{"id":12001,"date":"2014-08-07T08:51:19","date_gmt":"2014-08-07T12:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oliverands.com\/blog\/?p=12001"},"modified":"2018-11-29T03:13:57","modified_gmt":"2018-11-29T08:13:57","slug":"little-things-to-sew-cover-to-cover-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2014\/08\/little-things-to-sew-cover-to-cover-challenge.html","title":{"rendered":"little things to sew: cover to cover challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shelley from Bartacks and Singletrack<\/a> is here visiting again. You remember Shelley, right? She has told us about her favorite pattern<\/a>. She also shared her Evel Knievel costume<\/a> and disco pants<\/a>. Today Shelley is talking about the Little Things to Sew: Cover to Cover Challenge that she is running over on her blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one thing I can rightly be accused of, it\u2019s getting carried away with an idea. Late last year I was making a puppet theatre for a gift using the pattern from Little Things to Sew<\/a>, when it occurred to me that I had made almost half the projects in the book.<\/p>\n

Whilst using at least half the patterns in any sewing book would count as great value (come on, don\u2019t we all have completely untouched sewing books on the shelf) I decided that I was going to go all the way with this book. I made a button picture for my Flickr account put the idea out there on the forum<\/a> and suddenly we had a sponsor<\/a> and a group of sewers who were keen to play along.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Oliver<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Entry to the sew-along was simply by joining the Flickr pool<\/a> and posting photos. Each unique pattern used from the book would count as one entry in our competition. Counting the Juggling Balls and the Drawstring Bag as two separate projects there are 21 projects in the book, and as the photos flooded into the Flickr group it was clear I was going to get flogged in my own race.<\/p>\n

Sharon (aka mama_knowles03<\/a>) was our first finisher.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Oliver<\/a><\/p>\n

 
\n<\/p>\n

To celebrate her success, and to keep her from getting bored, Liesl and Todd kindly gave her two Straight Stitch Society<\/a> patterns and we had a finish line interview<\/a>, where I gave her a somewhat childish blog button to commemorate her having come first.<\/p>\n

The rest of us kept sewing along and it was clear that my initial lead was being slowly eroded by some very keen sewists.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that the person who has sewn the greatest number of things using patterns from Little Things to Sew is Heidi (with love, Heidi<\/a>). I finally convinced her to share the secrets of sewing crazy numbers of projects (10 explorer vests people!) and was amazed at her response (interview here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Lynn (Mile571acr<\/a>) had romped home with a full set of projects.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Oliver<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I was not only impressed with the speed that her projects came into the Flickr pool but each one was gorgeous. That Play Town remains a real favourite of mine.<\/p>\n

Along the way we\u2019ve shared some tips on sewing: my avoiding hand sewing the Bucket Hat tip is here<\/a>, and Heidi\u2019s Flickr set for the No Tie Scarf here<\/a>. We talked favourite patterns, ours and our kids, and all along I\u2019ve kept score with a PDF scoreboard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Oliver<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1: Megamora16<\/a> 2: mynorth<\/a> 3: forkandneedle<\/a> 4: 3 little ducks<\/a>
\n5: lizzieville79<\/a> 6: Island nana<\/a> 7: girl like the sea<\/a> 8: J.wo-sews<\/a>
\n9: donnalynnbh<\/a> 10: Robbin Bobbin<\/a> 11: Island nana<\/a> 12: jennyp0208<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Oliver<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1: Skirt as Top<\/a> 2: Sara.cali<\/a> 3: Rebecca<\/a> 4: Skirt as Top<\/a>
\n5: Sarah<\/a> b 6: jennyp0208<\/a> 7: thepeahead<\/a> 8: craikabula<\/a>
\n9: beanniequilts<\/a> 10: J.wo-sews<\/a> 11: mamaknowles03<\/a> 12: mile571acre<\/a><\/p>\n

By sewing through the book from cover to cover, one could learn almost every sewing skill needed. Each project seems to have some new technique to come to grips with, and there is certainly more than enough opportunity to practice applying bias binding! For me, a project I had initially not been too interested in, the Travel Quilt, ended up becoming a real favorite.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Oliver<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The projects that have been shown to be everyone\u2019s favourites are the Bucket Hat (also available as a free download<\/a>), the Tutu, Bear Carrier and Red Riding Hood. By crunching the numbers from the PDF scoreboard I came up with the odds for what you\u2019re likely to want to sew next! Just don\u2019t forget that the long shot can be the most satisfying. (I loved sewing my Bento Box Carrier, my Travel Quilt, my two Puppet Theaters\u2026.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Tote<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For those of us sewing along in the Cover to Cover Challenge there\u2019s only about three weeks to go until we wrap it up. However, I\u2019m hopeful that the Flickr group will continue to be a place to show off what you\u2019ve made, or seek inspiration from someone else’s projects. With 86 members currently and over 500 images you\u2019re bound to find the motivation you need to make one of these cute and useful projects.<\/p>\n

Now, I have to get cracking as I have some Bias Trimmed Aprons and Bear Puppet Bath Mitts to make in order to cross my finish line in time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Oliver + S Little Things to Sew: Cover to Cover Challenge is going on until the end of August. Shelley checks in today with a status update on the challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7455,"featured_media":12014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20687],"tags":[56],"class_list":["post-12001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-little-things-to-sew"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/travel-quilt.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5jZS5-37z","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10153,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2014\/03\/my-favorite-oliver-s-pattern-shelley-from-lightning-mcstitch.html","url_meta":{"origin":12001,"position":0},"title":"my favorite oliver + s pattern: shelley from lightning mcstitch","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"March 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Shelley is here today to tell us all about her favorite Oliver + S sewing pattern, the Nature Walk Pullover and Knit Pants.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/lightningmcstitch1_NatureWalk.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":75112,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2020\/05\/sew-tell-shelleys-kensington-mini-skirt.html","url_meta":{"origin":12001,"position":1},"title":"sew + tell: shelley’s kensington mini skirt","author":"Masha Richart","date":"May 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Shelley shortened the Kensington Knit Skirt to make a winter mini skirt using vintage fabric from a special source.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Shelley-hero.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":82741,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2024\/09\/shelleys-linen-prado-trench-coat.html","url_meta":{"origin":12001,"position":2},"title":"shelley’s linen prado trench coat","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"September 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Shelley, aka Lightning McStitch, is back with a stunning linen Prado Trench Coat she sewed. It's a perfect touch to her outfits, we think!","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/shelley-trench-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":60930,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2017\/05\/explorer-vest-round-up.html","url_meta":{"origin":12001,"position":3},"title":"explorer vest round-up","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"May 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"People have been doing some clever things with the Explorer Vest from the Oliver + S Little Things to Sew book. 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