I Scream for Ice Cream Embroidery Designs

I just love Embroidery Library! They are the most generous company with giving freebie designs that show how great their designs are. I have quite a collection of designs from them. This weekend, they are offering Free ice cream designs here. If you count all the different sizes of the designs, you will be able to pick up 6 new designs. Even though my embroidery machine can't do the extra large designs, when they are free I always pick them up as you never know when you might get to upgrade your machine to one that can take the big designs. These ice cream designs are perfect for hot summer days which we are having here.

I'm having such a nice day and even got to go to my first yard sales of the summer and picked up some sewing things. My dream yard sale is one that is all sewing stuff that no one wanted including a top of the line machine, stacks of sewing books and magazines, fabric, embroidery floss, etc. and they let me have it all for $50. I told you it was a dream. I found some donated needlecraft magazines at our local library this week for a quarter a piece. So much fun to look at and think up new projects for when the current ones are finished. I am making progress on the wedding quilt and finished the ring bearer pillow.

Sewing Ideas and Information

I happened to be at our library at the right time the other day and was able to pick up some sewing magazines for 25 cents a piece. One of the magazines was through the Eye of the Needle a project magazine published by Bernina. I had seen this magazine before and was happy to get it and then looked up Bernina's on line site www.berninausa.com.  I was happy to see that they are now publishing the magazine on line and I was able to download in PDF file the first six issues of the on line magazine and was also able to sign up to receive the magazine via my email.

On the site I also found 'stitch recipes'. Ways of combining decorative stitches to make a larger and more complex design. Since the sewing machine that I got last year, a Janome Horizon 7700, came with a Border foot that helps you combine designs, I'm always on the look out for ways to use the foot. Even if you don't have all the decorative stitches that Bernina used, you might possibly be able to find a substitute stitch on your sewing machine. I was able to download both stitch recipes and sewing projects all in PDF format and can read and study them at my convenience.

Don't be afraid to visit other sewing machine websites to see what information they might have that you can use! I really enjoyed my visit in Bernina land as I learned a few things and I also was able to temporarily forget some of the pain I'm in today.

Moonwishes Sewing Crafts Store Update

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen from Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts. I just wanted to update you what is happening at our store. This past month we had a major computer failure which meant a new computer purchase and since the driver had disappeared a new scanner purchase as well, even though the old scanner was working perfectly well. This has meant that we got way behind on listing new patterns. We are all back up and running as of last night and one of my major goals is to get a bunch of maternity patterns listed from a variety of all decades. For those of you that sew you may not realize that maternity patterns are rarely being published now and so are extremely hard to find. Well, you will find a good selection at our store both now and even more in a few days at this link : Maternity Patterns.

For those of you that have top of the line computer embroidery/sewing machines I wanted to bring something to your attention that I learned in the midst of our computer meltdown. Some of our machines can only have info uploaded to our embroidery machines via a flash card in combination with a card that goes into the machine like a memory card such as the Janome 300E. Well my last computer came with a slot that held the flash card so I had no trouble downloading from my computer all the thousands of designs that I had. This new computer didn't come with that slot, only USB ports. Let me tell you I was in a bit of a panic mode! My husband had asked about getting a port for the new computer that could do this and was told it wasn't available. Yesterday while getting the new scanner I looked through the electronics department I found a gadget that takes up to 33 different flash cards and lets you connect to your computer with the USB port but still gives you the ability to use your flash cards in your embroidery machine. It's brand name is Targus and cost $13 at Wal-mart. They had another one by a different manufacturer that takes up to 70+ cards and cost $17. These were hanging in the photography department. I'm not recommending either but wanted to let you know that these are available and if you think you may need one of these now or in the future it might be good to pick up. I would have hated to have lost virtually the use of my 300E just because I couldn't transfer designs as I certainly can't afford a new machine.

Weekend Freebies

For those with machine embroidery capability on your sewing or embroidery machines, you will want to visit Embroidery Library this weekend through June 12 and pick up FOUR freebies! Since they give them to you in two sizes, that is a total of eight designs and while there you can pick up their regular June freebies. Embroidery Library is a most generous machine embroidery company and I have had great success with all their designs whether they were free or purchased!

If you need more designs, visit our machine embroidery design page here on our blog for a listing of even more great companies.

Pintuck a Ruffle - Threads

Pintuck a Ruffle - Threads Saw this great article on the Threads website for a cool summer skirt with a pintucked hemband. Try it out for your next sewing project.

Embroidery Library

June is here and with it Embroidery Library's latest freebies and some great designs that will appeal to the men and boys in your life--animals and autos. Take a minute to pop on over and check out their newest designs!

Embroidery Library

Just a quick reminder to pick up your May Freebies at Embroidery Library. They have a lovely flower pot and for both Canadians and Americans some patriotic designs for Memorial Day. Embroidery Library's designs always sew out well and are a great place to pick up machine embroidery designs.

I'm still recovering from a left knee revision that I had on the 18th and am still limited in both my computer usage and sewing machine time. However, knowing how soon a wedding will be coming up, I have been working little by little on quilt blocks for the wedding quilt. I just hope I can get it done on time. I don't know where the time goes. At least after next Thursday I won't be spending 4-6 hours on a CPM machine daily which is a huge time hog, but my knee is doing great so I'm not going to complain!

Another Little Dress

I was very happy to be able to finish another Little Dress for Africa yesterday. Not only have I been enjoying making them and thinking of how happy some little girl will be to get her new dress, I have also been working hard in improving my sewing techniques. This 'Fish dress' features a hem band in contrasting fabric with decorative stitching on it to resemble water movement. I also made a band that I attached as a ruffle at the top front of the dress. This fish material is bright and perky and leftover from making my son Ron a quilt back over 20 years ago. I'm so glad to have projects that could use up these stray pieces.

While making this dress, I referred to The Dressmaker's Handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques by Lynda Maynard for making the French seam in the back of the dress and for making and attaching the hem band. I did learn that the band needed to be put on first before the French seam is made, otherwise the seam shows on the outside of the garment. I had some unsewing to do with this dress. I also realized after the fact that I had forgotten to use the border presser foot that came with my Janome Horizon which would have helped the stitches stay even.

I will probably be doing only some hand sewing if that for the next couple of weeks as I am going into the hospital for a knee revision on the 18th. I don't want to start any new projects until I'm recuperated. I have been working when I have a few minutes on Ron and Savannah's wedding quilt. Hard to believe the big day is barely four months away! I'd better hustle.

