Stop staring and start sewing!

Dude, Where's my Week?

This week has just flown by but I'm not even sure what I did with it. My oldest daughter, Olivia turned 17 this week so that was a big deal (mostly for me! I'm the mother of a 17 year old! Ack!). When she was born and we told the doctor we planned on naming her Olivia he gave us a strange look and said "Well, I guess she'll grow into it" (he didn't sound convinced). Nobody was naming their girls Olivia and we felt like we were so avant garde/retro cool. We were, for about 2 years (then half of the country started naming their girls Olivia). Do you have an Olivia? Let me know! I'm curious.

I made a cute hostess apron the other day and I've really enjoyed wearing it around the house just because. It makes me feel a little spruced up (even if I'm still in slippers). A dab of lipstick and an apron and I'm all set (isn't that how it's supposed to work?).

And I made this darling apron for my sister so she can look sassy as she walks through her kitchen (on her way to Panda Express or something). I'm having separation anxiety because I really love this apron and it's going to kill me to part with it. It's reversible so it feels really sturdy and I love the way the pockets turned out (just the right size).

Sorry for the dark pictures.  This is kind of a weird corner where my mirror is.  I did a scooped kind of a neckline but I think I'll scoop it even lower the next time.

Here's Peety's quilt top so far. I love it! Bright, funky, colorful (just like her!).

I found this great corduroy curtain in the "as is" room at IKEA a few months back. How could I pass up that much fabric at 1.99?

Perfect winter pants!  And I have enough fabric left to make shorts for his brother and jumpers for his sisters so we can skip through the streets of Salzburg singing songs (I'll have a guitar on my back of course).

And this beautiful stack just showed up an hour ago. The new UPS guy isn't as friendly as the old one (or maybe he just doesn't like hugs).  Anyway, it's just beautiful in every way (and in the store now) and I can't wait to play with it.  It's simply smashing (say that with an English accent or it just sounds weird)!

Have a great weekend! Go Cardinals!

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I almost forgot!  I just received this note from the folks at Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion (join our Save MEHC facebook group here!):

...Mary Engelbreit does retain ownership of the Home Companion name and
brand, so we do hope that at some point in the future we are able to
secure a new publishing partner to continue to deliver Mary's inspiring
style!

And just to nip any rumors in the bud, this definitely does NOT mean
Mary is retiring! Since its inception, Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion
has operated as a separate business from Mary's art licensing company,
Mary Engelbreit Studios. She will continue her active schedule of
illustrating greeting cards, calendars and books and her company will
continue developing licensed products based on her illustrations. The
publication of MEHC is near and dear to Mary Engelbreit Studios, but
this change will not have a financial or operational impact on the
company.

We hope you'll keep up with us! Mary's e-newsletter is definitely the
best way to get the latest news on events, new products, ideas and free
recipes, desktop backgrounds and more. You can sign up to receive the
newsletter or update your subscription information on our website:
http://www.maryengelbreit.com/signup/enews.aspx

All hope is not lost!!!! :D

Breathe in, breathe out....

Not much going on around here. We're just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful Arizona winter (it was 80 degrees last week) and for the time being nobody has the flu or a cold or anything else. Nice.

I was able to sit down and work out a quilt square for Leslie and I'm really happy with the results! I just cut all the fabric into 1.5" wide strips and then sewed them together in one loooong strip. Then I cut it into 13" segments and stacked them up and topped it all of with flower appliques (then trimmed it down to 12" x 12"). I'm really enjoying being part of a virtual quilting bee. It's a little bit challenging without being too stressful.  I need to run over there and post something.

And Kim posted some good news on True Up! Westminster is suspending implementation of their policy that would require all stores to list their fabric at the full recommended retail price (wouldn't that mean it's a required retail price, and not recommended?). That's a nice reprieve anyway. Unfortunately with their new price increase and the increased cost of postage from the USPS I'm still going to have to increase my prices but it won't be as bad as I had initially feared.  So that's that.

I had a chance to play around with an idea today and I thought I'd share it.  My little Sofia (she's 12, so she's turning into a big girl, but she's still my littlest girl) likes to make little pouches for her friends and then fill them with goodies (sometimes for birthdays, and sometimes just because it's fun to surprise people).  It's such a cute little idea but her pouches need a little fine-tuning so I put together a little tutorial for her (and had a chance to play with the Oh Cherry Oh fabric!).

