Archives for November 2011

12
Nov

Sewing Pattern Blog Tour ~ Kristin from Kojo Designs

Today is the fourth stop on, The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns blog tour and we are heading over to Kristin and Jordan’s incredibly inspiring blog, Kojo Designs for Kristin’s take on the ‘Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress’ pattern.

Kristin and Jordan’s blog, Kojo Designs, is full of amazing DIY projects and ideas.  Trust me, if you’ve never been over there to visit, you will spend hours searching around getting totally inspired to create.  They have some serious style and eye-candy photography.  These sisters share their love of all things handmade and throw some amazing parties, to boot.

Here is Kristin’s little Piper Jane modeling her version of the dress from the ‘Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress’ pattern:

Kristin made two different versions of this dress, but since they are reversible, she got four looks out of two dresses – can’t beat that!  How cute is Piper Jane?  I remember when we did ‘Project Run and Play’ together and this little miss was just laying on a blanket modeling their beautiful creations.  They grow up fast, don’t they?  You’ll have to head over to Kojo Designs to see the rest of the pictures of this cutie patootie modeling the two dresses.

Today Kristin is giving away two copies of the ‘Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress’ pattern.  Head over to Kojo Designs to view more pictures of their Shortcake creation and enter to win your very own copy of this pattern.

Click HERE to visit Kojo Designs.

To check out more stops on the sewing pattern tour, see the schedule below…….

The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns ~ Blog Tour Schedule:

November 8th – The Cottage Home
November 9 th – Craftiness is not Optional
November 10th – A Lemon Squeezy Home
November 11th – No Big Dill
November 12th – Kojo Designs
November 14th – Aesthetic Nest
November 15th – Girl.Inspired
November 16th – Noodlehead
November 17th – The Cottage Home

Patterns can be purchased here on the blog (in the right side-bar) or through my etsy shop, The Cottage Mama.  Patterns are also available for wholesale purchase.  Please email Lindsay at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com for wholesale order minimums and additional pricing information. 
11
Nov

Sewing Pattern Blog Tour ~ Katy from No Big Dill

Wow, we are already on day three of The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns blog tour and today we are heading over to Katy’s blog, No Big Dill to check out her version of the ‘Janey Jumper’ pattern.
 

Katy Dill is the mother of six children…..yes, you read that correctly…..SIX children!  After having five little girls, she recently gave birth to their very first baby boy.  She had him several weeks after I had Caspian Finn so the fact that she is participating in this blog tour is just awesome because she is definitely in the throws of ‘newborn-land’, just as I am.  Katy has incredible style and if they ever do a version of Project Runway for Kids, I can guarantee Katy will come out on top. 

Here is Katy’s beautiful daughter, modeling her version of the ‘Janey Jumper’ sewing pattern:

How cute is she?  I love this modern take on the jumper pattern!  Today Katy is giving away TWO copies of the ‘Janey Jumper’ pattern, so head on over to No Big Dill to view more pictures of her ‘Janey Jumper’ and enter to win your very own copy of the pattern!

Click HERE to visit No Big Dill.

To check out more stops on the sewing pattern tour, see the schedule below…….

The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns ~ Blog Tour Schedule:

November 8th – The Cottage Home
November 9 th – Craftiness is not Optional
November 10th – A Lemon Squeezy Home
November 11th – No Big Dill
November 12th – Kojo Designs
November 14th – Aesthetic Nest
November 15th – Girl.Inspired
November 16th – Noodlehead
November 17th – The Cottage Home

Patterns can be purchased here on the blog (in the right side-bar) or through my etsy shop, The Cottage Mama.  Patterns are also available for wholesale purchase.  Please email Lindsay at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com for wholesale order minimums and additional pricing information. 
10
Nov

Sewing Pattern Blog Tour ~ Christie from A Lemon Squeezy Home

Today is the second stop on, The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns blog tour and we are heading over to Christie’s darling blog, A Lemon Squeezy Home, for her take on the ‘Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress’ pattern.

Christie has two boys and one little lady.  She has great project ideas for little boys and girls and writes with such a positive, uplifting spirit.  Christie is doing a wonderful photography series right now, so if you’ve ever wanted to improve your skills, you must check it out!  Here is Christie’s darling little lady modeling her version of the ‘Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress’ pattern:

 
Christie said the photo shoot was a little hairy, but I think her daughter looks absolutely adorable!  I love the idea that the romper can transition from warmer weather into colder weather with a long sleeved tee, tights and boots.  Head over to A Lemon Squeezy Home to see more pictures of her adorable little girl modeling the ‘Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress’ pattern and enter for a chance to win your very own copy of this pattern!

