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#SewPINK: Sewing to Support Survivors

It seems to me that we all know someone who has been affected by breast cancer these days. Co-workers, family members, neighborhood friends–it’s far too common. In those times when we hear of a loved one’s new diagnosis, we want to be helpful, do something kind and thoughtful.

That’s where the tutorial for the mastectomy pillow came in. I thought it would be a good project for those like myself who know people diagnosed with breast cancer and can sew. We did this a couple years ago for Sew Together Tuesday and since then many have reached out to say that they made one for a friend or family member.

But recently a viewer reached out to let me know that she’d made more than one mastectomy pillow. In fact, she made 52 of them!

Jennifer Roney is a breast cancer survivor and while she signed up to participate in the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer fundraiser and walk, she wanted to do more. She bought a few yards of Cuddle® fabrics and got to work. She was able to make eight pillows out of every yard and kept going until she had made more than 50.

With each one, she printed out a note to explain her motivation, then gathered them up and brought them to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Jennifer suggests to reach out ahead of time, as she did, to your local hospital to make sure the donations will be accepted.

I love this idea and wanted to share with you because even when you don’t have someone specific that you need to sew for, you can share your talents with strangers that do. If we all work together, we can combat breast cancer and the toll that it takes on men and women.

You can find the pattern we created for Sew Together Tuesday here: Mastectomy Pillow Pattern and the tutorial video here: Mastectomy Pillow Tutorial You can also use my tutorial for the ByAnnie Bosom Buddy made with Cuddle® if you want to add a little something extra.

The #SewPink Initiative was created by ByAnnie.com LLC to raise awareness for breast cancer throughout the year. Our efforts culminate in an annual blog hop during October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month to promote self-care, awareness, early detection and support for those affected by breast cancer.  To learn more and see the calendar of events visit: https://www.ByAnnie.com/SewPINK

To find screenings available near you: 

This year we are again joining forces with Fat Quarter Shop to promote a fundraiser. Their goal of raising $20,000 to donate to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

ByAnnie.com will match every dollar raised on the #SewPINK fundraising page.

Make sure to check out everyone’s blog posts this month for lots of ideas and inspiration:
✂ Oct. 1 :ByAnnie.com Kick off

✂ Oct. 3 : Emmaline Bags

✂ Oct. 4: Hugs ‘N Kisses

✂ Oct. 5: Clover and Violet

✂ Oct. 6: Fat Quarter Shop and the Jolly Jabber

✂ Oct. 7: Sewfinity

✂ Oct. 10: Teresa Coates & Shannon Fabrics

✂ Oct. 11:Beyond the Reef

✂ Oct. 12: Sallie Tomato

✂ Oct. 13: Suzn Quilts

✂ Oct. 17: Snuggles Quilts

✂ Oct. 20: Pat Sloan

✂ Oct. 21: Knot and Thread Design

✂ Oct.23: Sookie Sews 

✂ Oct. 24: Mister Domestic

✂ Oct. 26: A Bright Corner

✂ Oct. 27: Sew Cute and Quirky

✂ Oct. 1 : ByAnnie.com Final Wrap Up

Happy sewing!

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Adding Cuddle to ByAnnie Projects

Today I’m joining Annie on her Facebook Live (it’s at 2pm Mountain!) and I’m excited to share a bunch of tips for working with Cuddle® fabrics and ByAnnie patterns. I’ve used a number of her bag patterns over the years (A Place for Everything, Pack It In, Tools of the Trade, and Travel Essentials, to name a few), but for this we decided to use Cuddle® for a few other patterns and started with the Bosom Buddy as part of the #SewPink initiative.

The Bosom Buddy pattern is a free download from ByAnnie and was designed to help create a comfortable way for the seatbelt to rest. This is a great project to add a little Cuddle® to since it will just make it even softer and more comfortable!

Continue reading “Adding Cuddle to ByAnnie Projects”
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Sew Pink (in your pincushion!)

Thanks for joining me for today’s stop on the SewPINK* ByAnnie blog hop ((visit the official #SewPINK information page: https://www.byannie.com/2019-SewPINK ). Like so many others, breast cancer has reared its ugly head in my life as well. Annie asked if I’d participate and I immediately agreed; raising awareness is important.

When my best friend was diagnosed with cancer at 26, it has already ravaged her body. What the doctors thought had started as breast cancer had spread throughout her body and, try as they might, there was no stopping it. Judy left an indelible mark on me, not only because of her unfailing friendship, but also her needless death.

Early diagnosis would have given Judy a chance, but as a young adult (without health insurance) the idea that the swelling could be cancer never crossed her mind. She didn’t know it was anything deadly until it was too late. I’ve learned a lot, but maybe most importantly, I learned to keep an eye on body changes, including breasts.

People want to proclaim: “Save the tatas!” and really I want to shout back: “Save lives!” That’s what regular mammograms and self-checks can do. While I want to share my little pink pincushion and favorite tools with you, I also want to remind you to keep a finger, or three, on what your breasts are doing. That means you, too, men. It affects all of us.

For my #SewPINK project I chose to make a new version of my older Circling Geese Squished Square Pincushion. I released it in early 2015 and it’s been a favorite of mine ever since. It’s a paper piecing pattern and offers three variations. But more than the pattern, I want to tell you about my favorite sewing notion: the ByAnnie stiletto.

Seriously, I sew with this stiletto in hand for almost everything, including paper piecing, bag making and sewing with Cuddle minky. For this project, the skinny little point makes it easy to guide the fabric along (and I absolutely how the metal bit has grip rather than smooth metal). It has flat sides so it won’t roll off the table and a comfortable grip that makes it feel more like a pencil than a pointy stick in your hand.

The stiletto works great for pulling out all those silly little papers that get stuck in there. I’ve found that creasing the paper and folding after sewing will help them pop out, but there are always those stubborn few that need a little extra coaxing with sharp objects.

Speaking of coaxing and sharp objects, don’t make me do it when it comes to getting yourself checked. You can find a screening near you:

(*) The #SewPink Initiative was created by ByAnnie.com LLC to raise awareness for breast cancer during October’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. They have pledged to raise funds to donate to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation through sales and to promote action through giveaways. To donate directly to the BCRF visit: https://give.bcrf.org/give/31404/#!/donation/checkout

ByAnnie will be donating 30% of profits on all SewPINK items sold at their web store. You can search for SewPINK items on their website or see the list of items here: https://www.byannie.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=sewpink

Together we can fight cancer, fund research, and save more lives. Thanks for visiting and please, take care of yourself and play nice with others.

Happy Sewing,