The Cottage Mama's Sewing Basket: Fabric Marking Pens

First off, I apologize if I sound overly enthusiastic in the following post. But honestly if I could write this post with all caps and end every sentence with an exclamation mark, I would. Secondly, I want you to know that I have absolutely know affiliation with this company or product, I just really, really like it.

So, I didn't get to take any classes myself when I was teaching at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion, but I did learn a few things. And these Pilot FriXion Erasable Gel Pens have changed my life. Maybe you've known about these all along and I am late to the party, but oh my goodness, these are the best fabric marking pens ever! They are not designed to use on fabric, but they work like a dream.

Darlene, our classroom machine educator, introduced these pens to my assistant Terri and I during class. She had one and asked us if we had ever seen these, neither of us had, so Darlene showed us how they worked. It blew our minds.

These pens glide along the fabric making a beautiful mark just as they would on paper. And guess how they disappear? With your IRON! The friction of your iron rubbed on top of the fabric makes them disappear practically on contact. There is a little eraser on the pen, but the iron works so much better.

You can buy the Pilot FriXion Erasable Gel Pens at your local office supply store or online and they come in a bunch of different colors. The only problem you might have is if you are marking on black fabric, you still might need to use your white pencil or chalk, but other than that, these will be all you'll ever need in the fabric marking department.

Trust me, you must go out and buy these now!

PS: The Cottage Mama's Sewing Basket is going to be a new series of posts where I show you all the tools I love to use when I sew. Some may be ones that you've heard of and others may not, but I always think it's fun to get a little glimpse inside someone else's sewing basket.

Pin It

Crafter's Vision Giveaway

I'm really excited about today's giveaway! Why? Because our lovely blog sponsor, Crafter's Vision is giving away two $50.00 gift certificates to two very lucky The Cottage Home blog readers. That means you get to browse their shop and pick out whatever you would like and trust me, you could get lost for hours browsing their massive inventory.

If you've never visited Crafter's Vision, you must head over there when you get a chance. They carry a great selection of fabric, trim, ribbons, craft supplies and so much more.

It has been so cold here in Chicago, that I am really longing for spring. So I put together some pinks and greens (pictured above) that I think are calling my name. I love this little bundle of fabric from 'Blend' fabrics, plus those nursery prints by Heather Ross are just adorable. I don't know, pink and green always feels kind of preppy and classic to me.

Crafter's Vision gets in new inventory daily, but I'm pretty sure if you check them out, that you will find plenty of things that you need to take home right now. I am trying to be good since I have so much fabric right now, but as I was looking through their store yesterday, I saw a lot of things that were begging to come into my home.

Also, how about free shipping in the US on orders over $30.00? Yep, they've got that too.

Now onto the giveaway......like I said, Crafter's Vision is offering two $50.00 gift certificates to their store for two different winners. All you have to do is enter via the Rafflecopter below.

Giveaway open until Thursday, February 28, 2013 at midnight (CST).

a Rafflecopter giveaway Pin It

Riley Blake Designs Winner

And the winner of the Riley Blake Designs Fat Quarter Bundle is...........

Congratulations, Tricia! You are going to love this fat quarter bundle. Please email me at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com with your contact information and we will get this bundle in the mail to you as soon as possible. Thanks so much to everyone who entered and check back tomorrow for another great giveaway! Pin It

Knot Dress Tutorial & Riley Blake Designs Fat Quarter Bundle Giveaway

Can you believe that I am registering this little lady for Kindergarten today? Yes, it's really true. How did this happen? Please hit the pause button right now!

Today I am over at Riley Blake Designs sharing my Project Design Team Tutorial for this Easy Knot Dress. I hope you'll pop over and check it out if you get a chance.

Click HERE to learn how to make this Easy Knot Dress.

And the giveaway.......

Because it's my Project Design Team Day, I also get to giveaway an entire Fat Quarter Bundle of one of my favorite fabric lines, Little Matryoshka by Carly Griffith for Riley Blake Designs. This bundle includes 21 Fat Quarters of the entire line. You are going to love it!

To enter the giveaway, please enter via the Rafflecopter below........
a Rafflecopter giveaway Pin It

Pin Cushion Ring Tutorial

When I was teaching at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion a couple of weeks ago, I needed some straight pins for a project I was demonstrating. Our lovely machine educator in the room, Darlene, handed me this sweet little pin cushion that she had brought with her. It was so adorable and perfect for traveling.

Upon closer examination of this pincushion, that had been given to Darlene by her by a friend, I noticed that it was simply made from a plastic bottle top. The bottle top had two holes drilled in the top and a piece of elastic was used for the ring portion. I knew that when I got home, I wanted to try to make my own version of this darling little pin cushion.

