Southern Stitches

A Few Less Machines

2011-08-08T09:59:00.001-05:00

I did some monumental things this weekend.

1. I donated the New Home 671 to The Sewing Machine Project

2. I lent my Singer 403A to a co-worker so she could start sewing.

3. I shipped the Elna 6004 to a PatternReview member who is giving it to her daughter.

I still have the Viking 6570

I also kept the Singer 201 in it's cabinet

My Singer 221 Featherweight is still here!

Since I've added the BL Audrey, and the two Bernina's to the flock in the last year, I now have 3 modern and 3 vintage machines. I think that is more than enough!

The lastest machine I added is the Bernina 350 PE!! Although I really do like the little Audrey, I don't like it for piecing quilts. The Bernina 350 feeds so smooth and sews so quiet it's amazing. Even with no presser foot pressure, I got perfect quarter inch seams all the way down. I'll keep the Audrey for ASG meetings. It's 5 lbs lighter, easier to carry with the included shoulder bag, and it wouldn't be a travesty if for some reason we had a power glitch and the computer board fried.

So what am I planning to use the 350 PE for? I find it so quick and easy to just go to this machine and start sewing. I'll take it to any quilting classes, for garment sewing and piecing.

My 730 is still a favorite machine, and I'll continue to garmet sew on it. It embroiders beautifully, and does fantastic decorative stitches, but sometimes that 9mm width can be a dog. Quarter inch seams are not impossible on it, but there is this ever so slight pull to the left even when using the SS plate on the machine. Not a problem for normal quarter inch seams, but for quilting, it could make a difference. The 350 doesn't do that.

Now I feel I have the best of both worlds, all the way around.

50 Ways to Get a Pattern

2011-08-03T10:29:00.000-05:00

About 4 years ago, life became so vastly different for me. My Mom got sick and then passed away. Settling her estate was a major chore. I got married, and moved to a new town, and had to deal with my daughter's school and teenage tribulations. Throw in a kitchen remodel, and it's a wonder I sewed at all. Though I did, it was all crafty small items. I did delve into quilting with a small quilt that I made for my sister.

Fast forward to a more settled life, and I'm ready to get back to garment sewing.

Even though I had some success with Butterick Connie Crawford pattern as my first top in 4 years, 5538 -- LOVED the built in alterations -- I still want better. Life is more settled, but I am still busier than I was at one time. My ex or my Mom did all the cooking!! Now I have a husband who cannot boil an egg.

So, I thought about going back to Unique Patterns. Going to the website I see that they are now called "Fit Me Patterns". New owners! I saw that there were no new patterns added in quite a while. I had gotten a good fit right with the first dress, before the big life changes, and ordered 5 patterns. But, I never even sewed a muslin except for the fitted sheath dress.
So, I called and asked about the new company. I was told they would be rolling out a new website very soon, with new patterns. The measurements needed have increased, which is a good thing, and the patterns are now CAD drafted, and hand checked.
The convenience is that you don't have to print out patterns and tape them together. With the new measurements added, and the other body shape problems you can tell them about you should get a good fit. You can tell them what shape your seat is - flat, full, dropped. You can tell them you have a forward head or shoulders, round back, sway back, pendulous bust, knock knees, and a variety of other things. She said they absolutely take these things into account.
The problem is the expense. Each pattern is anywhere from $18 to $25. And all you get is one view. So, you really need to purchase a book on changing the styling. There are no variations whatsoever on any of the patterns.
Although at one time Unique had a deal with Simplicity/New Look, I don't look for that to continue. As I said, no new patterns in 3 years.
She told me there would be 3 new jackets at first, with embroidery (files included) and some other really neat features.
It does sound pretty exciting.
Then there is this new mystery custom pattern company coming soon.   I signed up to recieve notification when it starts. I can't for the life of me find my email thanking me for signing up, or the thread on PatternReview talking about it. But, lots of folks are excited about it. I don't think it's Fit Me. I'll let you know when I do get the info on it via email. It promises patterns that fit you straight from the envelope. But, I'm sure that's after you tweak your measurements.

Then there is pattern software. There is Wild Ginger, My Pattern Designer, PMB, Bernina My Label to name just a few of the bigger companies.
I tried My Pattern Designer's demo. This company is the old Dress Shop. I seem to remember fooling with Dress Shop once before. Maybe I purchased it but it had to have been a download. So this time around with the demo, I didn't like it any better really. The patterns wouldn't print properly even with the recommended changes to the printer settings. The back bodice I drafted was way weird, even though I tried many measurement changes. And the wonkiness was in the armscye. I found the whole concept a little confusing - how you purchase and download, and how changes are made.   I didn't find the forums very helpful. However, there were good features. You can print quarter size patterns, and there are literally hundreds of patterns to choose from. You can design your own pattern from all the choices and then purchase it. Or you can choose packages of patterns.   I'm not sure how many come with the initial purchase. Pattern ordering seems like it would be slightly confusing at first.
You can choose regular pattern company sizing or input over 40 measurements in a basic program for $199, or input over 60 measurements in the larger program for $499. I agree that 60 something measurements should give an outstanding fit. But, that also opens the door to more complications. If something still doesn't fit properly, there are many interacting measurements to look at.
Many folks like this software, but it isn't for me.

I want something slightly simpler.

So, I'm going to try Bernina's My Label. Look for more postings on that. The 3D model simulation is what sold me. That and it's a bit simple. Not nearly as many garments as the other companies, but there are free new pattern downloads on the Bernina website. After registering you get free patterns and embroidery designs. I would imagine those are the ones included in the program.
Now, my goal is to do a shirt on that software, and compare the fit to one of my Unique Patterns I already own.  I know my measurements have changed slightly since back when, but after taking a look at them and doing some quick re-checking, they haven't changed much. I was slighly smaller, but only slightly as I've gained but then lost some weight. So we shall see.

BUTTERICK 5538 – CONNIE CRAWFORD

2011-08-03T08:31:00.002-05:00

HERE is the review. I did the muslin, and was shocked at how well it fit. The pattern says: "Modern Fit with Ready to Wear Sizing". I think this is close to true.

Lane Bryant was a godsend when I stopped garment sewing due to life being in the way for 4 years. Their Right Fit jeans were spot on. I can buy a size 14 or sometimes 16 in their tops and shirts, and the shoulder is dead on, there is ample room in the bust, and there is even tummy room. The shirts typically don't hang off the back of my shoulder either. Almost perfection – and very well made. The Right Fit jeans in the yellow tag had a nice flat butt area and were my shape. Houston style dress pants, also made for less curvy yet larger women. Alas, they have discontinued the Right Fit sizing, so I may have to make jeans again.
Connie Crawford patterns incorporate a high round neck, tummy room, C cup, and square(er) shoulders. I am in alteration heaven, except of course for the broader shoulders and excess sleeve cap ease. I did do some weird adjustments that I won't do next time. On the bodice I cut the shoulder at XS, tapering to XL. I don't think I did this too narrow, so the problem must be the sleeve itself. I cut the sleeve cap at M and tapered to XL. I should have started with a L there, which would have resulted in a higher sleeve cap. My alteration did result in perfect easing of the cap, but the sleeve seems to be riding up on my arm, so I think it needs a little more cap up there.
As for the directions – I don't like the advice to crimp or ease stich the bust area between the notches. I find things go together much easier if you just do some snips on the smaller side of the two princess seams and put them together that way. Just don't confuse your snips with the pattern notch marks if you've snipped to mark those! I always mark those differently in this case.
But, all the pieces did go together very very well. Take out that doggone excess sleeve cap ease and you've got a great pattern.

First Quilt!

2011-07-03T18:30:00.000-05:00

Okay, well it's been done for a couple of months now, but here it is, my first quilt. I made this for my sister, who's friend died of ovarian cancer. This fabric is made special for that cause. If you make a 12" block and send it in they'll combine it with other blocks and auction off these large quilts. But being that she already made large donations to the cause, she just wanted something personal for herself in memory of her friend.
So, here it is. The words are what she wanted on the back, and I decided to embroider butterflies to symbolize how her friend Judy is free now. It's 24x24.

Not half bad for a beginner who had not a clue! I used Nancy Zieman's Quilt With Confidence, which i highly recommend. I really enjoyed doing the binding too. I cut it on the lengthwise straight of grain, and machined sewed one side and then hand stitched it around the other side. I actually enjoyed hand sewing the binding - it was quite relaxing.

Pattern Explosion for the 4th!

2011-07-01T14:19:00.000-05:00

HAPPY 4TH!!! Here's hoping that your BBQ doesn't burn, and your skin either.

After nothing but craft and accessory sewing and a tiny bit of quilting for like 3 years (the vest I made DH and the PJ bottoms I made DD don't really count because they weren't for me) -- I'm finally back into garment sewing with a vengance! Yaaay me!

Meanwhile, because I divested myself of so many out of date and "what was I thinking" patterns last year -- here are shots of all the pattern gluttony I indulged in during the sale on the BMV site, through Club BMV:

Debbie Cook raves about this first pattern in her review, and I meant to buy this one a couple of months ago but instead purchased 5538, the one further down, which I'm working on now. Debbie is right. These patterns ROCK! My one gripe so far is too much ease in the sleeve cap. But I think I have that tamed.

BUTTERICK 5300, CONNIE CRAWFORD

BUTTERICK 5365, CONNIE CRAWFORD This one is for soft flowy fabrics. I have been wanting a blouse like this for a while.

BUTTERICK 5472 -- Very excited about this one - love ALL the pieces.

BUTTERICK 5538, After a muslin, this one fits very nice. The shoulders are square like mine, and it has a round upper back adjustment built in. I only had to add a tiny amount on the princess bust line and lower it a little, and narrow the shoulders. Oh, and get rid of the ease in the cap. Full review and pics to come once I'm done with the real thing.

BUTTERICK 5611 I can't decide weather I'm just a "big shirt" girl, or I feel so fat and menopausal I want to wear nothing that could possibly show a bulge. The view in the white blouse with the drawstring at the hip is calling me. I will make sure my drawstring comes down low on the hip. I do still have a smallish hip. Too bad my waist size is catching up to that measurement! I have a blouse like this from Target, and I have almost worn it out. It's flattering. Good reviews at PR on this one too.

BUTTERICK 5617 I like boxy jackets. I have a lovely heavy embossed cotton that I got from Promenade Fabrics in New Orleans while on an ASG Shop Hop last month. Can't wait to make this as an unlined summer jacket.

And I vow to not be the blogger who lists patterns and never reports back on sewing them up! I know I have been guilty of such crimes in the past, but I will for sure report back on the Butterick 5538 soon because I'm starting on the real thing this weekend! After that I think I will tackle a couple of patterns I bought from Unique Patterns years ago and never sewed up. But I am really on a roll here, and DH is more and more busy in the evenings with his last season of officiating HS football, so I'll have plenty of time!

HAPPY JULY 4TH!!!!

My First Stipples with the Bernina BSR

2011-03-17T21:11:00.000-05:00

So before we head off to the Houston Rodeo where we'll get to see handsome cowboys, and Brad Paisley in concert - yaaay -- here are my first and second attempts at stippling using the Bernina BSR foot on my 730E. The first attempt is using the foot control, mode 1. The second picture shows my attempt in mode 2, which is where you control the speed by moving the fabric. I prefer mode 2. I have more control when everything is being done by my hands and I don't have to think about my foot too. I also find I can go slower than with the foot control.

I don't think I did too bad. I'm a natural doodler, so it was fun to practice over the last few days by doodling on a notepad! And I used the Machingers I bought. Those were a great investment!

Grab Bag Sucker!

2011-03-14T18:11:00.001-05:00

They always saw me coming. My love of the grab bag became a running family joke. The bigger the better. This time however, my 6 year old heart was truly happy with what arrived in my Nancy's Notion's Grab Bag. For $9.99, even if it had nothing but the Olfa .45mm 2 pack rotary blades I'd have figured, okay that's fair. But it had much more than that! A yard of some really lovely linen, a yard of interfacing, a fabric pen, 2 packs of embroidery floss, a really nice spiral bound book all about quilt borders, a Silhouette's skirt pattern that I actually like. Embroidery lace design pack, a children's book, some really cute buttons, and Madiera Cotton Embroidery thread, some quilt patterns and more.
Yes I do love Nancy's Notions. I don't order from there as much as I used to, but she has some really cool stuff. I got some embroidery designs and a dresden plate ruler that weren't in the package.

Okay so here is the second quilting attempt:

Oh I would be arrested by the Quilt Police, and the Quilt Judge would sentence me to life for this quilt top!! It's really quite awful, but there is no turning back. One block is particularly nasty, because I thought it would be a good idea to try a different machine/foot for the one block. Dumb idea, as the seams weren't true 1/4". Then I got really dumb and sort of stretched it a bit. Oh My did I break the rules. But I managed to get the thing squared, and will go ahead and finish it.
Not having enough fabric for the back or the binding from the small 6 pack of not quite fat quarters, I made a trip to Fabric Krazy and thankfully they had just what I needed. So the binding will be done in the darkest fabric which is also in the quilt, and the backing from the lighter.

I'm also planning on embroidering "In Loving Memory Of...", on the backing, as this little quilt is for my sister in memory of her friend who died of Ovarian Cancer. This fabric is by Blank Quilting, called Inspirations III. If you buy any of these fabrics, they will donate money to the cause. It's really quite lovely teal fabric. It looks great combined with not just white, but a touch of yellow too. Wish I'd have seen that earlier, cause I would have gotten some.

If you make a 12" block and send it in, they will put it with other blocks and auction off big quilts. If you make a mini quilt, they will auction those too, and all those proceeds go to the cause as well. Since my sis has already made a huge donation to the cause, I'm making this little wall hanging quilt for her and she'll probably also share it with the girls Mom. I think I will have enough scraps left to make another.
I was hoping to have it done for next weekend's visit to see Sis and attend the Houston Rodeo. But that doesn't seem possible now. Instead of quilting, I'm sitting here waiting for the season finale of the Batchelor to start. Now that is really dumb and not at all like me. I have no idea how I got sucked into that!!

Linky Lundi

2011-03-08T09:30:00.010-06:00

Okay, it's actually Fat Tuesday, not Lundi Gras (the Monday before Mardi Gras). But, whatever, I got the idea yesterday, and it's a catchy title.
For those of us who love to read: Here is an email I got from an author named Melissa Bourbon. Now I usually don't open unsolicited emails, but I'm glad I opened this one. She's totally legit, and I'm excited to see a sewing mystery being published!

Hello, I am the author of a new 'Magical Dressmaking' cozy mystery book series. The first book will be released by Penguin's NAL on August 2nd and is called Pleating for Mercy. I discovered your website and wondered if you'd be interested in reading an advanced copy and perhaps sharing it with your readers and sewing friends. Please let me know if this is something you'd be interested in. The cover and blurb can be seen at my website. Thanks so much for your time! Looking forward to hearing back from you. Melissa Bourbon Ramirez
http://www.melissabourbon.com/
There is a picture of the cover of the book on her website. I look forward to reading it, and I thank Melissa for including me on the list of people who will be reviewing the book.

For those of you like me who are just now exploring quilting (not that I'll ever give up garment sewing) --- here is a great, fresh quilting blog I discovered. Elizabeth Hartman's blog, Oh Fransson! When you quilt, you want your work to last a long time, so modern fabrics may not be the way to go all the time.
BUT, you just have to get excited about the prospect of shaking things up a bit, and doing some projects with those really cool fabrics you see in your local quilt store and online – like Amy Butler, Alexander Henry, Michael Miller, etc. She uses mostly modern fabrics and has just fabulous results.

There are oodles of free patterns and ideas on projects large and small, and best of all: simple! Her new book is called The Practical Guide to Patchwork, and it's only $13.64 at Amazon! It has great reviews. Best of all, it fits my style completely. I want simple and easy. I love traditional quilts, but I am in no way ready or willing to do paper piecing. All those tiny parts just blow my mind. I've ordered the book, and am following her blog.
I'd also like to give a shout out to Nancy Zieman for her book Quilt With Confidence. It's what I used to do my very first quilting project. I did a table runner, and used this simple, easy to understand book. Now why didn't I take another picture of this finished with the binding and AFTER quilting it?? Well I'll do that tonight and update the photo.

Yet one more link - Tipnut Pincushions. Over 50 pincushion tutorials listed here! Pincushions are great projects to turn out after you've had an intense project. They enable you to use scraps, and are so much fun!
And here is a picture of the new Babylock Serenade that I promised to post. I took it off the brochure that a dealer gave me.

My NOT Mardi Gras Parade of Machines

2011-03-04T14:10:00.005-06:00

It's been a parade of machines around here in the last several months, and I blame it all on my PatternReveiw habit. Over there, it was like a contagious disease acquiring machines, so we named it SMAD, and there was some pretty funny threads on it. I still have lingering symptoms of SMAD, (especially since the new thing being discussed is using the new, fabulous industrial machines for home sewing), but they are under control now, since I’ve purchased the Bernina 730.

Wowza was that a pinch in the pocket book! More on that machine later, though. It will require a couple of posts by itself!

Okay, so I was all excited over the Rocketeer in the last post in August. I did send it to the tech, and I basically just donated $60 to him. I still had to clean her out better, dig out impacted grime from the ridge in the bobbin case, AND disassemble, clean, adjust and reassemble the tension. (Oxy Clean and boiling water – WONDERFUL for cleaning old feet and parts). I learned a lot with this machine. It was fun to look at, but I wound up selling it to a PR member. I just didn’t bond with it somehow. I love my other slant, the 403 too much, and I didn’t need two. I kept the table it came in however – it’s in my kitchen, and fits perfect there.

So I also mentioned purchasing a Pfaff 130. Great machine for heavier jobs, but too heavy of a machine for someone who switches out machines frequently. So, I sold that one on ebay and turned a whole $12 profit.

Next machine to be acquired is the gorgeous Viking 6570. Isn’t she a beauty??

Not a scratch on her anywhere!! She looks brand new, and is total eye candy. She came from a Viking refurbisher on ebay. Everything was included, down to the original manual, all the cams. This is the machine I wanted when I first started sewing in 1982 but couldn't afford. She makes a WOO WOO WOO WOO sound. Okay, all sewing machines make that sound, but no really, this is a very pronounced WOO sound. Almost whistle like. She’s great for going over the heavier seams, and doesn’t seem to mind thicker bobbin thread. The jury is still out on weather or not to keep her. She’s too pretty to not be enjoyed.

Shortly after the Viking, I guess I felt I still needed more color in the sewing room. Thus, the New Home 671. This one I purchased from ebay also, from a reputable refurbisher. This one also has not a scratch. Doesn't look like she was ever used! I put a search in ebay and a few weeks later came up with the cams and manual for this baby. What luck! She is on the noisy side, but so pretty in turquoise. She too plows through bulkier seams. But, she doesn’t get much use, poor thing.

Did I mention a Singer 201? Gorgeous machine, in an equally nice cabinet. She is a reformed smoker, so I had to work on her a bit too. But it’s true - everything they say about this machine. It's NOT over rated. So quiet and smooth!! Her much narrower feed dogs came in so handy when finishing the side seams of a vest. I couldn’t have maneuvered the fabric the way I needed to after turning it out with the Berninas huge feet.

You can imagine how cluttered my sewing room was getting. (I forgot about the 12 needle Babylock Embellisher I got second hand.) The Chi of the sewing room started screaming at me. So, after I bought the Bernina, the Brother Innovis 1200 was sold locally. But still more need to go, really. Should I sell Wendy the neglected FW with the unique Halloween birthday? Or, the Viking which could command even more money? Should I forego the pretty turquoise New Home??? I’ll say this: the 201 aint going NOWHERE!! She’s mine till death do us part – and when I’m gone she’ll still be kicking!

Oh, before I forget! Meet Audrey.

Isn’t she a cutie! I purchased her locally. I really needed, I repeat NEEDED a small lightweight machine for ASG meetings and quilting classes I plan on taking. I think based on an email I got from Babylock, that the Audrey might be one of the ones being replaced by a new model. They are supposedly 50% off of retail right now. But I got mine for less than that - I paid $299. I have no intention of taking the FW or the new Bernina anywhere.
She will get her first real workout tomorrow at our ASG meeting. We'll be sewing turtle pillows.

