Our TGIF Gifts contest has come to an end, and so has 2008. It has been an incredible year for the Creative Chicks of DIYStyle (and our resident male, Matt our video producer). We want to wish all of our DIYStyle followers Happy Holidays and especially a creative and style filled Happy New Year.

And it’s time to announce our final winner in the TGIF Gifts contest. The lucky winner is……..Helen! Thanks for your comment about how you started sewing……..sounds like many of us learned to sew making doll and Barbie clothes. Your Sulky package will be sent soon. A big thank you to all who entered. We loved reading your posts, and will definitely use your ideas in planning our shows for 2009.

We have some new things to reveal in 2009 at DIYStyle, and to keep on top of our latest antics, you can subscribe to the RSS feeds for both the vodcasts and blogs. And……..there are several new DIYStyle patterns from McCall’s coming in the New Year too………we’ll give you the scoop on that very soon (a new design goes on sale in January……whoo hoo)!

Cindy

Hi All!

So, who won the Clover Gift basket???? The goodies go to Angie. Congrats Thanks for your nice comments about DIYStyle, and the tip about using leftover wrapping paper to make pattern alterations–great idea!

And the winner of the “DIYStyle Tips” and the felting tools set goes to…….Cheryl. Your tip about making gathers easier (who hasn’t had the dreaded broken gathering threads to contend with?!), by stitching over a heavier thread or yarn like crochet cotton. Cheryl we love your tip!! Watch for Cheryl’s tip to be a segment on our next season of DIYStyle!!

And now, our final gift in the TGIF Gifts contest is from one of our very favorite sponsors, Sulky. Actually Sulky was the very FIRST sponsor we had at DIYStyle……they believed in our idea from the start (Thank you so much Jason and Fred!). So be sure to thank them for helping make DIYStyle possible (and for making such great products too!).

Here’s the gift(s):

We start off with a Sulky Stabilizer assortment starter pack. You know how we’re always talking about using stabilizers on DIYStyle, now here’s your chance to try out each and every one that Sulky makes……..

Then, they add their book “Sulky Secrets to Successful Stabilizing” to show you how to use several of their original and popular stabilizers, as well as some neat projects to boot.

And, added to the gifted loot, Sulky added their latest supplement book (this has info about their brand new stabilizers in it too) “Supplement to Sulky’s Secrets to Successful Stabilizing”. So together, with the book above, you’ll be armed with all the info you need to know about how to keep stitches from puckering, decorative stitches made perfect, embroidery, embellishment tricks, and SEW much more!

And as if that was not enough, they threw in a can of their super popular spray adhesive, KK2000. This stuff is fantastic for temporarily holding anything in place while you stitch, hooping towels and loose items for embroidery, and it does not make your fabric stiff (it disappears in 24-36 hours!) like some other temporary spray adhesives.

So, the winner of this week’s bag-o-xmas sewing goods will have quite the loot to get stitching on some new stuff in the new year. With that, we decided that we’d still love to hear your comments about what you would like to see on DIYStyle (give us your sewing how-to wish list!), and in addition (this should be fun!) we’d really like to know how you learned to sew in the first place. Just kind of short and sweet, something nice for all of us to read—each of us has a story to tell and this would be a perfect time to share and reminisce!

Happy Holidays everyone. All of us at DIYStyle are truely thankful for having such a great group of sewing friends and followers this past year. Keep up with DIYStyle………there is lots more to come………..and please pass the word to all of your sewing and sewing wannabe friends about joining the DIYStyle community. The more the merrier!!

Cindy

So who won all the loot from our 3rd TGIF Gifts post (in case you forgot it was a copy of My Style, My Place and a set of the DIYStyle patterns)? We had some great posts, but only one gets away with the gifts…………..Pamela you are our lucky winner! You’ll get a note from us soon asking where to send all of your lovely goodies. Congrats!

And, I’m sure you are wondering what is up next?! Let’s see, behind door (or should I say gift box) #4 is a basket chock full of wonderful tools and notions from Clover! This basket includes Clover’s neat felting tools & supplies PLUS some Pom-Pom makers to try out too. This gift basket of Clover Notions goodies is worth over $200!!

So, we’re ramping up the “entry” stakes a bit too! We still want you to post your comments to this blog post, about what you would like to see on DIYStyle, AND we’re also asking you to leave us your favorite quick sewing tip as well. We’ll still randomly pick the winner (so if you are a sewing newbie and tipless, that’s OK–you still get a chance to win the gift basket), but, we’ll also vote on which tip submitted is the best of the bunch, and feature it in an upcoming episode of DIYStyle. And we’ll even mention the Creative Chickie who submitted the winning tip on the show! The tip winner also gets a prize too, a set of Clover felting tools.

Get your comments (and tips) in……….somebody’s gonna get lucky!

Cindy

I picked up this new “fashion” book the other day, mainly because of it’s title. The “Eco Chick Guide to Life: How to be Fabulously Green” is a book devoted to how to be eco-conscious AND a style maven at the same time! In addition to giving the reader a primer in what an Eco Chick is…..”means doing good while having a good time doing it: it is NOT about depriving yourself, but about rethinking how we live our lives, and living better…..more creatively, more passionately, and more consciously.” Wow. I want to be an Eco Chick!

Really. With chapter titles like All About Eco Fashion, Reduce, Reuse, Accessorize!, Squeaky Clean and Toxin Free, Feed Yourself from the Earth (not a Box), and Pets and the Planet, this light read (can you tell I’m on a track of easy reads) is just the thing to inspire you to go green. The author, Starre Vartan, gives lots of resources and examples of how to really make the Eco ideas “stick”, in a way that does not shout treehugger. Now don’t get anxious here….while I do like my trees, I still want to look fab walking down the street, and have my nest well dressed too. Starre shows us we can live eco-conscious and not sacrifice our sense of style.

Even if you don’t have time to read the entire book (but once you start you’ll get hooked!), check out the “Green Shopping Basket” sidebars, chock full of places to pick up eco goods, and the “Eco Quickie” tidbits scattered throught the pages.

Sounds like a perfect set-up for my 2009 New Year’s resolution………”I vow to (try to) be an Eco Chick!” Will you join me?

Cindy

It’s time for us to reveal our TGIF Gifts lucky winner of the Dual Duty XP thread pack. Congrats to Kati, your present will be on it’s way to you pronto! And thanks for leaving us that nice comment about DIYStyle

Our next TGIF Gift is not one…………but two gifts!! Allyce is gifting a copy of her very own My Style, My Place book. It’s full of super easy fashion and home dec projects (kinda like we do on DIYStyle!!), just in time for your to create your own gifts for the holidays. AND…….we’re adding a full set of DIYStyle patterns (Lingerie, Coats, Dress and Tops) as the bonus gift! Yes, 4 patterns and the book. What a treat for one lucky Creative Chick.

PLUS!!!

Be sure to leave us your thoughts about what you want to see on DIYStyle on this blog as your contest entry. We love hearing what sewing techniques you need to learn, and what kinds of projects you would like to see on our vodcasts. So, get writing……..you could be our next winner!

 Cindy