I’m in the final stages of finishing our new online shop! We are so excited to be able to offer a number of my products all in one location! That includes my fabrics, sewing patterns, classes, and two new things: digital die cutting files and wallpaper! Yippee!
There is going to be an awesome sale during the first month of this shop along with some really great prizes, freebies, and giveaways. Stay tuned! Be sure and check back here on FRIDAY!
Carina
Our tiny home had finally forced me to consider other options for all the inventory and tchotchkes in my office. So I started looking for space in October. I finally settled on an “in between” office…something small, affordable, and well, across the street from my house. I don’t know how long I can be in this space, but it is perfect for now.
Josh and I have been moving boxes for nearly two months now and trying to settle in. He finally finished building the last shelf today, and I’m hoping to get the CGTV channel set up so we can beginning filming again.
It’s been nice to have a quiet space to work (Although as seen in above picture—sometimes much of the family is trompin’ around this place. I’m trying to check the Art of Digital Design 2 forums in the picture). Josh and I switch off days in the office.
And, about that… You might be hearing from Josh once-in-a-while on the blog now too. Josh has officially joined my company and is taking over a couple of divisions (namely sewing pattern distribution and this). I sort of reached my breaking point in December after I had pulled 3 all nighters and averaged 2 hours of sleep a night. Between the baby and the growth at CGInc, I knew things needed to change. So we took the scary leap, and Josh left his law firm. My New Year’s hope is that we are stronger as a family and get to spend more time with our kids.
Because of this, I hope to be blogging a little more as well as letting you in on our day-to-day happenings. Things are always crazy around here as we juggle the company and the kids, but good. Oh so good. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Want to follow Josh on instagram? He’s @joshtgardner and he’ll probably catch me scratching my head over the computer or giggling as I try to record a new class (and thereby, having to re-record the segment).
From a very excited mommy designer,
Carina
I am finally getting around to putting away boxes and furniture from my crates from Quilt Market. As promised, my girls got their first pick of the Rini Dolls from the show. Then Josh was lovely enough to bring in all the heavy boxes. I’ve been pulling out stuff and replacing it in my studio so that we can get around to photoshooting it for the newsletter this coming week.
My camera has been out a lot this last week as I have been prepping marketing materials for Carta Bella. We’ll be revealing two more lines on Wednesday. I’m excited about both! Be sure and check those out along with the facebook page where Lindsay and I seem to constantly be giving away stuff.
Speaking of giveaways, it’s looking like I will have some extra goodies from Songbird™ for giveaways. There’s only so much my tiny studio can hold soooooo be on the look out for a giveaway soon.
Hope you are enjoying your weekend!
Carina
At Quilt Market, I introduced my new mini pattern—the Kimono Skirt. I’m excited about these mini patterns because we’ll be able to release them more often than the large patterns throughout the year.
This little mini pattern includes sizes XS-XXL (2T-10) and includes a knee-length and maxi version of the skirt. It’s fairly quick to make and the different versions make this skirt really versatile (especially as you start combining different fabrics).
Check out the back, because it makes me really happy! (see below!)
The fabrics shown here are all in Songbird™. Songbird™ should be hitting stores sometime this month and if you are a retailer, I still have a few samples left for shops to borrow. Feel free to email me at carina@carinagardner.com if you would like to find out which samples (in all the sewing patterns) are left.
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Hope you get a chance to grab this sewing pattern in your local quilt shop! It’s the perfect, “quick, little project” for your little girl.
Sew Happy,
Carina
If you head over to Riley Blake’s Cutting Corners today, you will find my brand-new Double Ringed Pincushion Tutorial.
All of my pincushions are made using my Dainty Blossom’s line for Riley Blake. I now have these pincushions scattered all over my studio 1. because they are useful, but also 2. because my kids like to play with the “donuts.” It works for me.
The actual pincushion is relatively fast to make. The stand is made from wood supplies found at my local craft store (spools, doll heads/spheres, and a flat circle for the base).
Head over the Riley Blake here to download the pdf instructions, pattern, and for a quick look at the instructions in the blog post. You can also download the instructions here.
