One boombox pattern : : three sewing projects

If you’re so inclined and want to make my Boombox quilt…

…it can be purchased here on ETSY. If you want to make this Boombox Sewing Machine Cover…

…you will need the Boombox pattern above and the FREE tutorial on my site. I have it for you HERE.

Now, if you want to make a Boombox bag like this one …

…again, you’ll need the top Boombox pattern for the front of this bag. You’ll also need this tutorial, which I wrote for the project below, the Boombox Nesting Bags. The measurements aren’t exactly the same but it will help you figure out how to put it together. You’ll only have to change a few measurements. Voila! Boy, you’re gonna be busy!

P.S. To be honest with you, I’ve always secretly hoped a manufacture would approach me and licence my boombox bag for product! Wouldn’t that be amazing!!!

REBEL GIRL! A * NEW * FABRIC COLLECTION!

Rebel Girl is my latest collection with Paintbrush Studio Fabrics! I was so thrilled that I took the month of December, along with the help of my friends (and my mom!), to sew ALL THE THINGS!… And I wanted to share them with you first!

Number one on the project list, was the Rebel Girl jacket. This was an absolute must make. If you follow me on Instagram you might know of the illustration I did of five women, each having their own Rebel Girl jacket in different colours. I did a second illustration of the inside of the jacket with the Rebel Girl text pattern. Now, it’s almost a year later, and it’s REAL! After I appliqued the Rebel Girl on the back I sent it to my Mom to sew the bomber jacket. I’d love to share the pattern she used but honestly it was the WORST. It had instructions like, “sew the collar, sew in the zipper”. Yep, that was it for instructions. If anyone comes across an actual bomber jacket pattern, I’d love to know the name of it. Luckily, my mom figured it out and crushed it! Thanks Mom : )

On the top of my to do list is to sew all my patterns in my very own fabric. My good friend Sherri helped me out with that by sewing my Cassingle pattern! We added the text part (again applique) and it was Sherri’s idea to center the flying Vs in the hearts! Brilliant! I should note here I used HeatnBond Lite-On Adhesive for both Rebel Girl appliques (and I see a lot more appliqueing happening in the future!).

My mother in law and I made the Tilly and the Buttons Francoise Dress. It had been a while since either of us had sewn clothing and we had a blast doing it! The Leopard print was screaming to be a dress!!! We’re both super jazzed with how it turned out, especially after seeing it on our model Jaden!

Reece, makes the most amazing bags and she made two back packs for me. The one with the drums on the inside (because every girl has a drum solo in her!) is a Sew Hungry Hippie pattern .*Also check out Natalie’s Rebel Girl sewing!!!* The pattern comes as a two for one called, Trina and Wendy. This one Reece made is the Trina pattern. Before taking the fabric to Reece I pre ironed on Therm-o-web HeatnbBond Iron-on Vinyl Roll-Gloss Finish. I mean, let’s face it, I live near Vancouver and it’s a raining 98% of the time. I LOVE the way it turned out! Plus it was super fun ironing on the Vinyl! It was Reece’s idea to do the drums on the backs of the straps too! Which I LOVE!

Reece also made Noodlehead’s Making Backpack! I knew this one HAD to be in the Cassettes print! It just HAD to be! While the backpack turned out larger than I had anticipated, I ADORE it! It’s going to be a great travel bag, which is lined with guitars, because I believe every girl has a guitar solo in her too!

Early in December my husband and I binge watched a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers documentary (side note, I never knew much about them or cared BUT now I’m a huge FAN!). In some late 70’s, maybe early 80’s footage of the guitar player, Mike Campbell, was wearing a tie and I thought, “That’s like my checker print. I’m making that!!”. I also fussy cut the Flying V fabric for the backing. I had an old fashioned tissue paper pattern to make it but wow, it was silly hard. Hello YouTube! Easy peasy! I used this tutorial. Thank you MADE Everyday! You were a lifesaver! I may never buy another tie again!

