2013 Holiday Gift Picks: Fancy Staff Picks (Part 2)

Welcome to part two of our Staff Picks Holiday Gift Guide! Today we have the best curated selection of craft supplies for the handspinners, knitters and seamsters in your life!

It's Miranda here! After spinning hundreds and hundreds of yards of yarn for Spinzilla, I'm finally ready to look at fiber to replenish my stash. There's no dreamier fiber than Sleep Season Goods roving! Meg's fiber inspires me to try new spinning techniques to let the colors really shine. She dyes the most beautiful colors onto several sheep varieties like Falkland and Wensleydale, and I can't wait to try them all. Happy stitching!

Hey guys, it's me Tina! I was just thinking that I would really love to make an apron for cooking epic feasts. I really love the design of the Emmeline Apron, and the best part is that it's reversible. I would love to make my apron out of this new Super Lucha Libre by Alexander Henry. The flip side will be made of Dollar Signs from the Amy Sedaris Collection because cooking for friends and family is totally money! Not only is this combo AWESOME, it also matches my battle babes oven mitt Miranda made me this summer. So, if anyone would like to just make me my dream apron the Emmeline Apron, it's taught as a class right here at FTC! Happy Holidays, friends.

Hi, it's Nathalie! When winter weather hits, all I want to do is knit sweaters. I've been eyeing the Reine Cardigan from Brooklyn Tweed for months - I love the simple but elegant construction and the pocket detail. I'd pair it with Loft yarn in the color Plume, also from Brooklyn Tweed, for a lovely project kit. This is a gift that would keep me busy knitting and would result in a cardi I'd cherish for years!

Hi, it's Amber here! I am really excited about the new line of Walden patterns from Colette. These unisex patterns are classic and utilitarian, and might ask that you get out your mallet and awl. Hott! I'd pair this Portland-made sewing pattern for the Cooper Bag with some graphic screenprinted heavy cotton fabric from Premier Prints out of Mississippi. Throw in some Heavy Duty Fabric Wax by Portland's own Otter Wax and you have the makings of an awesome all-weather bag. Even better, all these amazing craft  supplies are made in the USA!

Hey y'all! This is Sara. My holiday pick would absolutely be the fabulous Knit Collage yarn. Since our last shipment arrived, I have been dreaming up a beautiful, lush cowl of this unique and sparkly yarn. As an added bonus, it's so fun and full of treasures, it will knit quickly and not add to my never-ending list of crafty to-do's. I could make a new cowl for New Year's!

As you can probably guess, we pretty much dream about amazing craft projects and supplies each and every day, so if you need more ideas for the perfect gift, swing by the shop and give us a chat!

xoxo,
the Fancy Tigers

2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Fancy Staff Picks (Part 1)

Welcome to part one of our Fancy Staff Picks Gift Guide--where the crafty folks of Fancy Tiger share some their favorite gift ideas for holiday giving. If you are looking to find the perfect thing for the crocheter, sewist or knitter on your list, there is sure to be a great idea here!

Hi there! It's Caitlin, and at the top of my holiday wish list is Marion Madel's book The New Crochet. This book is beautifully photographed and is designed as a beginner's guide to learning crochet. It is jam-packed with modern designs so even a not-so-beginner will be excited by this gem! I'd love to stitch up the Hazelnut Scarf from Lesson 17, so some Chickadee yarn in Kittywake would be a great addition to the book.

Hello everyone! It's Erikia. One of my favorite things at the store right now is the book Clothing for Everyday Wear: Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori. The book is full of simple and beautiful dress patterns. It' also includes a full set of patterns and instructions in English so it's super easy. To go along with this, I'd pair some Japanese fabrics from Nani Iro or Kokka. I feel like I could makeover my entire wardrobe armed with these two things!

Jaime here: I love the new Rhinebeck Sweater book from Ysolda Teague! The book contains 12 beautiful sweater patterns that feature many of the "farmy" yarns that we here at Fancy Tiger Crafts love so much. My ideal gift would be the book plus the yarn for one of the sweaters: Aunt Fred in Jill Draper's Mohonk yarn in the colors Greige and Terracotta

Kiyomi here--I'm super obsessed with all the amazing knit fabrics that are in the store. Not only do we have a range of designs and colors, but they're great for making something I call "The 30 Second Scarf" which are perfect for those last minute gifts. I would love this lush gray geo sweatshirt fleece to sewn up into Colette's new pattern, Walden. Natural antler toggle buttons would add a great detail to this coat. And, while I'm not a huge fan of the winter weather, this unisex coat will be perfect to snuggle into while waiting for the bus.

