Giveaway: Outside Oslo fabric yardage

Greetings, everyone. To kick off this post-Labor Day week, how about a little fabric giveaway? No, scratch that. How about a big fabric giveaway, totaling nearly $500? With not one, but ten winners!

The Needle Shop, manufacturer of the latest textile line I designed, would like to put some Outside Oslo fabric into your hands. This retro-inspired collection is 54" wide, home dec-weight cotton canvas. It's perfect for making bags, purses, curtains, tablecloths, pillows, furniture, you name it. (Or begging your mom to make those items for you; that's usually what I do. It's much easier.)

Here are a few of the awesome projects from the Outside Oslo Flickr group, where everyone is invited to add photos of their finished work:

Check out the box pouches from Belly of a Whale, or Little Ticket's sweet Ingrid dress. And the jacket by Dashasel is amazing! Inspired yet?

The prizes
Ten randomly selected winners will receive their choice of any three yards of fabric from the Outside Oslo collection. You can get continuous yardage of one design, or mix and match prints (pieces must be at least 1/2 yard). Choose from six different designs in two colorways, Dawn and Dusk. For a two-page PDF that shows the choices, click here.

Above is the Dawn colorway, and below is the Dusk colorway.

How to enter
To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post. Be sure to include a link, email address, or other way of contacting you. And if you've got a favorite fabric store or a manufacturer of cool products that might be interested in some Oslo, mention that, too. The Needle Shop would be happy to send them a bit of info about the line.

The giveaway closes Friday, Sept. 9 at midnight CT. Winners will be randomly drawn, contacted by The Needle Shop, and announced here the following week. International readers are welcome to enter, too.

If you're a fan of The Needle Shop, follow them on Facebook or Twitter. And if you need to purchase more Outside Oslo for yourself, visit their online shop any time. Good luck, everyone!

Update: Giveaway is now closed. Ten lucky winners have been contacted. Congratulations to Jane, Melissa, Anne-Laure, Lamina, Jessica, Katie, Mette, Mandi, Andrea, and Danielle!

For folks who didn't win but would like to grab some Oslo, check out the list of stockists.

Outside Oslo is now available!

News! My new fabric line has just arrived at The Needle Shop and is available for purchase retail and wholesale. The bolts are eagerly standing by, holding their breath in hopes that some kind and discerning people like yourselves will give them a good home.


Guys, I'm in love with these. I can't even decide which is my favorite. I'm leaning toward the Wildflower print in Dawn, above, just because it contains maximum orange. But I think they're all delicious and one should not discriminate amongst one's children.

The set of six Dawn designs are printed on natural canvas, so the backgrounds are sort of a cream color and contain cool little cotton flecks. The Dusk designs are printed on crisp white.


Why is this collection named Outside Oslo, you ask? These prints have a bit of a mid-century vibe and look somewhat Scandinavian to me. Relatives on my mom's side of the family came from Norway. The prints are all named after things you might see on a nature walk somewhere outside a city, and I always adore alliteration. Thus, Outside Oslo.

Above is the complete Dawn colorway.

And above is the complete Dusk colorway.

You can now buy these from The Needle Shop online right here or in the store if you're in Chicago. For a list of stockists around the country, plus a few international shops, click here. And if you know of a store or manufacturer who might be interested in a wholesale order, send them here. I can't wait to see what people make with these!

Update: For some peeks at the fabric in action, see here.

Outside Oslo is available laminated!

Ooo, shiny. My entire home dec line for The Needle Shop now comes in a laminated version. Look at these makeup bags made by Rachel Epperson, the shop's owner. And how about this plump little boxy pouch?

This stuff is perfect for wipeable placemats, seat covers, play mats, and designer Slip 'N Slides. If you need a Christmas present for a sewist, consider a laminated fat quarter bundle and a copy of Sewing With Oilcloth.

Where can you get your hands on some yardage or goods made from Outside Oslo? Some options for you:

Online in Rachel's new Outside Oslo shop — Get fabric (both laminated and regular), as well as products made from the stuff. Totes, pillows, coin purses, placemats, and more. Any of the products can be made in the fabric of your choice.

At the Chicago Renegade Holiday Fair this weekend — Ms. Epperson will man a booth full of fabric and products so you can stock up on Christmas presents. I'm planning to hang around for a bit on Saturday and drool on her merchandise. Stop by and say hi!

At The Needle Shop store — Chicagoans, get hip fabrics, patterns, and sewing notions here. Or visit the online shop.

Say hello to my newest fabric collection: Outside Oslo

Big news! I'm thrilled to announce my latest fabric collection—please meet Outside Oslo, a line of home décor fabrics in two colorways. This batch is brought to you by The Needle Shop, Chicago's delicious little fabric store and sewing school.

Look for Outside Oslo in stores in May. If you're a shop or manufacturer interested in wholesale purchasing, head over to The Needle Shop's page for information on ordering. While you're there, you can grab a PDF that shows all the prints, along with lots of ideas for fun things to make.

Now, allow me introduce the cast of characters. I'm sure it's no surprise there are some orangey guys in here.

