on Etsy’s blog last year.  Those would be really cute as holiday mice.

STC Craft sent me a copy of  Hand Stitched Felt: 25 Whimsical Sewing Projects by Kata Golda, and they asked me to be part of the blog tour to promote the book.  Kata Golda started to sew with felt when her daughter was born in 1999 and soon began a retail business selling her handmade felt items.  Looking through the book, I realized that there are quite a few projects that children can make.  So I decided to make the finger puppets shown on the cover with my six-year-old.  This project was quick and easy and took us about an hour and a half on Sunday morning while still wearing our pjs (always a plus).

My daughter does have some experience sewing (being a former Montessori kid and my daughter), but I think that she did a great job with these.  She picked out which animals to make, selected felt colors and then watched as I cut out the felt.  We didn’t have a good color felt for the inner ear part, so we just used cotton.  My daughter drew the faces directly onto the felt with a fabric marker and then she stitched them on with embroidery floss.  She did start to get tired after sewing all three faces, so I helped her put them together.  If we’d done this in two sittings, she probably could have done it all herself, but she was eager to get them made and start playing!  I changed the construction a bit and sewed them together from the inside (right sides together).  In her book, Kata emphasizes the importance of the imperfection in your stitching, but I just need my hand stitching to stay hidden.  And yes, I considered putting them in the sewing machine, but resisted the temptation.

So as you can see, the projects in Kata’s book are simple, but oh! so cute.  They include a mug cozy, tooth fairy pillow, journal, messenger bag, pincushion, glasses case and more.  The projects in the book can be made quickly and use only simple stitches so a beginning stitcher could easily handle them.  Kata’s adorable drawings throughout the book, clear instructions and lovely photos make this book a keeper.  You can enter to win a copy on the Melanie Falick/STC Craft blog here (enter before October 30).  You can take a look at Kata Gold’s shop here and visit her blog here.