Monday, December 31, 2012

ONE DAY FABRIC COUPON

  
It’s out with the old and in with the new!  We’ve cut prices on over 100 fabrics to bid adieu to 2012 and welcome in 2013--and now you can save even more with our GOODBYE 2012 SALE!
Prices on some of the fabrics in our “SALE” section are already as low as $3-5.00 per yard—with this coupon, you can save an additional 25% on fabrics in our “SALE” section, no minimum order required!  1 day only!
USE COUPON CODE: “2012” at checkout
AND-*BONUS* for U.S. ORDERS if you spend $50.00 or more in our “SALE” section after your coupon savings, get FREE SHIPPING ON US ORDERS of any size (USA orders only.  Free shipping will apply with at least a $50.00 purchase from our “SALE" section)

Unbelievable Savings!
Hurry, coupon is good 1 day only:  Monday 12/31/12 until midnight CST, USA!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Look What I Made Volume 7

  
The Holiday Season is upon us and every year I vow to make gifts in lieu of buying them...
And every year, I fail...miserably, I might add, to do so.
One of my closest friends had a daughter 3 years ago and I was so excited to start making things for her.  Well, being the terrible friend that I am, I haven't made A THING (smh!) and it's been 3 YEARS!! Ugh!

I finally decided this year that ENOUGH was ENOUGH and got on the ball.
When choosing fabrics for a project, I know lots of us like to stick with prints that are "safe favorites" to us.  Those familiar prints we use again and again.  I have taken the "USE A NEW FABRIC" vow to change it all up.  
I've touched on this before--some fabrics from manufacturers are only printed for 1 run.  Others are printed for several runs and then discontinued.  These are the fabrics that always "get us"...the ones that seem like they are going to be around forever and then one day are discontinued and just disappear.
I cannot tell you how many panic stricken emails and messages I have gotten from people desperate to find a discontinued fabric.  It is really imperative in the fabric world that we don't get "stuck" on a print--especially if you are using it for a product that you make for your business because in the blink of an eye, that fabric can be out of print, discontinued, retired...adios, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen!  I've seen it happen over and over again!  

Truth be told...it happened to ME too.  I have 1st hand experience of a favorite fabric of mine that I used to make purses for my own Handmade shop fading away into the distant darkness never to be heard from again.  It is a jolt when it happens--because it is so unexpected...you think that print is going to be around whenever you need to order more and then suddenly...you can't find it anywhere because it is not being printed any longer.
Variety is the spice of life!  Staying up on the newest fabrics and changing the prints you use will not only add more choices, but will bring you new customers who prefer "fresh" fabrics rather than the same old same old.

By all means if you have a fabric you use to make items and it sells and continues to sell made with that fabric, keep using it!  But please, I implore you to add new fabrics to your line up every season so that you are not in a bind if one day your favorite is discontinued!

In line with this and my "USE A NEW FABRIC" vow, when I sat down to make gifts, I used only fabrics I've never used before--to keep it fresh, new and fun.  I've decided to use a new fabric on a minimum of 80% of the projects I make in 2013!
I mulled over it for awhile because not being "familiar" with a print makes you unsure of how it will look in your final project.  When we use a print we've used 1,000 times, we know what to expect and can pretty much know exactly what it will produce and/or look like.  But I realized that part of the fun in creating IS the surprise of using a new fabric and the sheer delight of how DARN CUTE it is when you're finished!!!  Here's a peek at one of the dresses I made for my friend's daughter:
I used 2 fabrics from Joel Dewberry's new "Notting Hill" line:  Primrose in Magenta and Tartan in Tangerine....prints I was not exactly sure about what the final outcome would be--but I tried them anyway because the colors really caught my eye.  And in the end it was BETTER than I imagined!
I LOVED this dress when it was done! Soooooo cute!  Who would have known?
 I also made this outfit:
I used L'Amour de La Vie Eiffel Tower in Red from Timeless Treasures Fabrics for the main print and Dumb Dots in Black from Michael Miller for the trim!

I was so pleased with these fabrics when I was done!
Try a new fabric for your next project~broaden your fabric horizon and embark into the creative unknown...if you are a "Hypernoodle", it is a newness you will absolutely adore!

