Book Swap

Our school recently had it's annual Book Swap - I must admit that I get a little giddy every year as I walk into the auditorium filled with boxes and boxes of books. This year I found some really great books for myself, although I'm claiming that they are for school...


Have you seen this book? One of my fellow teachers remembers it fondly; however, it's out of print. Pixiegenne has mentioned it as well. I love the "stitchery" in it and hope that it may inspire work on our next tapestry.


This book was in the hands of the above mentioned fellow teacher when she caught me drooling and so sweetly gave it to me. I am in love with the wonderful illustrations and silly riddles.

This is my favorite.
What is the best way to make pants last?

Make the coat first. (ha ha!)

Who Needs a Needle and Thread?

Not these kids! Once again, I am amazed with the creativity that comes with a basket of fabric scraps. While most of the fabric was wrapped and tied, tape and staples were used to create the cat's hat.

These animal and doll outfits were all part of an elaborate play that seemed to be a warped version of Little Red Riding Hood. How the elephant fits in, I'm not sure...

New Friends

These little cuties made of toilet paper rolls and fabric showed up in my classroom last week. I love how kids can just take craft materials and come up with something so precious.

Ballerina Love

Phoebe is heavily into the princess/ballerina/fairy stage. She is dancing and flitting about constantly.

To add to the excitement, she's going to "ballerina classes" at preschool. With this comes lots of fun shoes and accessories, so of course we had to have a new bag. I made a simple drawstring bag with pink ballerina fabric and embroidered her name on it. I traced her handwriting onto the fabric. She is so proud of her "very good E's."

Have You Seen This?

Our pal Bonnie sent this link from The Long Thread for her Top 100 Tutorials. Very cool list. I need to find time to try some!

FELT: the wonder fabric

Guess what I noticed on Martha Stewart.com today?

An entire list of felt-friendly craft projects!

There are felt slippers, felt trivets, felt books, felt coasters, felt tote bags, felt eye glasses cases, and even a felt toadstool!

Martha has felt mania, and so do I!

Felt is a great fabric for sewing projects, because it doesn't unravel, and you don't need to hem it or line it!

According to the geniuses at Wikipedia, felt is the oldest form of fabric known to humankind.

"It predates weaving and knitting, although there is archaeological evidence from the British Museum that the first known thread was made by winding vegetable fibers on the thigh. In Turkey, the remains of felt have been found dating back at least to 6,500 BC. Highly sophisticated felted artefacts were found preserved in permafrost in a tomb in Siberia and dated to 600 AD.

Many cultures have legends as to the origins of feltmaking. Sumerian legend claims that the secret of feltmaking was discovered by Urnamman of Lagash. The story of Saint Clement and Saint Christopher relates that while fleeing from persecution, the men packed their sandals with wool to prevent blisters. At the end of their journey, the movement and sweat had turned the wool into felt socks.

Feltmaking is still practiced by nomadic peoples in Central Asia, where rugs, tents and clothing are regularly made. Some of these are traditional items, such as the classic yurt, while others are designed for the tourist market, such as decorated slippers. In the Western world, felt is widely used as a medium for expression in textile art as well as design, where it has significance as an ecological textile."

Prehistory, stuffed!

Bored with the typical teddy bears and bunny rabbits? Why not make a stuffed dinosaur? Check out this guy - doesn't he look ferocious and super-cute?

Because he's from the Sundance Catalog, this brontosaurus comes with an elaborate sewing pedigree - he was actually knitted by an African woman who used homespun wool.

I bet you could make your own dinosaur by adapting this knitted glove stuffed animal project from Martha Stewart. Or, try using knitted socks, one for the head, neck and body and another for the tail and legs. If you want to experiment, ask an adult if they have any extra socks or gloves around the house.

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.

Book Report

So I had seen My First Sewing Book by Winky Cherry before but was not sure what to make of it. Today, while wandering around Hancock Fabrics, I found a copy of the book and "kit." I put kit in quotes, because it's only a large copy of the patterns and 2 felt cut outs of little birds. Not quite sure if it's a kit....anyway, I was curious about this Winky Cherry and her methods. I found that we teach the basics of sewing in very similar ways and also gained some good ideas from her. I also liked the big text, easy-to-read language and simple projects. Yes, I would recommend this to a beginning sewer. I am anxious to see what my students think of it....I'll let you know.

Visit From the Fabric Fairy

I love it when a bag full of crafty treats is waiting for me on my classroom door. I think I am beginning to get a reputation of taking anything crafty and sewing related. The hard part is saving it for the kids. I can think of so many uses for little plastic doll heads that was in the last batch!