Now, there’s lots of reasons I love PBS Fabrics, but, among them is their selvages! I’d like to take credit for designing them but I can’t. It’s a great surprise when I get the fabric! And you know how I love a good selvage! So, of course, I had to make my Cassette Tape Zippy pouches with them! These were made from my Cassette Tape Quilt pattern and my zippy pouch tutorial… and with those patterns I came up with something new! Cassette Tape BOXES! A tutorial for those will be coming out sometime this year!

So yeah, the fabric will be in stores soon! So clear a place wherever you store your fabric!

P.S. Here’s another sneak peek! A Boombox Pattern is coming out made specifically for the fabric and panel from my first collection Let The Good Times Roll! For each size of Boombox! Eep! But shhh, it’s still a secret! Just between you and me! xo

WINK*

Hey how are you? Are you doing alright? I’ve been thinking about you. I hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Are you keeping your spirits up? Have you been sewing? Started any projects? I started a “Project #What She Said, A-Z Comedians”. It’s helped get me through. I’ve been posting about it on IG. These ladies have been inspiring me big time! I’m almost through the alphabet!  

Back before Covid hit, I was approached by our friends at Mollie Makes! They sent me a brief for a chenille eyeball pillow. “Hmm…” I thought, ”if I’m doing an eyeball pillow, I definitely need to do a wink pillow to go with it!”.

So here it is, Issue 121! To see the sneak preview click HERE. !t’s on the stands in the UK now. Sadly, we have to wait a few months for here in North America… BUT! They do have digital subscriptions if you don’t want to wait that long. To subscribe click HERE

Mollie Makes has long been a favorite magazine of mine since I received one as a birthday present eight years ago. The photos are scrumptious and the projects are always super snazzy! Here’s their official blurb:

Mollie Makes is a lifestyle magazine bringing contemporary craft to today’s makers. Designed for the engaged, connected generation who make up the handmade revolution, each issue of Mollie Makes is filled with unique home décor, fashion and children’s projects, all showcased with inspirational styling and photography. 

The go-to brand for craft and lifestyle trends around the world, Mollie Makes lovingly curated ideas and projects across a wide range of craft genres, straight from the table tops and workshops of the most influential designer-makers. Through beautifully crafted modern makes, thought-provoking features and studios and home tours, Mollie Makes enable readers to live a creative life. Come join our community!

Yeah, that’s pretty much what I said with snazzy right, lol! Did I mention they have great copy too!

Fun fact: due to Covid I had to take the photos for this project. It’s kind of surreal, not only to see your projects in a magazine but knowing you took the the photos too! Yep, that’s my house, my chairs and bowling pins! And Mollie Makes always does a fantastic job of their layouts. it’s not quite as easy as it looks. I’ve been playing with layouts lately, not so easy!

In other news. I have some BIG news!... coming soon! I’m busting to let you know. Not to worry though, I’ll be announcing it here first! As always I like my subscribers to get first dibs! Thank you for being here, I really appreciate it!

And speaking of first dibs, someone pointed out to me that my patterns in my Etsy shop are below the standard price for PDF patterns. They also pointed out by doing that I’m inadvertently under cutting other designers. You can imagine my horror, that was never my intention. I priced them years ago and hadn’t been paying attention. My bad. As of September 15th 2020 my PDF pattern prices will be going up to $10 USD. Again I wanted to let you know first because you’re awesome! AND if you wanted to take advantage of the savings, you’ll have a bit of time to do that!

Hugs! Stay safe and happy sewing fun-times!

PLEASE BE KIND AND REWIND. A FREE SEWING PATTERN FOR YOU!

Hi! How are you doing? Weird times right? How’s your family? Is everyone alright? Are you staying safe? What have you been up too? Have you made a million masks and cleaned out all your closets? Binge watched a few shows lately? Have you finished up any old projects?

Speaking of finishing up projects and binge watching shows, a while back I was asked to write a pattern to go with Libs Elliot’s Mixed Tape collection. Which I happily did… then this, that and the other thing happened and I never got around to releasing it on my own site. Well today is the day! AND I wanted you to have it first before anyone else. Thank you for subscribe to the newsletter! I really appreciate it and I will always release everything here first!

