I thinking I’m going to run with this idea and see exactly what I can make when I mix my jewelry with my quilting. The sky is the limit.

For now I’ve added a whole bunch of pieces using the scans to my Society6 shop…

I am slowly ordering swatches from Spoonflower and currently a few colorways are available as yardage with more coming super soon…

Also any designs available in my Spoonflower shop can also be used on Sprout Patterns. How cool is this dress? I want it so bad…

Seriously, there is so much more I can do here! Other shapes, more casting techniques, different colors, etc. I am so excited by this project and will probably be sharing more about it soon!

Betz has reached out and asked a couple designers to add their personality to a few of her patterns. In exchange for doing this blog post, I received a fully printed panel of my own designs printed on Eco Canvas through Sprout Patterns.

The design process on Sprout is really cool. You can choose from any design available on Spoonflower.com and add them to different sections of whatever item you want to make. I chose the Field Study Tote by Betz White and added my own fabric designs. I messed around with this thing for close to an hour to get the exact look I wanted. There were so many possibilities.

In the end this is what I loved the most! Isn’t the digital mockup neat? You can see exactly what your finished piece will look like.

The fabric takes anywhere from 1-2 weeks to come in, which isn’t bad for a custom product. I was so excited to cut in to mine I forgot to take a photo of my panel!

Once your fabric comes in, you need to go back in to your Sprout Pattern account and retrieve the instructions. They can be found in the Orders section under Your Account.

Another awesome feature is you get to keep the original pattern. Which means you could make a second, third, or fourth bag out of fabric you already have on hand too. You basically bought the pattern as part of the initial cost. I love that they included this.

The bag went together fairly easy. I did struggle a little with adhering the stabilizer to the Eco Canvas (which is like a backpack material. kind of shiny). I think this was my fault, since I didn’t wash the panel first. Spoonflower recommends you do! Don’t be me, wash your fabric.

I also learned a new skill with those handles. How neat are they all folded up like that?

The strap normally has a slider on it, so you can adjust it, but mine is on back order so I just temporarily tacked the fabric up as if there was a slider. Haha, I have the worst luck! I plan on adding it later once they come in. If you make this bag, it will look way nicer with a slider.

I’m very happy with how this bag turned out, and I like the options to use it as a tote bag OR a messenger bag. The material also feels very durable and I imagine it will hold up for awhile.

I will always be amazed by these new options to make customized items. It will never get old. I’m already dreaming up a Moneta Dress with fabric similar to the bag. I just need to feel more comfortable with my serger first.

If you’d like to mess around with clothing or accessory patterns on Sprout yourself, then just head over to their site. I also recommend going to Spoonflower and favorite whatever designs catch your eye. Having favorites will make them easier to find on Sprout.

Now go and make yourself some one of a kind pieces!!

Their website is pure genius. You get to choose from a large selection of clothing patterns, have it printed with any Spoonflower design and then just cut it out and assemble when it arrives. No need to buy the pattern or pin anything. The pattern really is printed right on the fabric!! It’s amazing.

All of the pieces have a white border around them, and are labeled very clearly so there is no question about where to cut.

For my first project I decided to try out the Kids Recess Raglan. I went with my own Stripes, Dots & Gems fabric design for the sleeves and Heidi Kenney’s Mermaid fabric for the body. I have been looking for a reason to use those mermaids, they are just too cute!

The fabric was easy enough to cut out, and the little labels were perfect for keeping track of what was what.

The hardest part for me, assembly wise, was the collar. I had never attached a collar using a serger before, so There may have been a few curse words used. (or a lot) I think if I practice more, I won’t be as frustrated next time.

I also didn’t attach the little blue tabs, because the frustration had taken over and I wasn’t ready for them. I regret that now, because that pop of blue would have been perfect.

Overall though I was very pleased with the outcome, and my daughter loved it even more!

So much so, it was very hard to get a good shot of her wearing it. She wouldn’t stop moving!!

I also tested out the Lane Raglan in an adult size and the Lined Zipper Pouch. They were both super easy to assemble, and hopefully I’ll have photos of them to share soon! I’m also eyeing the Moneta Dress, but I’m going to try it with plain fabric first, just to make sure I’m ready!

Long Story Short: Go check out Sprout Patterns, you will not be dissapointed!!

As stated above in the required disclosure, I was a pattern tester for this awesome Comp Book Cover Sewing Pattern by Angela Bowman Design. I love pattern testing, so when I saw she was looking for testers, I jumped on it. It’s a pattern for a standard sized or mini composition book cover, with numerous options when it comes to pockets and what the cover is made from. You can make a quilted cover or a non quilted. You have a few options for the closure too. Basically you can make a cover to fit your exact needs!

