Sewing School Fashion Design

This is the book I've been wanting to write for so long! I started sewing mainly to make my own clothes. In high school, I started wrapping pieces of cool fabric around my waist, securing it with a few safety pins, and calling it a skirt. Finally, I learned how to use a sewing machine and started making my very own Zippy Skirts. I have made dozens of these flirty skirts and each has its own personality. Next came dresses and tunics.

At Sewing School Camp, kids were wanting to make their own clothing too.  Many campers would trace their bodies on fabric and attempt to make pants or shirts. The results were often hilarious and sometimes successful, but always a learning experience for both the maker and myself. I began to develop patterns that were simple enough for new sewers, but also cool enough to wear out in public.

The result is Sewing School Fashion Design. Three basic patterns that can be altered and mixed and matched to create an entire wardrobe. Yes, full-sized patterns are included and fit a variety of sizes from age 8 to teens. They also work for smaller adults too! (I'm a size large.)

The Sewing School books have always encouraged kids to make projects their own and clothing is no different. We call these Fashion Mashups. Add a hood to your dress or use 4 different fabrics to make your shorts. Pockets are needed for sure and embroidery adds a big punch.

What would your perfect outfit look like?

I am so excited to have Sewing School Fashion Design out in the world and can't wait to see all the amazing outfits kids start sewing!  You can get your copy on-line at Amazon or Powell's. Please ask for it at your favorite bookseller or fabric store!

Quilting in the News

Excited to wake up this morning and find a wonderful article about Sewing School Quilts on the cover of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. In a day and age where life can be stressful, it's nice to know that art and quilting can sometimes be above the fold!  Read the article!

Writing Cloth Books

 I've had this idea in my head for awhile now -  using fabric to tell stories.  I was a little unsure about bringing it to Sewing Club with 30 kids ranging from kindergarten to fourth grade, but we took the plunge.  I'm so glad we did!

  The kids immediately took to the project, which we spanned over two weeks.  I cut out a variety of broadcloth squares, measuring 6x6 and gathered fabric with large and fun images.  Of course, I had to use Carrie Bloomston's Story fabric!  Along with fabric markers, the kids had fun using fabric to inspire their stories.

 They used glue stick to attach their images to the base fabric and then depending on mood, ability, and age, the images were sewed down, or not.  Some kids just had fun writing stories on fabric squares using fabric markers.

 Once the story was complete, it was time to bind the fabric pages together.  Older kids used the sewing machine to sew the pages together, while most kids used a whipstitch for the binding.  If there were too many pages or the words were written too close to the edge, I helped the kids improvise by just sewing together the top and bottom corners of the book.  It read just fine.

 One sewer decided to make a Story Pillow.  Love this!   She will have sweet dreams after reading the tale of "Princess Tutu"!

The best part was watching the kids share their stories with each other.  Yes, life is love!

Sewing with "The Mitten"

What a fun morning we had at Toddler Sewing and Story Time this month!  After our awesome librarians read several snow-themed books including this pop-up version of "The Mitten", we had fun sewing our own mittens and retelling story.

The mitten is made of low-loft batting, which is the perfect snowy white material for sewing when you're using plastic needles and lacing yarn.  I used Jan Brett's amazing drawings for the mitten pattern and animals.  Yes, you could make the mitten out of paper, but that's not quite as much fun!

 First, the kids sewed around the mitten with a little adult help.

Next, they colored the animals, which have a few holes in each for easy lacing.

The kids loved lacing the animals and putting them into the mitten at the end.

Not only were they strengthening fine motor skills, but we talked about animals, colors, order, and story elements as they worked.  That's a lot of learning for these little sewers!

Many of them wanted to wear their mittens too!  Luckily, in Memphis, the temps don't get too cold, so a batting mitten is realistic!

Cooking Class: A Review

Santa, clever elf that he is, brought my cooking obsessed kids Cooking Class this Christmas.  They immediately wanted to try out several recipes.  We started with Sushi! California Rolls.

Cooking Class is published by Storey, the same publisher of Sewing School.   It reads very much like Sewing School and my kids were able to jump into the format easily.

