Archives for February 2013

27
Feb

The Cottage Mama’s Sewing Basket: Fabric Marking Pens

First off, I apologize if I sound overly enthusiastic in the following post. But honestly if I could write this post with all caps and end every sentence with an exclamation mark, I would. Secondly, I want you to know that I have absolutely know affiliation with this company or product, I just really, really like it.

So, I didn’t get to take any classes myself when I was teaching at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion, but I did learn a few things. And these Pilot FriXion Erasable Gel Pens have changed my life. Maybe you’ve known about these all along and I am late to the party, but oh my goodness, these are the best fabric marking pens ever! They are not designed to use on fabric, but they work like a dream.

Darlene, our classroom machine educator, introduced these pens to my assistant Terri and I during class. She had one and asked us if we had ever seen these, neither of us had, so Darlene showed us how they worked. It blew our minds.

These pens glide along the fabric making a beautiful mark just as they would on paper. And guess how they disappear? With your IRON! The friction of your iron rubbed on top of the fabric makes them disappear practically on contact. There is a little eraser on the pen, but the iron works so much better.

You can buy the Pilot FriXion Erasable Gel Pens at your local office supply store or online and they come in a bunch of different colors. The only problem you might have is if you are marking on black fabric, you still might need to use your white pencil or chalk, but other than that, these will be all you’ll ever need in the fabric marking department.

Trust me, you must go out and buy these now!

PS: The Cottage Mama’s Sewing Basket is going to be a new series of posts where I show you all the tools I love to use when I sew. Some may be ones that you’ve heard of and others may not, but I always think it’s fun to get a little glimpse inside someone else’s sewing basket.

26
Feb

Crafter’s Vision Giveaway

I’m really excited about today’s giveaway! Why? Because our lovely blog sponsor, Crafter’s Vision is giving away two $50.00 gift certificates to two very lucky The Cottage Home blog readers. That means you get to browse their shop and pick out whatever you would like and trust me, you could get lost for hours browsing their massive inventory.

If you’ve never visited Crafter’s Vision, you must head over there when you get a chance. They carry a great selection of fabric, trim, ribbons, craft supplies and so much more.

It has been so cold here in Chicago, that I am really longing for spring. So I put together some pinks and greens (pictured above) that I think are calling my name. I love this little bundle of fabric from ‘Blend’ fabrics, plus those nursery prints by Heather Ross are just adorable. I don’t know, pink and green always feels kind of preppy and classic to me.

Crafter’s Vision gets in new inventory daily, but I’m pretty sure if you check them out, that you will find plenty of things that you need to take home right now. I am trying to be good since I have so much fabric right now, but as I was looking through their store yesterday, I saw a lot of things that were begging to come into my home.

Also, how about free shipping in the US on orders over $30.00? Yep, they’ve got that too.
Now onto the giveaway……like I said, Crafter’s Vision is offering two $50.00 gift certificates to their store for two different winners. All you have to do is enter via the Rafflecopter below.
Giveaway open until Thursday, February 28, 2013 at midnight (CST).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

25
Feb

Riley Blake Designs Winner

And the winner of the Riley Blake Designs Fat Quarter Bundle is………..

Congratulations, Tricia! You are going to love this fat quarter bundle. Please email me at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com with your contact information and we will get this bundle in the mail to you as soon as possible. Thanks so much to everyone who entered and check back tomorrow for another great giveaway!

20
Feb

Knot Dress Tutorial & Riley Blake Designs Fat Quarter Bundle Giveaway

Can you believe that I am registering this little lady for Kindergarten today? Yes, it’s really true. How did this happen? Please hit the pause button right now!

Today I am over at Riley Blake Designs sharing my Project Design Team Tutorial for this Easy Knot Dress. I hope you’ll pop over and check it out if you get a chance.

Click HERE to learn how to make this Easy Knot Dress.

And the giveaway…….

Because it’s my Project Design Team Day, I also get to giveaway an entire Fat Quarter Bundle of one of my favorite fabric lines, Little Matryoshka by Carly Griffith for Riley Blake Designs. This bundle includes 21 Fat Quarters of the entire line. You are going to love it!

To enter the giveaway, please enter via the Rafflecopter below……..
a Rafflecopter giveaway

19
Feb

Pin Cushion Ring Tutorial

When I was teaching at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion a couple of weeks ago, I needed some straight pins for a project I was demonstrating. Our lovely machine educator in the room, Darlene, handed me this sweet little pin cushion that she had brought with her. It was so adorable and perfect for traveling.

