Today's the day we begin our ramp up to the 2012 holiday season! We welcome you to our latest series: Happy Holidays with Westminster Fibers Lifestyle Fabrics, the amazing folks who bring you FreeSpirit and Rowan collections. Over the upcoming weeks, we'll bring you a new collection from four different Westminster designers. This week, you'll meet Melissa White of Rowan Fabrics. Coming up throughout November are: Ty Pennington, Verna Mosquera and Amy Butler. Here at Sew4Home, we love to take non-traditional fabrics and show you how beautiful they can be when incorporated into holiday projects. Today's charming apron is a great example. The warm red accents add a pop of holiday color that makes it a perfect choice for Christmas morning brunch, yet the entire combination works wonderfully throughout the year. Even with all its special accents: bound slash pockets, two gathered tiers and a pretty bodice tie... this is a very easy project.
Oh Baby! with Fabric.com: Insulated Baby Bottle Carrier
Babies and their entourages (sometimes referred to as parents) are always on the go: to the store, the park, the playgroup, the zoo, anywhere and everywhere. When they're out and about, they like to have their favorite drink nearby. Mom gets her 'Bucks venti half white mocha, half cafe vanilla, ez ice, 2 shots pour appigato style with whip and caramel drizzle frappachino (actual order overheard at one of our local Starbucks®)... baby gets his/her bottle - nicely warmed or chilled, thank you very much. Today, as part of our Fabric.com Oh! Baby series, we have a baby-on-the-go thermal baby bottle carrier. There's a water resistant PUL lining, a layer of insulating batting, and a super trendy fabric exterior with a handy Velcro® strap.
Oh Baby! with Fabric.com: Splat Mat with a Carrying Case
When you’re expecting for the first time, people line up to tell you all the wonderful things in store for you. Your head is swirling with visions of your loving, sweet-smelling bundle-of-joy-to-be. And, of course, it’s all true. However, rarely does anybody let you in on another truism: babies are messy. Really messy! For such tiny little things, they are able to produce an amazing amount of wet, sticky, slimy stuff... sometimes at high velocity. Protect your floors, rugs and more with our two-sided laminated splat mat. When not in use, it folds away into a handy carrying case, which means you can also tote it along to protect the spaces you are visiting with your little mess maker. Good thing they look so cute creating all this chaos!
Oh Baby! with Fabric.com: Snap-on Bib with a Pocket
Welcome to our new series with Fabric.com: Oh Baby! It seems like any time we feature baby projects here on Sew4Home, they immediately rise to the top of everyone’s “must-do-now” lists. We think it’s because there are so many fun fabrics out there these days... especially at Fabric.com. You can choose everything from traditional bunnies and duckies, to bold graphics and colors, such as the modern Oh Deer! prints by MoMo we selected. There’s absorbent chenille on the bib’s back for protection against the twin terrors of fruit punch and mashed carrots, plus a special Cheerios® front pocket (sure... you can put anything you want in the pocket, but we all know it's really for Cheerios®). Download and print our free pattern and follow the easy step-by-step instructions. You’ll have a bevy of bibs in no time.
You Can Do It! S4H EZ-2-Do Half Apron with Jumbo Pockets
One of the best beginner projects is a cute apron. Make one for yourself; make one for a friend... make enough for everyone! It's a fast, fun project that takes just a couple yards of fabric. Our design uses a combination of three coordinating fabrics, which allows you to be creative with color and design. The waistband and ties are surprisingly easy to make but give the apron a "professionally finished" look. And the three jumbo pockets can hold utensils, recipe cards, or just your hands as you spin around the kitchen in your brand new apron, because... You Can Do It!
Re-imagine & Renovate: French Country Apron & Headscarf
One project can turn out an unlimited number of ways, depending on the choices you make with fabrics, trims and notions. That's the fun behind our Re-imagine & Renovate projects, an on-going series here at S4H. The beauty of today's apron is its clean and simple lines, along with a few subtle details, like a gently curved bottom edge and a perfectly matched front pocket. The fully bound edge makes the apron reversible, so you get to chose three coordinating fabrics. We added a matching headscarf to complete the charming peasant girl vibe. Why look... our cute French Country model is on her way to sell warm bread at the village market. (Actually, she's standing on a corner downtown and everyone is staring at her... but that's only because they love her apron!) Our new fabric is from Amy Butler's Gypsy Caravan collection for Rowan Fabrics from Fashionable Fabrics. The blue is the most perfect cornflower shade in combination with a rich, milky ivory. Like a crackle pottery bowl of fresh blueberries and cream.
Weekend Wonders with Fabric.com: Reversible Summer Apron
I think more things in life should be reversible. Having a string of bad luck? Flip it over, and win the lottery. Say something stupid to your best friend? Turn it inside out, and it never happened. Wake up to gray and rainy day for your family picnic? Reverse it to blue skies and sunshine. Sounds good, don't you think? Although I can't promise these awesome social swaps, I can guarantee you'll love today's project in our Weekend Wonders with Fabric.com series. Our reversible apron is made of three bright and happy Kokka cotton canvas prints. From cooking in the kitchen to gardening in the flower boxes, this apron is both hardworking and goodlooking. The front boasts deep pockets and pretty flat felled seam accents. And, as part of our Weekend Wonders series, you know it's fast and easy. Make one for yourself, and one (or more) as gifts.
Weekend Wonders with Fabric.com: Crabtastic Kitchen Towels
Welcome to the newest series with our friends at Fabric.com: Weekend Wonders. Pretty projects you can whip out in a weekend. Ours have a casual summer theme – perfect for a sunny weekend. Make them all to gussy-up your own outdoor living space or create some great gifts for birthdays, anniversaries or barbecue get-togethers. We start off today with a trio of thirsty, 100% cotton towels. Sure... you can buy bundles of towels at the store, but they'll never be as cute as these or as well made. The monogrammed accent ribbon across the center gives you the power of personalization. I believe that's the secret weapon of one of the lesser-known Marvel Super Heroes.
Michael Miller Cotton Couture: Three-Tier Ombre Apron
Ombre is a French word for shading or graduating. In fashion, it refers to the graduation of color in a garment, such as when a fabric is very dark at one end and gradually lightens. With the multitude of tones to choose from within the Michael Miller Cotton Couture collection, we were able to achieve an ombre effect in our apron design, going from light Vanilla on top and shading through to dusky Sage at the bottom of the triple tier skirt. These beautiful neutrals were the perfect base for a little shabby chic style. We added vintage buttons, heirloom lace, subtle embroidery, and a surprise tulle layer in the middle of the skirt. Magnifique!
Kitchen Confections in Moda's Vintage Modern: Toaster Cozy
One appliance that gets almost daily use in most kitchens is the trusty toaster. With all that hard work, it usually ends up looking a bit worse-for-wear. Maybe it's banged up around the edges, for sure there are crumbs aplenty, perhaps a small tattoo from a scorching accident. All in all, it isn't the prettiest member of the kitchen family. Keep it accessible yet under wraps with our trendy toaster cover. This is the final project in our Kitchen Confections series for Moda Fabrics, featuring the beautiful new Vintage Modern collection by Bonnie & Camille. Our clever cozy features a pretty patchwork accent strip, bright piping all around, and an easy-tie handle so it's fast to whip it off or drop it back on. Now you see it... now you don't!

























