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Sewing Buddy Project Now OPEN for 2016!

The Sewing Buddy Project is BACK!! Registration is open NOW through January 30, 2016.  All Buddy pair matches will be emailed out no later than February 1, 2016. The Sewing Buddy Project is a pen pal program.  People from…

Posts of Christmases Past

Today, on a whim, I searched my own blog to see what I’d posted in past years during Christmas time.  If you had asked me, I would have told you there were two or three posts, four max.  But…

Take the Surveys!

Yesterday, in my newsletter, I sent out two different surveys looking for feedback as I plan for 2016.…

Holiday Gifts: Tutorials to Get Them Done

What is it with this year?  December is going SO QUICKLY.  Hanukkah is already upon us, you guys!  Seems like usually by this point in the Christmas season, I’ve already cut out most of my projects and have set…

Advent Calendar Sew-A-Long

Years ago, I re-created my mother’s Advent calendar and interpreted it as a quilt-as-you-go project, complete with template.  The year I finally buckled down to make this for our family, I worked on one house a day each day…

Right Brain, Meet Left Brain: Sewing Feeds Them Both

There is some debate still about whether there is a distinctive division between our right brain and our left.  But most experts agree that each half of your brain bears the larger portion for certain mental tasks.  And sewing?  Sewing…

Family Halloween Costume 2015

We’ve done a family Halloween costume for the past four years.  We did Scooby Doo, Sound of Music, and Harry Potter.  This year, we did a little more steering than previously, where the kids had a heavy hand in…

I Wonder Why I Do This, Any Of It

I sew, a lot. Way more than normal people–and by normal, I guess I mean the average person, who probably doesn’t even know how to sew, making that an unfair and inaccurate comparison. So maybe I just sew way…

Results of a Dress Muslin

I have gotten into the habit of sharing finished projects, and hardly ever walking through the steps to getting from fabric selection to final garment.  It’s just SO much faster.  But this dress was an exception–I tried it on…

Halloween Projects Now LIVE!

Now live and waiting for you: Halloween projects have been added to the Hand-Sewn Year online class!  This class began as a Christmas Camp, and is gradually growing to include all the holidays in the calendar.  With Halloween, harvest,…

Co-Ordinating Sew Together Bag with Corduroy Bias Tape

My corduroy tote for this fall is bringing me enormous joy.  And if you’ve read about my sewing projects for any length of time, you can guess that the only thing that could possibly bring me as much joy…

Survey: What Thread Do You Use?

I’ve written about thread before, including my obsession with this microscopic analysis of thread fibers.  I love the idea that at the tiniest scale, thread ISN’T the same, and that the threads we use when we sew can make…