make it sew modern

My friend Vanessa wrote this great book all about adding texture to your world. It's definitely her niche and she does it well. I've tried a few projects from the book with much success. The book is full of all kinds of smaller projects (and a few quilts, too) that are sure to inspire.

The first project that I tried sewing was this great adorable dress.  (The image is from the book.) I fell in love with as soon as I saw the photo. You can see the dress I sewed for my daughter here. As I said before, the ruffles were a bit of a pain, but were well worth it in the end. The instructions for the dress have you measure your child, so the dress is sure to fit your little girl to a T. A custom fit garment is a fabulous thing! My daughter has worn her dress and loves it. And she looks pretty darn cute in it if I do say so myself.

The second project I tried from the book was the decorative balls. (The image above is from the book.) I did this craft with my kids. My 11 year old and I ended up doing most of the gluing. He thought it was great that I actually let him use the hot glue gun. It was a nice afternoon activity, except for burning our finger tips! (I've gotta look into a low temp glue gun.) But again, the results were worth it.

My son did so well with his...he picked the green color and did it pretty much on his own. I think he did better than I did. :) We've only made 3 so far, but have plans to make at least a few more...or enough to fill up the tray. It's going to add some fun color (and texture!) to my coffee table. Hurray!

Now, for the fun part! I have a signed copy of the book to give away to one of my readers, compliments of Vanessa herself. If you would like to enter your name into the drawing, please leave me a comment in this post. In your comment I'd like you to include what your favorite summer time beverage is...just for fun. Only one comment per person and also, please make sure that there is a way to contact you in the event that you win.