Here are some stitches she sewed out - very nice, no?

I'd Walk a Mile For A.......

2010-08-09T07:40:00.009-05:00

ROCKETEER!!!!

Well, actually I drove 80 miles to New Orleans and paid $50 for the machine and table. She is somewhat damaged as you can see here.

She's missing the decal showing the stitches on the lid, a spool pin, and probably some other minor things I'm overlooking. I haven't even threaded her. She is just sitting there looking all happy to be out of that cabinet!

She came with the clothes on her back and nothing more. After all, she is a Katrina survivor! One foot, one foot control (up inside the cabinet run by a rusty knee lever) and one bobbin. The cams and feet I already have from my 403A. She isn't showing any rust, and the best part is she runs! She belonged to the seller's Grandma and she was happy to have her go to a good home.

Here she is in her cabinet, and a more close up:

Before I found this one, I called a vintage collector with ads on Craigslist who needs to get rid of some machines. I didn't buy from him because most of his were in rough cosmetic condition. We had a lively conversation though, and he told me about an 86 year old man here in town who will refurbish these vintage machines for very inexpensive. I know, I know, I could do this myself. But when you can't even find sewing machine grease in this town.....

So I called him and told DH about it, and it turns out he is my mother in law's cousin! They didn't even realize he still goes to his shop every day. Now, his shop isn't in the best part of town as the city has grown, and I don't think he does new machine sales any longer. But, according to this fella I spoke with, he is THE MAN in this area to vintage machine owners. He said people he knows with vintage machines cringe at the thought of having to go to Allbrands one day with their prized possessions.

I told him as soon as we figure out how to get the foot controller and machine out of it's table, I'll be bringing her in. He told me he has a Rocketeer in his shop that is a beauty and is selling for $150. Depending on how beautiful she is, I might offer him a trade. Take this one for parts, and give me a nice discount on that one! We will see. It probably won't happen any time soon. I have to have DH's help to free this machine, and he is so tied up with a football camp right now it's crazy.

The really crazy part is, I don't really have room for her and the cabinet. The cabinet's top when the machine is folded down needs to be redone, but I might put it in a spot in my kitchen which needs a little table, and cover the bad spot. Then I'll try to find a case for the machine. Something tells me she'll be very used. Now I have to bug the carpenter to come back and make a surround for her to use in my new sewing table.

But, the really, really really crazy part is what is on it's way: A Pfaff 130! More on that later!

I Fought the Bag, and the Bag Almost Won

2010-08-02T14:03:00.003-05:00

But it didn't. I made this bag for a Craftster Swap partner. It's McCalls 5824, see the link to the review on my Patternreview widget, lower right. I was really stupid, and sewed through 9 layers of denim, one of quilting cotton, one of fusible batting – to get those tabs on the sides that hold the adjustable strap to the body of the bag. Well the 9 layers only came in right in the middle of the tabs, where each was folded down the middle and then folded again to accommodate the hardware. I should have just serged finished the edges and folded them to the middle. That would have eliminated 4 denim layers. Or, cotton or poly webbing would have been perfect. And, the sad thing is I had some!! But, I'd made the doggone strap --- a very long strap with 3 lines of topstitching, so I felt I had to use it. And yes, I DID THE PIPING AND IT CAME OUT GREAT!!!

The pocket panel, which I love. Loaded with pockets.

Inside of the bag and the too small cell pocket:

Of course I have to show you what else I sent: Some Halloween embroidery, by Designs by Dru

I love her designs, they stitch out wonderfully. These are 4x4 designs, and to save time and thread, I found what the most prevalent color was in the design (for instance black on the scary man, and royal blue on the owl) and used that color of felt to stitch on – eliminating the need to stitch out that color. It worked like a charm. The only weirdness was that the scary tree had a deep purple outline, which showed up not quite right against the black felt of the tree. But it was cool, because it makes the tree look like it's vibrating! You can see I mounted them on felt and framed it for my partner.

Then this, "I Love Crafting" wall hanging. This was also purchased from Dru. She has a series of "I Love…." Designs, and if you purchase the pack, she'll do one custom for you if it's not in there. Well, quilting, sewing, knitting, etc were all in there, but not just crafting, so she added that one for free. My partner is into all sorts of crafts, so this was more appropriate. This was embroidered then hooped in a wooden hoop, and I hot glued all the rest of the stuff to it, and hot fix crystals too. The thread is painted onto the wooden spools, and the yarn is just balled up and stuck on there.

And, here is what my partner sent me in the last package. My 18 year old DD is giving me fits, so the cross stitch is perfect. And, I swear I didn't copy this idea – I had my little I Love Crafting thing done before I even got this in the mail! It's a makeup bag on the left and the cross stitch to the right is too cute – the ribbon is tape measure.

Then a great jewelry making kit:

Burlap bags with my favorite fabric as the lining, and a cute stuffed owl.

I'm swearing off of swaps for a while, though – this is IT. I will be making this next, the shirt and vest. And that is for sure – DH is asking me constantly when I'm going to start on his stuff. I even went to Joann's on my day off Thursday to get the fabric. I'm just using a white broadcloth for the shirt and a black twill for the vest. He'll only be wearing it like once a month. He already has the frock coat, thankfully! I was thrilled to find Simplicity got the rights to this pattern from Buckaroo Bobbins, an independent pattern company specializing in western patterns. Otherwise, I'd have paid sooo much more. I'd have had to buy the shirt and vest patterns separate, and they cost a whole lot more plus shipping than Simplicity on sale.

ConKerr Cancer Pillowcases

2010-07-15T10:02:00.002-05:00

Hit the title bar above to link to the instructions on how to make these pillows. Print them, then hit the home page button to find out more about this wonderful ministry. There is a page listing all the hospitals that take these, or an address where you can send or drop off completed pillows.
This would be a great project for your local ASG, and a great beginner's project for younger sewists. You could get together youngsters and have them sew these up for those "service hours" the kids have to do these days for church and school. This is a service project they would probably really enjoy! And they might want to make themselves one too. SUPER easy project and with a serger - you'd be done with 5 of them in no time.
It's also a good ASG meeting project. Our chapter has made bags for the troops and will be making preemie blankets soon. I'm going to submit an idea to make these as well.
But, I'm also going to make some on my own. I recently bought a bunch of quilting fabrics when J Caroline Creativ closed down their fabric sales. Some of it I KNOW I'll never use.

It is Finished -- almost!!!!!

2010-07-14T13:29:00.012-05:00

I'm just too excited and feel mighty, mighty blessed to have a place like this to sew. The only things left to do are install under the shelf pegboard and lighting. The main long part folds down to accomodate guests. I made a Murphy sewing table instead of the Murphy bed! I have a Frontgate bed, which is a marvelous inflatable bed on a frame that sets itself up and back down again, literally. One of the best investments ever. Go to their website and watch the video. Press your back button after viewing, don't press the X. HERE. It's really that easy. Of course, NAAY. Anyway, it's queen sized, so it's huge, and if I didn't make the sewing counter fold down, my guests would be very cramped.
And what is that little machine in the corner back there? It's the new Babylock Embellisher, obtained via Sew It's For Sale.

He put a little side leaf by the serger table to solve the too close to the edge problem.

And guess what -- the supports, which fold back when the table goes down do NOT interfere with my sitting center of needle afterall. We waited for him to make the surrounds till he installed the tables. I decided to put the machines to the far left of the wells, and that way the supports are positioned inbetween my knees. But they don't touch anyway so it's all good. And there are donut holes for each well for when I don't want a machine in the well. The one for the serger is small and sits next to it on the table - it holds my embroidery thread, and has a niche underneath perfect for the machine manuals.

Here you can see my interfacing in a magazine rack DH built years ago. It used to sit on my TV which I've taken out of the room. Now it sits straight and doesn't fall over anymore.

Now bookshelf isn't quite as cluttered as before, and I still have plenty of room to press.

I feel rather silly posting this to my blog, to My Facebook,
Your Sewing Room Yahoo Groups, PatternReview's Sewing Spaces pinned topic, and anywhere else I can, LOL!

In case your wondering, and I know you are - it cost $1235.00 for everything- a little more than the original quote. Don't you hate it when they do that?? Still, I thought that was fair, considering the Horn Super Quilter's Dream, or a Tracy's Table which would only hold one machine are at least that much. Yes most of them have drawers or additional storage and mine doesn't. But I'm okay without all that. Sterilite, artbins and repurposed utensil holders are fine!
If you want a sewing table but don't know anyone to make you one, you might consider Tracy's Tables. I spoke with the female of the team once, and she was very informative and didn't rush me on the phone. I hung up very impressed. Tracy's Tables.

New Sewing Counter goes in tomorrow!!

2010-07-10T20:58:00.003-05:00

Just have to share quickly that the sewing counter will be going in tomorrow at 3pm!!! He did install a 12 inch hinged piece to the serger table, so that problem is solved. But, when I go to sit at the counters, will those legs be in my way??? We will see.
He will wait to see where we have to position the machines in the wells before making the surrounds. That can be determined immediately after installation. He said he wouldn't have the inserts that completely cover the holes ready. Great, because how am I supposed to sew with the machines in the wells and no surrounds or on top of the table with no hole fillers? That may be a challenge, but I guess I can rig something till he makes them - stack some books in the wells or something.
Saying little prayers that it all works out!!!

Today at our ASG meeting we made purse organizers. I was thrilled as I really need one, and these make great gifts. We were able to finish all but the binding, so as soon as I attach the binding I'll take pictures. I plan to make more of these - great way to use up ugly or plain fabric!

Custom sewing table - PROBLEMS!!

2010-07-06T09:44:00.006-05:00

Oh. My. God. I got the bright idea to have a fold down sewing counter installed in my sewing room. The room is quite small, and we bought a queen size Frontgate inflatable bed which is the most awesome thing, for guests. So far this all sounds very good. Fold away sewing counter instead of a Murphy bed, right?
I told him I wanted the holes and wells that the machines will sit in to be larger than the machines. I didn't hear from him for 2 months, except for the occasional "I haven't forgotten you" email. So, he finally came by to see where my electrical outlets were, saying he was almost done. I was like, what? We were supposed to discuss the details further before you actually started!!

So I asked how large the holes/wells were and he said 16.250 x 8.5 inches. WHAT???? Those are the exact dimensions of the machines, and actually a little short for one of them! So I told him we'd discussed this - making the holes larger in case I have to upgrade someday. He tried to pretend we'd talked about the machines fitting snugly into the wells so they wouldn't walk. My machines do not walk - ever. We never had that conversation and I told him that. He wasn't happy, but I made him do it over.

So he does it over and sends me these pictures.

Can you see the problems here? My machines will have to be pushed all the way to the right or that leg will be in my way. He will be building custom surrounds for the machines, but it sure looks as though my chair will be constantly bumping up against those legs.... He tells me that is where the legs have to be to fold back properly.
The real problem is with the serger desk seen below.

He made the hole open, so I can access the machine easily for threading, etc. However, look how close to the left edge he made the hole!!!!
Why didn't he call me to find out how far away from the edge to put this thing??? I know, I should have thought about this, and warned him to put it smack in the middle. Serging will be a joke like this. There is but a couple of inches to the left of the machine!!! I am emailing him to ask exactly how many inches is to the left -- I'm hoping it's more and the picture just isn't showing that being on an angle. Now I have to ask him if he can add a fold down leaf on that side.
My advice to you out there is DO NOT have anyone who does not understand sewing make you a table. I envy those whose husbands have done this type of work for them. You can supervise the whole thing, no matter how long it takes. We built an $18,00 shop for my husband yet he refuses to do things like this for me. Oh, NOW he's full of "If I had done this, I would have done this like that" or, "He should have done this instead". No, I have not said "Well then dear husband why did you not do this thing yourself???"

#$*(@&^^$% !!!!!!!!!!!!

Babylock/Nancy Zieman event and what I've been sewing....

2010-07-02T15:04:00.006-05:00

Yes, I've been sewing! And yes, it's another swap, but this will be the last for a long time. I really really have to sew some things for me and mine.
First the swap stuff I made. I did a review which should show on the right sidebar.
TUTORIAL LINK for making the thread catcher.
The machine cover was a total accident. I usually make it like I did the last one - a big box. But this time I cut the fabric and fused the batting only to find I'd cut it too narrow. So I cussed a lot and then made gussets.
BUT -- I actually used my new Enlighten and it's piping foot and it worked great!! Even on a curve!!!

Only one more item to go in this "Make a Friend Swap" -- and it's a secret in case my partner is watching this blog.

Above you see all the stuff I bought at the Nancy Zieman/Babylock "Love to Sew" Retreat, sponsored by my Babylock dealer, A1 Sewing in Covington LA.

Below is the sweatshirt jacket we made. I don't like this one, but can see where these would allow much creativity and be fun to make. We used the Evolution Serger/Coverstitch combo and the Enlighten, with wave stitching.

Next is my favorite, the evening bag, done with the Embellisher, which is a 12 needle Felting Machine. Now I really wanted one of these, but they were $499 on sale at the show, which I thought was too much. Now I have a once used one on it's way to me for only $325 including shipping. Check out the Sew It's For Sale Yahoo Group -- everything moves fast and there is much being offered. I put in an "ISO", (in search of) and got 4 responses!!

Finally, the little lingerie bag.

We used the Ellageo machine for this. I was lusting for one of these machines -- bad--- after using it at the retreat. Then an ASG friend bought it, so I got to go to her house and show her some basic things about embroidery. Her machine is quieter and smoother than my Brother Innovis 1200. And, of course it has a color screen which allows editing, uses a flash drive and all that. However, I couldn't tell the difference between my machine and hers as far as basic quality of an embroidery that I did on both machines. The embroidery had lettering and lots of satin stitching. Same design on the same fabric and stabilizer. I'll have to show you the design after I mail it to my swap partner. So, I'm really not sure if it's worth all that to upgrade after all.

My new Baby (lock) and Simplicity

2010-04-01T10:30:00.009-05:00

Well, she's home! My new Enlighten - yaaay!!!! My sister stayed in the sewing room this weekend for Easter, so she didn't come out of the box till last night.

Okay why would I include a picture of the lousy cover? To illustrate my one complaint. I mean I know most of us don't tote our sergers around as much as a sewing machine, but please. I've never had a raincoat this flimsy. But, my Brother 1034D didn't come with anything.
So now I'll have to make one.

I left work at 3:30 and after fighting some traffic and Google Maps horrible and totally wrong directions, I finally made it there.
My dealer offers unlimited classes in whatever machine you purchase, full credit upgrades, and have a Serger Club meeting once a month. One in the morning and thankfully one in the evening.

Nancy Zieman will be there in June for the Love to Sew retreat. She'll be doing two lectures and there will be classes for a serged and embroidered sweatshirt jacket, a lingerie bag using Madiera applique, and a bag using the BL embellisher. There will also be a guest doing some digitizing lessons. Babylock is supplying all the machines, and the price of $199 includes everything you'll need and 3 lunches. I signed up for it of course.

The review is up on PatternReview - just click the sidebar there showing all my reviews. My sister was thrilled with this bag, and I thought it came out pretty good too. But, I took the picture of the wrong side. The other side of the bag looks better, as it's all symmetrical and stuff. I was in too much of a hurry to start over when I realized that I should have cut each piece individually. Oh well, it's all okay, she didn't notice or say anything!

Okay, so between all the new fabric, the sewing counter, the Enlighten and the Nancy Z retreat, I think I can say that I've spoiled myself enough this year! Now I need to get to work and start producing more stuff!

Sewing Counter, and Do I Really Need a New Serger??

2010-03-27T17:52:00.001-05:00

I'm FINALLY having a sewing counter built for me by the same carpenter who did my cabinets. It'll be L shaped, and have three holes with removable wells (no pneumatic lift) for flatbed sewing, with custom surrounds and hole fillers for switching to a flat top counter. The long part will fold down Murphy bed style so when I have guests it gives them more room. The cost will be approximately $1,000, not including the shelves above it. It'll be made in maple and birch, and left natural. He'll put multiple coats of clear on it since it will get lots of abuse.

The room is 11 x 12, so it's a bit larger actually than I thought. After this is done, the room will be so much larger in appearance!

But right now, I am considering a new serger before I have him do the wells. I'm itching for a new one to replace my little Brother 1034D -- a great mechanical, simple serger. But, I'm really wanting a Babylock with air-jet threading and auto tensions......
Perhaps I need some "Enlightenment???"

There is a dealership not terribly far from me that is a really great place - verified by a PatternReview member who frequents it, as well as some ASG ladies I know. They have them in stock. Uh Oh. Cha-ching.

Fabric Mania!

2010-03-26T10:14:00.015-05:00

I've been acquiring fabric. Lots. of. fabric. I purchased from SewMamaSew - a great site that puts twill tape ribbon around each piece, JCarolineCreative, which will be re-opening on April 2nd with handbag notions,and Fabric.com. Fabric.com has become a favorite with me. It only takes a couple of days to get things from them, and their customer service can't be beat. I belong to ASG, so I got 15% off this month on everything. And some of this stuff was already at at least a 30% discount. I always order $35 worth to get the free shipping. Just can't go wrong with those folks!

Below is some bronze and gold vinyl in a nice handbag weight.

After I use some of these fabrics, here is a great idea to decorate at least one wall of the sewing room:
Embroidery hoop wall art!

This will create a memory board of favorite projects, and allow me to showcase at least some of the fabric I bought and never used!! They would also make easily changed out holiday décor for other walls in the house! So lightweight you can just put small nails in the wall, and change them out whenever you want! Here is a place you could buy sets of the hoops. I may even make a wall organizer for the kitchen using
This large hoop.

Here is a place where you can purchase a set of hoops for cheap!

Embroidered Sewing Machine Cover

2010-03-23T15:19:00.008-05:00

Okay, so I am absolutely addicted to online swaps. Here is what I made my partner in the most recent swap, called I Love to Sew, and below is the other stuff I sent her.

I was going to post a tutorial on how to do boxed seams on anything you need to cover, like a flat screen TV or monitor, or bag bottoms. But why reinvent the wheel when there are two good ones out there already?
Lazy Girl Designs Blog
has a good tutorial, but I don't use that method of cutting out the square. However, she is detailed and gives measurements on how the size of the square will affect the result.
Another tute from Craft Blog is more like I do it.
I love the machine covers with the side gusset and piping which makes a curved top, but I was in a super hurry. (Though you could curve the boxed seams to make it more so).

Here is what she sent me! The first pic is the drawstring bags I asked for.

Next up are some shots of some great fabrics I acquired, and news of my new sewing counter I'm having my carpenter make. And finally, yes, I am making a garment! Yes, I'm going to make a spring jacket from some embroidered linen I got a couple of years back. Well, that is after I make my sister a spring tote from some Amy Butler fabric she fell in love with.

BELIEVE DAT!!

2010-02-08T12:38:00.006-06:00

I had the day off from work, so I spent the morning spending over $200 getting my family all the Saints t shirts and hats they would want. And I even was kind and bought the ex-husband a hat. He's one of the long time fans from waaaay back, even during the paper bag "Aints" days. He managed to turn me into a fan in the process.
Amazing how a broken quarterback came to a broken team in a broken city and now this!

New Orleans is pretty much shut down today - all the schools for sure. The traffic from Baton Rouge to NO last night was pretty bad. Even out where we live we could hear the sirens everywhere. DH had to bring a friend home last night and came back saying how crazy it was. People yelling out of car windows, and horns blowing. I still have a voice, but the girl waiting on me at Academy Sports didn't. DH reported that my co-worker rushed into the office this morning and went straight to the vacation calendar so she could mark a half a day tomorrow to attend the parade. Wench, LOL!