Stay tuned for an update when the collection is available to purchase retail. Hope you like it! And now I'm signing off for the week; I'm traveling and will meet you back here on Monday.

Update: The collection is now available online here.

Giveaway: iPhone 5/5s battery case

Uncommon, the company that makes customizable cases for your iPhone, iPad, iPod or MacBook, has some of my patterns in their image collection. You can pick your favorite design and apply it to the case of your choice. Then Uncommon will make it for you and mail it to you in a flash.

Now they've added a customizable iPhone 5/5s Power Gallery™ case to their lineup— a case you can switch on to charge your phone while you're carrying it around in your purse. And they're giving away one case with any Jessica Jones artwork! It's a $119.95 value; not too shabby.

Some specs about the case:
- It gives your iPhone 120% extra battery life
- It features an LED power indicator, so you always know how much power you have left in your case
- You can turn the case battery on and off easily
- It has a 2200mAh battery
- The case comes with a micro USB charge & sync cable, headphone jack extender and a full instruction manual

Check out your six pattern choices here.

To win a case, enter the giveaway by Thursday at midnight EST using the Rafflecopter widget below (it might take a second to load below this paragraph— wait for it!) A winner will be selected using random.org, emailed, and announced in this post on Friday. International entries are welcome.

Update: The winner is Hanna, who lives-- get this-- "just outside Oslo." Outside Oslo is the name of my last fabric collection, so clearly it was meant to be!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Outside Oslo Flickr group

I've started a Flickr group for the Outside Oslo fabric line, so if you make something using these prints, go show it off in the gallery. I will ooh and aah over your work! There are a few photos uploaded already, but they could use some company. Above, a pillow by The Needle Shop and a basket by Ikat Bag. Fabulous.

On an unrelated note, Blogger has been experiencing wide-spread technical difficulties for the past 24 hours. Yesterday's missing post has now emerged from the Bermuda Triangle, but without yesterday's comments. Apologies!

Butterick tote bag: finished!

Mum just sent over her latest sewing project: a bag made from Butterick's B5475 Totes and Wrist Wallet pattern (on sale now for a mere $2.88). I'd picked out the pattern and mailed it to her, along with my Outside Oslo fabric in the Dusk Picket print. I liked the shape of the bag, the corner details at the bottom, and the rounded ends on the straps.

The bag in action.

What the outside of the pattern envelope didn't show, however, is the peculiar fastening situation inside the bag. Tabs with snap, fine. Additional yellow straps with velcro? Mysterious. They're interfaced and run upwards along the exterior sides of the bag, meeting in the center. The straps are what pull the sides of the bag in to give it that interesting shape, but it seems a bit awkward to either unfasten the velcro every time you want to put something in there, or push the yellow strap aside (which is doable). Have you ever seen a bag with this sort of architecture?

Maybe it doubles as a theft deterrent. A would-be pickpocket might give up in frustration while attempting to fish out my wallet. A buckle, some extra ties I could knot, and then maybe a padlock to hold the whole thing shut might be nice additions, just for more security.

The interior has a divided pocket, one side with a couple darts (or whatever those pleats are called that give it dimension) for holding a cell phone.

The outside pocket has velcro on the flap.

Mum did a fantastic job, as always. She reported that turning those straps inside out almost killed her, but she conquered. Man, does she love me.

Pattern review: Bucket Bag

My mom, known to you guys as frequent commenter Grandma G, just finished sewing up a Bucket Bag from Keyka Lou's PDF pattern. She used Skiff in Dawn from my Outside Oslo fabric collection and lined the bag with some Artee cotton duck in Turquoise.

The pattern has an oval bottom, so it really is sort of like a bucket—a cute one with a big pocket on the outside and a nicely proportioned strap. Mum added a magnetic snap since a closure is always nice. And I love the button with its coordinating scallops.

My niece Courtney, who creatively modeled the bag after Mum finished it, stated that the fabric looks like trimmed fingernail bits. Excellent. Exactly the look I was going for.

Mum writes:
"It was a pleasure to sew a bag from a pattern that didn't have me tearing my hair out because it was so complicated! I really enjoyed making this bag. The instructions were very detailed, yet clear and easy to follow in a numbered, step-by-step format, with photos to illustrate every step.

I would highly recommend this pattern for anyone just beginning to make bags. It'll get you started in the right direction and you'll learn a lot about the bag-making process. I'd also recommend it for more experienced bag makers, just because it's easy and fun! And no matter your skill level, you'll end up with a very cute bag. I love the shape of it as well as just the overall look.

The next time I use this pattern, I'll probably add a pocket or two inside. Also, I might skip the darts on the outside pocket, because unless something is stuffed into those dart areas, they tend to have a dented/dimpled look (kinda like a bra that's not quite filled out, y'know?). I'd trim the pattern piece so that it remains the same shape, just minus the darts."

Purchase the Bucket Bag pattern right here, and check out other Keyka Lou designs here. All patterns are available for instant download, and most are a mere $5.00 through 11/27/11!

