Sewing

Trail Tote Pattern!

I am so excited to introduce you to my Trail Tote pattern! It’s a great beginner-friendly pattern that’s so versatile! 

Here’s a quick list of the pattern’s features:

  • two sizes to sew! Small and Large
  • piping detail
  • front exterior zippered pocket
  • interior slip pocket
  • adjustable crossbody strap
  • magnetic closure

If you’ve been following along here long enough, you may have already seen the Trail Tote! I designed the Trail Tote back in 2014 as part of a promotional collaboration. Well, a lot has changed since then. I knew it was time to make it into a full-fledged pattern with all the 2025 features you enjoy

  • cutting layouts
  • revised instructions
  • full-size pattern pieces (including rectangles)
  • Large size reduced slightly for a better fabric yield
  • A0 file for printing at a copy shop

I hope you’ll love using the Trail Tote pattern to showcase all your favorite fabrics! 

Today through February 10th only (ends Monday, February 10th at 10 pm CST) pick up your PDF or Paper (yep, printed patterns are available right now!) pattern for 20% off! No code needed!

Need supplies?

Below are some supplies for the Trail Tote that are available in my shop: 

Project Details:

Hope you enjoy sewing up a Trail Tote! Have a great weekend!

Sewing

New fabric collection! Orchard Run

I am excited to share my newest fabric collection!!!! I worked on this collection for almost all of 2024. It’s finally time to share a glimpse of my new fabric collection with Robert Kaufman Fabrics — Orchard Run!!!!

Some of the prints from Orchard Run – my newest fabric collection with Robert Kaufman Fabrics

About the Collection

Orchard Run is a collection of 25 designs printed on Robert Kaufman’s Cotton Flax basecloth.

My past collections have mostly been printed on Essex as the basecloth, so it’s a little different that those! Cotton Flax is 80% cotton and 20% Flax and weighs 6.5 oz per yard. I classify that as a mid-weight fabric perfect for bag making. Just to give you a general idea of other types of fabrics you might typically use, quilting cotton is usually 3.5-4.3 oz. depending on the manufacturer. Essex is 5.6 oz and Big Sur Canvas is 9.6 oz.

Cotton Flax is still is a versatile fabric! I made bags, home dec items, a structured garment, and a quilt!

I’m so thrilled with how the fabric turned out and excited to finally be able to share it with you. It was fun to be able to explore more color combinations than in the past, especially having fun with the greens!

Orchard Run Collection

In shops in August ’25!

Here’s the super important part – it’ll be shipping to stores in August of ‘25! Yep, it IS a ways off, but I hope it’ll be worth the wait! If you’re interested in any of these fabrics, please share this with your local quilt shop and ask if they’ve ordered. 

It’s really the only way to help make sure that a shop that is local to you will have it! If you let them know that you’re interested in Orchard Run they can have it on order. That way they can be sure to get some!

Orchard Run collection

I hope this quick glimpse of the collection will stir up some inspiration and get you excited about sewing with it – when it does arrive in shops.

Orchard Run Projects

I’ll be writing more about my inspiration and sharing some fun pictures, too. I’ll be posting about the individual projects when it gets a bit closer to the release date (so maybe sometime starting in a month or two?!). I know it’s hard to be inspired to make something yet not have the fabric available, so please hang in there!

I will be sharing one of the projects here in just a week or so – so keep an eye out for that!

Thanks so much for your support and encouragement! I’m so excited for this collection! I hope you really love it! It is always an honor to see my fabric designs being used in your projects. Thank you so much for joining along in this journey. I love being able to share sewing with YOU!!!

Looking for past collections?

If you’d like, my past fabric collections might be available still at your local shop. Riverbend, Riverbend Big Sur and Around the Bend should have some availability in shops right now. You might even be able to snag some Quarry Trail or Driftless (if some is left)! Or try searching Etsy or google “Around the Bend Robert Kaufman” or “Quarry Trail Robert Kaufman” or Quarry Trail Anna Graham” or “Driftless Robert Kaufman” or “Driftless Anna Graham”.

For anyone who’s read this far, I’ve got a pattern that will be available in just a little bit (hoping for next week!). Thanks as always for reading, I appreciate you!

Sewing

Goodbye 2024

2024 came and went. It’s amazing to me that it’s already time to write another year end wrap up post!

I hope in 2025 that I can sew a tiny bit more – just like last year. I completed those few personal quilts I had wanted to make (Lizzy House quilt, college quilt). I started another personal quilt over Christmas, so I’ll plug away on that just for fun.

On the personal side, my family survived another year. We enjoyed downhill skiing, cross country skiing, weight lifting, more landscaping (is there ever enough?!), hiking, a family & friends trip to Chincoteague, first semester of college, tennis, soccer, lefse making, a new paddleboard for me, and more.

Same as last year, I had a very fun opportunity in the fall. For 200 hours over the course of the semester, I filled in at a local University in their costume shop department! The students are seriously talented, the faculty are amazing, and I still learned a ton! I got to sew up two lead costumes for Sweeney Todd, make custom duffle bags for equipment, lots of alterations and more.

2024 Recap

A quick recap of the year would include releasing a new pattern, the Plover Pouch. It was such a fun project to work on. I’ve loved seeing the ones you’ve made!

It was the first time I recorded the video sew-along that was released at the same time with the pattern. I liked it. There were some hiccups, but I think I’ll plan on doing the sew alongs slightly after the release like before. If you’d want to share your opinion on what you’d prefer – please let me know (comment on this post or contact us).

I also had two separate pattern testing in-person groups. One I conducted thanks to the help of Stitch Supply Co., and another that Mallory conducted with her local quilt shop in Ohio, Sew to Speak. I really liked doing the testing this way!

Sew-alongs

I hosted two video sew-alongs! It’s still challenging for me to get it done alongside everything else. But is is a fun part of the pattern process and I love trying to share valuable information that will help you create your own! First sew along was for the Oxbow Tote. And the Plover sew along was in August!

Fabric collection!

Okay, so this is the BIG one I worked on all year long, my new fabric collection which I can’t quite show you yet. Next week I think! I made all the samples on my own as usual. It’s fun, but exhausting. I’m glad to have it completed and excited to show you it!

Just like last year, I hope to evolve more as a business and streamline the amount of time I spend behind the scenes. It’s one thing I felt like I could have tried to figure out more of. So much of my time is spent just keeping up with the day to day. I turned 45 this year, and this was my 15th year in business. And yes, still, the older I get the more I realize I don’t know!

Onward and Upward

As for my plans for Noodlehead this year, I continue to work at a pace that *mostly* feels comfortable for me to sustain as a one person business. I’m still immensely grateful to have a part-time employee and work with a few contractors that I trust and respect. EVERY DAY I continue to strive to do my best to help you create the projects that you want to create!

I’ve got a pattern that’s new-ish that will be releasing in the next few weeks. I’m going to continue with video sew alongs. I also plan to continue to add items to the shop to help you find the supplies you need.

Like I said before, there will be a NEW fabric collection this year – we’re just a few days from the release.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading. Your comments on this blog help keep me motivated to share in this space.

Thank you for your support, comments and encouragement over these past 15 years that I’ve been in business. It truly means everything!

If you’re new here, stop by and check out my previous year-end posts from 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 20142015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Hope you enjoyed the look back on this year! Here’s to even more fun in 2025!

Poolside Tote in my Riverbend Big Sur canvas collection