Pigs in a Blanket

Are you in love with these slippers?  I saw them and thought "I've got to get my hands on that pattern!"  Amanda at The Quilted Fish was kind enough to send me the Pigs In a Blanket pattern so I could test it and review it for you.  (She has a BLOG too - and she is doing some work with Riley Blake fabrics - I just discovered them a few weeks ago and am already hooked!) So I made several pair so I could give a full review - here's the scoop:

--the pattern was written for sewer and non-sewers alike - it's more of a paragraph format so you don't get lost in the usual sewing lingo.  As long as you carefully read the instructions, she walks you through every step.

--I found the pattern easy - but, this could be because I've sewn a lot of baby girl shoes lately and these construct the same way, so I was used to how they went together.

--there are only 2 pattern pieces (plus the pieces for the leather pads) so that shows there is not much to making them

--the pattern comes in baby sizes all the way through adult - you just have to resize the pattern on a copy machine with the specific settings to the size you need.  I thought this would be hard but I just wandered in to OfficeMax and handed it over to the copy guy and told him I need it shrunk 47% - so that was easy.

--they're very comfy - I'm wearing mine right now!  at first the inside seams bugged me but I went back and trimmed them more and now I don't notice them

--I got faster with each pair.  The most time-consuming part is cutting all the pieces (batting, minky, outside, leather pads, etc) because prep work is my least favorite.  The last pair I made in about an hour, including all the cutting.

--A pattern for a felt flower is included but I didn't have any cute felt so I just made fabric flowers.

Here's my show-off - I made them for my older 3 kids (I didn't think my toddler would keep them on) and 2 pairs for myself. 

Some other thoughts:

--I would definitely recommend Minky for the insides - I made my son a pair with just fleece and there's a big difference, so splurge for the good stuff!  I bought my Minky on Etsy (search "supplies" and type "minky")

--I needed a white pair of slippers so I couldn't put leather on the bottom - instead I used the stuff on the feet of feety jammies - it's white with a bunch of non-slip bumps - I bought it at JoAnn's.

So, you want to be part of the slipper-making action, right?  I know you saw the title of this post included Giveaway, so you probably know what's coming:

The Quilted Fish is giving away a free "Pigs in a Blanket" Pattern - but that's not all - it's a free pattern and free KIT, which means you'll get all the pieces to make your own slippers: the fabric, the batting, the minky, the leather, the flowers - wow!!

--To enter, just head on over to The Quilted Fish and make a comment on this post about something cute you saw (she has some great quilt patterns along with others).  That's it - you'll be entered.  Giveaway ends Friday (April 30th) evening.

If you'd like a second entry, just become a follower (click "follow" on my sidebar - you don't need a picture or anything - it's really easy) or let me know that you're already a follower - and make a second comment saying so.

I will be linking to several LINK PARTIES - check them out!