SEWING STUFF

I was in a Valentines Swap on Craftster.org, and here is what I made my partner. These are her pics, cause I was stupid and forgot to take any pics - so I thank her for taking such nice shots. I'll probably receive her box this week. I embroidered her kids names on felt, cut into heart shapes and stuffed. I put a clothes pin on the back with a magnet. She requested fridge magnets, and claims to be very happy with them.

The card isn't showing open. She likes 50's stuff, so I did the card in that theme - it's a skirt which opens at the top and says "Have a Crafty Valentines Day" on the inside.

Above are wristlet Wonder Wallets from Lazy Girl Designs that I deduced she wanted from her Wists.

And lastly the candy. She likes caramels so I found this cute 50's heart box and loaded it with candy.

I attended my second ASG meeting this Saturday. What a wonderful bunch of ladies! A few of us visited a quilt shop and had lunch after. I'm loving this. So much so that I put my foot down with DH. I told him I simply must have more time for sewing, period. If he's going to join this cowboy shooting thing and expect me to tag along sometimes, I'm not giving up my precious hobby time. Sewing time is limited enough being that I get ZERO help around the house.
Well he totally surprised me by saying absolutely I should do so. WHOOO HOOO!!! I may be more excited about this than the Saints victory! And two of the ASG ladies have someone to recommend, so that totally made my day.

Next up for me is finishing the Frenchy Bag I cut out last year. Then on to some serious garment sewing. I need PJ shorts for the summer, and I may go back to the quilt store and get that Saints fabric they had. We were joking with the owner who swore she wouldn't raise the price if we won!

Two words and a video

2010-01-25T10:03:00.013-06:00

WHO DAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE VIDEO is like Mardi Gras on steroids.

More Western Theme Stuff in Store

2010-01-14T14:58:00.008-06:00

Some of you may remember my western themed 2nd wedding, and what a chore it was coming up with a dress for a 47 year old bride that wasn’t $$$$, went around my apple belly, was old west to some extent, and was not too frou-frou or would require the entire trunk of the car for transport. The search was exhausting.

Well, DH has joined SASS, which is the Single Action Shooter Society. It’s a cowboy shooting thing where they have local competitions once a month, with rules about how you have to dress when competing. From there you have regional and national tournaments as well. They wear old west styles, or “B” Western style, which is a more modern style.
So, wanting me to join him in this adventure, he went online and found some old west clothing for me to buy. BRRAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Why, Miss Scarlett, I’ll just faint in the south Louisiana heat wearing this frock.

Like I am going to wear something like that in a gun shooting competition. PUH LEEEASE!!!! If I'm going to join him, I'm going for a modern cowgirl look.

But I am going to make him one of these vests. He already has the black "Wyatt Earp" frock coat.

I may make me a vest and use up more of the fringe Nan sent me a while back.

But, they have a banquet every year..... So, I may wind up having to make a western ball gown before then. Now that might be both fun and challenging, if I can find a pattern that won’t make me look like a fat "Little House on the Prairie" school marm - as the dress pictured above is sure to do. I'm looking already, and havn't come up with much except some saloon girl Simplicity pattern. The search is on.

I'm now in a sweet and short Valentine crafting swap on Craftster. We have about 2 weeks to make a card and one medium craft for our partner, and get some sweets to send too. This one is going to be fun. I like my partner, we have lots in common, and she's requested me to craft fridge magnets. Easy and fun. But in case she comes to my blog, I can't show you yet.

If you're interested in Valentines Day crafts, there are a TON on the net - just google Valentines Day Crafts. That is what I did and came up with about a 1" stack of print outs. Martha Stewart Valentines Day ideas is a good place to start.

Honestly, unless I go to the Hallmark shop, every card at Walmart seems to look like the one next to it. Same style of writing and all. I'm really sick of it, so I may also make DH a card this year just to see his reaction.

Oh yeah, and we’re going to Disney World next month. DH has never been interested in a Disney vacation which made me HAVE TO plan a DW vacation! I’ve been 5 times and it’s just the best vacay in the world. I have family in Jacksonville so we’ll get to stop and visit.
DD can't find a friend in the world who can come. She will be so. sick. of. us. by the end of the week. So, I was kind and booked a Family Suite at the All Star Music Resort, so she can have her own bathroom and the living room to herself. I mean, who wants to share a bathroom with a 17 year old girl anyway?

SIMPLE ZIPPERED POCKET TUTORIAL

2010-01-10T09:16:00.006-06:00

Here's a tutorial for a pocket that you can attach to a handbag lining, or to the outside of any bag, or even pair of pants or a jacket. I like this because it makes for a very sturdy pocket.

You can hide things by sewing one of these to the inside or outside of the bottom panel of a tote or flat bottomed handbag. You can place the zipper wherever you want - and if you're putting it in the bottom, it might be good to have the zipper centered over the pocket. You'll understand after reading the tute how you can place the zipper location wherever you want.

The wrong side of your fabric will be seen when you open the zipper, unless you fuse or sew two pocket panels wrong sides together. If you sew them together, use quarter inch seam allowances, and calculate that in when you are measuring for pocket size.

The size of the zipper will determine the width of the pocket. Cut the pocket itself larger as shown in the photo. Allow at least a half an inch to either side of the zipper. As for the length, double it, and add about 1 inch to that for the seam allowances and heading. You want to leave enough room at the top and sides so that when you turn it inside out you have enough clearance from the coils and pulls for top stitching.
Step one is to lay your zipper upside down as the picture shows, matching zipper tape edge with fabric edge, on the right side of fabric. Stitch the zipper tape closest to the edge to the fabric, close to the coils. Feel free to use wonder tape instead of pinning.

Flip the zipper as shown above so the part you've sewn is underneath. Lightly press.

Now fold the fabric up as shown, bringing the bottom edge of the fabric to the top edge of the zipper tape. Pin in place, or use wonder tape to attach the edge of the fabric to the edge of the zipper tape. Stitch close to the coils.

Now you have a tube with a zipper in it. If you position it so that the zipper is about an inch or so from the top, here is what it looks like. Don't press in creases with it like this, as it has to be turned inside out. Save the pressing for later.
And, you see now what I meant when I said in step one that you can place the zipper location up at the top or towards the center. Up at the top of course is the most logical unless the pocket is to lie flat facing up. I'll repeat to leave enough room for topstitching.

You'll now stitch the edges, on each side. Open the zipper so the pull is in the middle. Use a ruler and draw in your stitch line. Stitch from top to bottom, a quarter of an inch from the sides. TIP: Use a smaller stitch length at the top and the bottom of your seam. This helps keep the corners strong. The reinforcing stitching you normally do at the start and stop of any seam helps the strength too, but I always use a smaller stitch there just in case.

See how I've made the upper and lower zipper tapes meet in the middle? That is a good idea. Some little bits of wonder tape will hold that in place, or stitch witch, or even glue stick, or just hold it with your fingers. After stitching, trim close to the seam line, and make a slant cut at the corners to prevent bulk. I use pinking shears to trim.
Steam the living daylights out of it. I find that steaming it right before turning inside out helps with the bulk. You can also pound the bulk out of the corners for the topstitching.
TIP: Do not be afraid to trim the edges very, very, very close to the stitching. It really will be okay, and I recommend some little embroidery scissors for that purpose, especially at the corners. Take the time to trim close and grade when possible, and you'll have better results. I even apply a dot of Fray Check at the corners after turning to keep it strong.

After giving it a good press, topstitch it to whatever you are using it on.

It may seem ridiculous to even make a tutorial on such simple thing. But, honestly, sometimes the simplest things stump me sometimes, and having no time or patience for stupid mistakes, I like to have the instructions handy.

Here is a link to a marvelous blog that lists lots of great online tutorials so they are always at your fingertips! SEWING TUTORIALS Enjoy!

I'm going to experiment with locating some tutorials or tips on corner turning for us. That is one of the most frustrating things for me. If I go overboard, the corner comes out all stretched out and goofy looking, not just a nice clean corner. I've even punched a hole right through the corner.

New Decade Sewing Ideas

2010-01-08T13:01:00.021-06:00

These might inspire those who like me, have been looking for some new ideas for this sewing hobby.

GET OFFLINE, AND GET LOCAL!
It's hard to tear away from the online sewing world, especially when time is already tight. But I challenge you to enroll in an ASG chapter, or take a local sewing class. Our local ASG meets once a month, but there are other groups you'll learn about there.

Being sew lonely, I put a shout out at Allbrand's SewForum, stating that I'd like to meet some local sewing sisters. Bingo. I was invited immediately to attend an ASG meeting as someone's guest. My daughter says I'm pathetic. Perhaps. But, kiss my grits, dear daughter - it worked. I attended my first meeting today, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. They were a lively bunch who seemed like they'd be fun to hang out with. I even learned that there are Vegas style sewing retreats. (What happens at the retreats.......)

Yes, my daughter can be at 17, rather direct. But, her opinion on style is invaluable. When she shakes her head and says "go change", I typically listen. She has saved me from myself on several occasions. Except for situations of excess cleavage, I never, ever have to tell her to "go change."

SEARCH CRAIGSLIST AND FREECYCLE FOR THOSE IN NEED
I've given away one sewing machine and tons of fabric to two young mothers who were just starting their sewing careers. The virtue of answering these ads is obvious. You get to de-stash, and they get to start sewing. But, what they really want and need is a mentor/enabler. Offer to give them a couple of free classes. And remember, the most important lesson for your new "sewling" is how to hide the stash.

JOIN A SWAP
Yeah, I know. They can be a bummer when you get paired up with a clueless 15 year old. But, Craftster has amended it's swap rules where you now have to be older. Though usually younger than I, there are some talented people over that way. If you are only into sewing and no other craft, you have to choose your swap carefully. There is usually a bag swap going on.

Many of you do other crafts too, and it's good for your sewing to switch to something else every once in a while. Last year I did the "Bag of Talent" swap. I was amazed by what I received. My partner paid attention to my favorite colors, and what function I needed the bag to perform.

Here are some shots of what I made her. These are her photos, not mine - I lost mine.

And here is a shot of the bag she made me. I used this bag the entire summer and plan to use it again in the future. I love it.

Then I did a coffee swap, and since something had to be crafted in addtion to sending some local coffee, I made my partner an embroidered market bag. She loved it. I recieved some awesome coffees and very cute crocheted cozies and coasters. See, I can't crochet or knit, so I loved receiving something handcrafted that I can't do myself!

Now I'm doing a "Offer what you have" swap. Great for de-stashing!

DO SOME VOLUNTEER SEWING
Sew up some hats for cancer victims.
Sew some scrubs for poor nursing students.
Sew and maybe embroider some cute flannel/diaper cloth burps for charity hospitals that have maternity wards.
Sew some cute playthings for children's hospital wards. Rag dolls, plush toys, play mats.

DARE TO CHANGE YOUR SEWING STYLE
That's right. Challenge yourself and your comfort zone. Shake it up. I'm not asking you to make yourself miserable though. If you know that you will never ever in this life be a quilter, then don't go there. But, if you've sort of considered it in the past, then give it a try. This goes hand in hand with the idea to get out of the house and take a class if it's the type of sewing you've never done.

These are just my ideas on how I can better my sewing experience this year. Please feel free to add to these in the comments. I need all the ideas I can get!

Oh. My. God. Has it been THAT long?

2010-01-07T22:15:00.004-06:00

GULP. Okay, I cannot believe it's been an entire year and a half. I bet no one even thinks I'm alive anymore, much less sewing.

Well, it was an incredible time after my Mama passed away. Lots of business to tend to, and little time to sew. But there has been the occasional project. Back to sewing later. Right now, I must brag about my new kitchen.

Formerly, I hated cooking. BUT, in my husband's opinon, the kitchen was just fine.

HIM: What's wrong with just a few feet of counter top and a 24" oven?
ME: Having to put all the casseroles in the oven "on the diagonal" last year at Christmas worked fine, yeah. Right.
HIM: We don't need "real" cook top ventillation -- but oh honey, could you fry me some chicken? Popeyes is so expensive now.
ME: WTF? We have coupons.
HIM: There is nothing wrong with "that 70's" style of cabinetry.
ME: Okay, then let's just get new doors and paint them.
HIM: NO! (said with that typical woodworking male look of horror in his face at the thought of painting wood.)

I just hate the one chore that is mine and mine alone in this life. DD doesn't like cooking, and the hubby is only capable of making Kool Aid and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
In DH's defense though, he eventually got excited about it, and contributed both labor and ideas. The man actually helped remove wallpaper, hung ceiling fixutures, and removed cabinets and appliances. I did all the painting myself. We had a gem of a contractor for everything else.

We were conservative. Punchlist:
New layout for appliances and pantry, but we didn't remove any walls.
New appliances, but we reused the fridge and cooktop.
2cm granite
new cabinets in knotty alder with plenty of drawers and cute wood basket cubbies.
new sink and faucet, light fixture
new larger pantry with pull outs.

So, here is the result of being "TKO", or totally kitchen obsessed for over a year now:

BEFORE

AFTER:

BEFORE LEFT:

AFTER LEFT:

BEFORE RIGHT SIDE:

AFTER RIGHT SIDE:

I highly recommend GardenWeb.com if you are doing any home renovation. Fabulous site with amazingly helpful people. I wouldn't have even known I could spend $700 on a microwave drawer without this site, haha! Yes, I spent that much. But it's about my favorite thing. Not just a space saver, but so convenient to not have to take things out to rearrange or stir. And no stupid revolving tray, yet it all cooks evenly.
I'm waaaay too klutzy to have one over the cooktop. And being that I'm now expected to occasionally fry chicken, well I needed a powerful hood vent anyway. We keep the old one in the laundry room and I love having two! And, it fits my 9x13 casseroles, so nuff said!

I Need a Jump!

2008-07-02T18:17:00.006-05:00

So, I figured what better way to jumpstart me back into sewing than with another class? I'm taking Stitch and Flip Jacket Construction. with Shannon Gifford. I think she only teaches this once a year, so I'm glad I signed up. The class starts on July 7th. The night of the 2nd chat, which is where things will likely be very sticky is MIL's 85th birthday. Thank god DH excused me today, saying we can celebrate the weekend before, and just make a short visit there that evening.

PatternReview's classes are really, really good. I've taken a few and thoroughly enjoyed Sarah Veblen's class on Facings. I mean I always looked at finely made RTW facings and wondered HOW DO THEY DO IT???? Mine always seemed, well, you know....like Jr High work. But, there really is a technique to it! Sarah's class is well organized and she gives her time generously, making sure you understand! I'm so finicky about stuff like that, too.

Shannon's class gets rave reviews too. I've done one lined jacket, and HATED the process.
As hot as it gets down here, there really isn't much need for a lined jacket, even in winter. However, there are times when the fabric demands it and there is no getting around it.
It appeals to me precisely because it does not have a hang down lining. Everything is neatly finished on the inside, and it comes out looking more like RTW.
Because it's important to have a jacket pattern that will not only work for this but that FITS, I'm going to dive into one of my Unique patterns that have been aging in the stash for a year. We will see how well they fit, won't we?

This is the one I'm going to do. I bought these before Simplicity came on board with Unique, but I still like this jacket, even though it is a "Unique" pattern and not a Simplicity.

I like this one, but what the hell was I thinking? Do I really want to deal with a notched collar AND welt pockets, since I've never done either one. Geez, I'm such a puppy. I need to step up the pace and try one of these techniques. Well, at least I know right where to go for welt pockets. That would be Threads for Ann Steeves' article on it, which I tore out a long time ago and saved! The notched collar? I have not a clue but to look in one of my sewing books and hope some help is there. Or do a search on PatternReview and hope something comes up.

Oh, and for the embroiderers among us: I found a great tutorial on embroidering on ribbon I want to share with you
Angie's tutorial

Happy Sewing!

Down But Not Defeated

2008-06-23T15:06:00.006-05:00

Exactly one week after my last blog entry, my dear mother passed away. Most of ya'll on PR know that, and were very kind to post condolences. Mom hated her picture, and told us if we put her picture with her obituary she would haunt us forever, so I won't dishonor her by posting it here either.

So, I have been reading blogs, but I haven't been commenting, and wasn't sure I'd even return to my own blog. I had no idea how this would affect me - and it has, profoundly, with depression. Especially since I have had no time for my prozac -- sewing. I'm hoping that will change real soon.
I'll be sewing up a mixture of some Unique Patterns that have been aging in the stash, as well as some of these Vogues. McCalls I have not bought in years. Mainly because of some horrendous experiences with set in sleeves that had so much ease they coulda been shirred on a rod. Maybe this one will be better.

If you watch shows like Today, or Good Morning America -- ever wonder how they choose the people that are on some of the segments?
I'm sending DD to the infamous Camp Shane, a weight loss camp in upstate NY, for 6 weeks. Right now I'm waiting to hear from some producer of a FOX morning news show in NYC to see if DD wants to be on their show Thursday morning!! The camp chose her as a candidate to be on the show, and called me to see if she might be interested. I said knowing her, SURE! I'd indicated on her application for camp that she is outgoing, has lots of self confidence, camp was her idea, and that she makes friends easily. So, that is why she was chosen.
The Camp rep says the producer will call me if they choose her, and they would fly me into NYC too!!!! Wowza, what fun! But, this is really too last minute. I may not get called due to the fact that I'm in Louisiana, and getting there by Thursday morning might be near impossible. Since that was over 2 hours ago, my hopes are fastly deflating. Oh well.
DD's plane leaves tomorrow morning at 6 am from New Orleans. We're spending the night by the airport due to this early departure. I know DD is going to try and get me to take her out to eat one "last really good meal". I mean, come on, we'll be in New Orleans. But, forget it. A New Orleans po-boy is as close as she'll get, no fries.

Maybe while she is gone I'll get some sewing done. I've done some embroidering for various babies, and some kitchen stuff. Embroidery gets BORING and feels like a chore for some reason. I'm so ready to dive back into sewing.
Except, please, if you have the latest issue of Threads, STEP AWAY FROM THE ARTICLE on making clothes from rectangles of fabric. OMG!!! Did anyone else just get the heebie jeebies looking at that? The only one worth even a second glance was the boxy jacket. Becky Home Ecky is even making a face and shaking her head.

Are You Missing Out?

2008-03-19T13:22:00.006-05:00

Email from Clotilde:

Are you missing out on great quilting and sewing patterns? Check out e-Patterns Central!
I checked it out, and some of it might of interest, and there is very little garment sewing.
But I did find this nifty spring bag:

The caption underneath reads:
"When you create your own version of this humorous handbag, you can carry your favorite veggie with you all summer long."

Yeah, I'm pushing back my sewing line up to make room for this. Gee, it's downloadable -- that means there is still time to make it for Easter Sunday Church! Oh, unless I can't find the plastic carrot, or celery stick. That would truly be a let down.
Oh I got it! MIL is a gardener.....

My Irish Story

2008-03-17T16:17:00.005-05:00

My biological parents both arrived in New Orleans in the mid 1950’s from Ireland as pre-teens. They settled in an Irish neighborhood, and a few years later, I was born to a 17 year old unwed girl. I was adopted 3 months later from a Catholic Charities in New Orleans. I never wanted to know my bio-parents, but always thought it was cool to be 100% Irish.
I also thought the story of my adoption was sorta cool. This is the 3rd person version, but it’s the truth, only slightly embellished.

The couple had already adopted a girl, and were going back to Catholic Charities two years later to pick up a boy. They had no idea how God and Sister Margaret had a different plan. Back in those days, they were allowed to ask the most intimate questions of adoption candidates, so Sr. Margaret already knew everything about this couple. She knew that the husband was a champion of the underdog; a quiet, nurturing man who had a very large heart and would help anyone in need. She knew the woman would be so happy to have two little girls, but also wanted her husband to have a boy to carry the family name, and well, just because men should have a boy.
When she knew they were coming, she dressed the girl baby they had named Bridget, in her Sunday best, powdered her up, and waited, rocking her and praying that her plan was within God’s own will. Bridget was severely cross eyed, and therefore would be a hard child to place. There was nothing else wrong with her, but try to convince prospective couples of that! Ha. For the last two months, Bridget had been turned down several times.
They always had to tell the couples that insurance would not pay for the multiple eye surgeries that she would have to have, as they were considered cosmetic. Because the couples were asked to make a donation to allow the sisters to continue their work, (and they all did, quite generously); they were usually money-weary by the time they picked up the child. Lawyers, donations, nursery expenses... . it was just too much to hear that the child also had medical problems! Many wanted detailed information on not just medical history, but also family talents; most importantly, how smart the mother and father were.
Most of them looked at this cross eyed child and worried about mental problems too.