Upon closer examination of this pincushion, that had been given to Darlene by her by a friend, I noticed that it was simply made from a plastic bottle top. The bottle top had two holes drilled in the top and a piece of elastic was used for the ring portion. I knew that when I got home, I wanted to try to make my own version of this darling little pin cushion.

I still had some leftover blank rings from the DIY Cabochon Jewelry that I had made as Christmas gifts this year, so I decided to use those as the base for my pin cushion. These pin cushions would make such a sweet gift for the seamstresses / quilters / sewists in your life. Or just make one for yourself……they make the most perfect little travel pin cushion!

Pin Cushion Ring

Supplies:
1 plastic bottle top
1 3″ x 3″ circle of fabric
Ribbon or Trim (4″ – 5″)
1 blank ring base
Fiberfill or other stuffing (just a small amount)
Strong craft glue (i.e. E6000)
Hand sewing needle
Thread
Scissors
Instructions:
Gather up your supplies. You can find blank rings at your local craft store (i.e. Michael’s, Joann’s, Hobby Lobby, ect). I like the adjustable kind because you don’t have to worry about whether or not the rings are going to fit.
Also, choose any size or type of plastic bottle top that you like. It can be big or small…..it doesn’t really matter.
Cut out a circle from your fabric. I used the top of one of my storage containers as a guide. It measured approximately 3″ x 3″. If you make a larger circle, you will have a larger, more rounded pin cushion top. If you cut a smaller circle, then your pin cushion top will lay more flat within the plastic bottle top. It’s entirely up to you how large or small you would like your pin cushion, but 3″ worked well for the standard top.

Do a basic running stitch around the entire edge of the fabric circle with your hand sewing needle and thread. Pull the thread a little to begin gathering the circle.

Fill the circle with a small amount of fiberfill or other stuffing of your choice. Once you have stuffed the circle, pull the threads even tighter to close the top of the pin cushion. Sew back and forth a few times and knot your thread to secure.
Grab your strong craft glue (I like E6000) and apply a liberal amount to the inside of the plastic bottle top and the bottom of the pin cushion. Stick the pin cushion inside the bottle cap and continue pressing until it fits inside well.

Measure your ribbon or trim so that it is a little bit longer than the circumference of the bottle top. Fold under the two ends towards the wrong side of the trim and glue in place. Then apply your strong craft glue to the outside of the plastic bottle top. Wrap the trim around the bottle top, making sure to line up the trim with the edge of the top. Apply a little more glue where the trim overlaps to secure in place.

Apply glue to the blank ring and press in place on the bottom of the bottle top. Make sure you apply a good amount of glue to the ring, but not too much, because you don’t want to see the glue coming out from the ring top. You want it to look neat and tidy.

 After your pin cushion is dry, add some pins and you’re ready to go!
PS: I found some other great tutorials for different variations on this idea that I thought you might like to check out. This one from Prudent Baby and this one from Riley Blake Designs uses a metal bottle cap and here is one that uses elastic as the ring base.
15
Feb

Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion ~ Teaching Recap

I just got back this past Monday from being away for eight days teaching sewing classes at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion. It was such a wonderful and memorable experience, but I am so happy to be back home with my husband and little ones. I was so incredibly flattered when I was invited to teach at the School of Art Fashion. I knew that the teachers at this school were truly legends in the heirloom sewing world, so to be included in this group was very special to me. The school takes place twice a year……in February and July.

To be honest, I didn’t know quite what to expect upon arrival. I knew about the school prior to teaching, but I had never attended and didn’t really have much of a visual about the event. I even ‘google’ searched it to find some pictures, but came up short, so I just brought what I thought I needed and decided to go with the flow.

I arrived in Huntsville, AL on Sunday, February 2nd, 2013 to teach for a full seven days. I have never been to AL, but it turns out it is only an hour and a half from Chicago by plane. And it also turns out that Alabama folks have the most charming accents I have ever heard. Oh, they all just sounded so sweet…….’Bless Your Heart’……I loved it!

