The Extreme Makeover Grand Finale!

The projects are up for the final week of Extreme Makeover: Fabric Edition!!  Hurry over to Wildflower's and Whimsy to check them out and cast your vote!

The 1st & 2nd Place winner will get some pretty amazing prize packs with patterns from each of our sponsors!  Here's your chance to win some patterns too!

Our sponsors for the County Fair challenge are:

This shop has a collection of patterns to make some super cute shoes for you!  That's right... patterns to sew things for yourself... what a concept huh?

I had the hardest time picking some of my favorites but here they are!

In this giveaway you can win the pattern to make the Classic Mary Janes.  So cute!

&

This shop is so much fun to snoop around in!  She's got a little bit of everything here...

A pattern to make the cutest bowling set EVER!

Adorable machine embroidery designs

Super cute girls clothing patterns

And a BUNCH of sewing patterns for mommy accessories!

You can choose any pattern you like from this shop if you win the giveaway and if you just can't wait to win something she's offered a coupon code good for 30% off all purchases!  Just enter "HOARD" when checking out and hurry... this deal expires Monday!

So how can you win?  It's simple!

Important:  You must be a public follower of both Wildflowers & Whimsy and The Extra Ordinary Bree to win this giveaway...this does not count as an entry, but we will not pick a winner that doesn't follow our blogs.  Also, please remember that the mandatory entries must be completed or the additional entries will be voided.

Mandatory Entries

Visit Shoeology and come back here and tell me what your favorite pattern is.  (1 entry)

Visit Birdiful Stitches and come back here and tell me what your favorite pattern is.  (1 entry)

Additional Entries

Create a link to this giveaway.  (Just click the "create a link button" below the comment section. (1 entry)

Post this giveaway to FB.  (1 entry)

Tweet about this giveaway.  (1 entry)

Please leave a separate comment for each entry, and make sure we are able to contact you.  Giveaway closes on Sunday at midnight! Thanks and good luck!

How to Store Your Fabric Stash

Our three final contestants are hard at work right now with their final projects.  You'll be able to see all their awesomeness & vote for your favorite on Friday! I can't wait!!

Have you've been following along and tackling your own stash throughout the competition?

I have!

Nothing like what our amazing contestants have done but I have really really tried to use my fabric and avoid buying new stuff.

So what has helped me?

By far the biggest help to me has been re-evaluating my fabric stash.  I went through everything and pulled out the fabrics I knew I'd never use.  Then I put it in a separate bin.  I realize that I could just toss these or donate to the Salvation Army but I like to keep them!  Why?  Because sometimes beautiful fabric can be hard to cut into, especially when you're not sure if a pattern is going to work or you are trying to design a new pattern!  But ugly fabric with kittens and Christmas bows are so easy to cut into that you're scissors practically work themselves! and yes I actually have fabric with Christmas cats on it

After all my ugly fabric is out of site, I can focus on the fabrics I drooled over and risked a lecture from my husband for!

The solution for me is simple... Fold it nice and neat and stack them in the cabinets that hang over my sewing machine. Here's a round up of a ton of other functional & attractive ways to store your fabric... something's bound to work for you!

Make your own miniature fabric bolts!
Find the tutorial @ The Little Green Bean!

A functional way to store your favs and it doubles as craft room decor! 
You can find the full tutorial here... p.s. it's so easy, you'll laugh.

Holly @ Holly Street is a self proclaimed Fabric Whore
She color coordinated her fabric into pretty bins  

Make a fabric swatch book like Carolyn from Homework
& store your fabrics in a dresser or in large bins

And I know that most "normal" people probably just throw their scraps away but if you're a real, authentic hoarder, like me, then you hold on to even the smallest scraps!

There's just so much you can do with them!

Display them using embroidery hoops! 
Find the tute @ The Purl Bee

Like these pretty little necklaces from Cakies

Or these bangles from Blue Cricket Design

And I'm in love with this scrap fabric table cloth
from Pocket Full of Posies!

Sara from Sara vs. Sarah
made these awesome scrap shoelaces!

Fabric covered bandaids!!
Get the tute @ The Pink Couch

Even the smallest scraps can be used as button covers
like this tufted sofa from The Found Blog

And this simple project is a necessity for every flip flop wearing 2 year old! 
Find the tutorial @ Make It & Love it.

And oh there's more... there's so much more!!  But if I don't stop, this list will be a mile long.  Seriously.

But now that I've convinced you to hold on desperately to each and every scrap larger than the size of a quarter... How in the heck do you store all of it!

Here's a couple of cute ideas that got my wheels turning and my mouth watering.

Tuck them in mason jars and display like
Rachel from Stitched in Color

The Pioneer Valley Girl stores her color coded
scraps in a clear over the door shoe holder!

I love this idea from BHG!  Wouldn't it be cute to
find a vintage hanging fruit basket?!