When the couple arrived, she made light conversation with them, and informed them there were two children waiting for homes, a girl and the boy that they came after. She told them she’d like to bring the girl out, as they were trying to train her to not cry with strangers. Could they please help the good sister out by holding the little one for a few moments? Knowing no good Catholic turns down a nun’s simple request, she succeeded and brought out the baby. She carefully laid her in the man’s lap first, something she’d never done before. The woman dared not act insulted. They weren’t here for this baby anyway, so it didn’t matter. Sister Margaret sat for a moment, telling them about the poor child’s needed eye surgeries, and how it would sure take a special couple to adopt this little dear one. She asked if she could leave the baby with them while she went to prepare the boy, as she was short handed today.

Sister’s heart was beating a little faster than usual. She had already told the couple that this would be their last baby to adopt, as they were too old for any more adoptions. The rules prevented more than one baby at a time, unless it were twins that they didn’t want to separate – though most of the time they did separate them. Two girls would mean no family name passing. And since this man was an only child of an only child, this was very important to them. She felt a twinge of guilt about that. But, the children came first with Sister, period.
She left the room and didn’t return for 15 minutes. This too, was out of the ordinary. Even with an already established couple, it was important to be there when they spent time with a prospective child.

She returned without the boy, of course. She sat and waited for the couple to speak first, and offer her the child back and ask for the boy. They did not. The man and his wife were doing what they all do when they have fallen completely in love at first sight. Because she was 3 months already, Bridget was cooing and smiling, and had gotten them to do the same. Sister said some silent urgent prayers but maintained a cool smile on her face and let them play. She asked if they would like a few more moments alone. They did.

The next day Bridget was on her way to her new home. The man had tears in his eyes as he told Sister, “We want her – we don’t care if she has to have surgery. She needs us.” The woman was ecstatic to have two little girls, and didn’t care in the least that one was not so perfect. They just wanted to take this baby home and love her. And they did.

Only, they changed my name to Mary, doggone it! I liked Bridget better.

What is Wrong With Me??

2008-03-12T07:33:00.007-05:00

I want to give shout outs of thanks to everyone who has visited lately, leaving such nice comments about my tutorial and my son! Thanks to Lindsay T, Cathy (what a cute blog name), Louise - but I can't find your blog, Marji, Debbie, and Cidell, Elaray, Lisa, and Linda.

If DH goes on his business trip as planned, and if it winds up being in New Jersey, close enough to Manhattan, I could go with him. This would mean GARMENT DISTRICT FABRIC SHOPPING!! Even if the trip winds up being in DC, that would mean G STREET FABRIC SHOPPING!!

Wrong. I'm turning it down. I hear the collective "GASP!!" I know, I'll loose my creds with all my fellow sewists by doing the unthinkable. Turning down a Garment District fabric shopping opportunity is almost as stupid as marrying the same man twice, or just insert here the stupidest thing you can think of.

I am spazzing out. I have two sets of feelings. DH says this will replace the family vacation, and DD would be going with us. Family vacation memories, right? There hasn't been enough of those in her life. Being a teenager, there's not much future opportunity either.

Then again, my Simpsonesque (Jessica, Bart, take your pick) child may have summer school this year and therefore ~~does not deserve~~ won't be able to take a vacation.

Why am I just NOT excited about this? Why am I not scheming already - checking credit card balances, inventorying the stash? Why aren't I contacting NYC sewists to join me? Why am I thinking that I really don't know any NYC sewists well enough to join me anyway? Am I that insecure? Did I give up fabric shopping for Lent? No.

It's because:

I really don't need any more fabric.

What on earth is happening to me???
I know that answer. It's my birthday and I'm 49. I'm in fashion-depressed mode. Maybe I'll snap out of it.
Right now, I keep going to the Unique, Simplicity and Vogue sites and putting patterns in the shopping cart, and then taking them back out. I don't even want patterns!! I need to take an aspirin and call myself in the morning.

Here is a little "Coonass Lenten Catholic" joke for you, of the Boudreaux and Thibodaux variety. (Coonass is the politically incorrect word for Cajun).

Each Friday night after work, Boudreaux would fire up his outdoor grill and cook a venison steak. But, all of Boudreaux's neighbors were Catholic...and since it was Lent, they were forbidden from eating meat on Friday. The delicious aroma from the grilled venison steaks was causing such a problem for the Catholic faithful that they finally talked to their priest. The Priest came to visit Boudreaux, and suggested that he become a Catholic.
After several classes and much study, Boudreaux was sprinkled with holy water and became a Catholic. The priest told him, "You were born a Baptist, and raised a Baptist, but now you are a Catholic." Boudreaux's neighbors were greatly relieved, until Friday night arrived, and the wonderful aroma of grilled venison filled the neighborhood. The Priest was called immediately by the neighbors, and, as he rushed into Boudreaux's yard, clutching a rosary and prepared to scold him, he stopped and watched in amazement.
There stood Boudreaux, clutching a small bottle of holy water which he
carefully sprinkled over the grilling meat and chanted: "You wuz born a deer, you wuz raised a deer, but now you is a catfish."

The Machine Blindstitch - my first Tutorial!

2008-03-06T08:22:00.021-06:00

I figured a tutorial on blindstitching was right up my alley since that is something I actually do quite often. DH’s referee pants, and my kids school pants have all come in waist sizes only, unhemmed. Blech. DD’s uniform skirts come like that too!
And when I read that Cidell hadn't yet taken the time to learn the technique, I figured I'd get right on it. Anyone who can sew THIS lovely creation in a night has to learn to machine blindstitch. So, Cidell, this one’s for you!

Here is a picture of the foot you'll use.

See that little curved bar in the middle of the foot? That is where the fabric alligns, and the needle crosses over to just pick the edge of the fabric so that the stitch is barely detectable from the right side.

This picture shows the foot from the side.

Here is a picture of what the stitch looks like:

First, press up your hem, but don't pin yet. Start with the pants inside out, hems pressed, facing away from you, like this:

Then, take that hem, and fold it back under itself, going towards the right side of the garment.

You've now created a narrow flat shelf, where your main stitching will go. The folded part will be on the left side of the presser foot, and is where the needle will cross over and make just a tiny bite to secure the hem:

Pin in place. I'm trying to be less pin dependant, but this is one area where I need my pins. Sherril made a great suggestion to me, to tell you about pinning. Look at the picture, and pin the pants as shown. This way, your pins won't interfere with the foot, and you won't even have to remove them as you sew.

Bring to the machine, and settle it in under the foot. You want to butt the fold up against that “plate”.

Here is what it looks like after you're done, on the wrong side:

Settings:
Every machine is different, and settings are where you will have to read your manual. My machine is computerized, and it sets everything for this stitch automatically.

Width: You do have some leeway here, and I usually go ahead and set the stitch width a little wider than the machine’s auto setting, to make the needle jump just a notch more to the left when it swings over to take that stitch. I do this just to make sure that it does “catch” the fabric. You can always test stitch on a scrap, and judge for yourself how well things are going, and make any adjustments. This is a very good idea if you have a really thick, fluffy or very thin, troublesome fabric.

Length: I find that a 2.5 to a 3.5 is sufficient for most skirt and pants hems. My machine wants to set this at a 2 and I find that puts the stitches too close together for my taste. Remember, the less stiches, the less puckering you’ll have with polyester fabrics.

Pressure foot pressure: If you have the capability to change this, try using a lighter pressure. I find that helps me a lot.

If you have a computerized machine, try it first with the machine’s auto settings, and then play with the settings. If you use the exact color thread you need, you can make the bite a little deeper, and you still won’t really notice the stitch from the right side, especially on school pants and skirts, where that hem gets beaten up daily and washed frequently.

Another tip is to go slow, and pay attention to that little allignment bar on the foot, where the fabric butts against. Make sure that the fabric is against it at all times.
All in all, my machine does a better job than I do. There have been fabrics that at first I couldn’t get to behave, such as nightmarish spongy polyester, which rippled badly, so I resorted to hand stitching. With more experience, I’ve not had to rip and hand stich in a long time.
Give it a good press, because sometimes that metal ridge that guides the fabric leaves an indention on the fabric.

Voila! Here is the result!

Do feel free to add comments on this first tutorial of mine. I would like to know if I left anything out, or didn't make myself clear. Thanks!

Good Sewin' Bloggin'

2008-03-05T13:40:00.006-06:00

Good Sewin’ Bloggin’ – HERE is a link to a thread about this on PatternReview.com. I think it’s so timely. I’ve been thinking about this too, and in honor of good blogs, I’ve updated my blog roll.
And, I’ve decided to take some of the advice given. I probably need to cut back on the rants – especially about my ~~mean~~ adorable MIL. Okay, I’ll stop. I know, I know – it’s in bad taste to rant like that in a public forum, especially about beloved family members. Sigh. I’ll miss it though…..

I might delve into podcasting. I had stayed away from that since I was obligated to doing the podcasts on PatternReview. I’m considering an occasional interview and a few tips and techniques – I even thought sewing comedy and or commentary. My 15 year old DD on this subject: Sewing....Comedy???? Loser!

Every so often I run across one of those “extraordinary woman bloggers”. You know the ones. They sew an outfit every week, work full time, attend every sporting event of all 4 kids, volunteer at school, church and hospitals, cook every day, work out for an hour every night, wax the cars by hand, play with the puppies, and still have time to blog about it. With marvelous pictures. And tutorials. And that outfit every week looks smashingly designer. My feet hurt just reading about it. Remember those bumper stickers:

My mind turns defensively juvenile when I read blogs like that. Nah, I don’t want to beat up anyone – truly, I admire you. I just want to know: How. Do. You. Do. It?

I strive for a somewhat simpler life. Here are some tips.

1. To quote my sewing idol, Cynthia Guffey: “It’s your hobby, what’s your hurry?”

2. Dolman Sleeves can be your friend.

3. Learn to use the blind hem feature on your machine. I’m doing a tutorial on that right now. I have the pants pinned and waiting.

4. Serge wherever possible, (although this is very un-Guffey like).

5. Get a husband. One who works. No, really. Faye mentioned this yesterday. Having someone else’s paycheck to spend on sewing notions that make your job easier is so much more fun.

6. Better yet, get a wife.

7. Slow Cooker. Cream of Mushroom. Frozen skinless chicken breasts. Nuff said.

8. Delegate. 8 year olds love to wind bobbins and they come cheap. At 12 they can press pattern pieces and even trace. 12 year olds do not come cheap, so be sure and get your money's worth out of them.

9. Never, ever let on to your husband that you might be interested in lawn mowing or car washing. It’s his job, period.

10. Do work out every day, and make sure they know it's DOCTOR'S ORDERS. It keeps you energized for better, faster sewing, and gives you an excuse to have to delegate other chores.

Feel free to add to this list.

I know I could whip out that outfit a week if I could convince DH that that I shouldn’t have to cook. But we live in South Louisiana. We'd weigh 400 lbs if we ate out every day, and then I'd really have to sew. We do have health food here though; healthy is when it's only been fried once.

"Nothing Else Really Matters"

2008-03-04T09:35:00.007-06:00

You've surely heard the Jacqueline Onassis quote about raising your kids right because "nothing else really matters". And, how many times have I questioned myself on that very thing? Am I doing it right? What went wrong?

Here is a short summation of the miracles that seem to have surrounded my son lately.

Having gotten himself in Drug Court a couple of years ago on a marijuana possession charge, DS still wasn’t finished with all the duties thereof. He has tested clean for a year now, and is a different person. But still, he had community service hours and meetings to catch up on. It was going to be impossible to catch up on all of it and maintain a job too. Because of a mentor who is also a “pillar of the community” putting in a good word for him; he’s been released from having to catch up with most of that. It's back to a more manageable level. He should graduate from drug court in about 2 months!

When all this first happened, I had people calling me asking to let them “do something” for him, to get him out of his troubles. What??? Yeah, I’ve seen what happens to kids who get out of every trouble they ever get into. Going through this very tough program is exactly what he needed.

So here are the other miracles:
1. Desperately seeking a resolution to his really bad, insane living situation, his brother calls with an offer to rent his place very cheap. We gladly paid 3 months rent in advance.
2. He got his dream job, a start in the world of computers as a “printer tech”. The top dogs who are making lots more money than he are calling him in their offices to teach them about Linux.
3. He gave my cell number as a backup on his resume, and his boss calls me, saying this: “I know this is weird for a boss to call the employee’s mother, but I want you to know that you should be very proud of the way you have raised your son. He has the heart of a servant, is customer service oriented, and has a great work ethic. He has a solid thought process, and is extremely intelligent. I am so happy to have found a young person with his attitude”.

After years and years of feeling this knot in the pit of my stomach every time someone bragged about their son, I finally can brag about mine! It was my dear Mother who made me hold on to hope. When I’d have my head in my hands, almost giving up, she simply said yet more prayers and novenas, asking others to do the same for him. She was stern, but also patient and gentle with him -- while at times; I was coming apart and frequently yelling.

Now, he sits by her bedside, saying the rosary with her. He speaks to her gently, assuring her that he is taking care of anything that she gets anxious about. He holds her face and tiny hands in his and comforts her for hours at a time, almost every day. The sitters are "amazed" to see a young person giving such loving care to an elderly grandparent. I'm not. She is getting back everything that she gave him, and then some.
Eventually I’ll catch up with him all dressed up in his Van Huesen shirts and Chris Madden shoes for a picture. I’m so proud of him I could cry.

Now it’s time to let go a little more, and stop calling him in the mornings to wake him up, stop wanting to pay his utility bill “just to help him out”, and let him be the man he can be all on his own.

Fabric Fast OVER

2008-03-03T15:15:00.019-06:00

And, the marriage could be too if I keep this up! Ann Steeves has some seriously bad ass fabric! Did anyone else gorge themselves on her fabric sale last week? I had been on a successful fabric diet for over a year, dammit!. Then I started allowing myself peeks at Gorgeous Fabrics. Uh Oh.... the thrill is back.... that feeling when you allow yourself to go a little wild. And, I really needed it. I really did.

The flame print and the black and white paisley are poly jersey, something I think I'll enjoy wearing. These are so soft, and have substance without making me think they'll be too hot. The paisley has just a touch of gold in it -- nothing cheesy here though. Just enough to make it special. The white on black is a quality embroidered cotton.
My favorite right now is that indigo and off white floral print. I'll take a picture of the piece, as the little picture doesn't do it justice. It's really nice. Finally, florals will be in style!! Yippeeee. I'm such a sucker for florals. I also got some tan stretch poplin and black matte jersey for a skirt. Yummmmm. Wonderful stuff.

Then, I went back for more afer those arrived!! I need a dress, and I couldn't resist a high end woven that is reversible, as the blue one is. How cool!
This time I must remember to call DD and make sure she brings the box in before we get off of work.

DH found the first box before me. Drats! You know that tone of voice: “There is a box in the kitchen for you”. But, maybe he has a right to have that tone, since my new Jennair cooktop and range hood came home this week, something I’ve been whining about since we got married.

He finally told me “just order it, please” when he overheard me tell my sister how I get down on my knees every time I cook and ask God to please just put this awful cooktop to rest. That, and using the slow cooker for almost every meal sent him over the edge. Of course right now that won't change too much. The slow cooker has become my crutch, with Mom so sick, and me and DD working out at the gym as often as humanly possible.
Of course, I felt guilty and told him that this could be my birthday present. Am I stupid or what??? Cause then he goes out and gets himself a new Snapper riding lawn mower. I need to find out if that is his birthday present, hunh? He will at least take me out to eat.

Next year I'll work on the refrigerator that I hate....

Tomorrow I'll tell you about the miraculously fantastical other happening in my life. Something really good to report that I'm just too too happy and relived about.

A Muslin With Promise

2008-01-31T10:59:00.000-06:00

Vogue 2945 –

click here for a list of the reviews on this at PatternReview.com. I was making mine from some really nice poly matte jersey from Hancocks. It is now officially a muslin, because of this bump where the neck front and back join:

It’s my understitching’s fault, actually. Not done close enough in at the edges, and that really needs to be spot on for a neckline application like this one, where the back neckline is finished and then tucked between the understitched front and the lining. At least that is my theory. I really wigged out on the directions. I was too excited to have a Sunday with everything done and just be able to sew a top! But, my brain must be fried. I just could not wrap my head around this shoulder/neck thing at first. I kept trying to pin the back to both the front and lining. No, you pin and baste the back just to the front alone at first, then wrap the lining around this and sew the seam. By the time I did figure it out, I’d sewn it wrong and ripped twice, and then, the little bump just would not go away. I just got very frustrated and put it down as a not wearable muslin.

Re do the understitching? Nah. Sewn in too tight to attempt that, and this poly's been pressed too much already. So, I’ll put in the sleeves just to make sure nothing’s awful about them, and then sew another one. I really, really like this top. The neckline is just too pretty, and NOT cut on the bias.

And, it fits very well with 5/8” seams. Which upsets me terribly, because this pattern has 1 inch seams to account for differences in knits. If I really should have sewn it at 1 inch for size F, does that mean I’m really like a G or H? Uh oh.

Next attempt with this top will be a polyester sueded microfiber. I just don't do very thin knit tops well these days, so I'm hoping that will do. I have no more of this sort of thick matte jersey. Too bad, because it is perfect for this top. I think next time I will do like the others who reviewed this top on PatternReview: I will cut the lining off below the bust, and I’ll use up some of the power dry as the lining.

Sticks and Stones, and Broken Bones.....

2008-01-23T12:58:00.000-06:00

Okay, being that my Dad passed away 20 years ago on Christmas Eve -- I knew this Christmas would be rather poignant and emotional. I knew that with Mom having the Alzheimer's and all, you never know if this will be her last holiday where she knows who I am. But, I really wasn't prepared for this.

Mom broke one hip on Dec 8th, then the other one on Christmas Morning at 5am. Thank god my sister was in and planning her day around Mom anyway. I still had to cook a turkey and a ham, and entertain DH's bunch Christmas Day. Don't think for a second anyone offered to move the occasion elsewhere, even after the first break.
My MIL has only asked about her through DH, never calling me personally. DH handed me the phone once, taking her totally off guard. That was funny. It's so easy to say "Tell Mary if there is anything I can do...." then proceed to do nothing. Another time we met up on the phone by accident, she told me she would do ANYTHING for me, but I HAVE to ask. Gee, you cannot figure out that just to cook a simple pot of beans it would be helpful and appreciated? OH NO! That's right, you can only coook 7 course lunches for your son and invite him by himself during his 2 days off.
Needless to say, on those two nights he got peanut butter and jelly when he got home. Evil grin.

She did actually help me with some after dinner cleanup, though. My SIL? Well, don't think I got so much as a phone call from her throughout. And on Christmas Day after dinner as I was desparate to get to the hospital, she sat on her butt and told me what she took in her coffee, and expected me to also fix her a "go plate".
I thought I might reach out to her since she has not bothered to reach out to me as a new member of her family. I've since decided that I've changed my mind.

Of course Christmas could not go by without a barb from the MIL, regardless of what torture is going on in my life. And, yes, she earned her horns with this one:
Pre Christmas Party, one week before Christmas, at my house.
Here is the set up -- she has already cornered her grandson's girlfriend and mother of his son, about why she does not visit her. Girlfriend replies that she goes to school full time, works, has two kids and lives one hour away.
Later on, girlfriend jokingly says she's going to "stalk" the grandmother. We sort of laugh at that, knowing this girl has no intention of visiting MIL.
Then out of the blue, this:
MIL: "No one comes to see me", met by silence. "Mary doesn't come to see me either. I know Mary's mother is sick now, but she hasn't ALWAYS been sick!!
She says this turning towards me with a smirk and an attitude.
Now, to me, there is nothing, but nothing more rude than speaking of someone in third person when they are sitting 3 feet from you.
She was met with silence again. Even silence by me. She took me so off-guard that I was stunned, and couldn't respond. But that is the problem. People are so taken aback by her rudeness that she probably seldom gets reprimanded for this type of behavior. She mixes it well with utter sweetness, and old lady sadness and pitifullness. I do know she lost a very good friend for this type of behavior a couple of years ago.

