My Hometown

I grew up in the kind of small town that as a teenager you can't wait to leave and you swear you are never coming back. The very same kind of small town you wish you lived in when you are raising kids of your own in the big city. The kind where streets are numbered 1-12 from east to west and lettered A-O running north and south. I used to live at the corner of 6th & High. And even though after college I made my big escape, the older I get, the more I realize that my hometown is where my heart is. My hometown is, well, home.

A few weeks ago I made mention that I was going to join my stepmom this year in being a vendor at my town's annual Fall festival, The Maple Leaf Festival. I cannot even begin to explain how much I love the Maple Leaf Festival, except to maybe go as far as to say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I love everything about it....the parade, the food, the rides, the crowds, the booths, and well, the maple leaves themselves. My small town of 4,000 swells to over 100,000 over the course of the weekend when the weather is right, so much so that traffic is stopped for miles on the single lane highways in all four directions just trying to get into town. I love it.

(speaking of Fall, look what I found in my yard over the weekend! yes!)

I love it so much that this weekend I found myself starting to get nervous since it is really only 6 weeks away. What I can't yet tell is what exactly the nerves are about....am I worried if I will have enough stuff? Am I worried if anyone will think its good enough to buy? I am not quite sure yet, though it may be a little of both. Since I will be selling baby blankets, hand bags, shoulder bags, sling bags and crayon rolls, I've started building my existing stock with every free moment. This weekend I snuck a few hours of sewing in (2 to be exact!) while Z was napping and here's what I worked on:

I won't be listing these on etsy and I will actually be closing the shop about a week or two before Maple Leaf. Does anyone have any tips for being a vendor they would like to share? My stepmom has been doing this every year for as long as I can remember, so I am sure I am safe in her hands, but it never hurts to ask. :)

----------------------

I am partying it up this week at the linky parties over in my sidebar! Join me!

More lovely....

Lovely.

Lovely.

More lovely.

This may be starting to sound redundant,

but lovely is the best way to describe

the lovely fabric I have been finding lately!

This time from Cotton Thread Fabrics on Etsy.

I love the blues and browns and I am

thrilled to find these three together!

I love them and can't wait for them to get here!

Mr. Men & Little Miss

Do you remember the Mr. Men & Little Miss series of books growing up?

(picture from Amazon)

My absolute favorite was Little Miss Sunshine, but I also loved Little Miss Birthday!

(picture from Amazon)

Recently I found the Mr. Men flannel fabric and knew I had to have it! I think it so fun!

I just a got a chance to use it this week, here's how it turned out!

Did you have a favoriate Mr. Men or Little Miss growing up?

--------

I am linking up this week at the fun parties in my sidebar! Stop by to see all the fun projects

Aren't they lovely?

Lovely.

Lovely.

Lovely.

The possibilities are endless.

I picked these lovely yards up this evening at the etsy shop SewLoveFabrics .

If you haven't shopped etsy before, you are missing out on handmade goodness.

Shop it today.

As in right now.

--------

And it is Friday! And I am partying it up over at Sassy Sites! Join me!

Finding Fabulous made my day!

Can you imagine my surprise when I opened my google reader only to find that Sew Super Sweet is being featured today by Jane over Finding Fabulous?!

Jane hosts a weekly link party called Marketplace Monday, which is such an awesome idea because it allows Etsy shop owners an awesome opportunity to share their stores! And I have visited many, many of the stores and I cannot tell you enough what an awesome place Etsy is for handmade and vintage goods! I love it! Head over there now and check it all out! And yes, I just realized I said awesome at least three times, but I am excited! :)

Thank you SO much Jane for making my day!!!

----
I am also liking up today over at Seven Thirty Three and her Sugar and Spice link party! Head over and check out all the fun handmade items for girls only!

Here is what I am bringing to the party!

Oh Thomas!

When I first started sewing, I purchased a few yards of super soft, cuddly minky fabric and wouldn't you know it, the poor stuff has been just sitting there, waiting patiently for the perfect project. Or, I guess it could be sitting there because I have been afraid to use it. Regardless, it has been sitting there. But when my sister recently lamented about how she could never find the perfect size blanket for my 4 year old nephew, coupled with she said he loved to rub the soft edging of his favorite pillow, I knew the minky had found it's perfect project!

