New (to me) website...

I should probably just go ahead and take a class on web design since it appears that I am going to keep up with the carolina fair designs website myself. I have never been 100% satisfied with how it looks, and that's probably because I am not a professional at this. And I haven't hired a professional (yet) because first, I have no idea how much that would cost, I'm afraid to ask... and second, I think I'm afraid to lose control over it. So, maybe the look will change every year, who knows. This change came about because I ran across some web design software that had a free trial period and I started playing around, and lo and behold, I like it. So here it is...

Tell me what you think, but don't be too hard on me :). No, be honest. I will put on my thick skin. And head on over to facebook before you buy anything because I sense a coupon coming...

Little Owl Bib Tutorial in a Slideshow

A month or so I wrote a guest post for my friend Chris' blog, Pickup Some Creativity. It was really fun and a lot of people got a kick out of seeing my bias trim stash:

(this is my trim stash)

At the end of my little shpeel about how much I love bias trim and how easy it is to use (you can read it here), I posted this little tutorial in a slideshow showing how to make an owl baby bib.


I just watched it again and I had not noticed before that picasa was keeping track of the number of views. It is really funny how that number drops by over 90% after the second slide - where you see what notions you need to make the bib. I guess that not everyone has a stash of fabric, wonder-under, and bias trim on hand?

 After you’ve watched the slideshow, you can download the appliqué pattern here. Enjoy!

Rotary cutters are for calm, unhurried use only.

Okay, so I know most of my readers (at least I think I do...) and I don't think anyone will be too alarmed or grossed out by this post. Most of us have sewing injuries of one kind or another, right?

So the day before yesterday I was trying to cut some material for a leotard strap (another long story, really, I have been doing way more sewing than blogging lately. Do you know how expensive little girls' dancewear is!!!!!). My two oldest are in school again, the baby was taking a nap, and my 3 year old decided to look for a certain junky dollar store toy. It just so happens that I had the day before thrown that toy in the trash (a funny thing happens when I pick up a toy for the 100th time, a little voice in my head says 'if you toss this, you'll never have to pick it up again.' And unfortunately, I listened to that voice this time).

So Connor is looking for his junky toy, I am trying to cut, and I tell him the truth: the garbage men took it, and it is long gone. Scream, slice, fingertip separated from finger. I'm not going to show any gory pics. I think I only took off about 1/4" anyway. Not enough to rush to the hospital or anything. But I did remove some fingernail along with a nice fleshy piece.

Okay, so here's my reaction, which my husband thinks makes me certifyable.  I was mad. No pain really (does that mean I was in shock?). But blood on the fabric. Wasting precious 'nap time' to bandage a stupid injury. And Connor keeps screaming, not because I'm hurt, of course, but because the junky toy is gone.

I was so mad I picked up that piece of my finger tip and threw it on the carpet! When my older kids got home from school they were so fascinated by my story they spent a half an hour crawling around looking for it. No luck, it must have blended in too well.

Right, well, I better go vacuum now. Hopefully my little diva of a model will cooperate soon and I can post pics of the dancewear. I'm actually quite proud of how it turned out.

And I would love to hear about your worst sewing injury. Come on, I'm not the only one, am I?

Cadie's Dress gets a new look... (plus a giveaway)

If you haven't read it yet, Project: project is a blog where this super seamstress named Beth sews up all kinds of patterns and evaluates them (she also does some pieces about sewing machines and fabric). I love how she pays close attention to detail and puts real time into her projects. I'm so thrilled that today and tomorrow she will be featuring two of my designs: Cadie's Wrap Around Dress and  the Pretty Pinafore (which I think she paired with some adorable alligator fabric).

And, we're doing a giveaway too. Just post a comment at the end of her posts (today and tomorrow) saying which carolina fair pattern you like best, and you might win it!