One Thimble- Hoodie FMA's

I'm so excited for the new One Thimble issue coming out  (issue 11)! See up there, close to the top right? StitchART! Designed by our own Jeanine Thomlinson! Wooot Wooot!

She's got some super cute FMA's in this edition. Hoodie add-ons! They are so cute!

These are just three of the designs included! There are several more to choose from in the pattern. Like animal faces, that have coordinating tails that you can sew up on the back of the hoodie. Now what kid wouldn't want that!

I know my girls have decided they want the giraffe and fox next, lol. With the extended chilly Springs and Autumns that we have, you can never have too many hoodies!

As you can see, our spring is still  pretty chill for end of April. These aren't limited to being placed on hoods either! I've seen some super cute ones on the fronts of shirts, and I think they'd look great on bags and backpacks too! (Now I need to sew some cute backpacks!)

Fma's are the perfect way to ease back into sewing if you've lost motivation, as you can put them on rtw items. These hoodies, for instance, were store bought ones we already had on hand. Super fast, and instant gratification! Perfect for boosting sewjo in a slump!

And the kids love them too!

Remember, you can follow me on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook using the social media icons in the top and bottom left hand corners of my blog. Also my Pinterest Board with all my creations can be found in the bar along the right hand side. If you're looking to purchase or order something from my shop, you can contact me on my page. That's Sweet Stitch Shoppe. I love to hear from my readers, so please leave your comments and questions down below! Thanks for stopping in!

Thoughtful Tuesday- Searching for Sewjo!

My spring's been pretty blahh lately. Spring has never been an inspiring season for me. I know most people would disagree, but where I live, Spring comes slowly in dreary colors, coupled with blustery winds and sporadic rains. And for someone who loves the outdoors mostly through a window, it's a reminder of the coming obligations to go outside.
Lately it's been especially difficult to get motivation and inspiration. So I thought I'd sit and write a bit, and get those creative juices flowing!
Here are a few ways that I like to ease my way back into things!
1. One of my favourite ways to get my sewjo back, is to work on small projects that offer almost instant gratification. Things that I can complete in less than an hour are perfect, because I can squeeze them in almost anywhere, regardless of how busy my day is.
Free Motion Appliques are great. You can add some to your handmade items, take a rtw article of clothing and add some fun or even stitch some up part way and have them ready to add on whatever you like! My fave patterns are from StichArt aka The Crafting Fiend, you can buy her cute fma patterns here. I love her fun, whimsical designs.

The Sis Boom Tobago and Sis Boom Leighanna are my favourite fast sews in kids clothes! Both can be made in woven or knit (provided you use a woven facing on the Tobago). So this post isn't all words, here are some examples!

If I have absolutely NO motivation to sew whatsoever, I move on to these next options, which are perfect to do after the kids are in bed.

2. Read some sewing blogs! Here's a list of a couple of my favourites, although I read many more than this.
- The Crafting Fiend. An irl friend of mine, I love reading what she's up to, as she radiates creativity.
- Ali Cat & Co. I love the variety of projects she does.
- Kid's Clothes Week. The perfect place to dig around and see what other people are sewing for the littles in their lives.
3. Aside from blogs, I love visiting the Facebook groups pertaining to designers of patterns that I own. Seeing how other people hack a pattern, or add notions to change up looks is great inspiration for what I'd like to sew next.
4. Check out cute kids clothes that I'd like to copy cat for my girls on Pinterest.
Sewjo levels are pretty low, so I'll be spending the evening doing options 2, 3 and 4. Hopefully by my next post I'll have some pretty nursery items finished to show you!
Remember, you can follow me on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook using the social media icons in the top and bottom left hand corners of my blog. Also my Pinterest Board with all my creations can be found in the bar along the right hand side. If you're looking to purchase or order something from my shop, you can contact me on my page. That's Sweet Stitch Shoppe. I love to hear from my readers, so please leave your comments and questions down below! Thanks for stopping in!

Brightening a dreary spring by sewing baby gifts!

It's been quite a dreary spring up here in southern Manitoba, Canada. We've had several moments when the snow looks like it's gone, and then it comes back. Here's a photo of one snow days last week. It's not a lot, but it comes and goes, and comes and goes... I'm just waiting for proper spring, when things turn green and start warming up!

Along with this weather comes colds and flus... We've had several viruses running rampant in our household and it seems like all of March, and the beginning of April was spent recuperating and sanitizing. I think we've finally come clean of them (fingers crossed and knock on wood!).

One exciting thing (at least for me) that happened during spring break, is that my husband bought and installed a dishwasher for me! After almost 10 years of washing dishes by hand, I FINALLY have a dishwasher. I'm so happy. Dishes had to be the most hated chore I had (although I'm not sure why, maybe because  I found them to be sooo monotonous). Our kitchen didn't have one to begin with, so he had to remove a section of cabinets for it. I'm so lucky to have a handy husband. 

Obviously I haven't done much sewing while all this was going on, but I have done some! My sis is due in May with a little girl, so I've been sewing up some blankets and nursery items for her! I can't wait to meet my new niece! Here's what I've finished so far.

The above blanket is cotton and minky. It's super soft! My girls each wanted a blanket with that, and maybe one day I'll make them each a twin sized one. Maybe...

The top two blankets in the above pic are double gauze, and were super fast to make. Gauze is pretty shifty when cutting, but these two each had a grid pattern in their weaving, so I just followed the lines when cutting to make sure they were square. Then I just serged the edges. It took me a little bit to find out the best settings on my serger for this fabric, but I just played around on the scraps until I was comfortable. The bottom one is a single layer of cotton, and I just serged the edges. I may hem that one yet though, to make it look more finished.

I've got a couple of other nursery items coming up. Some crib sheets, change pad covers, bibs and burp cloths! After that I've got several things on my list that I'd like to make, I guess we'll see which one wins precedence!

Remember, you can follow me on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook using the social media icons in the top and bottom left hand corners of my blog. Also my Pinterest Board with all my creations can be found in the bar along the right hand side. If you're looking to purchase or order something from my shop, you can contact me on my page. That's Sweet Stitch Shoppe. I love to hear from my readers, so please leave your comments and questions down below! Thanks for stopping in!