Sewing!

I am back in the saddle again.

 

Spent the last two days making a muslin and studying up on the Washi Dress for my class this weekend.

 

The options for customizing the fit and look of this dress are insane, and Rae's tutorials and videos and the sheer volume of information available to help you do this right, it's all just plain amazin'.

I have missed sewing and I'm enjoying taking my time with this.

(I used washi on my washi... did you catch that?)

(Make mine a maxi, please!)

...This post brought to you courtesy of hands-free time, made possible by...

...Monsieur le Bouncy-Seat!

 

Thank you , Deb, for hooking me up with Monsieur le Bouncy-Seat.

He has changed my life.

I've got three being shipped to me as we speak:

One for the kitchen, one for Grandma Baba's house and one that will have a permanent place of honor hanging in my sewing room door.

It's good to be back :-)

XO,

Rhea

Baby Jane

Love, love, love this new collection of pre-cuts that has arrived at the shop from Moda...

 

The collection is called "Baby Jane" and it's designed by Eric and Julie Comstock (the couple behind Cosmo Cricket).

Our yardage should be arriving soon, but in the meantime we have Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes, Charms and Mini Charms, all listed on the website right here.

They remind me of a grandmother's kitchen in Sweden, at the base of the Alps.

She has a large meadow full of buttercups and a picket fence in front of her house and a couple of cows.

During the day she churns butter for the neighbors and at night she does cross-stitch by candle light.

Not what you see when you see this collection?

Just me and my crazy imagination, you say?

Probably true.

XO,

Rhea

Fish Ladder Festival!

What are you and the family doing this weekend?

Me and my family will be at the Fish Ladder Festival...

Stop by the shop to have your face painted, buy a soda and an ice cream, and watch the alewife documentary (and yes, you can use our bathroom, too!).

The forecast looks a bit dicey, but our end of the deal is rain or shine.

See you this weekend and have a great Memorial Day!

XO,

Rhea

Celebrate Spring with a Pincushion Swap this Sunday!

A couple of no-sew beauties! These pincushions were made by my friend Dawn, from a set of vintage egg-cups.

 

 

 I can't think of anything more fun than a celebratory Spring Pincushion Swap, can you?

So, let's pounce on the moment and have one this Sunday at the shop!

I've set up a Pinterest board with tons of "Pinspiration" to get you going...

There are so many different ways to make a pincushion and the beauty of a pincushion is that they don't take very long to make at all.

The hardest part will be deciding which type of pincushion you'd like to make!

Here are the details:

The Pincushion Swap will be this coming Sunday afternoon, April 28th at 1:00 pm here at Alewives Fabrics.

You don't need to sign up to attend: just show up.

You need to make your pincushion yourself: the more creative the better (here's where you should sneak a peek at our Pincushion Love board on Pinterest to get your creative juices flowing!)

Wrap your pincushion so no one can see it: make it look like a fabulous little present that anyone would want to open.

The Swap will work like a Yankee Swap: we'll all draw numbers and swap and steal from each other until the last pincushion standing is gone.

Swapping and stealing are highly encouraged: that's part of the fun!

No matter what number you get, everyone goes home with a handmade pincushion, so everybody wins.

The Pincushion Swap will also serve as our spring SEAM meeting: you'll get to meet lots of people who enjoy sewing just as much as you do.

(Don't know about SEAM yet?  Check out the official SEAM website here!)

So, I guess that's it...  we hope to see you at the shop this Sunday afternoon.

(And please forgive me if I steal your pincushion from you!)

XO,

Rhea

Rekindling the romance...

(The culprit)

 There is another relationship besides my relationship with this blog that has suffered a bit since Bert came along.

Allow me to elaborate...

I'm someone who's always trying to figure out the whole "time management" thing.

I'm sure most of you can relate, right?

Even before having Bert, I spent most days feeling like I was constantly playing catch-up, constantly trying to keep all the balls up in the air, constantly letting go of one thing or another in order to end the day in a semi-organized state.

Between my duties at the store and my (completely lame) attempts at keeping the house neat and my time spent visiting friends & family and my (also completely lame) attempts at physical fitness (the occasional walk and/ or yoga class), there was always still just enough time left over for a date with...

the sewing machine.

(Did you think I was going to say something else?)

But now that I have a baby...

Oh my, time management has been brought to a whole different level.

To be clear, it is a wonderful state of un-organizedness I now find myself in.

 But...

Lately I can't deny that we're drifting apart.

Over the course of the last few weeks I can tell the sewing machine is getting jealous of the baby, growing resentful of my time away.

 I've come to the conclusion that I've got to crank everything up a notch if I am ever going to have time with my sewing machine again and I do NOT want to neglect that relationship.

So, in an effort to patch things up, I have a date with my sewing machine this Saturday night.

I've lined up a babysitter and picked out a special outfit and everything.

I just hope it's not too late to rekindle some of the romance we used to share.

 

 We're going to have to work hard in order to make time for each other in the coming years, but I think we just might be able to do it.

XO,

Rhea

Still here...

Has it been a super-long time since my last post? Yes.

But I'm still here...

Just up to my eyeballs in renovations (and keeping up with the internet orders) over at the shop.

 

Also not a lot of "hands-free" time these days because someone likes to be held all. the. time. and I have to admit I am only too happy to oblige. 

I will be back to a more regular posting schedule when things settle back into their normal-ish routine.

I can't wait to share with you all the changes to the shop.

XO,

Rhea

Feather Bed Quilt Class this Weekend

I am furiously typing away while Bert snoozes in his little swing.

Seems he will only sleep if someone is holding him, which is fine by me, but makes it very difficult to get anything done in those moments when he is asleep.

But, however hard it might be to tear myself away, the fact is I am coming back to work at the shop again starting this Thursday... sniff, sniff.

I'm happy to be coming back but of course a bit sad to not be spending all day every day with Bert.

But, one of the things I am most excited to come back to work for is teaching! 

I'm teaching a class this Saturday on Anna Maria Horner's Feather Bed Quilt and there is still time to sign up.

If you are local and want to take advantage of the fact that there is NOT a major snowstorm scheduled for this weekend I would love to have you join me.

Over the course of my maternity leave I did begin making my own version of the Feather Bed Quilt for the shop and I can tell you this quilt is MUCH, MUCH easier than it looks... that Anna Maria Horner know a thing or two, let me tell ya!

It's quite fun to work on and goes together fairly quickly.

I'd say a "confident" beginner (someone who knows how to use their sewing machine and has made a project or two before) could take this quilt on with amazing results.

If you'd like to join me we would love to have you in the class: there's a bit more info on our classes page.

Call the shop at 563 5002 to sign up and I will see you all back at the shop this Thursday morning!

XO,

Rhea