a little while ago, i posted about the gorgeous dining room cushions brooke from pure & noble made for me! well, i wanted a little bit of a color change-up for the season, so i hired brooke to stitch me up some new cushions from some vintage bark cloth i found at the flea market.

i couldn’t be more excited about how they turned out (lucy likes them too)! brooke did a mix and match for me from the meager scraps i sent her, and was also able to make this great floor cushion for me, as well! brooke has her own pure & noble etsy shop, where you can find her handmade and beautiful designs. you can read more about brooke on her blog, too!

oh, those crafty girls from Home Ec are at it again, with a brand new online class! Home Ec is an online sewing class for beginners, like me (no sewing experience needed!) and those of you interested in developing your sewing skills. The Home Ec class is a ‘take it at your own pace’ class, beginning August 10th that includes 3 Guides, 26 step-by-step Projects with at least 1 new Sewing Technique in each, and a tips post on How to Invent & Adapt projects of your own! Take a look at all these cute diy sewing projects!

Along with daily sewing projects in the private class blog, you can participate in live chats to get friendly with your Home Ec classmates and enjoy Q&A time with your teachers. Click here, for more details and registration.

madeline bea

i think we still have a few more weekends with a chill in the air, before spring has finally sprung. so, what better way to curl up and get cozy, but with some crafty projects around the house? i’ve got stacks of plans for crafts and diy projects, and was looking for some inspiration to dig in and get going, so i did a little search through the sfgirlbybay flickr pool, and here and there around the web. i found loads of inspiration and i hope these images and ideas spark something in you, too.

dottie angel.

there are some wonderfully helpful sites and blogs out there with excellent tutorials and diy ideas, like the purl bee, readymade, grace at design*sponge’s diy wednesdays, and ez’s blog, creature comforts, with free, downloadable diy PDF’s. what are you working on? any great DIY ideas you’d like to share with us? share your links!

creature comforts.

quaint handmade.

design*sponge.

emma lamb.

danielleT.

magpie’s fancy.

freshlyfound.

readymade.

renée anne // artist illustrator.

Demoiselle Libellule.

lavenderandlime.

dottie angel.

_cassia_.

or is that purl bee? i love knitting. i’m not very good at it, in fact i only know how to knit, not purl — which is completely pathetic. my mum showed me how a few Christmases ago, and i found the left brain-right brain process so meditative and calming, i can really get into the ‘zen zone’ when i knit. the purl bee is the blog for the knitting & yarn shop Purl Soho based in new york city, as well as Purl patchwork their beautiful fabric shop, that carries wonderful designer fabrics like amy butler and miko oguro.

so, i can’t help but noticing, the weather is taking a turn for the chilly, so what better time to get knitting some winter warmth. purl bee has classes and workshops, but if you’re not in the area, Purl Bee also has online tutorials and patterns and lots of project ideas. BEST OF ALL, you bring your own voice into the conversation by posting comments and interacting with others at purl bee. check out some of these patterns and project ideas.

BUT. Something tells me I need to face the music, bite the bullet and learn to sew. After all, wouldn’t it be fantastic to sew a love letter to my husband a la Twig & Thistle? Or memorize scientific theories on a hankie? And stitch all cast members of The Breakfast Club?

Come on! The possibilities are endless. Off to dust off that Singer my grandmother gifted me years ago…

*And, in case you’re unfamiliar, Time Out is another installment of a Wednesday column brought to you by Erin Loechner, Editor of Design for Mankind…dedicated to tearing you away from behind the computer monitor and on to enjoying the simple things in life. Enjoy! As always, thanks so much Erin!

But I thought I could cut it up and make two Euro pillow shams and one long body pillow slip cover from it, and I was right! It was just enough fabric to cover this body pillow I found online at Euro-Linens, and to make the Euro bed shams. Hey, I even did a zipper on the body pillow slip cover….I was kinda impressed with myself, but no one was around to shout at, so I’m bragging to y’all! Here’s a glimpse at my little Suzie Homemaker weekend project.

The new fabric collection is entitled Dogwood and all Cicada Studio linen swatches are original textile designs by Michelle Engel Bencsko. They are made of 100% Belgian linen and addition to quilting projects, Cicada Studio offers up loads of sewing projects ideas for these swatches, such as pillows, sachets, wallets and many more. She’s also got a flickr photo group, Cicada Studio Textiles, dedicated to craft projects made from her line of fabrics if you seek any further inspiration. You can also find home decor items already handmade from these fabrics at Cicada Home, Cicado Studio’s companion etsy shop.

Inside McCall’s many pages are very simple, how-to’s with detailed diagrams, outlining each step along the way. Now, with McCall’s handy guide in my possession I finally feel like maybe I can get started with the many projects on my wish list: a gathered curtain to cover my hideous dishwasher; a long, down body pillow for my bed; even dresses, skirts and tops too!

A couple of other wonderful how-to-sew books I love are In Stitches by Amy Butler, Simple Sewing from Lotta Jansdotter, and Simply Sewing With A French Twist by Céline Dupuy.