DH says it does no good to try to stand up to her. It does no good to try to disagree with her. I do know all of this. But, I'll be damned if I just let it slide again next time. One that will hopefully leave everyone just as speechless as we all were on that day.
The proper response should have been thus: "No, my mother hasn't always been sick. But she has been sick with Alzheimer's since her son and I married. I wonder what part of that Miss Old Goat just does not understand?" Names have been changed....

But, I am back to sewing at least. This week I just gave in to the urge, saying to HELL WITH EVERYONE ELSE!!! So, I traced and cut this pattern, and will make it from some aqua matte jersey.

And, here are the other Vogues I'm wanting now. I think I'll likely join that Club BMV for $12.00 I never get to the one Hancock's we now have. And, I can only imagine how horrid it will be to try and get the patterns I want in my size at the pattern sales. Baton Rouge is actually a pretty sewing town!

Fringe Mania

2007-12-04T21:14:00.001-06:00

My love affair with fringe probably started at about 5, when I received from Santa the much anticipated cowgirl outfit - complete with felt hat and shiny boots. My favorite part of the outfit? Not the boots. They were my second favorite. My very favorite part was the FRINGE!!

A huge thanks goes out to Nancy (SewWest) for sending me all this lovely fringe as a gift! They match my faux suedes that have been hanging in my closet for about a year. Now I have the trim to make them into something I'll really like.
When we were little, my sister and I made fringe from construction paper. We stopped when my sister, always the entrepreneur, tried to sell the fringe at one of Mom's dinner parties. Mom got a little angry.
Look at these boots. They are my Christmas present from DH and are on their way to me now. No, they don't have fringe - I wanted classic boots. I might wind up with the mutton/lamb look if I tuck my jeans into the boots, so why bother with all sorts of fancy uppers? I tried them on in a local store, but they only had the distressed leather. I wanted them dressier, so I ordered them online.

In college, I saw this in the window at the mall and HAD TO HAVE IT.

Every week I'd put down $10, till 5 weeks later it was mine. Although the fit is not the best, I cannot part with it. Remember the western wedding dress dilemma? I tried to find one with fringe that was not totally tacky. The only one I could find was $500.00
So, I bought this purse in Tennessee instead.

Moving Right Along....

2007-11-19T06:32:00.000-06:00

A couple of things knocked off the to-do list: sewing room curtains and matching pincushion - done! The pincushion was courtesy of a tutorial from the 30 Days of Gifts, and the review of the curtains can be found here.

I still have my four Christmas stockings to do, and I promised my DS some as well, but I think I must move on to totes before I do her stockings. The new Christmas fabric will likely NOT get sewn into table linens this year. Why? I somehow keep forgetting that everyone exchanges Christmas gifts early nowdays. DD will need to bring her paternal gifts early, and I'll have to have DH's family's gifts ready early too! Those latter gifts must be given early due to my stepson's policy of just wanting to relax with the kids on Christmas day. We live around 40 minutes from them. His MIL has a big Xmas Eve bash, so they just want to play. And, this year they are giving the kids a brand spanking new 4 wheeler for Christmas. I wouldn't want them hating me because they had to leave their toy to spend the day with us.

I totally understand and I'm all for everyone doing their own thing. But, it means more work for me, actually. We started last year with having a special party for them, a weekend or two before Christmas. We go ahead and invite his Mom and sister too, and exchange all the gifts then. Which is really not good for my time line. So, I must start tonight, sewing like a mad-woman. My husband likes this money saving idea of making them all totes/purses, but he's not going to like any weekend time spent away from him.

Since I was in the sewing room Saturday night doing Mom's skirts, I felt obligated to watch National Treasure with DH last night. Sure was boring. He watches too much TV. I HATE, HATE HATE watching anymore than my three shows a week. Project Runway, Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives. And, I don't get upset if I miss one of those. DH can watch westerns and war movies (and the same ones) AD NAUSEUM....... And, he switches between two shows during commercials, which drives me insane. He'll have History or Discovery and some testosterone drenched movie going at the same time. He told me once he used to get upset that his former wife would go in the bedroom to read instead of sitting with him and watching TV. Um, I hate to admit it, but now I understand why. But, he does let me watch my three shows without complaint. Except for when Saving Private Ryan was on last Sunday. I disappeared into the sewing room.

I also hemmed two skirts for my Mom this weekend. She didn't like the flare at the bottom of the skirt. I figured I'd get rid of most of that by getting rid of almost 3". This woven poly/rayon skirt was a real bitch to hem with a still slightly flared bottom. I set the differential up one notch serging the raw edge so it would slightly gather, and then set the tension low on my sewing machine so as to not pucker during the blindstitch. But, now the fabric slides around the hem on one of the skirts. I'm worried it will twist and such after washing. So, I told the sitter to be sure and wash it on delicate and let me know what happens. I set the tension higher on the 2nd skirt and I think I might be safe. I still have 3 more items to alter. Blech

A Christmas Theme: Bah Humbug!

2007-11-12T20:45:00.000-06:00

Every event has to have a damn theme nowdays, including Christmas. You go to nice department stores like Dillard's and all the trees are themed. At Kohl's I saw the Western tree, and the All Santa tree. I know people who do all blue and white, or all mauve and white Victorian. I fuss because it’s expensive and time consuming to be themed. I just cannot escape the traditional red and green mishmash of stuff. Just buying what I like as long as it doesn't clash too much is what I'm about.

With all that in mind, I resisted the cute Western themed Kaufman fabric at Hancock's. Too much turquoise in it for me. Christmas is not about turquoise in my world. Although, the right house done up in the whole line of coordinating fabrics would be cute - just not me.

And here is what I did purchase:

I'll do a tree skirt with one of them, and perhaps placemats, napkins and coasters for some gifts. My Christmas theme will continue to be a mishmash of green, red, gold and white -- whatever I see that I like!

And, here are my other fabrics that are all lined up and ready to go to make some totes with matching accessories.

These two I won at the Domestic Diva's Disasters

The houndstooth and the berry tweed are courtesy of Ann of Gorgeous Things, from about 2 years ago. They came to me already interfaced! DD is drooling over the houndstooth. The paisley brown and blue with matching handles are from Hancock's

This Embroidery Thing

2007-11-09T11:33:00.000-06:00

So, I had a moment of panic last night as I did 4 more bibs. Did I do the wrong thing, by getting into this machine embroidery hobby? Should I have just spent my $1,000 on a fancy sewing table with airlift? Or indulged in fabrics of my dreams? Or better yet, paid for a years gym membership instead? I didn’t NEED a new sewing machine – I love my Elna 6004. But, after moderating an embroidery forum, I just had to try it.
Here is a link to a forum discussion about Machine Embroidery on Patternreview.com that I just discovered, so timely. The question is: Did you buy a sewing machine w/embroidery feature and then regret spending the money? I started this huge response, and then shortened it and decided to post my detail here instead, because it did hit home. I thought I’d buy an embroidery only, but I was very happy to find a combo on sale. This way, if the embroidery went south, I’d not have wasted money. The sewing features of my Brother alone are worth the $999 I paid. So, no, I don’t regret my decision to purchase a combo. But, I have to say without a doubt – I do prefer sewing to embroidery.
Embroidery cons:
1. I watch the embroidery attachment sew out the designs unaided by me. I’m nervous because it sews totally out of my control. I yearn to touch the frame as it sews, and manipulate the fabric.
2. I get tired of changing the thread. Designs with more than 10 thread changes become a chore.
3. It’s expensive. My eyes tiredly glaze over at websites and forums looking for the best prices on threads, stabilizers, blanks, and do dads that promise to make hooping enjoyable, or centering a breeze. Do I really need 6 kinds of stabilizers? Needles are expensive, dammit.
4. I walk into Walmart or Babies R Us, and see cute embroidered or appliqued bibs and burps for not much more than I can make them.
5. I’m easily bored. Embroidery can get boring.

Embroidery pros:
1. Projects complete faster than my typical sewing project. There are in the hoop designs that are awesome and easy.
2. WalMart is not going to have a bib with Marley’s name on it, in a cute polka dot font.
3. Monogramming is a really hot thing, and can make your handmade gifts much more appealing and upscale. People love getting personalized things. Ask Lillian Vernon. She created a mail order empire capitalizing on the narcissist in all of us.
4. Taking towels and totes to the monogram shop is very expensive.
5. If you like to make crafts and quilts as much as or more than garment sewing, then this is like the icing on the cake.
6. I tend to buy boring, solid fabrics for sewing. Embroidery could help with that.
7. It’s another craft to turn to when I need a break from regular sewing.

When younger, I delved into many different crafts. There were the pastel masterpieces, and forays into ink designs. My mother had the mod kitchen of the 70’s with the ceramic mushrooms I made. I got punished for getting Mom’s Cadillac stuck on the side of the levee, in pursuit of landscape photography (while I was supposed to be at church). When I finished my photography classes and no longer had access to a lab; developing at the local photo shop got too expensive due to my custom requests. I asked Dad to convert the unused side of the pool house to a dark room, but Mom wouldn’t allow it. I got angry, and bought a sewing machine.
I’ve often told my husband we should put it in writing that he is to be buried with his white hat on his head and his whistle around his neck, and I should have scissors in my hands, a tape measure around my neck, and if we want to get really bizarre, a few pins in my mouth!
Bottom line is this: I really do enjoy the embroidery. It’s an enjoyable hobby that has a few cons, but the pros outweigh. But sewing will always be my passion. I will be getting back to it real soon.

My Head is Going to Explode....

2007-11-06T11:59:00.001-06:00

Over all the just too cool blogs and the kernels of ideas that are exploding all up in my head. One blog leads to a tutorial, which leads to another blog, which leads to a very cool retail site with the most awesome fabric. It turns into this sick, OC sort of thing with me. I want to make ALL 30 of the 30 Days of Gifts to Sew. I got all excited when DD announced Saturday in the grocery store that she would like to start taking her lunch. Of course, "30 days" has a day of lunch bags.... sick I tell you.

Short list of what I want/need to create:
A jacket and pair of pants
At least 4 Christmas stockings
A pincushion
Several tote bags. You know those really cute one's made from the most trendy, fabulous fabric that can be found HERE- O, a joy to behold, and a bitch to find anywhere. Not the one's I want anyway. And if I do find them, I want the coordinated solid or stripe, or dot or whatever!

I had two first birthday parties for which to embroider so that was exciting, and of course frustrating too. There would have been four bibs, but for a corrupted design.

Pretty obviously a "cowgirl" themed party. And now I must compose the loser "so sorry to be a month late" card, and actually mail these!
Credits: rope font: Embroidery Library , Cowgirl hat, and boots and hat redwork from

Embroidery DK , Daddy quote from Allbrand's Sew Forum. Finally, the bibs I bought at Babies R Us, Gerber brand. They have 10 packs of white, and 10 packs of assorted colors. They are "okay" bibs -- I recommend washing them first, and pressing out, then embroidering. They do get a little mis-shaped after the wash, and look better if you either press them or stretch and smooth them back out a little when damp. What Mama is going to do that?. I do hate vinyl bibs, and I loathe the thought of making bibs gasp - binding!! No way that is ever going to happen, so these will have to do for now, until I figure out a better way. Perhaps terry, sewn and turned out and then the edges decorative stitched? Perhaps. I'd even not mind sewing rick rack to the edge. But, binding -- nope. Been there, done that and HATE IT enough to never go back.

The next party is this weekend. I might actually show up to this with gifts in hand. This baby's mama is a sewist who does not use the embroidery feature of her machine cause she broke too many needles. I'm aiming to change that. She admitted to spending way too much $$ on monogramming small items. If I can do this, anyone can!

And, one more piece of my sewing room. Can I tell you how stupidly thrilled I am to have the pegboard finally up? I got this from Clotilde.com Just key in pegboard under the search button. If you are interested in one, do go ahead and get the extra pack of 10 hooks. The 12 that the kit comes with is not enough. I like that it is plastic, not metal, and not like the one in my shed. I simply must get another one or two to plaster all over my room. Now, on to the curtains.

Pieces of my Sewing Room

2007-11-02T08:25:00.000-05:00

Some sewing room ideas! Here is the fabric I chose to make some valences with, and possibly drape over my thread racks on the wall. I found it at Quilter Studio.
They have lots of other, nice sewing themed fabric, like this one.

With all the blog talk on sewing rooms - mainly what I've been reading at The Domestic Diva's Disasters ,
here is my contribution to pattern organization:

This is a book rack that I bought for my son many moons ago and when DD got out of the kiddie book stage, not wanting me to read to her at bedtime anymore, sniff sniff, I figured I'd use it for patterns. I rotate patterns in and out of there, keeping the one's I'm most interested in sewing in there, and the rest hidden away. This thing holds plenty - around 50 patterns! Of course you could also use a comic book rack. These are available on ebay and if you google it, you'll find plenty. But, they aren't cheap!

Above is an idea I'd read about a long time ago, and it's been a life saver. I now have to get another pincushion. Thankfully, I might be able to make my own with tomorrow's entries on pincushions in the
30 Days of Gifts to Sew

And, finally, my own thread racks on the wall. Note the Sullivan's cutting table to the right. I'm finding this is a perfect spot for it, and I typically keep the one leaf open as a work surface. Very convenient.

How long I've been wanting this. Next up on the wall is the pegboard I bought from Clotilde. That will happen this weekend, and I'll let you know how I like it. I'll also post a few more sewing room pictures.

The Honeymoon is Over!

2007-11-01T10:55:00.002-05:00

MADE YOU LOOK!! Like one of those shamelessly deceiving Desperate Housewives teasers -- but no, we're not divorcing after 6 months. Only a few complaints, such as he truly cannot boil an egg, but I knew this going in. Matter of fact, after I moved in, he became domestically disabled in ALL areas, all the while being somewhat critical of my housekeeping skills. A lesson was due in how "Good Housekeeping according to Fred" can actually be accomplished. The result was that he has made the choice of living in a "clean enough" house as opposed to the other options presented to him, such as letting me quit my job.

My new house!

Otherwise, I am a football and basketball official's widow, which I am NOT complaining about. He's now working clocks at the LSU football and basketball games in addition to officiating high school, and I'm happy for him, because it gives me slightly more time for sewing. Well, I have to admit I am very jealous of him going to the LSU football games. Don't get me started on why I don't have tickets anymore, but I did get to go to the Florida game!

I'm finally settling in my new home, with new roof, new floors, and best of all, a NEW SEWING MACHINE!!!!

This is the Brother Innovis 1200, a combo machine. She is my new love, and the honeymoon is not over!! Here's some stuff I made for Halloween for DH's grandsons and the little girl next door. J'sun (pronounced Jason) was very happy with his bag because as you can imagine with a name spelled like that, it's the first personalized thing he's ever had.
The bags are pre cut felt squares from Walmart, with pipecleaner handles. I folded them over, right sides together, after embroidering them, and sewed up large seam allowances on both sides to make them the size I wanted, cut the SA's off, and then I made tiny holes on the sides, stuck pipecleaners through, knotted up the ends wire facing down, and voila, easy peasy treat bags.

There's also a sweatshirt I made me using a freebie from Embroidery Library

My Christmas present this year from DH will be this table:

This one is a Roberts brand, and you order the plexiglass insert for your machine for true flatbed sewing. Arrow also makes one, but offers no insert.
This will be a much cheaper option that will still allow me to experience flat bed sewing, which is all I really wanted a sewing table for anyway. It's gotten good reviews on OnlySewing.com which is where I'll likely purchase mine. Matter of fact, they have lots of customer reviews of all they sell, so check it out. People are forever asking about the quality of sewing furniture on the forums, so this is a good place to go for that information. Of course, Patternreview is still my favorite place for reviews, but there isn't a lot of furniture that's been reviewed on PR.

And, finally, I must say I'm flabbergasted at how many more sewing related blogs I've found in the last 4 months. I hope I can keep up with the rocking girl bloggers out there! While mine may not be the most informative, perhaps I can inject enough humor to make it worthwhile! I have lots of stuff stored up in my head to share!

Farewell Old Friend

2007-06-20T12:41:00.000-05:00

Well, there she is, in all her almost 100 year glory! I lived there 10 years, and didn't think I'd ever really grow to think of this house as "mine". First of all, I was pressured to buy this house by relatives, and didn't wind up purchasing the one I really wanted, which was a more modern brick home that actually needed more work and updating than this one. That was the main reason I did get this one - not just the family pressure, but the reality that the houses cost the same, but I didn't have to spend $10K to move into it!
I had to wait 5 years before I took out some equity to do things I wanted to do in the house, so it never did really feel like mine for a long time. I felt like a renter. Eventually I was able to start getting stuff the way I wanted it. And then, I had to sell! Oh well, we spend a couple of hard weeks painting, freshening up wood floors, etc, and as much as DH grumbled, it paid off.
How did I refresh my wood floors? I bought Mini Wax Poly Shades which is a stain, polyurethane in one, and simply rubbed that into the bad, bare spots on all the wood floors. DD's room needed it on almost every square inch! But, this, along with a product called Pro Shot, which may still be available on QVC, did the trick, and my floors shine like glass. The polyshades made the floors a little more shiny in those spots where I used it, but not by much, because I used the satin finish instead of the gloss. Going over all the floors with the Pro Shot assured all areas would be shiny, shiny. This stuff lasts for quite some time, and can be used on all finished floor surfaces. It's not a wax, but you won't regret using it. A few weeks ago, people might have come in the house, looked at my floors and claimed they needed several thousand off the price to redo the floors. I've shown the house to 8 people in one week, and they all raved over how pretty my floors are. Well worth the time investment.
I'd had the house appraised, and only had to go down $2000 from that to get a buyer within a week. Although people told me that I should hold out a little longer to get that extra $2K, and have had some tell me my house could have easily created a bidding war, I decided to cut my losses and get it done. This girl claims she will not have any trouble getting financing, and has a earnest money check ready today. I'm glad this 27 year old guy didn't make it over to the house. He sounded so cute and sweet on the phone, and was super friendly - we talked for about 30 minutes. He's getting married in August. I KNOW I would have gone into "Mom Mode" with him, and I could just see him reducing my price by thousands of dollars!!
The current buyer did try to get help with closing cost but I told her no, that I'd already come down from appraised value and that was good enough at this point. Last year at this time, I would have fainted if you'd told me that I'd get this much for my house. Amazing. But, I'm very blessed that as a single Mom, paying the note alone and raising two kids, I was able to keep the place well maintained.

Now, here is the list of sewing stuff I want to buy with my profits. What fun!
1. New serger w/coverstitch - maybe an Elna 744 or 945.
2. New steam generator iron.
3. A Horn or Koala sewing table.

List of stuff for the new house:
1. Wood floors in LR and Sewing room
2. New kitchen floor, and new carpet in BR's
3. New cooktop
4. New MB floor, vanity, and sink fixtures.

I meet with this woman tonight to sign the purchase aggreement. Exciting times!!!
I see sewing time finally in the near future, as we've finally finished hanging all the pictures and arranging stuff in the house. My sewing room is the last room to arrange. DH hung my huge shelf up last weekend. Now I just have to get in there and straighten up. I've been showing the house every night, but no more, hopefully! This woman wants a key already to show other family and friends the house and says it's so I don't have to be there everytime. I am not sure about that. In my small town, people are so trustng, but I know if anything happens, DH will really think I lost it to give her a key, or even hide one for her in the shed. I mean it's just not her house yet.

Presenting.... Mr. and Mrs. E!

