This is how I make fly fronts on jeans, merging together methods originally learned from Betzina, Kwik Sew, and Palmer/Pletsch. I've had requests to make a tutorial and, well … here it is. Finished view on actual jeans. The rest of the photos were taken using sample pieces so proportions will not be accurate. Also, these steps will result in a fly that opens like men's pants (left over right), which is common for jeans for both sexes. 1. Front pants pieces with extended pocket facings in place. The shape of these facings isn't exactly right so I hope you can use your imagination for that. I extend the section of the facings that meets the center front so that it covers most of the vertical fly facing area. I prefer this for stabilization instead of fusible interfacing on the fly facings. The edges of the fly facings, front crotch curve and pocket facings should be overlocked (or otherwise edge-finished) before starting. The pocket facings and fly facings are not serged together even though they sort of look like it here. 2. Baste from the waist to the red dot where the fly facing starts to curve. Lock stitches and then straight stitch between the dots using a regular stitch length. Stop about 1 inch from the inseam. 3. Clip the fly facings at the bottom of the curve. I clip diagonally so the cut is on the bias and won't fray. 4. Press fly facings open from both wrong side and right side to create a crisp fold. 5. Use a big jeans/denim needle. For heavy denim, I use 110/18. 6. After pressing, the first step is to top/edgestitch the center front of the fly. I use my center rudder (stitch in the ditch) foot with the needle in the far right position. Don't forget to increase your stitch length for topstitching, especially with heavy thread. The completed edgestitching. 7. Now for the zipper. Use a zipper that is longer than the fly opening. It will be cut off at the top after the waistband is applied (not covered in this tutorial). I also never insert a zipper without Collins Wonder Tape. Apply a strip of Wonder Tape on each top side of the zipper tape, starting at the bottom metal stop and for as long as the fly opening. Do not peel off the paper yet. 8. Peel off the Wonder Tape paper on the left (as you're looking at it face up) side only. Turn the zipper right side down and align the now left edge of the zipper with the center front seam. Finger press on the right side of the zipper to stick it onto the fly shield. The only part of the zipper which should be stuck is shown by the red line below. 9. Move all layers to the left, except for the zipper and the fly facing it's stuck to, as shown below. 10. With a zipper foot, stitch close to the zipper and again close to the edge of the zipper tape. I swear, I usually sew straighter than this but I was hurrying to make this sample and so it is what it is. 11. Turn zipper over and remove the paper from the other strip of Wonder Tape. 12. Turn the assembly face down again and pull the zipper over to the other fly facing as far as it can go without rippling. Because denim is thick, the fly facings won't lay flat at this point. Just keep things even and neat and you'll be OK. 13. Move all layers to one side, except the zipper and the remaining fly facing. Stitch close to the zipper and again near the edge of the zipper tape. I stitch bottom to top for this side. 14. Turn the assembly over and remove the center front basting. Stop ripping when you get to the regular length stitches! 15. Unzip the zipper and press the underlayer flat. Steam/press out the fold from the basting seam and press in a crease next to the zipper. 16. Use a template to chalk in a guideline for topstitching the fly. Unfortunately, I think the templates I use aren't being made anymore. A piece of oaktag or the back of a zipper packet will work too. Be careful that your chalk line doesn't cross the zipper stop or you'll break a needle when you're topstitching. 17. Topstitch along the chalked line. I use the ditch foot for this too, as the rudder stitcks up and makes it easier for me to see where I'm going. An applique foot would work too, but this foot would already be out and I'm lazy. 18. Fly shield. (If you don't want a fly shield, skip to Step 20.) I use good quality cotton for my pocket bags and fly shields. It holds up well, doesn't get all wrinkly in the laundry and doesn't add the bulk that the same pieces in denim would For the fly shield, cut a piece of fabric the length of the zipper facing and twice the width. Fold in half lengthwise, wrong sides together and press. Zip the zipper and then place the raw edges of the shield over the overlocked edge of the fly facing. The fold of the fly shield is being pointed to by the red lines in the photo below. 19. Overlock the raw edges of the fly shield to the zipper facing. You can include, or not, the pocket facing (the section behind the fly facing) in the overlocking. Next, overlock just the bottom edge of the fly shield. I missed getting that in the photo. 20. Open the pants front to expose the fly shield. Using the ditch foot and left needle position, stitch to the left of the zipper coil from waist down as far as you can before hitting the zipper tab. See the red line in the photo below. 21. With all layers smooth and flat below, bartack from the top as shown below. You are trying to catch the flyshield with the bartacks. See the photo below with the bartacks circled in red. Voila! You're done. Don't cut off the top of the zipper until after you've sewn on the waistband so that you don't accidentally zip the tab right off the top of the zipper coils. When you are edge/topstitching along the Center Back and crotch curve seam, use the ditch foot with the same needle position as in Step 6 above and all the stitching will line up perfectly. With the jeans inside out, start at the CB and stitch along the seam, catching the seam allowances underneath. Stop at the front where your fly topstitching ended, pull the threads to the back and secure them.

