Samantha on the Prairie

I make time for sewing more than any other hobby. If I could spend a week off from work sewing all day, I would. There's nothing like the feeling of making something useful from fabric! Sometimes, I create my own design, sometimes I adapt a pattern, and sometimes I work from a purchased pattern. With bags, I prefer to buy a pattern. I feel more confident that the results will hold up if I work from someone's tested idea. When Penny signed up to take dance classes with a friend, I decided to make each girl a little bag to hold their shoes. I wanted a bag that could stand on its own, would be small enough for the kids to carry, and could fit in a larger bag on occasion. Jane's Little Boxy Bag Pattern from Projects by Jane was just what I was looking for. I made the two bags at once, one exactly as instructed, and the second bag using thin fusible fleece to underline the exterior. Both bags came out cute. The shape is the same and the style is the same. The main diff...

At my daughter's school, families take turns doing the class laundry. Several times a year, we take home a bag of towels and smocks, and Miss P takes care of the load while I supervise. The bag itself usually needs a cleaning too. The teachers hang a tag on the bag to remind parents to bring the bag of clean laundry back on Monday, but after a while, the paper tag gets torn and worn out. I'm sure it's been accidentally washed a few times with the bag. The tag was on its last legs, so I tried my hand at embroidery over the weekend, copying the paper tag message on cotton. There's a fabric backing as well, to keep the knots in place (hopefully). It's not my prettiest work, but it does the trick, and now it's attached to the bag, so the laundry bag can get tossed in the wash, tag and all, and hopefully it will last a little longer than the old paper tag. These are the times I wish for a fancy embroidery machine!

a pile of paper-pieced hexagons A friend recently posted how she embarked on 100 days of Zentangle, which is often used as a stress-reduction or meditative exercise. In high school, my circle of friends often carried around a black pen or Sharpie, producing similar doodles during study hall. We didn't have a name for it, but it seems that pattern doodling is taking off. As an adult, I haven't been able to get into Zentangle, mainly because I more other artistic or crafting activities more. Last summer, a good friend of my sister-in-law enthusiastically tried to turn me into a knitter. At the time, I thought it was a perfect way to have a portable, repetitive activity for travel, watching TV, or at the playground, but I just couldn't get into it. I found knitting stressful, rather than relaxing. Sometimes I bring a big tote of sewing projects, cutting patterns and basting fabric on hotel room floors, but that's really inconvenient and not so good for playdates and ...

I was feeling crafty this month and it had been a while since I'd made anything interesting with my sewing machine. I've also got a small stash of fabric in colors and patterns I'd not likely use for clothes or quilts. With my sister-in-law likely visiting soon, I decided to make her a cute gift, something she'd enjoy as a decoration for her bed or in her office. The doll came together quickly, just 90 minutes to cut and stitch. I spent another 30 minutes hand stitching seams after I stuffed her. Clothes were more complicated. I wanted to stick with items I had on hand, so I used some vintage trims and country cotton prints and solids for the dress, bonnet, shoes, and jumper. Not having ribbon, I used green rickrack to tie the bonnet. My favorite part is the shoes, which were super easy to put together. Instead of buttons, I stitched little red knots, permanently attaching the shoes so they won't fall off. Though I was happy to pass her along to my sister-in-l...

I have this old office chair I got on sale several years ago. Honestly, I hate how traditional office chairs look and those that are nicer tend to also be much more expensive or simply too big for little me. So I end up with those rolling task chairs that never hold up or are boring gray or black when I yearn for a pop of color. This was my task chair. My husband took the back off since I don't really use it, but it was still kind of blah. This was my task chair. My husband took the back off since I don't really use it, but it was still kind of blah. In my stash, I found a yard of striped home decor fabric, which looked to be more than enough to cover the chair seat. Now, there are plenty of proper ways to cover or reupholster a chair. My way is not the most durable or neatest, but it's quick! 1. Set the chair upside down on the fabric. Since it was a wavy stripe pattern and I knew I wouldn't get a perfect straight across doing this quickly, I set the c...

I'm an experienced sewer who mostly made kids clothes and crafts until six months ago when I started using Craftsy. I love the easy of picking a class and having permanent access, the ability to get answers from the instructor, and the depth and quality of each class I've taken. I know they're not all fabulous as I read reviews before picking a class, but so far, I've had amazing success at picking classes with so much information it's like I've been attending in person. That should give you a sense of my expectations of an online crafting platform. Creativebug invited me to review their crafting website, which offers a similar style as Craftsy, but with different enrollment models and more short-term workshops that remind me of quick lectures or Craftsy's free mini-classes. The first class I picked was Homemade Apothecary . It was well-timed because I had a tub of shea butter and a desire to make some homemade products for my husband. We went to ou...

For the past several months I have slowly been making a beautiful dress following a  Craftsy  couture sewing class by  Susan Khalje . Before this, I'd never made a fitted bodice for a grownup and had never made anything substantial from silk. I made two muslins, realizing I'm a near perfect size 10 after making significant alterations to my first attempt with a size 12 pattern. With the 10, there were some tweaks during fitting, but nothing major for fit purposes. I altered my pattern so I'll have the sleeves I want, more coverage in the front, a longer bodice, and a higher back and then began by cutting the silk organza. With the markings on the silk, I don't have to mark the fashion fabric. I used the organza as a pattern to cut the embroidered silk dupioni and basted them together. Truth be told, I'm still basting. I was trying to multitask, watching a TV show, and basted to the wrong side for all four skirt sections, so I'm halfway done fixing ...

I needed a distraction and had the opportunity to make a one-of-a-kind apron for a friend to give as a gift to her fiancé. She was looking for something that was visually appealing but durable and practical and that would fit him well. I followed a traditional apron shape but chose to cut the top half on the bias for visual interest and lined the apron in a smooth, but washable satin. Clothes are protected but the apron won't cling, so it'll still look good while pulling a pan out of the oven. There are plenty of pockets and long ties. I included a clip for hanging a potholder or towel (apron-clipped towels are SO handy). A unique feature is the overall style neck strap. Rather than a two-piece tie or the usual adjustable sewn-on strap, I used overall clasps so it's super easy to adjust but if you like having the apron higher up on the chest, it can come off and on with a simple clasp - no adjustments or retying needed. It looks cute too. My husband is modeling the apron ...

I just wanted to post a note of thanks to everyone who entered the Smart-Fab craft fabric giveaway. The contest has ended and Rafflecopter selected a random winner from all the entries. I'm pleased to announce that a Minnesota teacher won three sample rolls that she'll be using in her classroom! If you're still curious to try Smart-Fab, you can visit the Where to Buy section of the Smart-Fab website for a list of retailers (online and brick-and-mortar). There are so many uses for Smart-Fab from education to crafting, so definitely check it out!

I was contacted recently by Smart-Fab representatives who offered to send me a sample pack for review and 3 sample rolls to offer as a giveaway to one lucky winner. This will be the first giveaway on this blog, so I'm super excited to kick things off! First, I want to say that I hadn't heard of Smart-Fab before, so I checked out their website to better understand the product and how it's used before agreeing to do the review. Since a good friend of mine is a public school teacher and Smart-Fab looks perfect for classroom decoration, I decided this review would be best done as a team, with my friend, Andrea, trying it out too. Smart-Fab is a non-woven fabric that is great for art projects and for classroom use. It can be easily cut, glued, and painted on, sewn, stitched, and stapled. Andrea and I spent an evening playing with the Smart-Fab color swatch book, which let us see all 15 assorted colors and get a sense of the texture. We were both impressed how bold and bri...