It feels like Sewing School, only cooking.  There are great step-by-step photo illustrations, real kids in the kitchen cooking, and recipes that kids want to make.  And my kids wanted to make sushi!

The kids used their new knives, also courtesey of Santa, for chopping up the cucumbers and crab stix.

We had fun going to our local Asian market for all the necessary ingredients and supplies including a bamboo sushi mat!

Here is the new knife in action, cutting a successful roll.

The actual making of the rolls was a very messy endeavor.  Our first couple of rolls didn't look anything like the picture, but they tasted great - like real California Rolls!  Luckily our dog was around to clean up the rice speckled floor.

Next up are these yummy sounding breakfast sundaes!  I love how all the recipes are doable for kids. 

There are several "idea" pages such as this one for making a Chocolate Factory.  Those chocolate dipped potato chips have my name on them!

The back of the book has several pages of cute stickers, recipe cards, and even a game to spark dinner time conversation.

Bon Apetite!  I can't wait to try what the kids make next from Cooking Class.

Vintage Craft Book: The Golden Book of Crafts and Hobbies

Lately I've been looking through my rather large collection of vintage craft books, mostly kid-craft. Here are some of my favorites!

The Golden Book of Crafts and Hobbies lives at the cabin because it's filled with camping and scouting activities.  The kids love to look at it and imagine making super cool projects.  The problem is that they aren't always very accessible.  I mean, do the kids really think they will make their own toboggans and knife sheaths?  Or better asked, will I let them make them?!

One project, however, did seem doable.  This lean-to, which is actually a type of bird feeder, intrigued Frankie.  He needed a little help to get started, but once the framework was built, he was on his own.

At some point, he ran out of long sticks, so a sheet was employed to finish off the lean-to.  He had a lovely afternoon hanging out in his lean-to and observing nature.

So, while The Golden Book of Crafts and Hobbies is not the most useful vintage craft book in my stash, it is definitely inspirational and fun!

Toddler Sewing Club: Story Necklace

Toddler Sewing Club for 2's and 3's

Tuesday, March 18, 9am

Grace-St. Luke's Episcopal School, Memphis, TN

free fun for you and your child

RSVP at enroll@gslschool.org

Can you guess what story we'll be retelling at Toddler Sewing Club??!!  I am so excited to make these cute The Very Hungry Caterpillar Story Necklaces at the next Toddler Sewing Club

 Can't join us?  No worries, I'll tell you how to make your own story necklace after the event.

Southern Vegetarian

I am so so excited for Justin, the wonderful Sewing School photographer, and his lovely wife Amy on the release of their new cookbook The Southern Vegetarian.  After posting yummy vegetarian recipes for years at The Chubby Vegetarian, they turned their passion for cooking, mouth watering food photography, and eating into a cookbook.  Even if you aren't a vegetarian, Justin's recipes are amazing! 

While working on Sewing School 2, Justin and I would get together at our weekly photo shoots and discuss book writing, new recipes, Top Chef, and sewing between shots.  It's exciting to see the finished product.

Congrats Justin and Amy!

Harriet's Halloween Candy

A favorite Halloween book is Harriet's Halloween Candy.  Harriet has a good time trick-or-treating and comes back with a big bag of candy. 

She begins to sort her candy all different ways, including her favorites!  In class, we have fun working in pairs to sort a big bag of Halloween candy too.

 The pairs worked together to find different ways to sort the candy.

At first, it's easy - you can sort by color, type of candy, and size.  However, after awhile it can get a little tricky.  This is where you have to get really creative.  Kids were sorting by smell, clear and not clear packages, and hard and soft candy.

After sorting for awhile, I gave them a  new challenge - to divide the candy between them equally.  It was fun to see how they approached the activity.  Some kids began to pass them out one by one while others just took a bunch and counted them.  Finally, they all arrived at equal amounts.

Unless, of course, there was a problem - one extra piece of candy.  What do you do with the extra piece?  Everyone brainstormed ideas such as splitting it in two, giving it to someone who doesn't have candy, or just throwing it away! 

What would you do with an extra piece of candy?