sewing • cooking • crafting • all things domestic
And the winner of ‘Granny Square Love’ by Sarah London is……….
This past weekend I packed up myself and my little man (Caspian Finn) and flew down to Houston, TX for the fall International Quilt Market. Luckily my mom lives in Houston, so attending market was not a ‘must’ this time, but it was a good excuse to visit family and do some business at the same time!
I’m not sure if you remember my post from Spring Quilt Market 2011, but in that post I explained that International Quilt Market is a trade show for the quilting and sewing industry. Every fall the market is held in Houston, TX and every spring it is held in a random city across the U.S. Spring 2012 will be in Kansas City, MO. All market attendees must submit credentials to attend market as it is pretty much for wholesale buying. However, there is the International Quilt Festival that will take place this weekend in Houston and it is open to the public.
I was so busy with appointments, meetings, and heading out to the lobby every 2.5 hours to feed my little baby boy (no infants or children allowed in the market) that I didn’t really feel like I took all the pictures I wanted. But after looking through my camera, I think I got enough to give you a feel for Quilt Market 2011. Are you ready for some eye candy? Here we go……..
I love this fabric artwork found at the BasicGrey booth. It’s so pretty with all the different fabric prints, embroidery thread, and layered buttons. So creative!
My first appointment was with MODA fabrics. I always love Aneela Hoey’s whimsical fabric designs and her new line, ‘A Walk in the Woods‘, was no exception.
‘Salt Air‘ by Cosmo Cricket was another line that I was really loving. The colors are unique, but I don’t think the pictures even do it justice. Just so pretty!
At the MODA booth a lot of the newer designers are together in one booth handing out samples of their fabrics. I love these teeny-tiny squares of each line. They are so much fun and they are free!! I’ve got a few projects in mind for the fabric squares I picked up.
The Windham Fabrics booth has some really beautiful new lines of fabric. I can’t wait to work with ‘Cabana Blooms’ (the pink and gray one in the middle) – it’s just my style!
Also at the Windham booth was Lotta Jandsdotter, author of ‘Simple Sewing for Baby‘ (and many other books), who is coming out with a new line called ‘Echo’. It’s a really beautiful, modern line of fabric that is perfect for clothing and home decor.
Now I’m sure many of you have heard of Amy Butler, but did you know her husband designs fabric now too? It was pretty neat to see David Butler in his booth with his line, Curious Nature by Parson Gray, set up next to his lovely wife. He is a graphic designer so the transition into fabric design was a natural step for him. He was a really down to earth guy and reminded me a lot of my husband, Brett.
Next to David Butler, was his always lovely wife, Amy Butler, with her new line ‘Lark’. I’ve said this before but I truly feel Amy Butler is one of the nicest people I have ever met. She really is a celebrity in the quilting fabric world, but yet you would never know. She speaks to each and every person as if they are the most important person in the world. She is so genuine and kind – definitely a wonderful role model.
Sandi Henderson and I had a little time to chat and she was promoting her ‘Secret Garden’ laminate fabric. The umbrella and several of the kites were great ideas for using that type of fabric. Sandi said she has another book in the works and will be releasing some new sewing patterns in about three weeks for women, girls and boys.
There is a new division of Timeless Treasures Fabrics that was debuting at market called ‘Dear Stella‘. This is a contemporary, hip, young group of fabrics and their booth was just that! I believe they won the prize for best new booth exhibitor. I loved all the white, clean lines…….it was like no booth I had ever seen there before. I may be working with some of these fabrics in the future, so be on the look-out.
My favorite part of Jenean’s booth display had be the flooring. She had these vinyl tiles printed to look like a string block quilt. Genius!
Anna Griffin is one of my favorite designers and this year she has brought on several other designers with their collections to be licensed under her brand. I would have loved a little bit of everything from each and every line in her booth.
A couple weekends ago was my sister-in-law’s bridal shower that was given by my mother-in-law. The shower was french themed since the couple will be honeymooning in France. I took lots of pictures of all the amazing details from the bridal shower, but I’ll share those with you in another post.
