by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 15, 2015
I’m happy to share another tutorial with you today! And another baby tutorial with the most perfect baby fabric – Cuddle by Shannon Fabrics! Sew Sisters Quilt Shop has sponsored this tutorial and you can find the Play ‘n Snuggle Mini Blanket Tutorial on their blog.
This tutorial incorporates Dimpled and Solid Cuddle fabric – the softest fabric ever! I’ve got a fun idea I’m hoping to pull together for some simple kid Christmas gifts using it, and I think my husband would like one too. Perfect for Cuddle-ing. (See what I did there!) Sew up this beginner friendly afternoon project for your baby or someone else’s.
You can find the tutorial on the Sew Sisters blog – Play ‘n Snuggle Mini Blanket Tutorial!
+ Make sure you head over for your chance to win the Cuddle you need to make the blanket!
by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 8, 2015
I’m happy to be able to feature another Canadian Online Fabric Store interview today! Meet Melissa, owner of Funky Monkey Fabrics. Today she’s offering you a discount and a bundle giveaway from her shop! Funky Monkey Fabrics is based out of Ontario, Canada and they ship worldwide. (The giveaway is open internationally as well!)
“I started my sewing and embroidery business, Custom Creations, in 2009 while on Maternity leave with my first baby. After a few years of driving to the USA for fabric I opened up my fabric shop in 2013. I started with about 10 bolts of fabric and now have over 2000 products available in my store! It’s been a lot of hard work, but I have the most amazing customers and I get to cut beautiful fabric every day… It doesn’t get much better than this!” ~ Melissa, Funky Monkey Fabrics
I’ve been to Melissa’s shop a few times, but it wasn’t until recently that I realized just how much stock she has. And so varied! Take a look at all the notions she carries… everything you need to make your project – all in one place. Plus, I know a lot of you have kids that love licensed fabrics – she’s got cotton Minions and Disney knits! So good!
Just to show how varied her stock is – here are a few of my favorites. I had a hard time choosing only 6! I guess you’ll have to go and peruse the rest on her website… or, if you’d prefer and live near Varna, Ontario – book a visit to her shop. Melissa has a “by appointment” retail location open pretty much daily during school hours. If you can’t make it there, she is willing to match fabrics and send you a photo so you get exactly what you are expecting!
Thread Riding Hood: Why did you decide to start Funky Monkey Fabrics?
Melissa: I started Funky Monkey Fabrics because I couldn’t find the fabric I was looking for in Canada. There were lots of places to buy in the USA but there was a void here. I wanted to bring the fun, popular, & modern fabrics here at competitive prices so other Canadians didn’t have to worry about duty, exchange, long shipping times etc.
Thread Riding Hood: What is your favorite type of sewing project? Quilting, Apparel… ?
Melissa: I recently started experimenting with knits, so right now I’m having a lot of fun sewing clothes for my kids!
Thread Riding Hood: What is something coming up in the near future that you are especially excited about?
Melissa: My husband is building me floor to ceiling shelving because I have maxed out the space I have. So that means I will have more room for MORE FABRIC! I am continuously bringing in new stock. Recently I have added Double Gauze, Essex Linen, a variety of stabilizers, and a wide range of knits to my store.
Thread Riding Hood: Thanks Melissa!
How would you like the chance to get $50 worth of fabric from Funky Monkey Fabrics?! Melissa is amazing and has offered one lucky reader the chance win just that!
This giveaway is open to everyone, from today (October 8) until midnight October 14, 2015. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter – and if you don’t have Facebook to sign in with, just use your name and email address. There’s a “click to enter”, no social media login entry too!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Check out the amazing amount of inventory at Funky Monkey Fabrics and get a discount when you buy your favorites! You know you need some project supplies right?!
Use the discount code “TRH10” to save 10% on your order at Funky Monkey Fabrics until October 19, 2015!
Here are a few more pretty things to get you started!
Thanks for reading. Don’t miss a post – Follow along below!
