Featured Fabric Friday

It’s time for another Featured Fabric Friday!

Today I’d like to share with you this darling vintage piece.

This festive fabric came from a mill located in Hoboken NJ. I don’t know exactly how old the fabric is, but the mill closed in the 1940’s so we know it’s been around at least 70 years!

 Oh my!

If only I look that good in 50 years!

What can you do with it you may be wondering?

Why not pair it with another dear fabric and create a cheerful apron?

It's vintage fabric, so I had to throw in some vintage silk ribbon and buttons.  It was the right thing to do.

Don’t forget to add a sweet little ruffle hem cause it finishes things right up!

Happy Sewing

~Melisa & Cordelia

Featured Fabric Friday!

Welcome to a new segment I like to call Featured Fabric Friday.

On this segment, I will show you one of my favorite fabrics from Stitchology, and then share an idea or two of what YOU can do with the fabric.

Sound like fun?

You know it does!

So let’s get started!

On this Featured Fabric Friday I want to show you this amazing scrumptious rose wool boucle!

Delicious I say, and what a unique color for wool!

But what can you do with rose wool you ask?

Well, why not consider making a Baby Cakes cote for your favorite little girl?

My Favorite Part of the coat is the curved yoke on the front and back.

Or maybe it's the pleat in the back.

Then again, it might be the lining.

There are too many things to love about this coat!

Happy Sewing

~Melisa & Cordelia

Put a Bird On It Christmas Style

All my life I have dreamed of a bright pink Christmas tree. Only I could never justify spending the cash on something so tacky.

Until now.

 Now I have a fabric store that is just the perfect home for a bright pink tree, so I fulfilled my dreams and got the pink tree.

After setting it up and covering it with folded paper fashions, I decided it was a little naked, thus I made it a skirt.

 I don’t really go for the traditional Christmas designs, and when you have a pink tree you need to do something a little unexpected, so I covered my tree skirt in felt flowers and, you guessed it, birds.

 Cause birds make things purty.

 If you don’t believe me, watch this video.

I Do say, the bird skirt dresses the tree up nicely!

Now this is something I can proudly display in my store window!

Happy Decorating

~Melisa & Cordelia

Sugar Plum Apron

“You can never have too many aprons” is what I say.

Cause they are cute, easy to make, fun to wear and charming.

So I made myself a new apron for Christmas.

I call it The Sugar Plum Apron because it is sickly sweet with its peppermint candy looking motif and contrast ruffles.

I love this design because it has a high shaped waist that is flattering on my figure.

I wanted big pockets to hold lots of stuff so I added a little bit of elastic to the top edge to help hold things in and to give the pocket a ruffled appearance. I also added a contrast ruffle and binding because it was the right thing to do.

A contrast ruffle hem completes the look!

I was too lazy to sew ties, so I used some 1 ½” wide grosgrain ribbon instead, and I do say, it does the job nicely.

Now Cordelia and I are all prepared to cook Christmas dinner---if only we cooked---which we don’t.

Correction:

Now Cordelia and I are all prepared to awkwardly, but stylishly, linger around the kitchen while someone else cooks Christmas dinner!

Happy Cooking!

~Melisa & Cordelia



Little Black Dress Class

Confession:

I have been a little behind on making my class samples.

I know it’s hard to believe, but I, Melisa Hart, did not finish my sample for The Little Black Dress class until this weekend.

Woops.

The important thing is that it was finished a good 3 days before the class!

I decided to use the Colette Peony pattern for the class because it is a simple dress that is versatile and easily adapted to challenge more advanced students but simple enough for near beginners.

Personally, I have a handful of Little Black Dresses already, so I decided to use gray linen for my dress.

The dress has a sweet little boat neckline which is flattering to many figures.

It also has these cute little sleeves with just a little bit of gathering. The pattern also comes with an option for a longer sleeve which I love!

But the best part about the dress is that it includes inseam pockets that are great for stashing your keys or lipstick when you wear it to the office Holiday Party.

Yep, I’m officially a fan of this dress!

 I can’t wait to make it up in one of my Moda Cross-weve fabrics. Perhaps a red one? Mmmm. That will be a delicious little number!

If you want to make your very own Peony Dress stop by Stitchology to sign up for the class or to pick up your very own pattern.

Class times are Thursdays December 1st, 8th and 15th from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Or

Friday’s December 2nd and 9th from 10AM to 3:30 PM.

We Can’t wait to see you there!

Happy Sewing!