I was late to the testing pool, so I only had two days to try this pattern out. I finished it in 1.5 hours. It’s that awesome. I went the quilted route, but decided to use some of my cheater quilt fabric from Spoonflower to make the process go by even faster. I also only added one large pocket on each inside flap (I don’t have photos of that part yet because CT has already claimed this as her sketchbook journal cover) and I went with an elastic closure. I made it about a week and a half ago, and its already been dragged around by a very energetic five year old. It’s holding up perfectly!

The pattern was just released this week, and it’s a very reasonable $5 to download. So if you’d like to make one of your own, go check it out! You can also read Angela’s post that talks more in depth about it all here.

I myself am not done playing with this pattern, so keep an eye out for more variations…

The above line I’ve named Lucy’s Sketchbook. Lucy is the name of my daughters favorite doll, so I went with it. I made five color stories and tried to make them all consistent. Something new for me. This line is very “me” and I’ve already started a huge project using it that I just can’t wait to share.

I also had a few stray designs printed up as well. The little cream and gray birds and the GO FRUIT! pennant fabric are leftovers from the Just Two Words project. The Cats Love Yarn fabric was just some doodles I did one day when I really should have been drawing something else!! I think I need to make some more color options for that one!

All of these can be found in my Spoonflower.com shop!

For me this was a no brainer, because you know, cooked crabs are orange! Im a Maryland girl born and raised, so crabs are a staple meal. They train you to pick crabs young here! Well, at least I was taught young. They are one of my favorite meals and I have loads of crab artwork and toys laying around the house.

I started by designing a basic repeat pattern for the umbrella itself. I started with the above sketch and went from there.

After I finished the umbrella, I felt like I should keep going. So of course I designed an entire line of crab fabric. I made sure to include some crab crackers and a mallet on some, then some Old Bay on others. Oh and I didn’t forget the uncooked blue crab in murky Chesapeake water! I made it all. Ha. I think this might be my new fabric line, I have plans to make an entire quilt using it!!!

You can find all of these prints in my Spoonflower shop, and maybe soon I’ll have some premade zipper pouches too, because “why not?”

Anyway, back to the Just Two Words Project…

I am still loving this and its been both challenging and fun each week. You should go check out Heidi’s post from this set, I love the direction she went.

I was super excited when I heard the word combo this week! I love drawing houses and was expecting to do something intricate when I thought of the word, but then when I heard Folk my mind switched gears and I couldn’t stop thinking about simple block houses and lots of swirly vines and flowers.

The word Folk is very broad. One of the definitions is “of or relating to the traditional art or culture of a community or nation” which is what first came to my mind and is the idea I ran with. I have always associated the word with Amish and/or Scandinavian art. So I decided to blend the two a bit, which is where I came up with the above design. Every single part came from hours of doodling in my sketchbook. I drew so many swirls, vines, tulips and houses. If I illustrated all of them I’d have a few dozen fabric lines. I loved this theme!

I may have loved setting up the examples even more! I had never used Photoshop mock-up files before, but I think i’m hooked now. I want to see how all of my designs will look as bedspreads, sheets, couches, dresses and more. This may be a new addiction, just saying.

The saddest part of this project is I don’t have a way of making the actual set. Technically I could piece some stuff together, but pieced fitted sheets aren’t very comfortable. The closest I could get was Society6 and their Duvet Cover option. It’s not exactly the same though because the back isn’t that cute little bird fabric, but it’s still neat. Oh and I made a matching rug too, because, “why not?”!

I’ve also ordered swatches from Spoonflower of those two fabrics shown as sheets, along with a baby cheater quilt version of that comforter. I’ll post photos once they come in!

Phew, I think that’s it! Heidi is on vacation, so were taking a week off since she won’t have time and I need to catch up on a few other projects. I’m excited to hear what the next set of words will be though, These challenges really were just the thing I needed.

If you’d like to read more about this project, check out the first blog post I wrote about it.

I talked briefly the other day about the creative Bug Fabric Design series and Spoonflower when I shared my Bugs and Teacups fabric. Well, the two companies decided to host a design contest for anyone who watched the videos! How neat is that? I thought it would be fun to enter my fabric! I just voted and figured why not share? I’m not going to ask you to vote for me, because that’s just not me, but instead I will ask you to go vote for the designs YOU like best!! I like things to be fair.

