{A Great Deal (SALE)} Shelburne Falls: New Charm Rolls

Before we moved, I planned to add some new charm rolls to the SoChick Fabric Shoppe... but then the computer crashed, and I've closed my shop while we're in temporary living arrangements.  Needless to say, I have these gorgeous 10in Charm Rolls, from Denyse Schmidt's Shelburne Falls collection, staring at me and need to sell them.  In this case, my loss will be your gain!

The charm rolls feature one 10in sqaure of each of the prints in the Shelburne Falls collection.  There is a Free Quilt Pattern, Square Dance, on Denyse's website which calls for one charm roll and solids.  A simple and modern quilt... fun to stitch with a folksy, yet, modern vibe. Check it out here: 

{Square Dance via dsquilts.com}

Head on over to the SoChick Facebook Page to snatch up a Shelburne Falls charm roll at a great price, which includes shipping!  

How it works:

Simply comment on the facebook post with your paypal email address.  You will receive an invoice within 24 hrs and must pay it within 24 hrs of receipt; your fabric will ship upon receipt of payment.

There are only FIVE rolls available... hurry!

XxOo~ Melissa

{SoChick Fabric Shoppe} Introducing: Pick Your Bundle

A new year means fresh starts... and new fabric for your stash! 

Stop by my shoppe today, to make your own little bundle of Fat Quarters!   Remember, a fat quarter is a quarter of a yard of fabric which is cut 18 x 22 inches. (Read more about Fat Quarters in my Guide to Fabric)

Brand new in the SoChick Fabric Shoppe you will find two Pick Your Bundle options:

Option 1:


Easy, pick five fat prints, from the available Quilting Cottons, to complete your Fat Quarter bundle.



Option 2:


Pick twelve prints, from the available Quilting cottons, to complete your FQ bundle!

I always say that buying many smaller cuts of fabric is an economical way to familiarize yourself with several designers/prints, but it's also super great for building up your stash and Fat Quarters are sew perfect for little projects that you just can't justify cutting into yardage for!

You can choose from ANY available Quilting Cottons in the Shoppe for your bundles. Want some of Tula Pink's Salt Water mixed with Jennifer Paganelli's Happy Home and a sprinkle of Joel Dewberry's Aviary2?  You've got it!  


{Shop Now}

Happy Sewing!
XxOo~ Melissa

Giveaway Day Dec '12 {Sew, Mama, Sew}

Happy Monday, and welcome to the December Giveaway Day!  I am linking up with Sew, Mama, Sew to share some pretty fabric and hopefully meet new friends and readers!



Without further adieu...

{The Giveaway}

Today I'm offering up a pretty fabric roll of my most favorite pink prints from Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms line. 

This little fabric roll features one half-yard cut of each of the following prints:
- Laurel Dots in Cherry
- Passion Lilly in Cerise Pink
- Peacock Feather in Blush

That's a total of one and a half yards of fabric for your next sewing project or for your stash!  Or, maybe you're entering because you know your stitching friend would heart this fabric roll! (And that's awesome!)

If you read my blog, it's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Amy Butler's beautiful fabrics... if you're new here, now you know... this Chick's an Amy Butler fan for sure!

Amy's beautiful prints first caught my eye when I started sewing regularly and couldn't find fabric locally that was beautiful, sophisticated and modern, but also fun and versatile.  Amy's fabric is just that, in my opinion. 

{So... what do you need to do to enter?} 

Simple, just leave a comment telling me what you will make if you win this pretty little roll of fabric! **IMPORTANT** Please log your entry in the Rafflecopter app, below, so I know how to reach you if you win, I will be using Rafflecopter to pick the winner!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

{The Details:}
This giveaway will end at 8pm EST on December 7, 2012 and is open to US Residents (Prize to be shipped within the US).  I will notify the winner by email, as well as post here on the blog, by December 9th.

