May Giveaway

We are almost thru May and barbecue season is beginning.  I can hardly believe it! I have been prepping my back yard every free minute.  Planting new flowers, veggies and herbs.  And I just cut the grass today, yes we have a small area of grass and I own a push mower.  I have never really used a push mower.  It's not that bad.  Quite easy and I find it enjoyable.  Relaxing.  The other day we started up the grill just to give it a little test run.  This Saturday will be our first barbecue and Harper's First birthday and I don't want to run out of gas.  Or the grill run out of gas.  Do you grill? Do you wear a grilling apron? One of those that have some sort of funny sayings?  Well in May one of my aprons is part of a give away on the Etsy New York blog.  Just click here to see the whole post.

Butcher Style apron with Liberty of London pockets

And while you are cooking, keep your hair pulled back with this bandanna.
Made of Liberty of London Tana Lawn and finished with bright neon pink stitching.

Basically all you need to do is visit my facebook page and like it.  Then in the comments write #maygiveaway.  You have two more days, the raffle closes on May 23.  And if you love free things you should check out the Etsy New York blog often because every month there will be a give away! How sweet is that!

Good luck!

Liberty Love for the Moms

I always have a hard time coming up with something for my mom for Mother's Day.  First of all she is difficult to buy for and secondly after so many years what do I give her that's new and different?

What will she like? What will she appreciate? What will she use? What will she enjoy? What what what? It is exhausting.

Growing up in a somewhat suburban/rural area, exposure to things was not a regular thing.  When I started working in design and learned about Liberty of London fabrics I immediately fell in love.  The softness of the fabric and the beautiful, completely unique designs is what makes them so desired.  I gifted my mom at Christmas a lap blanket using a Liberty print on one side.  And success, she actually uses it and likes it.  My dad likes it too for his morning naps.

Now that it's Mother's Day why not give another Liberty gift.  Here are 3 items from my Etsy shop that are uniquely Liberty and useful!

Something small.  Very few people use hankies or pocket squares but why not? It is environmentally friendly after all.  My pocket squares are a hot seller, but they can also be used as a hankie.

Loden print with finished edges

Have a mom that likes to cook or garden? Or keep that hair pulled back?  A patchwork bandanna.

Pink flower Mauvey Patchwork Bandanna

Or for the mom who likes to entertain, double sided napkins.  Now in two choices of prints, Strawberry Thief or Wiltshire.

my favorite the Strawberry Thief in green olive

Wiltshire in pink

Something for every mom, a little liberty love. Just visit my Etsy Shop!

Happy Mother's Day!

Something for Mom's Day

Liberty of London patchwork bandanna - Capel

Mother's Day is coming up, it's not too late to give her something special and order it online.

For the crafty mom.  A traditional heirloom tomato pin cushion.  Each one is unique and handmade with cotton fill, wool felt cap and a variety of red, green and orange prints.  Because each heirloom tomato is unique right?

heirloom tomato pincushion

For the cooking mom.  A traditional Butcher's Apron based off of a French style.  A beautifully woven cotton linen fabric with adjustable neck tie and double sided pockets.  The linen cotton will keep Mom cool in the hot kitchen. 

Every chef needs to pull their hair back while they are working.  Why not gift your Mom a gorgeous Liberty of London patchwork bandanna.  Finished in neon pink stitching, this light weight cotton lawn bandanna can be machine washed and will last a lifetime.  

I love these bandannas because you can wear them in the kitchen, at the beach or all day on a bad hair day! Or just because they are pretty!

You can buy all of these things in my Etsy Shop, just click here.

Liberty Scarf Bandannas

If you have been a reader of my blog you know I am a fan of Liberty of London fabrics.  because of my background in textiles I appreciate the details and history of these beautiful fabrics.  Part of the kitchen line I am working on has some Liberty Bandannas.  Bandannas for the kitchen? huh?
These are bandannas that you can wear in your hair to keep it pulled back while you work.  You can also wear one around your neck.  You can roll it up or fold it in a triangle.  Many options.  In addition, some of these are double sided.  I also have started working on some styles that are patch worked.  The love of Liberty.  If you can't decide on which print to buy you don't have to.  Buy a patchwork bandanna.  What do you think?

