Mabel and Me

I hope you had a chance to take a look a the cute print that P was wearing yesterday....I had it made by Emma over at Mabel and Me. I loved the fabric and thought it would be perfect for summer and even great to wear on Memorial Day and 4th of July with adding a touch of our inner hippie spirit.

You have to check out the great items that are over at Mabel and Me. Not only does Emma make children's clothing, but she also creates other items such as awesome snack bags-we have two and I love the way she constructs them-they're so durable which is much needed with a two year old boy running around, bibs, burp cloths, placemats, crayon rolls, and much more.

Check out her website HERE.

Happy Memorial Day

Check Back tomorrow to find out more about this cute Mabel and Me dress that P is wearing!

Some are here, some are coming

These are now here.....




These are coming soon....

Call Me Crazy, Call Me Lazy, Call Me What You Want

I've had this quilt pieced together for awhile now and Sat when a customer of mine came in and was putting together a few fabrics in here I became re-inspired to finish this. I love the combination of colors and patterns and the simplicity of the quilt. I did a simple quilting on it and am beginning to realize that I prefer straight lines and simple quilting on my pieces-I guess that means I have a style of quilting! Yeah for me.

Anyways I decided to zigzag stitch the edges together before binding and about halfway through I started to admire the zigzag and decided that I'm not going to bind it...not sure if this just makes me lazy, but I want to see how it washes and if I still like it....if not then I'll just add a binding. If I do like it...who knows maybe I'll just do all of my quilts this way.

Anyone else know of anyone that does this? Do you think I'm crazy????

Duvet or not to Duvet?

When I first Saw this patten in the Daisy Janie collection I knew I wanted to showcase it in some sort of home dec application-at the time I was thinking curtains, but after thinking about it for a little bit-I decided it would be even better as a duvet cover. I've found duvet covers to be a great and fairly inexpensive way to change a room around without having to paint or do anything major.

This duvet came together fairly quickly and it's a pretty easy project-the only issue that I had is that it is a large amount of fabric to be working with so I learned it was best to pin, pin and pin some more to keep everything in place while sewing. I also decided that instead using buttons for the closure I'd experiment with snap twill tape-glad I did-LOVE it! Well except for trying to sew it on, but I think I prefer this to buttons and it gives you a better finished closure in my opinion(again take it with a grain of salt).

I've had this project finished for a couple of weeks, but have been waiting for some Monaluna fabric to come in to make pillows to go with it-but I couldn't wait any longer, so here you go!

Unfortunately the pic is a little blurry-I have my camera now, but the USB cord has disappeared-did I mention that my son has entered the hoarding phase of his life? I'll download a better pic when I find it.(I found the cord-yeah!!!!!)

My New Best Friend

I've always been pretty bad at finishing quilts-I love putting together the fabric combinations and design but then I hate pinning and binding...hence why many of my quilts are unfinished.

I finally decided to try Basting Spray and I have now finished two quilts...well I still haven't bound one of them but hey it's a big step for me.

Here are my thoughts on basting spray for what it's worth...

-It's really good for beginner quilters or people that don't have a lot of patience to pin

-I always, ALWAYS find wrinkles and creases after the fact when I pin-I avoided this with spray basting because I could smooth it out

-they say is has no odor-well 'they' are lying, there is a smell to it-it's not necessarily overwhelming but it wasn't a pretty smell either

So far it has enough benefits for me to stick with it...has anyone else had any issues with it that I haven't discovered yet?

Introducing Simply Sadie Jane

I love being able to introduce other people to the creative and talented people and their blogs...Sadie Jane is one of those people...I've been following her blog for a couple of months now and love her ideas and she is oh so crafty! Since I've started to carry the home dec weight fabric I've had a lot of people asking about making pillows and I thought it'd be a great opportunity for you to meet Sadie Jane and get a tutorial on pillows at the same time-ENJOY!

HELLO DRAWSTRING STUDIO READERS!

I'M SADIE JANE

FROM

{SIMPLY SADIE JANE}

THE SWEET DANIELLE IS ONE OF MY FABULOUS SPONSORS ON MY BLOG.

WITH ALL OF HER BEAUTIFUL FABRICS I GET PRETTY SPOILED BY THE WONDERFUL PIECES I GET IN THE MAIL!

ABOUT A MONTH AGO I GOT THIS WONDERFUL CHEVRON FABRIC AND I COULDN'T STOP MAKING STUFF WITH IT!

In fact I made this wonderful pillow that I want to show you all how to make yourselves.

It's so easier and cheap!

You'll need:

fabric

scissors

sewing machine

pillow stuffing

pencil

Start by cutting out your desired pillow size with your base color.

Then cut a piece about an inch smaller than the base fabric on all sides and start by tracing your desired design.

Cut out your design and iron with starch onto desired place of base fabric.