Of course I'm happy for you to follow my blog, facebook or twitter pages and I invite you to check out my SoChick Fabric Shoppe on Etsy.  While none of this is required to enter the Giveaway, I love meeting new sewing/quilting/handmade friends and would enjoy getting to know you!

Thanks so much for stopping by and Good Luck!!

Looking for more Giveaways to enter? Click below:



XxOo~ Melissa

New Items and I'd Like Your Feedback!

It's official, Jennifer Paganelli's Happy Land is in the house! And for sale in my SoChick Fabric Shoppe on Etsy! 

I love Jennifer's use of color and am crazy about the Eloise print in Sky (The pretty floral print, above). I think you will find that the selection I chose from this new Free Spirit collection is versatile and, well... happy! 

Happy Land Fat Quarter Bundles are now available in the Shoppe as well.  Fat Quarters are perfect for small projects, and a great way to build your fabric stash, but they are also an awesome way to familiarize yourself with designers and collections without committing to several yards of fabric.  See something you love from the fat quarter bundle?  Simply order more yardage of it!

I have a few plans for these prints that I'm excited to share with you in the coming weeks, and I'd love to hear what you plan to use them for.


{Share Your Thoughts}

Visit the Handbags Shop Here.


Thank you for always being wonderful, I look forward to seeing how you'd like to shop SoChick and will tell you more about SoChick's path for the future later this week.


XxOo~ Melissa

{SALE Announcement} SoChick Fabric Shoppe

Happy Friday!  If you are signed up for the SoChick! Newsletter, you know that I need to make room in my studio for new fabric... to help with that I'm having a SALE in my Fabric Shoppe on Etsy!!

Through Thursday, November 15th, save 30% at checkout with coupon code ETSY30.  That means you can score Amy Butler prints for as low as $6.30/yard and cotton laminate for less than $12/yd!

It's a great time to grab up fabric and try any of these free projects that Amy shares on her website.  

Source: amybutlerdesign.com via Melissa on Pinterest

You can make beautiful gifts for giving over the Holidays or save it for stitching on a cold winter day, nothing beats the winter blues quite like beautiful fabric!


Enjoy and have a great weekend!


XxOo~ Melissa

We Survived Back-to-School Week {& A Labor Day Fabric Coupon}

I'm happy to announce that I have we have survived the first week back-to-school!  It was like any other school week, except this year my oldest chickie is in 12.5 hrs of Gymnastics Practice and my hubs was away for work as Crisis Response for Hurricane Isaac... good times.

Because Chickie #1 has practice three days during the week, we started prepairing a week in advance with early bed times and wake-up.  I am super proud of myself for keeping to our schedule and staying organized.  While I let the blog slip a little, I was still able to stay on top of some orders and make a plan for this coming week.

Happily, I will be adding new items to both SoChick! shops this week... yep, there are two now!  You can visit SoChick! Handbags for Handmade Handbags & Accessories, here; or, find pretty Fabric in my SoChick Fabric Shoppe on Etsy, here.

You'll also notice that I've created two new ads for each shop over to the right:

I'll share my reasoning for two platforms in another post... for now, though, I'm leaving you with a coupon code for the Etsy shop... to save 20% on your entire purchase use Code LABORDAY20!  Sale ends Wednesday, Sept 5, at Noon EST.

Now, here are some pictures from our back-to-school week:

We're doing Bento style lunches and my 4th grader is loving them!  I use the same idea for little chickie's lunches at home:

 I scored this cute little pail from Target's dollar bin, I love that the chalkboard paint was already on it; more on this project in the coming week!

Nothing like coming home to a delivery of beautiful Fabric to brighten a rainy day, you'll be seeing more of these, too... yep, three of these are Laminates.... Eeeep!

Finally,this Saturday was the first Game Day of College Football season; you will notice that I tweet about the game like it's cool... wait, it is cool!  Here, my littlest chickie is wearing her UGA Cheerleader Uniform, a hand-me-down from big sister.

Plus, I have to share the fun with my friend Meagan of Fairly Fabulous, because she's a Dawg fan, too!

