Giveaway No. 10: Scrapper's Delight

(This Giveaway is now CLOSED. Congratulations to iamthemandy!)

It's giveaway time!! And this is a special edition, too: Scrapper's Delight is especially for crafters!

I hope to do a series of these kinds of giveaways...

I am calling this one . . .

Victorian

Blush

{sweetly feminine

fabrics, laces, and buttons.

shades of pink, peach,

beige, grey, & brown}

Included:

• An assortment of buttons (mostly vintage, some new)
• 6 pieces of lace, from 18" to 30" long, in widths of 0.5" to 3.5"
• 6 pieces of fabric, measuring approximately 5.5" x 9", up to 8" x 14"

These are some of my favorite materials to work with. They would be great for small projects, or for embellishing larger sewing projects. Also wonderful for sweet rag dolls and could even be used for scrapbooking!

To enter once:

+follow this blog and leave a comment telling me what YOU would do with these lovely bits.

To enter a second time:

+tweet or blog about the giveaway, and be sure to come back here and comment again with the link to your tweet/post/etc.

A winner will be randomly drawn one week from now on Tuesday, September 7th.

Good luck!!

PS--I forgot to mention that I should be able to contact you in some way. If your blogger profile does not have any email or website listed, please let me know where to contact you should you win! I will have to choose another winner if you cannot be contacted directly.

Tutorial: Sewing Dulcina (the Doll)

My first real tutorial....FINALLY! So....be gentle. And don't hate. :P And above all--if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions (or really anything at all to say,) leave a comment, for goodness sake!! :)

Dulcina the Doll

Materials needed:

• Scrap fabric (I used muslin for the head, arms, and legs, and plaid from a vintage skirt for the body)
• 18 inches of 3.5"-wide lace
• 9 inches of 1.25"-wide lace
• buttons for eyes and embellishment
• thread or embroidery floss

1. Using the template (located here), cut out body pieces.
2. With wrong sides together, use a whipstitch to sew head to body piece. Repeat for back.
3. With wrong sides together, stitch around leg piece, starting at corner of the top, going around the toe, and stop about 1"-2" from toe. Put a bit of stuffing in. Sew a couple more inches, stuff again. Continue until you have worked up the leg. Repeat with other leg and arms.
4. Take one of the body/head pieces and lay it down, wrong side facing up. Arrange legs in desired position. Make sure they are overlapping the body by about 1/4" or 1/2". Baste to body. Repeat with arms.
5. Once you have basted arms and legs to the body piece, lay it in front of you, with the wrong side up and legs and arms sticking out. Lay the other body/head piece on top, right side facing up. begin stitching around the edge. leave a 3" hole for stuffing. Stuff and stitch closed.
6. Taking the wide lace, baste along the top, about 1/2" from the edge. Gather into a width that matches the doll's body circumference.
7. Wrap the "skirt" around the body of the doll, with the open edge in back. Use a running stitch to attach it to the body.
8. Take the smaller lace and cross ends as shown. Baste/gather in the center. Stitch to head, along with button.
9. Sew on other button adornments and eyes, and stitch a mouth.
10. You are DONE! :)

Odds and Ends

This morning was rainy,

cool,

lovely.

I saw this little guy on the window...

And I spent most of the morning organizing/de-tangling my yarn stash. It feels great to get that done. Now I have at least some idea of what I...well...have. I certainly don't NEED to buy any yarn for a while. (Needless to say, that doesn't mean I won't buy any yarn for a while.)

In addition to the usable balls and skeins (or the ones with enough on them that I can at least make a pair of small wristwarmers or something), I found these little odds and ends.

I'm not quite sure what to do with them yet. I made a shawl from bits like these once. Does anyone else have any ideas?

Annnnddd... I also listened to CraftyPod, a podcast I recently discovered. It isn't new, but it's new to me, and I found it to be quite entertaining and very worth while! If you're into crafts (and, since you're reading this, you probably are) you should definitely check it out. And if you're into crafts AND you are interested in crafting for business, you MUST check it out!!

The episode I listened to today was about how to be a better blogger. So now want to be a better blogger. And I better follow through after announcing that in public.... ;)

Sooooo....

What do YOU, the reader, want to see more of??? I'm thinking about some tutorials in edition to the regular things on here. But is there anything else?

Let me know!

Hello Autumn....are you here yet?? No? You're on your way? Okay....I'll just wait here then.

LOL Craft Fair!

Saturday, August 7th was the end-of-summer LOL Craft Fair. Which, in this case, means Lord of Life, as in the church, as in the church who always puts on an awesome fair. :) I would have told y'all about it but I kept forgetting myself! But I wasn't vending at this craft fair, I was SHOPPING! And did pretty well, if I do say so...

Alpaca Spinning Fiber from JP Alpaca Haven...so pretty! I couldn't capture the colors with my camera, though. :( It is a lovely natural mix on the right, and some pinkish/orchid on the left.

Beautiful, hand-embroidered dish towels from a local crafter.

FABULOUS linen and cotton bracelet from Tayla B Designs! Her blog is located here, where you can see better pictures of these adorable flowers.

Awesome, thick crocheted cotton pot holder from the same awesome lady with the dishtowels.

And this sweeeeet flower made from a zipper! The coolest part--wear it as a brooch OR hair clip! Handmade by Ryleigh's Room.

Handmade with Heart Clothing Drive

I am very excited to announce that my local Etsy team, Wichita Handmade, is hosting a handmade clothing drive! Here are the details:

We will be donating new, handmade clothing to benefit victims of abuse. The clothing will go to a local shelter whose mission is to break the cycle of violence against women and their children by providing a safe place to stay and support services such as counseling, education and referrals to community resources.

All items are welcome but we especially could use:

-Sweatpants / Sweatshirts
-House Shoes / Slippers
-Jackets / Coats
-Underwear
-Blankets
-Pajamas
-T-shirts
-Socks
-Tennis Shoes
-Mittens / Gloves
-Hats
-Scarves
...and other clean, new, handmade clothing items!

Sizes needed: infants up to women's plus size.

Donations will be accepted through Friday, November 5th. Give your donation to a Wichita Handmade member, or drop off at any of these locations:

Wichita Pottery
300 N. Meridian

Twist Yarn Shop
607 W. Douglas Ave.

The Onion Tree
120 n Hillside


For patterns, ideas, and updates, please check out the official Handmade with Heart blog.

It's here, it's HERE!!!

Finally! C & T Publishing has released Lunch Bags!: 25 Handmade Sacks & Wraps to Sew Today. And why is this so exciting for me?

Because I'm in it!! Oh, and um, one of my projects is in there, too. :P

Oh, and aside from the fact that I'm actually a part of this project, it's also exciting because it's a darn good book!! It has great projects, beautiful pictures, and I especially like the way the cover feels. (Hey, that's pretty important.)

I suggest you add this to your crafty book reading list today!

{Cover}

{My project!}