Sew Fun

Dear Sewfie,

I wanted to have the perfect Handmade Christmas this year, but the problem is, I didn’t finish all of the gifts I had planned. Now that the holidays are over, should I finish sewing the gifts anyway and give them to people late or just give up and try to make good next year? I feel bad about not giving some people their gifts. What should I do?

-Unfinished

Dear Unfinished,

Let’s face it: you nobly (and perhaps all too ambitiously) tried to have the Best Most Crafty Handmade Christmas EVER – but you fell upon your proverbial rotary cutters. The best thing you can do at this point is give a Dunkin Donuts gift certificate to the people on your list whose gifts are still all over your sewing room floor and finish those gifts next fall… after the kidlets go back to school and before you get distracted with making Halloween costumes. You will already be ahead of the game because all the pieces are already cut out, right?

You could try to plow ahead anyway and finish your gifts now under the auspices of “better late than never”, but you’ve already lost the moment (Christmas is officially over… the curbs are already littered with discarded trees!) and the time you spend will just get you further and further behind in all your other projects that you were going to finish “as soon as Christmas is over”, remember? Projects such as: curtains for the Baby’s room… he is more than a year old now, you know!

Warm Stitches,

Amy Butler's Frenchy Bag was Sewfie

The final gift Sewfie finished this holiday season - the Sweet Slice pincushion by designer Cindy Taylor Oates with Kaffe Fassett and Philip Jacob fabrics... for a very special Christmas Birthday Girl!

Dear Sewfie,
Why are so many pin cushions shaped like tomatos?
- Kat

Dear Kat,
In many Renaissance households, people believed that placing a ripe tomato on the mantel when first entering a new home guaranteed future prosperity. Since tomatoes were not available year-round until recently, families moving into new homes often substituted round balls of red fabric stuffed with sawdust or sand. As the traditional held, these little red balls made a nice parking place for metal pins which were very expensive at the time and thus worthy of protecting. The tomato pin cushion is still in use today and has become iconic of the entire sewing community.

The tomato pin cushion motif has made its way into many fabric designs, such as this Alexander Henry print - Sew Now, Sew Wow!

Now THAT'S dedication to your craft...

Dear Sewfie,
Can you show me an easy way to make a fabric cube? I want to make some soft fabric blocks for my son.
- Marcia

Dear Marcia,
You can make cute fabric baby blocks from a foam cube and six fabric squares. We used 4″ foam and an adorable fabric panel called “Baby Geniuses Grown Up!” by Linda Carlson & Diana Henage from Benartex.

You can make these cute fabric baby blocks!

One 5/8 yard panel has 30 colorful squares (enough to make 5 blocks) featuring letters of the alphabet and adorable cartoon animals. You could also use the 3″ number squares to make smaller number blocks.

Baby Geniuses Grow Up! 5/8 yard panel

You can use any size foam, simply cut your fabric squares 1/2″ wider than your foam. You can cut your foam block to shape using any sharp kitchen knife.

Materials: 4" foam cube and six 4.5" fabric squares

Note: To make nice square corners, do not stitch all the way to the edge of the fabric. Be sure to start and stop stitching 1/4″ from all edges.

Sew in 1/4" seam allowances

Sew six squares into cross shape

So far... so good!

Fold the bottom square on a diagonal angle, then sew the side seam (where scissors are pointing). Repeat for each of the four side seams

Now you have a box with a flap top

Sew two sides of the top flap, leave one side open

Turn right side out and square corners gently with chopstick

Squeeze foam cube through opening

Stitch opening shut

Finished!

Baby approves!

For more baby toy fun, see our Brainy Baby Ball pattern!