The delightful mom and daughter duo, Zede and Mallory, of SewHere have shipped their 3rd edition of their quarterly sewing notions box. The "Knit Ninja" SewHere Box is chock full of fabric, thread, and incredibly useful notions for working with stretchy material. The ladies often include several surprises or box bonuses in these. Upon opening my box, I was incredibly surprised, well, honored really, by a special item and this post is about what I did with it.

If you ordered one of the Knit Ninja SewHere boxes, haven't received it yet, and want to save the surprise for your own unboxing, by all means DON'T READ OR SCROLL ANY FURTHER. Otherwise, carry on...

Well, a little back story before I get to the meat of this (and to give you another chance to look away). Mallory has an incredible Facebook group for the fans of their sewing podcasts, Self Sewn Wardrobe (SSW) and Sewing Out Loud. What makes the group incredible is the diversity of the members and the good-natured, yet snarky and witty tone. The group members participate in challenges set up by Mallory, congratulate one another on their sewing successes as well as commensurate in their defeats. Sometimes things derail, but it's always thought provoking and downright fun.

The group has somewhat recently started a member-driven recurring event, the SSW Happy Hour. Once a week, typically on Friday or Saturday evening, a member hosts a thread welcoming everyone to share a drink (of any variety, alcoholic or not) and something they are working on. Sometimes, the host picks a theme or suggests beverage options. Bottom line- it's a unique sewcialist opportunity and it's fun. I'm telling you about SSW Happy Hour, because you'll likely want to join the group to drink with us (if you aren't already a member!) and because this graphic I cobbled together has become the image signaling the event.

Ok, so maybe you noticed the syringe. I'll explain. I'll explain!

Around the time this event was adopted, Mallory announced she was pregnant. Part of her prenatal care included progesterone shots to prevent premature labor. So while some of us were imbibing, she was doing 'shots' of another variety.

Now back to the box bonus. LAST CHANCE TO LOOK AWAY.

At the time I'm writing this post, the full details for this custom printed fabric that looks to be for the purpose of making pattern weights have yet to be disclosed. While pattern weights would be great I just couldn't resist this other idea I had.

COASTERS! Simple 3 layer coasters for happy hour or anytime! Three different construction variations follow.

I started with the demerit one. Zede loves handing out demerits for whatever she chooses, typically for using sewing methods that depart from The Zede Way (and I've earned my fair share of demerits). Well, I had special plans for this coaster given how I know Zede feels about pinking sheers.

I just layered up the backing, batting, and front in the finished order and sewed all the way around, then TOOK MY PINKING SHEERS TO THE EDGE. Eat your heart out, Zede.

This is hilarious on so many levels.

Hang on. I'm still giggling.

Ok. I'm done. On to the next coaster-

I wanted to try another technique here. It's the "buttonhole trick" Mallory and Zede talk about for making it easier to achieve interesting shaped pockets. (Listen here. Skip to 25:45). So while this isn't a pocket, it was an opportunity to try this method.

I added a buttonhole to the back fabric (analogous to the pocket lining) before assembling.

I picked this mod floral and tried to disguise the buttonhole in a stem, using embroidery thread because that's another tip I learned from the wise Zede.

I opened the buttonhole with this stupendous chisel. (This is one of those game-changer tools. You can't live without one.) The materials were layered up (right sides together this time) before I stitched completely around. (I went with another circle, but maybe I'll get more creative with the next one.) Again, I didn't need to leave an opening for turning because the turning is done through the buttonhole. Clever, eh?

Oops. A little smudgey from pressing. I ought to have used a pressing cloth, me thinks.

Last one. I did this one just like the first, only I finished the edge with a decorative bias trim instead of pinking. Just followed my marking all the way around, CUTTING AFTER SEWING. This is another Zede Way suggestion. Instead of cutting the circle shape out of all my fabric layers, I sewed them first and then trimmed off the excess.