And The Winner Is...

We cannot tell you how happy we are to have received such beautiful and inspired costumes. We mentioned many of you in yesterday's article. Thanks again. The 2012 winner is Matthew James. His work is beyond inspired. If you would like to see more of his costumes, click to his Facebook page. We promise that you will agree this is one talented fellow!

My name is Matthew James. The first costume that I have attached is probably my favorite costume that I have made from Mary Jos' fabric for myself. The vest and pants are made of red and black silk dupioni. I used a women's Vogue pants pattern and a men's vest pattern. The blouse was from a women's blouse pattern with silk/rayon. The white flounce in the back is made with a textured cotton near the drapery section, and the black cage was made out of aluminum from Lowe's that I painted.

Costume Contest, Honorable Mentions...

What a talented bunch of folks you are, to send in such magical entries!  We wish we could have a dozen First prize winners, it was very hard to choose. We received costumes that were intricate and worthy of a stage play, others that were playful, fun and interpretive. All are quite wonderful. Truly.
Runners Up...
We were especially touched when we received a last minute entry, "The Grinch". The Mom who sewed up this costume included a little story and we would like to share it with you.
My son LOVES Dr. Seuss. His favorite character is the Grinch. He begged and begged to be the Grinch, but not just any Grinch, he wanted to be the "Santa Grinch". Much like in the book, I took a piece of fleece, and put it against him and cut it out. I hand dyed a pair of microfiber leggings, and strips of acrylic fur. I added snaps to the fur so they were cuffs and could come off easily. I took and made his shoes, but just cutting, and sewing... adding a little puff of fur. I hand stitched the white fur to the costume, and, that's all for the Grinch. Cindy Lou Who I made by putting fleece against her and cutting. I cut out a hole for her neck, added scalloped trim, took some barrettes and added ribbon and then attached the wire to that and added more ribbon to disguise the wire bottom that was held up with hot glue. Both costumes only took two days, and it wasn't too hard. They should win because in my son's version, the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who "get married because they love each other."
She sent another note this morning,
HEEEEE!!!! Yay!!! He has dressed up four times... even going to the grocery store or the doctors office he wants to wear it, and he wants the full makeup... Last night he got a few of his t-shirts and stuffed his toys in them, and "sneaked" around our house, "taking Christmas", and I don't know how we are going to break it to him that, Halloween doesn't last forever. He is 3, almost 4. :) Loo just turned 2. Jonathan has further explained to me that he is to get Grinch fabric if his costume wins. :) He saw it there the last time we were there. 
-Evelyn Griffin
So sweet. Miss Evelyn, you won the prize for the most compelling story and wonderfully spirited son. You should buy that little man of yours some Grinch Fabric! She also sent the following email to us, I am sharing with you in case you would like to vote for her Grinch son and Cindy Lou Who daughter. We hope that you win, Evelyn. But we already think of you and your children as winners, what a wonderful Mom you are to your wee ones.
She writes:
 It will literally take three seconds... Please go to this link and vote for my babies. They are in a homemade costume contest. I am trying to get everyone to vote. Just go to the link, click the number of stars. You can also click "Like" or Share. Please o please o please. Halloween Costume Works Contest. They should win because my Little Man says in his ending of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, that the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who "get married because they love each other."

Now for a few other winners...

 1st Place - Dee Gosnell, if you remember she was close last year with her Joker Costume, and came in First again this year.  Phantom of the Opera, is a wonderful tribute to the musical, wonderful, well executed and very well done. She and her son continue to collaborate and create stunning costumes. Great work.

2nd Place - Kathy Dykstra, she has stitched up a very intricate Satin Costume. Her lovely Princess has a matching head piece and a scepter, beautiful attention to detail and a lovely presentation.

3rd Place - Joan Richardson is a doting Grandmother. She sews up costumes for her Grandbabies. We are so happy to see her wonderful creations. Joan you are an inspiration to Grandmothers everywhere.



Honorable Mentions.

