TC Official(ish) Giveaway
12If you’ve been following the TC Learns to Sew topic, you’ve seen me learn everything from clothing to wallets, to bags, and a few other things.
I sew for fun, but I’m running out of friends and family to sew for, and I need an excuse to support my fabric/vinyl hoarding habit.
So help me out. Tell me what you’d want if you could choose something. (There is a limit to what I can make and ship for this, so think smaller items.)
I’ll close this topic on Wednesday, 9/10/25, at noon, ET. Then I’ll pop everyone’s name into a random generator, and one person will get something special from me.
Disclaimer time:
By entering this giveaway, you agree to the following:
- No gripes about what you got, what you didn’t get. This is me personally doing this, and I’d love to do this type of thing again, so don’t be a jerk.
- The thing you get is completely up to me, and what you put down as a request isn’t a guarantee that you’ll get that type of thing.
- I make no guarantees as to the longevity, usability, or safety of the item you get.
- The thing you get might suck. Actually, expect that. That way, you aren’t bummed out when you get something dumb.
- Neither Mercatalyst nor I are responsible for the item. Like, at all. If you somehow manage to hurt yourself using a wallet or whatever you receive, that’s on you.
- Employees of Mercatalyst cannot enter this giveaway.
- 26 comments, 62 replies
- Comment
A reusable bag with a dragon on it (European, no Asian) or a tree of life or a raven or both
@Cerridwyn A reusable dragon with a bag is better.
A “Resist!” top, size xl. A dragon would be good, too.
I would love to have a book-shaped bag; you posted pictures of it in a different thread and it’s so wonderful. Pretty ornate, though!
@Kyeh I think this is the one you’re talking about? It was such a fun thing to make.
@Thumperchick YES! It’s so clever and beautiful. I love book-shaped things!
I love how you really go 100% with a theme. You’d probably get along with my sister - she makes quilts and always has a theme that she’s totally dedicated to carrying out.
I would love whatever you sent, I’m sure! Please put my name “in the hat”.
Thanks for doing this…
@chienfou yours should be shaped like a something coffee related like a roaster she probably won’t know what that looks like or a grinder or even just a mokka pot that would be kind of cool
@Cerridwyn @chienfou I think you have him confused with @capnjb …?
@Cerridwyn @chienfou @Kyeh I don’t know nothing about no coffee
Was that a successful triple negative? 
@capnjb @chienfou @Kyeh it’s called reading without my glasses
@capnjb Do you know two positives that make a negative?
@phendrick Does dividing by zero count?
@capnjb No such thing. Besides, zero is neither positive nor negative (in the usual sense of “negative” as “less than zero”).
Anyway, two positives that make a negative? Give up? Say uncle.
[OTOH, in the other sense of negative meaning “opposite” as on the number line, zero is its own negative; i.e., can be construed to be a “negative”. Or in nice equation form, -0 = 0. They should have asked me before naming things in math books centuries ago, but they didn’t wait. And maybe that’s why students get confused when you tell them that if x=-2, then negative of x is positive and for the absolute value, |x| = -x, but they’ll argue that that can’t be right because an absolute value “has to be positive”. Not my fault for bad names in math. And don’t get me started on “imaginary” numbers or even worse the usage of the word “normal” in math…]
@phendrick I like your brain
And I call uncle. 
My brain just started thinking at the atomic level and won’t leave that scape, so I give. 
And FWIW, my daughter wants to go to University of Maryland, but she promised me she’d apply to M.I.T. and Texas A&M
I can’t believe she is a senior now… she was just in kindergarten. 
She is doing multivariable calculus with differential equations and is also a TA for her favorite chemistry teacher. I think that is the field she wants to pursue. Chem or physics. I raised a proper nerd 
And she is getting recruited by so many schools. She gets emails every day from universities that say ‘apply here… we will waive any application fees…’ heh.
edit - and if she continues to score all fives on her APs this year, she will start college as a second semester sophomore and could be working on her Masters before she is old enough to buy a beer
@capnjb Working on a Master’s, after Air Force, i was definitely glad i was old enough to buy beer!
i had considered U of Md when applying for colleges, for they were known to have a strong math program at the time, but couldn’t afford it. Did get the partial scholarship to A&M, though, that paid for half of everything.
