And the winner is...

Thanks to everyone who entered my Summer Daze giveaway for a $30 credit to my Etsy shop, BluePea. There were only 20 entries, you all had great odds! So, without further ado, the winner is:

That would be At Home With Michelle! Please send me an email and we'll work out the details.

Super cute ruffled backpack

I love it when my boys are invited to birthday parties for little girls. It gives me a chance to make a girly gift. Tomorrow morning, my little guy will be presenting this ruffled backpack to a 3-year-old princess. I hope she loves it. It was fun and easy to make thanks to a great tutorial at Not Very Domestic. The only changes I made were to add an appliqued monogram and to sew on the cords instead of using grommets at the bottom of the bag. The grommets are an awesome idea, but I didn't have any. Must fix that for next time.

Cute, right? I can see it being used as a snack bag for trips to the park, or a carrying bag for small dolls or books. This project reminded me that I want to sew up some fun boy-patterned drawstring bags for my sons' Hot Wheels, puzzles, blocks, etc. Possibly wishful thinking, but maybe we can do a better job of keeping all the pieces together that way.  (=

Speaking of boy chaos, this is what happened when I tried to get my oldest to model the bag for me:

Blurry? Check! Plumber butt? Check! Shows off toys all over the floor? Check!

Back to the ruffles. Aside from the cording, which was probably less than $2 (purchased a while ago), this project was made entirely out of scraps from my leftover bin, so very budget friendly. Sometimes I worry that people think I'm being a cheapskate by giving homemade gifts instead of whatever is popular in stores, and while it's true that I usually spend less by going handmade, my primary goal is to give something from the heart. What do you think? Can handmade compete with store-bought items?

PS...I found the backpack tutorial while browsing Pinterest. Look it up if you don't know what it is...think the web bookmarking system of my dreams combined with social networking. I'm kind of hooked.

PPS...if you're looking for my Summer Daze Giveaway, it's here.

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Win a $30 credit for my Etsy shop!

Yes, it's the final day of Summer Daze Giveaways, hosted by While He Was Napping, which means it's my turn to give something away! I've been lucky enough to win a few awesome blog giveaways, so in that spirit, I'm offering one lucky follower a chance to win a $30 credit to my Etsy shop, BluePea.

That's enough to get you one of my favourite baby/toddler accessories: a shopping cart cover. If you’ve ever watched in horror as your precious little one moved toward that cart handle, mouth agape and tongue just itching to taste that germ-ridden surface, you know that this would be a life-saver. These plush covers are comfy, full washable, and really cut down on the ick factor of transporting your child in a shopping cart.

Oops, this one is sold, but you can see how nicely it fits on the cart.

If you're not in the toddler-shuttling stage of life, I also sell shopping cart handle covers, knitted mittens,  tutus and whatever else strikes my creative fancy.

This giveaway is open to all public followers of Sew Many Dreams. I'd love it if you'd take a minute to check out my Etsy shop, but I'm not going to make you jump through any hoops: just leave a comment on this post if you'd like your name thrown into the hat. A random winner will be chosen on June 14th and posted the next day.

Now for today's other two giveaways. Check out these lovelies:

Jayna @ Rock N Regalia has another great hair accessory for this summer.  This one is perfection with a nautical theme.  Who wouldn’t want to wear this adorable statement piece? 

Melissa @ Kensington Cottage has a whole heap of burlap goodness up for grabs.  What a gorgeous memo board!  And that wreath would be perfect all year long!  The flowers can be worn as hair clips or as a pin.  AND… check out that $15 gift card to Target!

These giveaways will also close on Tuesday, June 14, so head over to these blogs and get your entries in for all of these fantastic prizes.   And if you missed out on some of the earlier giveaways, you can find the complete list of links here. Thanks for participating! I'll be back with a new sewing project a little later.

Summer Daze giveaway week

I have once again been lucky enough to win a few giveaways from generous bloggers, including a SCAL program for my computer, some cute Hallowe’en themed fabric, and a lovely print that will be going in my boys’ (eventual) playroom in the basement. I think pay-it-forward is a wonderful concept, so I will be participating in the Summer Daze giveaway week at While He Was Napping.

I'll be offering up a $30 credit to my Etsy shop, BluePea. Watch for that next Saturday, and in the meantime, check out some of the other awesome offerings!

Monday, June 6
Delina @ Dew This
Mindie @ Bacon Time With the Hungry, Hungry Hypo

Tuesday, June 7
Ashley @ Ashley Creations
Kelly @ Make It Sparkly Mama
Shawna @ A Very Dandoislion Life

Wednesday, June 8
Bethany @ Sweet Bee Buzzings
Kim @ Kim's Kandy Kreations
Krista @ While He Was Napping

Thursday, June 9
Natalie @ Nat Mac's Knick Knacks

Suze @ Time Well Spent

Brenda @ A Creative Nest

Friday, June 10
Stephanie @ Luxe Boulevard
Emily @ Insanity Rules
Rebecca @ My Girlish Whims

Saturday, June 11
Jayna @ Rock N Regalia
Melissa @ Kensington Cottage
Tanya @ Sew Many Dreams     (that's me!)

Shopping cart cover

One of my dearest friends has four little boys aged five years and under. Early last week, she and her boys got violently ill after a trip to the grocery store. She figures they picked up something from the shopping cart, since that was the only thing they all touched or consumed before getting sick.

I'm personally a little grossed out by shopping carts. Various studies (from the University of Arizona and the CDC, in particular) have revealed what common sense tells you: shopping carts are DIRTY. As in loaded with meat drippings, assorted bacteria, bodily fluids, and even fecal matter. Yeah, eww.

Like the flames?

