Manly-Man Scarf

There are times when you have to knit a plain scarf for someone with a conservative sense of style.  But "plain" does not have to equal "boring!"  Pick the right yarn, like the subtly-fuzzy Aran weight Concept by Katia Cotton-Merino (which comes in several neutral colors and a few with subtle stripes) and you'll be done in no time and enjoy the process, too!  Look how happy I am to be working on it ... and how cute those stripes look when they're knit up!

Materials:
2 balls Concept by Katia Cotton-Merino in color 205
US size 10 knitting needles (straight or circular, your choice)

Directions:
Cast on 28 stitches.
(Knit 1, purl 1) across.

Pattern row: Slip first stitch of row as if to knit with yarn in back, purl 1, then (knit 1, purl 1) across.

Repeat pattern row until you have a few yards of yarn left, then bind off LOOSELY in pattern.

Lazy Dad's shawl pins, now available!

My very handsome and talented father has been carving for decades - actually, we can actually measure it in fractions of a century at this point - so it was no problem at all for him to whip up some shawl pins for me when I started whipping up shawls. They were so beautiful and functional that I encouraged him to make some extras to sell. And the owner of River Colors Studio in Lakewood agreed that they're awesome, so now you can buy them there!

Stop in and grab one before they're gone, because you never know when Lazy Dad will get sick of making these and then they'll be gone for good.

Why yes, I am insane - why do you ask?

There's still time to order your custom Halloween costume ... mermaid tails are now available in a limited edition spectacular green scale print with purple backing.

Order ASAP for Halloween delivery, but definitely before Oct. 25.

Mother's Helper

Oh, the joys of knowing a 13-year-old who will come and play with Lazy Kid for money while I get massive amounts of work done. In two four-hour bursts, I have:

- designed a new product for etsy (all that's missing are decent photos and a good name)

- made half a dozen of said new product

- finished up and published a pattern that's been sitting on my desk for months, just waiting to be proofread and listed

- listed and relisted almost a dozen items

- got together another submission of my Awesome Underappreciated Quilt Design, which goes out in tomorrow's mail.

- possibly spent a little too much of my "work" time on Ravelry, looking for "inspiration." Yeah, that's it! Inspiration!

Here's hoping she can come back next week so I can get these new dealios listed on etsy and write up a couple of extra patterns and edit some photos I might try to sell online and ... oh, crap, guess I'm going to need more than one day, huh?

Little Legwarmers now available

Just a quick note to let everyone know that you can now buy my Little Legwarmers EXCLUSIVELY at Above the Barre dance studio in Berea, OH.

The legwarmers all feature decorative ribbon bows at the top and double-overcast edges at the bottom (which look a little different from the ones in the photo, but trust me, they're even cuter with the new lettuce hem). Great as legwarmers for young kids, or armwarmers for older kids or adults! Each pair is individually made by me, and comes packaged in a cute cello bag with care instructions on the tag. A steal at only $8 a pair!

Get them while you can - I sold three pairs before the owner had finished reading the consignment agreement I wrote up!

If they sell well at the studio, I may try selling them at additional venues, so let me know if you have any suggestions of places who might be looking to sell kids' clothing.

Tummy Time on the Prairie - done! (except for the pattern)

This is a 30"x30" tummy time activity quilt. Currently the actual quilt is for sale in my etsy store, and I'm pleased to announce that KITS for this pattern will be up later this week, if the horrid illness that's crippling my daughter's lungs doesn't strike me down, too. Yeah, like it's going to pass me by! That would be a miracle ...

Look how awesome my customers are!

Jessalyn from Junebug Creations bought my South Sea Squares quilt pattern a few months ago, and look how darling hers turned out!

(photo by Jessalyn, used with her permission)

This is my favorite part about pattern design - seeing how other people interpret my designs in fun new ways! Of course, I could just be partial to this quilt because I love the sock monkey fabric ... but come on, it's a quilt cute even if you don't have the sock monkey fabric obsession I have!

So come on, Lazy Mamas! Show me what you've made ... hmmm, do I smell a contest abrewing?

New listing - mermaid tail and tiara costume set

You know you want one - and they come in your size! So go buy one already ...

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14789641

New merchandise

Cute little lined cotton zip bags, with a strap suitable for use around a child's or adult's wrist. I made one for Lazy Kid, who had plenty of purses but none that actually closed, so when she took her change to the mall to ride on the little rides, she'd sling the purse around and quarters would go flying everywhere. The bag turned out so cute that I thought there might be a market for them. Find all four designs in the "bags" section of my etsy shop.

Not a pattern, but it IS new merchandise

Now available in the store. So cute, it makes me want to hide it in a closet and keep it for myself.