New Freebie at Oma's Place

Visit Oma's Place to see their new freebie alpha bet and to see the other machine embroidery designs that they have.

Check out our Machine Embroidery page here on our blog for lots more machine embroidery design companies.

Secrets of Embroidery Machine Embroidery Site

The Secrets of Embroidery website has some great new April specials including Easter designs. They also have some lovely new freebies. Make sure you drop in to take advantage of them.

For more machine embroidery websites, visit out Machine Embroidery page.

Hyperquilting Patsy Thompson Design

Thanks to my Janome 7700 digest friends, I just found a great quilting site called Patsy Thompson Designs. She has a great technique called hyperquilting that is gorgeous. I still haven't mastered regualr Free Motion Quilting yet, but this technique is certainly something to strive for. When you have a minute go take a look at her site.

Japan Earthquake Relief

Due to the devastation in Japan, we wanted to let you know that now, March 14^th through March 31, 2011, 10% of the sales at our store, Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts will be donated to Japan Earthquake Relief by way of CAMA Disaster Relief Fund the relief branch of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. With so many lives lost and property washed away, we wanted to be able to reach out a helping hand as best as we can. Thank you for your purchases or direct donation to the CAMA Diasaster Relief Fund.

Made another dress

Last night instead of making my brain go to mush watching TV, I whipped up another Little Dress for Africa . These dresses are so much fun to make and also make good use of remnants and yard/thrift store finds of trims, lace, bias binding, etc. When I see that stuff for sale at yard and thrift stores, I can't resist it when the price is so cheap, especially knowing how much it will be to buy at the fabric store. Anyhow, I'm having fun making these dresses and have a lot more planned. It is a nice break fromr the quilting I've been doing since I'm actually in the cutting out stage which is quite boring after awhile. The quilt I'm making requires something in the neighborhood of 3000 2 1/2" squares. So I've been cutting enough squares out for four blocks, make them and then cutting enough for four more blocks, etc. But I'm making what my DIL-to-be has asked for and she is so special, it is a joy to make something for her.

Quilting

If you love quilts and quilting, you will want to see this fantastic video that is both inspiring and shows the many different ways we can arrange quilt blocks. The video takes less than 7 minutes to watch so is just a nice break in your day. Called Quilt by Gayle Thomas.

Little Dresses for Africa

Wanted to show you my first Little Dresses for Africa dress. This was so much fun and easy. I'm looking forward to making many more and trying out different sewing techniques at the same time. Just making this dress, made me realize I don't have a really good grasp of attaching lace. I'm hoping to be able to be working on my next dress later this evening.

Little Dresses Project

I feel so blessed to have such an abundance of sewing goods, both machines, notions and fabric that I try to give back as much as possible. One of those ways has been turning out a Project Linus quilt each year. I have had it in my heart for months now though, that I would like to make dresses for little girls that really need them. Today on Facebook I found a project that touched me called Little Dresses for Africa. Simple dresses are made for girls out of new or gently used pillowcases, or using a simple pattern that can be found here compliments of  Nancy's Notions. They also collect shorts for boys if that is where your heart lays. I love finding different sewing projects to present here to readers as you never know which project might be the one that God lays on your heart to help with.

We live in a very large world but we are all connected together. By sharing our goods and talents with others, we make our world a better place for all and have the satisfaction of helping others in ways we never thought possible.

The Secrets of Embroidery

The Secrets of Embroidery is having a sale this March with over 500 design sets for machine embroidery reduced in price. This would be a great time to visit them. They also are featuring some great Freebies right now too.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

This is a book review that I read and reviewed in my reading blog, Moonwishes Reads about a book that I thought other sewers might appreciate if only to appreciate what many of us have in our sewing rooms.

As a seamstress and a reader, I was impressed by this book. Even though there might have been technical flaws with the timeline of the book, the story itself was astonishing. In our world today, most of us who sew have sewing machines, if not more than one. We also may have embroidery machines, all sorts of notions and gadgets, access to all sorts of fabric and the freedom to use them any way we like. Here is a story of women risking their lives to sew to provide needed financial help to their family. This book will make you appreciate your freedom to sew. This review is from my Amazon Vine book review.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe
by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

As a seamstress I was fascinated by this book. When their world has gone mad and life as they know it had changed, the women of Afghanistan found themselves in a peculiar situation. They could not leave their homes without a male escort, they could not work out, they had a new dress code that was so old fashioned many of the women had to borrow clothes to leave their home as they didn’t have the proper dress to satisfy the Taliban. As many of them found that they were widows with children to support they were left in a quandary. How do they support their families, feed their children and keep a roof over their heads and still follow the rules? If they didn’t follow the rules they could be beaten, tortured and killed. For women who were used to going to school (now no longer allowed), holding down jobs, and being able to shop and visit at will, not only were they in financial straights but bored beyond belief. They were essentially under house arrest.

For one family of many daughters, Kamela Sediqi found a way to be productive, earn an income and involve not only her many sisters but other women and girls from her area. She became a seamstress. With one sewing lessons from her married sister that was a tailor, she set up shop and made her first garment. Escorted by her younger brother, she went to the market, avoiding the Taliban soldiers, and took orders for the dresses she and her sisters would make. As someone who has sewed for 40+ years, she did something I would never even think of attempting. But she got orders and took them home and carefully she and her sisters cut the cloth and hand sewed and embroidered the garments. Her business grew, all being secretly done in her home, to the point she was able to hire other women and girls to help her and thus also help with their financial difficulties.

Sewing by lamplight and eventually with sewing machines during the times of infrequent electric power, Kamela and sisters and friends, beat their boredom, supported their families and showed that even when the chips were down, they could succeed against all odds,

I very much enjoyed this book although there were some areas that were confusing, especially the timeline. I was reading the advanced reading copy so I hope someone caught the discrepancies before actual publication. Other than that, it was a very inspirational true story that I enjoyed very much.