Sounds like she will be in good stead, wherever. My father’s slightly younger brother got degrees in chemistry at A&M and worked with them comfortably until he retired.
Don’t think two positives can make a negative?
YEAH, SURE!
A small butterfly.
You could always adopt me into your family and then you would have someone to give your items to. If that doesn’t work, I’d take ANYTHING purple and would love it forever.
@Barney Um… I need to cancel my entry. Thanks for giving everyone a chance to win a special something that you have made, TC.
Howsabout an Iridescent IRK Stuffie??
A tactical Glenn.
I fricking dare you to sew a TARDIS. And I’ll send you some freshly roasted coffee beans to keep you up all night so you can complete it
Or, I can just send you some freshly roasted beans if you want to join the Secret-Not-So-Secret coffee club. It’s where the cool kids hang out 
@capnjb
Hmm…
You wouldn’t be trying to BRIBE the host of the giveaway now, right…?
Lol
@Lynnerizer Shush you… and go have a cup of coffee
LOL 
edit- this is what happens when I wake up at 2:30 and can’t go back to sleep. Stupid brain 
@capnjb
Just a thought… 
Maybe it’s time to switch to decaf?
My guy can drink coffee all night long and still sleep like a baby. Well, I guess that depends on what kind of sleeping baby I’m talking about, probably a colicky one. Lol
Both of us sleep on and off for no more than a couple hours at a time (if that) throughout the night. I’ll do that 24 hours a day, every day! Unless of course I have to go somewhere which isn’t often! 
It’s crazy how much a person’s sleep patterns can change! At one point I was testing for narcolepsy. 
@capnjb @Lynnerizer sleep apnea?
I love coffee right before bed. it’s soothing
@capnjb That’s so cool!
I’ve already sewn two Tardis themed bags. One turned out super cool and the other was one my biggest failures in sewing.
Here’s the cool one that lights up:
@Lynnerizer
Heh… I didn’t even have any coffee yesterday
Caffeine doesn’t keep me up at all. I love a nice cup after a good meal. It’s my dumb brain that wakes up and is all… let’s talk about a few things 
@Thumperchick That Whovian bag is completely awes0me
The Weeping Angel on the zipper is a cool touch 
This was my daughter on Halloween six years ago…
@Lynnerizer
After my thing, I had to manage an ostomy every two hours. So, for nine months I slept in 90 minute chunks until I had the reversal. That really screwed up my sleep schedule. Or maybe it was my two month nap
Now I can sleep about 3-4 hours straight. But sometimes get 5 or 6. That is actually disorienting. But I am an Olympic level napper, so I fill in the gaps if I find the opportunity to do so.
@capnjb I love that costume! Don’t Blink is one of my favorite episodes.
@capnjb @Thumperchick That light-up Tardis bag is A MAZ ING!
@capnjb
And yes, naps are wonderful! 
Olympic level napper, I LOVE THAT!
@capnjb @Kyeh @Thumperchick
The bag is super cool. Your so talented.
@capnjb
Yeah MY 3am thoughts are usually working overtime 24/7!
Do you have crazy dreams?
@Lynnerizer What’s really weird is that when I was in an induced coma, I had wildly vivid dreams. And unfortunately, a lot of it was very dark. It’s been four years and thankfully they are starting to fade. But I used to have dreams about my coma dreams. Dreams about manufactured memories. How weird is that? But there were also some good parts. Like… I owned an ice cream truck
@capnjb
Yay to the ice cream truck!
Nay to the vivid bad dreams!
About your vivid dreams…
Actually, that doesn’t surprise me one bit because my guy went through the same thing! He was saying some CRAZY stuff and he thought it was really happening. Turned out he was talking about his dreams but didn’t know it. Today he doesn’t remember a lot of it but at least we can laugh about it.
I’m going to have to look up and see if anyone has done a study on people’s dreaming while they’re in a coma.
@Lynnerizer Heh… I thought I was on a ship. I’d occasionally wake up and had absolutely crazy hallucinations. I was convinced my boss was sleeping on the bench on the other side of the room with a Sega Genesis. LOL. How’s that for random
Turns out it was just my compression boots 
@capnjb
My guy thought he was on a ship as well as an airplane! 
