Black Friday - Cyber Monday Sale!

I am so excited to be able to put my shops on sale this year! Everything in both shops, custom order or ready-made is eligible for savings.

Use the coupon code THANKS2013 at either shop and save 10% on all purchases made November 29-December 2.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here come the Holidays! Part 2

It's been a hectic weekend, perfect follow up to last week and probably indicative of the weeks to come. Busy is good, right? I am the kids of person who fails at boredom, I can't handle it, if it gets quiet I start building to do lists and planning projects. That said, you'd think my house was decorated and my laundry didn't pile up but that's where it all breaks down for me, because I like doing fun stuff, things I want to do, not necessarily all those things that need to be done. As I was preparing for a craft show last month slowly working through the list of projects I had planned to bring with me a friend suggested baby doll carriers. Since I had a lot of things on my list already it seemed like a perfect opportunity to find a pattern and knock out a couple of doll carriers to take with me to the show. Well I was torn between some of the patterns I found on Pinterest, I liked the Oliver & S version but I didn't have time to order it so lo and behold I drew my own version based on the Oliver & S style, with a few modifications based on how my kids favourite creatures fit.

They weren't a fast seller at the craft show, in part I think because they were and unexpected challenge to display but since then they have started to move on Etsy and I'm thinking for any gifts you need to send oversea's they can't be beat because they are lightweight and pack flat.

Here are a few of the style's available, of course I have a few more fabrics in the works...maybe in time for my next craft show. :)

Now I just have to decide on which fabrics to use for my own kids Christmas presents this year!

Here come the Holidays! Part 1

Wow! There is nothing like one of those weeks where you are flat out busy, laid up with the flu and swimming in projects to remind you that the holiday's are just around the corner. This has been that week for me. Somehow I've managed to recover from the flu and still produce some great new items in time for the holidays. If you're looking for some fun stocking stuffers or some teachers gifts check out the new tea wallets on the site, there are new ones coming (as in I have them made just need to catch up on my photography!)

Tomorrow I will be featuring some of the kids products I have available and be sure to stop by Wednesday for details on our holiday weekend promotions!

What's for Dinner?

I will confess that I am one of those people who regularly tries out new recipes on guests. Every time I do I berate myself about it as I anxiously await the results, hoping desperately that everything will be edible. It usually is. The other night I decided to do something I never do, try out a recipe that I would entertain with on my family, you know, learn and save myself some anxiety.

So for a mid-week dinner I decided to test out a Souffle recipe. Best of all, it worked! I was so surprised and proud to have done it, I just had to share.

It was a goat cheese and herb souffle (hence the vivid green colour) and even my kids loved it. If you're feeling like trying one out this recipe was from Essential Pepin by Jacques Pepin, a cookbook I love and have amazing success with.

Happy Friday!

Ready, Set, Latch - Prize Set

I was asked to supply a prize for the National Breastfeeding Challenge taking place on October 5th. It was funny how it played through my head, at first it was panic - I'm a new business, there's not a lot of room for giveaways....then I thought of all those lonely night feeds and I thought ABSOLUTELY! we should get a prize for breastfeeding! All those early, uncomfortable and even painful days, the "I feel like a cow" growth spurts, the mountain of laundry because you leak around the nursing pad...they deserve some recognition. I know we get those beautiful moments where baby is so peaceful and the world seems to quiet just so not to disturb their precious slumber and it's rewarding in itself. But I found myself doing this in recognition of the not so peaceful moments, the bouts of mastitis, the improper latch, the colicky baby where Mom's persevere to do the best they can.

That said, I still made something for baby because as a Mom I love cute stuff for my kids. It makes me happy and I hope this cuddly bathrobe makes another Mom happy too!

 



 

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A Friday Ramble

Well it's been a week of change here. I guess you could say that this week in addition to having 2 kids in school (kindergarten and preschool) I've also made the transition from stay-at-home mom to work-from-home mom. I know you're probably thinking it's a pretty subtle change and since I've been running my etsy shop for almost 18 months now I guess it is, but the mindset has changed. For the first time in over 5 years I have goals that are only mine and I'm kind of enjoying it.

I really struggled with the decision to enrol my youngest in a full time program, but he is happy and challenged and with week 1 behind us, I think it was the right choice for him. Did you send your kids to preschool? or keep them with you until they were school age?

On the sewing front, I can't believe the productivity when it's just me and the sewing machine in daylight hours. Of course I've been having so much fun trying out new patterns for my shop that I've fallen behind on the photography....but hey, that's what Monday's for!

Anyhow, because I don't really have photo's of my own projects I thought I'd share a few pinterest finds that have inspired me this week:

http://blubloxx.com/blubloxx/

 

I love the patchwork denim! I think for a bean bag cover or floor cushion in a teen or soon to be teen's room they would look amazing and wear beautifully. I feel an upcycle project coming on!

 

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilfishstudios/3844229740/

 

It was such a fall feeling day that these coasters are just the perfect addition to a cup of warm apple cider, a good book and maybe the first fire of the season.

