Pandora's Craft Room Shop News

Orders placed today or later will ship out on January 5, unless I get up the mojo to go to the post office between now and New Year's, which I doubt will happen. You're welcomed to place orders but I just want to warn you.

Along those lines January's sewing is going to be all about me me me and I won't be adding anything to the shop either. I will be taking custom orders of course!

30s Reproduction Fabric Pillow

From yet another Craftsy pattern, for yet another relative's Christmas present, it's about 12 inches.

It's not perfect- you can see the two halves are slightly misaligned- but I'm pretty happy with it.

I'd call it a high beginner pattern. It was pretty easy, with big pieces for the most part, and even the small pieces were easy. I wouldn't advise it as a first pattern, but maybe as a second paper piecing project it would be fine.

The pattern has so much potential for variation- you could use two fabrics for the interlocking strips, or just one with a strongly contrasting backing. It would be gorgeous in batiks, cat fabrics, solids, whatever. You could have so much fun trying different combinations and I pieced the top in two afternoons, about 3 hours of work, with another hour to quilt it by machine and finish it into a pillow.

I used scraps for both the strips and the background.

If you're not using scraps, you'd need a fat quarter of each fabric if you're using 2 for the strips, or a half yard if you're using 1 for the strips and a fat quarter for the background (about). I always err on the side of having more fabric than necessary and I don't want to make promises but I think that would do it.

Have fun!

Frog Pillow- Another Christmas Present

This is another 12x12 inch paper pieced pillow.

I found the pattern on Craftsy, here.

I would call this a low-intermediate pattern. It was less complicated than the flamingos, but still calls for a little experience with paper piecing. It went together quickly for me.

Coming Soon...

I have so many things I want to experiment with after the holidays. Key fobs are on the agenda, as are stuffed cats, more makeup bags, and more and more. I'll be taking a sewing class in Manhattan and hopefully learning some new skills and have new things to sew. I can't wait!

Flamingos for Christmas

I made this pillow as a Christmas gift for one of my husband's relatives. It's a 12-inch block paper-pieced from a pattern I bought on Craftsy, here.

If you don't know Craftsy, it's a great resource for both free and low-cost patterns from lots of great artists and craftspeople. They offer online classes and tutorials, too.

I used pinks and greens from my scrap pile for the front and binding; I actually have a huge cut of the pink Hawaiian batik I used for the body and binding though.

The backing is a hula-girl fabric I've had for a while. I love it cut up so much more than I did when it was just yardage. Now I want to make all kinds of things with it!

This pattern would be appropriate for someone who's done a little paper piecing- I wouldn't recommend it for beginners but it's not that hard. And it came together just great. I can't wait to give it, except that I may need to make one for me now!

Holiday Glitz

What will you be accessorizing with this holiday season? I made these sparkly lucite earrings earlier in the year but they'll be coming out for holiday parties for sure.

You can contact me at my Etsy shop for a custom order, $10.00 a pair.