It just takes 3 pieces of fabric, but making the drawstring (the striped fabric) is optional.  Use ribbon (2 pieces cut into 18" lengths) if you want to save yourself some time.

If you're making the drawstring, fold it into quarters like this:

Stitch your drawstring closed (I usually stitch on the folded side too).  Then make narrow hems on two opposite sides of your square fabric piece (this makes your casings).

Cut your square casing piece into two equal pieces by folding in half (to determine the middle) and then cutting in two.

Fold the casing pieces over and press.  Center a piece on each end of the long fabric (match up raw edges) and stitch in place (I used about a 1/3" seam allowance).

Press the seam allowances down and then topstitch.

Fold in half and then sew your pouch shut by stitching each side starting right next to the casing fabric.  Trim your corners by snipping at an angle.

Flip right side out.  Nice!

Now cut your drawstring in half and pull the first piece through the casings (enter and exit the left side).  Then pull the second drawstring through (enter and exit on the right side).

Tie knots on the end and trim them.

Cute!  I'm not sure what you can use it for, but my sunglasses fit in this one quite nicely!

There are some great new posts on the CPSIA here and here (and a facebook group here).  It's coming down to the wire (it's supposed to be enforced beginning Feb 10th) and hopefully people are starting to make some noise.  I called Senator Henry Waxman yesterday and asked him (well I asked the guy who answered the phone to relay my message) to please delay implimentation until they can "re-work" this bill (which is destroying small businesses across our country).  If you'd like to give Mr. Waxman your 2 cents, his number is (202) 225-3976.  I'm going to make it a point to call at least one representative a day about this bill until February 10th.  I am woman, hear me roar!

Finally! Funally!

The winner of the Darla scraps and cute towels is Kristie who said "I love that fabric!  So fun!" at 9:19 on 1/17.  Congratulations Kristie!!  I need your address!

I'm finally done with my latest skirt pattern!  I'm so sorry it took so long but I wanted to be completely happy with it and I am (I think).  I was not happy with the pictures and so I spent last weekend re-making it while taking much clearer pictures (for the 3rd time!).  I sent it out to my testers who did a wonderful job of going over it with a fine tooth comb and creating skirts (and even testing the included "sleeve ruffle" instructions) that were beautiful and unique.  Thank you testers!!!

Here is Kelci's daughter Bella, giving it a trial twirl. This is a very important part of the pattern testing. A skirt with good aerodynamics is always a huge hit!  Kelci is a bag maker extraordinaire so check out her stuff on etsy!

And here is my friend Kelly's version of it (I believe those are Erin's knees). Her daughters are tall girls so she added the tights under it (plus she lives in a cold climate). I think the tights are a great idea fashion-wise too! Darling (and a little bit funky)!  Kelly does a meticulous job on checking my grammar (things like "you're" instead of "your", which is a huge pet peeve of mine) and I think she should consider being a book editor or something along those lines!

And here is Marie's version. Her big girl Isabella did a great job picking some fun fabrics and she's putting that pocket to good use. I just love the orange dots for the apron (so spunky!) and the zebra stripes are brilliant.  I think Isabella has "the knack".

Here's a closeup.  Wow!

So I've decided to name this skirt Evelyn because I like it and it's a family name like Edith. I decided against Ethel (Edith's twin sister) because every time I said the name I could hear The Streak by Ray Stevens and him yelling "Don't look Ethel!! But it was too late. She'd already been mooned."  Sorry.

I'm so glad to be finished and I'm not going to tease you by telling you I'm already working on the next one (even though I am!).  I'm going to have a drawing on February 14th amongst all the people who have purchased the Evelyn Apron Skirt pattern and the winner will get a 50.00 gift certificate to Fabritopia (I'll pay shipping!).  Fun (and I'll have tons of new stuff by then)!

I just found out the Oh Cherry Oh has shipped so I should have that by Monday and I've ordered 27 bolts of Wonderland (a big apology to those who wanted the Mary Engelbreit line)!  Thank you all for helping me decide!