Disclosure and Privacy Policy: I asked Funky Monkey Fabrics to be a part of this series. I will never recommend or highlight a shop that I do not love, and my opinions will and have always been my own. Thanks for reading!
by Sherri Sylvester | Sep 17, 2015
Today we are using my new favorite fabric to sew for babies! Recently Sew Sisters Quilt Shop asked if I’d like to write a tutorial using their double gauze. Double Gauze you say? Oh, yes please! First on the list, a baby swaddle blanket – great for the cuteness factor. (P.S. Enter to win the double gauze you need to make this project!)
You can find the tutorial on the Sew Sisters blog – Easy Double Gauze Swaddle Blanket Tutorial, with a Hood!
Sew Sisters Quilt Shop stocks Embrace Double Gauze (by Shannon Fabrics). It is perfectly light, breathable and it comes in lots of great colours and patterns! (I used Fun Dot Blue). Since double gauze swaddle blankets are really popular – for good reason! – it’s a great idea for a baby shower gift. Or swaddle your own babies for less than the store bought version.
This blanket uses only one metre of fabric and a few weekend hours. You’ll even have a large-ish scrap left over. What to do with the scraps, you say? Well, thanks for asking! How about making a matching doll size hooded swaddle blanket? It is the perfect gift for the older sibling. They can swaddle their “baby” and be just like a Mommy and Daddy!
Doll-Size Hooded Swaddle Blanket Tutorial
To make the doll-sized blanket, cut your fabric as indicated below. Follow all straight grain and sewing instructions in the baby sized tutorial here: Easy Double Gauze Swaddle Blanket Tutorial, with a Hood. This doll-size blanket will fit pretty well any doll about 9-14″ tall. (The doll pictured is 11″ tall.)
Cutting your fabric:
Be sure to cut both necessary pieces for this project along the straight grain, or at right angles to it (see link in the tutorial above). Both squares below fit within the scrap left over from the original baby blanket. Be sure to plan how best to fit them in before cutting!
- Pre-wash and press your fabric.
- Cut one 10″ square, this will be the hood.
- Cut one square for the blanket that is between 15-20″. This dimension depends on how large of a scrap you have left over.
Sewing the Doll-Size Blanket:
What are your favorite double-gauze tutorials?
Thanks for reading. Follow along and join me for “thread ride”!
by Sherri Sylvester | Sep 9, 2015
Today’s project… (Yes, I know it’s late afternoon!) is to work with these fabrics to make a myriad of “pencil” cases for my oldest to take to school. Both girls started back again yesterday. Thankfully with lots of excitement, and they were still happy when they got home, Day 1 success. It’s pretty hard to believe that our oldest is in grade 3 this year!
Reminds me I should hold on tight, soon they will be graduating high school!
I’ve been reworking our office lately and am feeling the push to de-stash again. There’s just SO MUCH fabric! I’d love to sew all the things, but I know in reality (and from experience) that I can’t use up the giant bin or teeny tiny scraps, or all of the knit fabrics. Maybe one day soon you will see an Instagram de-stash happening… just as soon as I research how in the world to pull one off!
The little piles of fabric were made by my oldest. In an effort to let go of some of my favorites, I decided to give her open access to my smaller scrap shelf. It’s mostly full of fat quarter sized pieces that I’m sure I’d know what to do with if I was a quilter. The photo above is only the “good stuff”. I don’t even want to think about the “by colour” sorted baggies in the bin under my desk…. or the “smaller than small” pieces I’ve got put away!
Speaking of stashing fabric….
Public Service Annoucement/Fabric Enabler: Double Decker Fabric is back for a short while. This Canadian online shop is closing and all remaining stock must go! Get 40% off on all quilting cottons and amazing pricing on solids. Don’t miss out! (P.S. They ship within Canada and the US! P.P.S This is not a sponsored post, I love supporting Canadian and this is a great shop!)
(Oh, and note to the weatherman… rain for the first two days of school should not be allowed! “First Day of School” outfits and boots just don’t match!)
I’m Curious… If you are not a quilter, what do you do with your small scraps?
by Sherri Sylvester | Jul 24, 2015
Hooray, it’s finally time to reveal who won the Thanks to YOU Week Giveaways!
As usual this is bittersweet for me, I’d love to give prizes to everyone! That said, I am super happy for the 14 winners! Many thanks to these amazing shops for providing our generous prizes!
