National Sewing Month

S is for sewing or, in this case, for Safeway! This is a vintage needle pack that I found at an estate sale. Maybe Safeway grocery stores gave them away for advertising at some point.

The needles are all still packed away neatly inside.

And the back features fun ad graphics for Cragmont soda!

Here’s a small sample of my buttons in jars, boxes, bottles, and bags…

Check out my sewing machine cabinet drawers. I think they’re from an old Singer. Haven’t totally figured out what to do with them yet…but I love them!

Anne, one of our Leisure Arts in-house designers, offered to share the collection her mom has in her sewing room: wooden spools, thread on spools, jars of buttons, a darning ball and darning thread, sewing machine tools, tins of floss and buttons, and a wonderfully huge strawberry pincushion. (I want some wooden spools…I’ve only got couple!)

Anne also took pictures in her own workroom. She’s got a multitude of little jars stuffed with goodies (obviously we’re both enamored with the idea of treasures stored in jars) and her own sewing machine drawers (so glad I’m not the only one hooked on orphaned drawers!).

She’s also made great use of vases, bottles, and other fun containers to display her buttons and threads!

Looking for simple, fun, modern, fresh? In Home Stuff by Linda Lum DeBono…

I found the perfect Curtain for the back door off our laundry room. Love the pretty patchwork, ruffle, and tab top.

Also found a cool Organizer for the kids to put the mail in so things don’t get lost.

And this great Quilt…You can never have too many quilts!

Need new pillows? If, like me, you also need a good beginner book to help you sew your own pillows, Better Homes and Gardens 1-2-3 Pillows is ideal. It has all the basics for all different types of pillows, how to plan your pillow décor, plus six projects. (I even love the projects on the front cover.)

I like the idea of this purple silk pillow with ribbon fringe. (Sorry for the terrible, blurry photo...)

These pretty machine-couched tulips would be a fun floral addition to my living room.

This Love Thy Neighbor pillow is enhanced with embroidery and a heartfelt message.

And these Star and ZigZag Pillows simply feed my love of all things quilty!

I always covet new kitchen stuff, and Better Homes and Gardens Weekend Kitchen Décor to Sew if just full of great projects.

Really liking these Table Talk place mats, but maybe they need to be green for my table.

This Mod Squad table topper featuring four-patch blocks would work nicely in the middle of my table.

Need to hold on to just a little bit of summer now that it’s finely beginning to cool off outside? This Slice of Summer table runner certainly works for me.

See anything you want to sew to add to your home décor?

I don’t have any little people to be creative for at this stage of my life (except for some charity crocheting). My little ones have gotten all grown up (and cranky), but I can’t resist some of the cute sewing projects for babies and kids that our clever designers have dreamed up.

Have you looked at Ready, Set, Go! by Kristine Poor? It includes 16 cute and wonderfully practical designs to sew for baby—

This Stroll & Go Tote is accompanied by a matching changing pad, pacifier keeper, and bottle holder.

A handy Car Organizer has a take-along messenger bag, toy tote, and diaper clutch/changing pad.

Packing Baby off for a play date with Grandma? Send along this sweet Play Date Blankie in a coordinating daypack, plus a soft ball and blocks.

For the perfect shower gifts for your favorite mom-to-be, wrap up this quilt, bib, blanket, and diaper tote.

Sew Magical for Baby by Laura Lee Birch offers up 20+ easy-to-sew toys and accessories for Baby. These are my favorites—

Farm Animal Fabric Puzzle

Mama & Baby Ducks

Baby Bear Bib

Elf Slippers

Designer Laura Lee Birch also has some goodies for the kids! With the sewing projects in Sew Magical for Kids, you can feed your favorite kid’s imagination with 16+ toys, dolls, costumes, and accessories like a giant Kraken, a pirate ship and hat, a knight’s ensemble, and more. Check it out my favs—

A Little Ballerina Ballet Bag for your ballet-smitten girl

A Superhero Cap and Mask (what kid doesn’t need a cape?)

A Royal Crown for the prince or princess

A Broomstick Stallion for a little cowpoke

See what I mean? Too cute to resist!

Do you suppose I could get The Cat to quit sleeping on my antique quilts and take up gazing at me adoringly if I made him a patchy pillow like this Creature Comforts pillow from 1-2-3 Sew by Better Homes & Gardens? (This is a great book for beginners as well as more advanced seamstresses!)

Would your dog wear a raincoat if you made it with your own hands? This little yellow Singin’ in the Rain slicker (just one of the designs in 50 Nifty Pet Gifts by Nancy Javier and Barbara Finwall) is just too cute as well as being nicely practical.

Don’t you just love a big ole drooly dog? Of course you do, so get busy and sew up some of these Canine Kerchiefs from Canine Couture by Linda Gillum of Kooler Design Studio.

Do you like digital, instant download patterns that you can have right in front of you at the push of a button? Check out these sewing patterns designed just for your four-legged friends:

Kitty Blanket

Cat & Dog Throws

Pet Pocket

Backseat Pet Hammock

What better reason do you need to learn to sew than being able to sew for your furry friends? (The Cat may have to have an attitude adjustment to really convince me that this is true…)

Leisure Arts has the book we need to get started—Pat Sloan’s I Can’t Believe I’m Sewing.

Check out the table of contents! Pat will walk us through:

• the parts of a sewing machine plus its cleaning & care (sometimes, it’s more than I can handle just taking care of the cat, so wish me luck...)

• how to go about actually sewing with a machine

• what we need to know about fabric (other than it’s pretty & we covet it)

• what to do with thread & notions like pins, rippers, rotary cutters (scary things), and other goodies

Pat also offers up an assortment of projects to inspire us—

Coaster Set

Table Runner

Baby Blanket

Shower Curtain & Valance

And more!

There’s even a short section on quilting (if you get really brave)!

Are you up for the sewing challenge???