From the category archives:

Fabric Crafts

Learn Heirloom Sewing (and enter the giveaway), from Sew Beautiful Magazine

August 10, 2010

A lot of the garment-sewing coverage in our crafty blogosphere seeks to simplify the process. Which is sometimes too bad, because there’s so much beauty to be had in older, more ornate sewing techniques like pin-tucking, lace mitering, and sewing with entredeux.
What’s entredeux? It’s a very fine eyelet trim that’s used to join two pieces [...]

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eMag Review: Quilting Arts In Stitches

July 8, 2010

All images in this post are used with the permission of Interweave.

Interweave was kind enough to send me a preview copy of a really interesting digital-publishing adventure they’re launching. It’s called Quilting Arts In Stitches, and they’re calling it an eMag.

I’m all about innovations in publishing (I may have mentioned this at some point), so [...]

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Review and Giveaway: Whip Up Mini Quilts

June 2, 2010

Yippee! We’re the second stop on the blog tour for Whip Up Mini Quilts, the new book from Kathreen Ricketson of Whipup.net.
(Some disclosures: that’s an affiliate link, and Chronicle Books sent me a review copy.)
I’ve been really excited to see this book, because I love the art of quilting, but my living space and ancient [...]

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Recent Tutorials: a Garden Caddy & a Recycled Vase

April 26, 2010
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We’re busy this week getting ready for How to Host Your Own Blog, so I thought I’d share some crafty I’ve done for other people lately.

Over on CRAFT, I did this tutorial for an oilcloth garden tool caddy as part of their Bloom garden project series.

…It unfolds to reveal pockets for your tools, and [...]

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Three Easter Baskets to Make

March 22, 2010
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ACK! Well, I had planned to have a nice, new Easter basket tutorial for you today, but then I lost a couple days to some mystery illness, and now I’m playing catch-up.

So instead, I’ll share tutorials for three Easter baskets I did last year…

This paper basket is based on the traditional woven paper heart. The [...]

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How to Make a Yo-Yo Pincushion

March 16, 2010
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This design showed up in my sketchbook a long time ago, but I resisted making it because I really don’t need another pincushion. But I do have a pretty serious yo-yo habit, and finally broke down when I couldn’t resist playing with my yo-yo maker any longer.

So, this project begins with 6 to 8 yo-yos. [...]

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Ebook Review: Stitch Village

February 17, 2010

I love Joan Gorman’s blog, NiniMakes, so I was super excited when she sent me a copy of her new ebook, Stitch Village.
And it’s utterly charming, just as I thought it would be. Joan came up with the idea while looking through her collection of vintage needlecraft booklets, and you can see the vintage influence [...]

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How to Make a Simple V-Day Sachet

January 26, 2010
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I should say: I’m not much for Valentine’s Day itself, but the crafts are always pretty. I was playing around with felt recently and came up with this simple, non-frilly sachet. Easy to whip up if you need little gifties.

You might have everything you need to make these in your stash: two 6″ squares of [...]

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Tutorial on CRAFT: Project Keepers

January 26, 2010
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Yay, I was super excited to see that my new project is up on CRAFT this morning!

I designed these Project Keepers as a way to neatly store all my projects-in-progress. They’re a super simple construction – a little like an envelope pillow, so small items can’t fall out. And they come with a hangtag so [...]

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Review: Sew Liberated

December 19, 2009

Sew Liberated is a fun collection of mostly applique projects, with a few other embellishment techniques in the mix. (Full disclosure: Interweave Press sent me a review copy.)

Although the cover model is this pretty skirt, the projects in Sew Liberated are primarily home decor and gift items. (There are three wearable projects for adults, and [...]

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