Thursday, February 26, 2015

Do You Sew It All? Plus A Giveaway!!

When I am not sewing (which clearly I am not) I am usually reading.  A lot of that reading is about sewing...imagine that!  While perusing the aisles of the local big box fabric store today, I came across Sew It All magazine.  I know that I have seen and even picked up this magazine before, but I haven't ever purchased it.  It is a little too artsy craftsy for me.  Not that I don't love an occasional fat quarter project, but a quilter I really am not, nor do I have any ambitions to be one.  Above the title of the magazine in VERY small letters it says, "McCall's Quilting presents," and that let me know right away that this magazine was not for me.

Moving forward to today, I picked the Sew It All magazine up because there was a cute grey and pink pocketed tote bag on the front.

Photo Source:  http://www.sewitallmag.com/
***Sorry for the crappy grainy pic, it was the only one I could find online and I was feeling too lazy for a photo shoot just to get a pic of a magazine cover.***

The tote bag looked really useful you are a really useful tote bag Thomas, and I am thinking about Mother's Day gifts as well, and that is all that I will say about that for now.

The real surprise came as I started flipping through the magazine.  It had an article on fast fixes for things like button breaks, sticky zippers, and mending a hole in fabric along with a whole host of other fast fixes.  Did you know that rubbing a graphite pencil on a metal tooth zipper will make it slide more easily?  Neither did I!!  There was information about Men's patterns, and sewing tools, pattern making, adding seam pockets, working with wool...the list goes on and on.

I guess the point here is no longer is this magazine all about artsy craftsy quilty kinds of things.  Don't get me wrong, there are no couture sewing techniques here, but there were 10 garment sewing ideas at the back of this issue that ranged from drafting your own patterns, to remaking t-shirts into other garments, and other ways to restyle clothing.  I am impressed with what I saw in this issue.  If I pick up the next issue and it has more of the same, I will probably subscribe.  Can I tell you...I think that it may have even given me some inspiration to get in the sewing room and have a go at a bit of sewing!

So Friends, I have got to ask are any of you familiar with this magazine?

Since it has been quite a while since I have had a giveaway on here, how bout I offer up a copy of the magazine (which is BTW $9.99 at the store), just leave me a comment below on if you are more of a crafty sewist, or more of a fashion sewist.  Open to only US and Canada mailing addresses (sorry friends everywhere else, I will get you on the next giveaway).  I will pick a winner by random number generator on Monday, March 2nd at 9:00 a.m. EST.  Make sure that if your profile isn't linked to an email address that you leave me a way to contact you, and Good Luck!!!

****Just a little note to let you know that I am not an affiliate of any company or product nor do I have any sponsors, so when I rave about or boo a product you know that is truly my opinion and not some random rambling that I am getting paid for****

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Back from Vacation

Hello, Friends!  I am back from vacation and things should be getting back to normal around here.  I am dealing with a bit of system shock as I went from swimming in the Caribbean to shoveling snow in less than 24 hours time.

Just before I left my StyleArc patterns arrived, and I was not able to make them before leaving.  I will be sewing them up soon though, and posting about them.  There is a pair of jeans and a pair of shorts in these patterns.  I feel like that moves me in to new territory with my sewing, but I am all for it.

While on vacation I saw a woman wearing a red and white striped shirt in the style of the Bronte Top from Jennifer Lauren.  It was red with thin white stripes, and very nautical feeling.  I became obsessed with this poor woman's shirt, and now I will have to be making myself one.  I am thinking that I will use this fabric from fabric.com:

Stretch Rayon Bamboo Mariner Jersey Knit
Photo from fabric.com

This is a great Stretch Rayon Bamboo Jersey Knit in maroon and off-white.  I think it would work great for a Bronte.  I noticed while looking for this fabric that fabric.com has gotten a lot of great stripe fabrics in.  Just when I thought I was done with stripes, I find myself drooling over more.

We celebrated my birthday while on vacation, and since I sewed quite a few items back in January (though I didn't blog many of them) I am going to allow myself a bit of fabric indulgence.  I am in a Spring sewing mood, so I can't wait to get some new goodies in to sew!

Unblogged January make...and it was Jungle January!  
My Centerfield Raglan obsession continues!
Also, Woot Woot for catching myself in the mirror in this shot!

One last bit of vacation recap...can anyone tell me if there is a universal law that as soon as you put on a newly made t-shirt while on vacation you will drip chocolate sauce on to said shirt?  I wish I could say that it only happened once!