Boys Stitchin'

Our talented graphic designer Courtney Kyle created the artwork for a delightful collection of machine embroideries that are sure to thrill the boys in your life. The Vintage Boys Stitchin' CD, now available at store.marthapullen.com, includes twenty-one designs for the 4x4 hoop and eighteen for the 5x7 hoop (twenty-one unique designs in all): Spaceships and robots; fast cars and big trucks; trains, tractors, boats and planes, all in vintage style and ready to embroider on clothes, quilts, backpacks and more.

Pair these cool designs with bright mini-checks and matching piping from Martha Pullen Company to decorate a growing boy's bedroom. Make a spread for the bed, window valances and pillows like the one here, and he'll never complain about bedtime! He'll cozy into bed with his favorite robot pillowcase and dream of adventures with all of his Boys Stitchin' friends.

Just for fun, we stitched up a rocket ship and spaceman on a soft knit suit, sure to tickle the fancy of a future astronaut. We also added a robot to a short-sleeved romper for the budding engineer. These delightful designs stitch out quickly and easily, and your favorite little man will wear them proudly.

Does he love motorcycles? Courtney's vintage rendition sports spoke wheels. Boats? He can choose the tug or the sleek speedboat. There are three unique robots, each in two sizes, and three unique rocket/spaceships in two sizes, so he won't outgrow his favorite embroideries even though he outgrows his clothes.

Join the Sew Beautiful Class Club!

An absolutely easy A-line Christmas jumper tops the Class Club menu this month. Four digitized embroidery designs are included in the download for a jumper project that teaches beginner sewists how to adapt patterns, sew buttonholes and make reversible linings. This simple project can be completed in one day, so you’ll go home from your Class Club event with a finished garment -- two dresses in one!

The 5 x 7 embroidery design on our lime gingham jumper adorns an added hem band with three festively decked trees. We also digitized each tree individually for the 4 x 4 hoop, so you can choose a favorite for the dress front decoration. Apply jumbo rickrack over the seam and pair this delightful dress with a purchased knit top for a fabulous Christmas outfit. Add the tree embroideries to other garments, table linens and gifts to spread holiday cheer.

Express your creativity and design your own dress for the reverse. Make a loving look for a special Valentine, or whip up an easy jumper in a Halloween or Thanksgiving theme. (There were several autumnal ideas in the Sew Blessed pictorial in our previous issue.) We chose to make a second Christmas dress on the reverse, working with one of the super-cute “Isabelle” prints and the new machine embroideries from Anna Griffin’s collection. This is the easiest dress you’ll ever make, so double your fun and make it reversible.

Sign up for a class with your local Sew Beautiful Class Club dealer. Find a dealer at sbcc.marthapullen.com, or invite your favorite sewing store to join by downloading the flyer at sbcc.marthapullen.com/sbcc-share.html.  –SB

Sewing community donates to Joplin, Mo.

After the tornado devastated Joplin, MO this past spring, Susan Stewart encouraged the sewing community to help Joplin recover with Project First Day. Sue shares her effort to provide new clothing to Joplin children for their first day of school below...

Thank you so much to all of you who made Project First Day an awe-inspiring, overwhelming success!!! Give yourselves a hand, and a pat on the back! I received a total of 1474 garments/outfits from generous seamstresses all across the country and Canada. On Friday, Aug. 12, we loaded up 38 big plastic storage tubs and a couple of boxes into a rented U-Haul and took them to Irving Elementary School. Actually, Irving had been destroyed in the tornado, as had 90% of its students' homes, so an old retired school, Washington Elementary, was quickly refurbished to serve Irving's students. Someone had "Irving-ton" T-shirts made for the children! Besides the garments, there were tables of new donated shoes, and boxes and boxes of books for the taking. The distribution was on Tuesday evening, Aug. 16, on the eve of the first day of school. It was crowded, noisy, and exciting. I know we made some children happy, and we also made some mommas get teary-eyed! There were plenty of garments, with lots left over. Those will be taken to other schools which were either destroyed or had a large percentage of students affected.

You may have seen these, but here are links to some of the media coverage...

• Local Pittsburg newspaper
• Local TV station
• Joplin Globe - this article was picked up by the Associated Press, and was published all over the country
• Good Morning America
  
• CBS Evening News
• Joplin Globe follow-up

I was also interviewed by CBS Radio News (national) and a local radio station in Madison, WI. The Quilt Life magazine, published by AQS, is writing an article about this, and I may even be on The Weather Channel!

Again, thank you!!!!

- Susan Stewart

More Giveaway Winners!

We have 3 more Hankie Couture books to giveaway, so here are 3 more randomly selected winners:

Alice (alice_white at hotmail dot com)

Cheryl (mrswcheryl at yahoo dot com)

Linda (huntoon4 at myfairpoint dot net)

Congratulations to each of you!

Hankie Couture Giveaway Winner!

We are excited to announce the randomly selected winner of our giveaway contest! Thanks so much to everyone who entered!

1 copy of Hankie Couture: Handcrafted Fashions from Vintage Handkerchiefs goes to...
Kay (kguillot at gmail dot com)

Be sure to check back with us soon for more contests and giveaways!

Hankie Couture Giveaway!

Hi everyone! It's been a while since our last blog, so we thought we would give you a chance to win the Hankie Couture book by Marsha Greenberg. Hankie Couture: Handcrafted Fashions from Vintage Handkerchiefs showcases more than 100 cleverly crafted fashion doll dresses. You may have seen this book featured in the July/August issue of Sew Beautiful along with a free design download from our website. 

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this blog post below. 

Be sure you include an email address or contact information so that we can contact you if you're a winner. Entries will remain open until Thursday, June 30th at 5:00 p.m. CST. One winner will be announced on Friday.

Wendy Week Giveaway Winners!

Today we are excited to announce the randomly selected winners of our Wendy Week giveaway contests! Thanks so much to everyone who participated and we hope you had a fun week exploring shadow work embroidery with Wendy Schoen! Don't forget to pick up your copy of the book in our online store to continue the fun.

3 signed copies of the book Mastering Shadow Work Embroidery
Linda (wmsla at bellsouth dot net)
Karen (ksupper1 at verizon dot net)
Lori Anne (lorianne129 at gmail dot com)

2 copies of the machine embroidery disc, Wendy Schoen's Machine Embroidery Collection I
Laurie Guidry (ljg923 at msn dot com)
TexasQuilter (drummers2 at yahoo dot com)

Year of lessons from Wendy Schoen's Embroidery Club (2004)
Jean (jean at roadq dot com)

2 copies of Wendy's instructional Shadow Work Embroidery DVD, each paired with a floche sampler pack
Robin Fonville (robinfonville at hotmail dot com)
Cindy Sews (cindy_sews at hotmail dot com)

Ducky Daisy Pillow Kit from Wendy Schoen Design
Debi (dkerbes at comcast dot net)