Fabric Chain Garland

While preparing for our fourth year birthday celebration we are of course pulling out all the classic party decor.. our HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner, the cheery party bunting/pennants... But we also wanted some fresh trimming too and when Janelle mentioned this idea she'd seen I knew I had to give it a try.
It was, as I expected, extremely fun and relatively easy to execute. After a few trial and errors with the chain size I finally got the look I wanted... Here is what I did:

I used
12 different prints to make 6 pairings - 1/4 yard or 1 fat quarter of each
1 1/5 yards of WonderUnder
an iron
a rotary cutter and mat
needle and thread


First cut your WonderUnder into manageable more managable sizes.. 8.5"x11". The type I use is 17" wide so I simply cut 11" off and then cut down the center.

Next iron WonderUnder down onto one of your prints. Peel off paper backing and sandwich another print onto. With your rotary cutter, trim this new double sided fabric to 10" x 7.5" making certain that the WonderUnder continues to all edges, this will help cut down on fraying. Finally cut off 1.5" strips longways. This should then leave you with five 1.5" x 10" strips.

Continue this once or twice with each of your fabric pairings until you have a sizable stack of double sided fabric strips. I used 44 strips and ended up with approximately 11 feet of garland. 

Now take a strip and over lap the short ends about 1/4", sew together with a simple straight stitch.

Next take another strip and feed it through this first link.

Overlap the ends and sew. Continue in this fashion adding link to link.. building your fabric chain, paying attention to your colors and mix up your prints as you go.

I always love a garland... weather for a holiday or any day.. I think after the party this one will live in my room for awhile ;)

Happy crafting and hope to see you at our PARTY!!! 

This Saturday, 

March 10th from 10AM-5PM @ Sew To Speak

4610 N. High Street

Fun

Well the Shoppe's second birthday party was a major success.

We had a very big turn out and gave away gobs of great fabric! It was such a joy to watch people as they came to claim their prizes. The whole shoppe team was able to be there (including helpers Anne and Martha) and thank goodness for that. We were all needed. It was pretty crowded and somewhat chaotic that day, but in the very best and most festive way possible.
My wonderful dad and sister brought us all a homemade lunch. We took turns, some helping customers while the others snuck away to enjoy the picnic style lunch they set up of us. It was so kind. Plus there were lovely desert and refreshments for all to enjoy, including these delicious and adorable mini cupcakes, homemade by our dear shoppe friend Anne. Anne is an amazing and generous baker, not to mention all around beautiful person. She and her husband are great family friends and Anne willingly makes a cake for every single birthday in our family!

Some customers even brought birthday cards, gifts and flowers! :) 

Sadly I didn't shoot many photos, but after the festivities died down a bit we were able to get our Anne to snap a great group shot of the Sew To Speak team.

From left: Janelle, April (me), Anita, Megan and Emily. Our sixth, Sheila had left a few hours before.

This last shot was taken a few days later.. with the space still adorned in our party decor.

I wish I had shot some pictures during the party to show just how jam packed it was. It would have been fun to share with you, but those of you who were there, know.
Thanks for coming out. And thanks for all of the kind happy birthday wishes via the blog, twitter and facebook too!

'til next time,
:) April

You're Invited

To a party! Wahoo!! 

This Saturday

March 27th

We will be celebrating the Shoppe's second birthday,

from 10am -5pm.

There will be lots of exciting door prizes for sewers, including fantastic (and hard to get) fabrics, books and more. Plus fun gift ideas for toddlers and other sewing inspiration. 

We will draw door prize winners ever hour. Come get your name in the hat early for a better chance to win! You don't have to be present to win. 

Happy Shoppe Birthday

2 Years!

Our little shoppe has come so far and grown so much. Just as the growth of a baby soars within the first two years of life, so has our beloved shoppe, Sew To Speak. 


Starting out with a only a few suppliers now we have dozens. Where we first had only quilting cotton prints and a few printed home dec fabrics now we have many, many more. Linens, wools, silks, knits, organics, flannels, laminates, and felt, to name a few. 


We once had to work to make the shelves look full, now we have to work to find new places to fit it all! 


It was once just Anita working the sales floor with myself (April) helping out as I could and working mostly behind the scenes. Now we have four amazing employees! Janelle, Megan, Emily, and Sheila. Each one brings a unique, fresh spark and ideas all her own. Wow! These beautiful women are indispensable to our business. We feel so lucky to have them. 


In the beginning there weren't even classes, just the hopeful space and the idea of what could be. Then the teachers came. First just a few talented women and now so many. They offer classes for every level of sewer, with projects to suit anyone's style. Teaching the joy and art of sewing, a service that we are privileged and thrilled to provide as well as learn form. 