And now for something a little different

This is what the mindless stitching turned into - a set of four framed mini quilts, one for each season. My favorite is fall:

Now available in my etsy shop - get 'em while they're hot!

Come, learn from me!

I'm now officially in the Birds of a Feather online catalog:

http://www.datasponsor.com/boaf/classes.htm

Class - MoYo Throw, June 22 and 29 2008

The lovely folks at Birds of a Feather in Avon, Ohio, have graciously invited me to teach a class based on my MoYo Throw pattern. In case you've been living under a rock this week, the MoYo Throw features yo-yos that are almost 5" across, made from fabric from the Benartex line "Gilded Opulence." I am in love with that fabric, and I think you will be too when you see it in real life.

I'll be covering the whole quilt from start to finish - the only out-of-class work will be the initial cutting and maybe some of the hand-gathering on the yo-yos. It should be a lot of fun, and the quilts should be showstoppers when we're done.

Liz is selling kits for the project in two different color ways - one lime/fuschia like my sample, the other a more muted one based on the red/gold colorway for the yo-yos. Kits are available either as part of the class, or separately if you don't feel like being social while you work on the project. I understand. Just remember, though - where I go, chocolate follows, so you might want to think about that class after all :)

Anyhow, if you're in the area and interested, I'll be teaching the 2-session class on June 22 and June 29 from 1-3pm each day. Contact Birds of a Feather at 440-934-2374 to register or to order a kit.

Hope to see you there!

MoYo Throw Pattern Page

MoYo Throw Pattern

What do you call yo-yos that are almost 5" across? Mo-Yos! They're "mo" simple, "mo" fun, "mo" quick, and "mo" stunning than any yo-yos you've ever seen. What a great way to showcase a couple cool fabrics (or make a unique gift in record time!).

Approximate finished dimensions: 40"x50"

A person with average sewing skills should be able to finish the machine sewing in about two naptimes (4 hours). This project requires several hours of additional time for handsewing, but this time can be squeezed in whenever you have a few minutes.

Photos from the pattern directions:

Closeup of the yo-yo

Sewing the yo-yos before gathering them:

Pattern includes illustrated directions and suggestions for additional variations on the project. It is packaged in a resealable plastic bag (6"x9"), ready to hang and sell.

Wholesale price: $4.00/pattern
Suggested retail price: $7-$9, or whatever the market will bear in your area

Free shipping on your first order! Shipping charges for subsequent orders will be the actual charges for USPS Priority Mail to your destination.

I am willing to make free samples to display in your shop, if you are willing to provide the materials. Please contact me for more information on this service.

For more information or to place an order, please contact Gretchen Woods at Lazy Mama Designs: lazymamadesigns (at) yahoo (dot) com.

NEW!! You can also place orders through my shop at etsy.com - just convo me with a request, including the number of patterns you'd like to buy, and I can post a custom listing for you at the wholesale price.

Thank you for your interest, and I hope to hear from you soon!

Ruffled Yo-Yo directions - as seen in Birds of a Feather April block of the month

Greetings, Block of the Month quilters! As promised, here are the directions for the ruffled yo-yos we used to decorate April's block of the month. Hope you enjoy making these as much as I do!

In all the photographs for the yo-yo construction, the lavender fabric is the “body” and the yellow fabric is the “contrast.”

For each ruffled yo-yo:
1. Using either scissors or pinking shears, cut a 5” circle of body fabric and place it face-up on your work surface. Now cut a 4 ½” circle of contrast fabric and place it face-up, centered on top of the body fabric.
2. Cut off an 18” piece of thread that coordinates with the body fabric and thread it through a handsewing needle. Knot the end several times so you’ve got a decent-sized knot.
3. With the pair of fabrics in front of you so that the contrast side is up, fold the closest edge of one yo-yo up toward the center of the circle – you should mostly see the body fabric. Push the needle through the body fabric and contrast fabric about ½” in from the edge of the larger fabric circle, pulling the knot snug against the body fabric.


4. Fold the edge of the fabrics toward you near where the thread comes through, forming a hem that is a little more than ½” wide on the largest circle. You only need to hold about a thumb’s width of the edge folded over at one time – if you try to fold too much, you’ll run out of fingers to hold it in place and the folds will end up straight instead of sort of curved.
5. To lock the knot in place, push the needle down through all four layers of fabric near the fold about 1/16” to the right of where the thread comes through the hem. Now push the needle back up through the hem and body, about 1/16” to the left of where the thread comes through. Pull the thread through so that there is no slack.

6. Hem the edge of the whole circle with a running stitch, making the stitches about ½” long and as close to the folded edge of the fabric as you can. The longer the stitch, the smaller the hole in the middle of the finished yo-yo. The fastest way to do this is to rock the needle up and down a few times, taking several stitches before you pull the thread through.