 Sarah Tomason- Merida from Brave

Mary Call - My daughter Lydia as Cruella Devil

John Chapman - King Trtiton

Attached are pictures of my entry into the Halloween costume contest! Last year after my friend decided to be Ursula from The Little Mermaid (she's the girl in the second picture), I decided it would be best if I were King Triton! When we first went out for the Halloween festivities I was really surprised that people recognized my character. It was freezing, but I kept my shirt off the entire time to stay true to the character, Ariel’s dad from Disney’s The Little Mermaid. I started making the costume by creating the tail. Not satisfied with the multitude of premade mermaid costume patterns, I decided to make the pattern myself. First I measured my waist and created a tapered tail that looked natural in proportion to my body. Next I made the organza fins that were inserted into the tail. Finally, I sewed the pieces together and added the ruffle to the top. The next part involved making the tutu, that was simple as I just looped tulle over a piece of elastic. I made this part to resemble water and hide my feet that stuck out of the back of the tail. The final pieces, the trident and crown, were made with hot glue, spray paint, and craft foam. As I glued the craft foam together, I stuffed it with stuffed animal stuffing in order give it the three dimensional shape that I wanted. After the glue cooled, I covered the craft foam with Mod Podge to seal the foam and spray painted them both with gold spray paint. The bracers were also spray painted to match. I also styled the wig and beard to better resemble my idea of the character.

Thanks to all who entered this contest. You are amazing. The First Prize winner will be announced tomorrow on Halloween. To all of you who sew, Quilt, create Costumes, Home Decor and Clothing. Please send us your favorite projects, you could be the next Blog Article. One last item, we always have sale items on our website. Log onto Maryjos.com and click on the SALE icon.
Happy Halloween.

Autumn, Time to Cozy up your Home Living Space...

Autumn is a time for making sure all points are a go for the upcoming Holiday Season. I know, it seems to come earlier each year. This year will be no exception, kids!
The newest issue of House Beautiful features warm and cozy colors. They also love layers of fabric, color and texture. Sometimes too much can be just that, but some of the pages of this issue are truly wonderful. We photographed page 48, which is their featured "Paisley" inspiration page. Another fabric that is all the rage this season is Ikat. The history is interesting, they say it is similar to Tie Dye, yet done on a loom. Some of the threads are dye resistant and that helps to create the rough organic style of this now very popular pattern.
These featured fabrics are great for simple accents, Pillows, and Drapes or Curtains, however because of their histories, they are also a classic choice for recovering and interesting small chair, footstools, bedding or even a colorful shower curtain. Go ahead, tool around on Maryjos.com and see if you can resist being inspired by our ample selection. While your at it, send us some pics of your finished products, or rooms. We would love nothing more than to feature your beautiful vision and handiwork. By the way, you may also be inspired to stitch up a Scarf, Dress, Handbag or Jacket. Get creative, we love how you think!

We have also pinned some of the fine examples of our Ikat & Paisley choices on our Mary Jo's Cloth Blog Pinterest board. Check it out.

 Halloween Costumes are pouring in. We featured four fab top picks, on our Mary Jo's Cloth Facebook page. Send in your costumes today. The winner will receive 100.00$ of Mary Jo's Cloth dollars.send in your possible winner TODAY!Costume entries must be in our inbox by Monday, October 29th. The Grand prize winner and runners up will be featured on our blog, in the Halloween Day Article! kdb@maryjos.com

Autumn, Special Prices & Prize Winning Contest...

Autumn. There is a nip in the air, the leaves are turning and the color of the landscape is backlit by the sunshine and is sparkling like jewels. Brilliant Yellows, Oranges, Ruby Reds & Rusts is the perfect counterpoint to the evergreens which never change color!At Mary Jo's Cloth we have Autumn colors filling the aisles of our store and pages of our website. Quilters, we have new and darling patterns from some of your favorite manufacturers. Home Decor Specialist's and folks that are re-decorating their homes, we are carrying some lovely Paisley's, Tapestries and some fantastic heavier weight Linens, just right for that "French Chic" look.
We also have are main floor selections that you all have some to count on and at prices that are the best in town! For all of you with your sweet ETSY stores, check the sale page for some great choices at reduced prices, it gives you a chance to have a bit more cash in your pocket.