2007-05-01T10:42:00.000-05:00

The above photos were taken by our camera using a self timer. This is the place where you can do a wedding in the sky, which costs alot more than using their chapel. It was right down the street from our cabin, and when we discovered it we knew we had to go there to take pictures. Very illegal, btw. We were bad - not supposed to take any pics there. Oh well, come arrest me!

In order to see the pics online, you have to go to Almost Heaven website, and access Wedding Photos on the left, then click Bride and Groom login. There you will look for Ehrhardt-Tanner on the list, and click that. Once there, you will key in mtanner5@yahoo.com as the username and "ehrhardt" as the password. These load much faster than the other way. You can also go to View Our Wedding Photos instead of bride and groom login, and from there enter Tanner in the search box. The password is "wedding". These take longer to load, but have zoom in and no writing on them.
I told you I'd gained weight, didn't I? Oh well, fat bride, but happy bride!

Now I know why there is a maid of honor, and why she is important. I should have had one to make sure my hair was where I wanted it, to tell me to adjust my bra in the back to eliminate bra muffin top, and make sure the mascara was wiped from under my eyes before the photos!
Anyway, my only complaint was that that once they lit the candles and closed the doors to the tiny chapel, it got HOT! But, thankfully we were only in there about 20 minutes and didn't wilt too bad.
My DH SANG TO ME!!! The unity candle song was "I Cross My Heart" by George Strait, and he sang it to me. What a sweetie. I didn't cry though. I couldn't wipe the silly happy grin from my face actually. Check out the pic of the unity candle - I made it. I put the chorus to both wedding songs on opposite sides, and the tapers have little cowboy hats glued to them. One came off before the wedding and my helpers at the chapel glued it back on.
We visited Ruby Falls and Rock City in Chattanooga. In Gatlinburg, we went horseback riding, car riding through beautiful places in the mountains, had our picture taken in our wedding garb at one of those "old tyme photo" places which was hilarious. I'll have to scan those and post them sometime.
We went honkytonkin in Nashville, visited all the important places there, EXCEPT for the Wildhorse Saloon because the RED HAT LADIES had it locked up for the night, GRRRR. Oh well, there were 5,000 of them in Nashville and they were fun to be around. We did the General Jackson show cruise and DH was pullled up on stage to dance. He was a sport.
We visited Graceland and Loretta Lynn's ranch, which was beautiful. She has preserved her house so cute, and even has a replica of a coal mine and the Butcher Hollow home she grew up in out there. I bought a signed plate from her boutique and DH bought a new black cowboy hat from her western store. Very nice place.
So, yes, we had plenty of fun, and the weather was great the whole time. We kept hearing about storms coming, but somehow they never reached where we were! We even managed to come home with souveniers for everyone and a couple hundred left over. Can't beat that.
I go to sleep every night being held by or holding on to my new husband. I love being Mrs. E!!

Almost There

2007-04-17T23:31:00.000-05:00

Today I pressed and steamed the wedding dress, and sprayed Febreeze on it. There was some really musty smell to it that just would not go away.
I made the unity candle, but forgot to take a picture I am so tired. I will, though.
I put the chorus lyrics to two of the songs that we will play at the wedding - one during the unity candle lighting and one as an exit song. I'm walking in to the traditional wedding march I guess.
I got some nice paper from Hobby Lobby and printed up the words in the traditional "wedding script font", and put them on either side of the candle, with clear packing tape over it. I surrounded each one with ribbon, and a bow on the corner. There is a ring of flowers around the bottom. The tapers are decorated with small cowboy hats - one black and one white. They only had white one's at HL, so I took a Sharpie to it, and made it black. They look so cute!

One of the songs is by George Strait and goes like this:

"I cross my heart, and promise to give all I've got to give to make all your dreams come true. In all the world, you'll never find a love as true as mine."

Aren't we just so romantic. Tomorrow is hair day. It's getting colored and she is going to leave some of it out of the chemical to act as highlights. Then, the nails go on, and I get a pedicure the next night. Everything is pressed and ready to be packed. But there are still a million little things to tend to so I don't come home to problems.

Oh dear! No Wedding Nighties!!

2007-04-11T22:45:00.000-05:00

With everything going totally crazy in my life right now, something dawned on me today.
I HAVE NO WEDDING NIGHT NIGHTIES!! We've made enough progress with the house, so I switched back to wedding mode. I hopped over to JCPenney and bought some more RTW for the trip, (love their a.n.a jeans) and totally forgot about jammies.
I panicked, because you should see what I sleep in every night. My sister fussed at me once already, observing what I packed to sleep in when DH2B and I were going away for a weekend. She was appalled.
I sleep in nothing that you would want a husband of even many years to see you in on a Monday night, much less on the honeymoon. I'm not kidding. An example is a pair of sleep shorts, yellow with cows, that thank goodness was made with good quality flannel. I wear them constantly, with my I heart NY tee that I bought at the first Patternreview weekend back in '03 was it? A rag, I'm telling you.
So, in a panic I went to Walmart. EEEWWWW!! But, desperate, I bought two sleep sets that are only grudgingly acceptable. I guess that is first on my sewing agenda when I return - make jammies with some of that "shoulda been a wedding dress polyester". A nice bed jacket, chemise and tap pants are in order.

I went to Mom's with the wedding outfit and modeled it for her. We both enjoyed that. Too bad I couldn't stay longer, but we had to install my new dishwasher - the one that I'll get to enjoy for only one month.
I've been doing dishes by hand for about 4 months now. My old DW wasn't dead, but I figured it was almost there, and knowing we'd be selling the house, I didn't want it to die immediately beforehand. I found out my cousin had a fabulous 4 yr old TOL Kitchenaid he was wanting to sell, really cheap. (He went stainless with the kitchen re-do). I told DH about this, and he said great, he was going to buy a new one to install for the house sale anyway. After I yelled at him -- "AND YOU LET ME WASH DISHES BY HAND FOR 4 #$%*# MONTHS, KNOWING YOU WOULD BUY A NEW ONE????", I calmed down, and let him install the Kitchenaid.
I could have been a real bitch and told him I wanted the Kitchenaid in the new house, causing him double work. But, it's not the right color for the new house, and the man has done alot of work lately. It will be a nice selling feature, though. Like my nice gas range, this baby is awesome, with all the bells and whistles.
I have to have one in the new house. Only in black. I need to brace myself though. I thought I'd have to peel DH off the floor when he discovered how much refrigerators cost these days. He'll go into orbit when I announce plans for the space age dishwasher. He totally does not get a woman's need for nice kitchen appliances! But, I will work on that.

PatternReview.com

2007-04-06T22:28:00.000-05:00

The obsession on blogs with PatternReview.com has me puzzled. Especially when some of the very people doing this used to be the staunchest defenders of PR. There must be a reason for this, and if you can count to 10, you can probably figure it out.

Let's see, first we used to rip up "big 4 patterns", and next it was the store people loved to hate, which was Joann's. Now we have the website people love to hate? What's the next sewing related thing we can hack to peices?
As a moderator at PR, I can vouch for the number of complaints we get on incomplete reviews. Most other websites have that ownership thing too - you know that thing everyone has a big problem with? PR is not unique with this. If you post a fabulous new technique on ANY sewing website you are sharing ownership. But, only PR's ownership policy seems to generate complaints.
Blog writers have standards on their blogs as to who can comment, and use their ownership to delete what comments they deem inappropriate, or off topic. Deepika has decided to listen to the numerous and constant complaints of her subscribers about incomplete reviews -it's the same thing. I can guarantee you that if any of these people ventured forth with a big sewing website (not just a blog) that allowed comments, forums, etc -- they would have the same policy. They would want to share ownership of the content posted on their site.
There is certainly room enough in cyperspace for everyone, people! Do we have to continue this childish ripping apart of sister sewing sites? Does it serve a purpose?
Here the problem as I see it. People who write the incomplete reviews must get something out of it or they wouldn't be writing anything at all. I mean why bother? Unless PR is serving some purpose for them. The reviews where you have to link to a blog to really read the actual review in my opinion are just there to generate traffic to the blog. Plain and simple. There. I said it. So shoot me. And what is wrong with that? Nothing, really. And, if the review stands on it's own, the blog links are perfectly acceptable.
Except that I go to PR to read the review.
It's printable there. You are not helping me if I can't print the review for later reference. I'm not asking for your deep dark sewing secrets which I am sure have NEVER been published before anywhere else. I am only looking for a review of the pattern. I'm not looking for construction techniques -- if you want to share those, go right ahead on your blog, and I won't expect to be able to print it. I just want a review of this pattern. Is it that much trouble to post a complete review??? You do not have to go on and on listing every singe adjustment you made and how you made it. Just answer the questions on the template. Just tell me about the pattern. If I'm intrigued, I'll go to your blog for more intimate details.

And, I'm sure that I'm not the only one, for whom the HotPatterns 100 word pattern description is just boring. Why is it people can type in that whole description, but can't type in a few real comments about the pattern itself is beyond me.
Here is my other problem:
Downtalking any entity, be it a website or brick and mortar store that is trying to promote sewing as a positive thing is both childish and counterproductive. Counterproductive for you especially, if you are trying to also promote yourself, or your business in the same field. It's classless, and so small to so obviously try to shoot down anything that promotes sewing. If you don't like it, don't go there, and quit writing about it. It's so much classier to just be your own fabulous sewing self. When you sling mud, it takes some of the shine off your own star too.

I am the Moon, yes indeed.

2007-04-04T21:22:00.000-05:00

You are The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.

The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

This thing is creepy. Right now, I FEEL LIKE the moon. And yes, I am absolutely going through both emotional and mental trials! Ever heard of a bride steadily gaining weight before their wedding? That would be me. But I'm still planning on some wine at Easter, irreparable damage or not.

I'm getting the house ready to put on the market. I had an entire whining rant prepared on how much work it is, but I really cannot complain. DH2B scraped and painted the entire huge porch for me in one day, and I'm about done with the interior painting, thanks to his help. My son even mowed the lawn yesterday, was on time for a family lunch with my sister and Uncle from Houston, and even visited afterwards. You about had to peel me off the floor. However, he still seems determined to live in a cardboard box, as he still is not working.
I've convinced DH2B of some basic new house stuff. I'll get: new kitchen floor, hardwood in the living room and sewing room, open up the sewing room with it's cute corner built ins to the LR, so it is all open (I'll have to keep it neat, which means I really do need an actual sewing credenza). New vanity, fixtures and floor in the MBA, and finally and most importantly , a new refrigerator.
His shop still comes first, so we can put the treadmill, some weights, and a TV in the old storage shed.
For the first time I can remember, it's sleeting right before Easter. We will have to dress warmly for Easter for the first time EVER. Amazing.

It's Been a Whole Month?

2007-03-20T22:45:00.000-05:00

It's been a whole month since I've blogged. Life has just been majorly in the way of any internet fun, and work exploded into a million tiny orders.
Here is the catch up with me:

1. My co-worker announced she is very pregnant. Like 8 months, or so she thought. (she is a big girl and it's only now I see that her tummy is pregnant type big). She is now not due in April but in May, thank goodness. However, we did get a temp with a brain who doesn't like to miss work. We can now relax, as there will be a full office crew there. This means I can relax because DH2B will not calling work every 2 hours asking how is it going?
3. My dress came in and it fits. Fit like a dream as a matter of fact, until I thought it would be a good idea to hang it in the steamy shower a few times to get the funny smell out of it. Now the bust area has those "need a dart" type wrinkles. So, I'm thinking the mesh overlay may have stretched a bit with the steam? Hmmmm, I may try to do something about it. Maybe not.
4. I ordered the wedding boots. They are -- get ready -- Stewart Weissman boots. Sorry if I misspelled that. I only paid $55 for them on ebay.

But, they came in scuffed up and obviously had been worn, so the seller is exchanging them for a half size smaller, and promises brand new this time. At least they do match the dress very nice. I also ordered a hat off ebay, and I only paid $20 for it. I took a chance on it as the picture was fuzzy and taken at a bad angle. I won that bet.

5. I got a bridal bouquet from a talented ebay seller (foreveryoursflorals), and she threw in a huge toss bouquet. I think there is a picture in a previous post. They really did come out too strong for the delicate dress, so I took them both apart and made a new bouquet, and an arrangement for the new house.

And no the roses aren't dark pink, they are blood red. I think I did an okay job! Now, my entire ensemble is from ebay excepting the pearl necklace my Daddy gave me. They are my something old - 32 years! I finally had them re-strung for the wedding.

6. With all the stress I've been under with my Mom, wedding plans, and just life, I've been gaining weight. Thank goodness the dress isn't fitted. NO WAY I could have sewn my own dress. Just no way. I won't have a problem getting the dress on, but I might have a problem with my waist cincher!
7. Word has gotten out that my house will be up for sale and I already have 2 people wanting it badly. And, I have found out it will appraise for much more than I originally thought! Yaaay.

Happy Mardi Gras!

2007-02-20T08:20:00.000-06:00

HERE
is a little Mardi Gras music to celebrate to.

My grandma and your grandma, were sittin by the fire,

My grandma told your grandma, I'm going to set your flag on fire,

Takin bout hey now, hey now

Iko! Iko! an de'

Jackomo fe no nan e' , Jackomo fe nan e'

Look at my King all dressed in red

Iko! Iko! an de'

I bet you 5 dollars, he kill you dead!

Jackomo fe nan e'

Takin bout ..... hey now, hey now

Iko! Iko! an de'

Jackomo fe no an e' , Jackomo fe nan e'

My flagboy and your flagboy, sittin by the fire,

My flagboy told your flagboy, I'm going to set your flag on fire,

Takin bout ..... hey now, hey now

Iko! Iko! an de'

Jackomo fe no an e' , Jackomo fe nan e'

See that guy all dressed in green, Iko! Iko! an de'

He's not a man, he's a lovin machine!

Jackomo fe nan e'

Takin bout hey now, hey now

Iko! Iko! an de'

Jackomo fe no nane' , Jackomo fe nan e'

Takin bout hey now, hey now

Iko! Iko! an de'

Jackomo fe no ane' , Jackomo fe nan e'

Too bad this site doesn't provide audio clips of some of the other standards, like
"Hey Pockyway", and "They All Asked For You". I have memories of being in NOLA in my early 80's college days partying to these songs. When "They All Asked For You" came out, it became an immediate party standard. Those were the days..... I haven't been to Mardi Gras in many years. I now really wish I'd have gone with Mom and Dad when I was a teen and young adult when they would go on Fat Tuesday. We had family members with access to a downtown state building that they would set up with banquet tables and such and let the state workers each bring so many family members in to enjoy the parades with access to the building. I seriously doubt if that is allowed nowdays.

Dress Ordered

2007-02-19T10:06:00.000-06:00

Over the weekend I went 180 miles to Lake Charles La. to try on 3 dresses. The dress I wound up ordering on ebay, I tried on in the store in a Large, in black. I was wishing it was okay to wear black as a bride. Of course I know I could wear anything I want, but I can't do black. The black was very very tight though I did manage to get it on, so I ordered it in a 1X. I decided not to chance this store trying to order the dress for me, as it's available now on ebay at a good price. I want the dress here, now, so I can take it around to get the proper boots/shoes.

Now, of course I am worried that I was concentrating so much on the bottom of the dress that I didn't pay enough attention to the all important neckline. There were two styles you see, this one, and the other is on the last post, it's the peach colored dress. See the difference in the bottoms and the necklines? I loved the bottom of the one with those chiffon ruffles, so it won out, but I am hoping the neckline does not come off as too matronly. Perhaps if it does, I can exchange it for the other style.
The Vienna Boys Choir were awesome! It was as if the President were visiting our town the security was so very tight around them. Of course, they are a national treasure in Austria, and did seem to really enjoy what they do. DD even bought the CD she was so impressed. Being in choir herself, I thought she'd enjoy it. My little Mom thoroughly enjoyed it, so I was very, very happy to have taken her. It was worth having to get there so early and then stand outside in the cold for one hour holding a place in line for her
This weekend my mother started experiencing more problems with the dementia we've been seeing. It had seemed to level off and there was only small things to deal with. Now, she is losing jewelry due to compulsive arranging and cleaning out of her dresser drawers, and there is more psychosis. I cannot say anything about losing jewelry as I've lost more valuable jewelry over the years.... things I should be shot for. I've either lost or had stolen three rings that meant a whole lot to me, including my grandmother's platinum and diamond dinner ring. I should be hung from the magnolia tree for that one.
But, now, due to her losing my Dad's diamond ring and her own cross that was encrusted with diamonds -- I had to insist that she let me "borrow" her last wedding set. I told her I'll get them fixed up for her, and hopefully she will not ask for them back. Sounds terrible, doesn't it? But, I know her well enough to know that it means more to her that the jewelry not get lost.
I am terrified that she is on the brink of being taken advantage of in a major way. Her famous motto is "I'm still the boss" when she's feeling perky, and I'm just so worried.

Gumbo Weather

2007-02-16T12:59:00.000-06:00

Gumbo weather, and I'm the idiot who let the Thanksgiving turkey carcass go bad on my kitchen counter. I decided to not wait on making the gumbo till Mardi Gras, but catch the weather when it was cold. Like an idiot I thought I'd get it started and boil the carcass on a weeknight, but wound up forgetting all about it that night. Now that it is in the 20's and we're ready for gumbo, I'll have to do a quickie shrimp and okra gumbo tonight instead. At least I do have the shrimp. I'm tempted though to cook a small turkey tonight, freeze most of the meat, and try to cook the gumbo Monday night. Of course by then we'll be in the 70's again.

But, I'm getting to see the Vienna Boys Choir Sunday at our church, known around here as "The Cathedral on the Bayou". I'll have to post some pics of our grand old church soon for you to see.

I found out the designer of these dresses I love is Nataya, and started researching. On her website she lists stores near your zip code. About 3 came up from New Orleans, and I got a fabulously gay guy on the phone who was so helpful, but sadly, they had none left. He suggested another place that was on the list, and when I told him I'd already called them and they very snottily told me they didn't carry them in my size he was outraged and very sympathetic. Exactly what I needed at that moment, too. He told me they have fabulous ladies hats there - he'd just bought himself the cutest beret. He was indeed my afternoon's entertainment, and I bet if I'd brought up Project Runway we coulda talked for hours.
Anyway, I called a place in Lake Charles (about a 2 1/2 hour trip) who has two styles of these dresses in a size 2X. Now, my measurements indicate a 1X, but hey, I can at least go try them on to get an idea of what they will look like style wise on my body! The reason I'm traveling so far is that I could order any one of these from the internet, but they are NOT returnable. No way I'm spending money on a dress I cannot return. Too bad I couldn't give my $$ to a store in NOLA, though.

The wool crepe samples being sent to me are gorgeous and yummy, but won't do me any good with the white bridal lace. They just don't go together. I'm not into combining on my own the yellowish winter white with the white white lace. Designer's do this ivory/white thing well, but I have to play it safer.
Oh, and look at this: here are the new flowers. This ebay seller, foreveryoursflorals quoted me $45 for a small bridal bouquet, boutinerre, and flowers on combs for my hair. Her feedback is 100%.

A Try On Weekend

2007-02-11T21:28:00.000-06:00

I finished the dress muslin, and tried it on. Thank goodness for digital cameras. I didn't notice the weird wrinkles in the back, nor the funny front vertical folds that seem to want to stick out. It could be because my upper bodice tuck is too big and it's pulling the bottom of the drape too far up the bust, but the thing seems to sit properly. I'm hoping that the weight of the skirt section will pull those front folds in place, but that might just make it worse.
I basted in the sleeves without adjusting them to the tuck - I just drew up the cap and sewed them in. This indicates that the sleeve won't be too hard to ease anyway. Those back wrinkles? I have not a clue. The pleats are puffy looking in the muslin, but that is hand basting that didn't stay in place well. The sleeves need shortening. They have pleats at the bottom which are a nice touch. Somehow, it looks just wrong, but actually fits nicely. I would not be comfortable with it any tighter, so I can't bring in any part of the bodice to eliminate those front folds.

