Mama Said Sew

The Laurel Sewing Contest

Ange — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:40:55 +0000

The Laurel Pattern by Colette Patterns

Here at Mama Said Sew, we make sure our selves are always stocked with lovely Colette Patterns! We are excited to announce that we are a part of their major spring contest in honor of their new Laurel pattern, The Laurel Sewing Contest!

There are many ways to win and over $2000 in prizes! Create your own interpretation of the pattern and enter in any 6 categories through the Colette website. Each category has a Grand Prize worth over $400!

Mama Said Sew has donated a $100 gift card good for any merchandise in our store. You can find our prize under “Category Two: Favorite Use of Color.”

For complete rules and to find out all the fabulous prizes that will be given away, please visit Colette Patterns.

The contest closes April 30, 2013. Good luck and happy sewing!

Classes!

Ange — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:17:43 +0000

Want to learn to sew? Learn a new skill? Check out our full listing of classes in our online shop! You can sign up via the internet, in the shop or over the phone!

April ‘Up-Cycle’ Crafty Party!

Ange — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 18:06:54 +0000

Here at Mama Said Sew we take the 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) to heart and always try to be crafty with the environment in mind. In honor of Earth Day, April’s crafty party will be an Up-Cycle party! Bring an old T-shirt to the shop and we’ll show you how to turn it into a reusable shopping or grocery bag! It’s a simple, clever craft to help everyone be “green.”

Please join us! Snacks and drinks will be provided. If you wish to participate in the bag making, please bring a clean, old t-shirt. The store will be opened late for shopping and crafty inspiration!

Where: Mama Said Sew
When: Friday, April 5th 6:30pm

Spring 2013 Color Trends

Ange — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:16:57 +0000

It may only be February, but here at Mama Said Sew, we are already looking forward to spring thanks to the newly released Spring 2013 Color Trends from Pantone! Gorgeous greens, vibrant blues, poppy reds and neutral linens are just some of the colors in this mix of warm and cool tones that allow for versatility in your projects whether you are a quilter or garment designer.

Shop our colors online at Mama Said Sew or pick up a pre-made fabric bundle with the colors of spring at our store. We can’t wait to see what you create!

Crafty Party with the Sweetwater Gals

Ange — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 03:52:13 +0000

We could not be more thrilled with how Friday night’s crafty party went!! So many wonderful individuals flowed in throughout the evening. With the event being sold out the night flew by, filled with crafts, conversation, and good friends.

Karla, Lisa, and Susan from Sweetwater showcased their latest line, Noteworthy. The line distributed by Moda is filled with fun and light colors, whimsical designs, and trendy text prints. The gals ran a fabric covered magnet craft.

In addition to fabric covered magnets guests created decorative note-cards using fusible shapes, buttons, embroidery floss, and darling valentine’s themed stamps.

We left the evening feeling ever so blessed that we have such wonderful customers and such beautiful fabric to enjoy. We cannot thank Karla, Lisa, and Susan enough for driving up from Fort Morgan for the evening, if you haven’t yet please do check out their blog here: http://www.sweetwater.typepad.com/.

Keep connected to see what next month’s crafty party will be, it’s sure to be a great time!

Mama and the Girls

Sweetwater!

Ange — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:07:14 +0000

If you’ve been in the shop lately, there is a good chance we were raving about our love of the ladies at Sweetwater while you were in. We cannot say enough about them, and how their fabrics inspire creativity throughout the shop! Our first “real” encounter with them was when they had a little photo shoot at the shop, showcasing quilts from their Hometown line. They fell in love with the shop, and a few years later, we received a phone call asking if they could name a new line after our shop. To say we were flattered about the Mama Said Sew line is the understatement of the century! Fast forward to the giddiness we are experiencing today, preparing for their February 1st crafty party in the shop, and we still get a little star-struck thinking about it all.

Now a little more about the designers themselves…Karla Eisenach, along with her daughters Susan Kendrick and Lisa Burnett, comprise the Sweetwater fabric/pattern company. For the first several years of the company, they designed scrapbook paper and goods, until Moda asked them to do a fabric line. We all know that turned out beautifully! They recently made their return to the scrapbooking world, transforming some of their eleven fabric lines into beautiful paper. {Lucy’s Crab Shack in paper form? Yes please!!!} All of their design work is done out of a home office, just down the road in Fort Morgan. How cool that there are famous fabric designers in our own backyard!

We are always excited for our crafty parties; who doesn’t love swapping crafty ideas, making a small project, and enjoying a beer and some appetizers?!? This next one is clearly extra special for us, and we cannot wait to have an evening with these lovely ladies this Friday!

