Sew Along Day 2 - Sewing By Hand

Hand sewing is hard! It's been a long time since I've actually done any needlework other than a few stitches here and there. With Day 2 of the Sew Along for Japan, I was sitting for almost 2 hours with needle and thread working on these sweet little faces:

The felt for the hair was sewn by machine, but everything else was all hand stitching. I was tempted to give up on the eyelashes and just draw them on with my trusty black Sharpie, but I stuck with it! It is for a good cause afterall. I also doubled up on the stitching for the smiles; I was using a really pale pink thread, and I wanted the mouths to show up a little more.

(Sorry about the picture quality - it was 11pm and I was ready for bed. One of these days I'll get my photo/light box setup and be able to take nice pictures no matter what time of day. But, getting that thing set up is kind of like map folding, and I'm no good at folding maps.)

So, I'm still a day behind everyone else participating in the Sew Along, but that's okay. I was hoping to get caught up last night, but those little boogers pictured above took longer than I anticipated.

Tonight will be the last part of the sewing - everything will be sewn onto the t-shirts, and I'll be finished, hurrah! Check back tomorrow...

Sew Along for Japan Progress!

In my last post I mentioned I was joining in the Sew Along for Japan over on Living with Punks. It started on Monday, but of course that day turned out to be super crazy and I didn't get the 'Day 1' part finished (or even started). So, I'm a day behind!

Anyway, last night after the kids (finally!) went to bed, I got to work. Here's my progress so far:

My 4-year old, Pookie, picked out the fabrics; I think she did a great job! She gave her input on the hair colors as well, but by the time we got to the felt section at Joann's, she was a bit distracted ("Look, tiny hats!"). So, we quickly agreed on gold and brown.

Tonight comes the sewing part; I'm not sure if Pookie will be involved in that part or not. I may not be able to get anything done again until both kids are in bed...oh the life of a crafty mom. :)

Check back tomorrow to see more progress! And it's not too late to join in on the Sew Along - Go here for more details, and the steps up to this point. There's also a Giveaway for everyone who participates and links up.

Help brighten a Japanese child's day by making a super-cute shirt.

Sew Along - For Japan

The other day I stumbled across what has turned out to be my new favorite blog: Living with Punks. There are so many crafty tutorials and projects and fun things posted, I'm still reading through it. Love it!

Most recently, Susan at Living with Punks (blogger, mom, crafter, sewing maven-extraordinaire) posted an Applique T-Shirt Sew Along to benefit the children of Japan. I thought this was a super idea as I've been trying to come up with a good way to help the country that is reeling from that terrible Tsunami. The patterns for the appliques are provided at no cost by Chelsea from Pink Fig, you just have to supply the materials

We see so many terrible images of the devastation, but what we see isn't even the half of it. These people have lost everything. I mean, everything. Can you imagine?

So, I decided to join in on this Sew Along and make a few of the super-cute t-shirts that will be sent to the children of Japan. We may not speak the same language, but at least maybe they'll be able to smile at the thoughtfulness of others around the world.

Go here for the details on how to join the Sew Along and to download the pattern.

The Shop is Open!

Come in, stop by, take a look! We have some great new goodies - checkbook covers - already posted, and there's more to come! New items will be posted throughout the rest of March.

And to celebrate the Grand Re-Opening, everything is on sale! Enjoy the lower sale/introductory prices through March 31st!

You might want to join the Sugar Plum Delights Facebook page too - you never know when an extra discount code might show up!

Kirkwood Spring Fling

The 9th Annual Kirkwood Spring Fling is Saturday May 14th! Here are some of the things you'll find in our booth, if accepted:

Hope to see you there!!

Don't Call it a Comeback...

...I've been here for years.

No really, I'm getting ready to fire up the crafting machine again, hurray! I know its been a long time, but the end of 2009 just became incredibly overwhelming for me, and I took a much needed break. What started out to be a "short" break turned out to be over a year...but I never lost the desire to sew and embroider and do the things I love.

So, here we are. For 2011 I have a lot of fun things planned: I recently invested in a Cricut and will be adding personalized vinyl items to my line! There will be lots of fun new items, as well as the old favorites.

Stay tuned for more details!