Crafty Planet

 Yesterday I shared with you a trip to SRHarris. Today I'm sharing a trip to Crafty Planet which is in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 On this particular visit they were hosting the Little One-Yard Wonders book release party.

 The party included a trunk show of all the 101 projects featured in the book.

 It was fun to see them all up close and in person.

 Including my Mushroom Tea Party (picnic tablecloth, play mat) project.

 Several contributors to the book were there including, me, Pam, Lorraine, and Rachael.

 This is me with the 2 co-authors, Trish and Rebecca. As you can see we planned months in advance to coordinate our outfits of black, white stripes, and gray! Just kidding!

 And here I am holding Katy's Fun in the Sun(dress) project, standing in front of Lorraine's House in a Hallway project.

 Crafty Planet is the place to go to find designer quilting cottons.

 As well as trims, thread, & buttons.

I left the store with one yard of Paint by Number Deer from Erin Michael's Lush Uptown line and 2 yards of Aqua Salt Water Octo Garden.

By the way, you still have time to enter the Little One-Yard Wonders book giveaway, it ends Wednesday June 11th at 9:00 PM CST time.

Little One-Yard Wonders Book Giveaway!

  ETA: The winner is Ana!
*****
Yesterday I received a special package at my door step. The new Little One-Yard Wonders book arrived! I'm tickled pink because you can find me within its many fantastic pages. My Mushroom Tea Party is featured beautifully, thank you Little One-Yard Wonders!

Photo taken by Julie Toy

Between the covers of this book you will find 101 sewing projects to make for newborns through tweens, as well as parents of children. You'll find projects for the nursery, bath time, bedtime, home, kitchen, tops, pants, skirts, dresses, rompers, accessories, tactile play, dolls, plushies, imaginative play, games, hobbies, on the go, moms, and dads. Each project only uses up to a yard of fabric!

Photo taken by Mars Vilaubi

I have some exciting news for you today. Storey Publishing is giving away one copy of Little One-Yard Wonders to nest full of eggs readers! 

• This giveaway is limited to US mailing addresses only. 
• To enter the giveaway, please leave an answer in the comment section to the following question: what children do you sew for? Your own children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or those of good friends?
• The giveaway is open until Wednesday June 11th 9:00 PM (CST). 
• I will pick a winner and Storey Publishing will mail you the book.

Thank you for taking the time to visit here.

Little One-Yard Wonders

I have a little bit of special news to share with you today.

Let me introduce you to a new book that will be coming out soon. It is called Little One-Yard Wonders: Irresistible Clothes, Toys and Accessories You Can Make for Babies and Kids by Patricia Hoskins and Rebecca Yaker. It is the third one of the One-Yard Wonders book series, I blogged about the first one here and the second one here.

I am excited to share that one sewing project that I designed made it into the book! The book contains 101 projects total. As you can see, six projects are featured on the cover and how fun that my project is shown on the cover (to say that I am thrilled would be an understatement). Can you guess which one of the six is mine?  It is the red polka dot play set/play mat/table cloth. I designed it and sewed it up four years ago and submitted it for publication for this book two years ago, so it is super fun to see it published after all this time.

June 3rd, 2014 is the official publication date for Little One-Yard Wonders, but it is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.

I will share more about Little One-Yard Wonders in the future...

Thank you for taking the time to visit here.

Happy weekend everyone!

Red Riding Hood Doll

  I had been wanting to make this doll for months, so it feels good to have finally made it.

The pattern and instructions came from the book We Make Dolls! Top Dollmakers Share Their Secrets & Patterns by Jenny Doh. It's called Red Riding Hood and was designed by Suse Bauer.

It was so nice that all of the supplies (fabric, felt, button, embroidery floss, stuffing) were basic, you know, what most crafty people already have on hand, so all of these came from my stash and no need for a trip to the craft/fabric store.

One thing I really liked about this craft book is that the pattern didn't need to be enlarged so I didn't have to make a trip to the copy machine.

This doll turns out kind of long, 18 inches!

Red Riding Hood is a little gift for a little person :)

Off to my next project...

Dala Horse

 {2012 Craft Books}

Swedish Handknits: A Collection of Heirloom Designs by Sue Flanders and Janine Kosel

Got Swedish ancestry? Or like all things Swedish? Then you might be interested in this one. I enjoyed reading this book... aside from all of the various knitting projects all of which were inspired by the historic textiles housed at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota, it also includes stories, interesting historical bits, and vintage photographs.

I knitted a sweet little red Dala horse from the book, it was a fun project and will hang from our Christmas tree as an ornament.

 I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend an exhibit (at the American Swedish Institute) that featured all of the knitted items found in this book… here is a peek at some of the things that I saw…

Got Norwegian ancestry? Or like all things Norwegian? Then you might be interested in their Norwegian Handknits book which came out in 2009.

It is the end of February, so thanks for following my 2012 craft book series this month. Maybe I'll see you around here next February for a 2013 craft book series...

Bring on March... Easter... spring ~ ah, my favorite season of the year :)

Cottontail

 {2012 Craft Books}

Storybook Toys: Sew 16 Projects from Once Upon a Time Dolls, Puppets, Softies & More by Jill Hamor

Want to learn how to make well-made dolls and toys? Then get your hands on this book. I can't say enough about this one... just look at the exquisite doll on the cover of the book! And be sure to check out the author's doll hair tutorial.

So back in December, my daughter and I were looking through fun and pretty crafty type books and while she was turning the pages of Storybook Toys she came across Cottontail (the bunny softie), found it to be so irresistible that she begged me to make her one. She kept asking, asking, and asking when I was going to make it for her and I always told her February. She later told me that I mostly sew her dresses so she was super excited about me sewing her this stuffed bunny. One day this month she informed me before going off to school for the day that she expected the bunny to be completed (started and finished) by the time she got home from school that same day! HA! Well, this bunny did not get done in one day, more like little bits over several days, anyway when she viewed the end result she had a look of disappointment on her face... she declared that the bunny was too tall. She wanted it to be exactly like it was in the photo, meaning the exact same size, so about 4 inches shorter! Oh well, maybe she'll still fall in love with it?

And by the way, did you happen to see the Cottontail version that Amy from nanaCompany created just a few days ago?

Happy weekend !