Have a fabulous Labor Day, don't forget to use the 20% off coupon mentioned above, and check back during the week as I'll be celebrating my Shop's 2 yr Anniversary and my Birthday... yay!

XxOo~ Melissa

Amy Butler's Blossom Magazine {And a Discount Code}

I'm 98% sure it's no secret that I heart Amy Butler Design.  I mean, when the opportunity arose for me to carry a small selection of fabric for sale in my shop, I did choose from Amy's Soul Blossom collection... that may have given it away, right?  Read more about that, here.

Another reason I heart Amy, and the other designers that I'm drawn to, is simply her desire and passion to see others creating.  She knows how to inspire... I'm inspired by her tremendously.

Needless to say I may have let out a little "Eeep!" of excitement when I opened my e-mail to see her announcement of Amy Butler's Blossom Magazine.  This digital magazine will published online twice a year... for FREE!  (I know you just did a happy dance, right?  Am I right???)


{Image Copyright Amy Butler Design}

" It will be full of fresh perspectives, inspirations, ideas, projects, sensuous color and more.  It will feature beautiful photography as well as musings from my heart. The content will have simple ideas for making your life beautiful, great resources for sharing not only my fabrics and patterns but other wonderful artists that I come across, and a focus on finding happiness in all the wonderful little pleasures that make up our creative lives." - Amy Butler

Have you signed up for it yet?  What are you waiting for?  Do it!

* * *
You can find a selection of beautiful fabrics from Amy Butler's Soul Blossom Collection in my new SoChick! Fabric Shoppe on Etsy... use discount code ETSY15 to save 15% on your entire order! 

XxOo~ Melissa

FABRIC SALE {Free Shipping Code}

We are back from vacation and while we are getting back into the swing of things, my littlest chickie said we should try to sell some fabric, so here's a FREE SHIPPING offer for you:

Enter code NAT25 at checkout and receive FREE SHIPPING when you spend at least $25 in the SoChick shop.

This is a great way to stock up on some Amy Butler Soul Blossom fabric, or to finally get that SoChick Market Tote Kit you've been eyeing!

XxOo~ Melissa

Weekend Wrap-Up {Flowers, Fabric, & Mother's Day}

Good Morning!  Monday morning means time for another Weekend Wrap-Up post... these posts are my way of sharing life behind the biz with you... though now that I'm back at the Farmer's Market regularly, I guess a little bit of biz will sometimes be thrown in the mix. 

On Friday I planted some flowers in a hanging basket on the front porch.  I love the color combo and that Vinca Vine (the green plant on the right) came from another in my back yard that decided to grow extras! Yay for extras!

A blooming yard means I get to bring pretty flowers inside, too.  Here, I put a fresh hydrangea bloom in a glass jar with some Stella D'Oro Daylily cuttings... love! 

Saturday was spent at the New Bern Farmer's Market, I was so happy to bring these Fat Quarter cuts of the Amy Butler Soul Blossoms fabric that was listed in the SoChick Shop last week!  I was even more thrilled to find so many sewists who were happy to see, and buy, this pretty fabric... totally what makes me love what I do, seeing others who get just as excited over beautiful fabric!

I picked up these pretty earrings, from Twisted Wire, at the Market this weekend... I was fortunate to have a booth next to her and they were my Mother's Day gift to myself... that's okay, right? Of course it is!!

Mother's Day was spent eating pancakes in the morning, made by my hubby & enjoyed by all; gardening, relaxing at home, and ending with dinner at my Dad's place.  Dinner was delish, my lovely Stepmom pulled fresh veggies from the garden for us to enjoy and we finished it off with Strawberry Shortcake dessert... Yum!!!

(With my littlest Chickie while big sister was relaxing with Daddy.) 

Here is the square foot veggie garden we planted... still a few spots to fill with plants, but its looking good so far.  Yes, we used pink Twine to section it off. (From The Twinery, of course!!)