The one I was most excited about was my In Plain Sight line that I talked about last week. I tested out a few different scales & color ways to see which ones I liked best. Turns out I like having options, which means I added the small AND large sized bugs and teacups fabric to my Spoonflower shop.

I had swatches made of the entire Purple & Blue color way, because it really is my favorite color combo these days.

I also dabbled a little in colors I don’t normally gravitate too. I’m pretty happy with how they came out, so they were also added to the shop and I’ll probably have the rest of the collection available in these colors by the end of the month.

Oh and for fun I added a few of the above designs I’ve been messing around with in Illustrator too. They aren’t part of a collection, I was just curious what they would look like as fabric!

These swatches were really what I needed this week to get the creative juices flowing and start working on the next collection. I am really enjoying this all again!!!

QuiltCon is less than a week away and I just now finished my first sewing project for the trip! I had this crazy plan to make two tote bags (one featuring my fabric and one as part of a contest/promotion that I’ll talk about later), a drawstring bag, a makeup bag, a zipper pouch, a dress, a brooch, and a 100 or so hexagon pins to hand out. Whew, yep, crazy lady here. Most of the projects are about 75% done, which is pretty impressive for me. I’m normally a “the night before a trip and I am still sewing and refuse to sleep until I get on the plane” type of girl. I think I was just too excited about all of this selfish sewing!

Ok, now let’s actually talk about the bag I keep showing photos of! This is the most intricate bag I have ever sewn from a pattern. Do you see those gusseted sides? Normally when I need a tote bag I just throw some squares and some straps together and call it a day. This is QuiltCon though! I will be surrounded by loads of other talented people who appreciate what goes into such projects. So no thrown together bags for this event.

Instead I made a Super Tote using a pattern I bought from Noodlehead. The pattern cost $8 and is worth every single penny.

As for the fabric I used my own designs printed by Spoonflower for the front, straps and zipper pieces (if theres any interest I’ll put them up in the shop next month). The sides, lining and top front piece are from Carolyn Friedlander’s Architextures line through Robert Kaufman fabrics. There is also a hint of Alison Glass’s Grove fabric in beet as an organizer in the front pocket. All of the hexagons were actually taken from another project I’m working on and the fabrics are by different people. The shiny fabric around the hexagons and used as zipper ends is a glossy black oilcloth I bought years ago for embroidered collages I use to make. There is also a bunch of heavier weight interfacing used that helps give the bag its shape and strength. Overall, I think all these fabrics blended so well together and really show my personal taste!

 This inside of this bag was actually really hard to photograph! It was so dreary here and I just couldn’t seem to show just how spacious and versatile it is! I altered the inside pattern slightly by adding a zippered pocket on one side. This was to securely hold my inhaler, medication and anything else I truly can’t live without. Plus I like to have these items separated from everything else so theres no digging around, freaking out, while having an attack.

The rest of the divided gathered/elastic pockets were part of the pattern. They are perfect for an event like Quiltcon where I’ll be picking up random bits and pieces all weekend and I’ll be able to divide them up and not just have a mound of crap on the bottom of my bag. Plus I’m taking a workshop one of the days, so this way i can keep my supplies separated from anything else I buy or am given.

This bag also has two options when it comes to the main zipper on the top. You can either have a zipper, or not have one! I chose to add the zipper to this bag, and omit it on the second one (purely because I forgot to buy a second zipper) The instructions made it so easy to install it, which has made me way more comfortable with the idea of always adding a zipper. (I already have plans to make loads more of these bags)

The front pocket was even harder to photograph than the inside! It’s so slim and flat, it just wouldn’t stay open. As with the interior of the bag, I also altered this part a little to fit my needs. I had seen on the From A Blue Chair blog where Kati added a small organizer type of pocket inside the front pocket. It was brilliant! (you should check out her post too! She did a few other alterations that were great and worth reading about!) So I used a super bright purple fabric and stitched up three dividers to help me hold my phone, business cards and extra pens (or business cards I’m given). This way I can get to all of those items super fast without taking the bag off my shoulder.

As you can see, I used a magnetic closure to secure the pocket when not in use. The pattern suggests this option, velcro or nothing at all. I think the magentic closure looks best. Thats just my opinion though.

I think thats it. Who knew I could type so much about one bag? Wait until I start talking about the next bag!! Hahaha.

If you will be at QuiltCon, please look out for a girl with purple hair, carrying this bag! If you see me, please come say hi. I have some sparkly goodies for anyone who does.

P.S.: Everytime I look at that last photo all I can think of is Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock asking “It’s weird. What do I do with my arms?”