And a big thanks for the well wishes on my Dad's 70th birthday!  I think he had a nice day and he's got a lot of fun things planned for the next 30 years (should be good)!

Big day for the Big Kahuna

Well today is my dad's 70th birthday.  I want to introduce you to my dad because he is seriously the coolest guy ever.  His name is John Ford (I'm named after him) and he was born in a shack in the Ozarks and is the middle child of 5 (the 5 that survived childhood, that is).  He could write a book about his childhood but it would read like Angela's Ashes.  He contracted polio as a boy and underwent the treatment devised by Elizabeth Kenny who had recently brought her methods to America (little history lesson there for you).  It's a miracle he was able to walk away from polio (and I think it helped turn him into the kick-ass guy he became).

His family picked up and moved to Portland when he was still a child.  He started high school, but never completed his freshman year.  He moved out of the house and was taken in and mentored by a man who changed his life and got him a job driving a delivery truck.  He found out later that he was delivering to the local brothels!  On his 17th birthday (53 years ago today) he joined the Navy and begin traveling the world.  When he was 19 he and his best buddy Larry decided it would be fun stuff to jump off the Sellwood Bridge (Sailors + Beer = "Hey, wouldn't it be fun to jump off of one of the tallest bridges in Portland?").  Larry lost his front teeth in the plunge but my dad came through intact (okay, my dad just corrected me and now claims he jumped in to save Larry).  Last week he and Larry went sky-diving (and I'm sure they got in a bar fight on the way home but they're not talking).  These guys got a bucket list a mile long.

Here's my dad with his "God, I loved that car" Astin Martin (the coolness was just beginning).  (Okay, I've been corrected.  It's an Austin Heeley not an Astin Martin.  Like I'm supposed to know that.) ;)

As soon as he got out of the Navy he stole Larry's girlfriend (well, that's the way Larry tells it but my mom says otherwise), married her and proceeded to produce 3 daughters in 4 years.

Here they are with the cute daughter:

Around this time he decided it would be really cool to take up competitive speed skiing (the water kind, not snow) and that kept him pretty happy for awhile until a cool new sport showed up on the horizon.

He became the first man to hang glide in Oregon and in the Spring of 1973 he flew his hang glider right over the top of the newly opened Fremont Bridge (much taller than the Sellwood).  Here he is at the Oregon coast.  We spent a lot of time here getting sand in our underpants.

In 1974 he went to Alaska to work as a foreman on the Alaska Pipeline for a year. It was a long year for our family but it moved us from public assistance up to the middle class (insert Theme from The Jeffersons here).  When he returned we bought a 28 foot motor home and spent the summer of '75 traveling the U S of A.  We hit 36 states (Oregon to Florida to Maine and everywhere in between) and 5 hang gliding tournaments.  We stopped at every roadside marker in the country and saw every oddity there is to see.  Worlds biggest ball of twine?  Seen it.  Cadillac Ranch?  Been there.  Lincoln's outhouse?  Yup.

My dad slowed down a bit in his 40's.  He'd had a couple of leg breaks while hang gliding (well multiple breaks on two occasions) and I think he decided to stay in the boat after that.  He got his pilots license and bought partnership in a little Cessna and that seemed to keep him happy.

My dad has obviously played hard his whole life but he has worked even harder.  He had started his own plumbing business in the 70's and moved to Arizona with it (and my mom!).  I honestly don't know anyone who has worked as hard as my dad works and my parents enjoy a darn good life because of it (my mom worked as a nurse for nearly 40 years so he had help!).  He showed all of us girls how to work hard and have a "seize the day" outlook.  I think us girls all suffer from a bit of over-confidence, but that's what happens when you spend your life being told you're the "smartest and prettiest girls in town and don't you feel sorry for all the other girls?".  And now all the granddaughters get the speech so they're developing big heads too.

But I really think the best thing he taught us was gratitude.  What a beautiful gift gratitude is.  My dad had a super crappy childhood but he didn't let that baggage stop him from doing great things and if you ask him, he will tell you that he is the luckiest guy in town.  He's right!

Happy Birthday Daddy! 
From one of the 3 luckiest girls in town (and don't I feel sorry for all the other girls?  Yes!)!

