I have to apologize for the sound quality. I got all the bits recorded then discovered it was a little jumpy. Also, this was recorded before we went to Hawaii, so it’s not totally up to date. But I figured you’d want it one way or the other LOL

Right click to download

 

Happy Spring! This little friend met me for breakfast last week.

Great DIY silkscreening tutorial All you need is :

a t-shirt, yucky/cheap paint brushes, an embroidery hoop, screen printing ink (I use Speedball brand), a glue that isn’t water-soluble (I use Mod Podge), curtain sheer material/tulle/old nylons, and a computer with a printer (or a good hand for drawing things).

Another DIY silkscreening tutorial

Also called cellulose transfer, you can use nail polish remover and copies or laser printouts to do this fun method!
Thimble

here’s another cool site on image transfers:
http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/imageblend.html

check out the royalty-free image books from dover, they are awesome.
http://store.doverpublications.com/

Make some food!

Colorfool has some great sewn food items, she used for a swap. There are some links on craftster and a really neat how to on making cakes! If you look at the Japanese crafting books, you’ll find many with felt, knit, crocheted and sewn foods. Wool felt feels best to me, but you can get wool/rayon blend felts at JoAnn’s.

Book Finds– I’ll talk about this on my next podcast but wanted to share:

You can find a few of the most popular Japanese crafting books translated into English! These titles are available from Amazon (US)

A few really neat ‘bucket’ items you could use for sewing organization:

You can print out free tape measures to keep your measurements handy!

Yelp is a neat site, reviews written by real people. I have a page for places I visit, join in and add sewing shops of your own! I like the fact that I can add in my own experiences, and see those of others. This is a great resource for when you are in an unfamiliar city and you need to find a fabric store.

Interested in selling at indie craft shows? Here is a great resource for you.

Have you thought about joining the ASG? (American Sewing Guild) Well, I interviewed some women at the booth up in Pullyap and wanted to share some great stuff with you!

Reviews.

I sewed up some mama clothes! I tried out Vogue 8151 New Look 6470 and Simplicity 6470

Dresses for the little girls:

McCall’s bloomer’s pattern 4505

Shirred peasant dress with ruffle — I make my girls is McCall’s 3417, I modified it to be three pieces rather than four — I changed the front of it to one wider piece.
I gather the front and back for dresses, just the front for jammies.

You can use a knit or woven. Fabric from Nicole at Fabric Hound. It sewed up really nice!