The Fleet & Flourish Blog Tour : Ali Brorsen

I'm so excited to share the amazing work of my friend Ali Brorsen of Because of Brenna today! The dresses she's made with my Fleet & Flourish collection are some of the most beautiful clothing I have ever seen! Ali first starting sewing with my collection back in late January when she shared a blog post full of Fleet & Flourish creations as part of the Simple Life Pattern Company's one year anniversary. Then she completely stunned me with this amazing dress inspired by my very own Herringbone QAYG pattern!





You can read all about how Ali adapted my tutorial into this gorgeous dress right here on her blog!



To share today as part of my Blog Tour, Ali made two more dresses! The first one is so sweet, made using my Swifting Flora in Fond knit for the bodice and quilting cottons ~ Miniments in Unpolished & All Paths in Sunlit for the skirt. I especially love these bubble sleeve cuffs. So cute!!





This final dress is made in Art Gallery Fabrics new AGF Denim and my Roadside Guides in Aster log cabin print. Ali took inspiration from the butterfly display I created for my Fleet & Flourish booth at Quilt Market, and added them as a beautiful detail to this dress!



She used the same print as her dress straps, of course that has me thinking of how perfect this print will be for quilt binding!



Such amazing work & photography!! I hope you love Ali's creations just as much as I do! Be sure to hop on over to her blog, HERE, to read more about the patterns she used and to see more gorgeous photos!

Below is a scheduled list of the talented folks that have and will be sharing their Fleet & Flourish projects! 

Feb 22nd ~ Amy Friend : During Quiet Time { Blog & Instagram }

Feb 23rd ~ Heidi Staples : Fabric Mutt { Blog & Instagram }

Feb 24th ~ Amy Smart : Diary of a Quilter { Blog & Instagram }

Feb 25th ~ Amanda Jean: Crazy Mom Quilts { Blog & Instagram }

Feb 26th ~ Brooke Sellmann : Silly Mama Quilts { Blog & Instagram } Visit Maureen Cracknell Handmade for a Fleet & Flourish GIVEAWAY with Lady Belle Fabrics!!

Feb 29th ~ Amber Carillo : One Shabby Chick { Instagram & Blog }

March 1st ~ Nicke Cutler : Kiss Kiss Quilt { Instagram & Blog }

March 2nd ~ Nicole Daksiewicz : Modern Handcraft { Instagram & Blog }

March 3rd ~ Christopher Thompson : the Tattooed Quilter { Instagram & Blog }

March 4th ~ Alexis Wright : My Sweet Sunshine { Blog & Instagram } Visit Maureen Cracknell Handmade for a Fleet & Flourish GIVEAWAY with Llama Fabrics!!

March 7th ~ Jessica Stewart : Izzy & Ivy Designs { Blog & Instagram }

March 8th ~ Stephanie Kendron : Modern Sewciety { Blog & Instagram }

March 9th ~ Heather Bostic : House of A La Mode // Citizens of Textile { Instagram }

March 10th ~ Ali Brorsen : Because of Brenna { Blog, Facebook, & Instagram }

March 11th ~ Melissa Kelley : Sew Shabby Quilting { Blog, Facebook, & Instagram } Visit Maureen Cracknell Handmade for a Fleet & Flourish GIVEAWAY with the Intrepid Thread!!

March 14th ~  Maureen Cracknell Handmade { Blog, Facebook, & Instagram }

Thanks again for following along! ♡ Maureen   

The Fleet & Flourish Blog Tour : Jessica Stewart

The past two weeks have been so much fun for me! This is the first Blog Tour I've ever "organized" and with each new day & project I continue to be completely blown away by the amazing things my friends are creating! I'm excited to start this final week of the tour with the beautiful work of my talented friend Jessica Stewart of Izzy & Ivy Designs & Snickerdoodle Stew!

The first dress I want to share is the beautiful color-blocked Charly Tunic that Jessica sewed for my Quilt Market booth this past Fall. The top features Thriving Threads and Gentle Mantle Land from my Fleet & Flourish knits, with a few coordinating Art Gallery Pure Elements Solids, and sweet elbow patch hearts & lace details!







This dress was one of the most popular & photographed items in my space at Quilt Market. Everyone loved it so much!

For the Blog Tour I sent Jessica another knit to use, my peachy cream Minimints in Raw plus more Thriving Threads and Gentle Mantle Land to create this adorbale Tallulah Dress and ruffle pants set from the Sweet Polly’s Playclothes booklet. This is the cutest outfit!







Isn't it adorable?! These are the kind of clothes that make me want to learn how to sew garments soooo badly!! Be sure to hop on over to Jessica's blog, HERE, to read more about the patterns she used and to see more photos of her amazing work!