Joy's Twirly Lace Dress is one of my favorites! A specific detail I love about Joy's is the shirring on the sleeves. Many of our other CKC patterns use shirring as well, and it is definitely a good skill to learn. Sometimes, however, we have people ask if there is any other way to gather the sleeve without shirring or making a casing. The answer is yes! Occasionally I like to sew 1/4" elastic directly to the underside of a sleeve to gather it (no casing necessary), and it works great! Today I will show you how to use this method, both with a photo tutorial and with a video! This way of attaching elastic has several other uses too, of course, and by learning how to use it on the sleeves you'll be ready to branch out! Let's get started. First you will want to follow the first few steps of your peasant top or dress pattern, by cutting out the pieces and sewing them at the arm curves until you get to the point that is shown in the photo above. Do NOT sew the sleeves/sides of the peasant together yet. Lay one of the sleeves out flat, as shown above, and mark a line straight across the WRONG side of the sleeve where you want the gathering to be. (I measured down from the arm curve the amount indicated in the Joy's pattern for a 3/4 length sleeve.) Repeat this marking line on the second sleeve. Cut your 1/4" wide elastic to the length that you want your sleeve to be gathered to when you're done. You could either measure the arm of the person you are making the dress for; or, I usually use the elastic length that the pattern tells me to use for the short sleeve casing. Cut two pieces of elastic so you have one for each sleeve. Notice in the photo above that the white elastic is much shorter than the yellow sewing line. In the next few steps we will be stretching the elastic to the length of the yellow line as we sew. Then when it is attached, the sleeve will be gathered to the size of the elastic! Before you sew, line up one end of the elastic with the edge of the sleeve where you drew the line. Sew a couple stitches and then backstitch to secure the edges together. Then as you begin sewing, stretch the elastic as you sew down the center of it, lining it up with the line you marked earlier. You may use a zigzag stitch or a straight stitch, depending on how you want it to look on the outside of your sleeve. I prefer straight stitch. Notice that I'm also using my left hand behind the foot, to help pull the fabric through the machine. If you pull too hard on the elastic without helping in back, the feed dogs won't be able to feed the fabric and elastic through. This isn't difficult at all but it does take two hands. Occasionally you will want to check and make sure you are stretching your elastic enough to have it reach all the way to the edge of your sleeve, as shown above. You need the elastic to reach from one edge of the sleeve to the other, as evenly as possible when you are done sewing. Again, it is not difficult to do it, but it does take some switching around of your hands as you go. As you get to the end of the elastic, hold it in place at the edge with one finger and backstitch a couple times to secure it. When you are done, your elastic and sleeve will look like this! Pretty neat, huh! Then you get to repeat with the second sleeve, which I'm always happy to do because it is so cool to see the end result. With your elastic sewn in place, you can continue on with the construction of the bodice/dress. Very pretty! I made this patriotic Joy's for my niece to use for her Civil War project at school, and she's very happy with how it turned out. Before using this method for gathering/shirring, you will want to make sure that the person you are sewing the dress for does not have a sensitivity to elastic because it will be touching their skin directly. My daughter has never had a problem with it, and it's a fairly common sewing technique. I bet you can think of other ways to use it now, right? I certainly don't use it just for sleeves! If you'd like to see all of this tutorial in action, you can take a look at the video below where I sewed elastic to the second sleeve. The video is also on our CKC YouTube channel, so you can come back and watch it at any time. https://youtu.be/5rGavDgG5Ag Now it's your turn to go try it out with your favorite patterns! Let's Create! ~ Kristen

I just made 22 yards of bias strips for the welting for Audrey's cushions. It went very quickly and I like this new technique I tried. I found it gave me more accuracy and was pretty easy. I call it Method Three or Bagged Bias because you sort of make a bag at the start. I used Method Three because I think we all know the fold it up and rotary cut method (#1), the method that looks like a pair of pants (#2) and this one. It is sort of like Method #2, but I think less hassle. I got this method from this really fabulous book on making slipcovers by Sunset. This book is so clear and I've yet to find a question unansered. Its all in there. (Sorry for the big white blob. It's better than the big white glare that was there originally.) Square off your fabric. Mine is 36 by 52. Fold along the short end. You have a fold at the top. Pin the other three sides, matching as needed. At the machine stitch the three pinned edges, not the folded one, with a half inch seam. Don't bother making small stitches or fussing at the corners. Cut off all four corners about an inch and a quarter down. I didn't go that far on this one and should have. I had to compensate later instead. You will need to be able to get a pair of scissors thru the corner. This is a knitting needle, just to make the point. Mark each corner. With the fold at the top, top left is A, top right is C, bottom left is B, bottom right is D. Fold it so it looks like this pic in the book, with A and B at the bottom and D andC folded and at the top. I found it helped to press in the crease from C to D. Then slip your scissors in the D hole/corner and cut across the crease to C. CUT ONE LAYER ONLY!!! ETA, 09/27/12: It appears a typo is in the book regarding A and B. Just ignore the letters A and B and make sure you have folded the "bag" so it looks like the picture, folding on the imaginary line between C and D. Make sure you cut ONE LAYER ONLY from D to C and it will all work well. This will give you a big bias tube. You will have to shake it out a bit to make the tube. Once you get the tube shape square it all off again. Press your seams open as well. Six inches from the left side of the tube, from the fold, measure and mark a line. From that six inch line draw a line every 1 5/8ths inch or whatever is appropriate. This is for home dec welting, not piping so I am using 1 5/8ths. You may want narrower for piping. With your rotary cutter cut each long strip but only up to the long vertical line. Now open up the solid section and rearrange the tube to so the solid section is all flat in front of you. Time to get out the pencil again! I've emphasized this with a white line. Draw a line diagonally from the beginning of each cut on the left to each cut on the right, moving down one section. Your lines will all be diagonal as above. Cut across those lines, the white ones here, and voila, you are done and now have miles of bias strips all in one continuous piece. I think this is the cleanest, neatest method I have tried and hope you give it a shot next time you need some bias stripping. For those concerned that the stripes will now be "off" it is totally unnoticeable on the cushions as you can see in later posts and above. *09/19/2022 ETA: Edited to add a link from a popular youtube sewist. This is how NOT to ever cut your strips with a rotary cutter, VERY DANGEROUS!!! Extremely Dangerous Rotary Cutting of Binding. Beware of what you see on youtube. ************************************* The last of my dehyrated tomatoes. You can see they are still quite fleshy. The insides are grey with the pepper/sugar/salt mix that was sprinkled on. DH says I put up about a hundred pounds. Dressed weight, not so much! These will be wonderful popped in a salad come the middle of winter when tomatoes are 3.99 a pound. The bias stripping was my first step in the process of making the window seat cushions. Next will come glueing the batting to the foam. Tomorrow will be a sunny day so a good one to work outside. I don't like those fumes from the spray adhesives getting sprayed inside the house. Till then........Bunny