He kept telling me that his son’s mother was his nurse, he was hallucinating about several people from his past.🧌 I do remember how he wasn’t believing me that this stuff was only happening in his mind. 
He’s still freaked out by it today, well what he remembers of it. 
Ha! I’m dumbfounded by the similarities!
@Lynnerizer My wife came and saw me every day for two months and kept a detailed journal with every visit. There are a lot of notes. I’ve read a few pages of it, but when I saw that I died twice on the table… I couldn’t go any further. Maybe I’ll try again someday. Maybe not. But at least it explained why I had more than one nurse tell me they never expected to see me again. Nurses are my favorite people these days.
edit - fun fact… I no longer have a belly button
Something avocado. Dealers choice.
@sillyheathen I weirdly have not done anything with avocados on it yet.
@Thumperchick
I could use a small pouch for carrying 3 pill bottles to appointments.
Or a clear vinyl bag (similar to a make-up bag) for storing chargers and cables. 
Honestly, I’d LOVE and appreciate anything though!
Giveaways are fun, so are embroidered turtle & mushroom patches!!
Cat plushie!
@euheahwa I’ve made a mercat before. What kind of cat do you have in mind?
@Thumperchick mercat looks so cool! (And cute) love any kind of cat!
A bag to store toiletries in when travelling, or like a pencil case or something. It would likely have a multitude of potential uses!!
I am looking for a jewelry wallet. I have gone on a jewelry craze and want something to slip in a purse or backpack. Theme optional- Halloween, LOTR, HP, big cats, gnomes, nature. I am a dorky, geeky nerd.
Woof!!! Oh I like this. I would like some bandanna. I think they make me look handsome!!
Bags of carrying are always a good gift idea. Be it drawstring or a tote. Of course anything with cats or dragons is a good choice. Or even cats riding dragons into battle!
I absolutely loved the fuck fabric, very classy. It’s straight up my ally.
I would love a sweatshirt or zip up of some kind. Or a kids 4t skeleton costume for Halloween for my nephew. He was just gonna wear the same kohls glow in the dark pjs as last year but would be super geeked for a hand sewing skeleton one.
@Star2236 … The what?
@Star2236 I blame the typo gremlins.
@pakopako
What are you questioning? Maybe bc I’m reading my own writing but I’m not seeing anything?
@pakopako @Star2236 my guess is they are questioning what “fuck fabric” is
@pakopako @tinamarie1974
My guess is that too and they thought that was a typo? I was referring to her thread of things she’s made and the fabric I thought was cool.
@pakopako @Star2236 @tinamarie1974
Here’s where the photo is:
https://meh.com/forum/topics/tc-learns-to-sew#58bf8de0407e0902a8f25695
I don’t really need anything but I have a box of decent fabric someone gave me that I can send you if you want it. I was given it 2 days ago, it’s in the storage unit and I can drag it out to photo the fabric if you are interested. It came from a quilter.
@Kidsandliz If I add to my fabric hoard right now, my partner might just smother me with it. (Mostly joking.)
@Kidsandliz @Thumperchick BTDT.
@Thumperchick when I helped my mom downsize her sewing stuff she had two tall dressers, full of fabric and 6 foot high 18 inch deep shelves full of fabric.
It was very traumatic for her. She told me the story of each piece of fabric and what she had planned to make and for whom. She also had unfinished smocked baby dresses, unfinished embroidered baby blankets and other things. She had a tough time with that. It took us two days because she found it easier if I let her tell me the story behind each piece of fabric.
She only kept the unfinished things and one standard dresser full of fabric when she moved into the retirement home. She found that one of the hardest things with downsizing because she loved it so much and did so much of it.
I’d like to enter and be boring and say a softer strap for my Case Logic shoulder bag. I wear it like a bookbag at times (using the shoulder strap as a “yoke”) and having one with more give (as I’m lugging candies and/or pins) might be easier on the neck.
Though this does remind me I have four pairs of fleece-lined jeans i need to patch (thighs and ass have cracked) and winter is coming…
@pakopako Or take one pair and cut a long strip and make it into a strap with the fleecy side against your shoulder?