Below is a scheduled list of the talented folks that have and will be sharing their Fleet & Flourish projects! 

Feb 22nd ~ Amy Friend : During Quiet Time { Blog & Instagram }

Feb 23rd ~ Heidi Staples : Fabric Mutt { Blog & Instagram }

Feb 24th ~ Amy Smart : Diary of a Quilter { Blog & Instagram }

Feb 25th ~ Amanda Jean: Crazy Mom Quilts { Blog & Instagram }

Feb 26th ~ Brooke Sellmann : Silly Mama Quilts { Blog & Instagram } Visit Maureen Cracknell Handmade for a Fleet & Flourish GIVEAWAY with Lady Belle Fabrics!!

Feb 29th ~ Amber Carillo : One Shabby Chick { Instagram & Blog }

March 1st ~ Nicke Cutler : Kiss Kiss Quilt { Instagram & Blog }

March 2nd ~ Nicole Daksiewicz : Modern Handcraft { Instagram & Blog }

March 3rd ~ Christopher Thompson : the Tattooed Quilter { Instagram & Blog }

March 4th ~ Alexis Wright : My Sweet Sunshine { Blog & Instagram } Visit Maureen Cracknell Handmade for a Fleet & Flourish GIVEAWAY with Llama Fabrics!!

March 7th ~ Jessica Stewart : Izzy & Ivy Designs { Blog & Instagram }

March 8th ~ Stephanie Kendron : Modern Sewciety { Blog & Instagram }

March 9th ~ Heather Bostic : House of A La Mode // Citizens of Textile { Instagram }

March 10th ~ Ali Brorsen : Because of Brenna { Blog, Facebook, & Instagram }

March 11th ~ Melissa Kelley : Sew Shabby Quilting { Blog, Facebook, & Instagram } Visit Maureen Cracknell Handmade for a Fleet & Flourish GIVEAWAY with the Intrepid Thread!!

March 14th ~  Maureen Cracknell Handmade { Blog, Facebook, & Instagram }

Thanks for following along! ♡ Maureen   

The Fleet & Flourish Blog Tour : Alexis Wright & GIVEAWAY!

When I get the chance to share garments made using my fabric designs it's so exciting for me! Learning to sew clothing is a big life goal of mine, but until that happens, I rely on my friends who do it so well to showcase my fabrics in all the ways I can't! Today's Fleet & Flourish Blog Tour guest is one of my very favorite sewing friends and clothing maker! When I reached out to Alexis Wright of My Sweet Sunshine asking her to make something for the tour, she suggested making something for herself and I was delighted!

I sent Alexis several yards of my Fleet & Flourish knit Thriving Threads in Light and I love what she created! This pretty dress is the Bridgetown Backless Dress by pattern maker Sew House Seven!



Alexis looks so stunning in every single photo! It was hard to choose just a few to share. I especially love the open back!





Be sure to visit the My Sweet Sunshine BLOG to see more of Alexis' gorgeous photography and to read all the details about her Fleet & Flourish dress!

Besides creating this dress for the blog tour today, I want to share a few more inspiring garments Alexis made with my Fleet & Flourish strike-off & AGF's Pure Element solids to help me out with my full collection debut at International Quilt Market in Houston this past Fall!









I just love everything my sweet friend makes!!

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We're ending this week of the tour with another AMAZING Giveaway from Llama Fabrics!

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My sponsor Llama Fabrics is a wonderful online Etsy fabric shop full of the most beautiful photos of each season's "must have" fabrics! Offerings include collections from our favorite manufacturers ~ Art Gallery Fabrics, Free Spirit, and Michael Miller, just to name a few! New fabrics are added often, sure be sure to follow Llama Fabrics!
  
SHOP  *  INSTAGRAM  *  FACEBOOK
 

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We hope you enjoy visiting Llama Fabric's sites!! 

For this week's Fabric Giveaway Llama Fabrics is offering the ENTIRE Fat Eighth bundle of Fleet & Flourish, both here on the blog and on my Instagram!! Each bundle includes all TWENTY prints that make up my new collection! How amazing and generous!!

You can find this bundle newly available as a fat eighth, a fat quarter, a half yard, and as a complete one yard bundle, along with blender bundles & single cuts of your choosing in the Llama Fabric Shop!! 

Enter to win! 

Here's how,

 
1. Simply leave a comment here under this post! We'd love to know which project from this second week of the Blog Tour most caught your eye, feel free to share! (one entry)
2. Follow Llama Fabrics on Facebook and/or Instagram! Just let me know that you did by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (optional extra entry) 

3. My followers get a third entry! If you follow here, on Instagram, or on Facebook just let me know by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (optional extra entry)

4. Help spread the word!! I know that many of you already do, so I thought it would be nice to add that as another way to enter! Whether by Instagram, tweet, Facebook, pin, blog, etc... (optional extra entry) 

That’s 4 possible entries! Enter now through Monday, March 7th! The winner will be picked next week at random and I will announce their name at the bottom of this post, here on the blog.