Built-in loop for attaching toys

So this washable shopping cart cover will be headed over to my friend's house this afternoon, so she can have a little more peace of mind the next time she takes her littlest ones shopping. The cover is like the ones I sell at craft sales and in my Etsy shop (see the left sidebar if you're interested!), but I modified it to hold two children instead of one. I hope to post a tutorial at some point, too, for anyone who wants to make their own. The cover is stretchy, so fits on both standard and oversize carts like the ones at Costco, where I know my friends likes to shop.

I've been using shopping cart covers since my oldest was a wee lad, but he's growing up, and as a self-proclaimed big boy, he likes to walk along when we grocery shop. Unfortunately, he's still prone to wandering off, so I like him to stay in arm's reach. He could just hang on to the side of the cart, but again, eww, so we compromise and use a handle. I posted about the handle I made here, and really, I love it now more than ever. Super easy to make, so try it if you also have a wanderer!

Simple and brilliant because it works! How I love the internet for ideas.

Edit...a couple people asked, so here's a photo of how the covers fit on a cart. Excuse plumpness...when I made my first cover as a first-time mommy, I wanted my little guy to be super comfy as well as clean (=

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January slump…I mean progress

January is flying by and I feel like I’ve been in a crafting slump. I’ve been busy doing work for others in my free time. Mostly hemming, but there were also some fun superhero capes for a birthday party. I almost forgot photos, so excuse the lack of display…these were snapped virtually last second.

As you can see on the blue version above, I stabilized the satin neck opening with felt. The cape is closed with velcro, so I figured a little extra support would be good.

My sewing machine conked out as I was finishing the last item in my last pile of hemming. I have a Janome Memory Craft 6600, and I love it most of the time. But it has a habit of leaving me hanging by breaking down at the most inconvenient times. It’s only three years old (maybe less) and has had to be repaired three times so far (not including maintenance). Not impressed. I have two other straight stitch only machines, so I could do some sewing if I wanted to, but I feel too discouraged to bother. January blahs, I guess.

On a brighter note, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to inject some life into my little Etsy shop. I sell a lot of things locally, so my poor shop has been neglected, with only a few items listed. I am determined to remedy this situation (in spite of my sewing hiatus). So here’s a little peek at the newest item in the shop:

So far, they’re available in black and light grey, black and dark grey, and black and forest green. Definitely subdued tones, but oh-so-cozy and warm. I have plans to try some in a dark solid with bright multicoloured NORO yarn for the windows. Think that’d be fabulous…maybe so much so that I’d want to keep them for myself!

Playing blog catch up

The past two weeks have just flown by, and there have been some extra things going on in my life that have kept me away from the computer (grandmother getting cancer treatments, mother is in town unexpectedly, son is starting preschool, hubby's crabby, etc). So now I get to play catch up.

I finished off sewing the five cat mats I agreed to make for a local cat rescue/sanctuary. They were easy to do, and for a good cause, but the fuzzy fabric sure did make a mess of my machine innards. I meant to take photos before they were delivered, but I was in a rush and forgot.

I started and finished a little toddler art smock (free pattern from Don't Look Now) for the daughter of one of my playgroup mommy friends. The original pattern calls for cute applique designs on the front, but my friend and her daughter are going to attempt that together as a craft project, so I left them off for now. Otherwise, this is a quick and simple project, and I'll be making one to protect my son from his home and preschool art endeavours.


The last thing I've been working on is a cute little toddler backpack -- again, for a playgroup mommy friend. Although the pack turned out so well that I will definitely be making one for my little big guy. The pattern is from made by Rae, and was a lot simpler than I thought it would be, although the fabric my friend chose had to be strengthened with fusible web and another backing fabric to get the pack to hold it's form. This was also my first time using piping, unless you count a rather poorly made cushion I stitched together about six years ago! I have a piping foot now, and that made sewing this bag much easier, especially in areas where I was sewing through up to nine layers (due to the fused fabrics). I heart presser feet! Anyway, here are the pix:

Front view...all stuffed out with bags

Adjustable straps & quilted bottom

Dino head zipper pull. You know I had to do it (=

In other news, I made my first Etsy sale! So excited, and hope to add more items to my store. I LOVE Christmas, so will definitely be putting up some Christmas and gifty-type items.

I'm not sure what's next for me. I'm still (slowly) losing weight, so I'm not bothering to make any garments for myself. I still owe my step mom a blouse, but I don't really feel like doing that right now.

I'm on Etsy!

I've started an Etsy shop called BluePea to sell my most requested craft item: shopping cart covers.

My son in his cart cover

When my oldest son was about 3 months old, he outgrew that handy little carrier seat that parents now use to tote about their infant children. Most kids stay in the seat until they are at least six months old or older, but my little guy was tall, and he quickly shot over the carrier's height limit, which forced me to switch him to a permanently installed car seat. From a driving standpoint, there was no change, but I quickly discovered that shopping became quite difficult because my son was still too young and wobbly to sit in a cart, yet too long to hold comfortably while pushing a cart. My solution was to create a shopping cart cover and strategically sized matching cushions that I could use to prop him up in the cart's seating area. So I purchased some cute Spiderman fabric, and made a super cushy cover loaded with quilt batting, and went on my merry way with my son safely ensconced in his cart seat. Well! The reaction I got from moms each time I went out, asking where I got such a great cover, was pretty unexpected, but soon I was taking orders to make other covers.

Now that I've exhausted the customer base at my local grocery store, I thought it was time to get online! So I set up an Etsy shop and am patiently awaiting my first sale. If it works out, that'd be great, and if not, my investment to post items for sale is less than a dollar at this point, so no loss there. Check out my shop, called BluePea