If you are a crafter who loves to sew or are just starting out this book, The Sewing Bible: A Modern Manual of Practical and Decorative Sewing Techniques by Ruth Singer must be in your crafting library! This hard cover book is like a modern sewing encyclopedia with detailed step-by-step instructions and accompanying photos on techniques for hand and machine sewing. The techniques covered in the book are really extensive such as pin tucks, smocking, hems, adding snaps, princess seams, frills and ruffles, quilting, and embroidery. The close-up photos are great and guide you even better on all the steps. Masterclass techniques, such as mitered corners, help refine your sewing skills. The machine-sewing ones are particularly helpful for me personally as I always need to know if I'm using the right presser foot or not. This book is a sewing companion at it's finest!

The Sewing Bible also comes with 20 beautiful sewing projects. I love the Circular Skirt (p.270), Book Bag (p. 111), and Gathered Scarf (p.220) that can be worn in a variety of ways.

Book Giveaway Time!
Three lucky CRAFT readers will each receive a copy of The Sewing Bible. Please make sure you include your email address in the comment form field (won't be published). All comments will be closed by Noon PST on Monday, November 23rd. The lucky winners will be announced later on the site. Good luck!

As a special treat, we've got this Stripy Apron project for you! It's a cute apron you can sew up by recycling two men's shirts.

Download the Stripy Apron PDF
(right click and download to your computer)

More entries are coming in for our Me, My Scarf, and I Contest where the Grand Prize Winner will receive a Singer ProFinish Serger! Ooooh! I am loving this Faux-y Lady Scarf by Marigold of the blog Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! (Flickr user mr. huckleberry & the milosaur.)

Marigold writes writes:

How can something so elegant and sophisticated be so silly at the same time? In my Faux-y Lady scarf, I tried to capture that strange juxtaposition inherent in the vintage fur pelts that have always fascinated me. If this scarf is a reflection of my personality, I hope it comes off a little bit quirky and unconventional, but with a great sense of humor, and somehow still a teensy bit debonair.

There's still time to enter the Me, My Scarf, and I Contest. Deadline for entries is 11:59 p.m. PDT November 23, 2009. Each entry will be judged based on the following criteria: creativity of design, description of how the scarf represents the creator, and the use of a sewing machine in the creation process. Please see Official Rules for more information on the Winner selection.

If you're joining in on the contest, here's the code for the badge to display on your site or blog.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/1229922@N20/"><img src="http://cdn.makezine.com/make/craft/badge_singer_scarfcontest.gif" width="150" height="144" border="0" alt="CRAFT: Singer Contest - Me, My Scarf, and I" /></a>

See more entries in the Me, My Scarf and I Flickr Group.

Kristin of Craft Leftovers writes:

This issue marks a new phase of Craft Leftovers Monthly, not only is it larger in size and page count, but we also have guest designers for the first time! And to top that off, subscriptions for the zine will be available for the first time ever. You can now sign up for a half year and full year subscription!

The Craft Leftovers.com shop is celebrating a Grand Opening sale today, everything will be 15% off for today. Also, as a special to CRAFT readers, use the coupon code craftzine to get 20% off your entire order when you buy anything from the Craft Leftovers Monthly category (expires December 15th). Pictured above is the new Box Set , featuring Issues 15-26.

Giveaway Time!
Two random CRAFT readers will each receive a copy of the Craft Leftovers Winter Issue. To enter, leave a comment to this post. Please make sure you include your email address in the comment form field (won't be published). All comments will be closed by Noon PST on Wednesday, November 18th. The lucky winners will be announced on the site.

Berkeley-based Vaska, makers of botanical-based laundry soap, is holding a Get Cozy With Vaska Contest, which sounds like it's right up our alley.

Twelve winners will get $300 in cash and a page in the 2010 Vaska Cozy Calendar, sure to be a collector's item (or so they claim). The contest ends at midnight Jan. 4, 2010, with winners announced on Jan. 10. So now's the time to get making cozies! The cash would be a nice help in paying off some of my holiday debt, is what I'm thinking.

