June Giveaway: New England Knits

Thanks for entering the May Giveaway. The winner has been announced, and the patterns are being sent.

The June Giveway is a copy of "New England Knits" by Cicily Glowik MacDonald and Melissa LaBarre. I was sent a copy of it, and having previously purchased it, now have an extra! It's filled with great patterns (you can look inside here) for all seasons. I can't wait to make the Greenfield Cardigan or the Mystic Pullover!

If you'd like this book for your collection, please leave a comment on this post with your name and email address. I'll pick a winner at the beginning of July, and send the book to you, where ever you are in the world. Good luck!

Melanie is our winner. Thanks for playing!

May Giveaway: Lisette Patterns, Spring Collection

Thanks to everyone who entered the April Giveaway. Amy is our lucky winner. Congrats, Amy!

Our May Giveaway is a set of Simplicity Lisette Patterns, the whole Spring Collection! I've recently made the Traveler Dress. I have plans to make more garments from them, as they're just so great! They're designed by Liesl, friend and owner and designer of Oliver & S, and this giveaway is for the entire pattern set, in either the smaller or larger size.

Simply leave your name and email address in a comment on this post, and I'll send all four patterns to you where ever you are in the world, should you win. Good luck!

kristenmakes is our lucky winner. congratulations kristen, and thanks everyone for playing!

April Giveaway: Little Things (For YOU!) to Sew

As you might know by now, I created the trailer for the new book "Little Things to Sew" by Oliver & S.:



Well, my friend Liesl (the Creator of Oliver & S) was nice enough to send me a copy of the book. Then, the publisher sent me a copy, too! So I'm giving one away to you, my dear readers. It's a gorgeous book, filled with the most excellent projects, and full size patterns to make them. Here are just some of my faves:


Red Riding Hood cape. As the "Bolt" blog points out, there's so many other things you could do with this pattern!

Penguin Backpack. I mean, shouldn't every kid have one?

Explorer vest. For the small geek (and I only use this term with grave affection) in your life.

I don't have kids, but I sure know a lot of them. Many be getting some gifts I've made from patterns in this book, for sure. Christmas crafting just got easy!
If you would like to win a copy of "Little Things to Sew", please leave your name and email address in the comments section of this post. I'll pick a winner at the beginning of May, and ship the book to you where ever you might be. Good luck!

Update: This giveaway is now closed. Amy is our lucky winner. Thanks for playing!

Colette All Around!

Recently I sewed 'Macaron' by Colette Patterns (available here). I didn't mean to make mine so similar to the one on the website, but it ended up pretty close.

The fabric is from the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store here in Portland, making the pattern, plus fabric all native to Oregon. The Mill Store was having their "March Madness" sale, and this fabric cost around $20 total. It's so beautiful!

It's a great dress for now - when the weather is too warm for heavy woolens (I've just packed up my vintage ski sweaters for another year) but too cold for all cotton.

This was the first time, in my over 20 years of sewing, that I've ever installed an invisible zipper! I liked it, but I'll need a bit more practice before I'm totally converted.

Overall, I think the dress came out pretty well, and I'm looking forward to wearing it to work and around town.

Speaking of Colette Patterns, 'Curvy Kitten' is the lucky winner of March's Sencha Pattern Giveaway. Congratulations! Stop back tomorrow when I announce April's exciting giveaway.

March Giveaway: Sencha Been Gone

Hello, March! And Congratulations to Jeannie, who won the Oliver & S Bubble Dress pattern in the February giveaway. Please contact me with your address at my email on the sidebar, to claim your prize!

This month our giveaway is "Sencha" from Colette patterns. On their website "Sencha" is described as "a simple, versatile blouse perfect for creative embellishment, with deep tucks at the front and back waist for a loose but curvy shape great for tucking in."

All variations of the pattern are included. "Version 1 closes with back snaps, making it easiest to sew. Version 2 has neckline tucks and buttons up the back. Version 3 has a keyhole neckline with tie closure and buttons up the back."

The pattern is size O-18, and rated "beginner" so you can try out a Collete pattern even if you're new to sewing. Get your summer tops going, ladies!

(all images from Colette Patterns)

To win "Sencha", leave a comment on this post. I'll pick a winner in the first week of April and send the pattern to you, where ever you might be in the world. Good luck!

Update: The winner has been announced and this giveaway is now closed. Thanks for your interest!

Oliver and S.: Little Things to Sew, and a Giveaway!

Remember I said I had a sweet little freelance job this month? Well, now I can show you! It's an animated trailer that I made for my friends at Oliver & S for their new book "Little Things to Sew".

Oliver + S Little Things to Sew, by Liesl Gibson from STC Craft on Vimeo.

I've always loved their patterns, which I sew over and over. Animating their characters was so much fun!

As a bonus, they've gifted me a pattern to give away to one reader of this blog. It's the Bubble Dress pattern (size: birth to 24 month). It's the sweetest pattern, and you will love sewing it; I did! To win, leave a comment on this post. I'll pick a winner by the end of February, in anticipation of the book's March release. Good luck!

November Giveaway: Mr. Furly Apron!

This month's giveaway is a Mr. Furly apron, handmade by me!

Made of fabric designed by me and printed through Spoonflower and backed in white cotton, the apron features extra long ties, a deep utility pocket, and Mr. Furly in many of his brilliant disguises. It's just what you need to cook a great Thanksgiving dinner or Sunday Roast. I like it so much I just might make another one for myself.

To enter this contest, please leave a comment in this post. I'll pick the winner a few days before Thanksgiving, and send the apron to the winner! Good luck!

Let's Have a Giveaway!

I'd like to have a giveaway here once a month. How does that sound? Sometimes it'll be something I've made, sometimes it'll be from my own collection of things. To kick it off, I'm lessening my vintage craft book collection by one, and giving away "The Complete Book of Sewing" from 1972, by Larry Eisinger.

It's a great book: part instructional, part conversational. Chapters include "Making Curtains", "It's Best to Baste" and "Know Your Stitches". My favorite chapter is called "Teaching Your Daughters To Sew", and reads "Our daughters live in a machine age and want streamlined speed. To them, samplers and and long-drawn-out routines vanished with the horse and buggy." Too true!

Not only are there amazingly fashionable pictures, but there's great instructional drawings, teaching different hems, how to install zippers and sleaves, etc.

You can win this book by leaving a comment on this blog post. I'll use a random number generator to pick a winner by the end of October, and post the next giveaway at the beginning of November!

This contest is now closed.
The random number generator has chosen Gram as the winner of the craft book. Congrats! Email me your name and address, and I'll be happy to send it along.