I still had some leftover blank rings from the DIY Cabochon Jewelry that I had made as Christmas gifts this year, so I decided to use those as the base for my pin cushion. These pin cushions would make such a sweet gift for the seamstresses / quilters / sewists in your life. Or just make one for yourself......they make the most perfect little travel pin cushion!

Pin Cushion Ring

~Tutorial~

Supplies:

1 plastic bottle top

1 3" x 3" circle of fabric

Ribbon or Trim (4" - 5")

1 blank ring base

Fiberfill or other stuffing (just a small amount)

Strong craft glue (i.e. E6000)

Hand sewing needle

Thread

Scissors

Instructions:

Gather up your supplies. You can find blank rings at your local craft store (i.e. Michael's, Joann's, Hobby Lobby, ect). I like the adjustable kind because you don't have to worry about whether or not the rings are going to fit.

Also, choose any size or type of plastic bottle top that you like. It can be big or small.....it doesn't really matter.

Cut out a circle from your fabric. I used the top of one of my storage containers as a guide. It measured approximately 3" x 3". If you make a larger circle, you will have a larger, more rounded pin cushion top. If you cut a smaller circle, then your pin cushion top will lay more flat within the plastic bottle top. It's entirely up to you how large or small you would like your pin cushion, but 3" worked well for the standard top.

Do a basic running stitch around the entire edge of the fabric circle with your hand sewing needle and thread. Pull the thread a little to begin gathering the circle.

Fill the circle with a small amount of fiberfill or other stuffing of your choice. Once you have stuffed the circle, pull the threads even tighter to close the top of the pin cushion. Sew back and forth a few times and knot your thread to secure.

Grab your strong craft glue (I like E6000) and apply a liberal amount to the inside of the plastic bottle top and the bottom of the pin cushion. Stick the pin cushion inside the bottle cap and continue pressing until it fits inside well. 

Measure your ribbon or trim so that it is a little bit longer than the circumference of the bottle top. Fold under the two ends towards the wrong side of the trim and glue in place. Then apply your strong craft glue to the outside of the plastic bottle top. Wrap the trim around the bottle top, making sure to line up the trim with the edge of the top. Apply a little more glue where the trim overlaps to secure in place.

Apply glue to the blank ring and press in place on the bottom of the bottle top. Make sure you apply a good amount of glue to the ring, but not too much, because you don't want to see the glue coming out from the ring top. You want it to look neat and tidy.

 After your pin cushion is dry, add some pins and you're ready to go!

PS: I found some other great tutorials for different variations on this idea that I thought you might like to check out. This one from Prudent Baby and this one from Riley Blake Designs uses a metal bottle cap and here is one that uses elastic as the ring base.

Pin It

Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion ~ Teaching Recap

I just got back this past Monday from being away for eight days teaching sewing classes at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion. It was such a wonderful and memorable experience, but I am so happy to be back home with my husband and little ones. I was so incredibly flattered when I was invited to teach at the School of Art Fashion. I knew that the teachers at this school were truly legends in the heirloom sewing world, so to be included in this group was very special to me. The school takes place twice a year......in February and July.

To be honest, I didn't know quite what to expect upon arrival. I knew about the school prior to teaching, but I had never attended and didn't really have much of a visual about the event. I even 'google' searched it to find some pictures, but came up short, so I just brought what I thought I needed and decided to go with the flow.

I arrived in Huntsville, AL on Sunday, February 2nd, 2013 to teach for a full seven days. I have never been to AL, but it turns out it is only an hour and a half from Chicago by plane. And it also turns out that Alabama folks have the most charming accents I have ever heard. Oh, they all just sounded so sweet.......'Bless Your Heart'......I loved it!

 Inside The Cottage Mama Classroom

Outside The Cottage Mama Classroom

I prepared my classroom for seven days of teaching. I brought all sorts of samples of my sewing. Most of them were my patterns or things that we were sewing in my classes, but I also brought some other pieces that I just really loved. I hung things on the walls inside the class and on the outside as well.

 Ruby Ruffle Pre-Day Class

At the School of Art Fashion there are three days of pre-day classes and then a four-day school. I taught three different, day-long classes during the pre-day with different sets of students and then had the same group of students that sewed with me for the full four days in my school.

I was also give an assistant for the week. I don't know what I would have done without my assistant, Terri. She had previously worked for Martha Pullen, attended the school as a student and worked as an assistant prior to helping me. She was a wealth of information and made me feel so at ease with everything. Not to mention that she was very quick to pick up on some of my (somewhat) complicated sewing tricks so that she could help assist the students. I'm so thankful that I had her help!