My nephew also LOVES Thomas the Train! I mean, LOVES! What boy doesn't you ask? Well, my little boy for one....he LOVES animals and robots and pirates (on a side note, have your kids seen the Veggie Tales Pirate Movie? my kid is obsessed!!) , but he doesn't particularly love Thomas the way my nephew does. On a recent trip to the fabric store I found the PERFECT (pictured above, pay no attention to my husband's green flip flops) Thomas the Train fleece....it is super soft and snuggly and I loved the print. And coupled with my 50% off coupon, it was a steal!

So, over the weekend I sewed together the super soft, snuggly fleece with the super soft, cuddly minky and voila! The perfect blanket for my super sweet 4 year Thomas the Train fanatic nephew!!

I even got to use my walking foot for the first time! What's a walking foot you may ask? It is a special tool that helps feeds thick or stretchy materials evenly through your sewing machine. The walking foot was a MUST for making this blanket turn out so nicely, a huge THANK YOU to my stepmom for purchasing it for me before I even knew I would need it!!

I CAN.NOT.WAIT. to give my newphew his blanket and to see his little face when he sees he gets to snuggle up with Thomas every day! What's the most anticipated gift you've given lately?

-------------

Join me over at these link parties this week (as well as the ones on my sidebar) to see other neat projects made by crafty people!

My first feature!

Sorry for the double post in one day, but Sew Super Sweet was featured as part of a Back to School review on the fun blog Bunches of Bargains! Julie was so nice to feature one of my crayon rolls, stop by her blog and enter for a chance to win a free one from my shop! She also has several other giveaways to sign up for as well! Bunches of Bargains is a great site for both product reviews and giveaways and there is not better time to become a follower than today so you do not miss out! Head on over and check it out! Thanks again to Julie for selecting me to feature!

Here is the one she featured!

Got scraps?

Every wonder what to do with all your scraps from sewing? How about using them for this?

Now, of course you would only use your scrap fabric for chew toys for your sweet puppies after you have spent 3 hours salvaging every 6 X 6 inch square you could for quilting. Not that I quilt, but my step mother does and I plan on sending them to her.

Anyways, making the chew toys is easy. I originally made mine out of flannel because those were the scraps I had, but flannel is not ideal because the fabric shreds pretty easily. The ideal fabric to use is fleece and I picked some up this weekend. To make the chew toy, simply cut 3-4 fleece strips 25" X 1" in length and width (for small dogs, longer for bigger dogs), tie a knot in one end, braid the strips, and tie with another knot. As you can see, my sweet girls love them!

In other news, I am linking up my etsy shop for Marketplace Mondays over at Finding Fabulous! Stop over and have a look at all of the incredible stores on etsy, all selling either handmade or vintage goods! If you have not shopped on etsy before, you are really missing out!

I am also linking up over at Mad in Crafts "Mad Skillz" tutorial party!

I have a confession to make....

A week or so ago I pledged to not work on anymore "safe" projects until I tackled my intimidation of sewing my dream bag....the Amy Butler Birdie Sling. And I tried my hardest. I really did. I cut the fabric. I cut the interfacing. I even went so far as to iron the interfacing onto the fabric....a task I wasn't exactly thrilled about but knew it was the right thing to do so the bag would turn out perfect.

And that is where I stopped. And I haven't started again. And that was last weekend. But! I think I have a good reason, and the reason is this: each October my stepmother, the very one who has taught me to sew, has a booth at our local hometown festival, the Maple Leaf Festival, and this year I am going to display some items with her!

So instead of putting together this:

I am working on a few more of these:

And these:

So if you are in the Kansas City area the third weekend in October, make the 30 minute drive to Baldwin City for the Maple Leaf Festival, it always makes for a great weekend!

Tooje, you will be there, right?

Let's have some fun this Friday!

After a long and exhausting week, I am ready to have some fun this Friday, so I am linking up over at Sassy Sites for a blog hop! I love the sense of community blog hops build and each time I participate I am amazed and inspired by how many great sites there are in blogland!

