Orders on hold...

So I have had so many crayon roll and bag orders come in in the last few days that I have to stop taking orders!  Once I am caught up I will start taking orders again.  I have also had a few people ask if I could make them a scoodie and a few other things for around the house and I may offer up in addition to the crayon rolls.  If you are interested please do comment here so that once I am caught up I know to contact you!  If there's something you're interested in having made, I can try... no promises, but I am getting rather handy with this $20 machine :)

Thanks!!!

Little more info...

Here is a little more info on the crayon rolls, plus the links I promised.  The standard size I make holds 24 crayons.  It's very easy to adjust the pattern though, just add an inch for every crayon.  Fancypants even shoved 2 crayons in one pocket today so you may even be able to get double that in them!  I can make them for markers, pencils, etc.  I'm pretty much over my fear of sewing without a pattern, so I can adjust for just about anything. :)  Fancypants' roll has batting on the inside and is a bit thicker because of it.  Angelface's just has interfacing, which is what I have been using for the rest.  If you'd like it to be more quilt like please specify you'd like batting.

Crayons are not included with the rolls.  I do have some fabrics suitable for boys.  I made one yesterday that was a sports theme.  Most boys rolls are a little more plain than girls.  I have cute fancy frillies for the girls rolls (some, not all) but if think of something cute you'd like on your roll just let me know. 

I think that's it.  If you have questions let me know and I'll post answers here.  Here are the links...

Crayon Roll Tute  (I don't follow this one exactly, but if you want to make your own this is a great tute!)

Crayon Bags   (My bags will be a little different than this, this wouldn't hold the largest of my daughter's coloring books so I've made some adjustments.)

...Crayon Rolls Fundraiser...

Ok, so my previous post has the story behind the crayon rolls I have been making.  So far I've made 6 and cut out pieces to make 8 more!  I also am making some cute little bags that hold a coloring book on one side and crayons and Hot Wheels on the other side.  I'll post some links at the end of this to give an idea of how to make them.  However, I did not follow either tut the way it is given on these sites.  And since my husband is so wonderful he went to Lowe's and had a piece of plexiglass cut for the exact sizes I need to cut out my pattern pieces.  It cuts the time it takes to make a roll almost in half! 

So why so many?  I am making these crayon rolls and selling them to help fund Tony's mission trip to Malawi.  He leaves in April and I hope to make enough to cover at least a quarter of his trip.  If enough comes in through donations and these crayon rolls to cover his entire trip and I still have money left over then the rest of the money will go toward another person going on the trip.  And once the trip is over if I am able to continue to make and sell them 90% of the money will go in an account to donate to others who want to go on mission trips.  The other 10% will go to supplies.

I was telling people that I would sell them for whatever they wanted to donate but that made most people feel awkward.  So I am selling the crayon rolls for $8 each and the bags for $14 (plus shipping if you live far away from me).  Now if you'd like either one and you can't give that much, that is fine.  Let me know.  That isn't a set price.  If you'd like to give more, that's ok too!  I have a lot of fabric and can email you photos if you'd like to pick your own.  Once I fill outstanding orders I'll just be making random rolls and selling them.  Also, you can provide the fabric if you'd like a custom crayon rolls (they are all the rage, didn't you hear?)  Here are photos of the ones I made for Fancypants and Angelface.

Fancypants' Roll

Angelface's Roll

Now unfortunately my Angelface doesn't get to use hers much because she feeds the crayons to the Monster!  And although they are non-toxic I'm afraid he'll develop a taste for them and a diet of crayons could be rather expensive.  And I'm pretty sure the state would frown upon it!  (We don't own the Monster!)

Let me know if you'd like to order!!

The Story Behind the Crayon Rolls....