So what did we sew? In my pre-day classes I taught the Shortcake Double Ruffle Dress, the Ruby Ruffle Dress and the Janey Jumper. In my school, I taught a new variation of my Charlotte Apron Dress pattern, machine applique and embroidery, a double layer twirl skirt, bloomer capris and two embellished shirts.

Also, during one of my classes the students expressed interest in learning about how I pair and select fabrics for garments. So we took a mini-field trip to the Martha Pullen store at the school and I tried to show them the method to my madness. It's kind of hard to explain what I do, but it was helpful for me to be able to pull several different bolts and discuss pattern, color and scale with them.

Here are some of the students busy at work sewing, tracing, cutting, ect.......

 Cort, Lyn, Michelle and many others......

 Christi

 Michelle from Handmade Martini

 Inside The Cottage Mama Classroom

 Ruth

 Kathy

 Connie and Teresa

I loved my students. I was very blessed with a wonderful group of women who were all so sweet and excited to be there creating with me. We had wide range of ages which was a lot of fun. The entire Martha Pullen school ranged from age 19 to 86, but I'd say the majority of my students were mothers and grandmothers with younger children. I had so much fun looking through their iphones and seeing all their precious little ones.

And I was so flattered when I found out that Michelle from Handmade Martini (pictured above in the mustard colored sweater) had driven five hours just to take this one class from me. Can you believe it? And Christi (the red head pictured above) was also a blog follower who took one of the preday classes with me. It was great to connect with these younger ladies and I'm so glad we had some extra time to go to lunch together. I think we would be friends if they lived close by. You can check out the incredibly sweet post about the Martha Pullen School from Michelle by clicking here.

Charlotte Apron Dress Kit

Each class has a kit that is given to each student upon arrival. I selected all of the fabrics, trims, buttons, ect. Then they had a list of extras that they had to bring (basic sewing supplies, thread, and some other extras). Each kit also contained the pattern needed for each garment.

 Embroidery Thread in The Cottage Mama classroom

We had a lot of fun doing some machine applique and embroidery on the apron of the Charlotte Dress. Darlene, my wonderful machine educator that was in my classroom all week, had some great tips and tricks. I encouraged the students to get creative. Three of my applique designs were actually digitized by Darlene and in all of the students machines so they could use those if they wanted (a strawberry, owl and bird) or they could choose a built in embroidery design. It was very exciting for me to see them all go in different directions and create something different.

In addition to the classes there are several other events such as lunches with amazing sewing and embroidery machine giveaways, a banquet with little children modeling different gorgeous garments constructed by students and teachers, a barbeque, and teachers selling night (where I sold my patterns) and a table top clinic (where teachers each demonstrate different sewing projects or techniques).

 Liberty Lawn

(yes, I did finally give in and purchase some)

 Antique Children's Garments from Martha's personal collection that were sold via silent auction. All proceeds were donated to charity.

 Lace. Lots of Lace.

 Dresses and Rompers all gathered and ready for smocking.

Also, there is a giant pop-up Martha Pullen store in the center of the event. There is everything from quilting cotton, linen, silk, lace, ribbon, patterns, books, notions and so much more. I tried to keep myself out of there as much as possible, but I finally caved and bought some things on the very last day. You should have heard the buzz around the school when they had silk dupioni on sale for $5.00. It is so much fun to be around other women who are just as obsessed over quality fabrics as I am. And the ladies who attend the School of Art Fashion take it to a whole new level. I love it!

So I've shown you a lot of my experience, but what's even more impressive is the work from this talented group of instructors hired by the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion. Here are some inspirational pictures from some of the other instructors classrooms......

Pieces pictured above from Kari Mecca

Pieces pictured above from Connie Palmer

Pieces pictured above from Lezette Thomason from Children's Corner

Pieces pictured above from Trisha Smith of Trisha's Treasures

There was also a new Baby Lock school taught by Joi Mahon teaching students beginning draping and adult fashion design. I only heard amazing things from the students about their instruction from Joi. Above are some original creations by Joi and the students with their original fashion designs. It was amazing to see!

And finally, here I am with the one and only, Martha Pullen, herself. Martha, in a nutshell, is just simply amazing. She has a presence that brings a room to a complete stand-still. She has a faith that is unwavering. An energy that is completely contagious. And a business savvy that is to be admired. And on top of all that, she is a 70 year old woman who can still rock a pair of gold sequined uggs. Yes, she is that fabulous.

Like I said before, it was truly an honor to be invited to teach at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion. I knew that going into this event, but I was told time and time again by the students about how honored I should be to be teaching. I was quite young in comparison to most of the teachers and to be lumped in with this amazingly, talented group of instructors gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. 

I'm not quite sure how I've ended up where I am today, but I am thankful and grateful and truly blessed.

Pin It