Another from BHG
... I knew I was saving all those formula cans for a reason!

Same concept as the mason jars only fancier
from Prudent Baby

How about hanging them from a pretty little clothesline
like Ronda from One Little Word?

So there you have it folks... if you weren't hooked on hoarding fabric and scraps you are now!  

How do you store your stash?

Oh She's Wild, Alright!

Our very first challenge at Extreme Makeover: Fabric Edition, one of our contestants worked her tail off and managed to use up 25.5 yards of her enormous fabric stash!

Right then and there, the rest of the contestants must have know she was a force to be reckoned with!

Throughout the competition she's made some amazing pieces and used a mind blowing total of 61.5 yards.

She made it all the way to last weeks challenge before being voted off in a very close race but you haven't seen the last of Mama Lusco!

That's right...
 

We've chosen Angie as our Wild Card to go on to the final round!

Congratulations Angie!  Can't wait to see what you come up with next!

Mother to Be, Being, Been

Have you guys seen this yet?

Jenn from A Jennuine Life is running this fun contest where you can submit maternity, nursing & postpartum fashions sewn by you!

Right now the contest is in the 3rd trimester (get it?) and focusing on what to wear when you've lost that cute baby bump and are trying desperately to disguise it.

And today, I wrote up a fun little guest post with a couple of super easy tutorials! So hop on over there and check it out!

Extreme Makeover... Who's going to the finale?

The votes are in and all tallied up!

So who's going on to the Grand Finale for the chance to win a really awesome prize pack filled with some really awesome patterns from the freshest Etsy shops???

Andi from Laundry on the Line

She won our Hopscotch challenge with this amazing collection of 9 pieces!

Amy from Little Country Bumpkins 

is also moving on with this her version of the bloom dress!  

I just love that color combo!

Unfortunately that means Angie from Mama Lusco is eliminated... boo.

I really liked how she was inspired by the pattern without using it since it wasn't sized for her older girls!

 

 ---

 

 

So we've got Andi & Amy... what about our wild card?  

 

 

 

Who should come back for the grand finale? 

 

--

 

Who are you just dying to see more of? 

 

--

 

Who's put their fabric hoarding ways behind them?  

 

--

 

Who's used the most fabric?

--

 

Stay tuned!  We'll announce it soon... very soon!!

Don't forget!

Hey two BIG reminders...

Vote for your favorite Extreme Makeover: Fabric Edition project before midnight tonight!

and

If you signed up for Rue La La and got $20 for free (lucky dog!) don't forget to use it before it expires on May 25th!  The Sunday Night Styleathon starts tonight @ 8PM ET!!

Extreme Makeover: Fabric Edition WEEK 5

It's Week 5 of Extreme Makeover: Fabric Edition the last challenge before our grand finale!  This week our girls duked it out in a pattern show down!  They used The Bloom Dress from our sponsor Too Sweets!

Definitely Too Sweet

Now... let's see what they've made!

# 1 -- 9.5 yards

The Hopscotch Collection - One Pattern, 5 looks

With the dress pattern as my guide, I have created 5 different summary outfits, ready for fun in the sun!

This first dress combines two different blues and an added ruffle on the bottom. 

For the second variation I added two straps instead of the halter neck and played with the scale of the flower. I used the full-size flower to adorn a coordinating carry-all tote.

I finished my sewing for little ones by shortening the pattern to create tops and then made some matching shorts, too.

But kids aren't the only ones that need summer clothes! So I then adapted the pattern to make two adult-sized outfits.

This knit skirt was created by widening and lengthening the pattern and then adding a ruffle on the bottom. 

And finally, I created a light cotton sundress. Once again, I lengthened and widened the pattern and then added two straps on the top and ommitted the flower. 

Now if only the sun would shine!

#2 -- 1.75 yards


My girls are too big to fit the actual Babes of Sweet pattern, so I found inspiration in the style of this dress. First is the ‘Bloom Romper,’ made from comfy knit with a coordinating bloom ruffle flower. Yardage : 1 yd

I wanted the fabric to be the focus, so this is a simple shirred tunic with elasticized stay-put straps. Yardage: .75 yd

#3 -- 1 yard

Hi Everybody! This week was just too crazy for me.  I had a super hard time finding a minute to work on the project. Nevertheless, I finally got my dress done late last night.

Yep, the pictures are terrible which is really too bad cause the little dress is so cute!  We have had horrible weather the last couple days. There was no way any little girl would be wearing this outside.

My favorite part is this adorable flower and shirring on the front of the dress.  I really loved this pattern. Thank you so much for letting us try it out.

I'm impressed girls!

Now vote, vote, vote for your favorite and then head over to Wildflowers and Whimsy to enter the giveaway so you can get your own Too Sweet's pattern!

This weeks challenge was brought to you by: