Sandlewood Jacket

I told you I would post about the Sandlewood Jacket once I had finished mine, did I not?

Well, a couple of weeks ago... I finished it!

Did I mention how much I love this pattern?

Well, I do.

I really can't wait to make more.

Lots and lots more.























I am sorry if these photos don't do the Sandlewood Jacket any justice, but it is hard to photograph yourself after dark and here in Maine it gets dark this time of year at about 3:30.

(I know, yuck.)

I made the jacket with a brown and pink floral for the exterior, and for the interior I used the Sandlewood print by Amy Butler (this is the same print that they used for the coat on the cover of the pattern), which means I did the fancy-schmancy cutting.

Can I just take this moment to explain that fancy-schmancy cutting is not hard?

At all?

You just need to enjoy the process of laying out your pattern pieces is all.

Normally I am not one to enjoy the process of cutting ANYTHING, so if I can find the joy in this then so can you.

I love that the jacket is reversible and I love how flattering it is.

Not sure that a loooong jacket in the Sandlewood print is for you?

The pattern has lots of options for different hem-lengths and sleeve lengths.



Here is my friend Hannah; she was in my recent Sandlewood Jacket class.























(Warning: anyone who takes one of my classes is fair game for modeling their creations on the blog. You wave your right to anonymity as soon as you hit the front steps!)

As you can see, Hannah's Sandlewood Jacket looks completely different from mine, for a bunch of reasons:

• Different hem and sleeve length from mine (Hannah made the short jacket with the long sleeve option).

• Different fabrics from mine (she made this lovely specimen out of an espresso-colored cotton/linen blend and a graphic, flowery Amy Butler print for the lining).

• Different body from mine... (although I am suspicious of how someone who seems to love baked goods as much as I do and has had two children to boot can maintain such an amazing figure).
























Regardless of my suspicions/insecurities, I think Hannah's jacket looks amazing!

Very "Japanese-y" don't you think?

Hannah, you did a great job, girl!

If you would like to make your very own Sandlewood Jacket (it will get a lot of action, I promise you), then here are some tips you should know that might make things a bit easier:

1) Please don't be scared of the fancy-schmancy cutting: the directions for cutting out the Sandlewood print are fabulously, disgustingly detailed and can be applied to cutting out any large scale print.

2) Far be it from me to suggest a change to an Amy Butler pattern (the gal clearly knows what she is talking about), but when it came time to hem this baby at the bottom and the sleeves, I hemmed the bottom the way Amy suggests, and it was hard.

There was a lot of excess fabric to ease in.

I did it, it was do-able, but this ain't my first rodeo.

When I taught the class and when I hemmed my sleeves, I simply folded the raw edges of both the lining and the exterior in towards their respective wrong edges by 1/2", pinned in place and topstitched.

This not only worked great and was a lot easier than Amy's method for hemming (where you turn the exterior and lining 1/4" towards the lining, then to finish the raw edge you fold the entire shebang in towards the lining again by an inch or so, meaning there are four layers of fabrics -not to mention any interfacings- that need to be hemmed-up by hand), it made the hemming much less bulky and meant that I didn't need to do anything by hand.

What's not to love?

(Forgive me, Amy... I'm your biggest fan!)

In summary: Sandlewood Jacket is a winner.

The pattern is quick and easy to follow, the coat is reverisble and the results are fabulous. Plus any pattern that has less than two pages of directions and only four pattern pieces to cut-out is for me, I tell you.

Just right for some holiday parties, I'd say.

Maybe with one of those twinkly, sparkly, feathery headbands.... hmmm...

I'll see you again soon!

XO,

Rhea

Winter Moon Fat Quarter Set and yarn!!!

Winter Moon fat quarter sets are now up in the shop and are being featured in a giveaway on Soulemama this weekend (translation: they probably won't be around long).

This set includes mostly quilting weight cotton, some double gauze, some cotton sheeting and some cotton/linen blends in colors that are a bit muted: dull lavenders, grays, moss, plums and cocoas.

I pulled this set together as an excuse to use some of our fabulous Nani Iro double gauze, and I was really inspired by my growing collection of Japanese craft books. The photography in those books is always very spare and muted and artsy-fartsy: I just love it.

So when I was shooting pictures of these fat quarters, I tried to be artsy-fartsy, too.








































What do you think, do these look Japanese-y to you?


And my next bit of news...

Some of you may have noticed something new on our website and in our shop these past few days: YARN!























Alewives Fabrics is now carrying the entire line of Amy Butler Belle organic yarns.























The yarns come in 2 weights: Aran weight and DK weight. They are 50% cotton and 50% wool and 100% organic and 100% fabulous... the colors are gorgeous!

We also carry Amy Butler's knitting book: Midwest Modern Knits, with all of the projects from these photos featuring her yarns and fabrics (dyed to coordinate perfectly, of course!).

We will be offering knitting and crochet classes this coming winter, so stay tuned.

If you like the Winter Moon fat quarter set or any of our new Amy Butler yarns, I have a hot tip for you: you can get 10% off these products (and anything else you might like to order) now through December 31st by entering the code "Soulemama" into the promotional code field at checkout. We will adjust the price manually after your order has been placed. And if you come and visit our shop in Damariscotta Mills in person, just mention the Soulemama code and you will get 10% off your entire purchase, too!

I will see you all again after the weekend: don't forget to check in with Soulemama for your chance to win the giveaway! Good luck!

