SewBaby News

It's funny how time goes by so much faster as you get older.  I can't hardly believe that a whole year has flown by.  The year started for me on a sad note- my Mother passed away on January 4, 2014. She was a huge part of my life, and is missed everyday.  She is the person who taught me how to sew, as well as most of the other valuable lessons that I've learned about life.   Doing well in school is one thing, but life demands more than what you can learn in school, and that I learned from my parents. So, in regards to sewing, and this blog, my year started off slowly.  I had actually still been sewing, and dedicated an entire group of items to my Mom, but wasn't up to reviewing them for the most part.  Here is what they looked like altogether: It's actually a beautiful group of garments, with turquoise as the glue that holds them all together.  Turquoise was her favorite color, as it is mine, so I will always think of her when I wear these things. My next

Listen children.  It's time for a sewing story.  Sit by the fire with me, and I'll tell you the story of how three flat, lifeless pieces of fabric became my new favorite winter outfit. With a little help from the elves at FabricMart, Burda, and Style Arc, I whipped up this outfit just in time for the holidays. Chapter 1.  The Dotty Blouse Silk charmeuse.  Aahhhh.  Just the thought of it brings me bliss.  Is there anything so light as a feather, shimmery as a star, fluid as a mountain stream?  All wrapped up in one glorious fabric.  Sometimes I look at the prices of clothes in the stores, and wonder "Why am I sewing? ".  But one touch of silk charmeuse and I remember. This is the stuff that you can't buy a top made from for less than $200, but you can make it for $50 or less. When I saw this stylized animal print silk charmeuse at FabricMart, I grabbed up 3 yards of it right away.  One of silk charmeuse's best qualities is it's drapa

I hope that you are having a great Thanksgiving weekend!  Do you go out shopping on Black Friday?  While Black Friday is the official start of the holiday shopping season, for me, it is the official start of the holiday sewing season!  I usually stay home and start my gift giving sewing.  I love to sew pajama pants and robes for holiday presents.  Although I make them for my family, I had not made myself a robe and pajamas for years, so, I decided to treat myself to a new set. We live in Illinois where we can get bitterly cold winters, so I chose Fabric Mart's sky blue polar fleece for the robe.  This is a higher quality fleece than the fleeces you can find in the chain stores.  It is light, stretchy and velvety soft.  My cat with claws has not yet been able to snag it, which means it should last for years! The robe pattern is McCall's 576 9, with 13 inches added to the length.  This pattern is now out of print, but really any robe pattern will work.  Th

My daughter's 24th birthday is this month, and when I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she said "Could you make me some new clothes?".  Music to my ears!  I've had a horrible cold all weekend and haven't left the house for 3 days because I've been so sick, but it gave me plenty of time to think about what I could make.  I napped a little, sewed a little, napped a little sewed a little.  Serena started her first professional job last year, and she works as a food engineer in Chicago.  She can wear anything that she wants to work, but she really likes dresses.  She also has a long commute to get to her job, which involves about a mile walk each morning in the Chicago weather, plus standing outside at the train station every day in the bitter cold.  So, I thought I would make her some things to make that commute a little warmer, and still be fun and appropriate for a 24 year old engineer.  I started pulling fabrics from my stash, and a violet, g

Is your sewing palette influenced by the seasons? Despite knowing what colors are supposed to look good on my complexion, I ignore that advice and sew fabric that feels like the season.  According to the 80's classic style guide " Color Me Beautiful ", I'm either a Spring or a Summer, but those shades feel so wrong this time of year.  So, with Fall in full swing, I turn to golds, browns and greens.  My cornucopia colors.  I received this stretch peachskin autumn toned print in a Mystery Bundle from FabricMart in May.  At that time,  I swear that I thought it was the most hideous fabric ever.   I was going into my summer color phase.  I almost made it into a muslin a few times, then almost gave it away.  But what a difference a few months made in my attitude!  When Kennis from Itch to Stitch asked me if I'd like to make her new Marbella Dress pattern, I knew I had to make it out of this fabric!  The Marbella Dress is a sleeveless dress PDF pattern with s

Update- 11/4/14 This was a very close race.  The entries were all fanastic! The ballots have been counted, and the winners are: First place- Entry #16.  Max from Where the Wild Things Are.   Submitted by Judy Dunkin of Iowa Runner-Up-   Entry #10- Sally Stitches from "The Nightmare before Christmas"   Submitted by Kathy Centurino from California Thanks to all who voted. All entries will receive a special treat from SewBaby for participating! -Ann for SewBaby Hi everyone! The Halloween Costume Contest entries have been collected, and now it's time to start voting for your THREE favorite home-sewn costumes!  After you've scrolled through all of the costumes, please use the featured link to vote. The first-place winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to SewBaby, and the runner-up will receive a $25 gift certificate .   Voting begins today and ends November 3rd at midnight.   Good luck to all of our talented participants, and let the voting begin!!