Youth Apron Tutorial

I created a fun apron tutorial for my kids sewing class at the Cotton Shop last Spring. We didn't post any pictures of it because it was a Mother's Day Surprise. It used the tube method to add accent fabric to the top and bottom of the apron. It was also sized for an adult.
You can see a sample I made for my sister later on, on my personal Instagram account here.

Last month I was asked about the tutorial for an activity for 9 & 10 year olds. I simplified the pattern, taking off the accent pieces, and resized it to fit a smaller person and this (see above photo) is what I ended up with.

You can find the free PDF tutorial here.
Please post photos and tag me @CanyonRidgeCrafts if you make one.
And please remember that the pattern belongs to me, is for personal use only, and is not for resale.

Happy crafting!

Upcoming classes for Fall/Winter 2018

This fall I am teaching Kids Sew Fun at the Provo Cotton Shop. October's Monster Mates class is based on a free pattern from Schlosser Designs. Erin designed a scrappy stuffy monster for donation to kids' hospitals. I plan on letting the kids either draw a monster and create it from fabric and felt, or they can use the pattern. Either way it is a lot of fun. My youngest made one (with help from me) from the pattern when she was about 5. She made it with a little pocket so it could be her Tooth Fairy Pillow. You can see the original post on my personal blog here.

I have been having fun drawing shapes and faces to create Monster Mates with. One of the free hand drawings I did reminded me of a strawberry so I made a Monster Strawbaby. (One of my kids used to call strawberries "straw babies" so that is what I called this little guy.) Now the little tooth catching robot monster has a buddy to hang out with.

If you are local to Utah County, I hope you will come by the shop and sign up your kiddos to make their own Monster Mate with me in October.
 Here is the information:

The next Provo Cotton Shop kids sewing class is coming up on Saturday, October 13th.

The kids are going to have so much fun with this class! They will be designing and creating their own Monster Mate softie toy. 

We have 5 spots available in each session for kids ages 8-14. All materials will be provided. A light snack is also provided. If your child has food allergies please let us know. They may also bring their own snack and water if they like.

The morning session starts at 10am and ends at 1pm. The afternoon session starts at 2pm and ends at 5pm. Cost is $35 - Pre-payment is required. Call now to reserve your spot. (801) 373-6210

* Class will not be held if minimum student sign up of 3 students is not met.

I will be posting pictures periodically on my Instagram account (@canyonridgecrafts) of upcoming projects with information, and they also usually are shared on the shop account as well. (@provocottonshop)

Thanks!

Amy

Provo Cotton Shop

64 W 500 N

Provo UT 84601-2818

Book Review: Signature Bags

The #shopsample is done. This is the second bag made from the “Signature Bags” book by Michelle Golightly, the “Free-Spirit Drawstring Purse”. I was asked to review the book for the shop by making a couple of the patterns in it. It is an “Experienced” level bag pattern. I chose to make the larger size. It had a couple of firsts for me, those being piping and a buckle. Both went relatively well. There were two sizes of grommets used. I was fine with the small ones in the strap, but the large ones in the body were a bit of trouble. I managed to mangle the first one I tried to set; it would not bend all the way down to grab the other piece. I then lost a piece of a second one (which I found after the bag was done, of course) which left me two short. I had to reposition them all which changes how the bag closes a bit so it doesn’t look the same as the one in the book. The ruffles definitely changed how I had to set the grommets and for some reason, they did not want to bend properly. In the end, I did a square of tight zigzag around each cut hole, then put the grommets in. The pattern recommended whip stitching by hand around the holes, but I did not have time, nor patience to do that. #bagmaking @provocottonshop **Full review on my blog. Link in bio.

A post shared by Amy Whetten (@canyonridgecrafts) on Mar 28, 2018 at 9:42am PDT

Full and honest review:

The #shopsample is done. This is the second bag made from the “Signature Bags” book by Michelle Golightly, the “Free-Spirit Drawstring Purse”. I was asked to review the book for the shop by making a couple of the patterns in it. It is an “Experienced” level bag pattern. I chose to make the larger size. It had a couple of firsts for me, those being piping and a buckle. Both went relatively well. There were two sizes of grommets used. I was fine with the small ones in the strap, but the large ones in the body were a bit of trouble. I managed to mangle the first one I tried to set; it would not bend all the way down to grab the other piece. I then lost a piece of a second one (which I found after the bag was done, of course) which left me two short. I had to reposition them all which changes how the bag closes a bit so it doesn’t look the same as the one in the book. The ruffles definitely changed how I had to set the grommets and for some reason, they did not want to bend properly. In the end, I did a square of tight zigzag around each cut hole, then put the grommets in. The pattern recommended whip stitching by hand around the holes, but I did not have time, nor patience to do that. #bagmaking @provocottonshop

**Opinions** This is not a bag I would make for myself to use. I am pretty practical, and this bag is a little too fussy for me, I don’t care for how it hangs on my body and I need more pockets. It’s cute, for sure, just not my style. The shop was provided with hardware for two specific bags and the co-worker who I made it for chose this one over the other style. For the other bag I made I used my own supplies, as it was a birthday gift and I wanted to make as sure as possible the recipient would use it. It was not one of the bags for which the hardware was provided.

**Book Review** At first skim, I liked what I saw. Good diagrams, good overview at the beginning, it looked like it would flow well. The first couple of sections are helpful, describing terms, and giving some explanations on how to put in hardware, though they only had pictures for two types. The diagrams were good and helpful over all, in both patterns I made. As with most books, I was only interested in about 1/4 - 1/3 of the projects offered, but enough that I would have purchased had I been in the market for a new bag book.  I liked that hardware kits are available on the website (http://golightlysewingstudio.com/) and in the referral blurb, they make it clear it is hardware only, no tools are provided, so you would need to find those elsewhere.

 As she says in the intro, skill levels are subjective, so my first bag (“Double Take Clutch”) while, it seemed to me, NOT to be a beginner bag, for others it may be fine. But, making the first bag for me,  was frustrating. A lot of the steps seemed to make the process harder than it needed to be. That could be my inexperience with making a very specific style of zippered bag (one piece exterior rather than 2), although I have made many other types of zippered bags so it seemed like there should have been a less complicated way of doing it. I would like to make it again to see if that way is the only way to do it. I altered the hardware on the handle to what I had on hand.  

In the second bag (“Free-Spirit Drawstring Purse”) a couple of things definitely required experience (as assumed in the skill level), as there were not instructions on smaller processes within the pattern. Had I not done a given step before, I would have had to look it up, however for the most part the basics were in the introduction (gathering, for example).  (*I failed to do my usual note-taking process while doing this, so I am having to rely on what details I remember, and specifics are not coming to me at this time.)

I like having as many views of the finished bag as possible. That was lacking for me. This may not be a common requirement though.

All said and done, I am 75% sure I would recommend the book for the shop to carry. I both liked and did not like it. With a limited number of books we can acquire to sell, I am glad it is not up to me to make final decisions.

Welcome!

This blog is for sharing my crafting experiences, mainly for my work.
You can find me on Instagram as @canyonridgecrafts
I am based in Utah County, Utah. You can contact me via email at canyonridgecrafts at gmail dot com.