If I Had My Own Blue Box:

FanU Gets Festive – Gift Card Holder

Make a new template, a sample with Christmas fabrics and take photos.

One of the thing I love about the techniques I shared in Fanciful Utility is that they can be used for so many projects. This time of year, FanU is great for fun, festive projects. For the next few weeks, I am going to share some of the ways FanU gets Festive.

A basic, single pocket work pocket makes an excellent gift card holder. These are also a great way to gift a museum or site membership.

Make a simple pocket up with holiday fabrics or your giftee’s favorite colors to be reused throughout the year.

Here is a simple set of directions for making your own:

Need a copy of Fanciful Utility ? for yourself or to give as a gift? Visit www.thesewingacademy.com to order today.

Don’t miss previous FanU Gets Festive projects:

A Take-away Style Box
Bauble Ornaments
Mitten and Stocking Ornaments
A Pyramid Box
A Button Keep Ornament
A Gift Box

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on December 1, 2015 at 4:00 am Leave a Comment
Tags: FanU Projects

Password Confusion

There is a little confusion over the post that went live today that requires a password.

That post is for the local, private Sew Along group.

The public Sew Along, making the Work Bag, will have separate posts without a password.There will be an introductory post for that Sew Along next week.

I was trying to find a way to keep the closed group only visible for those in the group. This was the best I could find with the revamping WordPress is doing.

I am sorry for the confusion.

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on November 20, 2015 at 1:02 pm Leave a Comment

Protected: Genesee Valley Historic Sew Along – Password Required – Making a Pin Ball

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on November 20, 2015 at 6:00 am Enter your password to view comments.
Tags: Sew Alongs

Announcement: Paisley, Plaid & Purled Going Digital!!!

I have decided to release Paisley, Plaid, & Purled: Mid-Nineteenth Century Shawls as a digital publication.

I will be locking myself away during my Thanksgiving recess (and possibly Christmas recess) to reformat for the digital release.

Paisley, Plaid, & Purled will be exclusively available through my Etsy store come the new year.

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on November 18, 2015 at 6:00 am Leave a Comment
Tags: Anna's Books

What’s in Store this Holiday Season?

I am filing my Etsy shop with gift worthy items for this holiday season.

Here is a highlight of some of the gifts you will find:

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on November 1, 2015 at 1:00 am Leave a Comment

Research = Brain Implosion

Um….. What?!?!?!?

You know those discoveries that turns your research on end? Or, at the very least throws a wild, unexpected kink in it?

Yep.

So, I’m scrolling along…. I see… Ooo, a hood. Zoom…. Odd combination a hood and straw hats…. hmmmm…. Scroll up… read…. “Sea-side Toilet. – The little red hood, with a deep cape”… Wait, What??? …..”Sea-side Toilet. – The little red hood, with a deep cape to it is now a very fashionable style of head-gear at all the French watering-places, and it is called in France “Le cappe Bretonne.”…. Scroll down… scroll up… repeat… reread… yep, that is what it says… brain implosion!!!

The Little Red Riding Hood is in January, 1862’s Peterson’s Magazine. It is a winter garment. It really, very much is a winter garment. But, this one has nearly the same name. Though, in some ways, it looks more like The Princess Capote from May of the same year. May…. May!…. I always wondered why a winter hood was published in May.

Well there is a huge, huge snarl. I know for a fact that the Princess Capote, or a nearly the same pattern/cut, was made up as a quilted winter hood. Oh, what a tangled web… a fascinating tangled web.

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on October 30, 2015 at 6:00 am Leave a Comment

Delightful Illustration(s)

Reading through the 1862-63 edition of The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine, I came across this delightful image. How nice to see three styles of hats grouped together in such a playful scene. These young ladies are of school age in a casual setting. Notice all the games being played around them.

This second image is of a depiction of Town and Country. This is a must read story… “I knew she was quite a Bel in town, and must know all the fashions—not that I ever dress much in the fashion, for we are such very plain, countrified peple [sic] at Cudleychugh, and father never will let one have cloths different to the other farmers’ daughters.”

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on October 30, 2015 at 6:00 am Leave a Comment

Count Down to Christmas?

It seems the romantic tv channels have announced their “Count Down to Christmas.” (Yes, I confess, I find these channels are nice when I don’t feel actively functional on the weekends.) I did say I would focus on gifty goodies for the shop in November. But, what shall those gifties be?
Whether you are looking for the perfect gift or adding something to your wish list, what would you like to see in my Etsy shop this year?
~ Sewing boxes?
~ Sewing boxes with more inside?
~ Work pockets?
~ Gift boxes?
~ Needle-books?
~ Simple pin cushions?
~ Fancier pin cushions? Shells? Baskets? Walnuts? Pin balls?
~ Ornaments?
~ Doll items?
~ Winter bonnets?
~ Something else?

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on October 25, 2015 at 7:47 pm Comments (2)

Sew Alongs

Shortly after the new year, I am going to try something new… A Sew Along!

The idea for a sew along came to me in September. I knew a few people were interested in making one of the work bags I enjoy using. But, with so many of us scattered across the states and winter closing in, getting together simply is not as practical as we would like. Thus, an online sew along.

There are some huge advantages to doing a sew along online:

Like I mentioned – No winter travel needed.
We can sew at our own pace.
We get online support from each other.

For our Sew Along, we will be making a Work Bag in the style of the cotton work bag in the Winterthur Collection. I’ll post the materials list in December so everyone has time to shop. Our Sew Along will begin on Sunday, January 3rd with the first set of directions going live on my blog. Directions will follow weekly, hopefully giving everyone a comfortable amount of time to sew during the week. All of the directions will be here on the blog. We will also have a private FB group for sharing and support for those interested in FB.

A little later in the month, I’ll be starting a local Sew Along as well. This will be a slightly different Sew Along as it will be locked. It lets me see how that format works out.

Wonder why?

Well….

If the Sew Alongs go well and are liked, I have a couple more in mind. One is for making Pockets which would let a wide spectrum of eras participate. The other is for Slippers, which also would give us some variety in eras and techniques.

Confession time…. I am not so secretly hoping some of you who participate and are local will enter your projects in next year’s Agricultural Society Fair at GCV. I was so sad to see the lower entry numbers this year. I would really like to see the tables and room filled with pretty work.

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