 Inside The Cottage Mama Classroom
Outside The Cottage Mama Classroom

I prepared my classroom for seven days of teaching. I brought all sorts of samples of my sewing. Most of them were my patterns or things that we were sewing in my classes, but I also brought some other pieces that I just really loved. I hung things on the walls inside the class and on the outside as well.

 Ruby Ruffle Pre-Day Class

At the School of Art Fashion there are three days of pre-day classes and then a four-day school. I taught three different, day-long classes during the pre-day with different sets of students and then had the same group of students that sewed with me for the full four days in my school.

I was also give an assistant for the week. I don’t know what I would have done without my assistant, Terri. She had previously worked for Martha Pullen, attended the school as a student and worked as an assistant prior to helping me. She was a wealth of information and made me feel so at ease with everything. Not to mention that she was very quick to pick up on some of my (somewhat) complicated sewing tricks so that she could help assist the students. I’m so thankful that I had her help!

So what did we sew? In my pre-day classes I taught the Shortcake Double Ruffle Dress, the Ruby Ruffle Dress and the Janey Jumper. In my school, I taught a new variation of my Charlotte Apron Dress pattern, machine applique and embroidery, a double layer twirl skirt, bloomer capris and two embellished shirts.

Also, during one of my classes the students expressed interest in learning about how I pair and select fabrics for garments. So we took a mini-field trip to the Martha Pullen store at the school and I tried to show them the method to my madness. It’s kind of hard to explain what I do, but it was helpful for me to be able to pull several different bolts and discuss pattern, color and scale with them.

Here are some of the students busy at work sewing, tracing, cutting, ect…….

 Cort, Lyn, Michelle and many others……
 Christi
 Michelle from Handmade Martini
 Inside The Cottage Mama Classroom

 Ruth
 Kathy

 Connie and Teresa
I loved my students. I was very blessed with a wonderful group of women who were all so sweet and excited to be there creating with me. We had wide range of ages which was a lot of fun. The entire Martha Pullen school ranged from age 19 to 86, but I’d say the majority of my students were mothers and grandmothers with younger children. I had so much fun looking through their iphones and seeing all their precious little ones.
And I was so flattered when I found out that Michelle from Handmade Martini (pictured above in the mustard colored sweater) had driven five hours just to take this one class from me. Can you believe it? And Christi (the red head pictured above) was also a blog follower who took one of the preday classes with me. It was great to connect with these younger ladies and I’m so glad we had some extra time to go to lunch together. I think we would be friends if they lived close by. You can check out the incredibly sweet post about the Martha Pullen School from Michelle by clicking here.

Charlotte Apron Dress Kit

Each class has a kit that is given to each student upon arrival. I selected all of the fabrics, trims, buttons, ect. Then they had a list of extras that they had to bring (basic sewing supplies, thread, and some other extras). Each kit also contained the pattern needed for each garment.

 Embroidery Thread in The Cottage Mama classroom

We had a lot of fun doing some machine applique and embroidery on the apron of the Charlotte Dress. Darlene, my wonderful machine educator that was in my classroom all week, had some great tips and tricks. I encouraged the students to get creative. Three of my applique designs were actually digitized by Darlene and in all of the students machines so they could use those if they wanted (a strawberry, owl and bird) or they could choose a built in embroidery design. It was very exciting for me to see them all go in different directions and create something different.

In addition to the classes there are several other events such as lunches with amazing sewing and embroidery machine giveaways, a banquet with little children modeling different gorgeous garments constructed by students and teachers, a barbeque, and teachers selling night (where I sold my patterns) and a table top clinic (where teachers each demonstrate different sewing projects or techniques).

 Liberty Lawn
(yes, I did finally give in and purchase some)

 Antique Children’s Garments from Martha’s personal collection that were sold via silent auction. All proceeds were donated to charity.
 Lace. Lots of Lace.
 Dresses and Rompers all gathered and ready for smocking.

Also, there is a giant pop-up Martha Pullen store in the center of the event. There is everything from quilting cotton, linen, silk, lace, ribbon, patterns, books, notions and so much more. I tried to keep myself out of there as much as possible, but I finally caved and bought some things on the very last day. You should have heard the buzz around the school when they had silk dupioni on sale for $5.00. It is so much fun to be around other women who are just as obsessed over quality fabrics as I am. And the ladies who attend the School of Art Fashion take it to a whole new level. I love it!

