Saturday, May 7, 2011

Summer Sewing Classes

I finally got my act together and organized summer sewing classes.  I have wanted to do it for years, but had added motivation this year because my daughter needed a way to earn money for summer camp.  (Yep, I'm the kind of parent that makes my kids earn their money even if it means driving paper route for years, and putting together sewing classes.) 

It has taken lots of planning to get things finalized, but I finally got the flyers sent out this weekend!  Yeah.

Our Mondays in June will be organized into 3 different sewing classes.

An 1 1/2 hour Hands Sewing class for kids under 10

a 2 1/2 hour Mini-projects class for kids from 10 to teens



and a 2 1/2 hour Apparel class for ages 10 to teens.


I have been collecting project ideas for months.  I've been looking for things that would work in a group setting, and that the kids would think were cute and that would be finishable in 2 1/2 hours.  (I even timed two of my kids making one of the projects to check on the timing!) 

After going back and forth for weeks, I finally had to narrow things down.  Sometimes my problem is too much information.  How do you pick from multiple cute projects?

Here are some of my favorites:


A classic fabric banner that can be used for everything-
room Decoration to party decoration


Barnyard finger puppets


covered mini-notebooks


Zippered pencil bag or a sewing pouch

I  also found some really great sewing books out there, that I will talk about in a future post, that have been super helpful. 

I have no idea what to expect this first year, but I am getting excited for June.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Edeenut Blog Give-a-way

Edeenut is having a blog give-a-way  this week.  Ends on Friday March 25th.

The give-a-way is for any of her cute bags from her etsy store.  Here are a few of the bags you can pick from!!



My Favorite Things

The other day I came home to an unexpected package on my doorstep.  Always curious to see if it is a good package or an "it's for my husband"  kind of package, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was from a relative to ME!  Yeah!  What could it be? Had to open it right away, and after reading the little note on the top, I was excited.

Every year this relative throws a "My Favorite Things" party.  I am guessing that she invites so many people and they bring a list of their favorite things from the last year.  Then they also bring one of their favorite things to share with everyone else at the party.  So every year after her party, my relative picks one of her family members to share her goodies with.  It was my turn this year!!! and here are the things I found in my package:

The gum was immediately used by my kids who were hovering around--yummy.
My husband used the glass cleaner a few days later to clean our ceiling lights.
And I was super happy to see this kitchen utensil.

Two years ago during a Sister's Weekend, this was one of the item's that had shown up in our sister's gift exchange.  One sister, who was arriving from out of state, had not had time to pick out up a gift. She was already having my brother pick up some other items for her at the store, so she just thought she'd throw in "get me something cute for the sister's gift."  When my brother reminder her "I'm in a grocery store!" she sent him to the kitchen utensil isle and told him to pick out some cool gadgets.  This was one of the things he came up with.  I didn't end up with it, but have been drooling over it ever since.

It is the "Good Cooks Touch Comfort Grip Silicon Spatula."  The blade is flexible at the end and rigid after you get an inch or two up, so it can be used for everything.  The blade is also twice as long, so works twice as fast AND keeps your hands clean.  I've already used it tons.

And to top off my lovely gift, there was a binder full of everyone's lists and recipes!!  Can't wait to try the Girl Scout's Thin Mint knockoff with Andes Creme de Menth Baking Chips and Ritz Low Sodium Crackers.

So since I was the lucky recipient of someone else's favorite things, I will share one of my all time favorite things with you.

I love these scissors!!  I bought them a few years ago for my daughter to use to cut the fringe on her rag quilt.  They worked well for her because they were sharp and little.  I didn't like them for the quilt, but love them for many other uses.  My favorite is for trimming threads or super detailed work because there is a super sharp micro-tip on these scissors that gets super close.  The Spring loaded handle is also a great bonus.

What is one of your "favorite thing?"

Friday, March 11, 2011

Welcome to A Little Frayed

I finally took the plunge and created an etsy store. It is still in the early developement stages, but that's what I get for starting in the middle of working on costumes for an upcoming play.

Hopefully, I be able to get more of my ideas made up and listed, but until then I have a few remants from here and there to get started.

Take a look alittlefray.etsy.com