For now I wanted to share a fun little gift idea that I came up with. I really wanted to make something for my sister-in-law, but with the craziness that comes with life with a newborn and two toddlers, I just decided that this was not the right time. However, I still wanted to do something kind of crafty. Have you seen those diaper cakes that some people make for baby showers? Well, I thought I would try to make something similar, but use dish towels instead of diapers.
I purchased three packs of solid color dish towels as well as one with a print. I rolled up each dish towel and put a elastic hair-tie to hold it in place. I got a pie dish that I decide was going to be the base for my cake. I put a small, round craft box (the cardboard kind) in the middle and put the dish towels on their sides surrounding the box. Once I had put the dish towels all the way around, I took a grosgrain ribbon and tied it around all the towels.
For the second tier, I laid a dish towel that was folded on the top of the craft box lid to give me a little more height. Then I placed more rolled up dish towels all together. This time there was nothing in the middle. Once I had them all on top, I tied the grosgrain ribbon around them to hold in place. I used straight pins to secure the top tier to the bottom tier.
For added decoration, I folded a printed dish towel and wrapped in around the top tier and made a bow.
Once the cake was complete, I needed to add something to the top. I had purchased a french rolling pin and I stuck that into the middle of the top tier. Then I placed bamboo cooking utensils into the middle of the rolled up towels on the top. I put an oven mitt over the top of the rolling pin and put the other oven mitt in front. I had one extra dish towel, so I folded that and place it behind the rolling pin which actually added a little more support. I tried to pick a print on the dish towel that looked sort of french country.
Since the shower was french themed, I thought I would try to make the gift entirely themed. I bought four Le Creuset french ramekins and a baking dish as well as on of my favorite cookbooks, Barefoot Contessa Paris by Ina Garten.
Every year I have made my kids Halloween costumes. It’s something I looked forward to ever since Savannah was born. I have some of the best memories of the costumes my mom used to create for my brother and I. I loved those costumes and always felt really special wearing them to school and showing them off to my friends. There’s nothing quite like handmade. I know they only wear the costume for a day, but those memories will last forever. Trust me, I still remember being Daisy Duck, a clown, a bird, a bunny rabbit, ect.
It took my girls a little while to decide exactly what they wanted to be for Halloween. They started out both wanting to be witches, then they wanted to be hummingbirds, then some sort of insect……..but they eventually made their final decision ~ a princess witch and a princess ballerina. I was pretty surprised that Matilda chose a different costume than her sister, but pleased that she seems to be developing her own sense of self.
I wasn’t exactly sure what these costumes were going to end up looking like, but I figured they couldn’t be too tough. So here is the finished product……….
I didn’t use a pattern for either of these dresses. I went to Joann Fabrics and let the fabrics just kind of guide the way. I do that a lot. I go into a store having no idea how something is going to turn out, but once I start pairing fabrics together a vision starts to form.
Miss Matilda loves her princess ballerina costume. When I finished the look, I tried it on her to make sure it fit and she danced and twirled around for about an hour. I think she might be my little ballerina, but only time will tell.
This dress was incredibly quick and easy to make. I simply measured Matilda’s chest and measured from under her arm down to where I wanted the dress to fall. Then I added and inch on the top and bottom to allow for hemming. I cut a piece of elastic 1″ smaller than her chest measurement for the top of the dress and added a ribbon to act like a halter top.
The flower detail in the front of the dress was all stitched after the elastic had been threaded. These were flowers that I found on a long branch at Michael’s craft store. I simply cut them off of the branch and arranged them on the front of the dress.
The head piece has a backing made of felt and the flower trim and lace is hot glued to the felt. There is a clip through the felt to hold the head piece in place.
One of my favorite aspects of this dress is the flower trim around the bottom hem. This is something I happened to already have and I think it adds a nice weight to the dress and makes it really fun and special. The entire dress is lined because the outer, sparkle fabric is pretty rough on the skin. Plus I didn’t want the dress to be too see-through.
The princess witch costume was really fun to create! It took a little more time than the princess ballerina but that was because there was more detail involved.
The princess witch costume is a double layered skirt with a solid cotton bottom layer and a spider-web top layer. The top layer is somewhat stiff so it adds a nice volume to the bottom of the dress. The bodice has a corset-style detail and ties with black satin ribbons on each shoulder.
