Puget Sound Sewing & Craft

The Impact of Childhood Crafting

So lest you think that sewing and crafting with your children does not impact them, let me reassure you otherwise.

I am visiting my parent’s house and I have always appreciated the fact that my mom still proudly displays all of the hand-crafted items that I made her when I was younger. They are hung up all over the house. From the white hankerchief with lace around the edge and the embroidered "Mom" in my favorite colored thread to the cross-stitched wall-hanging that is more like a small pillow to the small fabric purses that hold treasures—my mom’s insistence for this tradition inspires me and reminds me to more prominently display and comment on my own children’s hard work.

Through my mom’s displays I feel not only her love but a sense of belonging in this home that I’ve never really lived in. The items facilitate memories of many types and there of course is a story behind each one. My kids even think that it’s cool to have my childhood work on the walls.

I hope that they feel as I do when they see their beaded necklaces hanging from my bedside lamp, their tiny, hand-stitched quilt folded carefully in my drawer and their hand-made cards stashed in a very important box on a very important shelf (when they are not on the mantel).

Nothing says "I love you and I am proud of you" more.

SPECIALS Galore on Sewing, Quilting, and Embroidery Machines

Here are some specials this month that have me all a-twitter:

EMBROIDERY MACHINE SPECIAL

From now through May 30, when you purchase a Pfaff Creative Vision Embroidery Machine from Quality Sewing & Vacuum, you are eligible for a $1,000.00 Pfaff Shopping Spree. You can choose from any Pfaff branded items for your spree. Quality will even give you top dollars for your trade in.

SEWING & QUILTING MACHINE SPECIAL

While supplies last, purchase a Pfaff 2038 Sewing and Quilting Machine from Quality Sewing & Vacuum for only $1099.00. That’s over $700.00 off the regular price. It has 68 stitches and 9mm stitches. For those of you with a lower budget, the Pfaff 1525 with IDT (Integrated Dual Feed System) is $400.00 off the regular price—you can buy it for $599.00.

COUPONS FOR MORE SAVINGS

The Quality Sewing & Vacuum April catalog has coupons galore! There are savings for:

1. 10% off classes when you sign up online by 5/10 (use promo code: SPRING).
2. 25% off all Feet for most models
3. 30% off belts and filters.
4. Buy one Floriani Thread-Get one Free.
5. $24.99 Complete Vacuum Service
6. ...and more.

Sign up to receive specials from Quality via email here.

Download April catalog.

QUILT SHOWS

If you haven’t visited the Quilt Shows at the Pacific Fabric & Crafts Stores, you are missing out. Currently showing quilts through 4/28 are the Bremerton, Outlet, Puyallup and Northgate stores. You can still enter quilts to be shown at the Bellevue and Everett stores. This is a great, friendly venue for beginning, intermediate and advanced quilters to display your work, gain confidence and share your creative side with other people.

2008 BLOCK OF THE MONTH CLUB

There are limited spots still available for this popular club that costs only $50.00 a year but gives back much more. The current offering is a Lizzie B Cre8tive quilt, "Piece, Love & Appliqué". You will receive $150.00 worth of fabric and patterns, along with a year full of fun, skill-building club meetings, a chance to win door prizes and a free gift each month. Check with your nearest Pacific Fabric & Crafts store for more details.

DIY FOR PROM

Pacific Fabric & Crafts’ Northgate store has TWO DIY Prom events coming up and you can learn great ideas to make the attire for your special night unique. Don’t risk showing up and looking like everyone else. The events are on April 26th & May 3rd. Call the store for more information today. Keep up on all special events at Pacific Fabric & Crafts locations. And check out the summer classes.

How can you go wrong with all these incredible savings opportunities? Grabbing my purse to GO and hope to see you there!

~Julie

Meet a 3-Year-Old Seattle Sewing Whiz

Meet our youngest sewer, Elena, age three. She owns a Janome 3/4-size Hello Kitty sewing machine.

Last week, with the help of her Aunt Julie, Elena sewed capris and a top from McCall's pattern #5614.

This week, she is making a blanket from some snuggly polar fleece (pictured).