  

Want to see what else I found on Pinterest? find me at www.pinterest.com/threadbykristen

Have a happy weekend!

 

A Facebook Page - at last!

I feel like this post should probably also be titled "Late to the Party" but I have finally created the Thread facebook page. I first created it in March but then was reluctant to publish it until I had all the photo's listed. Finally, as I set about trying to load a few more products I thought...why not publish the page and THEN finish loading the photos when there may actually be an audience to see them?!

So I love to have you stop by an check out the page, I should have new photos going up regularly!

www.facebook.com/threadbykristen

Late to the party

Well I had almost talked myself out of participating in the sew along for project run and play Season 8 but it's been ages since I sewed anything for the kiddo's and I can't seem to help playing with ideas for the popover dress remix so I'm giving in...off to sew furiously into the night.

Masquarade

Sorry, last week's posts got a little derailed. These last few weeks of August I always find get a little insane, between trying to fit in the last few days of daytrips and fun before school starts and trying to get everyone back into a normal routine so next week's return to school is as smooth as possible.

Anyhow, amongst all the insanity I've also had a great week at my shop. I started a new custom project just yesterday for some custom felt masks that I'm finding really fun. I have to say the reception to these masks has been excellent. My kids play with theirs almost everyday and they were even part of our own party loot bags.

These are the standard masks:

 



For this custom project I'm making the masks a little bigger to accomodate some embellishment and I think they are super cute for a fun mixed birthday party.

 

Happy Monday!

A little something new

All month I'm hoping to have new items in my shop each week. In my fantasy this really looks like 3-4 new items per week. Reality is a little more like 1-2 items. I'm ok with that, especially since its summer and the kids are home, the sun is shining and calling us outside. Here are a few of the new pieces listed this past week:

 

Rustic Burlap Grocery Bag Holders now available at Thread

 

Small Toy Storage Bag now available at Thread too

 

 

For the month of August I'm offering free shipping with the purchase of 2 or more items from the accessory section at Thread too, be sure to check it out!

Happy Monday!

Mixed Bag Friday - Gluten Free

I decided that Friday would be the catch all for all the randomness that is my life. Throughout the week there are so many things that catch my eye (nice way to say I spend to much time on Pinterest) and with a 3 year old and a 5 year old at home there is always something going on from crafts to new recipes.

This week I wanted to share some of what's been going on for us this summer. We've found my daughter to be gluten intolerant. I'm grateful that her symptoms have always been mild (bloating, gas and occasional tummy aches when it's been a very gluten-heavy day) and that we finally have it figured out, but I was really hoping this wouldn't be the case. We'd already restricted lactose for both children, not too bad but I swear more people invite us out for ice cream now than in the whole rest of my life put together. Now with the added gluten intolerance I dread eating out, going to birthday parties and pretty much every social outing (since with little kids it's always about food). That said I realise that there are lots of options and people are very willing to try to accommodate us, we pack a lot of food when we go anywhere now. I know this will get easier, but eight weeks in I find it completely overwhelming.

In preparation for school I've been combing Pinterest for collections of lunch-friendly, kid-friendly gluten free foods. Here are a few I've found that I like so far:

Gluten Free quiche, we've tried this recipe as both crustless (not a big hit) and a slightly modified version in a store bought gluten free crust (the clear winner).



Next up on my to try list is Gluten free Pierogies I know you are probably thinking that pierogies are not your typical lunch box fare but they were easily the most requested item of the previous school year.

And of course I need some sort of option for pizza day so we're going to try a cauliflower crust recipe. I don't dare send this one to school without a test run first!





Finally, because there is not enough going on in early September (heavy sarcasm here) I was reading the announcement of the themes for Project Run and Play and I am seriously trying to figure out if I can fit the sew along into my schedule...I need to sleep on it.

Have a great weekend!

A skirt from scraps

I will admit to being totally surprised by the summer Kids Clothing Week. I went looking for the dates but of course it was planned for the week we were away camping, not too conducive to sewing for an hour each day. To make matters worse, I only found the dates the week before the challenge was to start. So I decided I would just sew with what I had on hand and I would start early to that over the course of 3 weeks, in between summer activities I should cover the 7+ hours of sewing.

For my first project I pulled out some left over corduroy fabrics, I'd used the solid for a spring coat a year or so ago and the floral had been a dress the previous winter. Since I didn't have a lot of either fabric I had to hunt down a pattern with judicious fabric use. The winning pattern: The Milkmaid Skirt. I loved that it wasn't design to be flowy or twirly, since neither of those would work with the corduroy and I could blend the fabrics so I'd have enough.

 

 

 

I love the pocket detail:

 

 A little surprise inside the pocket:  

 

 And of course the back.

Overall I was very pleased with how the skirt turned out, it's practical for school this fall, it's something she really doesn't have much have for fall and best of all it's all made of scrap fabric making it an amazing deal!

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