Sommer Easter Dress Challenge!

This challenge is brought to you by Sarah Jane!! 

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With Sommer fabric hitting stores, and Easter just around the corner, I thought it would be so fun to have an Easter Dress Challenge! SOMMER is perfect for spring dresses, with all the florals, bunnies, birds and checks. And with us all sharing our creations, it will be even more fun! And of course, we must have a bit of friendly competition...3 lucky winners will win some amazing prizes! 

Dress Challenge Guidelines: 

1) Each dress needs to be made of exclusively SOMMER fabric and/or SOMMER gauze (swaddle fabric) and can (but doens't need to) incorporate Cotton Couture Solids (Michael Miller Solid Fabrics)

2) Deadline for submission is Thursday March 31st at 10 pm EST

3) Dress must be photographed in a way that we can see the whole dress. Multiple photos are just fine. (Hint: Good lighting and good, clean photography will show off your dress the best:) Dresses can be worn or on a hanger, but we must see the whole dress)

4) You must tag your dress with #sommerdresschallenge and post to instagram or facebook and also tag me at @sarahjanestudios and/or @sarahjanefabric to make sure that I receive it. If you don't have a social media account, you can email me at sarah@sarahjanestudios.com and I can upload your dress for you. If you have already posted dresses to social media and want them to be included, you must go back and tag them with these. 

5) These do NOT have to be easter Dresses! I'm just calling it that, because well, girls love new dresses at easter:) 

6) Judging will be based on dress design, use of fabric (you can use one print or more...it doesn't matter) clear presentation and overall quality. 

7) Multiple submissions are just fine.

WINNERS

Winners will be judged and announced on Friday April 1st. 

1) FIRST PLACE: An assortment of 5 yards of SOMMER fabrics, double gauze and a $75 gift card to Sarah Jane Studios Shop. It will also be featured on the Michael Miller Fabrics Blog.

2) SECOND PLACE: An assortment of 3 yards of SOMMER fabrics, double gauze and $50 to the Sarah Jane Studios Shop. 

3) THIRD PLACE: An assortment of 2 yards of SOMMER fabrics, double gauze and $25 to the Sarah Jane Shop. 

And for ALL other submissions: I will do my very best to feature your dress on my Instagram at @sarahjanefabric for all to see! 

Ok! Let's get going! Spread the word, and share the love. I can't wait to see your amazing creations! 

~Sarah Jane

(image from Nicole Hill Gerulat)

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Into the Deep :: A Guest Post from Patty Sloniger!

Hello, everyone! I’m Patty Sloniger and I’m going to be guest posting about my new fabric collection “Into theDeep” today here on Making it Fun.

I’ll also be sharing a free pattern and instructions for making this Starboard mini quilt that was in my booth at FallQuilt Market.

So what’s the inspiration behind my new collection? Well, I grew up on the east coast with many fond memories of trips to the seashore, so I’ve been itching to create an ocean-themed collection. I’ve been contemplating ideas and sketches for a few years and it finally seemed to be the right time to put those ideas on paper, so to speak.

As a child, I vividly remember the bobbing heads of people far out in the waves and imagining what mysteries lie beneath the surface, possibly swimming right past their feet and they didn’t even know it. As I got older, I too was allowed to swim further out and it was the excitement of being in the ocean balanced against the fear of the unknown... and of jellyfish! Which were both awe-inspiring and frightening at the same time.

In this collection you’ll find graceful jellyfish, dapper seahorses, sea plants, the occasional baby squid and lots of waves! There are Japanese inspired linearwaves, scalloped polka dot waves and fractured, stylized waves... you can never have enough waves in the ocean! Mariner Dot is a great variation on a staple (and vaguely reminiscent of octopus suckers.) And of course, starfish and bubbles in the large-scale anchor print, perfect for big projects like clothing or tote bags.

Into the Deep is available in two colorways, Laguna and Tropical.
Laguna is full of the traditional deep blues, periwinkles and aquas associated with those early memories of the east coast.

While the Tropical colorway is full of bright, sun soaked colors you might associate with a summer vacation in the Bahamas or Key West.

Here are all the prints from both colorways, from Laguna to Tropical. Mix and match from both, it all works. 

I love the pink mixed in with the navy and blue. And that little pop of green is perfect. (Sewn and quilted by Debbie Grosskopf)

The peachy-orange also mixes well with the blues from both colorways, and the SurfSide pattern in Pearl makes a fabulous low volume background. I made this little mini quilt using the mini quick curve ruler. 