Quilter Going Bananas shares this cute cartoon with her readers. My reaction: Love it! [tags]quilting, humor, cleaning[/tags]

Hi! It's Kristen here. Do you know the difference between topstitching and understitching? There's a good chance that you have already learned to top-stitch, because most of our CKC patterns have you do it. I prefer finishing my edges with a top-stitch because it helps them lay flat and secure for the long term, no matter how roughly they are handled. I also like that it is done as the last step on a project, giving it that finishing touch. Basically, you sew along the seam 1/8" from the edge. That's it! See the curved edge below. There are times, however, when understitching can be very useful. For example, if you are using specialty fabrics for a formal dress and don't want your stitching to show on the outside of the bodice, you can under-stitch the neck seam so it still lays flat. You can do the same on armholes, legholes, and any seam for that matter. Under-stitching is done a bit earlier in the sewing steps, and the basic idea is that you open up the lining or facing and sew the lining/facing to the seam underneath. This helps pull the lining/facing away from the main fabric, keeping it from turning out. It is very effective, if that's the look you're going for. See the curved edge below. We have had requests for a step-by-step tutorial on understitching, so let's take a look at how it's done. I'm going to demonstrate on sample scraps: I made a practice neckline on the scraps above. The top will be our main fabric and the bottom will be the lining. Match up the neck curves with right sides together and sew them together using a 3/8" seam. I used black thread so it would be easy to see. Clip the curves by using sharp scissors to make cuts close to the stitching, until you are able to pull the curve out somewhat straight, as shown above. Open up the layers with the seam underneath. Use your fingers to press the seam layers toward the lining. This is what you will be doing as you sew in the next step. At the sewing machine, place the needle so it is 1/8" toward the lining side of the seam. Check to make sure your seam is still on the lining side underneath. Then sew along the lining fabric, 1/8" from the seam. As you come to the more curved parts of the neckline, you will want to gently pull the lining away from the main fabric, keeping the excess curves from getting puckered under the stitches. You want a nice, flat stitch all along the seam. When you're done sewing, lay the main fabric out flat. You will notice that the lining automatically lifts up along the curve. This means you did it right! The seam underneath is attached to the lining but not the main fabric, so it will keep the lining pulled back out of the way. Flip the fabric so both layers are right side out. On the front you should now have a nice, even neckline curve with no stitches showing. You can iron the fold to set if you want, being careful not to overheat delicate fabrics. This is what the back side of the understitched neckline will look like. Of course when you do it, you will probably want to use a thread color that matches and it will be hardly noticeable. And there you have it! Now you know the difference between topstitching and understitching, what they are used for, and how to do them. Now you can go try them out with all your favorite patterns. Let's Create! ~ Kristen

Guess what! Today we have a video tutorial *and* a fabric giveaway! Happy Friday! But first a little background... If you've been around to see our CKC boy patterns for long, you will probably recognize this handsome face: And you probably have also noticed the AMAZING fabric that his mom always seems to score for him. Talk about a lucky kid! (And his brother too.) I had to find out where she got this awesome Jack fabric so I could get my hands on some! Fast forward a week later, and these gorgeous knits arrived on my doorstep! They're not only super cute, but the quality is fantastic. (I'm really picky.) I ordered these from an online group called Making Madie Knit Prints. She has super cute prints available for pre-order (and some for retail) and I must say, they are quite addicting. I already have another shipment on its way to my house! I couldn't wait to cut into my striped Jack fabric and I asked what you, our readers, would like to see on the blog using knit. Several of you asked for a video showing how to attach a neckband evenly, and that just happens to be one of my favorite parts to do. Woohoo! So let's take a look at the video I lovingly made just for YOU, and then afterwards we have a *GIVEAWAY* from Making Madie Knit Prints! ( https://youtu.be/i86QSlqBaXY ) There, wasn't that fun? I know the video was a bit blurry -- my camera was struggling. Here is the finished Liam's: Love it! And even better: A happy kiddo! Greg loves his new Liam's shirt! And now his little brother wants one too. No problem because I still have plenty left. My daughter will probably get a cute headband as well. So... Are you ready for the giveaway? Making Madie Knit Prints has generously offered a giveaway prize to our readers! Please enter the giveaway through Rafflecopter below, for your chance to win one yard of your choice: either the Jack Stripes or the Halloween Lace. Both are adorable and amazing quality! Retail value: $26. Take a look at the Making Madie group to see all the amazing outfits her fans have made using these prints! Enter here: a Rafflecopter giveaway Please note that the giveaway runs from right NOW until September 4 at 12 am est. Don't be afraid to shop in the meantime! The upcoming pre-orders are super cute and you won't want to miss the deadline. Plus she has some of the past extras in her retail shop that are irresistible. I'm a big fan! Let's Create! ~ Kristen