And I appreciate the fact that their PR efforts are focusing on crafters and our mad crafting skills:

"The Get Cozy Contest is a way of introducing the crafts community to laundry care products that conserve the integrity of their designs and, at the same time, we can reward them for their creativity. We know crafters will appreciate Vaska's softer, brighter, greener results," says Julia Fry, Vaska creator. Fry is a former fashion designer, whose love of textiles led her to create the herb-based detergent.

All the details, contest rules, and info on where to buy Vaska detergent can be found on their website.

Heidi writes:

I am somewhat nostalgic and I like being comfortable. So, I decided to combine the two for this contest to create a scarf with a cushion look to resemble an old-timey arm chair.

I'm also very thrifty and like re-using things that I have lying around, like the over-sized men's shirt that I made this scarf and flapper hat out of.

This scarf is incredibly warm and comfortable. When wearing it, it brings back memories of cuddling on the sofa in front of my grandmother's fireplace with a teacup full of colorful mini-marshmallows .

See more entries in the Me, My Scarf and I Flickr Group.

There's still time to enter the Me, My Scarf, and I Contest. Deadline for entries is 11:59 p.m. PDT November 23, 2009. Each entry will be judged based on the following criteria: creativity of design, description of how the scarf represents the creator, and the use of a sewing machine in the creation process. Please see Official Rules for more information on the Winner selection.

If you're joining in on the contest, here's the code for the badge to display on your site or blog.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/1229922@N20/"><img src="http://cdn.makezine.com/make/craft/badge_singer_scarfcontest.gif" width="150" height="144" border="0" alt="CRAFT: Singer Contest - Me, My Scarf, and I" /></a>

Featured at top is one of my favorites, The Letter Bag (in Rosewood). This is a bag with lots of little pockets, perfect for your cellphone, iPods, notebooks, craft projects, and more. It's also deep enough also to carry at laptop up to 15"!

Pictured above: (L to R) The Porter, The Market Bag, The Messenger, and The Tote

From the Moop site:

We love the maker's life and are constantly looking for ways to be more connected to the people who make the things we love. We support small independent businesses who work hard to do what they love and find ourselves akin to the same practice. You will find us in the studio every day sewing, making, designing and sharing our experience via our blog. We have worked hard to establish a business that is always looking to improve and grow. We hold thoughtful design and product integrity to be among our achievements. We believe that form does follow function and work hard to bring you bags that hold up to our own high standards.

Update 11/13: This giveaway is now closed!

Remember the amazing paper cutouts that I found at the thrift store last week? Well, I went back and picked up 10 sets to mail off to some lucky readers. Just leave a comment on this thread about your love of paper crafts for your chance to win one! The paper cuts are in pretty vintage envelopes, with multiple designs and colors in each. And their crafting potential is endless! The winners will be selected tomorrow so please enter by noon PST Thursday. And please include your email in the form field to be eligible (emails will not be published). Good luck!

Grand Prize Winner:

Shawnee from Life with Monkey (smonkey on flickr) is the Grand Prize winner with this shrine paying homage to her late mother who died last year, as well as her father who died before she turned two. You can read the complete story about her shrine on her blog.

Runners' Up:

Maumby's shrine to her brother Nico.

Lalabaloobah's shrine for her grandparents, great-grandparents, and her father.

Nikimaki's shrine for Grandma and Grandpa.

It's finally Dia de los Muertos, or, Day of the Dead. I've lit the candles on my shrine, and reflected and celebrated the lives of my loved ones who have passed on. This year the holiday has been particularly rewarding due to the crafty energy that I put into my altar. I have loved looking at the images and stories submitted to the Crafty Chica Challenge, there are truly moving pieces of art posted. The special emotions and memories that have been shared in the flickr pool are just amazing. Enjoy life, everyone!

The beautiful and meaningful Day of the Dead is almost here. I hope that you have been working on a shrine to memorialize your loved ones who have passed on, and that you will enter it into the Crafty Chica Shrine Challenge! Kathy Cano-Murillo is a constant source of inspiration, and today I want to share her spectacular cycle of life face paint.

