Have you ever sewn something super sweet and girly and thought to yourself "what this really needs is a cute little bow!"... but then tried to tie a simple bow out of ribbon and ended up just making a mess?  I have (obviously, or why on earth would I bring it up?).  The reason I'm asking the question though is because I found the answer!  A while back, I stumbled upon a method for tying tiny bows that completely changed everything; now, I actually look for reasons to make pretty little bows!   "What is this magical secret?", you ask... well, go get a fork and I will explain...

The world of textiles is vast and varied.  Walking into a well stocked fabric store is, to me, similar to the feeling I get when I walk into a bookstore or a library.  So many possibilities!  

Patterns are generally designed to be used with a specific type of fabric.  In most cases, there is one very basic distinction that will at least get you headed to the right section of the store... identifying whether a fabric is woven, or knit.  These are the most simple categories that fabric can be divided into, and it's important to understand the differences.  Once you know the basics, I'll share some tips about these two very different fabric types, and how you can sew them together in one garment.

Now that winter has finally passed, there are two things competing for my attention: the house is begging for a deep Spring cleaning... but the sun is shining and I just want to be outside listening to the birds chirping and the bees buzzing!  While this may not officially qualify as "spring cleaning", the project I'm sharing with you today is a pretty neat way to use up some fabric scraps (and I say that anything that shrinks the overflowing scrap bin should be considered cleaning!)  And though it doesn't really have anything to do with enjoying the seasonal outdoors, I say it still counts as being in touch with the nature of Spring because for this project you need 100% natural beeswax!  

I love finding a craft that is fun for both myself and my kids to do!  It's a definite bonus when it is quick, inexpensive, beautiful.  A few weeks ago, I was on the lookout for something simple (but pretty) to do with a group of mom friends at church, and I found this idea for making sun catchers out of really easy-to-find materials.  I thought they looked like they would be worth a try, and it turned out to be a lot of fun!

The other day, I spent some time introducing you to some different types of fleece, and how to tell apart some of the variations that stores might sell under the Fleece category.  I was surprised to learn there are so many different types of fabric under this title, and it lead me to really want to make sure that there is a clear way to tell whether or not a specific fabric is suitable to use with certain patterns.  

Before we get to that though, I definitely recommend having a look at the previous post in this series...
Sewing with Fleece... What is Fleece?

Today, I'm going to show you how to do a Stretch Test using several different types of fleece (and fleece-like fabrics) that were talked about in the first part of this Series.