I used a large artificial flower I found a Michael’s craft store for the detail at the waist and on the hat. I cut all the petals apart on the flower and placed them how I wanted them. It’s amazing how far one giant flower will go and I still had some petals left over. The dress is completed with the plaid ribbon around the waist and the coordinating bow on the hat.
I like to crochet. Have I mentioned that before? It’s hard to keep track of what parts of my life I’ve told you about and what parts I haven’t quite gotten into. All in good time, I guess. Anyway, I started crocheting back in college and I am by no means a pro. I can do your basics such as blankets, scarves and hats, but nothing super-fancy.
Crocheting and knitting are making quite the come-back and it seems to me that the more retro the project, the better. Most often, when people think of crocheting, they think of granny squares. I recently got a copy of the new book Granny Square Love by Sarah London and it is simply lovely. Now if you want to talk about retro, this is totally the book for you! My mom said that granny squares were really popular back in her day, but I’ve been seeing them popping up everywhere.
Granny squares are easy. You do not need to have serious crochet skills to make one or a dozen. You actually don’t even need to know how to crochet to use this book. The beginning sections are great because Sarah London goes through all of the basic crochet stitches, which I found really helpful. I don’t crochet enough to remember each and every stitch, so this brought it all back. I found her illustrations to be very useful, even more so than a beginning crochet book that I have.
There are many different, fun retro projects throughout the book. The most classic would be the granny square blanket, but there are some other more different projects such as a lampshade, tablecloth and ottoman.
The pictures and colors used in the book are beautiful and every project has a retro vibe about it. Each project has very thorough instructions and tells you exactly what type of yarn, hook size and notions will be needed as well as the finished project dimensions.
If you’ve never tried to crochet, I would highly recommend it. Personally, I think it’s easier than knitting – you only use one hook and can fudge a little if you mess up. I enjoy crocheting because it’s something I can do while sitting on the couch enjoying my favorite television program or can be brought in the car on a long trip. I can’t very well bring my sewing machine along for a car trip, now can I?
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Well, I have finally returned to the sewing machine after six long weeks away and it feels good…..really good. It’s going to take me a little while to get my groove back, but I’ve got Halloween costumes in the works as well as a few other things that I can’t wait to share with you all.
Meanwhile, I received copies of two recent print publications featuring The Cottage Mama – the premier issue of Stitch. Craft. Create. and the winter issue of Altered Couture. I know I’ve said this before, and I will say it again, I never ever get tired of seeing something of mine in print. It is so thrilling and I feel so blessed for these amazing opportunities!
This first publication is a brand new one that I know you’ll want to check out. It’s called Stitch. Craft. Create. and comes from the publishers of Sew Beautiful magazine. This publication is loaded, and I mean loaded, with amazing holiday craft and sewing projects. I absolutely love the fact that they are light on the advertisements and heavy on the actual content.
My Tile Coaster Tutorial was featured in their “60 Quick & Creative Gift Ideas“. The folks at the magazine made up their own version of my tutorial and I think they look great.
This truly is a wonderful and easy holiday gift – I gave several sets of these last year for Christmas. You can tailor the look to the gift recipients style and they are very inexpensive to make. If you make these in an assembly line style, you can really knock out quite a few sets all at one time.
The premiere issue of Stitch. Craft. Create. is now available on newsstands. You should be able to find it at your local Barnes & Noble, craft stores, and sewing shops. It is a mid-priced publication but is definitely more like a book. It will be a magazine that you will use and reference for years to come.
The second publication is one you’ve seen on the blog before. It’s my third time being featured in Altered Couture magazine! I just received my copy yesterday and this time they chose to feature my “Winter Wonderland” dress that I created last year for the children’s clothing competition, Project Run & Play.
To be honest this is probably one of my most favorite creations I’ve ever done because of the way it evolved. I really did not want to go out and buy any new materials (since I had tons to use up) and just tried to get creative with what I had. I think some of the best creative moments come out of necessity.
The people at Altered Couture are just lovely to work with and I adore looking through the magazine and seeing all the creativity that is out there in the world. I’ve also noticed that there are several other bloggers featured in the current issue. It’s so fun to be in such good company!