Pin your heart out...

And start sewing.

Get as close to the edge as you can.

I tried to stay within a cm from the edge.

Obviously I wasn't as perfect as I would have liked to be but you can't tell from far away.

Once your done with that place the outside pieces of your pillow together and sew the edges together with about a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Sew until you have about 5 inches left.

Turn your pillow right side out and start stuffing your pillow.

I don't like working with pillow forms but you can use them if you're more comfortable with them!

After your done stuffing make sure you change your thread to the same color as your base fabric since your going to sew on the outside.

Push the stuffing to the opposite side of the opening and sew the opening closed with a simple straight stitch!

That's it...

so simple yet chic and wonderful!

Here are a few other things I did with the fabric!!

The options are ENDLESS!!

This week on my blog I am featuring my master bedroom that I just remodeled!!

COME ON OVER TO MY BLOG to see all the tutorials and how to's that went into this room!! You could do it too!!

Thanks DRAWSTRING STUDIOS for having me over!

Love the fabric and ALWAYS WILL!!

XOXO,

Sadie Jane!!

New Summer Hours

With summer coming to WI...well it should be here eventually...I now have the opportunity to increase store hours!

Starting this week Store Hours are:

Wed 12-8

Thurs 12-8

Fri 12-8

Sat 11-4

I am looking at adding another day in there and once I figure it out-I'll let you know. Anyone have any preferences????

This is Why I need some organization in my life

So I just realized I had this blog posted on my family blog-oops!

2 Blocks for Elaine

Animals are Headed this Way

I think I'm starting to run out of somewhat clever blog titles(I know they've never been too clever to start with). Anyways, I finally pulled the trigger and ordered these lovelies today, with a little input from some of my fav customers....I love how these two collections work so well with each other and are essentially interchangeable in my mind.

Our Winner

So the odds were pretty good on this giveaway....but drum roll please.......winner is

Crafty-Wafty said...

They are both super pretty. I prefer At Dawn.... purely because it matches more of my colors in my home. :)
- Stephanie

So Stephanie, shoot me an email at drawstringstudio@gmail.com and I'll get your prize in the mail tomorrow!

Dear Amy Butler....

Can I move in with you? Seriously I love your house-I know I'm a little behind about the house tour on Apartment Therapy, but honestly I didn't want to look at how awesome I was sure her house was going to be and then immediately decide I wanted to change so many things about our house-well I looked anyways and yup that's what happened-I want to change my house. Atleast my husband and I are going for a quick thrifting trip before dinner-I'm sure I'll be buying some things now! Look at her amazing house for yourself right HERE. Oh yeah and it makes me appreciate Ohio just a little more now that I know she lives there too-

When life gives you lemons

Make a cute little dress out of it! This fabric was screaming spring/summer to me and I needed a little cheering up after the rainy cold days we've been having here(well there was one day in the 80s-just one). I used this new fabric from Monaluna and the Bubble Dress pattern from Oliver and S. The pattern was pretty easy to follow and I got it done in a day-plus I even prewashed the fabric which anyone that's ever talked to me knows that is something I rarely used to do.

I also made a cute pair of big butt baby pants for E with the new Helicopter fabric, and I'd post a pic but he grabbed them instantly and was wearing them within minutes. They look like the most comfortable pants ever and I plan on making him a couple more pairs. You can go to Rae's website to get your own pdf copy of the pattern HERE.

Don't worry for those of you not interested in kids clothes-I also made a duvet cover that I'm pretty excited about that I'll show next week.

Have a great weekend-hope you stay out of the rainy weather(if you're getting it too), but if you have to go out you should take a look at this cute rain boot liners that were showcased on Etsy this week-love them! Plus the designer has a soft spot in my heart since she went to AI-Seattle too. SLUGS CAN BE FOUND HERE

Go, Go NOW

Check out the preview of the Tilly Collection from Jan DiCintio and Daisy Janie.....go ahead RIGHT HERE.

Then come back and tell me which colorway you love more. I'll pick a winner on Monday and give away a fun little fabric stack of some of the fabrics I have here in the store.

Have a happy weekend!

Newest Additions to the Store

These lovelies arrived today...I already have a million ideas for each-not good! Plus an extra bonus the helicopters and trains are both organic cotton-yipee!

Enjoy the eye candy....

I'm also placing another Premier Prints order...many more chevrons to come-I can't get enough of them. And I'll be posting pics of a project I'm pretty excited about utilizing some of the Shades of Grey fabric from the lovely Daisy Janie(oh yeah and Jan is announcing her newest line shortly-I'm jumping up and down...well maybe just envisioning myself jumping up and down, but I'm sure I'll love it)

I also have been neglecting my obligation to participate in the sewing for kids week....but I'm hoping to get started today and make up for it-augghhhhh. Check the button on the sidebar to take a look.