* Note * This giveaway is open to EVERYONE! If you're a "no reply" or anonymous commenter, please remember to include your email address in your comment! 

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A BIG thanks to all who entered our Giveaway! This week's lucky winner is commenter,  Sandy N ~ Congratulations, I will be touch shortly!  ♡ Maureen

Knit Sewing : :

I'm late with today's post, but at last I'm beginning to see just how my Quilt Market booth is coming together! Goods I've ordered to decorate, display items, and some of the beautiful things made by willing & kindhearted sewing friends are beginning to arrive! Today I want to share just a few of those lovely things!

When my knit strike offs arrived, right away I sent them off to Caroline Hulse, aka Sew Caroline, clothing maker extraordinaire and fellow AGF Limited Edition Gleeful designer! With just my two little knit samples she whipped up the most adorable Kensington Dress, pattern by Hey June, and a super cute Recess Raglan tee, pattern by See Kate Sew!





These two were the first knit garments made with my Wild & Free collection, a sight I'll never forget! Once my knit yardage became available, Caroline was so sweet to make a few more pieces that I can't wait to share here after Market. Just check out this tee she recently made herself from the scraps!

Another sweet friend happy to help with a couple of items was Virginia Lindsay, aka pattern & book author Gingercake! She made this incredible Make Your Getaway Duffle in denim, with Honey PE solid details, a large pocket in my Wild & Free Folk Plaid, with Spiceberry lining. I'm in love with it!! To add a little extra color Virginia also added a quick and fun tassle from some leftover Sun Tracks knits for the handle. It's so perfect!!



Also arriving in today's mail from Virginia is this Wild & Free knit Sally Dress shown here on the most adorable model! This dress is made with my Woven Path knit as the main dress fabric with over-sized Sun Tracks pockets, accessorized with a brilliant headband!



I was so inspired by these pieces I made a first attempt at garment sewing for an adult, using knits, without a pattern to make this simple tank dress. I have so much to learn, but seeing their beautiful creations encouraged me to try and I'm so glad I did!



Be sure to visit the Gingercake blog to read more about Virginia's Wild & Free sewing! And please keep an eye out to see more of Caroline's Wild & Free garments on her blog after Quilt Market!  ♥  Maureen

A Pretty Voile Scarf : :

Thank you all so much for the quilt love yesterday! It means so much to me, Thank You!!

Today I'm sharing a new scarf that I made recently that I love, love, love!  I whipped it up quick using my Simple Scarf Tutorial, some comfy stashed flannel in a soft denim blue color from Joann, and Art Gallery Fabrics new Voile Collection. These fabrics are so lovely, truly!

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The beautiful softness of voile makes you want to cozy right up to it! I've been dreaming of stashing enough for a quilt back, wouldn't that be amazing?!  But decided a new scarf would be the perfect thing to make with the one yard of this pretty blue Branch Silhouette print for now.





I love how perfectly this Voile pairs with heavier fabric weights like the flannel. The combination of the two make sewing with it so easy! The flannel gives a stability to the voile that keeps away any puckering or possibility of it being a little slippery to work with. It makes for some fun and easy sewing, with a finished project that really feels luxurious and special. A perfect sewn gift!



I'm taking a second Voile project to begin on the road with me this weekend when my husband and I head out for an overnight date. I plan to take my time with this one, to just enjoy it when an opportunity for some relaxing handwork can fit it to what we're doing over the next several weeks. This Impressions print seams like the perfect canvas for some Pearl Cotton embroidery!



Have you given Voile a try? Please feel free to share your experience with it or any links to a sewing project of your own that you've made using Voile. I'd love to see!!  ♥,  Maureen 

A Dress for Penny : :

When one of my most favorite people asked me to make a little dress and crown set for one of her most favorite people, of course I said yes! A sweet little girl named Penny just become a big sister, and I was summoned to make something special just for her. I was extra excited when the request was for me to make another one of my friend Lindsay's adorable Charlotte Apron Dresses. It was such a pleasure the first time around!



So yesterday, ignoring all my qayg wips and birthday crown orders, I spend my sewing time making this gift set for Penny.

It finally gave me a reason to try out Art Gallery Fabric for garment sewing. Everyone is always saying what a nice drape and hand it has for sewing clothes -- it's true! The PIMA cotton is so lovely and soft, and that Emerald color, so vibrant. I need more! My friend also loved the Domestic Bliss fabrics I used on my last dress, so I used some more of those for this apron, too.