This week we are talking about something you all have been begging me do. FRENCH SEAMS!!! If you do not have a serger, French seams are a great way to have neat and clean seams with out raw edges! Let's get started: Step 1: Place fabrics WRONG side together, (I know it feels weird) and stitch ¼” from the raw edge. (Stitching ¼” from edge) Step 2: Open and press seam and fold over so that the fabric is now right sides together. Press again and now stitch 3/8” from edge. (stiching 3/8' from the folded and pressed edge) Step 3: Open seam and press. And just like that you have a French seam! But if you're like me and you want your garment looking as professional as possible, you can now press your French seam flat and stitch down both sides. (view from inside the garment) (View from outside) And now that you have seen our step-by- step photos, how about a live action tutorial? Susan Smith has created this video for us, demonstrating the same method, so you can just sit back and relax while she does all the work. Enjoy! Link: https://youtu.be/YMvbHN7s0dY We can't wait to see what you make! ~ Create Kids Couture ~

Many Oliver + S patterns make use of our signature hem facing. Here’s a photo tutorial for how to sew it.

Hello friends! Remember this snazzy new winter coat I made for my sister Angeline? (click on the pictures below to see the blog post). I decided to try bound-button holes for the first time and I was so happy with the result! These days it's almost impossible to find a purchased garment with bound button-holes. this photo curtesy of www.janome.com Don't get me wrong, machine button holes are an amazing invention. They are super fast, sturdy and easy to make. I use machine button-holes all the time. But would you take a look at this button-hole! Isn't it pretty?!! So if you feel in the mood to go the extra mile for your garment, here's a tutorial to get you started. So here's what you need Sewers chalk/fabric marker A ruler Pins Scraps of your fabric Interfacing scraps Thread matching your fabric Scissors Button-hole cutter (if you have one, otherwise small clippers will do). Hand sewing needle Your sewing machine Iron Patience Chocolates - for snacking, not for sewing. Delicious. There are plenty of different bound button-hole methods out there and they are all good. This is how I made mine. Instructions Each bound button-hole has two identical 'lips' that fill the square of the buttonhole. Each lip is made up of one strip of fabric. On the right side of your fabric, carefully mark your button-holes. Interface the back area of the button-hole for extra strength. Most paper patterns will direct you to interface that area whether you are making bound button-holes or regular machine button-holes. The fabric I am using in my demonstration is a Merino wool suiting. Ooooohhhh fancy. Making the Button-hole Lips Width: The long side. Measure the width of your button-holes. The width of mine are 1 inch. Write your measurement down. Add one inch to that measurement. That is going to the be the width of your button-hole strips that will become button-hole lips. E.g. My button-holes are 1 inch in width. I add 1 inch on to that width. (1 + 1 = 2) The total width of my button-hole strips is going to be 2 inches. Height: The short side. What height do you want those cute little lips to be? This is a personal choice. I made mine a tidy 1/4 inch. Once you've decided, multiply that measurement by 4 to get your total height of your button-hole strips. E.g. I made my height1/4 inch. Therefore 1/4 x 4 = 1 inch. Now that we have our width and height, cut out two strips of your garment fabric with those measures (mine is 2 inches long, 1 inch wide). These two strips will become the lips of our button-hole. Construction With the wrong sides of your fabric strip together, press your strips in half along the width (long side). On the right side of your garment, line up one of your pressed strips along the edge of your button-hole marking with the raw edges of your button-hole lip along the button-hole marking. Pin that bad boy down. Note: Make sure it's the raw edges that touch the centre line. It will take years off your life if you do it the other way around. With your fabric marker/chalk, transfer the end of the button-hole markings onto the strips so you can see where you need to start and stop sewing. Line up the second button-hole strip and pin it down. The raw edges of each lip should now be touching in the centre. Continue the markings on this strip also. Tip: Don't be afraid to go nuts with extra pins, or basting the lips down, especially when working with thicker fabric. You want them to be as straight as possible. With a 1.5 length stitch or smaller, slowly sew down the centre of each strip, reversing at the start and end. You want these lengths to be exactly the same as each other or you'll end up with crooked button-holes. Below is a view from the back, on the wrong side of the garment. It's easier to see if the lengths are the same by looking at it from the back. If they look a little uneven, go back and sew the shorter one a few extra stitches to make it the same. Tip: If it helps, count each stitch as you sew it down so you can mirror that on the other side. With your button-hole cutter (or clippers if you don't have one) cut a small hole through the centre of your button-hole. Make sure you put something underneath your garment so that you don't stab your table! Here's a view from the back. From that initial cut, with your clippers, cut into the corners of your button-holes making a 'Y' shape at both ends. Make sure you keep the lips out of the way or you'll slice a hole through your hard work. This is soul destroying. On the right side, push the button-hole lips through the cut so that all the raw edges are on the wrong side of the button-hole. Squeal with delight when you see how your button-hole is starting to look like a button-hole! Good job! If you flip one side of the fabric over you'll see the two ends of your button-hole lips poking out at the short side of your button-hole. You should also see the little V shape jutting out. That's from when we made the Y shape cut. This little V stands for 'very important'. We are going to sew this V down. Carefully sew the V strip down onto the end of the two lips with only one line of stitches. You want to sew as close to the base of the V without sewing into the fold of fabric, otherwise you'll end up with puckers in your garment. Flip the fabric back over to check that it is straight and that there are no puckers. Looks good huh??!!! If not, unpick it and start again. One little row of stitches is easy to unpick. Once you're happy that it's straight and neat, flip it back over and go over your initial sewing line a few times to really secure it. Trim away the threads. Repeat these steps on the other side of your button-hole. Here's what it looks like from the back once you've sewn both sides down. This will be covered up when you add the facing. Turn your fabric back over to the right side ... Tad-Dah! A neat little button-hole! You will be amazed how good it makes you feel when you make your first neat bound button-hole. Now for the button-hole facings Carefully line up your garment and facings wrong sides together. Pin them together so they don't move. We put them wrong sides together so that you can actually see your button-hole. Don't worry, you're not going to be sewing them wrong sides together. Put a pin through the corner of each button-hole so that it goes through to the facing. Flip the garment over to the facing and mark the button-hole onto the right side of the facing using the pins as a guide. Remove the pins and seperate the garment from the facings. Set the garment aside. Cut out a good size square of fusible interfacing. Don't worry too much about how big it is as it will be hidden inside the garment. Transfer the facing button-hole markings onto the wrong side of your fusible interfacing (the sticky side). Pin the interfacing to the facing, right sides together. Using your short stitch, slowly sew down that button-hole rectangle going along the markings. You want to slow slightly inside your original markings so that the button-hole on your facing is ever-so-slightly smaller than the original button hole. Tip: Start sewing in the middle of of one of your markings not at the corner of the button-hole. This makes it easier to reverse over to finish your stitch, without making the stitch too bulky at the corners. Cut a hole through the centre of your button-hole using your button-hole cutter or clippers. Cut into the corners with a Y shape like on your original button-hole. Push the interfacing through the hole to the wrong side of the fabric. gently fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the facing with an iron. You now have a perfectly shaped and positioned button-hole opening. When you have finished your garment, slip-stitch your button-hole facing to your bound-buton hole. And there you have it folks! Thinking of giving bound bound-button holes a try? It is so exciting when you make them for the first time. If you are ecstatically showing your new completed bound button-holes to family or friends who are not giving you the manically excited reaction you are expecting ... then feel free to email me a picture of your finished bound button-holes at [email protected] I guarantee I'll be excited to see them! Happy sewing lovelies xxx