So I’ve shown you a lot of my experience, but what’s even more impressive is the work from this talented group of instructors hired by the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion. Here are some inspirational pictures from some of the other instructors classrooms……

Pieces pictured above from Kari Mecca

Pieces pictured above from Connie Palmer

Pieces pictured above from Trisha Smith of Trisha’s Treasures

There was also a new Baby Lock school taught by Joi Mahon teaching students beginning draping and adult fashion design. I only heard amazing things from the students about their instruction from Joi. Above are some original creations by Joi and the students with their original fashion designs. It was amazing to see!
And finally, here I am with the one and only, Martha Pullen, herself. Martha, in a nutshell, is just simply amazing. She has a presence that brings a room to a complete stand-still. She has a faith that is unwavering. An energy that is completely contagious. And a business savvy that is to be admired. And on top of all that, she is a 70 year old woman who can still rock a pair of gold sequined uggs. Yes, she is that fabulous.
Like I said before, it was truly an honor to be invited to teach at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion. I knew that going into this event, but I was told time and time again by the students about how honored I should be to be teaching. I was quite young in comparison to most of the teachers and to be lumped in with this amazingly, talented group of instructors gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. 
I’m not quite sure how I’ve ended up where I am today, but I am thankful and grateful and truly blessed.
12
Feb

Riley Blake Designs Fabric Fest

So I just got back from being away for nine days teaching at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion. I haven’t had time to go through my pictures yet, but I will be sharing my recap of this amazing event later this week. I am definitely spending some quality time this week with my littles that I missed so dearly when I was away.

In the meantime, I wanted to share some information about another event that I will be teaching at later this year in September called ‘Fabric Fest‘. It is a first-ever conference put on by Riley Blake Designs and will be held in Las Vegas September 9 – 12, 2013 (click here for more info). It is going to be such a great time, I can already tell. The registration just opened up so I thought you might like to know about it, in case you want to attend.

The two main keynote speakers will be Nancy Zieman and Eleanor Burns and there are lots of other really great instructors taking part in this event. There will be classes offered in quilting, clothing, home decor and more! Pretty much anything you can think of that has something to do with fabric.

Here is a little look at the class schedule:

I will be teaching three hands on classes about Sewing Lined Garments, Embellishing with Trims, and Sewing with Patterns. I will also be speaking on a panel with several other women discussing Finding Your Signature Style.

The fee for attending the conference is very reasonable (see below) and is pretty much all inclusive, meaning hotel, breakfast and lunch, classes and more. Here is a snippet of the FAQ in case you were interested:

I’m sure these classes will fill up quickly so I just wanted to make sure you were aware of the event since registration just opened today! I know several of you had asked me about sewing conferences and this is definitely one I think you will want to check out.

You can find out more about Riley Blake Designs ‘Fabric Fest’ HERE.
6
Feb

The Cottage Mama’s Favorite Ice Cream ~ Graeter’s

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but in case you are new around here, I used to be into musical theatre. I mean, really into it. Singing, dancing and acting was pretty much all I breathed growing up. It was my passion and it was what I thought I would end up doing with my life. However, life doesn’t always go according to plan.

I majored in musical theatre at University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (CCM). It was a very prestigious school for musical theater, but after my first year of school there, reality sunk in. My parents ended up getting divorced and I realized that if I wanted to truly be able to support myself in life then theatre probably was not the most practical degree. I ended up transferring to DePaul University in Chicago and getting a degree in Finance. Yes, it was the polar opposite of musical theatre, but it was the most practical degree I could really think of obtaining at the time. Working in finance didn’t last long…….definitely wasn’t my cup of tea, but I have used the skill sets I gained from that degree in all different areas of my life.

So why am I telling you this long story since this post is supposed to be about ice cream? Well, when I was living in Cincinnati for a year, I fell in love with Graeter’s Ice Cream. It is the best! Have you ever had it? There was an ice cream shop in walking distance from campus and I’ll never forget my first taste of their pumpkin ice cream. It seriously knocked my socks off!

Well, guess what? You can buy Graeter’s ice cream in stores all around the country now! Why did I not know this? I feel like I’ve been missing out on this deliciousness for too long.

So I was not paid to do a review on Graeter’s, but I was sent a lot of ice cream from them (being a blogger does have it’s perks). Talk about a happy mail day when a giant container of ice cream packed on dry ice arrived at our home. We were sent six pints of ice cream and the girls could not wait to dive in.

