Giveaway Day: Foxy Pleated Pouch

Welcome to Giveaway Day (week!) via Sew, Mama, Sew!

I recently changed my shop name from a.Amelia handmade to accesSEWrize handmade, and to celebrate I'm giving away this cute foxy pleated pouch.  It is sized to hold business cards, credit cards, coffee punch cards, etc.  It has a magnetic snap closure and a D-ring that can be attached to your key ring.

Just use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter.  Thanks for stopping by!

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Giveaway Day: Fabric de-stash

Welcome to Giveaway Day (well, week) via Sew, Mama, Sew!

I have had this great fabric by Lizzie House in my stash for far too long without finding just the right project for it, so I'm offering it up to you instead.  It includes a half yard each of the top two, and about a quarter yard of the bottom print.

Just use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter.  Thanks for stopping by!


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a.Amelia handmade is now accesSEWrize handmade

Big news around here!  In an effort to make my shop name more descriptive of what I love to create, I am changing the name to...

I absolutely love my new logo.  My very creative cousin over at Harvest Joy Designs made it for me.  She took my ideas and used her graphic design genius to give them life.  Thanks so much, Amy!

So, what will this change mean for you?  Well, not a whole lot, since you are probably already familiar with the fun accessories that I like to stitch up.  But since I'm entering a new market with my products (hello, Sitka, Alaska!), it's a good time to make the switch.  I originally named my business after my daughter, who loves fun fabric prints probably even more than I do. Now it's time to take my shop to the next level, and that starts with a snappy new name!

Keep an eye out on my Facebook page.  Facebook has approved my business name change effective April 15, so I will be hosting a giveaway to celebrate!  You can already find my new name in my Etsy shop, and I will be stocking it with all new items for sale soon.

If you're in Sitka, come on down and see me on April 12 at the Rainy Day Bazaar, from 10-4 at the Harrigan Centennial Hall.

Meridian Cardigan: pattern tour and giveaway!

You haven't heard much from me lately.  Not at all in the past three months, really.  Well...remember how our family just moved over the summer.  Surprise! We're moving again.  Back to Alaska. In two weeks.  Thank you, US Coast Guard.  We are very excited to go back so soon.  But it was really unexpected, so we have been scurrying around trying to get all the details figured out.  Before all of this came about, I signed on as a stop on the imagine gnats pattern tour.  I'm so glad I did, as it gave me a good reason to get out my much-neglected sewing supplies and make up something cute.

In honor of my girlie's 8th birthday, I chose to make the girls' Meridian Cardigan.  Today is her birthday, in fact.  And she has all the sass that an 8-year-old should.

This pattern was really simple to sew up, and it came out just fine using an easy zigzag stitch.  Getting a serger is at the top of my to-do list!

I got these adorable knits from Girl Charlee.  I have been looking for an excuse to place an order from her, and am so glad I finally found one.

My favorite part about the cardi?  It's reversible!  Because sometimes you feel like a bunny, and sometimes you don't.  Can you tell we have a *tiny* obsession with purple?

This pattern is rock-jumping approved.  And that's important when you're eight.

All patterns in the imagine gnats pattern shop are 20% off for the month of January with the code "januarytour"so be sure to stop by and take a look at the selections for kids and adults.

Even better, you can enter to win a copy for yourself.  Just use the Rafflecopter widget below.  Winner will be chosen on January 31, after the movers have left my house with all of my stuff!  Leave a comment on my blog with your best moving tip for an extra entry.

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Quick and Easy Halloween School Treat

This isn't sewing-related, but you have probably figured out by now, especially if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, that I love to bake, too.  Last year, I made some awesome pretzel and white chocolate spider web treats for my son's pre-k class.  I planned to make the same this year for kindergarten.  But then I realized that he has 150% more kids in his class this year (25!!).  And the spider webs take quite awhile to get just right.  Not to mention that we walk to school every day, and I am afraid of what would happen to them if they got ostled around.  So I simplified the treat into spiders.

