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Toot Toot Shortalls for Charlie52 (Family) Projects in 2012: #15


Sadly, Charlie is about to outgrow this pattern. It’s definitely one of my very favorites for babies and toddlers, and outgrowing it means that my baby is approaching the end of his toddler-hood. Soon he’ll be a on to big boy things. For this summer, though, I’m going to enjoy how cute he looks in his Buttons & Buckles Shortalls!

These were originally cut out for Spring Quilt Market but time ran short, and they were set aside. I actually think my sweet friend, Michelle, cut them out during out marathon cut-out-everything-that-Bonnie-needs-to-sew-for-Market day! (I love that Michelle had a hand in these, especially since her little guy, Simeon, tends to be the recipient of Charlie’s outgrown, handmade clothes. It’s so, so nice to have a friend that appreciates receiving handmade hand-me-downs!)

Isn’t it exciting when you find the perfect buttons for an outfit? It actually makes me look forward to sewing buttonholes!

You only have two weeks left to sew for the Little Boys’ Shorts Sewing Project at Hopeful Threads. It’s so exciting to see all the shorts that are being added everyday! I hope to have some tips for sewing done-during-naptime knit shorts tomorrow. Be sure to check back in!

Spring Market, Michael Miller PUL and the Green Beginnings Cloth Diaper


Those of you who sew cloth diapers are going to love this news! Michael Miller Fabrics is releasing PUL! Excellent quality PUL in adorable Michael Miller prints! How cool is that?! I think those of you who don’t sew cloth diapers are going to love this PUL, too, though. It’s the perfect fabric for anything that needs to be waterproof, it has a great soft drape and feel to it, and it’s so easy to work with.

Michael Miller Fabrics had the cutest booth at Spring Market. My booth was right across from them.

The circus theme was so much fun, and there were elephants! No, not real elephants, but huge, adorably dressed almost-lifelike elephants.

And inside their booth, there was a really cute brochure that looked something like this:


I told you, didn’t I? Such cute prints. Can you already see these on your little one’s bum? Oh, the patterns? Why, yes, they are Fishsticks Designs patterns. The Mama & Baby Bag and the Which Way Out Jacket, and one of my brand new patterns: The Green Beginnings Cloth Diaper!

I was so excited by how many people at Quilt Market wanted to hear all about cloth diapering! I am sure that I talked cloth diapering as much as I chatted about my patterns. (I’m a huge advocate of cloth-diapering, in case you didn’t already know that, and I’m thrilled to see it becoming so much more mainstream!)

My goal in creating this diaper pattern was a little out of the ordinary for me. Usually, when I create a pattern, I try to give you lots of options. This pattern, though, I geared towards moms who are sewing their first cloth diapers, and I kept it really simple. The instructions include a whole page of diaper sewing tips–many are things that I’ve learned through my years of experience sewing cloth diapers, and the rest are suggestions from my amazing team of testers.

The Green Beginnings Cloth Diaper is a pocket diaper in sizes newborn to large. It has a trim fit through the crotch and bum, and a slightly raised back with a scooped front. The uncased leg elastic coupled with an absorbent soaker that is slightly narrower than the width of the diaper also creates a faux gusset at the legs to make this diaper a star when it comes to leak protection. My testers have given me great feedback, and Morgan and I both love it on Katie and Charlie. I can’t wait to hear how you and your little ones like it, too!

A quick note: All of the new patterns that I’m going to be introducing over the next week or so will be released at the same time. I mentioned before that I have a few things to finish up, and I want to make sure that my retailers all have the patterns on hand (or on their sites, in the case of pdf patterns). I’m shooting for Tuesday, June 5th, but I’ll keep you updated through my blog and my Facebook page!

Quilts & More Ad!


It’s Spring Quilt Market Weekend, and I’m a little sad that I’m missing out on all the excitement. I am thrilled, though, that I’ll be taking my patterns to Fall Quilt Market in Houston in October! I can’t wait! In the meantime, Michael Miller has a few of my patterns with them at this weekend’s Market, and while I was out at my local quilt shop this morning, I found a copy of the summer issue of Quilts and More with this in it:

Woo-hoo! It makes up a little bit for being here at home instead of checking out the latest fabrics and patterns in Salt Lake City. I’ll be stalking my favorite blogs to find out the inside scoop over the next few days!

I’ll be back this evening with my KCWC work for today! (If I can set this magazine aside for long enough–there are some great projects in here!)

New Cover for the Charlie Tee & Hoodie

I mentioned in my last post that I’m working on sewing up new samples of each of my patterns to update my covers.  I’m using Michael Miller fabrics for the ones that I’m working on right now.  (You already know how much I love Dino Dudes!)  It’s spring here and perfect for getting outside to take pictures. I’m thrilled with the new cover photo for the Infant & Toddler Charlie Tee. What do you think?

I have lots more to do. Summer is going to be here soon, so I’m taking advantage of all this sewing to work on my two youngests’ summer wardrobes. No, I haven’t forgotten my resolution to sew everything they’ll need for summer–its coming along nicely. I just haven’t had time to post! I’ll do my best to post my checklist along with pictures of what I have done so far later this week.

Boy Oh Boy, The Ad


Squeeeeeee! Fishsticks Designs is in an ad with MICHAEL MILLER FABRICS!

Lots and lots and lots of sewing going on around here. I’ve been afraid that I might see smoke pouring out of my machines at any moment! I sewed up all of the outfits you see above the end of last week, and since then, I’ve sewn . . . um . . . lots more. I’ll be posting pictures soon. I’m working on sewing up several of my patterns using MM fabric to photograph and update my labeling, and I have two new patterns that I’m working on. You can see previews of them above: The Lazy Days Lounge Set and Rockin’ the Raglan Tee.

Oh, the ad will be appearing in the Summer 2011 Edition of Quilts & More. Adding that to my shopping list right now!

A Box of Fabric & An Exciting Announcement!


My UPS delivery guy stopped by here about half an hour ago with this box . . . which is full of fabric. Not too unusual around here to receive a box of fabric delivered by the UPS guy. Except that this box of fabric actually came from Michael Miller Fabrics, and I’ll be using them for a couple of very special projects! Remember my Dino Dudes Giveaway post from last month? Well, I sent off an email to MM when my giveaway was over, just to say, “Thank you for creating a boyish interlock!  We want more!” And, they emailed me back and asked if I might be interested in designing a few patterns to showcase their interlocks for boys! Would I?! Of course I would!

I have a few things in the works for them already–I’m hoping to be ready for testing by the middle of next week. For now, I’m off to sew my heart out so I can get some samples back out in the mail for photographing as quickly as possible! (Don’t worry, my Celebrate the Boy post is all ready to go as promised . . . you’ll find it here tomorrow evening.)


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