UPDATE: WOW, You are all so talented. We have been receiving some truly fantastic photos of your Costumes. Keep them coming, we are having a great time seeing what you do with our cloth! Halloween Costume Contest. DO you want to be the winner of our 100$ Gift Certificate? Now is the time & here's the deal. Send us a few photos of costumes that have been made with Mary Jo's Cloth. That is easy. Make sure you send in your email by Monday, October 29th. The winner will be announced in our October 31st (Halloween) Blog article.

You're Invited! Halloween Costume Contest.

Halloween is only a short 4 weeks away and we are having our 2nd Annual Halloween Costume Contest! (We mentioned this contest in our email blast last week.) So here is the deal, send us photos of your Costumes made primarily from Mary Jo's Cloth. We have always admired how clever and creative you all can be with a bolt of cloth, some buttons and some trim.
We know we are going to be WOWED! The prize is a 100$ gift certificate from Mary Jo's Cloth Store! You can spend your Mary Jo's dollars at the store or on our website!
Remember, shipping is only 7.99, for any size order!!! So go wild.
Last year our Grand prize winner was Matthew James, he created "The March Hare". But we do have to say it was very difficult choosing the BEST Costume. Matthew had some stiff competition.
We appreciate your submissions and we will feature more than just the Grand prize winner. Click here to read all about last years featured winners. We look forward to hearing from you. Pop us an email today, the last day for entries is Monday October, 29th. The winner will be announced in the email blast on Wednesday, October 31st, Halloween.

You need fabric, we have lots, on SALE! Lets talk about our SALE Page. Now is the time to save some of your hard earned cash. We have Prints, Trims, Tassels, Cording, Tapestry Borders, Sequined Beauties and some other treasures. 210 items to choose from. Click to view this selection of bargain fabric and notions.
Our website also features "Seasonal Specials" . Right now we have major amounts of printed fruits and vegetables. Kind of cool, could be an interesting choice for tablecloths, napkins, fun kitchen curtains or even a fruit and vegetable quilt. As always the possibilities are entirely up to you!

Thanks to all of you who have already submitted some very interesting and as expected, well done costumes. You are all contenders!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Featured ETSY Store & Mary Jo's Cloth...

Several weeks ago we asked you to send in your ETSY Storefronts. Boy, did you. We are loving the diverse products you are all creating. Truly wonderful. We think you have a fine passion for things made  of cloth and are experts and perfectionists when it comes to the finished product!
As promised we are featuring one of the many ETSY Shops that were submitted. We will continue to feature these lovely and inspired ETSY Storefronts from time to time in future articles. We love to go to one of your ETSY Shops and click on the icon of the store owner and read all about you, what you have done, what you are doing and what inspires YOU. You are a talented bunch of folks and we know that you have a choice and we just have to give you a BIG thank-you for shopping maryjos.com.
Send in your Etsy link or your Online Store or your Website/Blog that features your products that are made using Mary Jo's Cloth. You may be the next featured article.

Featured Esty Store: JPATPURSES:  

Janese is a BIG Seller on ETSY, she is the kind of gal that will inspire you. Janese proves that ETSY can be a great source of income and a wonderful outlet to market the ARTY projects you are passionate about. She has done just that!

Tell us about yourself. Hi, my name is Jenese Patanella, therefore explaining my shop name JPATPURSES. I am a wife and mother of two teenage daughters and a wonderful Corgi dog named Ginger. I have lived in many regions of the United States but have spent the last 20 years in the Southeast. My Bachelors degree is in Accounting, about as far away from creating handbags and accessories as you can get. After over 25 years in the corporate world it was time to explore my more creative side.

Apart from creating things, what do you do? I spend a great deal of time just in survival mode. I think that in today’s world that is not too uncommon. I love to garden, walk my dog, and spend tons of time with my family. I am also an avid reader and must always have a book to wind down with at the end of each day.  

