Sew Fun

At Sew Fun, we believe in supporting cottage industries and budding home sewing entrepreneurs. To this end, we offer Free Limited Licenses for our patterns. You can read more about our licensing program here.

We are proud to have Gramma J’s Sew Cottage as one of our licensees. Gramma J, also known as Judy, kindly offered to share this lovely story with us about a Garden Market where she had her hand crafts on display, including some colorful, cuddly toys made from our Baby Puzzle Ball pattern:

A lady holding a toddler came up to my booth and was looking at the balls. As I told her about them, she asked if she could take one down the lane to show her little girl. I asked if she had twins. She said “No. My other daughter is in that stroller down there. She is handicapped. She’s 3 years old, but is only 3 months mentally. She can’t grasp things yet. I’d like to see her response to this.” How could I say “No” to that? It wasn’t long before the Mother returned with a huge grin and “JOY” written all over her face. She said that in that short time, she saw responses from her daughter that she had never seen before.

I get so much satisfaction from this darling ball. I know that each one will bring positive developmental responses from each child who gets one.

No time for sewing right now? You can visit Gramma J’s Sew Cottage at her ESTY shop for lots of Baby Puzzle Balls stitched up in adorable, baby-hugging colors.

About Gramma J’s Sew Cottage

My mind is always busy. With a love for the outdoors as well as a love for making a house a home, the creative part of my brain is always at work.

I love designing, creating and sewing. How we decorate our home is a reflection of us, from our walls to what we have on our beds and floors, and what we wear. It’s our personality and what others remember about us.

I love my family, they are my life. I am a very proud Grandmother of nearly 2 dozen Grandchildren and almost the same amount of Step Grandchildren. Wow, that’s about 3 1/2 dozen, and we haven’t quite started with the Greats yet! They all live away from us so I think it’s important that they always have something that has been handmade especially for them. One Grandson told me that when he used the blanket I made him it was like I had my arms around him. Oh, does that melt a Gramma’s heart! I wish every child could feel that special love, so when I’m not sewing for my own kids, I’m thinking of yours. Your home and your kids. I get pleasure from helping you with projects that you can’t accomplish by yourself. From inspirational thoughts for your loved ones to wake up to, to cheerful “Welcome” wall hangings…from seasonal décor, table cloths or runners or baby cuddle items and bath towels…I can bring the warmth of handmade love into your home.

Here are some other wonderful items from Gramma J’s shop! Click the photos for more details.

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When the Grab ‘n’ Diaper Clutch pattern made its debut at Quilt Market – the it selling event for pattern designers – a number of fabric shop owners said it was the “best diaper bag pattern [they] had seen at Market”. (I guess when you are cool and in-the-know, you can just call it by one name). Naturally, I was delighted by this praise. When people remarked it was “just right” – the right size, the right shape, fits the little changing pad right in there with a travel case of wipes – I just said “Thanks!” but what they didn’t know was how many bad designs preceded this good one.

As part of my on-going “In the Studio” Tour, I’d like to share with you how many prototypes, some more hideous than others, I suffered through before coming up with the final design.

There are six shown in this photo, but the real number was something like 7 or 8 because I think at least twice I hacked up one version in a desperate ploy to make it into another. I don’t know what is going on with that ruffled one in the back. It looks like some kind of angry chef’s hat. I don’t know what I was thinking.

But, the good news is, in the end it worked out OK. The design is now really crisp and clean. I tested the heck out of the instructions (thanks, friends over at Sew, Mama, Sew!) to ensure anyone who tried to stitch up this pattern would get good results. I guess practice really does make perfect, which worked out well for our friend Sue, she made SEVEN diaper clutches… just to start!

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It’s fall in New England and these fiery orange Chinese lanterns are reminding me that I really must make something from the beautiful Lantern Bloom fabrics I bought last fall.

Lantern Bloom is a collection by Laura Gunn for Michael Miller fabrics. I am intrigued by it because the designs for the fabrics are taken directly from her paintings, that’s right, paintings! None of this computer-designed, geometric stuff that has become de rigueur in contemporary quilting fabrics. We’re talking brushes, canvases and “paint in your hair” kind of things (as is the name of Ms. Gunn’s blog). You can actually see the brush strokes and textures in the fabric. Brilliant.

There is an interesting interview with Laura over on True-Up, the website that is all fabric, all the time. She shares insights about the designs, her motivations and the unique challenges of transforming her paintings into this unique fabric line.

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I finally found a good use for my gym weights… they are keeping my fabric from sliding off the cutting table under its own weight.

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What to do when you run out of quilt backing fabric… oh, the dilemma. You could make a trip back to the quilt shop. But, that takes time and the baby is sleeping now. Plus, you know if you set foot in that place you are going to end up spending another $50 on some adorable, albeit unnecessary, fabric that you simply couldn’t live without.

Our friend Andi solved this problem uniquely when she stitched up our Baby Sand Castle Quilt.
She only had about a yard of what would have been an otherwise perfect backing fabric – except that the pattern called for at least 48″. So, she made an extra Castle block inside a strip of contrasting fabric. She cut the one yard of backing fabric that she did have into two different sized pieces and inserted the “castle strip”. The result is a quilt that looks as charming on the back as it does on the front.

And didn’t she do a beautiful job on the quilting, too? Look at the “waves” traversing the blue border strips. Thanks for the great idea, Andi! Please say “Hi!” to her at her blog, Laundry on the Line. Andi writes thoughtfully about “living simply in a complicated world”. This is why she didn’t get stressed out when she ran out of fabric. I hope you enjoy this excerpt from one of my favorite posts, Finding Rest in the Every Day (Shucking peas on the porch):

And my chores don’t seem like chores any more, but opportunities to rest and unwind my mind. Hanging laundry on the line is a chance to pray…doing dishes is an opportunity for meditation…weeding the garden is time to bask in the sun….

And shucking peas is a chance to breathe deeply and enjoy…..

Who knew there could be such wisdom in peas?

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