Hello! Fancy Katy here! I've been in love with Jane Richmond's Island collection since it first came out last year. The patterns are simple, yet refined, and work great for both solid and variegated yarns. I find the Renfrew Hat and Arbutus Cowl make awesome quick gifts! I have spent this year knitting several things out of the book, but I have yet to make Grace, the very lovely cardigan. One of my favorite yarns in the world is Madelinetosh Tosh Sock, and they just came out with a beautiful mint green colorway called Courbet's Green, so my perfect holiday gift this year would be enough skeins of that to make the cardigan!

Check back tomorrow for five more great gift ideas from the Fancy Tiger staff!

Vintage Pattern Paper Stockings for All!

Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care. Now that we have a sweet fireplace in the shop we knew we needed stockings for all of our lovely Fancy Tiger Crafts staff. We were inspired by ones we saw in Country Living magazine and whipped these beauties up.

We found vintage sewing patterns at Boss Vintage Clothing, our neighbors down the street, and used our matte finish iron-on vinyl to stablize the fragile pattern paper. The stockings were then cut out using our stocking template (download our pdf here and tape the two pieces together to make your template). From your vinyled pattern paper, cut out one stocking front, flip the template and cut out one stocking back. Don't throw away the protective paper from the fusible vinyl yet.

We wanted to personalize our stockings so we used the monogram templates from this awesome vintage reproduction French book, Monogrammes. We love this book, and it is available here at Fancy Tiger if you need some letter templates of your own!

To make your own monogram start with wool felt and wonder-under fusible adhesive. Iron the wonder-under to the back of the wool felt. Trace and cut out each set of initials from the wonder under backed wool felt and iron the letters onto the fronts of the stockings, using the protective paper between your iron and the vinyl on your stocking.
 

We sewed the front and back together with wrong sides facing so that the stitching shows up on the edges. As you sew the top right of your stocking, insert a folded 3" piece of trim on one corner for hanging. Ta da!
 

Happy Holidays from all of us!

Fancy Tiger Folks' Crafty Holiday Gift Picks 2012! Part 2

Here is part two of our Fancy Tiger Folks 2012 Crafty Holiday Gift Picks!We think your crafty dears will love these as much as we do...

Hey! I'm Katy, and I'm the newest Tigress at Fancy Tiger Crafts! I've been a knitter for ages, and I adore cross stitching and embroidery. While the holidays are some of my favorite times of the year, I'm not a big fan of the weather, so I find I tend to knit winter wear in bright colors to chase away the winter blues. This year I'm hoping Santa brings me colorful MadelineTosh presents, particularly the graphic MadelineTosh Arrows Cowl pattern and Tosh DK, one of my favorite yarns ever! I think the cowl would be fantastic in yellow and purple, a classic color combo made even better with the neon amazingness of Edison Bulb and the deep purple tones of Iris!

Caitlin
As a garment seamstress, I'm always searching for wearable patterns for separates. I love dresses (as evidenced by my ever-growing pattern stash), but they aren't very versatile for my day-to-day wardrobe. I like tops that are simple, flattering and can be sewn with wovens. Wiksten's Tova fits the bill! The pattern itself is beautifully designed and executed, and would be adorable stitched up in one of our new polka-dotted Lecien lawns. These fabrics are super soft, drape beautifully and are classy without being too stuffy. I sure hope Santa is reading this wishlist!

Hi ya! My name is Erica. After years in the corporate world, I came to Fancy Tiger to learn to sew. Classes are great and I learned so much that two years later I retired my first sewing machine for a new one and sew my own clothes. There’s still much to learn and I’m always excited about it. My holiday pick is our Needlefelting Kits to make those cute little wool animals. My kids (ages eight and eleven) love them and have spent hours working on their little animals. They are easy to make. It’s never too early to start crafting!

Emily
Blacker Yarns is an amazing company founded in the UK. They support farmers and shepherds raising rare, endangered and sheep not normally used for wool by purchasing fleeces and producing single breed wool yarns. These single breed wool yarns each have such differing properties, some sproingy some drapey, some shiny some matte, some soft and some super hardy. Do you know how long I have been giving Blacker Yarns those longing looks? Too long! And now Sue Blacker has come out with an amazing book all about all those single breed yarns, Pure Wool. Reading this book is so informative about each of those breeds, both in character of wool and character of personality. You could pair this lovely book with any of these single breed yarns in any number and have a stunning elegant wool lover's gift. Here, I have chosen the lovely black Zwartbles yarn. This I would transform into a hardy, longwearing cardigan hoody sweater, along the lines of Roam perhaps?