Sew a wardrobe of garments for all seasons and occasions with Fit for Art's four core patterns - jacket, knit top, dress or tunic, and pants - and variation patterns for infinite styles. Purchase the

primitive bunny Spring pattern. bunny EPattern digital. Meet Clover ~ A Prim Dust Bunny! Who says Dust Bunnies aren't cute? This little dust bunny kindly disagrees! As you can see from Cover's grubby feet, these little bunnies do play in the garden when they're not hopping about your house! This bunny is a lot of fun to make and comes out adorable. Details: Clover is a 12" free standing Primitive bunny. This pattern includes detailed step by step sewing and painting instructions, pictures with email support if needed. Instructions for her feather duster and hang tag are also included. Her hang tag says: Dust Bunnies Happen. Sewing level is fine for beginners. Some basic knowledge of painting is helpful but not necessary. This is for the E-PATTERN ONLY, not the finished doll. Jody Wakefield Jody Wakefield Studio (C) 2012 All Rights Reserved All of my patterns are protected by copyright law. My patterns, e-patterns, or any part of them may NOT be reproduced, copied, shared, redistributed or altered for any reason without my permission. E-patterns may not be re-sold, traded, or shared. You may use the pattern to create and sell finished items for sale or personal use. No mass production is allowed/ no wholesaling. If selling finished item(s) on Etsy, eBay, or any other internet listings, websites, etc please give credit of the design to Jody Wakefield of Jody Wakefield Studio. No part of any pattern (including tips, and finishing techniques) should be shared with others; this includes chat rooms and forums. Thank you for your cooperation.

"Let's Go Glamping." That was the name of this challenge. While I completely disagree with the judges and really did not care for the winning look by Alexandria von Bromssen, I decided to look at this as a REAL challenge. Here's that winning poopy pants look: The front of this jacket was ho-hum boring - and the back was so tortured, it reminded me of a straight-jacket. Don't even get me started on those nightmare poopy pants. But since this was all about manipulating fabric - in this case denim/chambray, I dug into my fabric stash and came up with a slice of just that stuff. So here's my take on that *shudder* win - a denim cuff, fabric manipulation, studded with glass pearls: Another view: And summing up: And there you have it. More later, just not tonight.

Do you love Peter Pan collars as much as I do? They always seem to add the perfect amount of detail to a top or dress. I also love that they never seem to go out of style! We see them everywhere… From J.Crew… To Anthropologie… You’ll find them on t-shirts, sweaters, and dresses. The...

The Tabula Rasa Knit Tee and Tunic have a relaxed fit with a natural shoulder line and square armhole in sizes XS-3XL.  The pattern provides two front bust options, a U or V neckline option, and 3 side options for customizing the fit and style.  Please select digital or print format.

Here are 15 ideas for handmade Christmas Gifts that you can made for all your loved ones this holiday season.