Happy Sewing! ☺


New Fabrics have arrived!

   
We got a huge shipment in from Michael Miller Fabrics!  We paired them up in our wonderful Duos and Trios...Look at all the goodness that has arrived:
All of these fabrics are now IN STOCK on our website!
AND..you asked for them and we delivered...We also received in some of the Cotton Couture SOLIDS from Michael Miller:
We have over 20 new colors in the "SOLIDS" section on our website, YAY!
We chose to go with the Cotton Couture from Michael Miller because of the wonderful quality of these solids.  They are high density cotton, silky soft to the touch with deep vibrant color!  You will love them for any project you need a solid cotton for!

We also have new fabrics from Joel Dewberry:

Robert Kaufman:


and Riley Blake:

And yes, we even have MORE prints on the way in the next few weeks from Riley Blake, Robert Kaufman, Camelot Fabrics, Alexander Henry and Michael Miller!
Head over to the website and check out all of the new fabrics now in stock! For easy access to the newest ones, click on the "WHAT'S NEW" link on our website homepage!☺

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Black Friday/Small Business Saturday Fabric Coupons!


You can begin using these coupon codes on our website on Friday...

BLACK FRIDAY/SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY FABRIC COUPONS!
SAVE AT EVERY PRICE POINT!

5% off your order of up to $49.99 ~ use coupon code 115 at checkout
10% off your order of $50-124.99 ~ use coupon code 1110 at checkout
15% off your order of $125.00 or more ~ use coupon code 1115 at checkout

25% off your order of $100 or more from our “SALE” Section~
use coupon code 1125 at checkout!
(You must have $100 of fabric from our SALE section in your cart to use this coupon—but the 25% will apply to your ENTIRE ORDER, even if you also have non-sale section fabrics in your cart!)
* For this coupon (1125), US ORDERS will also receive FREE SHIPPING!!!

1 Coupon per customer.  Coupons cannot be “stacked”.  5, 10 and 15% coupons are good Friday November 23 and Saturday November 24th, 2012. 
25% SALE SECTION coupon is good 1 day only, Friday, November 23, 2012. 
Coupons cannot be retroactively applied to any previous order(s). Coupon must be used during checkout ~ Coupon will not be retro-added to any order placed without the coupon.
25% Offer expires at Midnight 11/23/12 (CST, USA)
5, 10 and 15% Offers expire at Midnight on 11/24/12 (CST, USA) and will not be available thereafter.

Please note expiration dates above

Hope everyone has a safe, happy and wonderfully Happy Thanksgiving!☺

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Simple way to get all Pattern Sizes out of a purchased pattern

Howdy ya'll! ☺
I've had quite a few people ask me questions about numerous different sewing related subjects.  
I seriously need to get on the ball and start doing tutorials for these things (like I said I would many moons ago!)  Life always throws me a curve ball right when I get to it though!  I'm sure there are tons of you that know that being a wife, mother and business woman does not afford you much free time!
But, today...today is a different story!  I have set aside time before the dinner-making must begin for a quick and simple tutorial on getting all the Pattern sizes out of a purchased pattern!  This may not be any new information to Advanced Sewers, but I've had a bunch of newbies ask me this!