XO,

Rhea

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all of our friends and customers, the girls at Alewives Fabrics would like to wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving!

We are closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, but we'll be open bright and early on Friday morning at 10:00... see you then!

XO,

Rhea

PS... Here's some news that should make you very thankful! The Winslow Market Tote by Kathy Mack (which is the project I made for the most recent Craft Swap) is available as a FREE download here! To get the pattern, you will have to sign up to become a member of Quilting Arts, which took me a total of 30 seconds, and really, who wouldn't want to be a member of Quilting Arts? Enjoy your free pattern and thanks so much to everyone at Quilting Arts and to Kathy Mack for making such a great pattern available!

Craft Swap!

Here are some pictures from the Craft Swap for you to enjoy...


















The loot:I don't know what that big jug of water is all about, though...
























This doll was made by Linda and it was swapped A LOT... but I think in the end she went home with Meredith.


















This bracelet was made by Nadine and was also stolen a lot... I believe it went home with Julie (?)



















My business associate (Mom), made this floorcloth and it was stolen a lot, too! I can't remember who this finally went home with...























Sandy opened up this "Pockets-2-Go" by Dawn, which came with a pincushion and some of our gorgeous pins. Sandy told everyone that it was her birthday next week and she really liked her "Pockets-2-Go" so nobody should steal it from her...

That was a nice try, Sandy... a valiant effort at keeping your present.

Too bad she didn't count on me (who has no heart at all... mwa ha ha ha!!!) coming up next because I totally stole these from her, but they didn't stay with me long because Nadine stole them from me!
























Anne made this cute kitty purse... I cannot remember who this went home with, though.




















Jennifer made this gorgeous wall-hanging, which I believe is a McKenna Ryan pattern. This went home with Barbara M.

(By the way, I ended up with Barbara M.'s gift, which was a string of birds almost identical to the ones she gave me as a wedding gift, so now I have a matching set!)
























And here is a picture of Pam wearing Barbara C.'s gift: a gorgeous hand-knitted hat and matching cowl. Good thing I didn't see these earlier, or I totally would have stolen them and had harsh words for anyone who tried to take them from me.

And speaking of me...
























I made this bag (The Winslow Market Tote), which is a pattern in International Quilt Festival Scene magazine... The mag was sent to me as a freebie (I know, I know, I am a brat!), but I plan on getting some copies in to the store to sell. I really liked this pattern a lot and I think it is perfect for all those Japanese cotton/linen blends... especially the new Echinos. I made a matching drawstring bag (really simple and easy) and a matching make-up bag (I used the pattern from my trusty copy of "Weekend Sewing" by Heather Ross) to throw in for good measure.

At the end of the evening I was very pleased because Ginny B., who pulled the number 1 (the BEST number to get at the Craft Swap) and who could have anything at all that she wanted from the room chose my bag to take home with her.

She took it away from Anne, and I will admit that I felt a little badly for Anne because I knew she liked the bag a lot, but I think she is recovering nicely. And I think we all made out like bandits.

Thanks so much to EVERYONE who came to the Craft Swap and if you would like to join us the next time, we are planning a Craft Swap for late February and I will keep you posted.

Thanks and I will see you all again soon!

XO,

Rhea

Sale is Over... thanks a bunch!

So far this is my favorite print from the Soul Blossoms line.


The Internet Sale is now officially over... whew!

We have had a great time filling all your orders and there are still some that need to be filled today so I know what I'll be doing.

Thanks a bunch for partaking and making this such a success: I think it is safe to say we will make this an annual event for our internet customers over the weekend before Thanksgiving.

And the timing couldn't be better because I have it on good authority that Amy Butler's newest line, Soul Blossoms, will be arriving in early December. We have ordered the entire collection: all of the quilting weights, all of the home-dec weights and all of the laminates, so we needed the room! Stay tuned to this here blog and to the twitter page to get the news when Soul Blossoms arrives.

Thanks again and I will be back soon with a new post!

XO,

Rhea

Thanksgiving sale for our internet customers ends tomorrow

Hello one and all...

Just a quick note to let you know that our 20% off sale (for internet customers only!) will end tomorrow night at the stroke of Midnight.

The clock is ticking!

XO,

Rhea

Thanksgiving Sale has begun!!!

Photo by Jonathan Nackstrand/ AFP-Getty Images


The Thanksgiving Sale for our internet customers is in full swing and the orders have been pouring in, so thanks!

In case you missed it, all internet orders are 20% off now through Sunday.

You don't need a code or a coupon or anything like that: just place your order as you normally would and we will manually adjust the price to reflect the discount once the order has gone through.

Jessica and I worked our tushes off today and got *most* everything done so if you placed your order today there is a good chance that your goodies are on their way.

Now that I am home I am putting my feet up and re-heating some leftovers and treating myself to some Prosecco.

Speaking of such things as Prosecco, did you hear about the 160 year old bottles of champagne found in a shipwreck off the coast of Finland?

They opened some of them up today and sampled them and found that they were still drinkable!

I like my job and all, but I wonder how one would go about becoming a professional taster of champagne, as I think I am a very good candidate and have done most all of the leg-work.

In other news, I am going to see the Harry Potter movie this weekend.

Anyone else going?

And oh yes, we ordered more fabric today...

You should SEE the stuff coming down the pike: it is gorgeous.

That's all for now: see some of you at the Craft Swap tomorrow night (mine is all done!).

XO,

Rhea