Note: All winners were selected randomly using the Rafflecopter widget selection system. Thanks!
by Sherri Sylvester | Jul 20, 2015
It’s your last day to enter the 11 amazing Thanks to YOU Week Giveaways. Tonight (July 20th) at midnight EST they will close and tomorrow I’m so excited to find out who will win! (Winners will be posted later this week.)
I also really love the sewing tips that we got from our giveaway sponsors and thought they should all be in one place – just in case you skipped over them in your hurry to fill out the entry form! A lot of these are new-to-me tips, and I love learning something new, especially when it saves me time and brain power!
Which of these sewing tips is your new favorite?
| Bebe’s Sewing Tip: The majority of my quilts come from patterns I find in magazines or books. When I’m working on a pattern from a magazine (or book) I find it a pain to have to keep looking back and forth at a magazine/book that’s sitting on a table. I’m always losing my spot on the page or the page flips. Depending on how many different cuts I have to make I have two things that help me.
1) I use a recipe book holder to hold my magazine/book while I’m working. This stops the pages from flipping and I find it easier to look at instructions when they are upright. I also use those reusable “sign here” labels that are used for documents to keep my place on the page. As I complete a cut I move the arrow to the next one.
2) Depending on how many different cuts I have to do sometimes I transfer the cutting instructions onto a dry erase board and erase as I do the cuts. ~ Canadian National Fabric |
| Sylvia’s Sewing Tip: Remember those little reinforcements we used (back in the day) on our paper for our binders? Well, they are a great way to label your sewing machine bobbins, so you won’t forget which thread you have on which bobbin – you can find them at your dollar store or stationary store. ~ Country Clothesline |
| Rita’s Sewing Tip: Maintenance is key – sewing machine maintenance (cleaning, change needles), personal maintenance (Hydrate – drink water, move/stretch often), tool maintenance (change rotary blades). The maker is only as good as his tools! They need not be expensive – just in good working order. ~ Fabric Please! |
| Daryl’s Sewing Tip: My best sewing tip is to take on something you’ve never sewn before. If you’re a quilter – make a dress, if you sew bags – slip-cover a chair. There is so much helpful information on blogs like Thread Riding Hood, your hand will be held every step of the way, and sewing is one of the most transferable skills there is. It will open up a whole new world of creative opportunities.~ Fabric Spark |
| Jill’s Sewing Tip: I have a scrap piece of fabric that I ALWAYS start sewing on before I start stitching – to prevent that snarl of stitches underneath your work or even worse – the edge being eaten by your machine! ~ Fishskin Fabric |
| Marlene’s Sewing Tip: Press, don’t iron. Press once to set your seam, then either press the seam to either one side or open. Then press again from the front. Pressing means picking your iron up and moving it along the fabric, overlapping as you go. Don’t iron! Ironing — where you slide the iron in a back and forth motion across the fabric — easily stretches and distorts the fabric. And don’t wait until the end to press – press as you go. This is true whether you’re sewing a quilt, clothing or — well, actually anything and everything. ~ Flare Fabrics |
| Alanna’s Sewing Tip: When sew garments always sew up a muslin first, it’s time consuming but so worth it. ~ Fridays Off Fabric Shop |
| Pam’s Sewing Tip: Use the best thread you can afford. We tend to spend a lot of money on fabric, but forget that the thread is going to have to hold it all together. My favourite is Aurifil. ~ Mad About Patchwork |
| Nikki’s Sewing Tip: My favorite sewing tip, although technically not a “tip”, is to listen to audio books while you sew. I’ve listened to so many great books (everyone, you HAVE to listen to The Girl With All the Gifts) while sewing, and it makes sewing twice as much fun! ~ Seam Allowance |
| Judy’s Sewing Tip: When you need to keep colours sorted while sewing – why not look in your baking cupboard? I sort small pieces into muffin cups and strips onto cookie sheets. At the end of the day they can be tidied up easily just by stacking them up! (Works great for Lego projects too!) ~ Sew Sisters |
| Lisa’s Sewing Tip: Never be afraid to try something new, you will be surprised at what you can do! ~ Stay Home Fabrics |