I don't tend to use patterns much, I like to design things and draft my own.  But I wanted to make slippers for some family members for Christmas and didn't have the time or brain cells to design one and then draft patterns for all the various sizes of everyone's feet.  So I purchased this pattern:
Kwik Sew "Snuggly Slippers"!  Super cute!
As you all know, when you open up a store bought pattern, this is what you get:
Ack!  Right?  I've actually had people who want to learn to sew tell me they are intimidated by patterns because they appear so confusing...   :(
If you look at the directions included with the pattern pieces, it will tell you which pieces you need to use for the item you'd like to make.  I am making "VIEW B" which is the photo on the top with the fuzzy green lining.  The directions will tell you which numbered pieces to use to create your project.  You only have to cut those out, not any of the other pieces.  
Now, when you look at the pattern, for the piece numbered "1", there are multiple sizes and they are all layered on top of each other.  If you wear a "SMALL" and you want to make those but your sister wears a "LARGE" and you also want to make those--how do you do that without sacrificing the other sizes?  If you cut out the "SMALL" pattern piece, the medium, large and extra large and pretty much destroyed.  And if you don't cut them out how will you transfer the pattern piece to the fabric???
Never fear!  We're going to make new pattern pieces and salvage the entire pattern!
You could get some pattern tracing paper and a wheel to transfer the pattern to the fabric, but most sewers don't like to do this...at least the ones I know!
You only need 2 things...first thing you will need is some wax paper:
you can find wax paper at your Grocery Store~very cheap too!
•Pull a piece of wax paper off your roll big enough to fit over the pattern piece you need
•Choose the size you'd like to make and using a Sharpie, trace around that size on the wax paper like so...
You can trace on the wax or non-wax side...I like to use wax paper because not only is it transparent enough that you can see right through it easily without having to use a light table, but the consistency of it is very similar to the actual pattern pieces (minus the wax of course!)  When you've traced the size you need,  remove the wax paper from the top of the pattern and you will have this:
Now you can simply cut around your wax paper and...Voila!  You have the size you need!  Make sure to transfer any information on the original pattern piece to your new wax pattern piece...most importantly the size!  Like so...
Here I'm doing the same tracing with the sole of the slipper
Repeat this tracing for all of the pattern pieces you need to complete your project.  Here are all my pieces traced and marked for a size "MEDIUM" slipper
Now I've got all new pattern pieces and my original pattern is still in tact so when I need to make a LARGE or a SMALL I can create new wax pattern pieces without cutting my original pattern.
If your original pattern piece is too big for the width of the wax paper you have, simply tape your wax paper together to form a piece big enough.
Like I mentioned, you could also use tracing paper and a tracing wheel to trace the pattern onto your fabric, but this can compromise the original pattern and cause it to rip or be filled with holes.  That's why I use the wax paper so my original pattern is never compromised.
As a side note, you could also use Freezer Paper instead of wax paper...the shiny side of FREEZER paper (not wax paper) can be ironed onto cottons and then you can cut right around it.  FREEZER paper is thicker than wax paper though and not transparent, so you will need a light table (or a window with good light coming through it as a 'light table') to cut out your new pattern pieces.  If you use FREEZER paper, make sure you trace on the NON shiny side.
After all that...here are one of the pairs of slippers I made:
The 1st ones I made were with cotton, but the were very "floppy" and not sturdy like good winter slippers should be.  So as I usually do, I switched it up--I used fleece and added an extra layer of batting in between the lining and the outer shell...it made them "meaty"!  Soft and plush with lots of warmth...
dontcha just love 'em?

Monday, October 29, 2012

FALL 2012 Quilt Market

Fall 2012 Quilt Market was this passed weekend and of course I was there!
It is in my neck of the woods every Fall so I'm lucky enough to get in the car and drive downtown to attend. Seeing as how it is an International Market for Fabric Shop Owners and Manufacturers come from all over the US and the world, it is sheer luck that I live in the city where the event is held every Fall~ niiiice!
For those of you who don't know, Quilt Market is quite literally a "Market" for Fabric Shop owners to preview and order new lines from the Fabric Manufacturers. There are HUNDREDS of booths set up by companies with not only their new fabric lines, but sewing and quilting notions, Machines (sewing, embroidery and Long Arm Quilting machines), patterns, batting and interfacing and furniture. Here's a photo of the Market Floor that gives you an idea of all the booths and how it is set up:
As you can see, it is quite massive!  Navigating the floor is always overwhelming, so it is always a good idea to have a plan.  This year, we planned to visit the booths of the manufacturers whose fabrics we currently carry and also scope out some new manufacturers.
We first visited Michael Miller's booth, and they did not disappoint!  If you know Hypernoodle, you know we LOVE ♥ Michael Miller fabrics!  They're booth this year was rather subued...which is odd for them, they usually win or place in "Best Booth" of the show.  They did display a ton of very beautiful quilts this year, but no "theatrics" as what is known from them...guess this year they were trying to keep it straight to the point!
Now here are a couple of the new fabric lines coming from Michael Miller...
The top fabric is called "Honore" this is the SORBET colorway--notice the new "Play Stripe" fabric?  It is called 'Tangerine'
Another Super cute line..."Small World"...(and yes, another great "Play Stripe"!, this one is called 'Malibu') along with "Busy Bee", "Small World Floral" and "small World Stripe"

There are a lot of really great prints coming from Michael Miller~we will get them all posted into the COMING SOON section on the website as quickly as possible for everyone to preview.  For you ZOOLOGY lovers, there are 2 new colorways coming in that favorite print: "Orchid" for the girls and "Dirt" for the boys!  We can't wait!!!