Happy sewing!
Carina
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I was able to get my hands on the first samples of Paris and Company last week, but didn’t have a chance to let the sewing machine whirl until yesterday. I knew the line was going to be awesome for the Sling Pattern, but I was elated with how it turned out!
There are enough simple patterns (like the dots and the damask shown here in the flowers) to help the more complicated patterns (the flowers and written fabrics) pop. I have more material for a Chic Mademoiselle outfit (in the ice cream fabric!) but we’ll see how soon I can get to making that. Paris and Company shops to retail shops in April. Be sure and check it out if you get a chance!
Happy sewing! Carina
You’ve waited patiently for it and now it’s done! Our sixth issue of the newsletter has really become a digital magazine with all the stuff we try to pack into it!
This issue includes a new quilt pattern using Dress Up™, the inside scoop on Designer Workshop, tutorials from the Creative Team, a fabric tutorial on making a camera strap and so much more!
Visit the Carina Gardner Newsletter Issue No. 6 here.
Many of you have requested that we make the newsletter downloadable (which makes sense for those of you needing to print the patterns!). I made sure that this issue and all the previous issues now include the download button for your convenience. I also plan on getting smaller bite-sized downloads of the Dress Up™ Quilt, the Pinfeathers™ Quilt, and the new Dainty Blossoms™ Camera Strap Tutorials available soon.
Some of you saw my early picture of the Dress Up™ Quilt on Instagram (check my sidebar). I usually piece together all my quilts, but my mom helped me on this one. Things have been a bit busy and it’s such a blessing to have a quilting mama! She’s also planning on flying out a couple of weeks before Quilt Market to help me out with the tremendous amount of sewing we will be doing for my booth. The pattern instructions for this quilt are included in the 6th issue, and I hope you get a chance to make it! It’s simple and so sweet!
I’ll be back soon with my favorite way to cut bias strips and all those easy downloads!
Enjoy!
Carina
It’s a couple of weeks into the New Year and it feels as if the busy from Christmas never really ended. I’m hankering to slow down, and with my little sis in town and my own health a little down, I’m planning to get a little more rest over the weekend.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that we had a much needed makeover here at the .com. I’m sighing with relief that it is mostly finished although there are still a couple of formatting things that are bugging me. But for the most part, the site is making me happy, it’s easier than ever to find stuff, and it absolutely feels like a fresh new year!
So here’s what we’ve been up to:
– Siri turned 8 (Just writing the number made me feel my age!). The pic to the left is her with all her wild-woman hair. That little face makes my heart smile! I haven’t even pulled all the pics off my camera to show you the party we threw. Soon…
– I’ve been preparing for Designer Workshop like mad! I’ve been happy that we have an even portion of seasoned designers with new designers. It’s going to be awesome!
– We have been shipping the new sewing patterns for a week now. If I thought that we had a lot of patterns before, well, I’ve probably reached my sewing pattern limit at the moment as my basement is currently overflowing. My very good husband got all of those patterns in and organized—no small task.
– I’ve had comments on whether I’ll be spilling the beans of my secret paper project at CHA. The sad answer is no. I will be attending CHA though for a couple of short days. And really, there are only a few months left before I will be opening up about my goings ons. I think you will enjoy! It’s taken me a long time to figure out my path in paper, and I’m excited to be able to open up in a few short months about what I will be doing.
– I have a new mentoring program available at JessicaSprague.com. It’s call Designer’s One-on-One Workshop. I thought it would be the next best step for those who are seeking to work more on their fabric, paper, marketing, and digital scrapbooking designs. It’s also a great intermediary step between Art of Digital Design 2 and whatever else I may decide to teach.
Hope your New Year was full of fun new resolutions and plenty of happiness!
Carina
Here it is! Introducing our final pattern the Dainty Blossoms™ Sling! This is a multipurpose, easy-going bag!
It’s a bag that makes toting all your necessaries easy for the mom-on-the-go or the carry-it-all professional. Have fun mixing and matching fabrics for the flower accessory.