Check out this book now:

Project Linus Quilt 2011

This year I made my Project Linus quilt using my 2" x 4" bits and pieces of bright primary color print scraps. I think any small child should be happy with all the bright colors and things to look at. It is backed with a yard sale find of what looks like bright jelly beans on a black background. I got about 4 yards of this fabric for I think it was $2 last summer and knew it would be great for backing Project Linus quilts. I try to make a quilt each year to donate. I have been so richly blessed with sewing supplies that I want to pass the blessings on and to who better but a child going through a serious illness or trauma. I trust the parents of the child will also be blessed that someone cared for their child and prepared a quilt for them long before the need arose.

This quilt was pieced on a Janome Memory Craft 9000 and was quilted with decorative stitches on the seam lines with a Janome Horizon 7700.


It is amazing how cheaply you can make a nice quilt for a project like this, just using scraps that you color coordinate. Scrap quilts, if you are careful, can look as well planned as a quilt that you have bought fabrics for. For 2012 I'm hoping to use some of my pastel scraps to make a more 'girly' quilt. With my son's wedding quilt I'll be using mostly primary colors and know I will need a rest from them when that quilt is finished.

Spray Basting a Quilt

I finished my Project Linus quilt two days ago. I don't have the photo downloaded yet, but one of the echniques I used was spray basting it and it turned out great. Here is a terrific video on both spray basting

and using your wall to spray baste on! I can hardly wait to show hubby this technique! In the meantime, I'm sharing it with you.

Terrific Quilting Sites

A question was asked on our Janome Horizon 7700 sewing digest as to who inspired us. The group came up with a lot of names of websites. I've listed them on my sewing and quilting page for every one's convenience including my own. If I find a neat site on the big desktop computer and save it to favorite places, then when I'm relaxing and want to find those great sites, I'm usually using the laptop that of course never got those favorites marked. Now all I have to do is go to my blog and click on interesting links and so can you. One of the things I try for with this blog is to be a resource for others so that they can enjoy their quilting and sewing hobbies.

I also got some great magazines in the mail the other day and just loved reading through the old copies of Dressmaking With Stitches which used to be called Australian Stitches It encourages me because of the great way they explain sewing techniques and the clothes they make are normal people clothes. You know, the kind of thing that you wear to the grocery store, a parent teacher conference, the library, living life. I only wish it was cheaper for a subscription!

Nicole's Designs

We have added another embroidery designer to our embroidery designer page. It is Nicole's Designs, which specialize in modular designs. They are perfect for decorating children's items. usually each design set has a freebie that goes along with it.

Wedding Quilt Part 1

When my son Ron proposed to Savannah we were all very happy and I started thinking wedding quilt. I started asking what type of quilt they might like and colors, etc. One day Savannah sent me a schematic of what she thought they would like.

I was very happy to have a goal of some type in mind since a queen size quilt is a large undertaking and I wanted them to like it. I got my crayons out and David made me some graph paper and I got to work converting her ideas into something that could be sewn and without too many odd angles to sew. It took several attempts but at last I had a reasonable rendition of what she had drawn, expanded into a queen size quilt. When she was her at Christmas she gave her stamp of approval to the final design.

The above picture represents only one half of the quilt. It will be made with 2 1/2" squares for the most part. It is to be a scrap quilt using a huge variety of fabrics. This of course, meant I got to go through all my stash pulling out the different fabrics that I thought might go. I also pulled pre-cut 2 1/2" strips and squares. I did have to buy some more yellow fabrics as I didn't feel I had a good enough selection of them and I didn't wanted to have too many repeats of the same fabrics.

My calculations tell me I will need to cut over 1700 2 1/2" squares for this quilt. Since that seems like a mammoth job, I stuck all the colors except for the red and purple fabrics in a box until I get the red and purple cut up. Then they can go downstairs to sew during my breaks from doing dishes, etc. and I can pull out the next colors to work on. I look forward to making this quilt and sharing it with you. Hopefully it will be done by the August 2011 wedding.

Sherlock Holmes Wallhanging

When Embroidery Library came out with some great reading related designs, I just knew I had to make something with the Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Design for my husband. David is a huge Sherlock Holmes fan and has helped suck me into being a fan also! I had thought originally to embroider out the design and then frame it in a conventional frame, purchased at the thrift store and spruced up by me. Well when the first sew out was in process, something got caught behind the machine and messed things up so I had to start over. Then I ran out of thread, but thankfully was able to substitute another color and it doesn't show too much! But when it was finished, I really liked it until I tried to frame it. It was just a tad too big which meant I had to think through what to do with it. First I quilted it and then tried some techniques that were new to me. I mitered the corners and used a facing to the front instead of binding it and did a raw edge applique for the frame shape. I had a great time trying out some of the decorative stitches on my Janome Horizon 7700; a very fun machine to work with! David was very pleased with his gift and now all we have to do is decide where to hang it.

Oma's Place Embroidery Designs with a Message

Oma's Place has an assortment of different designs, including those for parents with special needs children, Christian home designs and other. Many of her free designs have the .pes extension so be sure you can reformat the design before downloading or buying a design.

4-Hobby Machine Embroidery

Happy New Year to all! May this be a great year with lots of wonderful sewing projects completed. I had posted about this site before, but in case you hadn't seen it yet, I did want to remind you that 4-Hobby Machine Embroidery carries a selection of Judaica symbols in machine embroidery and several Hebrew alpha bets. I know these types of designs are fairly hard to find so for those who are looking, please check this site. They also have several other types of ethnic designs including Hamsa.

Buying Fabric On Line

After searching our one and only local fabric store for several months for some Atlanta Braves Fleece for my son for a Christmas present, I went on line and tried to buy some several weeks ago only to get the dreaded out of stock box. Well on Christmas Eve, finally got a note saying it was back in stock. I was busy then, but within 4 hours when I tried to buy it, it was back to being out of stock. At that point I did what I should have in the first place and searched the web. I found two sites that had the fleece in stock and plenty of it. Both with lower prices than the other store. Fabric.com won the purchase 'contest' by having the lowest price plus I was able to find an on line 15% off coupon too, so that theirs was the rock bottom price. They also participate in Big Crumbs money back program too! Considering it was Christmas weekend when I ordered it, can you imagine my surprise when it was delivered on Wednesday! I'm always happy to talk about a company that delivers better than I expected and I was very impressed with their service. I'm sure my son will be thoroughly surprised when he gets this gift as he is not only a huge Braves fan but the biggest Christmas snoop in the world. We haven't had our 'Christmas' yet as we have waited for my other son and his fiance to get here. So on New Year's Day we will get to celebrate Christmas knowing it is much more than a time for presents but a time to celebrate family and being part of God's family.