How was your weekend? Did you have pretty weather?  How did you celebrate Mother's Day?

Don't forget about the SoChick Sewing Pattern SALE & GiveAway that's going on... I'd love to reach my goal of 25 patterns sold by Memorial Day so I can give away a pretty bag making kit!  See all of the info, HERE.

Have a great Monday!

XxOo~ Melissa

It's Fabric Time! {Shop's Open, a Sale and a GiveAway!}

I am SO excited to tell you that the SoChick! Shop is up and running, with lots of pretty fabric!

When I started my little handbag business back in 2010, I knew that one day I wanted to sell the beautifully-fresh, and modern, premium quilting fabrics that got me hooked on bag making and sewing... I also knew that I wanted to one day put my designs into sewing patterns to encourage and show others that you can create beautiful, professional-looking items in your own home, with your own two hands... and sewing machine. *wink*


I happened upon Amy Butler's beautiful fabrics when I started my addiction in 2008.  Since her fabric, and fabrics similar to her's, are not available in my area, I took to ordering online.  Over time I learned what fabric I loved and couldn't be without.  While Wildflowers in Navy, from Amy's Daisy Chain collection, is my all-time favorite print, I knew when her Soul Blossoms Collection was released that I was hooked for serious! 

So, it's not really a surprise that, when the opportunity arose, I choose some of my favorite prints from Soul Blossoms to start my fabric shop journey.  I love the pinks and oranges, and the greens and aquas, found in these prints.  Plus, their versatility is where it's at... I believe Amy calls the colorways of Soul Blossoms a "Treasure box palette", because all of the colorways work so well together!

In my SoChick! Shop you will find fabric, fat quarter pairings and bag making kits (for my sewing patterns).  My Sewing Patterns are available in my Craftsy Pattern Shop, as PDF downloads... don't worry, I was sure to offer the link to my pattern shop under "Sewing Patterns":

There are several more fabric collections that I hope to add to the shop in the future, but this is where my fabric-loving-heart told me to start...  I hope you will love these fabrics as much as I do and see that you, "Everyday chicks", can create beautiful "Everyday Chic" items in your home, too!




Okay, okay, ready for this Sale/GiveAway?!


The Sale:
You may already know that my first Sewing Pattern: The SoChick! Market Tote is on Sale for $6... and if you don't know, now you know. *grin*.


Because I know you will love sewing this bag, and that you will come away from this pattern with new skills & inspiration, I am going to keep this pattern at the $6.00 Sale Price through Memorial Day!  A super great deal for a Sewing Pattern that you can download instantly, as a PDF file, has full-sized pattern pieces, full-color photos and extra tips & tricks to encourage your creativity!


You can purchase the SoChick! Market Tote Sewing Pattern HERE


The GiveAway:
I would love for you to help spread the word about my Sewing Patterns!  My goal is to sell 25 of my SoChick! Market Tote Sewing Pattern by Memorial Day... remember, it's on SALE.  Once this pattern's sales reach twenty-five, everyone who has purchased a pattern from 1-25, and beyond (though Memorial Day), will be entered into a random drawing to WIN a FREE SoChick! Market Tote Bag Making Kit.


My Bag Making Kits include all of the yardage, interlinings and hardware needed to complete the corresponding pattern.  The winner will have their pick from the Blush Blossom or Azure Kits.


I think that's a pretty great deal, don't you: Buy the pattern on sale, get a chance to win a free kit?! 


As a bonus, if you or your friends purchase the SoChick! Market Tote Sewing Pattern, leave a comment on SoChick's Facebook page telling me that you bought it, and have your friends tag you if they bought it from your recommendation... I may be inclined to do something super nice for my top sewing pattern referrer.


This journey gets better and better, thank you for joining me!  My heart is SO freaking happy!!! XxOo.


*GiveAway Deets: The GiveAway will become active once Twenty Five (25) SoChick! Market Tote Patterns are sold in my Craftsy Shop.  Sales beyond the initial twenty five will be included in the giveaway; all sales will be numbered in the order received.