The Dainty Blossoms™ Sling is fully-lined for a professional finish.
Wheww! And that concludes the introduction of our next four sewing patterns! Want to see them all again? Here’s our sewing pattern page: https://carinagardner.com/sewing-patterns/.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! You’ll see these patterns in quilt shops soon! I expect to see the shipment any day now. (Yippeee!)
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I spent a little time in Alpine last week with my art directors working on some new concepts for fabric lines. I walked into the office and saw this GORGEOUS quilt Jina Barney had made with the Dainty Blossoms™ line. It totally took me by surprise! And even though I knew the fabric was going to beautiful in a quilt, actually SEEING it in a quilt made me want to make one ASAP.
Seriously, this photo doesn’t do this quilt justice. At. All.
And if you are quilter, you KNOW how difficult it is to photograph a quilt decently (Definitely, not on my list of things that are easy to take pictures of).
I made sure to grab some scraps so that I could put one together over Christmas break with the kids.
I also found out that two more of my lines are on presale so I will be introducing them to you pretty soon here.
Oh ya, and I promise to introduce the final sewing pattern this week (But while you wait you can check out how darling the mermaid doll pattern is with the Dainty Blossoms™ fabric for the tail…Yipp-eek!).
Happy sewing!
Carina
Sorry I’ve been away so long. Last week got away from me and I had so much to post (and will now have to play catch up all week). Among other things, our little family came down with some nasty viruses, which put me in bed all day Saturday and put Josh on sick-kiddie-duty all weekend. But we are mostly recovered now, and I’m back to the computer again.
Among the many things I’ve been needing to do is continue to announce our new sewing patterns. Up on the list is the Chic Mademoiselle Outfit.
This an outfit that I plan on making alot of. Siri and Flissa loved wearing the samples, and you can bet that the Dainty Blossoms™ fabric will be used for this springtime outfit. The outfit shows yardage for no ruffles, a single neckline ruffle (shown), or three ruffles (across the front of the blouse). The ruffle pants and ruffle barrette are pretty fun as well.
The blouse has an invisible zipper down one of the sides and is fully-lined for a professional finish. I think it is one my easiest patterns to make (even if I do say so myself) and if you don’t like making ruffles, it’s just as cute without a ruffle on the neckline.
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And because I have decided to hijack my own post (don’t mind if I do), here are a list of other things going on right about now:
+ The four new sewing patterns are due out the first week of January 2012 (okay, that wasn’t much of a hijack since I dedicated this post to a sewing pattern).
+ Photos of my finished studio are coming soon…da da dah.
+ Our Dec-Jan newsletter is in the works
+ Two brand new fabric lines for Riley Blake Designs (out March and June of 2012)—announcements to come!
+ Lots and Lots of new digital lines (BTW, have you seen the awesome sale on THESE and THESE over at JessicaSprague.com?)
+ Lots of awesome new projects with Dainty Blossoms™ (due out in less than a month!)
+ Our family has a serious obsession with the Muppets right now.
+ Mah na Mah na
+ Siri played her harp in public for the first time (Silent Night at church…I count that :).
+ I’ve been very good about keeping my December clear and empy-ish of work-ish type things this December.
+ Which means I am thinking about starting a holiday puzzle on my coffee table for kicks.
+ Or doing some much needed sewing.
+ Either way, I’m pretty happy with the pace of things in the studio.
+ Just a reminder you have another week to enter the giveaway here.
+ As well as a reminder to have a happy holiday season!
Cheers, Carina
Introducing our second new pattern due out this January—The Rini Doll and Mermaid. Yep, that’s right. At the request my own little mermaid-fanatics, I incorporated a mermaid tail option into this pattern.
And I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with all the other options: 4 different hair styles, 4 different bang styles, an optional mermaid tail, a ruffle dress, skirt, and plenty of accessories!
The face is an easy embroidery project (as is the tail). The dress and skirt are fun accessories that your little sewer could make too. Make multiple clothing items for this little lovey up! Or simply sew a fun fabric into the body as the outfit.
The finished doll is about 22 inches long and the finished mermaid is about 15 inches long.
