Stitch by Stitch Blog Tour with Guest Deborah Moebes & my bad hair day

(sorry to jolt you all first thing in the morning with my scary no make-up face..muahaha)

do you ever wake up looking like this in the morning? you know that scary, bed head, tangled mop of hair that usually results from a good night's sleep? do you have the kind of kid's that don't always let you have that morning shower leaving you with hair that you just don't know what the heck to do with? the kind of morning look that makes you jolt back in shock thinking "is that really me????"! well, if you do, and you need a fun solution that doesn't involve hair products and straighteners here's the solution - the book "stitch by stitch" by the charming, funny and uber talented deborah moebes.


i Heart this book and i don't say that lightly. i am a book hound. i adore books and used to work in the book industry. i've loved them since i was a little girl hiding under my blanket with a flashlight staying up way too late to finish a new fave read. i still can be found hiding out in old book stores breathing in that delicious book smell and dreaming of the day i might have a book of my own. i like to think i have a good eye for books and an insatiable appetite to read (when i have time nowadays that is...hehe).

during the the last year or so my baby/parenting and fiction/literature books have been replaced with sewing books. my local library is sadly lacking in a great selection (sorry gvpl) and so i am always on wait lists and always stalking bookstores to flip through sewing books. my own sister has to help me come to the library to help me carry my books out to the car - it's true.


i guess i have been on a search so to speak, for someone to finally make that light bulb go off when it comes to some of the little things about sewing. someone to take the time in a lovely, inspiring book to not make me feel inadequate or silly for not knowing the right terminology, or the right tool or technique but instead someone to explain it to me like a friend. this book did that for me. i sat staring at the images going oh.....that's what that is....or ohhhhhhh, that's how you do that. little lightbulbs dinging around my head while my poor hubby sat thinking "what the heck are you doing now?". i even made my poor 3 1/2 year old come over every time i learned something new so i could gush about it even though she has no idea what the heck i was talking about - poor kid.

"stitch by stitch: learning to sew, one project at a time" has filled my sewing void. it's become that "thing" that i've been trying to find to help glue all the pieces of knowledge i have acquired together. the last piece of my sewing puzzle. the friend to show me the things i couldn't figure out, that last helping hand i needed to gain the confidence and courage to push my sewing further and to forge ahead into the land of button and zippers.


in the book deborah walks you through sewing timelines, history, the nitty gritty of your machine, tools and notions all the way to to fun, modern projects that while fun to make, are also teaching you those things you may not have had time to figure out yet or had been too scared to try. you can hear deborah's voice throughout it all. that funny, loving girl who has a passion and a love for sewing whose joy is addicting. i felt as though she was sitting along beside me telling me to suck it up and just bite the bullet.

so how the heck is a sewing book going to help us with our hair you ask? by teaching us how to make fun and fresh hair accessories to cover up our nasty bed head. the author of stitch by stitch is here on luvinthemommyhood today to help us deal with 2 very scary things. eek. firstly, our bad mommy hair days and secondly our fear and anxiety of buttonholes (if you have a zipper fear like me as well, don't fear, deborah deals with that in her book too). yep, you are going to join in with me (if you want to) and try really, really hard to ignore the sweaty palms, nervous twitching and fear of ruining our lovingly sewed garment to make a .....(shudder)......buttonhole!


how is a buttonhole going to fix our ratty, flat hair you may ask? it's going to help us make a customizable headband. something soft & comfy, that doesn't give you a headache that you can make in any cotton fabric print that your heart desires. you could make one to go with all your outfits. whip em up to your hearts content. i think i found a new addiction folks but first i have to conquer that darn buttonhole....ok, grab my hand ladies, let's jump in. whether you are a newbie sewer (like me) still learning the tricks of the trade, an old pro with a fear that lingered or just someone wanting to spruce up their headband collection, deborah's going to show us how to make a simple and cute fabric headband.

let's all welcome deborah.....

Super special thanks to Shannon of luvinthemommyhood for hosting today’s stop on the Stitch by Stitch blog tour! I love Shannon’s outlook and bubbly voice in her blog, and am so grateful she was willing to let me move in at her place for the day. We’ve been chatting back-and-forth by email about sewing and what it feels like to be new at it and not feel as though you know “enough.” She asked me to put together a tutorial project using buttonholes, and I’m delighted to do it! (Plenty more info on buttons, buttonholes, and buttonhole feet is available in Stitch by Stitch, BTW.) Thanks, Shannon, hope you love the headband!

Buttonholes and zippers seem to be the most fear-inducing sewing projects around. At least, they’re the skills I most frequently hear from folks that they hope to avoid because buttonholes and zippers cause so much anxiety. My mother hates zippers, and would always prefer to put in a buttonhole over a zipper pretty much any day of the week. Myself, I prefer zippers, because for years my buttonholes have been notoriously mediocre. At least, they were until I learned that there were sewing machines that make lovely buttonholes. Say, what?!? Yes, it’s true. And with such futuristic technology, you, too can make pretty buttonholes.

To give us some practice on the task, a simple headband project with a button tab closure. Because what’s the point in learning a new skill if you can’t use it right away?

if you want to join me in conquering your fear of buttonholes...c'mon you know you wanna....click here for the rest of this comfy headband tutorial. we can all hide our bad hair days together ladies!


if you need some modern and fresh fabrics to turn into headbands check out deborah's wonderful fabric shop whipstitch, both online and brick & mortar. you can also follow along with deborah on her fabulous blog (one of my fave reads) and you can find "stitch by stitch" here.


a big thank you to deborah, for stopping by our little neighbourhood to help us all not scare our neighbours with our nasty bed head and to help me to stop cringing everytime i find a project i love that involves a zipper or a button. i owe ya deborah and thanks so much for being part of the mommyhood.

Stitch By Stitch Virtual World Tour 2010


have you read "stitch by stitch" yet? are you a fan of "whipstitch"? what sewing technique are you scared of and how did you conquer it?
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