How do you promote your work? My first year here on Etsy, I was on the forums almost every day. The SNS thread in the forums is a great way to get to know other Etsy sellers and really helped me get established. I have a blog and flickr accounts. Joined all the groups and even did my own paid outside advertising. Now, with word of mouth and repeat customers I am able to focus more on new designs, sewing, and less on promoting.  

What first made you want to become an artist? If you had told me as little as two years ago I would have been creating and selling my items online I would have laughed. I always enjoyed doing crafts. As a little girl my spending money would always go either to buying books or my latest craft project. So I guess it was well hidden until I was old enough to realize how much I really loved it! When I was a teenager I had a part-time job in a store that had a fabric department. It was then when I started buying and collecting fabrics. I still have some of those fabrics but still don’t have the heart to cut into them!!!

The opportunity to sale online presented itself quite by accident one afternoon when my daughters mentioned that they would like to have the most recent brand name handbags that were a big hit among their friends. I told them that I would be more than happy to try to make them each one myself. So I pulled out the sewing machine from the back of the closet and went to work. It felt good to be sewing again. Several of their friends at school inquired as to where they got their new purses and were surprised to hear that their mother was the creator. It was this positive feedback that initially inspired me to consider the prospect of sewing handbags and selling them online.

Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc. My process is very sporadic. I wake up each morning and after everybody is out the door, I try to do as much sewing as possible but rarely sit down and sew for more then 10 minutes at a time. I get most of my inspiration from trying to create the most functional and efficient items as possible. I love trying to make items that make life more organized. One of the reasons I developed my special bat quilt interfacing technique is because I wanted structure and form to my creations, thus making them easier to use. 

Thanks Janese, wow you are an ETSY star! Keep up the great work. 

Do you have an ETSY Shop? Send us the link today!
A reminder: It is that time of year already, Halloween.
Start sending us photos of your costumes made with Mary Jo's Cloth. We will feature the top submissions and a slide show of the contenders? Feeling lucky? Send in your costume pic today!

A Quilting Inspiration & Mary Jo's Batik Collection......

We have a customer who is a "Quilt Artist" and "paints" with our line of Batik Fabric. In April of 2011 we featured her work in an all around general article on quilting styles. Today, it is all about the Batik Collection. Jean lives in South Carolina and is a passionate quilter. She is married to an Artist, Serge, and they share a sweet website, showcasing the fruits of their creative works. Jean Loussarian is dedicated and talented.

We particularly love how she uses the different shades of similar Batiks to create, light shadow and depth. Using fabric to "paint" with is no easy feat, but Jean excels at this difficult endeavor. Her work is nature based, Birds and Flowers mostly. Batik Fabric lends itself to this dreamy watercolor-like look that Jean is able to achieve. 
This is the note Jean recently sent our way...
"I saw on Facebook where you were asking for a photo of a quilt from fabric from Mary Jo's.  I buy all of my fabric from Mary Jo's.  I usually go twice a year because of the distance to purchase everything I need without ever having to go to another fabric store.  The selection is the very best is the primary reason for traveling two and a half hours one way.  It is definitely worth the trip and something to always look forward to.  I will attach a picture of the latest wall hanging that I have made. The size is 26 X 40 inches.   My web site loussarian.com 
My name is Jean Loussarian of Westminster, SC."          

It always a treat to see what folks are up to with Mary Jo's Cloth.
So let's talk about our Batik Collection for a moment. We have 588 Batik choices available on the website. Yes you read that correctly! Most are from the Hoffman California Collection and we also carry some by Island Batik. The colors are magical and the painterly quality is unmatched. Did you know that the typical price for this beautiful cloth is only 7.99 per yard. An absolute bargain. Log onto maryjos.com, in the top right corner of the page, type "Batik Fabric", into the search bar and peruse our collection, you will not be disappointed, we promise. There are also some new pins on Pinterest if you want to check some out what we have featured as an "Inspiration Board" to this Blog Article.

Thanks so much to all of our customers, who took the time to send us an email sharing their ETSY Storefronts, Websites and Blogs. What a talented bunch, all of you! If you haven't sent us an email sharing your handiwork, now is the time. Send us an email today. We will be featuring these submissions over the next few months and you could be one of them!