This free pattern is called REWIND. It’s a quick quilt that can be pieced in an evening. Measuring 53 x 78 inches (135 x 198 cm), this quilt was built in mind for snuggling under on the couch with your favorite (fur or no fur) person and binge watching your favorite show. AND! I discovered in the making of the larger quilt, I had enough left over to make a baby quilt top. I figured our (fur or no fur) babies might like their very own quilt too, right?! it measures to 48 x 53 inches ( 122 x 135 cm). You can download it HERE.

Stay safe, we’ll chat soon. I’ve got a few things cooking I can’t wait to tell you about BUT I have to hold off for now! TeeHee!

CAN THAT FIT INTO A STOCKING? IT'LL FIT DEFINITELY UNDER THE TREE!

This time next month we’ll all be recovering from the flurry that Christmas time is! Can you believe it?! I have to admit, this year I’m quite excited about all the hoopla. I love to put on a Christmas record… make hot chocolate… put on a fire and write out my Christmas cards… er, at least that’s what I fantasize doing each year. The great thing about Christmas, there’s always another one next year to try again. Fingers crossed, this is the year!

It’s a busy time of year so I’ve compiled a little list to help you with your Christmas shopping experience… (One for them, one for you, one for them, two for you… wink, wink!)

MAGAZINES

I have a Present Sack pattern in Issue 80 of Love Patchwork and Quilting. I’m thinking you can justify this two ways:

1. Get the magazine for yourself and make it for your favourite person (I also think this pattern would lend it self to a pillow or a table runner).

2. Roll that baby up and put it in your favourite sewing person’s stocking! (Who might be yourself!)

Mollie Makes just came out with a new issue called Mollie Makes - a Quilting special! My cassette tape zippy pouch is in it, along with a whole bunch of other neato patterns! (#1 and #2 can be also applied here)

BOOKS

I’ve been collecting Uppercase Magazine since issue 24. I’m a huge lover of all things Uppercase (she has three fabric collections too!). When Janine invited me to share a Quilt Story in her latest Encyclopedia series, Quilted, I was super tickled. Not only that, it was a pretty important project in my creative journey. I’m on page 180/181!

ART

The more times I’ve circled around the sun, I’ve asked myself how much stuff do I really need? Then I asked what feels like a real treat anymore? My answer? Art! I’ve begun a small collection but it’s growing and I LOVE each and every piece SO much. This December Bettina Harvey, Chelsey Hornsby, Puneet Datewas, Dominque Norville, Bambi EdLund, Laura Clark and I are in a group show at the COUP, called Square Roots. If you’re local, join us at the opening December 13th at 7pm! We’d love to see you! All pieces will be 6”x 6” ($80) or 8” x 8” ($100). I will be showing my cassette tape tower that I’ve been posting on Instagram! And a few other pieces (that aren’t cassettes. I know “gasp!” lol!) .

CARDS

This lovely lady Gail Mayerscough is who I bought my Christmas cards from last year. Check out her new collection HERE!

VINYL

Want something extra ordinary for the maker in your life? This clear vinyl with white hearts made my heart skip a beat. Check it out at Natalie Santini’s, Sew Hungry Hippie’s shop HERE.

CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

I’m madly in love with Bambi EdLund’s Beatrix and Midge’s Instagram account. Her pets are HI-LARRY-US! I highly recommend going into their highlights and scroll all the way to the right to “Bea’s photo bomb”. That one cracks me up every time! Anyhoo! They also have a shop where they release these snazzy ornaments. They sell out fast so you gotta be quick! The hardest part will be figuring out which one… or maybe buy them all! HERE

QUILT PATTERNS

I L O V E this pattern by Devon Iott. What maker wouldn’t want this pattern? (just between you and me, I applied #1 and #2 to this. Hey I figure, everyone will benefit from snuggling under it right?! Purchase justified!). Buy the digital PDF or the printed paper version HERE.

Let the mayhem begin! And all the while have a safe, cozy holiday season with your lovely people. I wish you all the very, very best! xo