7. Leave the stitches loose so there’s plenty of room to work while you sew. When you make it all the way around the yo-yo, take one last stitch to the left of the original knot, then pull the thread tight to gather up the stitches in the center of the yo-yo.

8. Squish the yo-yo flat so the hole is in the center of a gathered circle and the ruffles are spaced evenly around the hole. Take a small stitch in the edge of one ruffle near where the thread is coming out from your last stitch, but don’t pull the thread taut yet. Now put the needle through the small loop of thread you’ve got left from your last stitch, and pull it taut to make a knot around the edge of the gather. Repeat this to make a second small knot.
9. Now push the needle through the hole to the inside of the yo-yo, feeding it along one ridge of a gather until the point comes out near the edge of the yo-yo. Pull the needle through and pull the thread snug. This should have buried the tail of the knot inside the yo-yo.
10. Knot the thread on the edge of the yo-yo by taking a tiny stitch and putting the needle through the loop formed by the stitch (as in step 8). Place the yo-yo in the desired location on the quilt block.

11. Take a tiny stitch into the surface of the quilt block and then back through the edge of the yo-yo, but do not pull it all the way taut yet. Push your needle through the small loop of thread you have left in the stitch and pull it taut to make a small knot.
12. Secure the yo-yo all the way around the edge at approximately ¼” intervals, using a whip stitch that catches the edge of the yo-yo and travels along the back of the quilt block from stitch to stitch. 13. When you reach the beginning of the stitching for the yo-yo, take another tiny stitch, pull your needle through the loop of thread, and pull it taut to make a small knot. Now feed the tip of the needle into the edge of the yo-yo, pushing it along the ridge of one gather until it emerges in the hole in the center of the yo-yo. Snip the thread near the center of the yo-yo.

A whole new world ***

I've always made my first contact with potential customers for my patterns in person. That way I can schmooze and show samples of my projects and generally look pitiful, er, professional enough that the shops buy my patterns. It's worked pretty well so far, especially since I was able to cram a few shop visits into our recent vacations (Hello, San Diego! Hello, Ocean City! Hello, Fruitland!). But there's a limit to how many stores I can visit, especially with an increasingly impatient toddler in tow, so I've decided it's time to try a new approach.

Yesterday I mailed pattern catalogs to a select group of quilt supply stores that I think are a good match for my products. I put some research into this, trying hard to find shops that seem to have a decent customer base and a selection of fabrics that mesh well with my style of crafting. After all, there's not much point sending my catalog to a shop that specializes in country colors and Civil War reproduction fabrics, is there?

If my success rate with the catalogs is anywhere near my success rate in person, the mailing will have totally been worth the effort. Ideally, of course, I'd love to sell to all of the shops I've contacted ... but I know that's a long shot, especially since a lot of craft-related businesses seem to be tightening their belts. Stupid recession ... But at least now that the catalog is written and my research is sort of down pat, I can expand my mailing list pretty easily if I want to send out subsequent mailings. Wouldn't it be nice if I had to worry about making sure I wasn't selling to competing stores in the same geographical area? Squee!

Anyway, I don't get nervous about approaching store owners in person, even without an appointment, but sending a catalog out cold gives me pause. I'm not sure if it's worth the effort - who knows how many of the catalogs will end up in the trash can, unread, no matter how well-reasoned and insightful they are? And I'm not sure if this approach comes off as amateurish, too forward, or just normal business. And, of course, agonizing over it on my blog is soooooo professional, right?

Right. I'll just shut up now. If you're visiting from one of the shops I mailed, Hi! I'm really not as neurotic as I seem!





*** Can you tell that I've been forced to watch waaaaaay too many repeats of the stupid Little Mermaid song on YouTube, all in the name of brushing a Certain Someone's hair without listening to indignant screams?

Come meet Lazy Mama!

When: Saturday, April 12th, 10am to 5pm
Where: Birds of a Feather, 36840 Detroit Rd., Avon, Ohio 44011
Why: I'm going to be showing off my new ruffled yo-yo technique, as featured in the shop's April Block of the Month design. I'll also have a trunk show featuring samples of all of my patterns for sale in the shop, as well as some goodies to share with my adoring public.

Have a question about one of my quilts? Hesitant to buy a pattern when you've never seen a sample in person? Curious about whether I really am as drop-dead gorgeous as you imagine? Stop by and mention that you read the blog and I'll have a little something for you!