If you are stopping by Sew Super Sweet from the blog hop, please leave me a comment so I can return the favor and stop by your blog as well!

New Blog button

Yay for boys!

Yay! I love this! A link up party exclusively for all things boy....as a momma of a little boy who is about to turn 3 (next week! I can HARDLY believe it!) I know I am not alone when I say I have the darndest time finding cute things for little boys! Mommas of little girls have no idea what I am talking about because little girl cuteness is everywhere! Little boy cuteness on the other hand, is not.

Where do you find your favorite things for little boys? Leave me a comment becaues I would love to check it out!

Here is what I am bringing to the party!

I am also linking up over at Creation Corner, stop by and check out all the fun things!!

Another glance at happiness

Just in case my post a few weeks ago

wasn't exactly your picture of happiness,

how about this one?

3 puppy dogs and 1 sweet little boy...

happiness.

Fun stuff! (and not so fun stuff!)

The fun stuff!

Today I purchased my fabrics for the One Million Pillowcase Challenge! I wanted to find fabrics with colors and patterns that were relatively neutral, as well as calming and soothing since they are to be donated to a local women's shelter. Here are the fabrics I chose and I even made a set of pillow cases tonight! Each coordinating yard of fabric makes two alternating pillow cases, the body of one and the band of another.

pink / brown

blue / yellow


made!

Now...the not so fun stuff!

Gussy, whom I LOVE (she makes the most awesome clutches, headbands, and laptop bags, all with her signature ruffle), recently wrote a series of blog posts about budgeting your money, both personal and business. You see, Gussy recently made Gussy her full time job. Read about her inspiring (inspiring to me!) decision here. I have been reading the series, but kept dismissing the relavence to me because, well, even though I have an etsy shop, I am not big time enough to consider it a business. Meaning, I do not have plans to leave my 8-6 (mine is not a 9- 5) anytime in the near future. Or even the distant future for that matter. So I kept dismissing it. That is, until this afternoon when she posted the last part of the series and then this piece of advice might as well of jumped out of my computer and "thunked" me in the forehead....

* save all your receipts!

And I get it now...now it is clear. Why wouldn't I want to be educated and informed about how much I was spending? Even if I am not in a position where I have to reconcile what is/' going out versus what is coming in in order to run a business, why wouldn't I at least want to know how much I am spending? Well, the answer is, I do want to know. So here is my commitment to keep my receipts so that I am aware of what I am spending. I am not quite sure what I am going to do with them once I've got them, but at least I have got them. :)

One Million Pillowcase Challenge

CityCraft, an fun local quilt shoppe here in Dallas, is participating in the Etsy Craft Party: One Million Pillowcase Challenge and hosting an "open house" event this Friday, August 27th. All pillowcases will be donated to a local Women's Shelter that provides shelter and security to women and children in need. What an awesome event! While I won't be able to make it to the event, I plan on donating a few pillowcases this weekend! Even if you are not local to Dallas, you can find an Etsy Craft Party near you by clicking here! You can also download the free pillowcase pattern by clicking here!

If you are stopping by for the first time, please leave a note so I can return the favor by

visiting your site! I love to make new friends!

It is no secret I love the Sling Bag!

This one I have made not once, but twice for

custom orders and each time I LOVE how it turns out!

This one is available in my etsy shop!

The Hard Part

A few of my recent posts have been about my newly discovered love for sewing and all the things I am learning, not just about sewing, but about the process.....slowing down, focusing on doing it right, and patience. Oh, patience. So here is where impatience about gets the best of me....

I also recently posted about my new project, The Amy Butler Birdie Sling bag. Anyone that has seen this pattern knows that it requires three coordinating fabrics...one for the the exterior, one for the the top panels and handles and one for the interior. Not so hard right? Wrong.

Notice how the three photos above only show two coordinating fabrics? Exactly!And here is where my lack of patience about gets the best of me because I want to work on a Sling Bag today so badly, but I also only want to do it with the perfect fabric to complete each bag. Even if it is only for the interior. I will not compromise. I will not compromise. I will not compromise. I will wait for the perfect fabric. Sigh.