Using face paint found at the costume store, paint half of a face like a sugar skull and leave the other half alone. This represents that in this life or the next we will always be "alive", our spirit is eternal! I've seen all kinds of faces painted in this style and it is inspiring to see the variations on how the skull portion is decorated. You can use black and white, or lots of color and even glitter!

Pictured above is the current altar-in-progress by Connie Ayers, our own Sheena Stevens' mom.

Sheena writes:

She hasn't yet strung together her marigolds and put the finishing touches on the altar, so this is the basic set-up. All of the photos are our loved ones who have passed away. I love having all of their pictures up in the house every year around this time, it's a nice way to remember!

For more Day of the Dead Inspiration:

• Crafty Chica Challenge: Day of the Dead Shrine Inspiration


• How-To: Day of the Dead Advent


• How-To: Start Building a Day of the Dead Altar!

Glamourpuss: The Enchanting World of Kitty Wigs by Julie Jackson
Book Site: kittywigs.com

Julie Jackson who brings us Subversive Cross Stitch and Kitty Wigs has reached "eleven" in terms of cuteness with her new book, Glamourpuss: The Enchanting World of Kitty Wigs. The fashionable kitties, photographed by Jill Johnson, are styled in various Kitty Wigs amid scenes of their fashionable life. Hey, it's the world of the supermodel kitties! I love each of the hilarious kitty quotes that go with each photo making it super believable that these kitties are living some kind of extraordinary life that we get a glimpse into.

Book Giveaway Time!
We are giving away 3 copies of Glamourpuss. Just leave a comment in this post and tell us why you want this book. Please make sure you include your email address in the comment form field (won't be published). All comments will be closed by Noon PST on Thursday, October 29th. The lucky winners will be announced on the site. Good luck!

This is my favorite scarf. That I bought last year.

I have several other favorite scarves. Probably about 10 or so that are favorites, and another dozen or so that I really, really like.

Favorites include the one I got at a thrift store in Germany this summer; the one I bought in San Francisco with my best friend Jenny on a Mom's Night Away; and the one Marie Kare (love ya!) knit for me a few years ago. So many fabulous scarves!

But back to my favorite scarf (that I bought last year).

I got it at Bazaar Bizarre in San Francisco from Lauren Brady, the woman next to the Craftzine booth where I was working. It's designed with quilted pieces on one side and a rust-colored, very soft corduroy on the other.

Besides the pattern and fabric choices, both of which I love, it includes two clever features. The first is the little embroidered bird on one end. So cute! The other is a button sewn onto the corduroy side about a third of the way down the length, and a corresponding hole sewn into the scarf near the other end. You can button your scarf in place! This keeps you super toasty and super fashionable, all at the same time. Such an awesome feature for a favorite scarf!

And I can't wait to find my next favorite scarf among the entries in the Me, My Scarf, and I contest. You're all clever, crafty, and motivated, so maybe I'll end up with 2 or 3 favorites this year!

And since you are following us, please also follow @ChronicleBooks for all of their awesome news on books, design, and everything else under the sun! Have a great weekend!

My neighbor Teresa Cuseo is an amazing artist and crafter -- every time I talk to her or go over for a visit she's doing something creative, from terrific mosaics to yummy baked goods to cool jewelry and clever shrines.

She recently bought a Day of the Dead crafting book and has plans to make some Day of the Dead altars, but the shrines and altars she's created thus far pay homage to the various incarnations of the Virgin Mary, bicycling, her loved ones, other religious figures, and roses. I like each and every one of them, and think they offer a lot of inspiration for our Day of the Dead shrines, too. Check them out after the jump and see what you think!

Rachel spotted a beautiful version of the Ruffle Scarf inspiration I shared for the Me, My Scarf, and I Singer Sewing Challenge. It was created by Sadie Fox, who has the scarf up on her own blog, and posted on Wardrobe ReFashion. Her site has a ton of fun fashion projects with clever recycled and repurposed twists. I love the color she chose for her scarf, it just looks so great on her, and I hope she had a great time wearing it to the musical Wicked! I also hope that you will enter the contest, for a chance to win a Singer Serger.