Happy New Year to you all and trusting that it will be a good year for each of you and knowing what trials that may come help to make us stronger. I'm still trying to decide my personal sewing goals and goals for our store. I would love to know what others are working on this coming year. My one really big goal is a wedding quilt that needs done by August.

Sew Terrific Embroidery Designs

We have just added another machine embroidery site called Sew Terrific to our Machine Embroidery page. Even though Christmas is just past, they have posted a great set of Santa Claus designs and Free Christmas Tree design in all the popular home machine formats.

We have also added another sewing site to our Sewing and Quilting page. It is Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing with all sorts of interesting sewing info.

We are always happy to learn of new sites to add to these pages as it helps all of us with our sewing.

I was very excited to get Threads magazine's latest issue #153. I have a tip published in it!

Snow Lady Designs

There is still enough time to make another machine embroidered Christmas ornament isn't there? Snow Lady Designs has a fantastic, FREE free-standing lace ornament. Visit this site soon to see what else awaits you and your embroidery machine!

Innocence

If you sew, quilt, make art or just love beautiful things, you need to visit this blog: One Designer's Journey. She has the most incredible quilt called Innocence.

I just finished a little quilted wall piece for hubbies Christmas present. I can't even think about posting it yet after seeing the quilt pictures I just saw. but soon. I tried several new to me techniques in it and that is what I want to be doing, still learning and growing not stuck in a rut doing 4 patch quilting the rest of my life.

Janome Life

I have added a new link on my sewing and quilting page here. It is for Janome Life . It was brought to my attention for her article on using the Janome quilt binder for mitering corners, apparently something that doesn't come with the instructions. I love savings these links and having them handy for everyone because I know if I ever get the money to buy the quilt binder, I will have forgotten otherwise where to find the article.

I also got some great news today. One of my sewing tips that I sent into Threads magazine is to be published! That put a little spark in my step to get that news. Look for issue #153, which is the one it should be in.

Happy Sewing Everyone!

Free December Designs

Embroidery Library has just posted their FREE December winter designs. They can be downloaded for free until January 3, 2011. They also has lots of NEW Holiday designs for your last minute crafting or for planning next year's sewing. Be sure to stop in and visit them and all the other machine embroidery sites that are listed on my embroidery sites page here.

Need a present for a sewing friend (or yourself)? Sew-Retro is a delightful book that anyone who likes to read about sewing and especially vintage sewing would enjoy. I got my copy with birthday gift certificate cards and I highly recommend it.

Woke up to at least an inch of snow with up to eight inches predicted by the end of the week. That always puts me in a sewing mood and I hope it does you also. Happy crafting!

Sarah Ann Smith

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I'm grateful for a great husband who was willing to wait several days for the turkey since I was flaring up and couldn't manhandle the beast plus side dishes on my own. In the end, he still had to do the turkey for me but I was able to make the potatoes, stuffing and gravy. It was a simple meal and a simple time but we enjoyed it.

I wanted to add another site to our quilting and sewing resource page. It is Sarah Ann Smith's blog page. Sarah is a great quilter, writer and teacher. She also is a frequent presence on the Janome Horizon 7700 digest. She is a published author and her book Thread Work Unraveled is an excellent resource for doing machine quilting and threadwork. I own this book and highly recommend it either as a gift for a sewing friend or for yourself! Be sure to visit her blog and see what she is up to.

Sew Janome

We have just started another page here on this blog as I would dearly love to have this be a great resource for all who sew. We have a page for machine embroidery design sites and now we have added a sewing and quilting site page. If you have sites that you would like to see added, please lets us know!

Today's site is Sew Janome with some great information for Horizon 7700 owners and owners of other Janome machines.

Hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving. I'm so thankful for my hubby, my kids and that I have activities that I enjoy while dealing with chronic illness. I'm especially thankful for my Janome Horizon 7700 and 300E as I intend to give them a workout today and tomorrow!

ABC Embroidery Designs

Just added ABC Embroidery Designs to our Embroidery Designer Page. right now you can get a free lovely Thanksgiving design. Even if too late to use this holiday, be sure to download it to have for next year.

I've been working on making Christmas presents, but can't post them since the folks getting them have access to my blog and Facebook account. Maybe after the holidays. So many ideas and so little time and I'm still looking for ideas. It is so much fun to have a girl in the family now to sew for!

Secrets of Embroidery Machine Embroidery Site

Secrets of Embroidery is one of my favorite websites for getting lovely embroidery designs. I noticed that they have a sale going on that you might want to know about. They are offering a 2010 Winter Bonus Set with over 30 designs as a free gift with orders of $30 or more from anywhere on the Secrets site. Sounds like a GREAT deal.

One tip for when you do your embroidery. Don't think that you have everything out of the way when you are setting up an embroidery project. I didn't this weekend. Something fell and jammed my design up and I lost an hour's worth of embroidering. :(  . I did however, put my Horizon through it's paces and hemmed up some heavy jeans of my husbands with the help of a few of my internet friends. I ended up with a bent needle but an old point turner I had gotten free in the mail one day also had a space to tuck in under my presser foot and allowed the foot to go over the bulky seam (except the one that bent the needle). I probably need more practice, but since I'm tall and hubby is 6'2" you wouldn't think I would ever need to hem up pants!

Happy sewing on your holiday projects and enjoy the process!

Cristmas Bag Toppers

What a unique idea that The Purple Hat has for this Christmas season. They are Christmas Bag toppers that you can put treats in a Zip-Lock(r) bag and the topper makes it a gift! Visit The Purple Hat for this and other unique designs.

New Janome Foot

I just got my new O2 foot in the mail for my Janome 7700 Horizon. I haven't tried it out yet, but in comparing it to the other O foot I did notice something that had been brought up in the last Janome 7700 digest. Markings on our machines. Well they aren't on the machine, but if you look at the left side of the 1/4" foot (either one) there are three raised lines. One is exactly to the left of the needle, the other two are both exactly 1/4" behind the needle and 1/4" ahead of the needle so you can use those to help you know where to pivot, start seams, etc. I bring this up because I have been using one of these feet for years and have never noticed the markings. If you need to see them better, a dab of fingernail polish should help visibility. Just being aware of them will help.