My mother in law called me the day she mailed out a box of Christmas gifts to our family.  She said "There's a special gift in there for you, there is a story to it, so when you open it call me."  Now, being me, I started wondering what the gift could be and why it was "special" and what this story was!  She was so elusive that when the package arrived I had to look at it to see what shape/size etc. it was.  It was soft, like clothes.  Ok, now I'm really starting to wonder! 
So Christmas comes and I go to open this package that comes with a "story" but I'm a little afraid.  What is in this package and should I open it in front of the kids!?  So I timidly open the package, slowly unsticking the tape as if I'm going to save the paper.  I get one side open and peek into the wrapping and it's.... a scarf!  A beautiful scarf!  (Come on now, what were you thinking?) 
Once we finished opening gifts and eating breakfast I call my mother in law and thank her for the beautiful scarf and ask her what the story is, because now I'm wondering how a scarf can have a story?  (Did she wrestle some lady in the mall for it or something?)  So she tells me that a local kid needed to raise money to go on a mission trip to South America.  He and his grandmother sat down and made these scarves and raised well over the amount he needed!  (That's the readers digest version).  So my mother in law bought one for me to help support this boy and also because I once went on a mission trip to Brazil (which she also helped support :)  And also because Tony was going on a mission trip to Malawi this year.  So it is a story that makes me treasure the scarf even more than I would have.  I love it!

Ok so what does the is have to do with crayon rolls??  I'm getting there.  A few days after Christmas we were wondering what we could do to help fund Tony's trip to Malawi and I thought surely I could try to sell things around the house that we don't need.  I went through the kids clothes and realized it's just not going to make enough.  I remembered all the fabric I have (Hi my name is Tracee and I'm a fabricaholic) and what could I do with that to raise some money.  Then the story of the scarf popped into my head.  And I've been wanting to make these cute crayon rolls for my girlypies forever now!  I see the patterns all over the place and they are just a fantastic idea!  So I am making these to support Tony's mission trip to Malawi. 

Since this post is SOOO long already, I will post pictures and info in a separate post :)

Scoodies!!

Well I got very tired of sewing crayon rolls and so today I sewed my first Scoodie!!  What is a Scoodie?  (Every one of my friends, aka "The Crazies" asked the same thing and thought I was nuts when I said I wanted to make some.) Well it's a scarf with a hood sewn on it, a scarf hoodie - Scoodie.  Why would anyone want one of these?  Because they are SOOO cute!  No, really I am making them for my girls because they are more fun that just the hood of the coat (if the coat even has a hood) and it's hard to get them to keep a scarf on.  But Scoodies are more fun and they'll keep them on.  Or so I hope... 

I found the tutorial (aka tute) for these on one of my most favorite sewing blogs. (Click there or there's a button on the right for Blueprints)  If you like to sew you must check it out, this lady is awesome!  Not only does she make some of the cutest stuff for her little ones but she offers the tutes for free of charge on her website.  Now if you are afraid to make something without a pattern she does sell the patterns for many of her items on etsy.  There is one in particular I have my eye on, her newest pattern (that sadly doesn't have a tute, but $4 is so worth the pattern for the adorable smock she made!) 

So without further ado, here is my little Angelface with her spankin' new Scoodie -

She loves it!  I tried to take it from her to see if it fit Fancypants, and she screamed (that ear piercing one she is sooo good at!)  After awhile she did take it off, but still no one could touch it.  I'll work on Fancypants' Scoodie tomorrow, then one for her little friend and I may even squeeze one in for The Monster.  Fancypants may get a pocket on hers, we'll see how crafty I feel :)

Broken Needle

I broke a needle the other day while sewing.  I've only broken a handful in my life and none in quite awhile so it was a bit surprising!  I'm posting the photo of it here for no other reason but to practice posting photos on the blog.  :)

Crazy...

"Hi my name is Tracee, I'm crazy, my friends are crazy, my family is crazy and even my cats are crazy."

Ok, there I confessed!  Now you know.  It's out there. You've been warned.  Feel free to turn tail and run.  No 12 step recovery program for us, we like our crazy selves!

I should clarify that we're not psycho crazy, we don't twitch as we walk or talk to ourselves.  (Well.  Ok fine, we do talk to ourselves.)  The truth is we really just have fun, a lot of fun!  Little things set us off in a way that most people just don't get.

On top of being crazy I have a crazy amount of kids (maybe that contributes to my overall craziness).  I guess it's not a crazy amount, it's just that most are pretty young and I'm always running after someone.  And I'd like more!  And I talk about them too much (that was another warning).

I love to sew, hence the name of the site.  I love to do a lot of crafty things, but I love sewing the best!  Some day I hope to be good enough at it to offer stuff on Etsy and maybe some craft fairs, but for now I'm just going to blog about the stuff I make for family and friends and all the crazy fun I have in the process :)