I went to the mall and tried on hats which loooked terrible on me, and bras and shoes which I did purchase. The Lane Bryant Cacique bras are wonderful, and I found one that's convertible 6 ways. A strapless bra that holds me up without being longline. This bra is underwear engineering at it's best. DD says it looks like a military bra. I told her my girls need heavy artillery!

This bra will do for whatever style I choose, and with some high waist tummy tucking underwear, I'm set. Look at the back of this bra. There are two places to hook, a nice thick back piece, and it's of course got the grips on the inside to make it cling to the skin:

And here are the shoes I bought. The first are Rocketdogs, and the second are Gianni Bini. DD hates the latter. I think they are upscale alternatives to cowboy boots!

I called Renton WW again, and got them to tell me on the phone exactly what they have in stock, and she even measured each dress that they had in an XL and called me back. So there are two that I could get that seem like they would fit, but this is the one I like. She told me I could wear it on or off shoulder:

But, DD tells me one of these is better. The lavendar would be in ivory. The first is a dress, the second is a 3 piece set. These sell out fast, and I'm awaiting my sister's opinion on what would look best on ME! I am terrified of mutton wearing lamb, or just looking dumb. If you have opinions, please pass them on, and you can be as blunt and critical as you like!:

Any of them would fit in I think, for a "country/western wedding".
I'm dying to wear boots, being that I LOVE boots, and it goes with the theme. I somehow don't think that boots would look right with those last, Titanic style dresses, except maybe the lace up ones. Here are some I've found. Even DD said she would love to have these Jessica Simpson boots. I must have them too.

Boots I tried on at the mall and look very cute on my feet:

And, Steve Madden boots, which I think are just fun white cowgirl boots but don't worry I'm not considering them for the wedding:

The Muslin Progresses

2007-02-06T22:59:00.000-06:00

Here are pictures of the wedding dress muslin so far. As you can see, lots of hand basting on this - and it's not even underlined as the real one will be. Sandra's instructions are stellar as always - she really holds your hand through this dress, which could be a disaster with regular big 4 instructions.
There is one thing I totally didn't get though. You sew the front drape (the part facing you in the picture) to the front, and sew them together just along the neckline, trim, understitch, flip over and press - like a normal facing. But she wants you to understitch the seams to the front drape, not the back.
This causes the understitching to be seen on the outside. Maybe it's designed to kill two birds - the edge stitching and understitching. I think with the real thing I'll understitch to the back part and then edgestitch on the top. The final part of the front drape was to hand baste the edges together, and next I'll sew this part to the asymetrical lower bodice, and then that whole thing to the back piece. Then sleeves, and I'm ready to try it on. I know alterations are in store. It's very low cut on the dressform.
I surprised myself by actually enjoying the handstitching. I am worried that this dress has too much basting and pinning needed for a delicate silk to survive. Those pleats are on both the sides and the front, and have to be pinned to tame them while you hand baste. The poly crepe I'm using already has gotten snagged several times on the table, on the pins, or my dry hands.

But it's probably a good thing I decided to give sewing the dress a shot. I've contacted via email or phone 3 different western wedding vendors and while they all seemed willing to work with me at first, they seem to have forgotten me now.

This dress is by Martin McCrea, and The Scarlett is by him too. Too pretty, and alas, too expensive. Even if you're not into Western dresses, his site is worth a visit for the beautiful dresses there. (click the pics to see a larger view).
An ebay western store has the one pictured, new with tags, for $250. In my size? NO. She has other dresses, all too small for me or not something I'd wear. I've emailed her in hopes she could get something in my size. If she had that first one in my size for $250 I'd scrap the sewing and buy it in a heartbeat.
There was a dress on ebay that was worn once, and the bidding started at $25. I thought that would be a great back up dress if this dress went south, or life got in the way. But someone wanted to engage in a bidding war, and I wasn't up for that.

Old Bride Flowers

2007-02-05T15:12:00.000-06:00

My DD tells me these are the most awful flowers a bride ever picked out. She hates it. She said they look like they belong in Granny's parlor instead of on a bride's arm - unless I am trying to scream out "I am an old bride" to the world. After I got home, I too started doubting it. The little roses have that old, distressed, dried flower look about them. And, then the lillys are in such contrast. We were in Michael's and of course I was overwhelmed with no direction and no help from my fiancee who really didn't want any part of flower picking. I approaced the silk flower clerk and asked how much to make a bouquet and she quoted me $25 labor. I asked if I could get some assistance choosing the flowers and she said no. Oh, thanks alot.
Okay, I am convinced the customer service demons have me targeted.

Oh - one good thing - my fiancee picked the song he wants played for our Unity Candle ceremony. "Would You Go With Me" by Josh Turner. I thought it was a little too upbeat, but after he told me: "Yep, I thought to myself that's what I'd want to say to Mary at the wedding", how could I not agree to it? He is a "man's man", and much more practical than romantic. So, I'll take romance wherever it falls.

Good Customer Service - a rare thing nowdays

2007-01-29T21:43:00.000-06:00

There is a close up of the lace. I would have paid $10 more buying it on the internet, plus shipping so I'm happy I bought it local.

A shout out of thanks to Erin of A Dress A Day , for putting the lost Sharpie spell on me. I went to trace tonight and of course could only find a green white board marker with a smushed nasty tip. So, I went to Walmart to buy cheap sew in interfacing as I ran out of that other stuff. I walked all the way up to customer service in shoes that hurt to ask for assistance, and was not even verbally acknowledged by the clerk. She just sort of looked at me as if I ruined her life, giving no indication she would actually send anyone over there. I asked if she heard me (sort of nicely, actually), and she was downright rude in response. I turned away before I totally embarassed my daughter, (not a hard thing to do these days), and luckily, I ran into the manager and reported the B, which of course embarassed my daughter anyway. My love of Walmart is legendary among those who know me, and my special bond with the rude clerks there even more so. The clerk who cut my interfacing was nice, but stepped all over it while folding the 4 yards, so it was dirty when I laid it out. And, then to top things off I forgot the damn Sharpies.

But, all is not lost on the customer service horizon. Today my re-done Unique dress pattern came in. After the measurement changes, the pattern looks much more "me". I traced it, and pressed some very summery cotton seersucker for it. As I mentioned before, I ordered 6 more patterns to take advantage of the sale. My rep called me and told me that she didn't want to draft those until I was satisfied with the first dress. I mentioned I was considering using one of the patterns for my wedding. I've spoken to her twice since then, and both times she mentioned my wedding - saying that she wants my patterns perfect, so my wedding attire can be sewn without problems. Then I forgot to do an important measurement and it hit me late one Friday night. I urgently emailed her about it two days after the pattern was supposed to be re-drafted, knowing it was too late. She said no problem, she would take care of it. I was certain I was really being a pain, (unlike at Walmart), but I was not treated that way.
So there, Walmart bozos!!

I wanted to mention how glad I am that I did the Allemong bodice sloper. It really did help me to see what went wrong, and what measurements were critical to my problems. I highly recommend it. I have used that sloper to compare to other patterns, even though I really don't know what I'm supposed to be doing. I feel smarter using it. I'm such a geek!
Yesterday I cut the muslin of the wedding dress, bodice only, and marked it up. After I quickly sew up the Unique dress, I'll get back to it. I want those other 6 patterns quick, so I have to do the dress first. I will then do a full review of the Unique dress at Patternreview. I'm itching to do a review again as I've not done one in soooo long. I'm also taking the Sarah Veblen class there on facings, so I can make professional quality changes to these Unique patterns.

Non-sewing related good news is that I'd put my resume online, and a head hunter called me to tell me about a job that seems right up my alley at higher pay. Then, I saw an ad for a job that sounded "so me", at a great to work for local company, and I know two people who work there already. Shipping related jobs that are not totally boring, not with awful companies and pay higher than what I'm making now are truly rare. Now, if my car would stop making that noise, and the engine light just go away, I'd be really happy!

Satin and Lace

2007-01-26T22:21:00.000-06:00

I went to Hancock's last night and got my Vogue wedding dress pattern, (see the picture of this in the last post), as well as Sandra B's new cowl neck knit top pattern.

I went to Village Fabrics for the dress fabric. I wanted to choose the fabric in person, and shop local. I was happy to be able to hold up bolts to my face and choose from the 8 different whites. I chose a "diamond white". Sounds really white - but it isn't. It is a soft off white. The lace is an over-embroidered, hefty lace. This is good for the look of the sleeves, and bad for the sewing of the sleeves. It has a raised cording, but no beading - I didn't want that nightmare. If I can't get the sleeves eased in, well there are alterations shops for that. I just hope the skirt pieces hold up to the godets in this hefty lace:

I'll try for a better shot and close up when I get my hands on the good camera again. You can click the picture to make it a bit larger.
After reading the pattern instructions last night, I know I won't be lining this. The way the dress is constructed, it would be nearly impossible for me to follow the instructions and figure out a lining. Apparently Sandra thought the same thing. It is clearly an unlined dress, and lining nor underlining is never mentioned, except for the godets. There is no front facing to attach a lining to, and the back facing is not "free". So I will have to underline and hope like hell there is no see through. The store clerk said underline it in muslin. I really am not in favor of that.
I'm cringing typing this, but I have to fess up that I bought polyester crepe back satin as the main fabric! I would be using the crepe side out. Why did I do this when I am really pining away after that 40 momme Thai silk crepe? Well, because it matches the lace so nicely, and it is a good quality. Plus, I am the budget bride after realizing all the other stuff I have to buy, like shoes, something for my head or at least hair, a foundation garment, bouquet.....
However, if I survive the bias and the godets on the muslin with no problems, then I will gladly order the silk, and make some honeymoon nighties out of the poly. So, I'll probably be calling out for help in what to underline with, regardless of what I choose. With the poly, I could just underline in the same fabric, or Ambience, and hope it covers any see through. If I go silk, I just as soon spring for the 40 momme, and I won't have as much of a see through problem. That stuff is to die for, it is so nice.
I did cut and press all the pattern pieces and will cut the muslin tomorrow. There are 19 pattern pieces, so I may only get as far as cutting them out tomorrow. Sandra B suggests making a test garment, but leaving off the whole skirt/godet section and just fitting the bodice. I have just enough cheapo muslin quality poly crepe in the stash for this purpose. I may have to go get more of this to practice the godets after fitting the dress.

PS: I called Almost Heaven, and they agreed to include a Unity Candle and a 6", 2 layer cake for two for $125. Or, $75 if I bring my own unity candle. I think I shall make my own Unity Candle, being the budget bride that I am!

Made the Decision

2007-01-23T21:32:00.000-06:00

I'm going to the Vogue sale at Hancock's and I'm going to get this pattern and start sewing up the muslin. THIS is going to be my wedding dress:

The more I look at it, the more I really like it. I think even if it is not simple to sew, with the godets, (which I have never attempted, much less on silk and lace), it will be easier to fit. I usually have good luck with her patterns, so we will see. I like that I can use lace for the godets and sleeves, so that will be my salute to this western theme.
I'm actually considering doing the entire dropped asymetrical skirt in lace - not just the godets. Any thoughts on that?
I'm actually getting excited about doing this. I can wear any foundation garment I like, even one with straps, which was a big concern for me.
The pattern envelope suggests silk crepe, and I still have my bridal silk sampler from Thai silks. But while in Hancock's getting the pattern, I may go ahead and get some chep poly and lace there to sew up the muslin, for practice. I will also visit Village Fabrics that a PR friend tells me has nice fabrics. If they have lace yardage and bridal silk for a somewhat reasonable price, then I will get it from them. If I remember correctly, I went in there once a long time ago, but they were in a different location. I remember seeing mostly bridal fabrics there.
Wish me luck!

I just finished tracing this dress, and geez it took me like two whole evenings. Whew! This baby has like 16 or so pieces including the two guides. It's such a nice dress, and I do eventually want to make it. I just had to go ahead and trace it, as it's been calling my name for some time, and was almost the wedding dress. And, at least I feel like I have done something sewing related.

Almost Heaven

2007-01-22T11:45:00.000-06:00

Almost Heaven is the name of the resort where we'll be getting married. We booked the Mountain Memories chapel package and added one night. What I don't understand is why this package is $200 less than the other package and the only difference is that one has a wedding cake (for two) and a unity candle and the other one does not. Come on. Really. You cannot tell me that a unity candle set, an additional 3 minutes to light it, have the minister say something and "your song" to play can cost that much more.

We went to Bear Creek Western store in Montpelier, La this weekend, and got DF his wedding suit. We took one look at the cheap, shiny polyester suits of which was pictured in my previous post (the sexy cowboy) and YUCK! But we found a really classy chocolate brown western suit for him, 100% lightweight wool. It has the western styling without the contrasting yoke - it's topstitched intead, and looks great on him. I'll order him a Colonel Sander's tie in chocolate brown. He has dress western shoes that look great, and a nice dress belt. All he needs is to have his hat cleaned and he's ready.
I'm glad he didn't go with the black Wyatt Earp frock coat, as his more modern suit gives me many more options. While it's true that I look better in white, my only limitation now is that I'll need to wear ivory to go with his chocolate brown suit. I did find some smashing informal gowns at a website that a fellow PR member told us about. She is a Mormon, and so this site specializes in gowns that are fashionable yet modest, but they all come in stark white.
So, I'm still a searching, and trying to get my nerve up at the same time to sew it myself. Time is the big factor, not confidence. I know I can , it's just the time to find the fabric, lace, etc, the pattern, do a muslin and then the actual gown. Not to mention I want a good foundation garment, regardless of what style I go with. Then I'd like to find a cowgirl hat that is not outrageously expensive, and some cute shoes or boots. I did try on some hats this weekend in the western stores, but they were all men's hats. There was only one I really liked on me and it was $230...... Most of them just dwarfed me. I need a small cute one.

Tagging Too

2007-01-19T13:52:00.000-06:00

I've been tagged by Lisa Laree on Sew Random. I figure I better get mine done and like Lisa, tag five more people who do actually, maybe, sometimes pop in here who have not been tagged already.
Great way to meet even more sewas!

The rules:
1. someone tags you,
2. you post five things about yourself that you haven’t already mentioned on your blog,
3. you tag 5 people you’d like to know more about

1. Where I came from: I was adopted and my birth parents were Irish immigrants. I have never, ever had any desire whatsoever to know them or anything about them, which people do not understand. My fear as a child was that they would come take me away. I did however, harbor fantasies of having a different sister, hehehe. At about 6, I wanted Penny from Lost In Space to be my sister.

2. Favorite job: I used to be a radio announcer way back in the day. Well, actually an alternative music deejay - and they made me produce commercials and read the news sometimes. I made alot of male friends this way, even if I never had the nerve to move to a big market and make it a real $$ career. It's nice that I have a chance to do that type work again, on Patternreview, doing the Podcasts.

3. The thing I'm most proud of: Starting in 1997, I was told I had Type II diabetes, so I lost 40 lbs in order to get healthy, and would up attracting my fiancee in the process.

4. What I hate most: rude people, super aggressive drivers and cooking.

5. I yearn to: retire. I don't want to work outside the home anymore. I shamelessly want to be the domestic diva I was always meant to be. I even have the Future Homemaker's Award to prove it. My fiancee is not falling for this idea, however, much to my dismay. My argument is that maybe if I was allowed to stay home I wouldn't resent cooking so much, and might actually come to enjoy it---- instead of secretly wanting to throw some Triscuits and spinach dip on the table every night.
I would be so skinny if I didn't have to cook for these other people!

I tag: SewWest (Nanflan) SewHappy, (Touran), Lornajay (Lorna), Journey To Couture (Leah), and The Prolific Sewer (Nikki).

My 1st Unique Experience

2007-01-18T13:19:00.001-06:00

My first Unique dress pattern came in. No, I didn't take a picture of the muslin. I was too lazy to put a zipper in after deciding that I didn't like a jewel or scoop neckline on me. I need a V or boat neck, and I didn't like the fabric I used either. I know all you guys care about is how did it fit?

Well, it actually fit pretty fine except for being long in the armsyce and wide in the chest. The shoulder was fine, the neck too, as well as all the circumferences. The dress just wouldn't have photographed well at all anyway, so you don't get to see any of that first dress. However, I remeasured and found that my measurements needed tightening up. The pattern drafting measured out to what I'd given them, except underarm to waist. I submitted a measurement there of 11.5". They drafted it shorter at 9.75. I remeasured myself and found that measurement needed to be 10". I am very glad they recommended I remeasure all waist point measurements going up and down, or I wouldn't have caught that.

I called them and told them the problems, and submitted the new measurements. They are going to re-draft the dress, and call me if anything looks wrong. I went ahead and bravely ordered another 6 patterns!! Am I nuts or what? No, just an everyday patternoholic. They were on sale at $80 for any 6, with free shipping. That means I paid $13.33 per pattern. That is less than most independants, so I think I got a good deal.
Here is what I ordered.

As excited as I was that Simplicity is partnered with Unique, I didn't order any Simplicity designs! See the first design, the jacket with the flounce? Its a New Look. I think that one could be made with a western flair, using lace and ribbon. But what skirt? Godets or more flounce? I have no idea of what kind of skirt would complete that silhouette. I'm open to suggestions. The patterns should be here within a month - that is what they promised at the sale. So, I could do the skirt first, jacket last.
The princess dress was going to be the wedding dress at first, and still could be, with a lacey bolero jacket. I am too indecisive, sigh.
At least I know there are super places on the net to get heirloom quality cotton and silk batiste and exquisite ribbon and lace. I also found Denver Fabrics has lots of bridal sewing tips as well as Western Wedding ideas! Too cool.

Too Sexy For My Hat

2007-01-17T15:37:00.000-06:00

Did I introduce you all to my fiancee? No? How rude of me. Here he is:

Yes, the shot is a little staged looking isn't it? I told him to get rid of the arrogant model look as he was trying on that suit, but he couldn't help it after seeing his sexy cowboy self in the mirror.
LOL!!!! Back to reality. That is the suit he likes, if he goes modern cowboy. Otherwise, he is considering the Wyatt Earp frock coat.

I have actually found some contenders for my own dress - at least a style I can live with. Sewing Diva Mary Beth over at the The Stichery is full of optimism and encouragement, and rallying the forces to help me make my dress. She is currently working on a formal of her own, and I'm surely going to follow along. I know I am going to learn alot. She's enlisting help to come up with a pattern akin to the Gunne Sax dresses of the 70's. Isn't she a doll? Even sent me links to Gatlinberg wedding planners. Mary Beth, you rock! There are some real McCoys online, but nowhere near my size. Even the Simplicity Gunne Sax patterns are waay too small.
Did anyone else near my age just lust for those Gunne Sax dresses in their youth? I wanted one soooo bad, but my mother thought they were overpriced. Although I don't like high necklines on me, they were quite beautiful, and oh so hippy-chick.
So, here are some examples of what I wouldn't mind wearing to a western themed wedding - in ivory of course. These dresses are acceptable. The first one is from an online Western store that is sending me a catalog. The last two are on ebay.

HERE is a link to this sellers ebay store, Romantic-Threads. Once there, go down to About the Seller on the left nav bar and browse down to see some of the knock out dresses they have done. There is a link to their website too.
But, what fun it would be to make one of these. I mean what could be so hard about sewing a little heirloom cotton to some lace, eh?

Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy

2007-01-16T19:18:00.000-06:00

When I mentioned to my my girlfriend that the groom says he is wearing a navy sport coat and khaki pants to our wedding, she immediately went to work on my behalf, looking at dresses online, and saying things in front of him like: "Oh this is pretty, but I'm not sure you can go this elegant if he's not wearing a suit." I thought, we are so smart! Did it work? Read on.
I gave him a kiss and asked him how badly would he mind getting a suit for the wedding. He said he knew that was coming, and yes, but here's the catch: If he has to wear a suit, then fine, but he wants a western style wedding!
Whaaaaa????? He actually went online and showed me the Wyatt Erp suit he wants to wear.
My first thought: Hey, I'm a sport - I've sat through Lonesome Dove and all the Clint Eastwood movies. I adore him in his cowboy hat and boots. I even got him a really nice western belt for Christmas one year, and no it wasn't the big buckle with his name on it.
My second thought: Oh no you don't. I'm not marrying Pa Ingalls. Or am I?