Today Christie is giving away two copies of the ‘Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress’ pattern!
Click HERE to visit A Lemon Squeezy Home and enter to win!

To check out more stops on the sewing pattern tour, see the schedule below…….

The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns ~ Blog Tour Schedule:

November 8th – The Cottage Home
November 9 th – Craftiness is not Optional
November 10th – A Lemon Squeezy Home
November 11th – No Big Dill
November 12th – Kojo Designs
November 14th – Aesthetic Nest
November 15th – Girl.Inspired
November 16th – Noodlehead
November 17th – The Cottage Home

Patterns can be purchased here on the blog (in the right side-bar) or through my etsy shop, The Cottage Mama.  Patterns are also available for wholesale purchase.  Please email Lindsay at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com for wholesale order minimums and additional pricing information. 
9
Nov

Sewing Patterns Blog Tour ~ Jess from Craftiness is not Optional

As I mentioned yesterday, The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns are going on tour.  The first stop is over on the lovely Jess’s blog, Craftiness is not Optional.  Today Jess is showing off her version of the Janey Jumper sewing pattern and giving away two copies of the pattern!

Jess has two sweet little girls and comes up with some of the best little girls outfits.  She is so sweet and has a really fun writing style.  We ‘met’ (though we’ve never met in person) through the first edition of the children’s sewing contest, Project Run and Play. I’ve loved her blog ever since and am so glad we can both share our love of girly girl outfits and sewing for our girls.  Jess’s blog always brings a smile to my face.  Not to mention the fact that I think she might have two of the cutest little models in blog-land. 

Here’s her darling version of the Janey Jumper sewing pattern:

You must check out more pictures of her little cutie-pie modeling her version of The Janey Jumper over on her blog.  

Also, head over and enter to win one of two Janey Jumper patterns that she is giving away.  

To check out more stops on the sewing pattern tour, see the schedule below…….

The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns ~ Blog Tour Schedule:

November 8th – The Cottage Home
November 9 th – Craftiness is not Optional
November 10th – A Lemon Squeezy Home
November 11th – No Big Dill
November 12th – Kojo Designs
November 14th – Aesthetic Nest
November 15th – Girl.Inspired
November 16th – Noodlehead
November 17th – The Cottage Home

Patterns can be purchased here on the blog (in the right side-bar) or through my etsy shop, The Cottage Mama.  Patterns are also available for wholesale purchase.  Please email Lindsay at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com for wholesale order minimums and additional pricing information. 
8
Nov

The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns ~ Blog Tour

I’m excited to announce that over the next two weeks, The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns will be going on tour with some of your favorite bloggers!  Seven of my blogging friends will be sewing up one of the two newly released The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns, sharing their creations and giving away two of my patterns on each blog……that’s a total of 14 patterns!

Here are the blogs that will be participating:

These ladies are all incredibly talented and I am so excited to see what each of them has created from my new patterns. If you aren’t a regular reader of these blogs, I highly recommend you check them out.  You can click on any of the links in the schedule below to visit these crafty, super-sewing ladies!

I’d love for you all to follow along on the tour.  I will be announcing each stop on the tour, but in case you wanted to plan ahead, here is the schedule below.
 
The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns ~ Blog Tour Schedule:

November 8th – The Cottage Home
November 9 th – Craftiness is not Optional
November 10th – A Lemon Squeezy Home
November 11th – No Big Dill
November 12th – Kojo Designs
November 14th – Aesthetic Nest
November 15th – Girl.Inspired
November 16th – Noodlehead
November 17th – The Cottage Home

Patterns can be purchased here on the blog (in the right side-bar) or through my etsy shop, The Cottage Mama.  Patterns are also available for wholesale purchase.  Please email Lindsay at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com for wholesale order minimums and additional pricing information. 
8
Nov

Bounce Dryer Bar Review and $50.00 Visa Gift Card Giveaway

This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and Bounce. All opinions are 100% mine.

Laundry, laundry, laundry – does it ever end? Well, with three kids under the age of four, the answer is……….no. I was recently asked if I would like to try out the new Bounce Dryer Bar and I jumped at the opportunity. Have you heard of this product? Well, it’s the newest in the line of products from Bounce and it is fabulous! It has all the benefits of dryer sheets, but brings it to you in a more convenient form. I know I have reviewed products here and there on the blog, but trust me when I tell you that I would not recommend a product unless I truly thought it was great!

The Bounce Dryer Bar was so simple to install that I actually installed it in the dark. I’m not kidding. Our laundry is in the basement (otherwise known as the dungeon) and when I went down there to start using this product the light was burned out. I didn’t realize my husband had installed a light elsewhere, but that’s beside the point. The point is that this product could not be any easier to use. If I can easily install it in the dark, you know that you will have no problem at all installing it in the light!

