All tagged love aunt maggie

small sewing shop spotlight

hope everyone had an awesome turkey day! mine consisted of putting my cat in a purple polkadot bow tie, frying one turkey, smoking another, and chopping wood.

as an american it's my duty to support the economy on black friday, so in this post i'll share some of my favorite small business sewing shops.

why do i love small sewing shops? 

cat toy tutorial

if it's not incredibly obvious, i love my cat. chairman percy fitzwallace aka fitz came into our lives this january and is never leaving.

growing up with dogs i never thought I would be a cat person, but I am definitely a fitz person.

today i am going to share a tutorial for some owl shaped cat nip toys i made him.

so very retro (part one)

a little while back vic's mom asked if i would like some vintage sewing notions and patterns. you see the mother of one of her friends had passed away and the friend could only part with her mother's things if she knew they were going to a good home.  

well i was happy to provide said home, and today i'll share some of the wonderful things i received.

a belated thank you (part one)

as previously mentioned my hippie parents didn't enforce a lot of rules. 

however there were guidelines they, well really my mom, believed everyone should follow: always drive slower and more carefully than you feel is necessary (especially in bad weather), perform at least one random act of kindness each and every day, don't leave candles or anything that burns unattended (better yet just don't burn anything inside), and always say thank you. 

toy tea bag tutorial

sometimes it's the simplest and easiest projects that bring my nieces the most joy. 

my sister sammie is exactly the kind of mom i, as the biggest recipient of her nurturing instincts for 26 years, always knew she would be. that is to say she's amazing. she's warm, caring, disciplined when need be, and most of all really fun. so when i see maya idolizing her, hanging on to her every word, and wanting nothing more than to be like sammie, i can totally relate.

recent happenings

for the past two months all but one of my blog posts have been about old projects. (i guess is the blog version of stash busting?)

while I still have a fair amount of posts lined up i wanted to end the month by sharing more recent pictures. some updates of things you've seen before and some previews of projects i've been working on.

bubble tea dresses

have i mentioned nora and etta are quite girly? well they are. i however am not. so it's a constant struggle to find fabrics that are sweet enough for them but not too saccharine for me.

when i saw this amy butler lark print at stonemountain & daughter i instantly knew two things: a) nora and etta would love wearing it and b) i wouldn't mind sewing it. so i picked up a few yards and waited for the right inspiration.

diy fabric label tutorial

all this week we'll be talking about techniques to make your sewing more professional. today it's all about labels.

when i first started sewing i ordered my labels online. however i always felt they were a tad overpriced ($1 apiece), took a little too long arrive (6 weeks or more), and no matter how much time i spent designing them they didn't quite have the look i was going for. so last year i decided to try making my own. they turned out great so i thought i would share my process.