Graeter’s carries all sorts of flavors, but the three flavors pictured here are (from left to right) Black Cherry Chocolate Chip, Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip and Vanilla Chocolate Chip.

The chocolate chunks in this ice cream are out of this world. I got one chunk that was about two inches long. The chocolate is dark and rich and a perfect compliment to the fruit flavor of the black cherry and raspberry ice cream.

Graeter’s ice cream is produced in small batches using the french pot process and uses the very best ingredients. Think fresh cream with no artificial growth hormones, sweetened with 100% cane sugar, hand selected Oregon black raspberries and strawberries and Madagascar vanilla beans.

I’m really not kidding when I tell you that Graeter’s is the very best ice cream ever! You can find it in many of your grocery stores these days (even though I was a little late to the party finding that one out), especially the specialty stores, but if you can’t find it then you can order it and it is shipped directly to your home. To find out more information about ordering, you can click here.

While my time in Cincinnati did not last long, the deliciousness of Graeter’s has stayed in my mind forever.
PS: I had way too much fun taking pictures of all of this ice cream!
4
Feb

Upcycled Boys Dungaree Tutorial

It’s been awhile since I shared a boy project, right? Well, this is a project that I shared a little while back over on Cheri’s blog, I am Momma Hear Me Roar. My husband had a pile of clothes sitting in our bedroom that had just shrunk or gotten kind of wonky after being washed tons of times. Being the good husband that he is, he knew to save those clothes for me and I could probably use them to make something for our little man, Caspian Finn.

Caspian is on the move these days. After having two girls, I had no idea how active boys could be. When I put pants on Caspian, I often find that they have slipped off his waist are are left behind in the dust. So overalls and one-piece outfits are great for him. I love vintage style fashion, so these are my modern take on traditional boys dungarees.

I used two pairs of my husbands pants as well as a small piece of one of his old flannel shirts. I lined the front of the bib with the flannel as I thought that would feel good as a lining.

Today I thought I would show you how I used an existing pattern to come up with these dungarees. I actually used my own printed sewing pattern called the Run Around Romper:

I knew I wanted a similar fit to the romper, but I wanted more of an overall feel. Using an existing pattern is a great place to start, especially if you know that the fit works really well on your child.

I folded down the top of the Run Around Romper pattern to use for the bottom half of the dungarees. The romper is typically lined, but for this version, I did the pants un-lined with a traditional hem. So I just cut 2 of the front and 2 of the back.

I cut two of the pants pieces out of each leg. If you were making these for a larger child then you might have to check to see if the pant legs of the adult pants are wide enough to accomodate your pattern pieces.

I noticed that the back of the pants already had an encased waistband which is perfect for the elastic back for the dungarees.

I simply cut the waistband off of the adult pants and cut it the same width as the back of the two romper pieces. The ends were left open for threading the elastic. I cut a 8″ piece of elastic, threaded it through the back waistband and sewed some reinforcement stitches on both ends to hold it in place.

For the top of the dungarees, I used one pant leg and cut the piece on the fold. I used the top of the romper pattern.

I wanted to change the shape of the front of the romper pattern piece, so I just changed the curve on the top a bit. I also cut this piece out of the flannel shirt for the lining.

For the knee patches, I just cut two ovals out of some of the corduroy pants.

The straps were cut 11″ long x 4″ wide. I didn’t have any pieces of the pants that were long enough, so I had to include a side seam, but I kind of like the look. To sew the straps, just place them right sides together and sew down one short side and one long side, leaving the other short end open. Clip the corners, turn right side out and press.

So here are all the pieces prior to constructing the dungarees. I also used the tab pattern piece from the Run Around Romper pattern. It’s really fun to change up an existing pattern that you all ready own. And you want to know what’s even better? These dungarees were essentially free since I used clothing that we already own!

I used two wooden buttons that I already had and the two smaller buttons on the tabs were cut off from my husbands’ pants.

Caspian has been wearing these a ton and I really wish I had a picture of him modeling them. They are way cuter on than on the hanger, but the way that guy moves these days, I can hardly keep up!

1
Feb

Winner ~ Quilts from The House of Tula Pink

And the winner of the book, Quilts from The House of Tula Pink, is……

Congratulations, Anne! If you could email me at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com with your mailing address, we will make sure to get you your book as soon as possible. Thank you so much to everyone who entered!