A round-up of 45 free bag making tutorials to get you sewing. Bags are easy to make, practical to use and make great frugal gifts as well.

They are so useful and decorative - especially if you don't have a sink cabinet and can't afford to buy one at the moment. You can choose the fabric that goes perfectly with your bathroom or kitchen decoration theme and the skirt will not only hide the ugly empty space…

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This salad kind of looks like fall... but it's all summer, baby. It's not terribly different from our other roasted vegetable salads, if you just replaced the lettuce with hearty grains (we used Trader Joe's harvest grain mix, which is pretty but not my favorite. I know my mom will disagree, but I feel that

Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Apple Basket! Right now, an all too well-known winter holiday song comes to mind, because the weather outside is truly frightful: the snow is pelting down, the temperature is just above freezing for the first time in weeks, so everything is thawing and wet and sloshy, and our usual westerly wind is blowing in from the North Sea and causing all this havoc. All in all, the perfect excuse to stay indoors to read, and write, and knit (after being out for a bit, of course, to enjoy the indoors all the more). This week, I will be musing on the concept of The Stash from several points of view, and of course, there is an update on my knitting. Apple of the Week: Around this time of year, usually in January, renowned podcaster Brenda Dayne performs her annual ‘airing of the stash’; a procedure in which she takes out all of her stash to review it. In the latest airing I heard about, she used the phrases from the Ravelry forum buttons: ‘educational’, ‘interesting’, ‘funny’, ‘agree’, ‘disagree’, and ‘love’ to categorise the various yarns and to decide what to keep and what not to keep. Now, I do not have a ritual like that; I do look through my stash from time to time, re-evaluating and invariably getting rid of some of it. But I have been thinking about stash recently, prompted, probably, by the whole revision & renewal mindset surrounding the New Year. And by a recent thread on Ravelry, in which a knitter sought support to curb – or maybe justify – her yarn purchases. She did, it must be said, receive advice to hold off a bit and remember that next season’s colours and next year’s yarns will be at least as beautiful as the ones she is buying now; as well as encouragement to indulge and enjoy. One fellow knitter linked to her own stash, which is – huge. She has over 900 (yes, nine hundred) entries, and not just a skein of this, a skein of that; there are 20 skeins of this and 50 skeins of that. This woman has truly reached SABLE and does not seem to consider not buying yarn ever again. SABLE is one of those acronyms that I would never have known were it not for Ravelry; S.A.B.L.E. stands for Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy, meaning that you have more yarn than you could possibly knit (or crochet) with during the rest of your expectable life span. There is, of course, a group for this on Ravelry; I joined it when I realised how many miles of yarn I had, even though I have not technically reached SABLE. With the yarn I have and the rate at which I have been knitting (though I must say, the amount I knit in 2012 was exceptional), I could use up all my stash in 5 or 6 years – and I do intend to live longer than that. That would entail, obviously, that I do not buy any yarn in that period, and that is not, shall we say, entirely realistic. But I do intend to use the yarn I have, and I know that I can; the notion of intentionally (or maybe unintentionally) building so large a stash that you have no chance of ever getting through it seems, well, strange and somewhat disturbing. On MochimochiLand are pictures from one lady’s yarn room, which seems to be about half the size of my house. This kind of stashing is a form of hoarding, the gathering of a multitude of objects that eventually drown you out and take over your home and your life, be they skeins of yarn or old newspapers, typewriters or a car in the dining room. Now, I would never say that every knitter with a stash is as obsessive as the Collyer brothers, maybe best known from E. L. Doctorow’s novel about them, Homer & Langley. It makes a lot of sense to have at least some yarn in the house; if you have nothing beyond what you are currently knitting with, you have to make sure to finish your project within the opening hours of your LYS or else wait, before you can start a new one. And some people do that quite happily, I know; my mother is one. But then, she doesn’t knit much. I like having the next yarn within reach (sometimes literally) when I’m about halfway through a project, and for that, a certain stash is indispensible. I sometimes struggle with guilt over my stash: have I needlessly tied up resources in boxes under my bed, because I lacked the willpower to resist buying something pretty that I didn’t really need? Why can’t I judge the rate at which I actually knit, so that I don’t buy yarn to knit ten projects in the time that I could realistically make three or four? This is when I implicitly accuse myself of being no better than a hoarder – and maybe even worse: hoarding is, I believe, now acknowledged as a psychiatric disorder, and so hoarders are not to be considered weak-willed, but sick. Unlike the rest of us, who should just stop buying. But then, I think of something I want to make and realise that I have just the right yarn for it; or I hit upon something like the Tribbles, and all the kilos of bulky cotton are redeemed (lol) – and so, my stash becomes a proper stash: a resource like the nuts in a squirrel’s tree, instead of a slightly shameful burden. But there is a whole other way to view yarn stashing. After all, who would accuse art collectors of hoarding? Some people collect paintings or sculptures, others collect beautiful and soft skeins that give at least as much pleasure. Seen in this light, a displayed yarn stash – and lots of people do this by placing their yarn on shelves or in glass-fronted cupboards – is just another way of displaying your wealth; a recognised act in most societies. Hilary Mantel talks of the people in the times of Henry VIII ‘wearing their wealth on their backs’, furs and silk brocades, dyed with the expensive dyes of the day and embroidered with gold & silver threads, beads and pearls. Nowadays, it’s Philippe Patek watches and Chanel handbags, Armani suits and Manolo Blahniks. Same thing. A not uncommon way for a society to display wealth has been to make offerings to the god(s); in Peru, they used to throw great quantities of gold into a lake, giving rise to the legend of El Dorado, the land of gold. Comparable to this is the custom of grave-offerings, giving the dead an amount of rich gifts to take to the next world (beyond merely personal effects, which is another matter): gold (again), horses, slaves, weapons, &c. A ship for a Viking lord. Another form of culturally sanctioned and even encouraged money wasting is the custom of giving cut-off flowers on every occasion. Admittedly, flowers are pretty, and our fondness for them probably stems from a primordial need to be around plant life; but these flowers will invariably wilt and