Monday, June 25, 2012

Two BIG Sewing Shows in one weekend!


Lots of NEW kits!
                       Yes, I totally should have my head examined! This past weekend Sew It Up took up four booths at Martha's Sewing Market at the Arlington Convention Center here in Texas. I lead two workshops for the pre-day Sit'n Sew; both working with the ruffle fabrics. Then between Thursday and Saturday I presented four seminars a total of seven times! Whew! And, boy were we ever busy!!!

                        Here are a few pictures of our booths. Many thanks go to Janice, Linda and her husband as well as my own husband. I was teaching so I nearly missed all of the "fun". But, after my workshops, I did get to enjoy the "set up"  for a couple of hours. Yes, it was a very long day as my alarm had gone off at 5am!

Look! ~  more NEW kits!
Some of our "goodies"!
Boy, were we busy!
Can you see Kay Whitt shopping in our booth!
                  Concurrently the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo sponsored a new sewing show at the convention center in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. My daughter, Anna, lives about four hours from there so she drove down and ran a booth for Sew It Up. We shipped her fifteen boxes of goodies to display and sell.  Look at what a fabulous job she did setting everything up ~ all by herself!

Here is the center of the booth.

And, here is the right side.
                           It was a fabulous weekend! We got to visit with many of our customers who only come to Market but never to the shop. And, naturally, we met a lot of very nice new people! Of course, you should see the tear down of these booths - its funny how it an take hours and hours . . . all day as a matter of fact . . . to set up the booths, but it only takes about two hours to pack it all up.

Ah, the end is in sight!
                         I would like to thank all of our helpers as well as my workers for this year  - they are the ones that made it all possible - Thank you, Anna, Janice, Linda, Mary Ann, Madeleine, Joline, Shaun & Denise!

                        And, you will never believe it, but as I return to "reality",  I see an email from Quilts Inc. ~ they manage the International Quilt Show that takes place in Houston every fall. They are asking for my paperwork. And, just this afternoon, I received my first email regarding the Sprint 2013 show from the University of Washington regarding THE Sewing Expo ~ the one in Puyallup, Washington! Hmmm . . . so much for a reprise! 

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The Pleated Twirl Skirt for Dolly

One of our most popular patterns is the pleated twirl skirt, we usually come up with a new kit every season.  The skirt is easy to make and so cute.  I decided that dolly needed one too so I developed the pattern for the 18" doll.



Cutting out:

Skirt- Cut (1) main fabric 4” x 31”

Yoke -  Cut (1)  4” x 14”

Skirt Ruffle- Cut (2) 2 1/2” x width of fabric

Top Ruffle- Cut (2) 1” x width of fabric

Sewing Notes: 1/4” seam allowances
Yoke ~ Sew short ends together . Fold in half to 2”, press. Topstitch 1/8” from the top folded edge. Topstitch again 5/8” from top edge. Using a seam ripper, open up the seam between the two rows of topstitching. This will be where you insert the elastic. Do not thread elastic through yet.

Skirt ~ Sew short edges together. On the top of the skirt, clip every 1 1/2”. With right sides together, fold the skirt fabric at each clip and stitch 1/2” away from clip and 1 1/2” down. Do this all around the top edge of the skirt. Press these open from the back so that they look like small box pleats. Run a gathering stitch around this same area. Gather softly to match the circumference of the yoke that you just finished. There will not be many gathers Pin and sew together.

Ruffle ~ Sew the two strips together; you now have a circle. Stitch a rolled hem (or satin stitch) along the bottom edge.  Gather the top edge to the circumference of the skirt. Pin to skirt. Sew. Serge seam.

Top Ruffle ~ Sew the two strips together at both selvedges (you      now have a circle). Stitch a rolled hem (or satin stitch) along both edges. Run a gathering stitch in the center. Gather the ruffle to the circumference of the skirt. Sew ruffle on the top of the skirt where the skirt meets the ruffle.

Thread a 15” piece of 1/4" elastic through the casing, fit it to the doll and sew the ends together.

Now dolly can match her girl!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012


Saturday was our Grand Opening Celebration! The shop looked fabulous (if I may say so) and was full of wonderful sewers all day long. Kay Whitt brought us lots of her gorgeous samples early in the morning ~  giving us plenty of time to decorate.  She has the most amazing talent and not just for designing her own line of patterns; Serendipity Studio. Her selection of fabrics is stunning and boy, can that girl sew!  Many designers have others sew up their patterns, but not Kay. She does all of her sewing and does it impeccably. Everyone had a wonderful time visiting with her. She is a delight!  And getting to look at her garments and bags up close was a real treat. She even wrote a blog post about her day with us which was quite complimentary. Everyone should go read it! She has some great pictures.


Jane Stewart, who is my rep from Moda Fabrics, also was in attendance. She was demoing some of her favorite notions in our new classroom and had a stack of yummy newly released books to peruse. She has been ever so helpful to me over the last few weeks getting us stocked up with only the best! Why she even came out to the shop about a week ago and spent several hours helping us get our notions wall all pretty. I am so grateful to her.

Naturally, I had stressed all week trying to get everything done in time, but I did had a lot of help. Many thanks go to Janice, Linda and my hubby! He was even doing some last minute painting on Friday. All of us are very proud of how Sew It Up Studio has shaped up. Of course, I have a lot more plans for the shop over the course of the next few months . . . :)