Creatively Yours

Just found another machine embroidery design site that you might be interested in called Creatively Yours. They have an eclectic selection of designs, they do have some free designs that you will have to hunt for. This site also does custom digitizing if you need that done.

Designs Sew Fine

Thanks to Joan for bringing my attention to another Machine Embroidery Site called Designs Sew Fine. They have filled designs for all seasons and reasons, lots of redwork and also sufficient free designs to test before you buy from them.

Creative Sewing Techniques by Machine edited by Nancy Fiedler

A review of a book I purchased: Creative Sewing Techniques by Machine edited by Nancy Fiedler. 80 pages ISBN 9781574326680

I'm afraid that after really looking forward to getting this book, I was more than a bit disappointed in it. I'm still trying to decide whether to return it or keep it which is a very unusual situation for me. Although I am a quilter and appreciate quilting designs, I was expecting to see a variety of sewing designs and spiffy projects. After all, this is a book that was edited by a Janome education specialist. Janome, I feel, has always been behind in publishing books of projects to take advantage of their wonderful sewing machines.

In this book, all but one project was a quilt or quilted item, and the remaining project a journal cover. NO garments of any kind were featured. Not many of the projects had anything super special in the way of techniques. Perhaps to a very beginning sewer this book might make more of an impact. I was hoping to see some very creative use of decorative stitching, etc. Instead even those pictures with decorative stitching were done in colors and fabrics that barely showed in the photos. I'm not saying that there weren't some nice projects, just that the projects that were in the book were the same often repeated projects in other books such as, piece a quilt, applique something to the quilt, use a few decorative stitches to sew on the border and maybe do some twin needle stitching.

Several of the projects depended heavily on machine embroidery. For example, one piece showed a bright yellow block which looks like decorative stitching sewn into a block around a quilted design (shown on the front cover of the book). Don't be fooled, the entire block including the decorative stitching look is all pre-digitized machine embroidery. This would have been a perfect time to show just how to make and measure to sew a decorative square with decorative stitches and to do stipple stitching etc.

This book could have been so much more, but with so many different people doing projects, it appears that no one was actually coordinating what they were making. Where is the heirloom sewing project using the many different sewing stitches and presser feet? Where is the simple project of showing how to use the different feet and stitches to whip up a child's T-shirt with some special details to make it unique. Uniqueness is what I was looking for in this book and didn't find it. Perhaps I feel like this because I have read so many books and magazines on sewing, but I think other experienced in sewing will agree that this book lacks that special quality that makes it wonderful.

I would pass on this book unless you have a chance to look through it and know you will be getting some good use out of the contents. I think the problem was the projects were written up by a variety of writers, not just one person with a goal in mind. The editor has two projects in the book, a quilt and the journal cover. All other projects were done by a variety of sewists.

The Fortuny Shirt - Threads

The Fortuny Shirt - Threads

Here is a great step by step guide to finishing the inside armhole of a man's shirt by Kenny King. Worth a few minutes to check it out.

My Current Project

I'm currently working on a quilting project that I have tentatively named "A Few of my Favorite Things". Hubby did a scan of it for me so the stitches would show better than a regular photo, only it took 8 scans to get it all in and then he combined them. So what looks to be wrinkles, folds, etc. is just the work to get it all showing at one time. I have cropped the picture for clarity.

 I have used several of my Janome Horizon 7700 stitches in this piece so far including couching the ribbon, appliqueing and making the woven basket and doing the foliage for the flowers that I then hand embroidered. I have many more parts that I'm working on separately and then will be attaching them. The flowers if you can't tell at Queen Ann's lace or I believe in the UK it is called cow parsley and the pink flowers are based on the lovely phlox that was growing in my garden this year. I'm hoping to also sew up some three dimensional flowers to add to the basket. I didn't want to get done with the project and not have any intermediate pictures of it in process, so here it is. I have been inspired by many art quilt and quilting authors and by my wonderful Janome Horizon sewing machine.

In this piece, I hope to not only show some of my favorite things but to use some of my favorite techniques and also to try out and learn some more favorite techniques.

The Project Modern Quilt

Here is a chance if you are a quilter to try to challenge yourself to make a modern quilt! Hoping I get this button to work correctly so that you can go to their website and find out more. There will be a terrific prize of a Janome Horizon 7700 which is an awesome sewing machine that anyone should be happy to own and work with. Join up at Project Modern Quilt.

Quilt Ideas

Just as I was going to bed last night, I was hit with an incredible idea for the art quilt I am making. Of course, I then laid in bed trying to figure out how I could accomplish it and then couldn't get to sleep. This latest project of mine is so much fun as I attempt to use as many techniques as possible without making a hodge podge of it. The theme is "A Few of My Favorite Things". So far it includes fabric weaving, applique, piecing, decorative machine stitching, hand embroidery, and 3 dimensional work. Lots to do for it yet, but it is so nice not to be working under a time pressure and instead of chopping ideas because of lack of time, I'm eager to work on as many different things as I can. Hoping tonight to finish up a needlepoint piece that will be incorporated into the piece. What fun! Every should have a great creative hobby like sewing!!!

I'm so glad for inspirational books that allow me to dream and then help me to figure out how to make the dreams reality. Quilting Arts is a good one especially as I just discovered the magazine this year. I'm going to try to get the back issues as apparently some of the stories are included in this book which fascinates me.

ONE Spirit Community needs quilting supplies

My friend Gen has made me aware of a group, One Spirit,  that is in great need of quilting and sewing supplies, and from the sounds of it, material goods of all kinds. Here is part of the note Gen sent me that helps explains it better:

>>>ONE Spirit is the organization I support. They are primarily supportive of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. This is the poorest of the country's reservations. The people work hard to make better lives for their children, but poverty and weather are against their progress. So, everything that is done to help has great meaning.


Recently they have asked for quilting supplies. They specifically make star quilts for all kinds of celebrations -- it doesn't hurt that the quilts are warm and the winters are cold. And it helps bring a bit of beauty to one of the dreariest, most depressed parts of our country.
 
The one thing ONE Spirit has shown me is that whatever little I can do, added to what the next person can do, and the next, and the next -- altogether it makes a difference in lives of such hopelessness I cannot imagine.
 