Sale and GiveAway will run through Memorial Day, ending at 3:00AM EST on May 29th (this gives the west-coast gals a chance to get in on it till midnight their time.. *wink*).  


I will enter the total number of sales into a Random number generator and announce the winner here on the blog no later than June 1st!  I will also contact the winner via their PayPal email address used to purchase the Sewing Pattern.  For everyone's protection, your email address will not be shared. 
XxOo~ Melissa

My Life in Photos {Fabric, Sewing, Kids and Retail Therapy}

Heyyy... so, it's been a while.

  

I'm here; working hard at being a Mommy, Wife, and indie business owner... it's quite the juggling act, I tell ya!  This week I am photographing pretty fabric so I can re-open the Shop and you can buy it up.  You will LOVE it, I'm sure!  I'll go into a post later this week about what you can expect from SoChick! Handbags ~ The Shop, the shop is in maintenance mode right now as I fill it with fabric fabulous-ness.  

For now, grab a cup of coffee and check out what I've been up to:

I love sending out pretty fabric packages and i'm looking forward to doing it much more often.

These Sunglasses Cases were sent as Swag for the Fairly Fabulous Crafting Slumber Party... I'm making more to add to the shop, using the new fabrics... yay!  I love these because they fit the big shades us Chicks like to wear *wink*; their soft structure allows them to form with any pair of sunglasses and the little magnetic tab keeps them secure... I LOVE THEM.

Some more Sunglasses Cases, at the Farmer's Market, featuring Art Gallery Fabrics. (Shown with the Mini-Tote I made a little while back.)

 I made some of these little zippy cases for the Farmer's Market, using some of the Soul Blossom fabric that'll be in the shop... great for pens/pencils, makeup brushes, travel, etc.

Pearls and a Tee with Jeans was the outfit when a spur-of-the-moment trip to the Apple store at the mall in Raleigh, NC was in order this past weekend. My husband's iPad crashed and I needed to have the camera fixed in my iPhone.  We were happy to have both fixed under warranty. Whew! (This means no more white dot in all of my iPhone photos!!!)

 What's a trip to the mall without some retail therapy?! I am SO happy to have walked past Lush Cosmetics... the lovely sales gal gave me a demo and I needed this cream, I love it!  Thanks to Reggie who packaged it in April of this year... his photo is on the side of the container. 

For Mother's Day, I've discounted my SoChick! Market Tote sewing pattern to $6.00 (from $9.50).  You can visit my Craftsy Pattern Shop to purchase the PDF download.  This pattern has full color photos, printable pattern pieces (which are easy to put together and shouldn't require resizing), and extra tips to encourage you to be creative.  I'm working on getting a button up over here on the blog to make Pattern shopping much easier. 

 Yesterday afternoon was spent in the doctor's office checking on my almost-9-year-old's ears, which were fine... she got a day off from school, but had to miss out on gymnastics practice and outside time with her friends... becuase if you are too "sick" to stay in school, you shouldn't be outside playing, right? Right!

Exciting news for my oldest Daughter, though: She has been invited to join the Compulsory Gymnastics Team at her gym... this means 12.5 hrs of practice weekly, and eventually competing in meets.  We are SO proud!!!!!!  Of course this means more juggling for me, but I'm glad to do it, she loves gymnastics... probably as much as I love fabric. Almost.


How do you juggle blogging/business/work/family?  Any tips?  Are you looking forward to shopping fabric from SoChick?  Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!

XxOo~ Melissa

Want to Know What's Coming to SoChick?! [An Exciting Announcement!]

When I started my handmade business a few years ago I focused on making professional-quality handmade handbags using fun and fresh fabrics.  I always knew, though, that one day I planned to share my passion for handbag design and beautiful fabrics with others who sew and want to learn.  My dream has always been to encourage others to make beautiful things, after all, handmade is beautiful!  And, it's quite obvious that I have a thing for fabric, so...