Here's a peek at part of Riley Blake's booth:
Riley Blake also has some AMAZING prints on the way!  Including new colors of Chevrons!!!
Baby Pink, Lime, Purple, Rouge and Medium Blue are the new Chevron colors that will be printed next year and they will be just as popular as the current colors!

Here's a peek at another part of Riley Blake's booth with projects made from just DOTS
We love Dots!  They are so versatile and can be used on their own--no other print required!  
Last but not least, we have a pic of  part of Robert Kaufman's booth:
Some very nice prints on their way from Robert Kaufman as well!

We also visited: Westminster/Free Spirit, Alexander Henry and Timeless Treasures booths.  We placed orders with all of them for upcoming lines (as mentioned, we'll get all the new fabrics loaded into the COMING SOON section on our website as soon as possible)
Honestly, there are some GREAT new fabrics coming out from the manufacturers we already carry~ *but* we were under-impressed by most of the other fabric manufacturers as we were looking for new Fabric Companies to carry their lines...that is EXCEPT for Camelot Fabrics.  This company has some great new prints so we will be adding them as a Manufacturer in addition to the current Manufacturers we carry...more info on Camelot Cottons coming soon in a future post!

We were looking at possibly adding MODA fabrics to our shop.  We never cared for MODA fabrics and all of you, our great customers, did not express any interest in any of MODA's lines.  However, it seemed that MODA has been trying to get with the program lately and add more fresh, young designs--they still have a long way to go because most of their prints are geared toward another demographic that just does not fit our shop or our customers very well.  But they did have a couple of very hip/cool-looking prints that we notices---- but quite honestly, the people in their booth were rude and passive.  They didn't act like the cared to acquire new vendors and brushed us off when we attempted to ask about getting some information.  After sitting with a group of other Shop Owners at lunch in the convention center, they mentioned that MODA is quite "stuck-up" and if you are not a big time Fabric Shop that they don't have time for you.  Well, that was exactly how they made us feel!  It is sad that they would treat potential vendors this way...so I think it is safe to say that we will not be adding any MODA fabrics anytime soon!! LOL!

We want to offer you the things that you like and you have let us know what you like so we will always do our best to make sure we are offering you the newest, most fresh, hip, cute and fabulous prints that you can't live without!
We will also begin offering SOLID cottons by the end of the year/beginning of 2013.  Some of you have expressed interest in having SOLIDS in some of the top basic colors, so we will have those for ya very soon!!!
LOAD of great new stuff is on it's way!! Stay tuned! ☺
Happy Sewing!!

Monday, October 1, 2012

More Coupons!


2 Days only!  OCTOBER 2nd and October 3rd, 2012
 
10% off any order, any size! 
Use Coupon code:  H10 at checkout

Want to *DOUBLE* your savings?  If you order $50.00 or more from our “SALE” section, you can save 20% off your entire order (including non-sale fabrics)! 

Use coupon code:  H20 at checkout (you must have at least $50.00 worth of fabric in your cart from our “SALE” section to use this coupon)
 ~COUPONS VALID TWO DAYS ONLY OCTOBER 2nd and 3rd ~
SALE ENDS AT MIDNIGHT CST USA ON Wednesday OCTOBER 3rd !

1 Coupon per customer.  Coupons cannot be “stacked”.  This offer is for orders placed October 2-3, 2012 only and cannot be retroactively applied to any previous order(s). Coupon must be used during checkout ~ Coupon will not be retro-added to any order placed without the coupon.
Offer expires at Midnight on October 3, 2012 and will not be available thereafter.
Happy Sewing! ☺
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