Jaime
I would love to make this flattering French dress from Deer & Doe out of any of Bari J.'s new Splendor 1920 fabrics from Art Gallery. Holy smokes, that would be hot! What a fantastic gift for any Francophile seamstress.

Branwyn here. Recently I have been really into changing up my collar style. Who wants to wear the same thing everyday, right? So my holiday gift pick would be the makings of a new collar. It was really hard to choose the right combination as there are so many great trims to choose from! But I finally settled on a lovely teal Echino wide webbing and a hot pink neon trim with a reflective stripe for maximum safety. Add a brass metal ring just in case you need to be more connected to your dearest and you are set!

P.S. If you come buy the store to shop for gifts, be sure to say hello. Treats are welcome.

We hope to see you soon! Happiest of holidays to you and yours!

Fancy Tiger Folks' Crafty Holiday Gift Picks 2012! Part 1

Welcome to our Crafty Holiday Gift Picks for 2012!

We at Fancy Tiger Crafts spend the whole year surrounded by amazing craft supplies and inspiring customers. That means we spend a lot of time thinking up our dream projects. Here are some of the things we think would be a fantastic treat for your favorite crafter to find under the tree!

Hey! I'm Sarah, one of the new additions to the awesome Fancy Tiger staff. I love beautiful, simple Japanese sewing patterns and my most recent obsession is with 'I Am Cute Dresses'. All 25 patterns are super adorable and since they are a relaxed fit, there's no finicky fitting! Any of these designs would be lovely made from a Nani Iro double gauze, Lecien cotton or any other sweet Japanese print. I personally plan on making each one and wearing them with tights and boots all winter!

Miranda
Sometimes I stray into the worlds of fabric and fiber, but knitting will always be my true love. After knitting, sewing and stitching like crazy for gifts, I always love to dream up a gift to make for myself. The Fightin' Words fingerless mitts from local designer Annie Watts fit the bill perfectly. Their bold, graphic motifs look both fun to knit and to wear. I would make them in our hearty Elemental Affects fingering-weight Shetland wool yarn, which is perfect for colorwork. Plus, after all my projects are done, I always feel like a real superhero. POW! Happy holidays, everyone: may your stitches be even and may your points always match!

Hello! I'm Erikia and I'm the manager here at Fancy Tiger Crafts. Last month, we got shot cotton fabric back in the shop and I'm totally in love with it! If you're not familiar with shot cotton, it is a woven fabric with two different colors, one for the weft and one for the weave. This effect creates subtle shifts in color and adds incredible depth to an otherwise solid fabric. It's completely amazing!

I've been using the shot cotton on pretty much everything I've been sewing lately and would love to try it with English paper piecing to make a pillow case. If Santa brought me a little kit for this project, say a fat quarter bundle of shot cottons, 1 1/2" hexagon paper pieces, thread, beeswax, and sewing needles, I'd be one happy girl!

Well hello everyone! Melissa here. Now I know that we recently did a blog post about the Soft Donegal from Ireland, but I am so in love with it I just had to choose it for my holiday gift pick. It's so soft and the colors are so beautiful. Plus, I'm really getting into learning more about my Irish heritage.
I think the natural pairing with this luscious yarn is the book Contemporary Irish Knits by Carol Feller. When Carol was here earlier this year I fell for the Killybegs cardigan from this book. Carol was so nice and wonderful I couldn't help loving all her designs. I have been daydreaming about making this sweater in the Berry colorway since we got the Donegal in. This yarn and book would make a lovely gift for the knitter in your life. After all she/he should have something to knit for themselves after all that holiday knitting they did!

Allison
I hope that Meg's Sleep Season yarn will be in my stocking this year. Her hand dyed and handspun yarn comes in 100% merino, Superwash Bluefaced Leicester and a blend of Merino Cashmere and Nylon. Each skein has the most amazing colors. They are all around 400 yards making them a perfect choice for a Norby hat by Gudrun Johnston (like Jaime did with her skein) or a Little Colonnade shawl by Stephen West. Plus she's local so you can feel good that you are supporting an awesome local spinner/dyer. Yay! Happy knitting.