The love of Liberty.

Have a great week!

Tracey

Pocket Square News, The Winner is.....

The winner for the new pocket square design has been chosen.  Thank you to everyone who voted! It will be the Xanthe Sunbeam in red.  This colorway is from the 2013 collection. You may have seen it in J.Crew in a woman's shirt.

These Tansy flowers were hand painted and drawn using pencils and inks.  Inspired by the landscape that surrounds Abbey Garden on Tresco.   These cheerful red flowers have a stylish 50's look.  The center of the flower is a navy blue.

The winner of the new pocket square is Jenn from Firelight Jewelry.  If you didn't win, there is still a way you can have some sunbeam for yourself.  Visit my etsy shop.  If you are interested in ordering a large quantity for a wedding please drop me an email tracey@traceytoole.com

Tracey  

Sip n Sewcial This Friday in NYC

Happy Monday! I hope you had a nice and productive weekend.  It rained here in New York but the weather is in the 50's!  What did you do this weekend? Any sewing? Are you working on any tough projects?  This Friday on April 4th I will be teaching at the first Sip n Sewcial at the Sewing Studio in Manhattan.  I am so excited about this event!  I know when I was single and childless sometimes I just preferred to hangout at home on a Friday night and do some sewing, enjoy a glass of wine or two.  The bar scene gets very old, very quick.   Who am I kidding, I still like to hang out at home and sew or do some other craft on a Friday night! 

Apron making

Busy bees

A student's shirt coat from Intro to Sew 2

If you are working on a project, want to start a new project, want some guidance or just want to be crafty and meet some new creative people you should come to the Sip n Sewcial.  It starts at 6 pm and goes until 10 pm.  You have full use of the sewing machines, the sergers, irons, and huge, spacious tables!  You can't find that in NYC!  If you need some help on a project I will be there to answer any questions.  Or if you want to try something new I will be teaching my Spring Infinity Scarf. 

Spring Infinity Scarf

To secure your spot you can pre-pay for your ticket here on Eventbrite. 

If you would like to make the Spring Infinity Scarf bring a half yard each of two different fabrics and matching thread.  For my scarf above I used 3 scrap pieces of Liberty of London and this reverses to Essex by Robert Kaufman.  

I almost forgot to mention, wine is provided!

Hope to see you there!

And have a crafty week!

Tracey

Help me pick! New Liberty of London Pocket Squares and a Giveaway!

Bourton Pocket Square

Spring is finally here! Well at least the calendar says so.  I am adding a new Liberty of London pocket square to the collection in my Etsy Shop.  I am hoping you can help me pick which design to add.

And to thank you for your hard efforts I will be giving away one pocket square with the new design. Just leave me your opinion in the comment section.   As you can see each style has the name written in black.  The pocket square will have a folded hem with matching thread.  Similar to this one:

So tell me what you think!  Will it be the birds in Strawberry Thief?  Or maybe the pink trucks in Hunter?  You have until Thursday April 3rd 11:59 pm EST, to leave a comment.  The winner will be announced Friday April 4th.

And have a great weekend!

Thanks!
Tracey

Definition a Day - Lawn Fabric

Quilt using Liberty Tana Lawn, Kaufman Cambridge Lawn and Liberty Bloomsbury Art Fabrics

Since  I started the week yesterday with voile a light weight fabric I thought I would follow up today with lawn fabric.  Lawn is very similar to voile.  It is a lightweight, plain weave, cotton and soft.  Made of combed cotton or cotton blend yarns.  There is a high count of yarns used giving a lovely hand and a silky feel.  One of my favorite fabric companies is Liberty of London and many of their fabrics are made using cotton lawn.  They call it Tana Lawn.

Lawn can be used for quilting and apparel.  Personally I am not a huge fan of quilting with it because it is so silky however I will still probably use it in quilts.  Above photo is a quilt I made for Andy last year using some Tana Lawn fabrics.

When you sew with lawn fabrics it's best to use a size 8 or 10 needle. And there is minimal shrinkage.