And the winner of the $50.00 gift certificate to Fairytale Frocks and Lollipops is………
Congratulations, Peach Rainbow! There are so many amazing patterns, fabrics and notions over at Fairytale Frocks and Lollipops, you will have no problem spending that $50.00. Please email me at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com so we can arrange for you to receive your gift certificate. Thanks so much to everyone who entered!
How many times have we talked and dreamed about doing something, only to find ourselves doing a whole lot of talking and very little doing? It’s fun to imagine something that “might be” or “could be”, but without action, it will just never be.
This last week my mom, Grandma Jane, was selected as one of the 100 finalists (out of 10,000 entries) for the 45th Pillsbury Bake Off Contest with her recipe for “Biscuit Corn Cakes with Goat Cheese and Blackberry-Thyme Sauce“. The grand prize is $1 million dollars, yes, you read that correctly, $1 million dollars. In late March 2012 she will be flown to Orlando, FL to compete with the other 99 finalists where the contest will be televised on Food Network.
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of The Cottage Home blog, please email Lindsay at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com for rates and additional information.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I wanted to make some shirts for my girls to celebrate one of my favorite holidays of the year. I love the fun and colorful nature of this turkey shirt. This is a wonderful way to use up those small scraps of fabric that you have lying around.
For this tutorial I have included a template for you to use for the turkey body and the feathers.
Gather your supplies. Print out the turkey template and cut out the body and feather.
Take out one sheet of fusible interfacing. You can use whatever type of fusible interfacing that you prefer. I don’t really have a preference, I tend to flip-flop between different brands.
Peel off one side of the paper on the fusible interfacing. Place your fabric scraps on top of the side without the paper. Fabric should be right-side up. Press fabric to the interfacing. I like to press on both sides – fabric and paper. Make sure your iron doesn’t touch any of the exposed parts of the interfacing (that could get a little sticky)!
Trace the feathers onto the paper side of the interfacing. Trace about two feathers per scrap of fabric. Cut out feathers.
Apply interfacing to the fabric you are using for the body of the turkey. I chose to use a linen/cotton fabric for the body to add a little texture. Use whatever fabric you like (cotton, linen, felt, fleece, minky, chenille). Trace the turkey body from the turkey template. Cut out turkey body.
Peel the paper backing off all of the feathers. Start laying out your feathers. This is kind of trial and error until it looks the way you want it to and is somewhat centered. I started from the outside and worked inward, though you could do the opposite if you prefer. I used two feathers out of each fabric scrap except for the very middle feather. That was a total of 11 feathers (six different fabric prints).
Once you have the feathers laid out the way you want them. Peel the paper backing off of the turkey body and place in the middle. Press the feathers and the body with a very hot iron to fuse the turkey to your shirt or onesie.
Once the turkey is fused to the shirt, stitch around the exterior of the feathers and the body. Normally I would prefer a zig-zag stitch, but I thought a little fraying might be nice since this is a bird – so I used a straight stitch. If you look closely in the picture above, you will see that I stitched around three-quarter of each feather and stopped when one feather overlapped with the other. I also stitched around the entire exterior of the body.
I added two eyes, a nose, and two little feet with some brown embroidery floss. You can do your own thing with this part of the shirt – make it as simple or elaborate as you choose! You could even cut these parts out of fabric and applique them on. I love little embroidered touches, so that’s why I opted for the embroidery floss. Either way will look adorable!
Lindsay Wilkes is the owner and designer behind The Cottage Mama. She creates timeless, vintage inspired sewing patterns for children’s clothes. She is also a fabric designer for Riley Black Designers / Penny Rose Fabrics, author of the book ‘Sew Classic Clothes for Girls’ and can be seen teaching nationwide and online in her video series ‘Lessons with Lindsay’ sponsored by Baby Lock Sewing and Embroidery machines.
Welcome! My name is Lindsay Wilkes and I am the owner / designer of The Cottage Mama, a boutique children's sewing pattern company and the author behind, 'Sew Classic Clothes for Girls'. The Cottage Mama blog is where I share my love for sewing, cooking and crafting and all things domestic. If you like what you see, you can read more about me HERE.