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I can see myself making a lot more of these in the coming month. I love using scraps of fabric, felt, and fleece for this doll (measurements come in yardage AND scrap fabric sizes).
I’ll be introducing the third sewing pattern in a couple of days…
I’ve been keeping secrets for months and now it’s time to spill the beans! Here’s the first of my next four sewing patterns! Get ready to check these out at your local quilt shop January 2012.
Ready to pull out your sewing machines? Because you will want to when you see all the pretties I’ll be showing you the next few weeks!
What’s new in these patterns? The best new feature is that the patterns now span 2T to 10. They also feature the European sizing equivalent. As always they have a metric conversion chart and glossary of terms.
Susan’s daughter Paige and my daughter Siri got dolled up to help me photograph My Garden Party Outfit! The front cover is one of my personal favorites since I have a soft spot for these two girls.
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All my new patterns feature my new line for Riley Blake Dainty Blossoms™ (also due out this January!).
The Garden Party Outfit sewing pattern features 2 dresses, a blouse, and skirt. The V-shaped neckline makes this outfit delicate and unique all at once.
Paige is rocking the blouse and skirt while Siri is wearing Dress B—a simple V-necked dress with a sewn-in sash. The third outfit is a V-necked straight dress with a seperate sash you tie on (Dress A).
You can check out the back of this sewing pattern here.
If you are a retailer, you can check out our list of distributors here. This list may be changing in the near future so check back often.
Want the fabric or sewing patterns at your local retailer? Make sure you call them and ask for the lines!
Last thing—make sure you have entered for the fabric giveaway below and watch for the next one!
Happy sewing! Carina
It’s November, and I’ve told myself that this year the holidays are going to be a little different. Instead of the rush, rush, rush, I’m hoping to really live in the present this holiday season and remember to be grateful for what I have. I’ve cleared out my schedule of any “hard” deadlines and while I certainly will be working, I hope to work at a more relaxed pace.
So maybe it’s a change in attitude about the holidays?
Either way, I have been thinking alot about being grateful and generously giving. And as always, my thoughts have turned to this blog and how I can share with you—make your life a little more pleasant or a little more beautiful.
…and that’s when I decided that I wanted to spend the next couple of months sharing with you more craft ideas and more “stuff” on this blog.
So there you have it—it’s officially the season of “giving” here on my blog. And to kick it off, I have 6 fat quarter packs of Baby Safari that I am giving away! Four packs (there are 6 fabrics in a pack) will be given away to comments on this blog post and two packs will be given away on the Facebook thread that links this post. Tell me what you are doing this holiday season. Maybe it’s a tradition or something new. Maybe it’s a scrumptious holiday recipe or the time you plan on cuddling with grandbabies. Whatever it is, share it! Winners will be announced on Sunday evening on both the blog and facebook page.
More fat quarter packs to come, announcements of new sewing patterns, more holiday craft tutorials, and lots of eye candy!
Hoping you also find a lot of joy this holiday season! -Carina
I’m finally getting around to some things that have been sitting on my backburner for some time now. One of those things is a new flickr group for all you fabric and sewing pattern fashionistas! Yes, yes, I know it’s taken me a year to get around to creating such a group, but I’m doing it now, right? Better late than never?
The new flickr group is called Your Carina Gardner Fabric and Sewing Pattern Projects—as to imply, if you make something with my fabric or with one of my sewing patterns, I want to see it! Sure I get google alerts, and I can see that you are making things and just putting them on your blog. But it would be so nice if someone about to make the blouse from the Playdate Outfit could see how fabulous your blouse turned out! If you’ve made a darling blanket with my Baby Safari line, I’m going to want to see it!
So will you please, please do me a favor and shower me with all your fabulous sewing and put your photos in this new flickr gallery?
And if you are a scrapbooker, be sure and check out the layout flickr gallery (and add yours!). It’s bejeweled with The Raven line just in time for Halloween!
Oh, and you can always go to the flickr galleries by checking out the links on the sidebar (ya, over there on the right…and yes, you will have to scroll down alot!)