Get your tickets here!

xoxo

Scrappy Trip Along

Ange — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 15:47:03 +0000

If you follow Instagram like we do (mamasaidsew) you may have noticed hundreds of fellow quilters are using their scraps to make a trip around the world quilt. If you haven’t seen these quilts yet you should most definitely check them out; users are hashtagging this project #scrappytripalong. As of today there are almost 1,400 posts with this tag. The project originated from a free tutorial on Quiltville: http://quiltville.com/scrappytrips.shtml.

We are happy to say one of our very own is participating! Joelle is the little quilter of the family. She started this project on the first of January and hasn’t stopped since.

Follow her (handmadebyjoelle) or stop by again to see how it turns out.

Happy Quilting!!

Xoxo

Mama

“The Fuzzy Duckling” Cloth Book Tutorial

Ange — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 22:47:11 +0000

Did you grow up reading Little Golden Books? Well here at Mama Said Sew, we are excited to have The Fuzzy Duckling collection by Quilting Treasures featuring the adorable little duckling in a cloth book that you can sew up into your own soft Little Golden Book!

Materials:

One panel of The Fuzzy Duckling
One yard of flat batting or medium weight interfacing (22″ wide)
Scissors or rotary cutter
Coordinating thread
Optional: see-thru ruler

Time: About 1 hour

1. Buy one panel (or one yard) of The Fuzzy Duckling cloth book by Quilting Treasures from Mama Said Sew.

For the next step, cut at 1/2″ along the center of the gold ground seam allowance.

2. Cut out the panel in the following sets of two (2): Outside & back cover, Inside cover, Page 1 & 12, Page 2& 11, Page 3 & 10, Page 4 & 9, Page 5 & 8, and Page 6 & 7. You should have eight (8) pieces cut out when you are finished.

3. Label each piece according to the page numbers. It is very important to keep this label attached to the piece until the end of the project in order to place the pages in the correct sequence.

4. Now arrange the page sets into 3 groups. Place pages 1 & 12 right sides together with pages 2 & 11. Place pages 3 & 10 right sides together with 4 & 9, and place pages 5 & 8 right sides together with 6 & 7. Set aside.

5. Cut out four (4) pieces of batting, one (1) the size of the book cover and three (3) the size of the pages.

6. Place the book cover and inside page right sides together on top of the cut piece of batting. Pin or baste together.

7. Using 1/2″ seam allowance, sew around the cover, leaving a 4″ wide opening at the bottom for turning.

8. Trim away the batting as close to the stitching line as possible without cutting your stitches (about 1/8″ from the stitching line).

9. Next, clip the corners and trim away the seam allowance in order to reduce bulk once the page is turned inside out. Turn right side out and press seams well.

10. This is what the outside & inside cover should look like after it is turned and pressed.

11. Top-stitch around the entire piece (about 1/8″). Press.

12. Repeat steps 6-11 for the page sets.

13. With the book cover facing down, place the newly sewn, trimmed, turned & top-stitched pages on top of the inside cover with the following pages facing up: 2 & 11 then 4 & 9 then 6 & 7. There will be a lot of bulk to place under your presser foot, so adjust your machine accordingly.

Note: Pages are slightly smaller than book cover

14. Give your book one final press and voilà! You have a new soft cloth book!

Notting Hill by Joel Dewberry

Ange — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 14:38:29 +0000

Joel Dewberry’s line Notting Hill is in the shop! We love the bold prints and bright colors, of course!

Here’s what the designer has to say about this collection: Like its London-based counterpart, Notting Hill by Joel Dewberry is a community of fashionable, European-inspired designs that blend a variety of patterns and stunning floral motifs. Try on this unexpectedly harmonious, fashion-forward and color rich fabric collection for a dashing results!

Available in our shop or online right here!

Oil Cloth Tote Bag

Ange — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 14:20:36 +0000

Everyone needs a tote bag, right? We found this tutorial and love it! Because it’s made from oilcloth, it’s perfect for a trip to the beach or pool in the summer, or to the farmer’s market, or just a quick run to the grocery store.

Rebekah from the blog Twinkle and Twine provides excellent directions and photos to help you through the whole process.

Here are a few things I found helpful when working with oilcloth. First, don’t use pins because they’ll leave holes in your oilcloth. Little binder clips that you can get at an office supply store work well, but if you want to treat yourself, pick up a pack of Clover’s Wonder Clips. I love them because they are flat on the bottom, making it easier to move them through your sewing machine.

I also had to really increase the tension on my machine for balanced stitches. Test out the stitch quality on some oilcloth scraps and really crank that sucker up if needed. You might also try increasing the presser foot pressure. I couldn’t do that on the machine that I was using, but it might help.

Using a walking foot or teflon foot will also help the material move evenly through the machine.

Oh, and when you are sewing around the top of the bag, make sure that you are stitching with the right side facing up. That way if your bobbin stitches are a little funky, they’ll be on the wrong side of your bag.

Ready to whip one up? We’ve got kits in our online shop – or come see us in old town!

xoxo,
mama