Last week something rather unexpected happened to me: my friend Amy asked me if I wanted to go through her late grandmother's sewing supplies and told me I was free to take whatever I could use.  I never met her grandma but she must have been a sewing addict just like me! There were hundreds of hundreds of fabrics, as well as thread, zippers and just everything you can possibly think of.
It took us several hours to look through everything and I found some really nice fabrics, some of which could even be vintage. I decided to show you a small selection of what I brought home. It would just be too much to show all the fabric I got!!

We also found these old, handwritten receipts from 1980! And this pretty little paper box with fabric, a matching zipper and seam binding. I wonder if she got that for Christmas a long time ago? Or if it was meant to be a Christmas present and she decided to keep it for herself (been there, done that!)?? Some of the things we found really made me wonder about the story behind it.

And it gets better: we found hundreds of spools of thread! I decided to keep almost all of them, a lot of them hadn't even been opened yet! If the thread is still usable (does Polyester thread ever expire and get fragile I am wondering?) then I will never have to buy thread again in this life :)

And more fabrics (all not ironed, sorry!):

And there was also this: Mary Poppins!! And her bottomless bag and her parrot head umbrella as well! I have absolutely NO clue what to do with this fabric but I knew I could NEVER leave this behind. I loved Mary Poppins as a kid. Actually I still do!

I also got a whole bunch of seam binding and bias tape in all the colors you could think of. Also some elastic and a few buckles! I especially love the green buckles. I will definitely use them for some of my bags.

I was really moved when Amy offered me to take a look at her grandma's sewing room and I am happy that some of the fabrics and sewing supplies now have a new home in my little sewing studio. Joann Fabrics will not be seeing me for a while, that's for sure!

Hi everyone!
We are already past mid January, I truly apologize for having been absent for so long but I honestly don't know where time went... The only good thing about it is it brought us 2 weeks closer to spring :)
Anyways, I have come up with a easy and relatively short tutorial on how to make an iPad case! My birthday was on December 20 and as many of you know I spent it in Germany with my family. This iPad mini was a gift from my husband, and thoughtful as he is he gave it to me before I left the US, so that I could already use it on my long flight and while I was home!
Of course I needed to make a stylish case for it and I thought I'd share with you. I hope you like this tutorial. This pattern will fit all iPad models, regardless the size.
This tutorial is free but if you would rather prefer to download this complete tutorial as a pdf file you may purchase it here for only $2.
Happy sewing!

Please read all instructions before you begin.
All cutting measurements given are height x width.
All seam allowances are 1/2” unless stated otherwise.

You need:

- Exterior fabric for outer main body: 1 fat quarter (18” x 22”)
- Lining fabric for inner main body: 1 fat quarter (18” x 22”)
- Heavy fusible stabilizer e. g. Pellon Peltex #71F: no more than a 12” x 22” piece (depends on iPad size)
- Fusible interfacing e. g. Pellon 906F Fusible Sheerweight: 1/3 yd
- 1 piece of hook and loop tape (sew-on): 2”
- Elastic: approx. 1/2 yd (I used ruffle elastic for a more decorative look)

  Below I give the exact measurements for an iPad mini case and the formula to calculate the measurements should you want to make a case for different iPad models.

Cut the following fabric pieces:

A) Outer main body (use exterior fabric) – cut this 1x:

For iPad MINI:
9 1/2" x 12 1/4”

For other iPad models use the following formula to determine the size of the fabric piece:
- Take the height of your iPad and add 1 1/2”: this is the height of your fabric piece.
- Take the width of your iPad and double it. Add the depth of your iPad. Add 1 1/2": this is the width of your fabric piece.

(e. g. if your iPad is 9 1/2” high, your fabric piece will have a height of 11”
          if your iPad is 6 1/2” wide and 1/4" deep your fabric piece will have a width of 14 3/4” )

B) Inner main body (use lining fabric) – cut this 2x:

For iPad MINI:
9 1/2" x 6 5/8”

For other iPad models use the following formula to determine the size of the fabric pieces:
- The height of your fabric pieces will be the same as for the main body outer part.
- Take the width of your main body outer part as measured above. Divide by 2. Add 1/2”: this is the width of your fabric piece.

(e. g. your fabric pieces will be the have the same height as the main body exterior fabric, in this case 11”
If your main body inner fabric was 14 3/4” as measured above your inner main body fabric pieces will have a width of 7 7/8”

C) Heavy fusible stabilizer – cut this 1x

For iPad MINI:
Measurements as given in A). Subtract 1/2" from each of the four edges.

For other iPad models:
Measurements as given in formula under A). Subtract 1/2" from each of the four edges.

D) Fusible interfacing – cut this 2x

For iPad MINI:
Measurements as given in B).

For other iPad models:
Measurements as given in formula under B).

The following parts have the same size regardless of iPad type:

E) Closure tab:

From exterior fabric – cut this 1x:
4 1/2” x 5 1/2”

From heavy fusible stabilizer – cut this 1x:
3 1/2 ” x 4 1/2”


Instructions:

- Fuse interfacing onto the wrong side of the inner main body fabric pieces.
- Fuse heavy stabilizer to the wrong side of the tab closure fabric piece. Make sure to place it centered onto the fabric piece so that there will be no stabilizer on the seam allowance.

1.) Make the inner main body
- Place one of your inner main body fabric pieces right side up and put your iPad centered onto it.
- Place your elastic onto one corner so that it covers the corner of your iPad. It should be positioned loosely, don’t tighten it just yet. Make sure to position the elastic in an angle so that it would cover enough of your iPad to hold it in place but at the same time won’t cover too much of your screen. If you are satisfied with your positioning pin the elastic down on both fabric edges.
- Cut off your elastic and repeat the previous step on the three other corners.