Too much buzzing and not enough zzzzzzzzzing

I've had so much going on this week it's been impossible to sleep because my mind won't shut off even though my body wants to.  But I've tied up quite a few loose ends today and I think that will help me rest a little easier.  I'm happy because I received a bunch more Darla and Robots fabrics today and it wasn't at the new, higher price (I'm sure that will start with the Flower Power that's coming).  So I'm holding my prices while trying to come up with some creative ideas for keeping my store fun and affordable. 

I think it's one of those cases where adversity creates opportunity because it has caused me to open accounts with a few more manufacturers and I think that will bring a fun variety to Fabritopia.  I did manage to get some Freshcut at a discounted price so I'm passing the savings on to my customers (it's out of production which breaks my fabric loving heart).

But since my brain is moving into neutral here I wanted to do something fun that required no energy.  So in order to fill your weekend with an aura of anticipation I'm having a give-away.  I've got some end-of-the-bolt pieces of Darla and they're just sitting here about to gather dust.  It totals about 48 inches so you could have some scrappy fun with it.  Plus I'm throwing in this set of 3 adorable Martha Stewart Kitchen Towels.  Just leave an incredibly fascinating comment.  Or you can just leave a regular comment because I'm going to use that random.org thing (and it doesn't know the difference between a fascinating comment and a regular old comment).

Have a wonderful weekend and don't kiss any ink pads (because you could end up looking like this).

The good, the bad, and the ugly

I'm scrambling to finish my Sew Simple article and it's going well but I wanted to stop and post about a few things going on.  The first ("the good") is just a little icebreaker, plus I didn't want to make a "pictureless" post.  The others ("the bad, and the ugly") are on the more serious side.

First the good! I got another little package this this week from a member of our little virtual quilting bee. These adorable fabrics are from Leslie from a friend to knit with.  She says "anything goes!".   It should be fun!

Now for the bad.  I just found out Westminster Fabrics (which includes Free Spirit and Rowan) has raised their prices and if that didn't sting already, as of February 1st they are requiring all of their retailers to list their fabric at the full suggested retail price (putting it at 9.50 yd).  I know.  Ouch.  It's around 25.00 yd in Europe so it could be worse, right (I know, lame attempt at perspective).  Now, as a retailer I have to admit it has been very disheartening to try to make money but have a good price (I have had a list price of 8.20 yd this past year) and then see the same products listed on etsy for 6.75 yd.  But I'm not sure how helpful this response is given the current economy.  Westminster is also requiring that retailers keep their fabrics at the full retail price for a whole year before discounting it (this will probably make it "riskier" to order a full line if there's a good chance some won't sell and we can't mark them down to move them out).  Retailers who fail to uphold these new rules risk losing the privilege of ordering from Westminster for a whole year.

Now I don't think this stops retailers like myself from having sales (maybe there will be a lot more sales?!) or bulk order discounts but I'm going to have to do some research before I know the full implications of these changes.  There is a very good post about it at True up that I suggest you read if you want more information (and a better explanation than the one I just gave).  On the plus side, remember that Westminster makes a beautiful product (and I have found all the people I've dealt with there to be very helpful and nice) and I'm sure they will continue to do so.  And I will do whatever I can to continue to bring great products to you at the best price I can!

Now for the ugly.  I don't know if you've heard about CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act) but if you are a home crafter (of any kind) who makes money selling your creations, this new law will affect you!  Rather than try to post on this I'm going to provide you with links that explain it so much better than I ever could.  It's basically an extreme over-reaction to the Chinese lead laden toys we were inundated with last year.  Please be informed!
Patty Young has a great post here.
Happy Panda spells it out in dollars and cents here.
Sign a petition to get it on the new presidents desk this month.
Facebook group here.

Sorry to be the bearer of not so great news but there are still so many great things going on in the wonderful world of quilting and sewing this year that I think we'll manage to work through it all!!  Keep on sewing!!

(I'll send out updates when I receive them so please be sure to join my mailing list at the bottom of the sidebar or the bottom of Fabritopia's homepage).

Stardate: January 8th...The natives are trying to rebel...but I blog on...