I used two prints from my gorgeous stack of Chicopee fabrics, as well! This wonderful Fuchsia for the bodice.

The combo of the fuchsia pinks and the aqua teals is so, so pretty!



And, this sweet aqua floral for the straps. I love a good, small floral print like this and those tiny, little hearts!



Of course, I had to make a Penny crown to match!



I really hope she loves it!



Happy Wednesday, all! ♥,  Maureen

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The Drawstring Skirt Tutorial : :

Today I'm thrilled to be sharing my very first garment tutorial for a Simple Drawstring Skirt with a sweet Melody Miller Ruby Star Shining Typewriter Applique, as part of Skirting the Issue for Project Run and Play!

What is "Skirting the Issue?" From the Project Run and Play intro post -- "Skirting the Issue is an event that has been planned for the month of July to make and donate handmade skirts to girls in Foster Care. We have teamed up with our local Foster Care Agency, Utah Foster Care Foundation,  in our local efforts, but we have been assured that there are plenty of local Foster Care Agencies across the nation (and world) and that there is plenty of need for skirts!

As part of the event we have asked over 40 celebrity sewing bloggers to participate and share simple handmade skirt tutorials that we can all use to make and donate skirts to our local agencies (or mail to us if you would like to!)

We have set a goal for 100 skirts to be donated by the first week in August---and we REALLY need your help to make our goal!"

You can follow this link to read the rest of that post and to find ALL the details you'll need to join in our efforts! If you have any questions feel free to email me anytime at maureencracknell@hotmail.com.

Now let's get started!!  

What you'll need : :
 

• 1 - piece of fabric for main skirt measuring 14" x 44" (source)
• 1 - piece of fabric for skirt waistband measuring 4" x 44" (source)
• 1 - piece of fabric for skirt bottom measuring 4" x 44" (source)
• 2 - pieces of fabric for drawstring ties measuring 2" x 44" (source)
• 1 - fussy cut Melody Miller Ruby Star Rising Typewriter for applique (optional)(source)
• 1 - small square piece of Heat Bond Lite for applique (optional)(source)
• white thread
• Sewing pins
• Sharp scissors and/or a rotary cutter/mat set   

Making the Drawstring Tie : :

1. cut two - 2" pieces of fabric from selvedge end to end, trim those ends away 2. with right sides facing match up ends, pin, and sew together at one end. Making one very long strip of fabric. Press that seam open

3. fold in both short ends of the long fabric strip 1/4" and press well 4. fold in both long ends so they meet in the middle, press well 5. fold in half one last time, press well, pin, and sew along the folded edge to create the drawstring tie

Sewing the Skirt : : 

6. cut and press the skirt fabrics

7. sew the waistband and skirt bottom pieces to the main skirt fabric using a 1/4" seam allowance

8. press waistband seam so the seam is facing the top of the skirt, press bottom piece seam so it's facing the bottom of the skirt



9. fold in both side edges of the skirt piece 1/4" and press well

10. fold in waistband edge 1/4" and press



11. bring that folded end to match up with the waistband and main skirt fabric seam, press well to create the skirt waistband. Pin in place

12. Sew along both sides of the waistband, staying close to each edge. Leave each end open

13. Bring the skirt ends together, pin, and sew along that edge, leaving the waistband ends open. This is very important, since this is where you'll add the waistband tie. Press that seam open

14. Hem skirt bottom. Fold bottom edge of skirt in 1/4", press, fold again, press and sew along that edge to hem the skirt.

The skirt body is finished and now it's time to add the drawstring tie!

Add the Drawstring Tie : :

15. Add a pin to one end of the tie and thread through one opening of the skirt waistband, coming out the other end. Add a knot to each end of the drawstring and tie a nice bow to cinch the waistband of the skirt

Add the Applique : :

16. Press to adhere the typewriter fabric piece to the Heat n' Bond Lite. Fussy cut the typewrite and remove the Heat n' Bond backing. Press to add the applique to the skirt and stitch around the outer edge of the typewriter with white or black thread to attach permanently. So cute!!

Now you're Drawstring Skirt is finished and ready for wearing!

I had originally planned to make this skirt for a small child, then for a tween - teenage girl, when I read that the greatest need for these charity skirts is for older girls. When I had finished, this skirt fit me just fine! After having every female who happened to stop by my house throughout these last couple days try this skirt on, I feel like it really works for so many ages and sizes -- from a child size, all the way up to an xs/small adult size. The drawstring waist just makes it that versatile! You can make a smaller or larger version using this method, by simply taking away or adding a few inches to the width and length!

I hope you do enjoy this tutorial and find it helpful! As always -- be sure to let me know if you give this one a go!!  ♥ Maureen

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