die in the space of few days from the cutting and giving. Compared to this, yarn actually makes a lot of sense. But I digress; returning to the topic of displaying wealth, we have looked at investments in beautiful objects to enjoy – and show off to visitors – at wearing your wealth, and at proving affluence by throwing away valuables. I am assuming, here, that the gods and the dead are oblivious to gifts; you may disagree, and that is entirely up to you. Giving to the living is yet another chance to demonstrate how much you have; only a month ago, we had the great annual ritual of exchanging items, of assessing the proper value according to the recipient’s status and the relationship between giver and receiver. This, unsurprisingly, led to a host of threads on Ravelry, discussions on how to compare time spent hand-crafting and money spent buying. I will not go into that here; as you know, I made almost all my presents (which I won’t be doing again, but never mind about that now). The value of a gift can depend primarily on either the affection felt by the giver for the recipient or the wish to show wealth; as such, gift-giving can be highly competitive and designed to oblige the recipient, if not downright humiliate him. Less aggressively, mutual gift-giving can be a bonding act. In the Bronze Age Hellas of Homer, lords and kings travelling to far places form inheritable bonds of friendship when visiting each other. In those days, there were no inns, so everybody depended on staying at someone else’s home for the duration; and so, the rules of hospitality were clear: a stranger arriving at your door must be invited in, given a bath and a meal – and then, not before, you can ask him who he is and what he is doing there. When he leaves, you give him gifts; weapons, silverware, cloth and other valuables are frequently mentioned. All of this ritual demonstrates your superiority over your environs: in the face of a possible threat, you open your home and feed the stranger, thus showing him both your house (including servants and guards) and your abundance of food, and the gifts are merely examples of your surplus. This serves a double purpose: if the stranger is above board, you have made an ally; if he was sussing you out, you have shown your strength and warned him off. So, the notion of having a surplus, a stash, to act as an insurance against hard times, is important, whatever your social status may be; in The Secret River by Kate Grenville, the protagonist’s idea of wealth is having ‘a loaf in the cupboard’. A stash of yarn can be many things: a disorganised and ever expanding mass; an insurance against lack, if some day you have no money to buy yarn (and that can happen to any of us in these times of economic uncertainty); a way to show off the riches you have accumulated; or a personal treasure trove to cherish and dive into for inspiration and joy. The Knitting: I have joined a story tellers’ club and went to my first meeting last Monday, bringing my knitting, of course. After introductions, a song and improvisation using story cubes, it was time for the telling of prepared stories; I snuck out my knitting, all the while making sure to pay attention to the teller (I didn’t want to be impolite, of course, but no worries: old school story tellers are familiar with the concept of crafting while listening), and got quite a bit of sleeve done. And with stocking stitch in the round, I was glad of the fairy tales to keep me entertained. Well, my Georgia cardigan is practically finished now; all I need to do is find and sew on buttons and block it. It does need blocking, as the edges roll like they were paid to do it. So, more and better pics will be coming next week. I have started a new pair of socks for Victor; he wears his Watson socks all the time and misses them when they need washing once in a while (he wears them over cotton socks, so they don’t have to be washed all that often). Anyway, I came across a pattern for these Riff Socks, created for the designer’s guitar playing son – perfect, no? The socks have twisted stitches travelling in X’s up along the instep and leg; so we have a discreet pattern, with some interest for the knitter, and the very appropriate name. I am calling this pair Blues Riffs, because – well, they are blue. And blues guitar is a thing. So, I made the toe and a bit of the instep pattern and got a sneaking suspicion that it was too big; my gauge was off, anyway: 30 stitches to 10 cm instead of 34, and even though he has big feet, they are not bigger than the given XL sock size. A try-on confirmed it; and I will be starting again on 2 mm dpns instead of 2.5 mm. Luckily, I have the KnitPro cubic dpns in both 2.5 and 2 mm, courtesy of my sister :o) With the ongoing cold weather (though the frost has lifted, it is now windy and thus still quite nippy) I have really been enjoying my flip-top mittens and the not having to take them off to do stuff. The fingers are a bit long, as they come nearly up to my fingertips, and that is a bit unpractical. Note for next time. And I may add a button and loop to keep the hood in place when it is off the fingers, so it doesn’t flap about. But all in all, they are very useful; I love tucking my fingertips inside the hood – it feels extra cosy. But I need a new hat: a warm one that does not squash my hair. I have rather long hair, and I hate having it all flat and frizzy from wearing a woollen hat. On the other hand, I hate freezing my brains, too. So, I shopped around on Ravelry and found a handful of hats I would like to make; I chose a quick one to start with, and voila: the Fern hat (or the beginning of one, at least). This is a very easy hat, top down, with 8 eyelet increases on every other round until the brim is large enough. Easy peasy. The pattern is the Eyelet Swirl Hat by Meg Myers – at least two of the hats that caught my eye in this search are by her. In a fit of startitis I cast on for another jumper (or sweater, if you prefer the American term); this time, the driftwood by Isabell Kraemer (Rav link), a free Ravelry download. This is a top down Henley with contiguous sleeves that look like set-in sleeves; it makes for some quite interesting and at first somewhat incomprehensible increases at the shoulders. The trick is to just go with it and trust the pattern, which is very well written. The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn and 4.5 mm needles; I have to be different, so I am using Rowanspun DK that is actually more like a sport weight, and 3.25 mm needles. Guess what: my gauge is off. So to get the pattern size XS, I am going by the numbers for size L, hoping that my calculations are right. I’ll give you an update on that next week. I have been wanting to make a jumper with this yarn for quite a while: back in 2005, my sister and were in London and found it on sale at Liberty’s. (The colour in the yarn photo is more true to life than the wip photo.) We each bought a pack of 10 skeins, and I made a jumper with half of mine. I still wear this jumper nearly every day (only at home when nobody is around), even though it is rather shapeless by now and too big since I lost weight. But now, it seems, I have found a new jumper to replace the old, worn out one. Well, this is it for this week; I hope you have a great week and come back next time! Until then: Happy Knitting!