Day of the Dead Advent
By Jessica Wilson

Every year I plan to make a Day of the Dead altar in honor of my mom and every year, I lose track of time and never manage to pull it off. This year, I have created a countdown, an advent of sorts so that you take a couple of hours on one day to gather your supplies and create your jar of advent, and then, for 10 days, you spend a little time working on your altar/shrine while reminiscing about your loved ones passed. Make sure to begin your altar no later than October 22.

If you are thinking of joining in on Crafty Chica's Day of the Dead Challenge but feel intimidated, never fear, this tutorial breaks it down for you in 10 easy steps!

One day I decided to put away all my deadlines and all my unfinished projects, and to instead design something just for fun, to please only the fiber-artist-fashionista within me. I dug around in a bin of wool sweaters and found a truly hideous gray knit poncho. I plugged in my sewing machine and started playing around with a method that I used in Feltique, where the edge of a knit sweater gets a ruffled edge. It's an easy technique that my friend Alix of Treehouse 28 taught me way back in the day. But I tend to be chronically unsatisfied and wanted even more ruffles. So I gathered the whole thing up on a long black ribbon. It was the perfect touch. I had made myself a scarf that really embodies who I am as a crafter right now. It's got pure drama, ruffles and ribbon, and a versatile look that can be altered on a whim. Plus, the whole thing is made from my current favorite material: recycled wool.

Crafting has major roots in self-expression. And contests are all about challenging yourself. I encourage you to listen to your own inner creative voice, and to really trust your personal design process. Submit your scarf, with a description of how it aligns with your personality, to the Singer Contest: Me, My Scarf, and I. The grand prize is an amazing Singer ProFinish Serger, and I know that's just what you've always wanted!

Anna writes:

Once again, we're looking for the cutest, funniest, most interesting photo of a Mochimochi Land toy. All you have to do to enter is upload your photo(s) to the Mochimochi Friends group on Flickr by November 16th. Like previous years, winners will receive cute goodies from Japan and gift certificates from Mochimochi Land, PLUS this year they will also get gift certificates from Knit Picks! To be eligible, your photo must contain at least one knitted toy made from a Mochimochi Land pattern. This can either be a pattern from the Mochimochi Shop or one of the free patterns on the Mochimochi Blog.

CRAFT and SINGER® present the Me, My Scarf, and I Contest. Fall is upon us, and what better accessory than a scarf! We invite all of our crafty readers to participate and create a sewn scarf that best describes your personality! All entries must have some portion created using a sewing machine.

The Me, My Scarf, and I Contest will run for 6 weeks, and the Prize winners will be announced by Monday, November 30th. Deadline for entries is 11:59 p.m. PDT November 23, 2009. Each entry will be judged based on the following criteria: creativity of design, description of how the scarf represents the creator, and the use of a sewing machine in the creation process. Please see Official Rules for more information on the Winner selection.

To submit an entry, simply take a picture of yourself wearing your scarf, include a description of how the scarf describes your personality, and submit it to the Me, My Scarf, and I Contest Flickr Group.

If you're joining in on the contest, here's the code for the badge to display on your site or blog.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/1229922@N20/"><img src="http://cdn.makezine.com/make/craft/badge_singer_scarfcontest.gif" width="150" height="144" border="0" alt="CRAFT: Singer Contest - Me, My Scarf, and I" /></a>

Pictured above is our own Brookelynn Morris wearing a Ruffle Scarf she sewed up using recycled wool from an old poncho. Watch for her inspirational project in tomorrow's How-To Tuesday.

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway to win a copy of the new book, Photojojo! Insanely Great Photo Projects and DIY Ideas by Amit Gupta with Kelly Jensen. Congratulations to our three winners: Jacklyn from Jackson, NJ, Lowrah from Minneapolis, MN, and Billy from Riverside, CA. More giveaways to come soon!