>>>
 
These people, our native American brothers and sisters, are in need of food, clothing, warm coats, and any quilting items you can share. By clicking on the link here, you can see more about the reservation and see whom to contact to make donations to One Spirit of whatever you can give. They also have a Paypal donation button to donate cash towards helping the people. They use the quilting supplies to make quilts to bless each other during ceremonial occasions. The main quilt type that they make are Star of Bethlehem style quilts. Ask yourself what you can do to help.

Using Machine Embroidered corner Designs

Embroidery Library has a nice article with pictures of some ways to use corner designs that you may have accumulated and aren't quite sure what to use them for. I love their designs as they always sew out exactly how they should plus they are very generous with freebies.

Nine Patch Machine Embroidered Butterfly

If you love butterflies and applique and machine embroidery, then you will want to check this butterfly out. It is made in 9 sections and when finished is 10' x 10". It combines applique, machine embroidery and crystals. You can buy it for $10 until July 23, 2010 at the Purple hat. I've been collecting butterfly designs for years in anticipation of making a butterfly quilt. This great design should help with that project.

Vintage Patterns Wikipedia

If you love to sew with vintage sewing patterns or just to collect vintage patterns and haven't discovered this site yet, you might want to zoom right over to Vintage Patterns Wilipedia where you can find lots of information on vintage sewing patterns including links to vendors who just might have your size in stock. The site itself does not sell patterns as the vendors are independent stores such as our store, Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts.

Countdown to Christmas

For those out there that do machine embroidery, today is the day to sign up for the Countdown to Christmas program at Embroidery Library. This program allows you to buy designs for the next several months and earn points towards receiving a gift certificate at Christmas. Along the way you will receive FREEBIE Christmas designs. Check out their site for full details. Sign up as soon as possible so you don't miss out on anything

Three Projects Finished!

Last week I managed to finished three projects. I got a top finished to match a skirt I made last month. I made a throw pillow as a bit of encouragement for a friend battling cancer. I also cut apart a king size quilt I had made 8 years ago into two smaller quilts and got rid of a part of it that had fallen apart. I now understand why women used to sew beard guards onto their quilts! Enough said.

I gave my new sewing machine, Janome Horizon 7700, a run for its money with these projects. The dual feed set up worked great, the free motion quilting worked great, as did the decorative stitches for applique and as always the straight stitching on a Janome machine was top notch. I'm looking forward to many more projects with this machine especially since I can use the stop start button to sew with so I can keep my feet propped up and avoid the painful swelling I usually get while sewing.

Breast Cancer Awareness Embroidery Design

Stitched Impressions has posted some new breast cancer awareness designs. One is a butterfly and the other is a FREE design with the pink ribbon and the word believe shown above. Of course, you can always change out the color of ribbon you use to show support for your cause.

My Latest Quilting Project

I have a friend that is very ill and I have been working on a small project to encourage her. She has sent me notes of encouragement to me over the past year as she knows I also have health issues. One of the notes she sent featured a picture much like this design. I am going to turn it into a pillow and wanting to scan it first before it wouldn't fit flat on the scanner. It was too large to fit all in one piece anyhow. But I do hope she enjoys seeing this and that it encourages her through this very rough time.

Memorial Day Poppy Free Machine Embroidery Designs

Embroidery Library is having a special promotion just this weekend through May 31, 2010. Click on the link and when you arrive at Embroidery Library's home page, click on the banner at the top of the page that says "Secret Stitchers Sale". You will be able to download 3 different poppy designs for free including a Free Standing Lace poppy. While there, you can also take advantage of the $1 special they are running and be sure to sign up for their weekly newsletter that lets you know when these specials happen.

Embroidery Library makes many beautiful designs that sew out very well at great prices and they are also very generous with freebies to try out their great designs.

Design Explorations for the Creative Quilter

This is a review of  Design Explorations for the Creative Quilter: Easy to Follow lessons for dynamic art quilts by Katie Pasquini Masopust that I posted on Amazon. I think it is a great book and gave it five stars. If you are looking for help in making art quilts, this book should be a big help to you.

I have long held an interest in quilting after having started my first quilt around 40 years ago. But at this point all the beds have quilts and so do most family members. Time to do some more creative quilting. As I have studied Art Quilts over the last few years, at times I have found myself not understanding at all what the quilter was intending and even why anyone thought that ugly piece was worth a prize. I still find some art pieces to be truly ugly but with the help of instructional books I am beginning to understand more about what the quilter was trying to accomplish and I have decided that I too would like to make an art quilt. So this book along with others got put on my Wish List and this one became a Mother's Day gift to me from my son. Realizing he only got it because of its location on the list and the price, all I can say is he did a great job picking out a book!

This book talks about art quilts in ways that are understandable and then has activities to do to break those binding fears of "I'm not an artist" and "I'm not creative". Reading through the different projects, I realized that yes I could do these things and maybe I too could be successful at making an art quilt. Consider that one of the projects in the book is to paint blindfolded with an assistant playing different types of music and helping you to move and have the color of paint you want for the tune. I'm sure they are also there to keep you from accidentally painting the walls and wayward children and pets but that isn't the point - you will be painting with a blindfold on! Then you take off the blindfold, observe what you have done, find spots on the paper that you especially like and make it into a quilt. I told my husband about this and he got enthusiastic and volunteered to help paint with me and I already have bought my paints. That is just one of ten exploration exercises the author has in the book. The book is filled with many color photo illustrations of the author's exercises and the finished quilts made from them and also her students work.

The only real weakness I found in the book was the actual making of the quilts themselves. I would have like to see more detail in making them as these aren't your typical patchwork quilts, they are basically machine pieced or appliquéd and she only spent 4 pages on that part. However, I have plenty of books on making quilts in my reference library, it is the creativity lessons that I need and appreciated as they give you a jumping off spot to venture out into the great unknown or art quilting.

Toddler Boys Suit

Just listed today, Butterick Sewing Pattern 4355 Boys Size 2-4 Easy Classic Suit Jacket Pants Shorts Knickers Bowtie. this is an adorable outfit that would be perfect for the little boy that is to be a ring bearer in a wedding. In years of selling patterns, this is the first time I have run across it.

Janome Horizon 7700 Sewing Machine - MINE!

Hubby surprised me by letting me trade in my Janome 6500 for the new Horizon 7700. This is an awesome machine! Besides an absolutely perfect straight stitch, it has 250 other stitches that can be changed in size, combined together and combined with the alphabets that are included. This is a perfect machine for quilter, crazy quilter, heirloom sewing by machine, garment maker, actually anybody that sews that wants a great variety of stitches for the types of items they make.

