Popping my head up!

Such a great blog tour is going on for Sewn Hats, and here I am stuck painting and scouring :p .  Every now and then I'll wash my hands and hop on the computer, but then I have to jump up and sand or grout something.  Good news is, the house goes on the market tomorrow, and I can relax and ride along on the tour.

I just want to share some of the amazing stops we've had so far!!!

First up  is Patty Young of MODKID Boutique!  I so love her designs, and her techniques are impeccable.  Her own book, Sewing MODKID style, came out earlier this year, and it is loaded with wonderful patterns and techniques for working with knits. For this collaboration, She came up with a precious, easy-to-make sunhat for babies and little girls.

I love the ruffled brim and woven ribbon accent.  It has a cute covered button option at the tippy top, and it is reversible - 2 hats in 1!

Then we go on to visit Kaari Meng of French General fame!   Not only is she the owner of a fabulous shop in California, she is a wonderful entertainer (ask Martha Stewart), fabric designer, and a big name in the scrapbooking industry.  She has published several sewing books, and she had a very distinct vision with regards to her signature sunhat.  She provided me with the raw materials, and "voila" a beautiful hat was born!  You can read all about it here (as well as some wonderful comments from her readers).

Next, we travel up the West Coast to visit with Dolin O'Shea of Lulu Bliss.  She has a garment industry background, is amazingly talented in writing/editing sewing patterns and instructions for best-selling sewing books (she's worked with the likes of Jennifer Pagnelli and Amy Butler)!  She also has her own line of crochet and knitting patterns (available here on Craftsy).  Her Jackie Pillbox hat is so fabulous!

It is put together with perfect vintage couture construction (Dolin's specialty), but is so simple and straightforward to make.

Going even further up the West Coast, we stop off to see Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk Studio.  Kathy is the owner of Pink Chalk Fabrics, and the author of a line of very popular sewing patterns.  Pink Chalk was the first big online fabric shop to venture out into downloadable patterns, and she has been such a great partner in getting the word out about Sis Boom and Scientific Seamstress patterns.  She is so precise, professional, and enthusiastic in both her writing and sewing.  So needless to say, I was thrilled to work with her on this project!   She put together the perfect visor for both adults and children.  It keeps the sun off the eyes, and the heat off the head.  So go over and read her post (still time to win a copy of the book from her)!

And I just have to mention, the model was my son's first grade math teacher.  She is beautiful inside and out, and I was so happy she could be the face of this great design.  Oh, and her mom works at our local quilt shop, so of course she has great taste in fabric :) .

Finally, head straight across the country to NYC!  Lisa Carroccio, of Domestic Diva's Distasters, is a perfectionist seamstress, self-proclaimed pattern snob, and one of the wittiest people I've ever met.  I've "known" her since the early days of eBay boutique.  She started out making one-of-a-kind doll clothes and then moved on to fancy girlie AND cool boy-centric designs (Lou owns one of her creations and he is not allowed to outgrow it).  Now she has transitioned to commercial production with her Downtown Joey line, and is still such a great support to all her designer friends from the boutique world who are moving into commercial production. 

One of the accessories in her line is an awesome skater/military hat, and she kindly contributed the pattern to the book.  Even though she originally designed it for little guys, it looks great on big boys too (as evidenced by the hot bearded guy on the cover ;) ).  I have to mention, she was also a great mentor for me during the writing and editing process.  She also contributed the awesome Spiderweb Rosette embellishment instructions to the book...you can get the free tutorial here! 

We've had some additional blog tour stop confirmations, too!!!  Please check out:

9/15 - figtreequilts.typepad.com - Joanna from Fig Tree Quilts
9/18 - prudentbaby.com - Jacinda and Jamie!!!!

Oh, and my winner for the Monday drawing (I'm so paint encrusted and technically inept to do a random drawing, so I literally covered my eyes and pointed)...is  Lainie!
she said...

"I am so excited for this book!!! I love the Newsboy in addition to MANY others. I'm definitely a hat girl ;)"  Lainie, you are the winner....please send me your mailing address and any inscription suggestions - info@scientificseamstress.com !