My Day of the Dead shrine has officially taken over my house! The smell of flowers, tequila and chocolate is unescapable. Each day I've worked on it and added to it, and it's finally covered in the nostalgic personal touches that represent my family and loved ones who have passed away. I will continue to be inspired, and have even more to share as the month goes by. I hope that you will also create a Day of the Dead shrine for our Crafty Chica Challenge.

My aesthetic is all about color, texture, and visual excitement. I packed every inch of my shrine with treasures. There is beach glass, rose petals, candles, seashells filled with quinoa and seashells filled with chocolate. My husband's grandfather's zippo, a candleholder from my beloved aunt, salt and pepper shakers and old spoons from my grandma, and of course, booze!

The beautiful mermaid skeleton bride is from Mexico, brought back from a trip by my sweet friend Leandra. I love it's creepy/pretty look.

The big black and white tile is also from Mexico, brought back by my grandfather. For as long as I can remember, my grandmother kept that tile on the hearth, with a big houseplant sitting on it. I've placed it on the altar and set out 4 shots of tequilla on it. Another traditional offering that I included is tobacco. There is an old cigar that's practically broken apart, but it's perfect for my shrine. The offerings can be anything that you think your ancestors and friends would enjoy and be comforted by. But in the end, I think creating this project is a comfort to me, and to the living who go on every day with fond memories.

My Day of the Dead shrine is taking shape, and so is the Crafty Chica Challenge! Please submit photos of your personal and crafty shrines for a chance to win some really great prizes. My take on the celebration is far from traditional, but I wouldn't change a thing. I started with gathering supplies and prepping the space. Then yesterday I made some glitter clothepins to hang photographs of my friends and family. Today I'm sharing the fresh and colorful flowers. I used roses gladiolas, zinnias, mums, amaranth and other wildflowers from the Occidental Farmer's Market. Working with the flowers is one of my favorite parts of building this shrine.

To prepare the flowers, I removed all the leaves from any part of the stems that would be under water and gave each flower a fresh cut. I will re-cut the stems of each arrangement every few days and change out their water to give the flowers the longest vase life. The set up for the shrine includes some glass vases, but I also put flowers in a gravy boat, my grandmother's Bauer juice pitcher, and a tiny teacup. To get the zinnias to fill the wide mouthed gravy boat, I used a cage frog. It has wide spaces for holding the stems at any angle. The holder stands the flowers up so that it takes fewer blooms to create a dramatic look.

I also took a tiny zinnia and two little flowers from my yard and put them in a very small container. I cut the stems to less than 1 inch so that they wouldn't throw off the balance of the ity bity vase. This little treasure is actually from Iran, but its shape and color fit right in with my chaotic theme and colorful theme. All that's left to complete the vision is the addition of my nostalgic mementos, offerings and candles!

Today I got out the glitter for the next step in my Day of the Dead shrine. My altar is hung with garlands, and I wanted to attach photos of my loved ones to them. I spent last night selecting my favorite pictures, and I love seeing them hanging up. If you are working on a shrine as well, I hope you will share images. Also be sure to submit them as entries to the Crafty Chica Day of the Dead Challenge for a chance to win some great prizes!

Clothespins were the perfect choice, but I had to give them a quick makeover. I channeled my inner Crafty Chica, and added some simple sparkle. To begin, I smeared a thin layer of Elmer's on the top side. Then I dumped a pile of glitter on my work surface and just pressed each clothespin in it.

Next, I looped about 2 inches of wire into the spring of each clothespin. I used the wire to secure the clothespin to the garland, then clipped in the photos.

Today I started working on my shrine for The Day of the Dead. It's very rewarding to put my creative energy towards a tribute to my friends and family who have passed on. I am thrilled to share the process of creating it, as part of the excitement for the Crafty Chica Challenge! I was introduced to the tradition 11 years ago by my mother-in-law, who always creates a spectacular altar. She maintains a smaller version year round, and I often reflect on it when I visit.

