If there’s one thing our community loves, it’s a sewing challenge! If this is the first time hearing about a sewing challenge, it’s essentially a task set up on social media with rules as to how to complete your new project. These challenges can be for a day, a week, or even a month but all come with one main goal: you getting up and sewing!
Sewing challenges are a great way to be a part of the community. With so many people working on a similar project simultaneously, it can help you feel like you’re not sewing alone. The opportunity to join and share your work is always exciting! Using these hashtags to challenge yourself and show off what you create is part of the fun. Sometimes we all need that little push, like a challenge, to get us sewing again.
THE CHALLENGE >>
This month we’re making our own #JUKIJulyChallenge, and we want every one of you JUKI Lovers to join! Your goal is simple, create something that screams the beach! It could be anything from quilting to fashion that represents what visiting the beach (or lake) means to you.
Think of this as a fun new challenge to get your creative side flowing. Take the time to sit down and create something new with low pressure and think about what summer means to you!
It’s time to be to celebrate JUKI Lovers! We’re so excited to celebrate July 4th with you all this weekend so we wanted to share a great project for your family and friends. Below we’re going into a project for a “patriotic placemat” to get ready for your BBQs!
Click here to learn how to create this sweet project straight from home!
Located in Minnesota, you can find Missy Luukkonen, owner of the Little Green Bean! Born and raised in Duluth, Missy fell in love with sewing in high school and has been sewing crafts, quilts, and many other projects for over 20 years. This is all thanks to an extraordinary teacher.
Starting as a hobby, Missy was working full time in a profession she loved and coming home to sewing projects as a way to relax. What began as something to do in her free time slowly grew with each new project. Missy was making burlap tote bags when she started an Etsy shop for the fun of it, not realizing how well it would grow! After saving up her Etsy shop money and taking her husband and two sons on vacation, she thought the shop would be a great side business, but it continued to evolve.
Credit: The Little Green Bean – Instagram
As time went on, she found that her side gig was becoming a full-time job. Once she realized her small business continued growing, Missy decided to take a chance on her dream. Thus The Little Green Bean was here to stay! The products on her online store are constantly changing by customers’ suggestions. Missy makes these suggestions come to life with the help of her husband, who now happily works and runs the shop as well. After her husband, Chris, joined, they settled on a great dynamic, Missy handles most of the designing, and Chris does the production. With both partners jumping back and forth with ideas, they make an accomplished team.
One project they’re very proud of is the “Monthly Gnome“! Each month, Missy and her husband create a sweet gnome, that is new, and original in design. These little gnomes can be a one-time purchase or a monthly subscription if you’re a collector.
Credit: The Little Green Bean – Missy
Missy’s shop has continued to evolve as she’s always working on different ideas. Ever since Missy was a child, she was always making something. Not being afraid to try new things, Missy goes for it when a new idea pops up. While getting the perfect pattern may take several attempts to perfect, she’s always ready to learn along the way. One type of project she tends to stay away from is clothing, “I have never liked sewing clothes though, I’ll make PJ pants for my kids, but that’s about as far as I go with clothing!”
We recommend checking out Missy’s breath-taking workshop on her socials! Wanting her work area to be different from the rest of her home, Missy imagined her space to be bright and happy. Using fun and bright colors, Missy was able to create a space that was inviting and fed her the good energy she likes to work with. Cleanly organized and with perfect space for her JUKI’s the TL-2000Qi and MO-6700, every day Missy spends her time in her cottage and garage making the next big thing.
To learn more about Missy and her family business, check out her website here! Make sure to check into Missy’s socials as well for an inside look into her shop and home life at on Pinterest and Instagram.
sewinwithjuki.com 