Lawn wrap dress from Susannah Dashwood blog

Liberty Tana Lawn

Products I've Been Working On. Sewing with Liberty of London

Last night in class a student told me she never heard of Liberty of London until taking my class.  Well I am a fan. Liberty of London is beautiful and cool, well made and obtainable.  Obtainable is key because as a consumer you can't always buy quality fabric by the yard.  Only 3 stores in NYC sell it.  Another student asked, is it difficult to sew with. This is a good question because Liberty feels like silk, also it has a similar weight.  Liberty is 100% cotton and yes it is easy to sew with, just use a size 8 or 9 needle.  The last quality I appreciate much with Liberty, it is made in England. It is difficult these days to buy something not made in Asia.  When you buy Liberty you are buying from a company that is paying fair wages. Check out this cool video of the print facility.

Last summer I launched a new product in my etsy shop and on my website, Liberty Bandanna Scarves. What's a bandanna scarf? You can wear it in your hair or as a scarf. Great for temperamental weather.

This spring I have introduced Pocket Squares (which also can be used as a hankie, ladies).  There are now a few listed in my etsy shop but more are to come!

Emilia
Thanks Andy for modeling for me.

Bourton - a lovely blue paisley

Susanna Pocket Square

Emilia with Capel
Capel is a whimsical floral in a perfect dress shirt lavender.
Not posted on etsy yet. 

Since this is new product I am always looking for feed back. What do you think?  Do you like the prints I have chosen? Would you use this as a pocket square or hankie?

My samples for Liberty of London

MIA, I have been missing my blog but have been in full action. Last week was a very busy week for me and I feel awful I haven't had a chance to put together the DIY curtain post which I promised. However, at one of my day jobs, at Purl Soho, we had a launch for the new Liberty of London collection called Bloomsbury. I mentioned it a few times. I was commissioned to sew 6 projects from Purl Bee using the new fabric. I had a great time sewing them and wanted to share some of the pics.
Also I was working on a quilt for my nephew's birthday. Last Saturday, Caius celebrated his 5th birthday.   I made him a patchwork quilt that I designed with inspiration from a Painter Palette quilt from Design Sponge.
Here are a few photos of what's been going on!

Caius's Birthday Quilt #5

Purl Triangle Girl's Dress

Purl Rainbow Mini Quilt

Union Jack Patchwork Quilt almost done.

Purl 20 Minute Totes and the Union Jack Flag make their debut at the launch last Thursday at Purl.

The Rainbow mini quilt.

Also I almost forgot to mention we finally started construction in our basement. We met with our contractor last Wednesday and construction began today! Home office/ sewing space/ classroom will be finished in a few weeks!

The ones marked Purl in front of their title are Purl Bee patterns and copyrighted.

And the winner is...

Thank you to everyone who commented on the Liberty of London scarf giveaway!  Your comments were interesting to read and always brought a smile to my face in the past 4 days. The winner is Mia, comment #12.  Mia please email me tracey@traceytoole.com with your mailing info so I can get this scarf to you asap!

There will be another giveaway in August so check back!

Tracey

Liberty of London Scarf Giveaway!

The past two weeks I have been working on some projects for Purl for the new Liberty Lifestyle Collection launch next Thursday.  The new collection is called Bloomsbury and is quilting weight fabrics.

The Twenty Minute Tote from Molly's Sketchbook. Visit the Purl Bee to get the pattern.

The flowers are big and beautiful and bright! Some are the classic tiny ditsy prints. Some even have a retro look.  I am sewing up some Twenty Minute Totes, Quilts and even a Union Jack pillow. Having a lot of fun doing this and definitely have Liberty on the brain. 


So I thought, I have never had a give away on my blog and have a new item in my own line of products, the Liberty Bandanna Scarves, so with this post I am giving a pink Liberty of London bandanna to one lucky winner.  This is a great piece to use as a bandanna, a scarf, or a hankie. Two pink prints put together with neon pink stitching.  


Please submit your comment to this post by Monday July 16th at midnight.  Do you have a favorite Liberty of London print? How would you wear this item? As a scarf or a head band?  What's your favorite accessory?


Please make sure you leave your email/twitter handle or that your comment is linked to your profile or blog so I can contact you if you win! 
Good luck readers!

Pink Pieced Liberty Bandanna Scarf