Things For Baby Boys (A Virtual Baby Shower) - Baby Boy Shoes

Today I am participating in my first virtual baby shower!!  

This is such cool idea!  Laura from Craftstorming invited me, as well as several others, to this baby shower for one of my favourite bloggy friends, Abby, from Things for Boys.  Abby lives in Australia and her blog is simply AWESOME!  Seriously, there is no end to the tutorials and fantastic recipes on her blog.  After visiting here and browsing the cute things we've made and mailed to Abby for her shower, please hop over to Abby's blog - you will be hooked!

Welcome to the baby shower!!  

This is a complete surprise for Abby, and I hope she will be thrilled that a few of us fellow blog friends from around the world are getting together today to share in the excitement of the arrival of her newest baby BOY!  All of the gifts have been sent to Ros from Sew Delicious and she's on her way to surprise Abby with all of these handmade items.  Congratulations Abby, enjoy the party :)

And now for the presents, or as they say in Australia - the pressies!

These are the wonderful contributors - please click over to each one and have a look at their gorgeous photos!  There will be plenty of photos and details on each blog.  I believe there might even be some tutorials in the mix.

1: Baby Change Mats by Ros from Sew Delicious
2: Flat Teddy by Narelle from Cook Clean Craft
3: Handmade Baby Boy Shoes by Janelle from Emmaline Bags
4: Baby Hats by Jenny from Mend and Make New
5: Upcycled Cashmere Baby Pants by Dara from Coffee and Lilacs
6: Nappy / Baby Bag by Jo from Bubala
7: Little Kid Kimono Set by Laura from Craftstorming 

What I am giving:
I made some cute linen baby shoes.  These were a first for me and I hope you like them Abby.  They... well they didn't work out as I hoped, but are still pretty darn cute.  I made them out of indigo linen, and a natural linen with dots, anchors and sailboats.   They are lined with white cotton and open up really nicely to get baby's foot in.   This is not my own pattern, but one from Lena's Patterns (picture and link at bottom).  Her's look so gorgeous in the photo, but mine are a little... crooked. I hope they stay on those cute baby feet for at least one afternoon...

I couldn't send a gift from Canada to Australia with a touch of Canadian culture.  This is not a beanie, Abby - I know you will want to call it that - but it is a toque!  Canadians wear toques for several months of the year, so we know how to pick them.  Well some people do, but I pick mine too large.  This was the smallest Edmonton Oilers toque they had, but it's our famous hockey team, so your new baby has to have one.  Sadly, over the last few years, they are only famous for losing...shhh!

Here is a link to Lena's Patterns for girls and boys. They are pretty adorable!

Lena's Shoe Patterns

Abby, Congratulations to you and your little family on your new arrival.  You already have one gorgeous son and I can't wait to see the new baby.  Enjoy these special days, every moment is a gift!

Take good care!  Now... I need to hop over and see the rest of the presents!!
 

Bag and Wallet Patterns, Purse Hardware AND Store Credit Giveaway at CRAFT BUDS! - CLOSED

If you haven't heard of Lindsay and Mary from Craft buds or Lindsay's other blog, Lindsay Sews, you will be very happy with this introduction! These blogs have been at the top of my "must read" list for the last couple of years.

Craftbuds is a very, very fun and informative website that is just overflowing with tutorials (I found it by entering the Pleated Boxes Pillows Sew Along last year).  Lindsay and Mary do a wonderful job promoting giveaways too, just click over to the "Win it" page and find more great prizes to win.  Their tutorials are amazing!  I am currently making up a wedding quilt and I've found a lot of Lindsay's piecing and cutting instructions have been very, very helpful.  I'm using a HST cutting technique from this post to get my wedding gift quilt underway... watch for the results at a later date ;).

The Prizes:

Right now Craftbuds is giving away the Boyd St. Bowling Bag ePattern AND Hardware Kit, the Necessary Clutch Wallet ePattern AND 1 Turn lock, PLUS a $10.00 store credit from my Shop at www.emmalinebags.com.  ($42.00 prize value!!)  This contest runs until May2nd.  Sewing patterns can be won by international winners, but hardware can only be shipped to US and Canada (Store credit can be used on sewing patterns as well as hardware.)

Head over to Craft buds to enter the AWESOME sewing pattern and bag hardware giveaway or here is here Rafflecopter entry widget, just enter here, but I do recommend you spend some time on either of these wonderful blogs!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNER: LUISA M!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

How to Print your PDF Sewing Patterns: Are you doing it right?

Over the last year or so, I've had one or two bag makers ask me why their pattern pieces weren't matching up properly, and it turns out they hadn't printed their pattern pieces the right size.  Also, looking at some recent (gorgeous) wallets that were made from my Necessary Clutch Wallet ePattern, I noticed that some of the zipper pockets are sticking up out of the wallet too high.  They should actually be slightly recessed.  I figured out that the only thing that could cause this was that the wallet exterior was too small, and this is because the pattern pieces weren't printed properly.   I know because I did the same thing myself ;)

On page one of all of my pattern instructions, there are printing instructions, but I don't think we all read these - because we all know how to click print right?  I think when you download a pattern, you open the PDF and you hit print, and THEN you read the instructions, skipping the printing instructions.

Source: The Graphics Fairy

Why we need to change print settings:
Many PDF patterns or downloads have pictures or words that are outside of the "printing area" or in the margins of the page.  Adobe Acrobat has default print setting that scales the page down to fit to the boundaries of the paper size, it's otherwise known as "shrink to fit".  We don't want this!! This will reduce your pattern pieces.

How to change print settings:
When you open your download sewing pattern in Adobe Acrobat, you will use your mouse to click the printer icon or go to "File" and then "Print".  A box will open so you can change your settings.  In the older version of Adobe Acrobat, you will change your print scaling to "None".  In some versions of adobe, you will change it to "no scaling".

And... in the latest version of Adobe Acrobat on a Mac, you make sure your have selected "Actual Size".

Remember, there is a 1" x 1" test square with your pattern pieces, and it is exactly the right size.  If it is even 1/8th" of an inch too small, your pattern pieces will be too small.

I've just updated all of my patterns, giving the printing instructions on the front page above the bag photo.  It will now be the first thing you see.  I'll also update my pattern details on my website and Etsy and make sure the printing instructions are there too.

I hope this helps, and happy sewing!