Here’s how the Bounce Dryer Bar works……… You remove the bar from the packaging and peel off the paper on the back side of the bar to reveal the sticky adhesive. You open your dryer and place the bar (sticky side down) on the side wall of the dryer. All you have to do is hold it down for 15 seconds and you are good to go.

How many times have you forgotten to put a dryer sheet in with a load of laundry? Or have you ever been doing laundry and ran out of dryer sheets? Well, that can be a total bummer and with the new Bounce Dryer Bar you do not even have to think about it. You just toss in your laundry and forget about it. You end up with months of great smelling laundry as well as softness and static control.

Granted, a dryer sheet may not seem like a very big deal, but in the life of this busy mom, it’s just one less thing to have to worry about. I think we all want to find ways to make our lives a little bit easier and the new Bounce Dryer Bar does just that! The bar lasts for three months and after it runs out, you can simply buy a refill pack. The holder stays in the dryer and you just replace the bar. So you only have to think about it four times a year, instead of thinking about dryer sheets for every load of laundry.

The Bounce Dryer Bar comes in the scented and unscented varieties depending on your taste. I tried out the scented version and it smells great! I love the way fresh laundry smells and this has the perfect scent. Some people are very sensitive to scented products, so in that case I would recommend going with the unscented bar.

The bottom line is that the Bounce Dryer Bar is great. Like I said before, it’s all the benefits of a dryer sheet, but it a more convenient form……….now that makes life easier and I’m all about that!
To find out more about the Bounce Dryer Bar, please visit the Bounce Facebook page for videos and additional information.
Do you want to win a Bounce Dryer Bar and a $50 Visa gift card from Bounce and BlogHer? To enter the giveaway, please tell me how the Bounce Dryer Bar would make your life easier?

Follow the rules below to enter.
Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.

Giveaway open through 12/6/2011.

For more opportunities to win, visit the Bounce round-up page on BlogHer.com to read other bloggers’ reviews!
7
Nov

Butterfly Kisses Fabric ~ Sponsored Giveaway

 There’s a new fabric shop online!  I am pleased to welcome a new sponsor to The Cottage Home blog ~  
Butterfly Kisses Fabric!
Butterfly Kisses Fabric is a brand new online store dedicated to all your fabric and sewing needs.  Their goal is to offer you a wide selection of beautiful and modern designer fabrics at competitive prices.  Their quality, 100% cotton fabrics are perfectly suited for creating quilts, clothing, home decor and more.  Additionally, they carry a variety of contemporary sewing and quilting patterns from today’s most popular designers. 

Butterfly Kisses Fabric strives to provide you with a diverse collection of sewing and quilting supplies, personalized customer service, regularly updated inventory and helpful options to help stretch your sewing budget.

Here is a note about Butterfly Kisses Fabric from the owner, Tammy:

My name is Tammy and along with my husband, Chad, we turned my hobby into a family-friendly business by starting Butterfly Kisses Fabric. Three years ago, I became a stay-at-home mom. Now instead of managing employee benefit plans, I manage our two children: Brendan, 7 and Kinley 3. 

I made my first quilt at the age of 18 and since making that first quilt, I’ve developed a passion for all things fabric, sewing and quilting! I have been an avid quilter and sewer for 20 years and I sew as often as my schedule allows.   I love fabric and have a considerable stash. Almost all of my personal fabric stash was given to me by others and quite a bit of it is vintage. I also have a significant collection of vintage children’s sewing patterns. 

Sharing my love of fabric and sewing is a great outlet for me and gives me a Mommy-break. I can’t wait to sew many of the patterns we are currently offering and one of my guilty pleasures is browsing all the new fabric lines that we hope to offer.

Chad is an accounting professional so he keeps me on the right track business-wise. He also likes to use the long-arm quilting machine. He tagged along when I attended the complimentary class that came with the long arm machine and was hooked. He has used the quilter more than I have and has helped me finish up charity quilts. Now if I could just teach him to use the regular sewing machine!
We’re really excited about Butterfly Kisses. We have a lot of ideas and can’t wait to see what the future will bring.


I’m so excited for you all to go over and visit Butterfly Kisses Fabrics.  They are still working on building their inventory as they are a newer shop, but they have some things that I definitely have my eye on.  Here are some of my favorites from their shop:






Today Butterfly Kisses Fabric is giving away a $50.00 gift certificate to their shop!
 You can spend it on anything you would like……..patterns, fabric, pre-cuts, ect……..