The first step I take is to gather materials. I collected some fabric to cover the space, purchased flowers from the farmer's market, and tied garlands out of scraps. Then I dug out all the photos I have, and mementos of my loved ones, including door knobs from a relative's home in Ohio, the lighter that belonged to my husband's grandfather, seashells from my grandmother, and little treasures such as feathers and butterflies. The skulls are a crucial part of the traditional Day of the Dead altar. I found sage, incense and candles as as well.

To build the bones of my altar, I've stacked up books to add height in the back, and then covered the entire thing with a table cloth that was used by my grandma. This will allow me to have varying heights, and a lovely lace motif.

Then I hung the garlands. I love how festive they look! Draping them at different lengths creates a ton of visual interest. And voila! All that's left is to decorate, and then add the offerings like cornmeal and liquor and candy skulls! Tonight I'll sit down and sift through the old photographs, reliving all my favorite memories. That's just about the best part, right? Tomorrow I'll begin the adornments, and share photos of course! And please, include your altars in the Crafty Chica Day of the Dead Challenge!

Our new Crafty Chica Challenge has just begun! This time your mission is to create a Day of the Dead shrine. You can read more about the history of the Day of the Dead at The Arizona Republic. I've gathered here a bevy of images and tutorials from Crafty Chica herself to get you started!

Skeleton Shadow Box, La Catrina Cigar Box Shrine, Ofrenda for Steve Irwin, Day of the Dead Shrines

You'll probably want to make some sugar skulls to go with your shrine. Pictured above are sugar skulls made by our Sheena Stevens, our MAKE/CRAFT sales and marketing coordinator. Learn how to make your own sugar skulls with Crafty Chica's recipe.

To enter this Crafty Chica Challenge, please submit photos of your shrine to the Crafty Chica Challenge Flickr group. Enter in a 250 word or less description of what your shrine represents and what materials were used in its creation.

If you're joining in on the contest, here's the code for the badge to display on your site or blog.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/craftychicachallenge/"><img src="http://cdn.makezine.com/make/craft/badge_ccc_dayofdeadshrine.gif" width="150" height="144" border="0" alt="Crafty Chica Challenge: Day of the Dead Shrine" /></a>

CRAFT and iLoveToCreate.com have teamed up to present to you the Crafty Chica Challenge: Create a Day of the Dead Shrine! Day of the Dead (or Día de los Muertos in Spanish) is a holiday celebrated in Mexico as well as by many in the United States on November 2nd. Day of the Dead is a holiday to remember loved ones who have passed, and includes many characteristic decorations such as skeleton figurines, candy skulls, marigolds and much more. For this challenge, we ask you to create your own Day of the Dead Shrine and share it with us. This Crafty Chica Challenge will run for 4 weeks, and the Prize winners will be announced on Monday, November 2nd. Deadline for entries is 11:59 p.m. PDT October 28, 2009. Due to the personal nature of these Day of the Dead Shrines, the winner will be selected via drawing. There will be one (1) grandprize winner, and three (3) runners-up.

• The Grand Prize is a Crafty Chica gift basket, an advanced copy of the Crafty Chica's first novel "Waking Up in the Land of Glitter" and a $100 gift certificate to shop at the Crafty Chica's store, ChicanoPopArt.com
• The Runner-up Prize is a Crafty Chica gift basket as well as a $25 gift certificate to the MakerShed.

To enter this Crafty Chica Challenge, please submit photos of your shrine to the Crafty Chica Challenge Flickr group. Enter in a 250 word or less description of what your shrine represents and what materials were used in its creation.

Visit the Crafty Chica Challenge contest page for all rules and regulations.

If you're joining in on the contest, here's the code for the badge to display on your site or blog.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/craftychicachallenge/"><img src="http://cdn.makezine.com/make/craft/badge_ccc_dayofdeadshrine.gif" width="150" height="144" border="0" alt="Crafty Chica Challenge: Day of the Dead Shrine" /></a>

Tomorrow I'll post up some inspirational shrines to get your creative juices going!