"Make Me Up Before You Go-Go" pattern review

My mom, also known as Grandma G in the comments around here, sent over pictures of a new bag she just made using the Make Me Up Before You Go-Go zippered pouch pattern by Erin Erickson. She used the Wildflower canvas print from my Outside Oslo fabric collection, and here's the result.


The design is for a big makeup bag that opens up wide enough to see all the way to the bottom. You could use it to store craft supplies or toys. Or instruments of torture like Mum shows in her photo.

(Apparently these tools are also used for sewing; read about them on her blog if you're curious.)

My favorite part about this bag: she quilted the tulips. They're puffy!


Mum provided some comments on the pattern, which I'll share here:
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I went into this project with every confidence that the pattern would be a good one, because I've sewn from some of Erin's patterns and tutorials before, and I know she does a meticulous job of pattern writing and sews many prototypes before she calls a pattern good enough. I wasn't disappointed! She did an excellent job of writing this one and also of taking many photos to demonstrate her instructions.

I had a little confusion when making the inside zippered pocket. I couldn't visualize how it was going to turn out, but I went ahead and did exactly what she said and followed the photos... and sure enough, it turned into a perfect pocket.

The hardest part of the sewing was putting the binding around the ends of the bag. I had to really do some wrangling (reminiscent of making that infamous Weekender Bag, but not that bad) around those corners, and I admit I picked out some stitches and resewed in a couple of places. Of course, I made it harder by choosing to do it the opposite way that Erin suggested in the pattern... I sewed on the binding from the outside of the bag, because I wanted to make sure my neatest stitching was on the part of the bag that would show the most. I'm glad I did it that way.

Other than that, the rest of the pattern was pretty easy to use. I thought the quilting made for a fun, attractive touch. I'd say if you've had some bag-making and/or binding experience, you could easily sew this project.

Erin has a lot of cool patterns in her shop, and I know she's been working on a fun wallet pattern that should be out soon. In fact, she just wrote a post about how much she prototypes during her pattern writing process. It's very interesting, and it shows all the hard work she puts into her patterns. Read the post and see all the variations for that new wallet here. I just may have to give that a try, too, when the pattern's released!
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Make simple tote bags with The Purl Bee

Outside Oslo, the fabric line I designed for The Needle Shop, is now stocked at Purl Soho. A beautiful store in New York City, Purl Soho has an equally lovely blog that showcases projects made from the goodies they sell. Check out these Oslo tote bags that take just twenty minutes to whip up. Find a link to the instructions in The Purl Bee post right here.

Sew a wallet that turns into a tote

Sew Mama Sew has posted a tutorial by the super clever Lorraine of Ikat Bag today—how to sew a little zippered wallet that unfolds into a bag. Like a transformer. It's an Autobag, or maybe a Recepticon. Thanks for featuring my fabrics, Lorraine!

P.S. The Needle Shop, who manufactured my latest line, is now offering Outside Oslo fat quarter bundles. Get small pieces of all the prints as a set right here.

P.P.S. Sorry to the nonsewers for all the fabric-centric posts lately. I'm always a little giddy after a new line comes out!

A bit of weekend sewing

Here's another little purse—same model as this one—made with some Outside Oslo scraps. My favorite part is the turquoise zipper, which you can't see very well in this picture.

These are just garden variety pillows. They have zippers, too, if that earns me any extra points? Maybe? (Real sewers just rolled their eyes, but I don't care. I'm comfortable with sewing mediocrity.) Speaking of real sewers, my mum is making me something else. Can't wait!

Fabric sighting at Mod Cloth

Speaking of lamps, helpful blog reader Rachel sent me a tip yesterday. Mod Cloth is selling a table lamp made with the Tulip print from my Outside Oslo fabric collection for The Needle Shop. So cute. And then of course they sucked me in and made me page through their billions of pretty dresses. Confound you, Mod Cloth!

I quickly found about 30 options that would coordinate with this lamp. So important when buying a dress, you know. It should coordinate with your lamp.

Stitch Savvy, a really pretty sewing book

I just got my hands on a copy of Stitch Savvy by Deborah Moebes. First, the part where I get excited because some of my Outside Oslo fabric makes an appearance, including that beautiful shot on the cover.

Some Tulip.

Some Picket.

Second, the part where I admire all the lovely projects and pick out some of my favorites:

A fun footstool slipcover.

A really cute purse. You can also sew the shirt. If you wear them together, you will laugh happily.

There are even instructions for a jacket. If I managed to sew an entire jacket, I wouldn't be able to stop beaming, either.

I haven't studied the book enough to evaluate the instructions, but I love the visual style of it. All the fabrics Deborah uses are terrific, and the photos look clear and helpful. You can peek inside and get a copy at Amazon.

Fabric sighting: laptop bag tutorial

I was delighted to see a beautiful tutorial using some of my Outside Oslo fabric at Sew Mama Sew today. The lovely Joy Kelley of How Joyful demonstrates how to sew a padded laptop bag. The more I studied the photos, the more I realized just how special this bag is: it can levitate. I want one! Learn how to make it here.