But for me the big thing is the ability to sew on a machine with me feet propped up and no need to use my feet at all as it has a stop start button, and extension table to rest my hands and arms on. This is the most comfortable I have been sewing in years and that is the big reason why we swapped out. The 6500 is/was a great machine but with no stop/start button I was forced to use the foot pedal and we couldn't figure out a way to let me sew without involving my legs. As I have bad arthritis, trying to find a machine that is truly workable for someone with a disability. This new 7700 does it for me. I haven't even unpacked the foot pedal that came with it and I don't intend to. For anyone searching for a great machine that can be used without the use of your legs and/or feet this one can do it for you. After years of only being able to sew in 15 minute increments before the pain got to be too much, I'm looking forward to sewing for hours at a time!

Janome Horizon 7700 Sewing Machine

I have been waiting for months to see what's up with the newest Janome sewing machine. They kept feeding us bits and pieces over the last few months but promised us we would be impressed. Well I am. I'm trying hard to wipe the drool off my chin as this newest machine has so many features to love. Several of them that seem so simple will make life easier for someone like me with a disability and has trouble keeping my feet down long enough to sew. Since most sewing machines run by having you press a foot pedal, to have a mchine come out with the stop/start button is great. This is not a new feature as such, but one my 6500 doesn't have, so I have been dependent on using the foot pedal to sew. Days that my feet are too swollen to be down means I can't sew. Well the 7700 has a stop/start button. It also has a new feature that you can calculate how long your line of decorate stitches will be so you can match up the space to fill with the amount of stitches to sew and then the machine stops. How cool is that? Lots of great decorative stitches also - 250 plus alphabets. All my favorite stitches from every machine I have ever sewed on are all on this machine including a bunch that I have never seen. Lots more features to especially for us quilters like an 11" throat. I can hardly wait to go visit my nearest Janome dealer, Super Stitch, and try out this machine. Then to see what kind of swap I can make to be able to afford it. Some girls spend $100's a year on cosmetics, shoes and purses and I'm sure if it was all averaged out, I spend less on sewing machines than they do. Now is that an excuse to get a new sewing machine or not? Vist the Janome website to see all the features of this great machine. They even have some videos for you to see.

Museum Exhibit American Woman at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Threads magazine has a photo selection and the information about these lovely gowns that you can see. If you are a lover of past fashion, then you either need to get to this show or at least go look at the pictures here.

In relation to past fashions, I was privileged to review a book that is soon to be published called A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff. A copy of the review follows.

As someone who has been studying couture sewing by reading about it in books and magazines like Threads I found A Vintage Affair a delightful book to read. After the death of her friend, for which she blames her then boyfriend, Phoebe Swift opens a clothing story that sells only vintage couture clothing and accessories. Her storefront captures the eye of a reporter for a struggling new newspaper and his story about the store brings in business in ways they never expected. Then her store is behind the breaking news story that catapults the newspaper into the news itself.


There are lovely descriptions of the clothes and the stories behind them and how special certain pieces are to people. The different characters are well thought out to the point that you want to slap Phoebe when she takes up with a gentleman that is spoiling his 16 year old daughter rotten. You just know that this isn’t a relationship to get into because his daughter will always be first in his life. Over the course of the book there is healing for many different relationships that have over time become difficult. One of the main themes is the touching story of a handmade girls blue coat that takes us back to WWII and the holocaust.

I found it a truly delightful book to read and only wished that it were illustrated with some of the clothing that was described. The story itself is light reading set in Great Britain. If you love some humor, romance and fashion in the books you read, you should enjoy this one.

Freestyle machine Embroidery: Techniques and Inspiration for Fiber Art by Carol Shinn

While looking through my many needlecraft magazines, I came upon a project done by Carol Shinn that I thought was amazing, so I was delighted to see that she had published a book on her techniques called Freestyle Machine Embroidery: Techniques and Inspiration for Fiber Art. I have been looking for quite a while for a book that showed how to do freestyle machine embroidery which is not the same as doing machine embroidery using digitized designs. With freestyle machine embroidery, you use your sewing machine as a paint brush and thread as the paint, sewing down layers of color to make a picture or design.

In my quest I have come upon books that while supposedly about this type of embroidery, spend half the book talking about painting backgrounds, etc. Well if I could paint backgrounds I think I would stick with painting and forget trying to learn how to machine embroider the picture. This book, however, explains some simple projects that you can do with painting blocks of color (or you could print the blocks out using special ink jet photo transfer paper) and then explains how to use your threads to sew out these simple designs. Once you have learned these simple techniques then you go on to learn how to show transparency of colors in your designs. There are plenty of pictures so that you can understand the step by step process including showing the blocks and the spools of thread used in the project and how they combined.

The author explains the materials she uses and the whys of what she uses and at the same time going on to describe other material that can be used and how you would need to stabilize it. She also spends time on explaining how a design can distort due to the quantity of thread taking up fabric depending on the way the stitches lie. This is the first I recall hearing about the possibilities of distortion from all the books I have read on freestyle machine embroidery in so it was certainly good to know. Along with her own work she shows examples of other artists and explains their basic techniques and philosophy about what they do.

At the back of the book was a page of recommended reading with a long list of books that I hadn’t heard of. I think my wish list will be expanding if I can’t find the books through my local library. All in all this was a terrific book and one I highly recommend if you are interested at all in this sewing technique. Perhaps after reading this book, I will now be able to go back to my other books on machine embroidery and understand the techniques for combining the thread better.

Free Jacobean Machine Embroidery Designs

One of my favorite machine embroidery design sites, Embroidery Library, has a wonderful set of FREE Jacobean flower and butterfly designs. These designs are available for Free through April 25, 2010. Click this link to see them and download these great designs.

Circular Ribbon Flower Redux - Threads

Circular Ribbon Flower Redux - Threads

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A Coupon For You

For you sewers out there, we have a coupon for you for use at our store:

Finished My Quilt Top!