To enter the giveaway, please do one or all of the following.  Leave a separate comment for each entry (3 entries per person):
1)  Visit Butterfly Kisses Fabric and let us know what you might buy with your gift certificate. Click HERE.
2)  Become a fan of Butterfly Kisses Fabric on Facebook. Click HERE.
3)  Sign up for the Butterfly Kisses Fabric mailing list.  Click HERE.

Giveaway open until Thursday, November 10, 2011 at midnight (CST).

Even if you don’t enter the giveaway, I hope you will stop by Butterfly Kisses Fabric and support this new and growing fabric shop.  Let’s all take the time to support new businesses and besides, we can never have too many fabric shops in town!
7
Nov

Shortcake Reversible Knicker Shorts ~ Tutorial

Many of you have purchased my recently released ‘Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress’ pattern and I want to say a big, big thank you for all of your support.  I plan to offer several tutorials on the blog to help you get the most out of your pattern purchase and today is the first one.

Today we are going to use the ‘Shortcake’ pattern by The Cottage Mama to create a fall knicker short that can be worn over tights for the colder weather months that are upon us.  These knickers are a great way to add a little pop of color to your little ones wardrobe and are fully reversible ~ two looks in one!  I chose to use coordinating fabrics, but you could certainly make them out of totally different fabrics for two completely different looks.

So yes, in order to complete this tutorial you will need to get your own copy of the ‘Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress’ pattern, but once you have it there are many clothing possibilities.  Let’s get started……..

Find any pair of pants or shorts that fit your child.  We are going to use these to determine the proper rise for the knickers.  Line up the pants/shorts with the pattern size you are using.  Draw a line with a pencil 1″ higher than the top of the waistline.

Fold the top of the romper pattern down (don’t cut it or you will ruin the pattern).  Now you have your knicker pattern.  Cut the knickers out according to the romper cutting directions and also cut out the leg bands using the included pattern piece.  Sew the seams together for the lining of the knickers and the exterior fabric.  Stop before sewing the crotch seams.

Once you have your seams sewn, turn the lining inside out and place the exterior piece inside the lining.  This will make the knickers have their right sides together.  Line up the top edge of the knickers.  Sew around the entire top of the knickers with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Pull the exterior fabric out of the lining fabric and press the top seam open.  Turn the knickers right side out by tucking the lining fabric down into the outside (exterior fabric) of the knickers.

Edge Stitch around the top of the knickers in coordinating thread.

Measure your elastic.  I cut mine 1″ smaller than my daughters waist.  Check the width of the elastic to know how wide to make the second row of stitching.  I used 3/4″ wide elastic.

Sew a second row of stitching 1″ (depending on elastic width) down from the top edge of the knickers.  Leave a 2″ opening to thread elastic.  Thread elastic up through the bottom leg of the knickers through the opening.  Use a bodkin or safety pin to pull the elastic through the waistband.  Overlap the elastic 1″ and sew with a zig-zag stitch to secure.  Close 2″ waistband opening.

Now continue to sew the crotch seams and leg bands according to pattern directions.  Once leg bands are complete you will have your an adorable pair of Shortcake Reversible Knicker Shorts!

Matilda Jane wearing a fall version of the ‘Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress’ pattern.
I always have a fun time taking pictures of my girls and truth-be-told, I’m never quite sure what I’m going to get.  Some days Matilda is loving the camera and other days it’s Savannah.  Here are a few more sweet pictures of my girls taken during the ‘Shortcake Knicker’ photoshoot.  They are growing up too fast and are just too cute……..I’m their mama, so I can say that right?
If you would like to purchase the ‘Shortcake Reversible Romper and Dress’ pattern, you can do so here on the blog (below) or through my etsy shop, The Cottage Mama.

Size 6 Month – Girls Size 6
$12.50
To read more about The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns, click here.

Patterns are available for wholesale purchase, please email Lindsay at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com for order minimums and additional pricing information.

4
Nov

The Joy In Blogging at Lil Blue Boo

Today I am guest blogging over at Ashley’s blog, Lil Blue Boo, and I’m sharing a little bit about how I find joy in blogging.  Ashley has gone through a lot this past year and is currently undergoing cancer treatment.  Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  Ashley is an inspiration through her creativity, positive attitude, honesty and outlook on life.  She somehow manages to always view the glass as half full. 
As Ashley would say, “Choose Joy”.
Dresses created by The Cottage Mama
Click HERE to head over to Lil Blue Boo.
4
Nov

‘Granny Square Love’ by Sarah London – Giveaway WINNER!

And the winner of ‘Granny Square Love’ by Sarah London is……….

Congratulations, Momma Ward!  Please email me at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com with your mailing address and I will send this book out to you right away!  Thank you to everyone who entered.  
We’ve got some wonderful fabric shop giveaways coming up so stay tuned!