The Northgate Pacific Fabrics & Crafts staff welcomes our youngest sewing enthusiast!

What sewing/craft projects are the youngsters in your life working on?

Please tell us about your project in the Comments area. If you provide your email, we'll contact you and we may feature your story and photo right here on our blog!

5 Tips for Planning Prom Attire

I have two daughters with very different tastes in formal attire. One girl likes glitz and colors and one likes black. Outfitting them for dances is a challenge, to say the least!

We have spent hours in malls trying on dresses until I am near a nervous breakdown. It’s music to my ears when my daughters finally ask, “Mom, do you think you could make what I want?”

We troop over to The Galleria, where we study pattern books and pick out a few possibilities. I like to begin a project with one idea, but I often tweak it. One time I made a formal dress for Holly by combining two different patterns.

We all know there’s nothing more humiliating for a teenage girl than showing up prom and spotting another girl—or several girls—wearing the identical dress. I know Holly’s dress was a success because, after the dance, the first words out of her mouth were, “There wasn’t one girl in the same dress.”

If you’re planning for a prom or special occasion, follow these five tips:

1. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different fabrics and notions to make an outfit your own.
2. When you head to Pacific Fabrics & Crafts, bring a list of all the items you will need for your project.
3. Bring your pictures and patterns to hold up against fabrics and notions.
4. Place the material around your face and see how it drapes. You can find lots of beautiful and rich looking fabrics without spending and arm and a leg.
5. Ask the salesperson what she thinks of your ideas. Ask her for suggestions for how to customize your pattern to create an outfit no one else will be wearing.

Most importantly, have fun wearing your custom formalwear. Remember those precious words that you will hear: “No one else has this same outfit. It is mine…all mine.”

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For formalwear, check out The Galleria, located within Pacific Fabrics & Crafts Northgate store. They carry a beautiful selection of “After 5” and bridal fabrics, laces, and trimmings, perfect for occasions that require an elegant outfit.

The Galleria, Northgate Village
838 NE Northgate Way
Seattle, WA 98125
(206) 362-0111

So You Want to be a Quilter?

I’d  always wanted to create fancy quilts like the ones I see hanging in restaurants. I’d stare at those quilts in admiration and murmur to myself: I could never do that; it looks too hard.

But since I’m always up for a good challenge, I signed up for a beginning quilting workshop. I learned so many things: how to cut fabric using a rotary cutter, how to piece quilts together, and how to plan my own quilt.  Now, you can’t keep me away from making quilts!

Quilting by Committee

After taking my first quilting class with a friend, we were so enthusiastic  that we started our own quilting group. We bought some quilting books to give us ideas and step-by-step instructions. We get together and work on quilts for our families and to give as gifts. Working on them together gives us social time and if we have problems we can help each other out.

Crazy Quilts

If you’re a first-time quilter, I suggest that you have fun with your first quilt. Pick out some crazy colors. Make your quilt out of something that your kids would say, “I’m not going to be seen with you if you make something to wear out of that.” Then give it to them for Christmas or their birthday. Let’s see who likes that material now!

Start simple. You don’t have to make an intricately-pattered quilt the first time out. Many quilts are a piece of cake to make. Not only that, they can be soothing to work on. And after you’re finished making your quilt, you can cuddle under it while watching TV or reading.

Keepsake Quilts

Now that I’ve got a few quilts under my belt, I enjoy making and giving them as gifts. I pour my heart and soul into them; I don’t worry too much about matching the seams; I figure that the time and love I invest as I make the quilt is what’s really important.

Quilting Classes & Clubs from Quality Sewing

• Beginners Quilting Class (Everett)
• Beginning Quilting Class (Federal Way)
• Beginning Quilting the Piece O’Cake Way (Bellevue)
• Quilting: Basics and Beyond (Silverdale)
• More quilting classes and clubs at Quality Sewing

Quilting Classes from Pacific Fabrics & Crafts

• Course Descriptions for Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Classes

Recommended Quilting Books, from Pacific Fabrics & Crafts

Quilting fabrics, from Pacific Fabrics & Crafts