Off and on over the years, I have been working on a quilt top for me. One I can snuggle under, is in the colors I like with motifs that I enjoy. Well the top is done now and I'm working on figuring out how I want to quilt it. The center of the quilt is pieced based on a design I found many years ago in McCall's Quilting December 1996. I've used this design in in a simpler format for many of my Project Linus quilts and, of course, it uses my 2 X 4 blocks. The colors range from light pick to dark reddish pinks with some green blocks thrown in for relief. It is the border that I spent the most time on. I have machine appliqued/embroidered roses in each of the corners and resized them to be slighter smaller on the sides of the quilt. The lovely rose design that sewed out like a dressm is from Kenny's Kreations a fantastic Australian website with two great machine embroidery designers. The lace hearts are from Embroidery Library another fantastic site. Sewing out the lace hearts in the same color of thread as the roses gives continuity to the quilt and the border and something you can only do with the magic of home machine embroidery. I also stuck in a little lace butterfly on one of the blocks which came from Janome Memorycraft Card 129 K-Lace designs. Our amateur photography doesn't do the quilt justice especially the colors, but I was very pleased at how the quilt top turned out. Now if I can only quilt it to do it justice I will be happy. This is a long term project for me that I have had to think about each step of the process so that I would get what I want.

On another quilting note, last month I had a goal of making 10 blocks for my latest Project Linus quilt. Well they say if you write a goal down you usually accomplish it. Not only did I get the 10 blocks finished, I made the entire 25 blocks that I need for the quilt top. It is amazing how much you can sew while waiting for food to cook and taking rest breaks while doing dishes, which is about the only time I work on my Project Linus quilts. This month's goal is to piece the top together and quilt it. Currently, though, it is set aside as my son is visiting with his charming girlfriend and things had to be set aside to make room for them this weekend.

On another note we have been busy adding more sewing patterns to our store, lots more retro designs, maternity and plus sizes patterns have been added in the last few weeks. We have over 7000 patterns listed in all sizes and styles. We invite you to visit us at Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts for all your sewing pattern needs. We do have a backlog that we haven't gotten listed yet, so if you are looking for a particular pattern, just ask. however we do need the company and pattern number to to search.

Threads Magazine Back Issues

One of my best and most inspiring sewing guides has been my collection of Threads magazines. It took a lot of work but I finally have the entire collection, as published and have gone through and read them several times. I learn something new every time I pick up a new or back issue of this wonderful and inspiring magazine. In my quest to get one issue each of the entire set, at times I had to buy magazine lots that had an issue that I already had. These spare issues are what I’m selling. They have all been used, many are ex-library and have stamps and markings and wear, there is a possibility of a missing page. However I believe them to all be complete. They are being sold AS IS for the great information contained in them. You can see which issues I have for sale here.

Breast Cancer Comfort Cushions

For those of you who would like to use your sewing and machine embroidery talents to help others, here is a project that is worthy of support. Started by a woman who herself faced breast cancer, she developed a sewing charity of making breast cancer comfort cushions, tote bags for x-rays, tote bags for drainage bags, and a small gift that has helped thousands of women. You can read her story here. Embroidery Library, one of my favoirte sites is also giving away a free machine embroidry design to use when making your own comfort cushion and has step by step instructions for embroidering and sewing it on their site which you can see here.

If you know someone recovering from breast cancer surgery, this would be a welcome gift. If this is not something you would want to make yourself, be sure to send the links on to someone who could benefit from this project.

Sew Craftful

Hey I think I finally figured out how to use Twitter for myself. Saw a post that looked interesting, clicked on it and found this interesting blog on sewing with vintage patterns, etc. If you are interested in sewing with vintage patterns and other tidbits of vintage sewing information you might want to take a look at Sew Craftful.

Project Linus Quilt 2010

Finally I have the picture of this years Project Linus quilt that I just turned in. It is all made with finished size 2" squares, 4" squares and 2 x 4" rectangles. This is my interpretation of a front cover quilt from McCall's Quilting December 1996. I have made quite a few quilts from this block as it is easy to make, but looks a bit complicated. It is also a great block for scraps as you can control the scrappy look by having one piece of the same fabric of the same size in the same location in each block. Whenever I finish a sewing project that uses quilting cotton, I cut my leftover pieces into 2 1/2" squares, 4 1/2" squares, and 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles. Do that for a while and when you need a quilt in a hurry it is all basically cut out, all you have to do is decide the location for each fabric and sew them together. In this particular quilt I decided to quilt a block at a time and then join them in the end. In the larger squares I machine embroidered a quilting motif and then stitched in the ditch with decorative stitches, then put the quilt together.

I do most of my piecing for my Project Linus quilts at my sewing machine that is just off of my kitchen. It is amazing how much sewing you can get done while waiting for water to boil or toast to pop and even during those breaks I have to take while doing dishes. Most of this quilt was made in those spare minutes that usually get wasted. I'm doing a different block for next year's quilt and already have 10 blocks finished. I am yet again using my "Two by Four" pieces so they were already cut out and these blocks are going together fast. Perhaps this year I can make two quilts. Having this project in a different location than my other sewing projects, keeps me remembering it (don't want my Project Linus quilts turning into UFO's) and also no need to put it away when I have other projects to work on in my sewing room.

I like making quilts for children to have when they are in need of comfort and I hope it also encourages the parents to know that someone loved their child from afar even before there was the need for the quilt. Because I have health problems that keep me from doing many of the things I would truly like to, I feel blessed to be able to do this for others and that I was also blessed with an extra sewing machine to have this project always in front of me when I am in the kitchen.

Clothes for 18" Dolls

I'm a mother to boys and they haven't yet presented me with grand-daughters so I haven't had much of a chance to sew doll clothes. I know I could make and dress dolls for charity but I prefer making quilts for my charitable sewing. So I have to pass on information about making doll clothes to my readers and let them get the use out of them. Heart N Sole has some great in the hoop machine embroidery doll clothes for 18" dolls. Even if you don't need to be making doll clothes, you might want to pop on over to the site to see what is possible. Machine embroidery has come such a long way since the first home embroidery/sewing machine came out in 1990.

If you want to make doll clothes the 'old-fashioned' way, you can visit our pattern store and see our selection including some patterns that include an outfit for your little girl and her doll. As always from us, fast shipping. Currently we have over 6000 new, uncut sewing patterns of all styles and sizes in our store. Shop with us any time!

In the Hoop Doll Clothes

The Purple Hat now has a set of designs to be made in the hoop of 11 1/2" fashion doll clothes consisting of a skirt, pants, top and vest. If you need to whip up some clothes for your child's fashion doll such as Barbie(R) you might want to check out this set.