Amber here! I love me some tweedy goodness and natural yarns. I have been dreaming of making the Burr Jacket by Veronik Avery for Brooklyn Tweed. How amazing it would be to spin my own tweedy yarn out of this undyed, multicolor roving from local alpaca farm, Ancient Treasures Alpaca Ranch. 18 ounces would give me enough to spin up the yarn for a this cozy-dorable shawl collar cardigan...and an extra plus would be plenty of relaxing spinning and knitting time.

2012 Holiday Gift Guide!

The holidays will be here before we know it--so we've been thinking on some things that would be perfect for all the crafty folks on your gift list. Is there someone who spoils you with handmade things? Thank them with a special gift and let them know you appreciate their crafty time!

Great Gifts Under $20

We have some amazing goodies under $20! Our very own 1) Heirloom Yarn ($18) is U.S. raised and milled Romney wool, dyed in small batches. These 2) Liberty buttons ($8) are made right here at Fancy Tiger with Liberty of London Tana Lawn, and are a great way for sewists and knitters to lux up a garment, cardigan or bag. This 3) Alphabets ($13) booklet has all a plethora of old-time lettering for fancy stitchers. These "alphabets classiques and modernes" are perfect to personalize everything from lingerie to linens. Local fiber artist Megan of Sleep Season Goods is a magician in wool and color--these magical 4) Wool Batts ($12) are exciting for felters and handspinners. What are 5) StiPins ($18) you say? Only the most adorable accoutrement for your smartphone. These crossstitchable cuties fit into the headphone jack and broadcast crafty cuteness to all eyes that behold them. 6) Sashiko Coaster Kits ($14) come with everything to make two Japanese embroidered coasters, a quick and easy project for beginners. Perfect for knitting, crochet, embroidery and English paper piecing--crafters can never have to many 7) Fancy Tiger project bags! Made by Rae's 8) Washi Dress sewing pattern ($16) is here by popular demand and only available for a limited time! This adorable dress pattern is sure to please lady sewists!

Great Gifts Under $50

For your dear crafty folks who have been extra nice this year we have great gifts under $50. 1) Oh Suzanna Fibers' Colorado handspuns ($24-$42) are each unique and made from locally raised wool, camel and alpaca grown on small family farms. The 2) Snowy Owls in the Moonlight ($22) crewelwork kit includes all the materials to stitch up a nifty wallhanging. Every sewist dreams of sewing with classic 3) Liberty Tana Lawn ($46) fabric! Adorable 4) Fancy Tiger sewing kits ($26) are chock full of handy notions for mending and sewing. From one of our favorite series of sewing books, 5) Drape Drape 2 ($24.95) teaches modern Japanese garment construction for the crafty fashionista. Blue Sky Alpaca uses the softest and finest "royal" grade alpaca fiber for their  6) Blue Sky Royal Petites Knit Kits ($40), which includes one of a variety of adorable patterns for this cashmere-soft yarn. One of our favorite luxury yarns, 7) Maidenhair by Hand Maiden ($42) has an epic 330 yards of silk and kid mohair, enough for a special someone to make something special!

Extra Great Holiday Gifts!

For your favorite crafty person in this whole wide world, we have a selection of our favorite gifts of the season. Spud and Chloë's 1) Leaf Blanket Kit ($80) includes the yarn and pattern to make this sweet leaf-shaped swaddling blanket and is a great gift for crafty expecting mommies or knitting nanas-to-be. Local loom makers Schacht recently released the 2) 15" Cricket loom ($169), a great beginner loom that will have a novice weaver perfecting their cloth-making skills in no time. 3) Designs and Patterns from Muhu Island is one of the most beautiful book we've ever seen. This epic tome of Estonian needlecrafts will bring tears of joy and wonder to any textile enthusiast's eyes. Every knitter needs a set of 4) blocking tools! Blocking Mats ($30), Blocking Wires ($24), and Blocking Pins ($3) will have hand knits--especially lace--looking fantastic! Trust us, knitters need these. Your favorite sewist will squeal with glee to receive a 5)Colette Sewing Patterns 3-pack! Sandy Black's hefty book 6) Knitting: Fashion, Industry, Craft ($60) is an in-depth look at knitting, from the domestic handwork of days gone by to haute couture designs from world famous fashion houses.

Check back next week for our staff picks! Each of the Fancy Tiger folks has picked their own personal favorite crafty goodies for great gift ideas! Hint hint, Santa...