We are thrilled to be hosting a trunk show from Meg McElwee’s new book, Sew Liberated: 20 Stylish Projects for the Modern Sewist. Each piece in Sew Liberated uses applique in a refreshing, new way. Get ready to start embellishing lovely things for your home, children, and yourself! This book will be your new go-to guide for all things applique!

It’s so cool to look around the shop and see such a cohesive group of projects with a fun, crafty aesthetic. Meg uses a primarily neutral color palette with pops of accent color to make the special details stand out. It’s amazing what a simple needle, thread, and a pretty print can do!

With in depth directions for each project, as you learn to hand and machine applique. I like that she uses projects with varying difficulty levels. If you want to start out simple, the duvet is a good place to start. For more of construction challenge, the Day Bag, will do nicely!

The Sew Liberated trunk show will be in the shop until the end of the month, so do stop by. It is truly inspiring to see a tried and true embellishing technique in a new way. Judging from the response the show has gotten so far, I expect to see some awesome applique walking around Philadelphia this Spring!

This has been a fantastic fabric delivery week for Spool! Laura Gunn’s new line, Poppy, has arrived and I am swooning! I fell in love with Laura’s first collection, Lantern Bloom, last Summer, and her sophomore effort does not disappoint. These colors are glorious!

Giant poppy and dogwood flowers mingle with painterly stripes and polka dots- my favorite! The visible brushstrokes from Laura’s original paintings lend a lively and personal feel to the designs. You can just tell she had a wonderful time creating these. A light and airy palette is perfect for Spring projects. These cheerful prints would be amazing as home decor. Just walking into a room with these flowers would make you smile! We’ve already started making a swoopy circle skirt in the larger than life orange poppies. What would you make?

I know that there is still 2 feet of snow on the ground outside the shop, but I am looking forward to Spring in a big way! The recent completion of these Simple Tanks are a big part of the reason! I made a one using Kwik Sew 2498 last summer, and it quickly became a wardrobe staple. I am not a big fan of stretchy, clingy tanks in the warm weather, and I love that with one yard of cool cotton you can make a breezy top in different styles.

Elizabeth sewed up these versions in a rosy pink Shot Cotton, and one in Kaffe Fassett’s Serape Stripe. I thought the rosy one needed a little something extra, and since we recently got some gorgeous embroidery floss in at the shop, I decided to embellish! I carefully stitched a row of little french knots along the neckline. They were easier to make than I thought, and I love the shine of the mercerized thread. Sparkly!

If you’d like to get a little dose of Spring this weekend, we will be having a Simple Tank class. Here’s the details:

Saturday, February 20: 10AM -2PM
$45 plus materials

Materials: Pattern, thread, .75- 1.5 yards of fabric depending on size. All materials are available for purchase at Spool. Use of our sewing machines, rotary cutters, scissors, mats, and rulers are included for class sessions.

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

Spool is looking for instructors to teach classes this Spring! Classes are an important part of what we do here, and we will be expanding our class offerings. We love to sew and want to share that love with our customers as they improve their skills!

We want to meet friendly, patient and organized sewing enthusiasts to teach weekend classes. You should be an experienced sewer and preferably have previous teaching experience. Quilting and home decor are the areas we are looking for specifically, but if your strength is garment sewing, don’t let that stop you from applying! Please send a brief description of your sewing and teaching experience, along with 3 photos of completed projects, if possible, to stitch(AT)spoolsewing(DOT)com. Thanks!

As those of you in Philly know, this past weekend we had record breaking amounts of snow! While we closed on Saturday, we were open for business on Sunday. Sunday is the day that Heather (pictured above) teaches at Spool. We weren’t sure if her students would brave the snow, or even could if they wanted!

Fortunately, two hearty souls, Francisco & Christopher, bundled up and made their way in to take their Boxer Shorts class! Don’t they look glad they did? As we all know, snowy days are the best for sewing, and with Heather’s help, they had wonderful results! Francisco says, “Heather is great, we’re in love with her!” Awww!

They used the same print from Art Gallery Fabrics in different colorways. I love the Valentine’s palette they chose – so romantic! Great job, guys! Thanks for sharing this super cute photo!

The groundhog has predicted 6 more weeks of winter, and the weather forecasts a TON of snow in Philly this weekend! Despite this news, a temperate Spring breeze has wafted through Spool in the form of Dolce. This delicate, art deco inspired collection is the latest from Freespirit designer, Tanya Whelen. It has me thinking of warmer days, open windows and, of course, pretty new projects!

I would love to see these fabrics as a new dress, a set of curtains for a french door, or a simple throw for a porch glider. The soft colors would even make a sweet, but sophisticated, choice for a baby girl’s nursery. What would you make?