Set in a small English town during the 19th century, Cranford depicts the lives of women, centering on the elderly, the widowed, and the unmarried. The social expectations and customs of Cranford are mostly enforced by three older women. Rowena Fowler is a wealthy woman who takes pride in her luxury items and has outlived all of her kin. Betsy Barker is a sweet, but a bit odd lady who has a pet cow that she loves so dearly that she sews pajamas for the animal. Deborah Jenkyns possesses the most social power. While the other two ladies help her police other townspeople, Deborah is the one who establishes the norms and customs that the town is expected to abide by. The town have more or less agreed to the standards these leading ladies set, which has set a balanced dynamic in Cranford. With vigorous gossip and a close-knit community, Cranford is a picturesque rural town. However, Cranford is shaken when a new family moves into town. Captain Brown and his two daughters unknowingly challenge Cranford's rules soon after they arrive. First, Captain Brown openly admits that he is poor. Traditionally, he is expected to keep up appearances to appear well-off, but Captain Brown, who is unfamiliar with such a custom freely admits his financial troubles. Next, he disagrees with Deborah over who is the best author of the time, which Deborah sees as a personal attack. As the town of Cranford witnesses every quirk and flaw of the Brown family, tearing them apart with gossip, they notice something else too. Captain Brown is an incredibly kind man, who makes homemade gifts and emphatically listens to others. This glowing virtue paired with all of Brown's social inadequacies challenge the town of Cranford like never before, forcing the townspeople to decide what merits really matter. Told through a series of satirical sketches, Cranford provides an intimate narrative that allows readers to experience the life and people of the 19th century, especially the women. Often excluded from narratives, Gaskell has created strong and memorable female characters, giving the women a well-deserved spotlight. Filled with humor and sentiment, Cranford is a tranquil and fun read. This edition of Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell's Cranford is printed in a modern font and features an eye-catching cover design, creating an assessible reading experience for a contemporary audience.

Book Synopsis Set in a small English town during the 19th century, Cranford depicts the lives of women, centering on the elderly, the widowed, and the unmarried. The social expectations and customs of Cranford are mostly enforced by three older women. Rowena Fowler is a wealthy woman who takes pride in her luxury items and has outlived all of her kin. Betsy Barker is a sweet, but a bit odd lady who has a pet cow that she loves so dearly that she sews pajamas for the animal. Deborah Jenkyns possesses the most social power. While the other two ladies help her police other townspeople, Deborah is the one who establishes the norms and customs that the town is expected to abide by. The town have more or less agreed to the standards these leading ladies set, which has set a balanced dynamic in Cranford. With vigorous gossip and a close-knit community, Cranford is a picturesque rural town. However, Cranford is shaken when a new family moves into town. Captain Brown and his two daughters unknowingly challenge Cranford's rules soon after they arrive. First, Captain Brown openly admits that he is poor. Traditionally, he is expected to keep up appearances to appear well-off, but Captain Brown, who is unfamiliar with such a custom freely admits his financial troubles. Next, he disagrees with Deborah over who is the best author of the time, which Deborah sees as a personal attack. As the town of Cranford witnesses every quirk and flaw of the Brown family, tearing them apart with gossip, they notice something else too. Captain Brown is an incredibly kind man, who makes homemade gifts and emphatically listens to others. This glowing virtue paired with all of Brown's social inadequacies challenge the town of Cranford like never before, forcing the townspeople to decide what merits really matter. Told through a series of satirical sketches, Cranford provides an intimate narrative that allows readers to experience the life and people of the 19th century, especially the women. Often excluded from narratives, Gaskell has created strong and memorable female characters, giving the women a well-deserved spotlight. Filled with humor and sentiment, Cranford is a tranquil and fun read. This edition of Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell's Cranford is printed in a modern font and features an eye-catching cover design, creating an assessible reading experience for a contemporary audience. Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book. With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe. From the Back Cover The leading ladies of the small town of Cranford have kept the locals in line with the manners and tastes they catered for years, but when a newcomer moves into town, their rules are challenged, threatening to change the town for good. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell's Cranford is humorous slice-of-life novel that tracks the changes of a 19th century English town.