- After pinning down the elastic remove your iPad. Smooth the elastic out to make sure it lies flat on the fabric. You may have to remove some of the pins again and pin it down again.
- Stitch the elastic onto the fabric using a 3/16” seam allowance.

- Place the second inner main body part onto the inner main body part with the elastic attached, right sides together. Make sure that all edges are aligned. Pin in place and sew along the left-hand long edge. Iron the seam open and set aside.

2.) Make the outer main body
- Make the tab closure:
Fold the tab closure fabric piece in half vertically, right sides together. This means that your fabric piece will be 4 1/2” x 2 3/4” after folding. Iron or handpress to make sure you will see the center crease. Unfold again and place the closure tab fabric piece right side up.

- Place the soft part of your hook and loop tape onto your closure tab fabric piece: it should be positioned approx. 1/2" left from the center crease and centered between the top and the bottom edge of the fabric piece. Pin in place and sew the hook and loop tape to the fabric piece using a 1/8” seam allowance.

- Fold your fabric piece in half along the center crease again, right sides together. Pin in place and stitch along both short edges. Turn it right side out.

- Place your closure tab (with the hook and loop tape facing up) onto the outer main body fabric piece. It should be positioned centered on the left-hand side edge of the outer main body fabric piece. The raw edges of both the tab closure piece and the main body piece should be aligned. Pin in place and stitch along the raw edge using a 1/4" seam allowance.

3.) Assemble the iPad case:
- Place the outer main body piece (with the closure tab attached) onto the inner main body piece right sides together. Make sure that the side with the closure tab touches the side with the elastic. Make sure that all edges are aligned and pin in place.

- Sew around all edges but leave an opening of approx. 7” at the side that does not have the closure tab or elastic attached. Trim down the seam allowance and clip the corners. Turn right side out. Fold the seam allowance at the opening down to the inside and iron.

- Find the right spot for the second part of your hook and loop tape:
Take your iPad and put it inside your case. Fold the case in half as if closing it. Take a fabric marker and mark the spot where the hook and loop tape of the closure tab touches the exterior main body.

- Sew the hook and loop tape onto the exterior main body at the spot you marked using a 1/8” seam allowance. You may have to remove the arm of your sewing machine for this step.

- Insert the heavy stabilizer into the casing: Slide it through the opening, match all corners and flatten it out. Make sure it sits nicely inside the case (you will be fusing the stabilizer to the fabric in the very last step when ironing your iPad case).

- Make sure that the seam allowance of the opening is still folded to the inside. Pin in place and topstitch the opening close.

- Finish up your case by ironing it thoroughly. At the same time your stabilizer will be fused to the fabric.

Happy New Year to all of you! I hope you had nice holidays. Before I flew to Germany for Christmas I treated myself to a short trip to NYC. I had never been there before so during the two days I spent there I wanted to do some sightseeing of course, but something else - not less important - was also on my list:
check out some fabric stores in the Garment District of Manhattan!!

I didn't really have too much time but I made it to three different stores. The first one didn't really impress me at all, which is why I won't share anything about it. But the two others were amazing!

1. Mood Fabrics
225 W 37th St 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10018
I doubt there will be any sewer who is not familiar with Project Runway or this awesome store. After riding the elevator to the third floor you will feel like entering paradise. At least if you are into making clothing. This store is huge but so well organized! There are actually two floors with an enormous selection of apparel fabrics. I was a little bit overwhelmed by the amount of bolts in each single aisle but they have a very good labeling system which made it easier to find what I was looking for. I particularly wanted to check for cotton knit fabrics and for tweed. I spent about 1.5 hours in the store and two different - very friendly - staff members helped me find the right fabrics for my purposes. This is what I bought:

Two knit fabrics both of which I am planning on making into some sort of summer dresses. I especially love the left one with this phenomenal print and color scheme.
They are both 100% cotton which I love since I am having a hard time finding knit fabrics in my local stores that are not made of polyester. I should have probably bought so much more. But I was scared my suitcase would be too heavy in the end. I guess I will have to come back some time :)

In the wool section I bought this purple tweed fabric. I was looking for something for my mom for her birthday which was at the end of December. She is a sewing addict as well (she is actually the one who got me into sewing, thanks Mama!) so I thought some nice fabric from Mood would be a perfect birthday gift. She likes making short jackets and coats and I think this fabric will look perfect on her.

At checkout they even signed me up for Mood Rewards. Now I have a pretty key chain which I carry around. Even though it might be a while until I come back :)

2. The City Quilter
133 W 25th St
New York, NY 10001

This store is perfect if you are a quilter or bag maker. It has a decent size with a nice selection of cotton fabrics and also some home decor fabrics. They are all sorted by colors which I loved! First of all it just looks really nice and second of all it saved me a lot of time since I would only check out the shelves with my preferred color schemes. I bought four different fabrics here which of course are all going to be made into some sort of bag :)

In case you are interested here's some information about the designers (from left to right):
1. Juggling Summer by Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic for Moda.
2. Ladies' Stitching Club by Liesl Gibson of Oliver + S for Moda.
3. Twenty Three by Eric & Julie Comstock of Cosmo Cricket for Moda.
4. 1000 Cranes by Rashida Coleman Hale for Cloud 9 Fabrics.

I can't wait to get started on sewing with my new fabrics! What is your first project for the new year going to be?? Maybe you even got some new fabrics for Christmas? I would love to know what you are up to for the new year so just leave me a comment if you like :)