@Kyeh that’s actually great idea
I have some very nice denim that I’ve been meaning to use to make a couple of knee-length spinny pleated skirts for a while now, but the size of the More Important Stuff pile has only grown, and probably won’t be brought under control in less than a year. If you want to take over that project and keep the surplus yardage, I’d be delighted. Otherwise, I’ll get around to it eventually, but…
@werehatrack They don’t have to be pleated, though.
Please enter me in the drawing, TC. What i have in mind is a small cat house for a kitten that’s the smallest (so far) of a litter of 4 whose mom (& dad?) hang around my yard and back porch. Don’t think she’ll get full size (and her mom is smallish). Thinking about making her an indoor cat, especially if we get temps into the teens like last winter. My dog is not usually that fond of cats, but has even taken to grooming her some with her tongue when the kitten runs up to her.
i’m thinking of something inspired by today’s deal, but much smaller, akin to your book or a shoulder bag (no strap).
She’s cute enough to warrant a picture if i can get one tomorrow.
I am sew outta practice, can’t remember how to whisper!
Looks like @Lynnerizer is the
suckerwinner!@Lynnerizer Congrats!
@Thumperchick
OH WOW…
WOOHOO! 
I’m so excited! 
I really wasn’t expecting to win. Yesterday while I was looking at some of your projects I was super impressed, you’re so creative and talented! You’re a true artist and I feel honored and privileged to be getting one of your goodies! I LOVE surprises and can’t wait to see what you send! 
Thank you so much Thumperchick!
@Lynnerizer @Thumperchick Congratulations!!! How fun - I can’t wait to see what you get!
@Kyeh @Thumperchick
Thanks! Me too!
@Thumperchick @lynnerizer Congrats!!!
That’s awesome 
KRULL! A SKULL! BRETT HULL! AWESOME!
@Lynnerizer @Thumperchick @kyeh
Yeah you, lynnerizer! Congrats.
Don’t forget to come back to post pics (or start a new thread).
@chienfou @Kyeh @Thumperchick
For sure, you’ll definitely get some pictures!
I’m in! I’d gladly take whatever is produced, but am wondering if you do any industrial work? I have a side hustle that involves the use of multiple Bubble Master bubble machines. The wind often shifts when I’m using them, and they end up covered in bubble goo - but the goo also gets sucked inside the machine, eventually gumming up the fans and motors.
I need a koozy/cozy/sweater/sock for my machines: something that can fit around the base of the chute at the front and then cover the back where the fans are - but here’s the thing: airflow to the fans is critical. The sock can’t impeded airflow, but needs to provide enough coverage to prevent goo from getting sucked into the fans.
I’ve tried forming a ‘tent’ across the top and back of the machines using several layers of mesh fabric, and it worked… a bit. I’ve cobbled things together with safety pins and fabric glue, but what I really need is a custom-sewn solution.
DOH!
Found out last night I’m having a baby girl (due first quarter next year). I’d love for you to make her first Halloween costume for 2026! Anything kid-friendly in the 9-12 month range
@mbersiam
Girls are nice like sugar and spice!
🩷 Congratulations! 
@mbersiam Congratulations!
I’m hesitant to sew for (other people’s) kids because there are so many safety regulations and special certifications on kids’ clothes. Especially infants.
Funny enough, my sister is the one who sewed puppycat’s first Halloween costume. My niece was Pikachu, @puppycat was Meowth, and @humper and I were Team Rocket.
@Humper @PuppyCat @Thumperchick Oh that is adorable!
Ok, I’ll change my request to something different - How about an egg apron? (understanding, of course, I still have to win the drawing to get it)
@mbersiam The drawing closed on Wednesday. @Lynnerizer won.
@Lynnerizer @mbersiam @Thumperchick Congrats to both mbersiam and Lynnerizer!
One year my son was a trainer and I was a miltank. I used a pink sweatsuit but sewed a hood. It was not great but lots of people recognized me as a cow. (I stole some purple latex gloves from the doctor’s office for an udder, don’t tell.). Also got a few free Chick-fil-a salads with it.
@Lynnerizer @Thumperchick LOL well it would have helped if I read the whole thread, wouldn’t it have? Can I blame pregnancy brain?
@Thumperchick that is adorable!!