Summer's Here & Am I Glad

I love summer for many reasons. The first of which is I adore warm weather and sitting on my front porch. It is so nice to have the summer breeze blowing on your skin. This summer for me is very special as I have a granddaughter to sew for. Her name is Raine and she is one month old. However she already has four handmade garments. That is with no advance notice that she would be a girl. I have a few more plans on the table in various states of started. We have so many fun things in our heirloom assortments for sewing for a child. I had the joy of sewing for my grandson until he was too old to wear my creations. However, there is nothing like sewing for a girl. I will admit that sewing for a boy made me push the boundaries of my creativity. I had to learn to digitize on my embroidery software. I created piped insets for the first time on his linen romper. I couched twine on a jacket, and I monogrammed his shirts. It was all a great joy. Sewing for a girl just is the best. You don't have to even open your eyes in the morning and the ideas for a girl come pouring into your brain. I am currently plotting a dress with fish, a dotted romper, and a Christmas dress.

The latest Creative Needle Magazine just arrived this week and we have two Liberty and silk dresses featured. Each dress has a matching purse that Laura designed the pattern for. She not only made the bags to match the dresses, but she made four more bags that were shot in the center fold of this issue. You can buy any of these items as kits. We are very excited that Creative Needle loved our dresses and purses enough to use them as two articles.

Linen and cotton continue to pour into the store. We have received several new heavier weight cottons that can be used for upholstery or jackets. The prints on these cottons are designer prints and one is prettier than the next. I think the one I like the best is whichever one I am looking at, since I continuously change my mind.

We also have new collections from Tina Givens and Amy Butler. Both of these designers are now with the same company as Kaffe Fassett. Several of Kaffe's latest prints have arrived.

Several new ribbons and trims came in. We have hand dyed silk velvet ribbon. We have many new ribbons and some ruffled trims. I am making tee shirts so I can add the ruffled trim to the neck and sleeves. They will be really cute.

We thank all of our internet customers for their orders. The internet business just keeps booming and we are ever so grateful. We now have Elizabeth working full time to keep the orders moving out the door. She is the best and very efficient. Those of you who ordered from us know how efficient she is.

We continue to plot new samples for the gallery. Our dressmakers have a stack of things to complete. Hopefully, you will see several of them shortly on the gallery.

It won't be long before wools start to arrive for fall. If you like to get a head start on the season we should have several new wools arrive in July. I will keep you posted.

Come see us or call us and have Elizabeth send you swatches of anything you are interested in. We know it is hard to buy fabric without touching it.

Happy Summer Sewing. Summer is a great excuse to make something new and cool.
Joyce