Cute Craft Alert!

I am crazy over these felt sewing machines by NiftyKidstuff.   You should also check out her cute blog, but I warn you, it will make you wish you were in art school too!

Revisiting Little House on the Prairie

Laura Ingalls Wilder's saga of late 19th century life was a big influence on me. I can still remember rushing to the den to watch weekly episodes about Pa and Ma and Mary, Laura and Carrie on the tv set. When the family feared that Jack the dog had contracted rabies, it nearly killed me. And, just like Laura, I detested that snooty Nellie Olsen. Soon after, I discovered the Little House books that inspired the series, and I poured over the words and Garth Williams illustrations on a nightly basis. My mama even made matching prairie dresses for us to wear to church.

Then calamity happened:

After my family moved from Elgin, Ill., to Lafayette, La., my second grade teacher jumped ship and the series of substitutes that followed decided to read chapters of Little House on the Prairie to us, skipping fractions, conjugations, and handwriting lessons to deliver endless homilies about campfires and woodstoves. As the months wore on, I lost a little bit of my enthusiasm for Wilder's tales. By the time we moved to Arlington, Tex. (I think my daddy was as restless as Charles Ingalls, although we were fortunate to have moving vans at our disposal instead of an ox team and a wagon), I was so far behind that I deemed Little House a symbol of neglect.

I'm happy to say that I no longer cringe when I read about Laura Ingalls Wilder, who, these days, seems to hold as much relevance as she ever did.

Go here to read an essay that appeared in last month's issue of O, the Oprah Magazine. Titled "The Hard-Times Companion," the article compares the floundering economy to the travails the Ingalls family faced.

Marie Howe writes, "By December I'd lost half my retirement savings, as had many of my friends, but I still had the job I'd returned to and was growing ever more grateful for it. The Ingalls family had moved three times, lost their good dog Jack, and suffered through a long bout of scarlet fever that had left Mary blind. Heat, hunger, grasshoppers. Pa worked the field, hunted when he could; Ma made supper, and the girls did their daily chores: fetching water, making the beds, setting and clearing the table, washing dishes. Page after page, they worked, then settled down to stitch quilt squares and study. If the chores had the feel of a regular metronome, the rhythm of their daily life seemed like a quiet song."

And yesterday, I sat down with the current New Yorker, and discovered Wilder Women, an article about Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, a journalist who both shaped and borrowed from her mother's work.

This afternoon, while I should have been working, I mooned over pictures of the Wilders at Wikipedia, and considered ordering a copy of Little House on the Prairie as well as The Ghost in the Little House and My Little House Sewing Book.

Big Chronicle Books Sale!

Chronicle Books -- home to sewing books by the likes of Amy Butler, Jenny Hart, Kaari Meng and Lotta Jansdotter -- is offering their annual "Friends and Family" discount this week, as I discovered via Real Simple's Simply Stated blog. Just use the promo code FRIENDS at checkout, and you'll receive 35% off EVERY Chronicle title. Hurry, because the offer expires Wednesday, August 5.

Sewing Kits Go Mainstream

Oh, how I love to shop for sewing supplies when I have a little spare change in my pocket.

Today, I discovered this super-cute D-I-Y Sewing Kit online. It comes with needles, thread, pins, measuring tape, a thimble and more.

At the other end of the spectrum, Urban Outfitters also has a $300 Professional Singer sewing machine, a mechanically minded Sewing Helper, and more. How cute would it be to stash your sewing supplies in UO's Recycled Ruler Box? And Target has an adorable Li'l Tweet Stitch Kit available in the Red Hot Shop this month.

Wooden Sewing Machine

A friend sent me the link to this incredibly cute wood sewing machine. I think that maybe my kids need one. It's so genius!

Could you sew a house?

Image from Modish; houses are purchasable via Etsy shop Wunderlust.

Cute Fabric Alert!

I am loving this new fabric I spyed at Spool. I must get some! I'm also thinking that kids would love it.

How do you store your sewing supplies?

Christmas might be over, but this Ecrulat sewing kit, which is available from Superbuzzy, is already on my list for next year.

I have a ton of sewing supplies, most of which are stored in various-sized bottles and baskets on an Ikea bookshelf in my guest bedroom. I found a tiny set of drawers, which is home to my embroidery supplies, and use a series of glass jars that my grandmother bought as a souvenir in Italy for buttons, rickrack, and ribbon. A cardboard suitcase holds small scraps, and glue, yarn, felt, and other supplies are kept in an old kitchen cabinet that serves as a table.

Having everything so spread out isn't always convenient, but I know where everything is. Well, most of the time!

Do you have a sewing basket or a sewing shelf in your house?

From the linen closet

Just the other day, Amie and I were discussing fabric as we sorted through our piles and piles of it. One thing we both love about Sewing School is that it doesn't have to cost a lot of money - while it's fun to buy new fabric (here's Superbuzzy, one of my favorite online shops for imported Japanese fabric), you can recycle and reuse stuff around the house like old sheets, outgrown clothing, and even raggedy beach towels. I'm always removing buttons from stained shirts, and repurposing my worn-out blue jeans for new denim-friendly projects.

Just be sure to ask a grown-up for permission first. One year, I narrowly escaped big trouble when I destroyed the slip for my Easter dress to make a wedding gown for my stuffed rabbit!

Also be sure to keep your eagle eye open for items like this Matryoshka Tapestry, offered by Urban Outfitters. It's $36, but as you can see in the photos, it's big enough to fit a queen-sized bed, so it should provide enough fabric for dozens of projects! And it's incredibly cute...

Inspiration

After thinking about a stuffed animal project for sewing club, I stumbled upon this super cutie at
Lou Lou and Oscar. While this one is sold, there are some other little animals waiting for a home. I have my eyes on the Marcel Poisson.

I love the combination of embroidery and stuffed animal. We could also add some buttons... hmmm....must come up with a way to do this with my little sewers..

Perry the Snail

I just saw this little snail stitch kit and had to share! I want it for myself (however it would be great for little beginning sewers as well). Everything at Three Potato Four is just too cute. I'm thinking Christmas gifts....