FREE PATTERN - Very Vernal Placemats

I developed this pattern as a free giveaway for Birds of a Feather in Avon, Ohio. If you're in NE Ohio, I can highly recommend that you stop by and say hi (and pick up a pattern while you're there spending lots of money on cool fabric and yarn). If you're not in NE Ohio, you're in luck, because I'm posting the pattern here!

Directions:
1. Cut one 13”x17” rectangle each from front fabric, back fabric, and batting.
2. Lay batting flat on a work surface, smoothing out any wrinkles. Lay back fabric face-up on top of the batting, smoothing out the wrinkles and matching the edges.
3. Lay the front fabric face-down on top of the back fabric, smoothing out the wrinkles and lining up the edges as best you can. Secure all three layers around the outside of the rectangle, using straight pins or quilt binding clips.
4. Using a 1/2" seam allowance, stitch around the perimeter of the rectangle, pivoting at the corners and leaving about a 4” opening for turning.
5. Trim the corners on the diagonal close to the seam to eliminate the extra seam allowance. Turn the placemat right-side-out through the turning opening, finger-pressing the seams flat and making sure the corners are completely turned.
6. Pin or binding-clip the edge of the placemat all the way around, folding the extra seam allowance inside at the turning opening. Topstitch about 1/4" in from the edge all the way around the edge of the placemat.
7. Trace desired template from the end of this post onto paper or cardstock (you'll need to size it up, since I can't get it to show as full size - the egg is about 7" long and the flower is about 5" long). Cut scrap strips to be 2 1/2" wide or narrower, using a pinking blade if desired. Sew the long edges of two scrap strips together with a 1/4" seam, holding the wrong sides together as you sew so that the seam allowance ends up on the right side. Press seam open. Repeat, adding strips on to the ones you’ve sewn until you have a block that’s at least as large as your template.
8. Cut appliqué shapes from the strips you’ve sewn together, pinking the edges if desired.
9. Use temporary spray adhesive to adhere the appliqués to the placemat in desired locations.
10. Use a free-motion foot or darning foot to stitch around the edges of the appliqués, stitching about 1/4" or less inside the edges of the shape.
11. Complete quilting as desired.

Linking Rings Table Runner pattern page

Linking Rings Table Runner pattern

A little bit of misdirection and simple sleight-of-hand creates the illusion of interlocking rings on this quilt ... but when your friends ask how you did it, just tell them, 'It's magic!'

Approximate finished dimensions: 14"x34"

A person with average sewing skills should be able to finish this project in less than three naptimes (6 hours).

Photos from the pattern directions - cutting the rings:

Basting the rings:

Pattern includes illustrated directions and suggestions for additional variations on the project. It is packaged in a resealable plastic bag (6"x9"), ready to hang and sell.


Wholesale price: $4.00/pattern


Suggested retail price: $7-$9, or whatever the market will bear in your area


Free shipping on your first order! Shipping charges for subsequent orders will be the actual charges for USPS Priority Mail to your destination.


I am willing to make free samples to display in your shop, if you are willing to provide the materials. Please contact me for more information on this service.


For more information or to place an order, please contact Gretchen Woods at Lazy Mama Designs: lazymamadesigns (at) yahoo (dot) com.


NEW!! You can also place orders through my shop at etsy.com - just convo me with a request, including the number of patterns you'd like to buy, and I can post a custom listing for you at the wholesale price.


Thank you for your interest, and I hope to hear from you soon!

YoMama Baby Quilt Pattern page

YoMama Baby Quilt pattern

Finally, a baby quilt that doesn’t keep you chained to the sewing machine for hours! This project combines some machine sewing with a lot of very portable handsewing, making it great for crafters on the go. This quilt is great for tummy-time!

Approximate finished dimensions: 36" square

A person with average sewing skills should be able to finish the machine sewing in about one naptime (2 hours). This project requires several hours of additional time for handsewing, but this time can be squeezed in whenever you have a few minutes.

Photo from the pattern directions - making the yo-yos.

Attaching the yo-yos.

Pattern includes illustrated directions and suggestions for additional variations on the project. It is packaged in a resealable plastic bag (6"x9"), ready to hang and sell.

Wholesale price: $4.00/pattern

Suggested retail price: $7-$9, or whatever the market will bear in your area

Free shipping on your first order! Shipping charges for subsequent orders will be the actual charges for USPS Priority Mail to your destination.

I am willing to make free samples to display in your shop, if you are willing to provide the materials. Please contact me for more information on this service.

For more information or to place an order, please contact Gretchen Woods at Lazy Mama Designs: lazymamadesigns (at) yahoo (dot) com.

NEW!! You can also place orders through my shop at etsy.com - just convo me with a request, including the number of patterns you'd like to buy, and I can post a custom listing for you at the wholesale price.

Thank you for your interest, and I hope to hear from you soon!