We get quite a few compliments on our samples and photography, which makes us blush and makes our day! Some of the most common notes are about how "smooth," "straight" or "perfect" things look, along with a request to know, "What are your secrets?". We're firm believers in surrounding yourself with the top tools to get the job done. Having the right tools on hand makes all the difference in how easy a project is to complete, as well as how good it looks when finished! We've found that spending a little bit more up-front can more than pay for itself in the long run. You save both time and money when the project turns out right the first time, plus there's no hair-pulling, no swearing, no hurling things out the window (all reactions we've been guilty of when a tool has failed us). Because we have three pretty pillows this week as part of our 10 Designers & 10 Collections series for FreeSpirit and Rowan Fabrics, we collected our fave tools for pillow making. Read up - gather 'em up - and make a prettier pillow. 

Having the right tools on hand makes all the difference in how easy a project is to complete, as well as how good it looks when finished! We've found that spending a little bit more up-front can more than pay for itself in the long run. You save both time and money when the project turns out right the first time, plus there's no hair-pulling, no swearing, no hurling things out the window (all reactions we've been guilty of when a tool has failed us). We're firm believers in surrounding yourself with the top tools to get the job done. These are our faves for pillow making. Read up - gather 'em up - make a prettier pillow. Then enter that pillow to win in our Fairfield Processing Great Pillow Personality Contest!

Creating a lush and luxurious Romantic Bedroom Retreat is the perfect opportunity to incorporate a few of the wide variety of trims available. We added dense chainette fringe to our Coverlet and elegant tasseled fringe with crystal accents on both our Valance and Bolster. Plus we have piping and more in upcoming tutorials. These options just prick the surface of the variety of trims available both in-store and online. They always look so beautiful wrapped around their little bolts, rows and rows from which to choose. But many people shy away from using these gorgeous embellishments because they're unsure how to sew them in place. We have more information on the trims themselves coming up later in the Romantic Retreat series. Today, we’re here to help you understand how to use your sewing machine, and the specialty feet (as well as standard feet) available, to sew all kinds of trims.

Did you ever wonder where "Christmas In July" came from? I sure did when I first heard about it. We were in the middle of a heat wave when I pulled up to a local fabric store to find it decked out for the holidays. We've had neighbors leave Christmas lights up all year, but this was really strange. However, nobody else in the store seemed to think it was odd to have the tinsel on a fully decorated Christmas tree rustling in the cool breeze of an air conditioner. I didn't want to look stupid by asking, so I simply smiled as the nice gal in the reindeer antler headband gave me my holiday discount. It was time to uncover the truth behind this Summertime Santaland, and our friends at Moda agreed! We researched the history, took at look at all the great new holiday fabrics from Moda coming out right now, used three of those brand new collections to create some super cute table linens, stockings and gift bags (perfect items to make ahead), and reviewed the cool Sewline marking tools that can make all your projects go faster... whatever the time of year.