And then there's you, our wonderful customers. Once Anita knew you all by name...  and now there so many of you that we just can't keep track, though she still tries! Once all our costumers resided in Columbus or at least nearby, now we have customers across the globe through this blog and our web-store!


It would be nothing without all of you. Serving you is and will always be our purpose. Thank you for a great first two years.

Just Blog For Blogs Sake...

...sigh...

My apologies to you, our loyal shoppe blog followers, and

"multiple times a day" blog checkers (Laura!).
I've been battling a bit of blogger's block.

So today I've decided to just get out of the way and let some

fabrics do the work.

Our newest arrival, Alexander Henry's In The Kitchen.

Super springtime and yummy, don't you think?

My mom claims the birdies on the brown background (Willow Wren) to be her favorite but I think the fruits are just too fun. I really enjoy the large and tiny coordinates.

I see a fresh new ironing board cover in my future and/or some grocery totes for my twin sisters who's birthdays are come up soon.

Also, I wanted to give you a quick heads up about our upcoming Shoppe Birthday Party!

The we'll be celebrating the Shoppe's second birthday, Saturday, March 27th from 11am -5pm. We will have door prizes for sewers and fun gift ideas for tots. Come early for a better chance to win!

Look for more info on this and another event coming via email in the later part of next week. You can sign up to receive our emails beside the owl on the bottom of this page.

Aelyn Says:

"hi"
"happy"and "Yuv you gammy"

In other words...
If you find yourself near the shoppe in the next few days be sure to stop in and say Happy Birthday to my Grammy!

Happy Birthday Anita

We yuv you!!!

Spring Classes

Just a quick note to let you know we have many wonderful classes this spring.
Above is a photo of just one class sample you can find hanging in the Shoppe... to view our full list of classes look to the right hand column on this page, and scull down a bit. We have something for every style and skill level. If weekday evenings don't work we have weekend classes too.
Interested? You can stop by Sew To Speak - 4610 N. High Street, call us at (614)267-3011 or e-mail Anita at anitabowman@columbus.rr.com.

Your Shoppe Blogger,
April Rhodes

P.S. The Shoppe Birthday party was an awesome success!
Big thanks to everyone that made it out! We had a FULL house, you can check out a few more pic's of the party here. They where all taken in the first 15 minutes after opening... thats about all the free time we had that day :)

Happy Birthday SEW TO SPEAK!!! :)

She's One!!

As of February 5th Sew To Speak has officially been open for business for one year!
If you receive our e-mails you may have already read when Anita wrote "Someone asked me, 'Does it seem like a year?' and I said, 'It feels like 5!' "
While it has been hard work, I do believe that she would say it's been equally rewarding. She also wrote that "the wonderful part is all of you great customers. I love seeing you and sharing in the joy of sewing. You make my job fun and worthwhile. So thank you for a great first year!"

Getting her started early, Gammy teaches Aelyn to sew!

I want to join her in thanking you for this wonderful first year, but even more than that I want to thank her. Thank you mom for being so brave as to go for your dream, to open your own business and to walk through the fear that comes with taking a chance. And WOW, what an amazing result!
Of course I'm a bit bias, but I think our shoppe rocks! All the faith and hard work shows.
In this first year the shoppe's reception by the community has been awesome. It has certainly become a beneficial resource to our Columbus, Ohio sewers, even to sewers as far away as Suluda, North Carolina and Portland, Oregon (hi Shelly and Jane). People are coming to Sew to Speak for both leisure sewing and profession. Shoppers are being inspired and inspiring us in return.

The satisfaction received from making something to wear, carry, hold or just look at, something for yourself or for someone else, finishing something you're proud of, that you've invested time in, that satisfaction is indescribable. That is what I feel Sew To Speak has become, a place to find, learn and share in that satisfaction.

An adorable customer shows off her great tote made in Amy Butler fabrics.

Our friend Laurie in her beautifully made Joel Dewberry dress.

(just look at those shelves behind her... a little sparse in the beginning, but now
we sit around trying to figure out where we're gonna fit the 30+ new bolts of
Alexander Henry due in any day now..)

Precious Anna poses in her purple skirt made from one of our favorite
Kokka prints. And of course her doll needed one to match. :)

Laura came in to shop wearing her gorgeous Barcelona skirt she
made in Pat's class last summer.

To honor the first birthday we have a celebration planned for
Saturday, March 14th, 11-5
We will have a real birthday party with birthday hats, decorations,
great gift ideas and drawings where you could win a present.
We will draw a name every half hour from 11am - 5pm
and give away some great stuff.
So mark your calendar for March 14th
and come party!