I am beyond excited to share a few things that will be new to SoChick! Handbags & Embroidery late this Spring 2012....


[First]

My designs will be available for sale as full-color Sewing Patterns, in a downloadable PDF format!  I love the thrill of creating something new and am excited to share that passion and sense of accomplishment with you... I know you will love creating your own items that are "Everyday Chic for Everyday Chicks!", whether for yourself or for wow-ed friends and family!




[And...]

Not only will you be able to get creative with SoChick! Sewing Patterns, I will be offering fun and fresh fabrics to help you along!  Of course use of this fabric won't be limited to SoChick! Sewing Patterns... with premium quilting cottons full of fresh prints in beautiful colors, you can create all kinds of wonderful handmade goodness, and that, my friends, is what it's all about!


I am practically jumping for joy sharing this news with you and hope you are, too!  


Be sure to sign up for the SoChick! Monthly Newsletter (in the right side-bar) because, as the time nears, I will announce release dates as well as the manufacturers and designers I will be carrying.  Also, newsletter subscribers will be the first to know about great deals, specials, and how to snag great prizes as I celebrate this big, happy, step into the future of SoChick! Handbags & Embroidery.


Thank you so much to my super wonderful customers and friends who have been along through this journey, I'm happy to share this next step with you and excited for the new friends SoChick! will meet along the way!


XxOo~ Melissa

Looking for Fabric101? You've got it! {New Mini-Series}

**This post has been edited to include the links for all of the Parts of The SoChick Chick's Guide to Fabric**


If you've been around this blog for any amount of time, you know I have this thing for fabric... a slight addiction/obsession, what have you.  I love to touch it, cut it, sew and create with it; I'm not going to lie, I have some yards that I'm hoarding holding on to because I just can't bear to cut into them.  I could spend a lot of time talking about fabric (I kind-of sort-of do, ahem, Fab. Fabric Fridays), learning more about it, etc. etc...  I seriously do a happy dance every time the UPS man brings fabric to me, and am admittedly bummed if I miss the UPS guy and have to wait another day for said fabric.


Another thing I'm passionate about is teaching/encouraging others to sew, appreciate great fabric, and all of the beautiful things you can create when you mix the two!  Recently I've been testing the waters with teaching sewing lessons... so far so good, more about that another time... 


I find that when I'm teaching I have to fight the urge to just go on and on about fabric, mainly quilting cotton, and how great I think it is.  Not to mention all of the fun, fresh, modern prints that are available out there, from small shops and online, but it wouldn't be much of a sewing lesson if the instructor blabbered on about fabric instead of showing you how to thread a machine, right? Right!


... Light-bulb Moment... why not put all of the info here, on my SoChick Blog, for everyone to see?!  I mean, this is a blog about sewing and creating "Everyday Chic for Everyday Chicks!", riiiiight? Right!

So, starting next week I will be sharing a Mini-Series: 

Topics I'll cover:

* What is Fabric Grain? [Part 1: Fabric Grain]

* Pre-treating/Pressing your fabric. [Part 2: Pre-washing & Cutting]


* Measuring/Cutting [See Part 2]


* Fat Quarter vs. 1/4 Yard [Part 3: Fat Quarters & Pre-Cuts]


* Interfacing vs Interlining and why you NEED it. [Part 4: Interfacings & Interlinings]


* Beyond Quilting Cotton: some of my 'other' favorite types of fabric


* Tools, Tips & Tricks


My hopes are that this guide will be of some help to those of you who are new to the world of fabric & sewing, by having helpful info and tips in one place.  Plus, now my students can benefit from learning how to actually sew instead of listening to me babble about fabric, on and on and on... 


* * *
Coming Up Next Week:
- Mini Series: The SoChick Chick's Guide to Fabric 
- I'm Heading to The Original Sewing & Quilt Expo in Atlanta, GA
- My Stop on the Craftsy BOM Blog Tour, see Here for dates.


Have a great weekend!
XxOo~ Melissa