Eight legs.
White chocolate chips melted to make a dollop in the middle for the body.
Two raisin eyes.
Done!
And easy enough for my kindergartener to help with.  We love the combination of the salty pretzels and sweet white chocolate.  Just enough for a treat, but not so much sugar that the kids go batty!

Simple Cork Board Makeover

With school in full swing, my refrigerator is getting cluttered up with drawings and spelling tests.  And they always fly off when the dog passes by with his big tail wagging.  I seem to have found my crafty mojo again (finally!!), so we did a quick project today to help the kids organize their own favorite pieces of school work (and get them out of the kitchen).

We bought simple cork bulletin boards at Ikea.

Everything else came from my stash.  I let the kids choose a fabric.  Good thing, too, because they both chose something that I wouldn't have expected them to like.  I cut each fabric into a rectangle about an inch and a half wider on each side than the framed bulletin board.  I didn't worry about exact measurements.

Then I went through my glue selection and found this!  I sprayed each board very well with glue, centered the fabric over it, and then just smoothed it on.  Then I turned the boards around, sprayed the frame edges, and wrapped the fabric toward the back.

Voila!  They came out better than I expected for the little time they took.

I always go to fabric first when trying to pretty something up.  And this time it didn't even involve the sewing machine.  I love easy projects!

Some sewing for you, some sewing for me

We are in a new school district this year, and the schedule has really thrown us for a loop.  Now that I have one in kindergarten and one in second grade, everyone asks me what I do all day while they're in school.  Th answer: I run around like a crazy person.  My little guy in K gets out of school earlier than my daughter in 2nd.  Every day of the week.  Three days a week, he comes home shortly after lunch.  The other two days, he gets out a bit later, but still an hour earlier than the upper grades.  So I walk to and from school three times per day.  Make that 4 if it's Monday, because that's my day to volunteer in kindergarten.  After a month of school, I'm still trying to figure out how to fit in working out and household chores.  Sewing is squeezed in here and there, but not nearly as much as I would like!

I came up with a grand idea a couple of weeks ago to focus the business aspect of my sewing a bit more, and concentrate on one of my favorite things to make: wallets.  I'd like to eventually have everything streamlined down to two collections, one featuring fun prints (The Whimsy Collection) and one with a bit more versatile solids and just a pop of color on the inside (The Classic Collection).  The idea was to whip up samples of three or four wallet styles in each collection, and launch them all at once in my shop.  But with my current schedule, that could take months!  Still keeping the same general game plan in mind, I'm going to give you a sneak peek of the first in the Whimsy Collection right here.  These are the largest wallets I will be making, from a pattern by Emmaline Bags.  For me, this is the ultimate wallet for organizing everything in one place.  It has 12 card slots, an inside zip pocket for change, two slip pockets for checkbook/cash/receipts, and extra spots inside where you can even stash your phone.  I added a wrist strap and could make a long cross-body strap as well.  Here are some quick snaps to give you an idea of the style:

 I'm still working out the pricing on these, factoring in materials and the time it takes to make them, as they are very detailed.  Next on my list is to make up some in solid canvas and linen.

Now to the sewing for ME part!  Have you heard about Selfish Sewing Week?  It's next week, and the perfect reason for me to put aside my other projects and focus on several that have been on the back burner for myself.

I went to Jo-Ann's today after realizing that I may need to tone down my fabric choices a bit from those in my stash if I am going to make something that I will actually wear. I had planned to use these: a beautiful (but large-scale) print voile and a minty striped knit.

My plan is to finally make myself a Washi Dress, and also try out this knit skirt from icandy handmade.

I got a more subdued gray and gold geometric print for the dress, and some brown knit for the skirt that I plan to add an applique to.  I also found a lawn on the sale rack that may end up as a tunic version of the Washi Dress.  If I have time.  Ha.

Now to get everything cut out this weekend so that next week, all I have to do is sew, sew, sew.