Sandi Henderson’s Farmer’s Market is one of the best new collections this Fall. This line has a lovely vintage feel so, with that in mind, we made this fun retro-style apron in super cute apple fabric! Aprons are a great way to use wild fabrics that you might not wear everyday, and make great gifts. In our apron class, starting next weekend, you will learn your way around gathering, making pockets and applying binding. Plus, it will put a smile on your face every time you wear it!

Julie took our Learn to Sew class a few weeks ago (you can see her pretty orange & blue tote here), and was ready to tackle her next project: the kitchen chairs. It was time to paint and recover the seats. Amy Butler’s August Fields home decor fabric had just arrived and Julie knew right away that it would be ideal for her kitchen spruce-up. The heavier weight fabric lends itself well to chair covers, the paint matches perfectly, and the cheerful colors are sure to brighten up the kitchen. Fantastic!

Thanks so much for sharing, Julie! You did a wonderful job!

Heather Ross’ new Mendocino line just arrived! I am really a little too excited about this fabric. I had a fascination with mermaids as a girl that started when I saw the movie Splash. My favorite Barbie was named Madison ( Daryl Hannah’s character), and I drew mermaids constantly. If I had a dress or quilt with these wonderful sea scenes back then, I would have been in heaven. Fortunately, my friend has a baby girl that I can sew for and hopefully inspire a love of all the things mermaid!

This Brick Path quilt from Amy Butler has been quite popular around the shop! We chose 2 fat quarter bundles with our favorite oranges and and a touch of teal; it positively glows! This quilt is 55″ x 65″, a great size for a picnic blanket or for snuggling up on the sofa. It’s machine quilted with the simple “stitch in the ditch” technique. We are offering this class over the course of 4 Thursday evenings in September. This is a great intro to rotary cutting, strip piecing, and machine quilting.

This our Beginning Quilting Sampler Quilt. Beginning Quilting is starting up again the second Saturday in September, and running for a total of 5 Saturdays. In class, you will learn to rotary cut and piece 6 different blocks, using 5 coordinating fabrics. After you have pieced the top, you will learn to quilt by hand, and how to do the binding. The finished quilt measures 45″ x 36″. If learning to hand quilt and making different types of blocks sounds fun, this is the class for you! You can see some our past students’ beautiful quilts here.

Please call the shop to reserve your space. See you soon!

I was curious how Amy Butler’s Frenchy Bags made up, and the arrival of August Fields provided the perfect opportunity to find out! Michael made these up and did a lovely job. He arranged the pattern on the fabric beautifully- so professional! The elegant design of the fabric is a fitting complement to the vintage feel and pretty silhouette. Once these were cut out, they went together quickly and easily. One of the advantages to working with home dec weight fabric is that no interfacing is required, simplifying the sewing process quite a bit!

While I am the type to carry around enough stuff to warrant the gorgeous shoulder bag, I am totally in love with the cute little handbag. I like the idea of slipping my wallet and keys into this adorable purse and being ready to go. I’m not sure if I can pare it down enough, but carrying this sweet bag is certainly a good motivator!

Amy Butler’s new collection, August Fields has arrived! We chose our favorites in the orange and aqua colorways and couldn’t be happier. This is Amy’s latest Home Dec collection and let me tell you, this fabric is gorgeous. It has a wonderful, drapey hand and soft, smooth finish. The heavier cotton sateen is perfect for curtains and tablecloths, and soft enough for quilt backings. We’ve got corded pillows on the brain, and two beautiful handbags in the works that I’ll show you in my next post. Personally, I want to make EVERYTHING in that large scale flower print at the very bottom of the orange stack. First up, I think, will be an apron. What would you make?

This is our third ( but I’m sure not final!) project using Modern Flora fabrics. Michael was especially taken with this graphic blue fabric, so he made up an extra sturdy version of his Grocery Tote. He adapted this pattern from a vintage one, and it is has become one of our favorites. You only need 2 half-yard pieces of fabric; one for the outside and one for the inside. It’s a great size for fitting in all your snacks, and has a nice wide strap for a comfortable walk home. Perfect!

This is the same tote we make in our Learn to Sew Class. If you’ve been thinking of starting to sew, you can get a little inspiration from the fun fabric combinations our students have put together here. If you already sew, you can download the free pattern pdf from our left sidebar. Enjoy!

I made a new skirt! I knew I wanted to use the tiny leaf print for a skirt as soon as I saw it. I grabbed the Barcelona Skirt pattern and got to work on my second Modern Flora project. The simple A-line version of this skirt comes together so quickly; I was done in a flash. But it needed something a little extra - applique, of course! Using the leftover fabric from my tote bag, I cut out a nice big leafy green for embellishment! Michael is amazing at machine applique, and he patiently instructed me in this endeavor. It was a bit trickier than I thought, but I LOVE the end result. It gives the skirt something special, and I learned something new in the process.

Since I was so jazzed about machine applique, I thought it would be fun to have a class. Michael will be helping you make this cute drawstring bag, with the initial of your choice appliqued on the front. Class will be held Thursdays, August 21 & 28 from 6-8 PM, and the cost is $32 plus materials. This is an introductory class, but you should be familiar with sewing basics to participate. Please call the shop to reserve your space. I hope to see you there!

Our first step into the world of Home Decorator weight fabric arrived last week in the form of Modern Flora by Jessica Jones. This fabric is a 54″cotton canvas that is perfect for curtains, pillows, and tablecloths as well as bags and skirts. I love her modern, graphic take on nature; especially her tip of the hat to us crafters with the the little lines of stitching on the leaves! We got busy sewing up samples in this fun fabric, and I’ll be sharing them with you over the next few posts.

First up is the tote bag from the cover of the latest Sew Simple magazine. This issue is full of great ideas, but the cover project was made up in cotton canvas, so it was a no-brainer which one to choose! The instructions were clear, although I did leave out the zipper portion of the pattern. I used a half yard of Modern Flora fabric for the outside, and a half yard of Kona cotton for the inside. I made up my own simple handles by sewing a tube right sides together, turning it inside out, pressing, and folding it in half and stitching it down. Then, I followed the pattern for attaching the handles. This was a great, quick project to satisfy the need to make something with my pretty, new fabric RIGHT NOW!! I know you know that feeling!