I Sew For Fun Blog Tour

When Deanna Springer, VP of Marketing at Nancy Zieman Productions, LLC. and long time friend of mine, contacted me about participating in their upcoming Blog Tour to promote Nancy Zieman's new book, I Sew For Fun, and coordinating line of kid-friendly sewing notions for Clover, I had a full range of emotions. I felt honored to be asked, excited to participate, and nostalgic about the thought of Nancy not being here with us to witness this momentous occasion. Nancy passed away last November after a long battle with cancer, but her memory will live forever in the hearts of her family, friends, and the hundreds and thousands of people she touched with her unending creativity and unmatched kindness. I was lucky enough to be able to film a couple of episodes of Sewing With Nancy back in 2014, and it is an experience I will never forget.

One of Nancy's last projects, and I'm sure one of her most favorite ones, was writing this book, I Sew For Fun, which is dedicated to her granddaughters and focuses on adults and children sewing together. The book includes 20 DIY projects, ranging from small quilts, to garments, to bags. She takes you step-by-step on how to create each projects and which one of her I Sew For Fun sewing notions to use. 

After much deliberation, Sydney chose to make the Drawstring Bag, which is project #13, because she always needs new bags to carry her dance shoes and accessories. She quickly ran to the studio to choose fabrics and trims for this project.

She chose a Teal Dot from an older collection of mine, Textured Basics (no longer in print) and paired it up with the Gray Scalloped Dot from Flit & Bloom, my newest fabric collection for Riley Blake. We used 3/16" cording instead of ribbon for the drawstring.

Since Sydney has been sewing for a couple of years now and knows her way around a sewing machine, I let her take the lead on this project. 

She loved using all her new sewing notions, with fun colors and shapes, but said she found this Seam Gauge especially helpful in helping her keep a straight line when stitching and topstitching, which is something she often struggles with.

Sydney thought pinning the outer pocket on her drawstring bag was extra fun with her new heart-shaped pins, which come with their own heart-shaped magnetic holder.

Just check out how pretty these I Sew For Fun sewing notions are!

This new book and kid-friendly sewing notions certainly take sewing to a whole new level for kids! I know Sydney will want to go through the whole book and make a few more projects with her friends!

Hope you'll check out the I Sew For Fun book and coordinating notions for your child! And don't forget to follow along with the full blog tour dates here.

Monday, February 5

Nancy Zieman Productions, LLC

The Sewing Loft

The Cottage Mama

Tuesday, February 6

Fabric Mutt

Diary of a Quilter

Wednesday, February 7

Amy’s Creative Side

Thursday, February 8

Simple Simon and Company

SewHere.com

Designer Joi

Friday, February 9

Stitch This! The Martingale Blog

MODKID

Saturday, February 10

Transient Art

Sew Positively Sara

Lindsay Sews

Sewing With Nancy
See end of this post to view this show!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, friends! I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday season and are looking forward to a year full of creativity and fun. We are starting the year off with a bang here at MODKID!  To back up a bit, last November, I had the amazing opportunity to film 2 episodes of the popular PBS TV show, Sewing With Nancy. I traveled up to Beaver Dam, WI and met up with the delightful Nancy Zieman for a day of planning, then the following day we traveled down to Madison to film in the PBS studios. The focus of both shows was my book, Sewing MODKID Style, so we shared lots of techniques, tips and tricks for sewing with knits. Oh, what fun it was!!

If you follow me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, you probably saw these photos already, but for those of you who missed it, here is my "quick & dirty" recap of my experiences while filming Sewing with Nancy. Excuse the dark and blurry photos... that's Instagram for ya!

Here I am at Nancy's studio with the sweet and delightful, Nancy Zieman. Everyone at the studios was so great! I had a wonderful time there.

That afternoon, I had tour of Nancy's Notions. What a wonderful place that was!

The following morning we got up bright and early and drove down to Madison to film in the PBS studios. Here I am getting ready for hair & make up. Yes, I felt like a super star! haha

I went into a little room to practice reading my lines from a teleprompter. There's a first time for everything! If you look closely on the far right monitor, you can see the lines I say at the beginning of Episode 1.

When I finally walked into the set, I was not prepared for what I saw! WOW! It was HUGE... and gorgeous!! I must've looked like a kid in a candy store. I just kept spinning around in delight and walking from one place to another asking silly questions. Everyone there was so sweet and totally humored me.

Here is a shot of Nancy and I filming one of our segments. I was incredibly nervous, but I didn't need to be. They made it so easy for me. The crew is so professional. They have been doing this for over 30 years so it's like a well-oiled machine. We barely had any re-takes and were completely done filming both episodes by 3 p.m.

Floor manager, Greg, was a pleasure to work with! Here he is waving goodbye at the end of the show. I will cherish this experience forever!

And now.... the moment we've all been waiting for! Episode 1 is live on the Sewing with Nancy website. Below is a screen shot of the page. Click HERE to view the show. If you are having issues viewing it there, you can also find it HERE. Both episodes will also air on PBS stations nationwide, so if you'd like to watch the on your TV, check your local listings to see when they will air.

But wait, there's more (said in my best Billy Mays voice, haha). The folks at Nancy's Notions have put together this awesome bundle for you which includes a copy of my book, Sewing MODKID Style, a copy of the DVD with both episodes, plus all the notions (elastic, pins and needles) you will need to begin sewing with knits. It is a great price too! Check it out HERE:

http://www.nancysnotions.com/product/sewing+modkid+style+starter+set.do?sortby=newArrivals