New in the store - 16 x 16 pillows

Brand new in my etsy store are 16 x 16 pillow covers made with Scarlet Fig fabrics. In the next week or so I'll be adding some with contrasting piping so stay tuned for those!

I've also been accepted to participate in Paper N Stitch's next exhibit which starts today, so come check out the fabulous company Scarlet Fig gets to hang out with online for the next 6 weeks. If you're so inclined, please vote for my store if you visit Paper N Stitch. Just click on the little heart...The exhibitor with the most votes wins a small cash prize.

New fabric is here at last!!

It's taken a while to get all of the new patterns just right, but I'm super excited to announce that the new fabrics are here and available for sale.

Animal Sherbet - Elephants, giraffes, rhinos and dots in a delicious sherbet colored palette. Also has a coordinating stripe. I just love the playful nature of these designs. Even though they have animals in them, they feel very grown up to me. But darn how cute would a wee little skirt in Elephants be?

Birdies on Couches - Birdies and chesterfield sofas, dots in a lovely aqua and lush yellow palette. I started working in this palette for the eye pillows and fell in love with it. The aqua dots is sooooo pretty. I can't wait to start sewing with it. Also part of this collection is a pattern that is my modern interpretation of Bird on a Wire. If only I could figure out how to get it made into wallpaper. It comes in yellow and white/aqua.

Would love to hear what you think of the new fabrics! I'm working on some pillow covers with all of the fabrics and should have lots of new pillows to list in the next 2 weeks. So stay tuned!

Adorable yellow birdie clutch

The divinely talented Jennifer Ladd has created another ADORABLE clutch with Scarlet Fig fabric. Hurry, she only made one, so go snag it for yourself! Don't you just love how the sunny yellow looks with the chrome hardware? All photos below were taken by Jennifer.

I really, really, really must get her to sew me one of these...

Yoga Mat Bag Tutorial

My sister asked me to make her a Yoga Mat Bag out of her favorite Scarlet Fig fabric, Wing Chairs...the one with the yellow chairs on the grey background. So while I was sewing, I made myself one out of Comfy Couches in red AND I wrote a tutorial. You can download it here (it's a PDF file):

Yoga Mat Bag Tutorial

The instructions are long, but it is NOT hard. I promise! I just wanted to take lots of pictures along the way. Have fun!

For the love of laminating machines

I've been a busy bee working on new fabric designs and on some consulting projects, but I was able to carve out a few hours this last weekend to make something fun with my fabrics!

Since I moved from NY back to Austin I've been living in this tiny lilliputian sized apartment. And since my dining room table is now cutting/sewing central, I eat a majority of meals sitting on my couch using my ottoman as my dining surface. (I know, very classy!) So I've been meaning to get some of those plastic placemats to keep things neat and tidy. And I have these great lacquered trays that I wanted to line with something pretty. And then I realized...Hey! I can make my own placemats and liners and use my Birdies on Chairs and Comfy Chairs fabric! It was easy peasy!

For 4 placemats:

-Cut (4) pieces of front fabric 11" x 17-1/2"
-Cut (4) pieces of coordinating back fabric 11" x 17-1/2" (I used a Kona cotton in Cactus which is a perfect coordinate for the greens in my fabric
-Cut (4) pieces of fusible webbing 11" x 17-1/2"

Follow the directions on the fusible webbing to attach it to the wrong side of the back fabric. You'll be ironing it to the wrong side of your back fabric.

Then put the front fabric on top of the fusible webbing and iron that down. You should be laying the wrong side of the front fabric ontop of the fusible webbing.

You should now have a 3 layer sandwich that's all fused together. (See...told you it was easy!)

Trim everything to 10-1/2" x 17" so all 3 layers are squared up. When I made mine, I wish I had put some simple decorative stitching around the edge to give a little something extra to the project. And I probably would apply some Fray Check to the edges as well... I had some thread escapees.

Now...carefully transport everything to the laminating store. Make sure you take some little scissors with you so you can trim away any little loose threads.

Feed your fabric sandwiches into the laminating machine. Trim away the excess plastic, leaving a 1/2" edge to make sure everything stays laminated. If you can get access to one of those guillotine cutter things you can cut a nice, neat edge. Ta da! Super cute, super easy! And super tidy!

Tip: Instead of taking your placemats to Kinko's (who charge a few $ for each sheet), find a teacher's supply store. Mine here in Austin only charged $.80 per linear foot. For all 6 of my pieces, I paid less than $6.00. Love that!

And many thanks to Margaret for letting me shoot my placemats on her nice sewing center-free dining table. ;)

Dressing your wee ones in Scarlet Fig fabric

How adorable is this dress from Jenn at peppermints and petticoats? See the Scarlet Fig Birdies and Chairs fabric next to the strawberries? Super cute, huh?!? All of Jenn's dresses are one of a kind so if you see one you like, make sure you snap it up. I can hardly get over how precious they are. And the sweet little buttons! Hmmm...maybe she'll make me one in a bigger size!