New Echino Chelsea fabric and more.....

Well hello there!  I've been quite busy these past couple of weeks.  Good busy!  I can't wait to show you what I've been working on..... still working on =)  In the mean time, Phat Fabric has some funky fresh new fabrics in stock.  The first 3 fabrics are part of Estuko Furuya's new Echino fabric line Chelsea (link).  The fabric is a cotton double gauze and has already proven to shirr up quite nicely.  The last fabric (bottom right) is a Kokka fabric by Asuka and is titled Girly and Bitter (link).  I can't wait to get my elastic thread on that!  The print runs railroad which is my favorite for making dresses and aprons.  

Lastly, there are new Echino patterns in the shop.  The patterns are in Japanese.  However, if you have sewn bags before, then you should be able understand the illustrations.

Boston Bag

Messenger Bag

Lap Top Bag

Have a great weekend!

Jamie

Somebody stop me!

You know you have a problem when you look at your dog and think to yourself "she would look really cute in a smocked/shirred top." Even my family is noticing my shirring addiction. My husband walked into my crafting room and called me the mad scientist. Is there some sort of gum or patch that you know of? I didn't think so either.

Seriously, shirring is my latest obsession. I made this top for my daughter and I made another top for myself, but I'll show you my top later .... it's a surprise (more to come on that). Anyways, I shirred the top and then made the ruffly shoulder straps. Very easy to do. I'll show you.

First, shirr your fabric (tutorial). Fabric link.

Next, prep the ruffle.
1) Cut out a half circle. I used my trusty tin coffee canister as a template.
2) Finish the raw edges of the curved part of the circle. I used red bias tape.
3) Stitch a gathering stitch (longest stitch) along the straight edge of the circle.
Your almost ruffle should look like this.

Next, prep the straps.
4) Cut out a strip of fabric that is 2.5" wide and long enough for the shoulder (use your measurements).
5) Fold the strip in half lengthwise and press. Unfold the strip and turn in the long raw edges of the strip (each side) a 1/2" and press.
Now, attach the ruffle.
6) With the long raw edges turned in, pin your ruffle to the inside of the strip (center). Notice I allowed a little slack in the ruffle. This will allow me to gather the ruffle.

7) Gently pull on the thread, gathering the ruffle to the strip. Pin in place.

8) Machine baste (long stitch) the ruffle to the strip.

9) Close the strip and stitch down both sides of the strip.

10) Lastly, pin the straps to your garment and stitch in place.

The buttons are fabric covered buttons and are purely aesthetic.
Here's the little shooga boog modeling her top.

Look at that! Hands on hips. Just like her mama =)

Have a wonderful weekend. I don't think I'll be able to blog for the next week or two, because I will be very busy wrapping up some BIG projects. I can hardly wait to share.

Cheers,
Jamie

Giveaway winners and Happy belated Mother's day.

The winners are......... Angela (blog) & Mariana! Angela wrote, "That's a hard one! At first I thought Robin Egg, but I'm going with Papaya. I'm loving orange more and more." Mariana who wrote "hi! thanks for the giveaway!! I would love that fat quarter pack... it's really handy to have a few solids on hand!!" Winners, please email me your shipping address at apronstreet{at}yahoo.com.
Thank you everyone for making the giveaway so much fun for me. I loved your Coach comments. I was half tempted to blog Thursday night right after Survivor aired. It's crazy how Coach now thinks he was named the dragon slayer by fellow survivors. Rrrrrright. However, I must admit, he does make the show interesting. Without him, I wouldn't have the Dragon Slayer analogy that I use to encourage my kids to clean up their rooms. "Come on. Slay the dragon! You have to cut off it's head." Which translates to "Come on, put your dirty clothes away and pick-up your toys." What do you know, it works! Thanks Coach =)

Happy belated Mother's day to all of the amazing Mama's out there. Being a mom is truly a blessing. Although sometimes it's a blessing in disguise =)
Usually, for Mother's day, my husband will purchase flowers for his mom. However, this year my oldest son decided to make my husband look good by making the above pictured flowers and vase for my husband to give to his mom. Saturday night, he (my son) was very concerned that my husband had not yet purchased a Mother's day gift for his mom (as was I). He also worried that the flowers my husband said he was going to buy wouldn't last long. So, my son came up with an idea to make flowers for Nana, but allow his Dad to take the credit =) He gathered a bunch of twigs, drew and cut out flowers, taped the flowers to the twigs, decoupaged a Pringles container with some scrap fabric, and added scented candle wax to the back of the paper flowers for fragrance when you smell the flowers. His dad did help with the decoupaging and candle wax, but the entire concept was my son's. I took one look at it and....... well..... I got kinda teary eyed over it. Das' my boy!

Congrats again to Angela and Mariana!

Jamie

Kona Cotton Fabric Giveaway!

The giveaway is now closed. I will announce the winners tomorrow, May 12. A big thank you to everyone who participated.

I think it's time I have another giveaway. Being as I'm on this Kona cotton solid fabric kick, combined with a serious case of smocking-itis, why not give away some Kona cotton?!

Here are the details for the giveaway...

The giveaway is for 8 Fat Quarter cuts of the above Kona Cotton fabrics, or 2 yards of your favorite Kona Cotton fabric (link) from Phat Fabric. Your choice! I will choose 2 winners via the random number generator. The giveaway will close on Monday, May 11, and I will announce the winners on Tuesday, May 12.

How to enter....

Go to Phat Fabric and decide what your favorite Kona Cotton fabric color is (link to colors). Once you've decided, post a comment about your color decision. International fabric friends are welcome to enter. One entry per person.
I believe that covers all the need to knows. I really wanted to ask you something like "who should be voted off of survivor next week?" However, I realize some of you don't watch survivor. But if you did, I'm sure it would probably be Coach, aka the Dragon Slayer. What color is the sky in his world?! Anyhoo, your favorite fabric color is all you need to leave in the comments section of this post. If you'd like, you can leave contact info such as: blog, email, or shop. Just be sure to tune in next Tuesday for the announcement of the winners.

Let the giveaway begin!

Giveaway is now closed.

Jamie