Combine all the navies, aquas and periwinkles from both colorways for a stunning range of ocean-y blues. As you can see, I found myself pulling these tones together quite frequently when I was sewing samples for Market. :)

*Pillow cover using the Fractal Quilt Block

If you’re going to QuiltCon this year, be on the lookout for my Under Currents quilt in the exhibit! It’s the dark blue quilt behind the gown with the diagonal waves. Oh, and the mermaid gown... isn’t it fabulous? I want to be able to wear it so bad! Designed by Alyssa Holub, and it’s the real deal, boned corset and all.

The fussy cutting! Lots of opportunities for fussy-cutting with these prints.

Remember that bit about a free mini quilt pattern at the beginning of my post? Well, here it is. You can find the free download here. Michael Miller is also giving away a bundle of fabric from Into the Deep along with some coordinating Cotton Couture solids, everything you’ll need to make your own Starboard quilt! 

Comments are now closed!! 
And the winner is....

Teresa Stanulis who said...

"The colors are so rich and beautiful! I think I would make some quilted pillow shams for my master bedroom. Those hues would match the watercolor pints of Bermuda I have on the walls there!"

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this little glimpse into my new collection and that you’re inspired to make some amazing things with it!

For more inspiration, check out my instagram feed. And please, please tag me if you post your projects, I absolutely love seeing what you make. :)

Happy Sewing! 

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ABC Nature Walk Sewing Challenge brought to you by Tamara Kate!

Happy 2016 everyone! I’m delighted to be with you today to share a bit about my new collection with Michael Miller, NATURE WALK and to offer up a sewing challenge.

First up, a brief introduction to the collection, which was a major step to me getting back to working with watercolor and pen & ink, something I haven’t done since I designed Flight Patterns.

Nature Walk is a look into all the discoveries we make on my family’s weekly wanderings… From butterflies and snails to flowers, birds and bunnies and all the flora and fauna in between.

The collection is divided between the pretty, soft CLOUD color story and the cooler MINERAL story, but they play well together due to many touches of colors that cross over from one grouping to the other.

But what I really wanted to focus on today is the alphabet panel print, “ABC Nature Walk”.

Working on a letter a day for a month, I scoured high and low for nature elements that start with each letter of the alphabet (it was surprising which letters were the trickiest, like I and U). I wanted the resulting panel to appeal to the little ones we love to sew for, offering a visual treasure hunt, while keeping it educational. Hence they can get their first look at yellow-tail moths, garlic scapes, a jewel beetle and a vixen, to name but a few.

The panel, which runs the width of the fabric, measuring 45” x 24” high, is really versatile in terms of its uses. Imagine fussy cutting the individual letters for use in a quilt or to spell a favorite inspirational word or child’s name on a pillow.

Nature Walk A to Z Quilt – free downloadable instructions

Embroider (or color, or paint) elements of a letter that can then be used on a tote bag, pillow, etc.

Add a strip of it to the bottom of a skirt or dress.

Geranium dress

Or, what may be my favorite project, use the panel as-is to create a wall hanging for a child’s room. 

It’s really simple… Just make a quilt sandwich with the 24” panel, quilt batting and a backing fabric of your choice. Mark the lines that divide the letters using a hera marker or some other such tool (The lines should be spaced exactly 4¾” horizontally and 8” vertically). Using embroidery floss, quilt a running stitch along each line, edge to edge.

And the final step, bind the edges (my favorite binding fabric from this collection is Tall Grass, available in four different colors). It’s a satisfying one- or two-evening project that has great impact when completed.

And now for the Challenge!

We would love to see what creative ideas you might have for using ABC Nature Walk. So, our challenge to all you amazing sewers is to make your own project using this alphabet panel. And, there will certainly be prizes!

Here are the rules:

- You must use part, or all, of the ABC Nature Walk panel in your project. Optional other fabrics that can be incorporated are other fabrics from the Nature Walk collection and Cotton Couture solids.

- Create anything wonderful you can imagine up. The sky is the limit!

- Post photos of your finished project to instagram and/or facebook using the hashtag #naturewalksewingchallenge and be sure to tag @michaelmillerfabrics and @tamarakatedesign. Beautiful photos are a plus.

- The deadline to enter photos of your completed project is February 29^th at midnight.

And the winners are... 

1st place - Candice Ayala

An assortment of half yard cuts of Nature Walk

An assortment of coordinating Cotton Couture

A copy of my new coloring book, The Artist's Alphabet

*published by Eccolo

2nd place - Rebecca Mae Designs

An assortment of Nature Walk fat quarters

Coordinating Cotton Couture

  

Runner Up - Sweet Julia Boutique

An assortment of Nature Walk fat quarters

Best of luck,

Tamara

Oh, and please come take a closer peek at what I’m up to on a regular basis, whether on my blog, Instagram or Facebook.

CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF STORES THAT CARRY NATURE WALK!!

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