We are busy getting back into the swing of things here and it's just about killing me. I know some people thrive on schedules. They love and hug and kiss their beloved schedules. I resent having to be scheduled but I think it may be an evil necessity in order to avoid a Lord of the Flies scenario around here. So onward and upward, etc., etc, yada, yada....

 I finally got my Apron in an Hour tutorial and Perfect Pillowcase tutorial (I'm not sure why I named it the "Perfect" Pillowcase but I guess it's easier to remember than the Pillowcase That Anyone Can Sew Even If You Have No Idea What You're Doing tutorial) in pdf format. Well actually Joey put it in pdf format but if he wants to get credit for it he needs to get his own blog. So if you want to download the apron, go here and if you want the pillowcase, go here. We tried to scrunch them down so they don't take too many pages.  Fun!

Here's the Robots pillowcase I made for Skate and he just loves it (his old one was plain navy blue so this is a vast improvement).  The only problem is he now thinks all of this fabric is his and he tries to take the whole bolt if I'm not looking.  I love this fabric, it's so happy.

Here's something cute and thrifty that Peety made. She got the fabric at Savers (our favorite thrift store) and it's a really nice gold velveteen. The embroidery patterns are from the Sublime Stitching Book. I love that book even though I never get to use it (my girls have taken it over but that's okay). 

Okay, I need some help here.  I want to order another Spring line from Moda but I'm not sure which one to choose. I'm trying to decide between the new Mary Engelbreit line and the Wonderland line. Here's a peek at the Mary Engelbreit line:

And here's a peek at the Wonderland line:

Let me know what you think.  You can get better looks here and here.

And I've been keeping a secret for a few weeks.  I've been asked by the editor of Sew Simple Magazine (my favorite sewing magazine!) to write up an article/project for an upcoming issue and I'm still pinching myself.  And it's a paying gig!  I have to keep it under wraps for awhile but I'll release a few details as it gets closer.  In the meantime I'm scrambling to get it done (I have a week to finish) but I'll try not to disappear.  Keep on sewing!

Trying to start with a clean slate (and zombie feet)

We're trying to tidy up our store here and catch up on our shipments (everything's going out Monday then we'll be back to getting orders shipped right away). I just want my sewing room clean and Joey just wants all the business stuff tidied up.  I guess that makes us a good team (as long as we're not crabbing at each other).

I got my cutting/creating table all tidied up and ready for the new year and I'm hoping I can stay on top of it daily instead of waiting until it's so cluttered that it steals my creativity.  I don't mind a little clutter while I'm working on a few things but it does reach a point where I can't even think straight because of the mess.  No resolutions here, just a little effort to make some small changes.

I went to get a pedicure/manicure yesterday and it was a nice treat but not my favorite thing in the world. I had a gift certificate from some great friends and yesterday was the expiration day so it was a "now or never" sort of thing.  Next time I'll bring some hand stitching for the pedicure part since I hate just sitting there with nothing to do. 
I've been really obsessed with the Kirman Grey fabric by Kaffe Fassett and I used it to determine the colors for my toenails.  When I got home Joey looked at them and said "Well I like the design but the color makes your feet look like zombie feet".  So I ripped his arm off and ate it (sorry, just a little zombie humor there).

I think feet are just ugly so I apologize for showing mine.

I figured as long as I was at the salon I would have my eyebrows waxed which I really like (not the ripping pain, but the tidy outcome).  While the gal was doing my eyebrows she asked me if I wanted my upper lip done since I had "long hair" there.  Excuse me?  Thanks, but no thanks.

I noticed a lot of customers are buying the fabrics for the apron in my December 9th post so I've decided to put some apron kits in the store to make it easier to get just what you need and not have leftovers (I love left over fabric but maybe some folks don't?).  I'll make up some Darla kits as soon as all of my back-ordered fabrics arrive.  I'm going to put the Apron in an Hour tutorial in a pdf format (as well as the pillowcase tutorial) to make it easier to download and print.

And I thought I would show you what a napping redneck toddler looks like.  We snuck in to see if he had finally gone to sleep (we're having a little trouble with naptime these days) and we caught him with his brother's pellet gun (and extra ammo!).  Those monsters don't dare come out from under the bed now.

Sigh.