~Melisa & Cordelia

Christmas Flower Skirt

I just got this great new skirt pattern in the store so I had to give it a try.

First I went shopping. It was tough to pick my fabrics, but I finally decided to go with a Christmas-ish theme.

Then, with just a little snip snip here and a stitch stitch there, I had 11 bias bound petals.

Throw in a few more snips and stitched and you end up with an adorable little girls skirt!

Adorable I say! Just look at those petals.

How can you NOT love this skirt?

You can’t.

I loved the skirt so much I wanted to put it on display but people get weird when you leave half-clad dress forms laying around the shop so I needed a top to go with it.

After a quick trip to target and a little finagling with ribbon I had this cute Christmas tree blouse.

Put them together and……..

...Wait...

...For...

...It...

 

Voila!

A cute and easy little holiday outfit!

How precious is that?

Sooo precious.

Go make one!

It’s fun.

And, if you need some help, I will be offering the petal skirt class in the New Year!

 Mark your calendars, you’re not gona wana miss this one!

Happy Sewing

~Melisa & Cordelia

How Crafty Girls get Organized

Lately I’ve been in great need of a bit of organization in my life. I’ve been offering so many classes at the new store that it proved tricky to keep track of what classes I was teaching when. So I made myself a calendar.

 A ginormous chalkboard calendar to hang over my check out counter.

To make the calendar I started with a piece of chalkboard cloth (you can find some at Stitchology if you are inclined to make a calendar of your own).

I spent some time with my super long ruler carefully marking straight lines. Then I came in with a little fabric glue and rick rack to make the spaces for the days.

Once the glue was all dried up I printed out the days of the week on paper and glued to the calendar.

 To finish up I printed out numbers and month titles and attached them to Velcro so I can move them around and switch them up each month.

And Voila, I have a super cool, super versatile, super big calendar to help keep me organized!  And the best part, each month all I have to do is wipe it clean with a damp cloth and start all over! 

Plus it's fun to decorate.

I herby crown myself Queen of the Crafts.

I mean that literally.

I plan on wearing this fabric crown I made daily.

You may call me Her Majesty if you wish, although it is not required.

Although it may help score you a discount on your Chalkboard Cloth

Happy Crafting

Melisa & Cordelia



Tie One On Day

Did you know the 4th Wednesday of every November (also known as Thanksgiving Eve) is Tie One On Day?

Tie One On Day, is a day to celebrate aprons, and the spirit of women of earlier generations who wore aprons as part of their daily wardrobe.

This day recognizes aprons as a symbol of family, home and mothering and recognizes that the women (and men) who wore aprons helped make America great.

But what makes Tie One On Day so fabulous is how it is celebrated.

On this day, one should wrap a loaf of bread in an apron, tuck a prayer or note of hope in the pocket and, while wearing your own apron, deliver the bundle to someone in spiritual or physical need.

According to EllynAnne, a founder of Tie One On Day, “no matter which way you turn out of your own front door, someone who is deserving of a hug is very close by.”

So, in preparation of Tie One On Day, I encourage all of you to make an apron, bake a loaf of bread (or any other tasty treat) and spread some joy.

 To help inspire you I am offering apron classes all month long!

Drop by to come make one of these fabulous aprons!

Happy Tie One On Day

~Melisa & Cordelia

Furniture Redesign

As a new store owner I found myself in desperate need of new furniture, but zero budget to purchase that furniture. Instead of furnishing the store with shiny new items, I dug through my parents’ storage shed and barn and assembled a collection of cast off or neglected furniture, most of which belonged to a grandparent at some time. Most of the furniture was in good shape, but a few of the pieces were in need of a little work. Take this stand for example.

It’s cute, but it was heavily scratched and missing peaces.

So, I took a little bit of Old English Scratch Remover and rubbed it into the wood. Like magic the piece looked instantly new and exciting!

Then I decided I wanted to brighten the piece up a little bit so it would be a better fit in the space. So I found some scraps of fabric, cause this is a fabric store after all, and filled in the doors. Instant pop!

Finally, I found some cute knobs and threw them on.

And Voila, I’ve got a beautiful new piece of furniture.

But then I had to figure out what the heck to do with it…….

It could work as a display for my Christmas fabric, but not really loving it…..

So I moved it around a bit and decided it would look great by my front door and it makes the perfect information station. Now I have a convenient place to stack my class schedules and info about upcoming events! Yay!

Happy redesigning!

Melisa & Cordelia