That one could also be known as The Schoolmarm Bride. But wait, there's more.

The Sweetheart Disaster, or Sexy Dale Evans Sans Fringe:

I'm sorry, little dress, that they did this to you. The belt, I mean.

Then there is always The Elvis, or Don't Be Cruel Dress:

Here we have The Cinderella Forever in Blue Jeans Dress. Get it? Wedding - forever? I just don't know what to say about this one other than it is really interesting, but I seriously doubt if I would pay $800 for a denim dress, no matter how fancy.

And lastly, The Mrs. Waggoner dress.

When we return, we're having a big steak BBQ for our friends and family - something we'd already talked about. Now I can go theme. Look at all the cute stuff I can buy now!!!

Here are some 3" cowboy hats for the table, and over there a boot candle. Too much.

The cake topper, and of course our photo in the western frame.

Still being a sport, I called one place where the western bridal wear was tamer. They are sending me a catalog. Nanflan's idea of going to Houston was a good one. But somehow I don't think we'll be going to Neiman Marcus for my dress.......

I am NOT the Mother of the Bride!

2007-01-15T22:00:00.000-06:00

I'm back..... and we've booked the wedding for the last week in April. Things have calmed down enough for me to finally get back to somewhat of a normal life. I think. We have someone at Mom's with her 3 mornings a week and that is helping a lot.

So I started the wedding dress search, since everyone I know has talked me out of trying to make my own dress. What's up with that I thought, they must think I'm less talented than I think. No, they realize how slow I sew and that I'll be sewing that last seam as my fiancee fumes in the car blowing the horn.
Not wanting a formal length gown, I went first to Macy's, Dillard's, and JCPenney. I would describe most of what I saw as black, red or royal blue polyester on crack. Everything from suits to dresses. All horrid holiday leftovers, or debutante and mardi gras ball dresses! Phooey! I knew to expect the polyester, but I thought that at least Dillard's would have some stunning suits. Figuring it must be the wrong time of year, I trudge over to the formal, bridal wear places.
There, they take one look at my 47 year old self and cart me off to the mother of the bride area where nothing comes in ivory, and it's all formal length. Cheesy, tacky embellishment abounds here. I patiently explain that I am a bride and would like something in ivory that preferably does not make me look like the grandmother of the bride. So they then have me browse the bridesmaid dresses, none of which come in ivory, but come in champagne, and make me look like a 47 year old frumpy bridesmaid at her much younger sister's wedding. Yes, I did try one on. But, being the bride and all, I'd rather not look like a bridesmaid.
I did have fun in David's trying on an actual brial gown though! I did feel like Cinderella for a moment and quite slim in this one:

My wedding advisor lady convinced me I should just go for a real bridal gown. I think the mutton wearing lamb thing is a valid concern, but she who wants me to purchase a $350 dress thinks not. "Oh NO - it's very slimming. We have 50+ ladies in here getting the whole shabang - veils and all. It's YOUR wedding and there are no rules anymore."
Okay, I can make my self look quite younger than I am with a good haircut and dye, 3 months of jogging and weights, and I am aware that for some folks there are no rules. Scarlett would wear it, now wouldn't she? After all, she (gasp) danced in her black mourning attire to the shock of all the other ladies. Isn't that part of what I love about her???
But I digress, and snap back into reality. This is a destination wedding. At 4pm, in a chapel with no attendants. It will take me longer to get into the dress than it will to take the vows. Sigh. I just need a simple yet elegant ivory dress or suit, and one that I can try on for goodness sake, not order over the internet and have to return. I'd go to New Orleans even to search. Oh, but that's right, not many of the boutiques that cater to what I'm looking for are back in business. But, Go Saints!

Back to the drawing board.

Why I'm not Around! Not just holiday business....

2006-12-11T12:11:00.000-06:00

It's been a while I know. I did get the black pants done, of course just hours before I was due at our company Christmas party. That will be the last thing I'll sew for an indefinite period. We think my Mother has Alzheimers.
I won't go into any detail, because I need to honor her very private nature. But, it's been pretty time consuming. At first there was just the typical "old age" memory loss, but now we've seen a huge drop off in a matter of 2 months. My sister lives in Houston and does everything she can to help me from a distance.

So, I don't know when I'll get back to any sewing. I can't even conceive of having a spare moment to tend to personal stuff for myself, much less sew anything! But it's all okay. If you knew how much road running and stuff my Mother has done for me with my kids over the last 19 years, well, you'd know that I owe her big time! This is the least I can do is be there for her and take the best possible care of her.
Getting married and moving will be something that we'll have to cross when we get there. We're not going to plan any trip to Gatlinberg now. We'll probably just do a justice of the peace wedding. No bigggie- we can always do the vow renewal thing in Gatlinberg later on.
I've seen her family doctor, and notified him of all the symptoms and such, and we're bringing her in right after Christmas, and he has agreed to tell her she cannot drive any longer. Right now, we're using any excuse possible to keep her off the roads. She has tear duct surgery on her eyes Jan 2, so after that she'll need more tests like an MRI done to make sure she's not having strokes.

Next week a family member will go there in the mornings 4 days a week to take her where she needs to go. She'll fuss, but as long as I assure her it's because we love her and all that, she usually agrees. We'll stay with that arrnagement for a while, and see what happens. When I move, we'll probably need to move to plan B and get professional staffing in there.
Wish me strength!

Santa Baby.....

2006-11-24T20:53:00.000-06:00

Santa baby, just slip a new machine under the tree for me --- been an awful good girl, Santa Baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight!
Santa baby, I want an electric airlift sewing table, and that's not alot -- been an angel all year......
Well I am getting the next best thing - a cutting table! Yeeessss! Don't need to link to a picture - you all have seen it thousands of times, the Sullivan hobby table that Joanns and Hancock's sells. My Santa Baby was at Hancocks this morning picking it up for $60.00. What a guy.

Me and DD did Black Friday and I think once again it was worth it. I got NOTHING personal this year - all gifts. DD however, came home with 11 articles of clothing, underwear and jewelry for very very little. One of these sweaters was the $30 cashmere sweater from Old Navy. I got my sister one too.

We went to JCPenney and Macy's as well, and got nice free gifts with purchases.

For the last couple of years, my fiancee has gotten his son's girlfriend a cheesy Walmart lotion pack - the $5 one. That is the kind of gift you give your 8 year old's new stepmother if you hate her. The 8 year old thinks it's great, and when the ex calls to ask what were you thinking, you blame it on the kid. To make a long story short, the son's girlfriend has not done much better herself, but we won't go there. So, since my bitch is worse than my bite, so I went to Bath & Body Works for her gift. I got all sorts of free stuff, and the best part is that I get to keep some of that for me since there aren't any other women to buy for.

Today Santa Baby is doing the lumberjack thing. He's helping a friend cut up a fallen tree. His reward is firewood. I went to help him and only regretted not bringing the camera for that axe in hand shot. He's really pretty good at it - and was so happy that he was not breathing as hard as his friend.

On another sewing note: here is what happens when you leave a pair of black pants on the table for over a week, and you have a cat. EEEEWWWW!!!!

Sewing Checks!

2006-11-21T10:41:00.000-06:00

CHECK THIS OUT I'm sure many of you already have sewing checks, but I didn't. My DD started it all by insisting I needed cooler checks. Mine are on yellow safety paper. My whole life of course is dull to her. If I went into the bank and looked through all the books I'd likely find a little sewing machine icon I could put on my checks, but actually I don't want to appear juvenille in the bank.
Me: "Hi, I have nothing better to do but come in here and personalize my checks - like, they're so boring on yellow safety paper. So, could I look in all the books for some, like, sewing checks?" I think the last time I ordered scenic checks was in 1988 or something. For sure when you get married you usually leave them behind. Who uses checks nowadays anyway? Clerks in the stores hate for you to write a check. More work for them. I'm waiting for the day for cash or credit card only. No checks allowed.
I'm ordering 200 checks, and probably won't use 70 before I get married and change accounts. DBF will certainly not want sewing checks, so I guess I'll enjoy them while I can, and drive all the clerks nuts.

The Wedding Belle Dress

2006-11-17T14:22:00.000-06:00

I'm still looking for the ball pictures. You have to see the full length pics to really see the costumes. I'll find them soon.
After a week full of repairing jacket zippers for my fiancee' and skirts for my little mother, I'm back to my own stuff. The Simplicity pants await me for tonight. Another evening with a big glass of wine and my machine!

I've decided that we'll go to Gatlinberg to get married the week of April 28th through May 5th.

Here are some wedding dress contenders:

So, there they are. In addition to the OOP Sandra Betzina dress I referenced below. That one I am making up in a black poly crepe soon just to test it. Of course, I'm sure Vogue will come out with more lovely designs in the spring that will sweep me away. While I would love the filmy chiffon type stuff, I am not sure I want to fool with that. I need easy, and most of these seem to fit that pretty well.
I am leaning toward a sleeveless dress with a jacket, not full length, but immediately below the knee which is my best spot. The Vogue 8188, the third one above, is my favorite right now for it's sheer simplicity. All I would have to do is get in on a fabulous fabric like This one, from a designer. The fabric is labeled on EOS as normally being over $100/yd, and they sold it for $45/yd. But, of course I missed it. No loss though, I want a whiter white, not ivory.

Okay, so I've decided: simple pattern and fabulous embroidered fabric. Maybe I'll have my hair professionally colored before hand to assure no reds peeking through. And, I'll bleach the living daylights out of my teeth.

Big Ole Pants Pattern

2006-11-14T11:11:00.000-06:00

I was reading Debbie Cook's blog, and she's been debating weather or not to sew the new Sandra Betzina pants pattern.

Me too, and I've decided against it for now. After being alerted to the pattern possibly being sort of on the large side, thanks to some PR reviews, I took it out and started comparing and measuring it.
Holy Moley, Batman! It is on the large side.
Beware if you are a flat butt like me. I compared it to her classic, been around forever trouser pattern. The trousers are touted as being semi-fitted, and the new one as fitted. But, the new one is larger than the classic trousers - everywhere. I had to do the waist and crotch line measurements twice to make sure I wasn't losing it. Then I compared it to my favorite altered Simplicity pattern.
The new SB pattern is over an inch wider at the crotch line than the trouser pattern at size D, and two inches wider than my trusty Simplicity pattern. Now, understand that the Simplicity has been altered already for my flat behind, as documented below. (The SB trouser pattern I compared it to is a new pattern I have not yet altered. I've sewn those before and loved them, but the pattern got destroyed.)

As for the waist, well the Simplicity had been altered to be larger in the waist so I can put some elastic in there, and it actually has a bit more room than I really wanted after all. Guess what? It’s just slightly larger than the waist on the SB size E! WOW. That puts the SB pattern somewhere around 40 inches. I would show pictures of this, but it wouldn't be very obvious. The new SB pattern has all the A-J lines, and the old one doesn't. You just have to trust me. So, for now, it's on hold. I think it would be interesting to morph the contour waist onto another pair of pants, though.

A TECHNIQUE FOR THE FLAT BUTT LADIES LIKE ME:
On the Simplicity, I used this approach I found in the Fit For Real People book on decreasing sleeve width, only I used it to decrease the width at the back leg of the pattern. With a firm fabric I get horizontal folds. A drapey fabric typically gives me vertical folds in the rear – handfuls of it. I also use Debbie's adaptation of the fish eye dart, which works great too. This is actually sort of a combination of the fisheye and a vertical tuck. But, if you try to do too much, it will throw the pattern off - so I would not recommend overlapping more than a half inch, for a total intake of one inch in either direction.

I slashed the pattern vertically at the crotch line to but not through the seam allowance lines, and horizontally right down the middle of the back leg starting below the darts almost to the hem line. I then overlapped all these edges where they meet in the middle of the back pant leg, both horizontally and vertically too. This means the alteration tapers to nothing at the top, bottom and side seams, and only the area needed gets tucked in. You will have to redraw the grain line. I always leave a large wedge at the top of the center back waist, and cut off what I don’t need after fitting, so that area was not an issue.

I have some black stretch poplin laid out on the cutting table, and I’m going to cut new Simplicity pants. I love this pattern, as it has no zipper, and buttons at the pocket. I even slashed down the center front from the top to the hem, spread it out about ¼ inch, and with that, they were more trouser like in the front. There are no front darts, and no belt loops. My pattern is so beat up now, so I am glad I bought a new one. I think the stretch woven will work out fine. This pattern is so easy, if not the most fashionable. Great basic pants for throwing a sweater or jacket over. I notice that it is no longer on Simplicity’s website, but I am sure it’s still in the catalog.

You might be a redneck if.....

2006-11-12T08:28:00.000-06:00

Okay, true confession time. DD thinks the bear is cute and I'm being a mean snob just because his ex gave it to him. She pointed out that if her Dad gave us something she wouldn't want her new stepdad making fun of it. Okay, okay, how can I argue with that? Classy girl for a 14 year old.
So, to redeem myself, I'll fess up. I truly believe most folks living below the Mason Dixon line have a least some
redneck in them, no matter how upper crust they think they are. And, trust me, I know I'm no longer upper crust. My parents were, but I left that distinction behind a long time ago. Upper crust now is defined by $$, and I don't have much of that right now. I do have a nice house in the garden district, though.
So, anyway here are my own personal redneck qualifications, based on a CD which I proudly admit I listen to: Gretchen Wilson. I tend to forget Jeff Foxworthy's jokes, except for the one "You might be a redneck if you've ever worn a tube top to a funeral". I have actually seen that.

1. I DO know every word (well almost) to every Charlie Daniels song.
2. I am positive at some point I have stood in my front yard barefoot with a baby on my hip.
3. Yes, I say "hey ya'll", (but who from the south doesn't?)
However, I do not say yee haw, nor have I ever kept my Christmas lights on on my front porch all year long, although my ex would have, had I let him.

Lastly, I staunchly refused to be a debutante. I went into a rebellion phase with it all.
It's so true that a southern woman can marry up, but NEVER marry down. When "the crust" around here thought I'd married down, they promptly kicked me out of the Mardi Gras Krewe to which I belonged. Membership is a sought after thing around here. You know you've "made it" when you get admitted. I was probably admitted because I had "royalty" in the family from another Krewe - my Dad and sister had both served as King and Queen of another local Krewe. Yes, they really do refer to themselves as Mardi Gras royalty - this Mardi Gras stuff is serious
business! If you've ever been king of one, you have a flag you hang out on your porch to let all the little folks know that royalty resides here.
Mainly they probably admiited me because they knew I'd work on the ball, and the one I joined wasn't as upper crust as they would like to think, actually. I didn't get an invitation to renew the year after my marriage, and when I checked on that, was given an extremely lame excuse about someone overhearing me saying I wasn't planning to join up again. EXCUSE ME?? We all said that the night of that ball!!
Yep, that is when I decided I didn't want to be part of that sort of crust anyway. Sad for DD cause she really wanted to be able to be a princess in one of them. I'm hoping that my Aunt and Uncle will still be members when DD comes of age, and she can be in the same one all of us were in. That would be cool, and allow DD to feel important.
But, getting back to the redneck stuff -- like Gretchen, I "don't need no designer tag to make my man want me!" Heh heh. But, on that note, perhaps I should be hitting that treadmill about now........

PS: I will dig up photos of "the royal family" and post them so you can see how fabulous the costumes were. That way, I'll be getting more back on topic with sewing related stuff.

The Bear and Other Negative New House Stuff

2006-11-09T10:08:00.000-06:00

Yes, indulge me while I enjoy my whine and cheese party.

I can't help it. It's times like this that the Southern Belle in me, the one who occasionally likes to use the real silver and crystal shows up. Nope, I'm sorry I'm just not that redneck. Can't endure the bear. Hopefully, I can just slyly move it into the garage sale junk pile at my house soon. Get this - his ex-wife
brings him this as a moving present. She attaches his son's name to the gift so he feels obligated to use it. I call it any excuse at all to.... no, I'm going to shut up and be nice. Whew. Wonder if she's gonna get us a wedding gift?

Here is a photo of the view from my future backyard which is actually blocked by some trees, but nevertheless it's nice and quiet and empty back there. Not for long. A new development of 182 acres is coming next year. Yes, over 300 single family lots, and about 300 more apartments, live-works and townhome units. Yes, the lots are very tiny. Very, very tiny.
There will be a Health club and community swimming pool - wetlands parks -- (all amenities only open to the residents of course). There will be a retail market center, and, only 2 major outlets in this HUGE development. So, of course they plan to connect our currently "no outlet" subdivision to this monstrosity, so that the residents who don't want to navigate the sloooow, pedestrian friendly, curvy streets of this place can come speeding down our street to avoid the red light lines. We were told that the fire dept is requiring the streets to be connected, but it will be gated, only to be opened by the fire dept. Later, it can come to a vote as to weather or not the gates stay open. Gee, I wonder how that vote will go?

Speed bumps are not an option. We have ditches (shallow as they are), so the gov't can't put the bumps down because idiots will swerve to avoid them, land in the ditch and sue the town and the property owner as well. At least we do have the beginnings of a subdivision association now. That will make us all feel better, that we maybe tried to do something.

More on sewing stuff coming tomorrow.

Charmeuse and Shantung and Crepe, Oh My!

2006-11-01T14:13:00.000-06:00

And chiffon, organza, dupioni, maletasse, stretch silk, -- you name it. If it has any use possible in bridal sewing, Thai Silks sent it all for $16! I could make a small quilt with these samples. The heavy weight (40 mm) crepe is pure luxury. Check out these crepes, jacquards and dupioni:

There are more that blogger just doesn't want to upload, no matter how small I make them.
I am exploring wedding dress possibilities. We're going to go to Gatlinberg TN to a small chapel in the mountains to exchange vows. No family, just us. Still, I want a nice dress since I'll be having pictures taken. I was thinking suit but when I asked DF what he thought he said a dress. Here is the dress I'm considering. It's OOP now, but I looked over the details last night, and as usual it looks like good instructions and lots of good tips from Sandra Betzina.

I have some very nice quality lightweight black polyester crepe that I could use for the muslin. No cape, not my style. Just the dress on the left. I could make this in a silk crepe, or one of those jacquards and add some beading for effect. I dread cutting it out more than sewing it up. I'm definitely starching the crap out of it and pinning it to paper before cutting with a rotary cutter (the polyester version that is). SB actually recommends a lightweight fusible interfacing. Perhaps touch o gold? I think I'll underline it with soft organza. If you underline, that makes dealing with the skirt hem a little easier. You could use fusible thread in the bobbin, turn it up and press, then one more line of stitching for a narrow hem. I'm considering the hand sewing class at PR with Susan Khaje.

Red, Red, Wine - a Perfect Sewing Night

2006-10-30T13:02:00.000-06:00

Here is a picture of an almost perfect sewing night: Your favorite color silk dupioni on the machine, and a glass of red wine sits next to it. There is more where that came from of course. You are all alone, not a child in sight, not even a husband or boyfriend. The house is clean enough, and all the laundry's done. Why is this almost perfect? Because the only thing that would make it the perfect sewing night would be someone else across the table, also with red wine and sewing machine! And I deserved every minute of it. I'd spent $30 on a Halloween costume (gothic Raggedy Ann) that she decided didn't look right (no returns). The night before the party I'm trying to convince her to just use her future step dad's referee stuff and go as a cute referee. No, no no says she. I get a call Friday afternoon at 3pm. URGENT! I want to be a referee after all, could you go to the new house and get the shirt, socks, hat, etc? Please, mommie? Of course darling, Mom is always there to do the princess' bidding, isn't she? Well, it was worth the trip out of my way, as I think she looked quite cute!

So with DD safely away at a non alcoholic event, this was my Friday night. I enjoyed it immensely, even the understitching!
Okay, here is the outcome:

It's the Sandra Betzina asymetrical top I talked about in an earlier post, minus buttons. I know I hate pics with the head cut off too, but honestly, I have an incredibly goofy look on my face. DD hates it - the whole thing - style, fabric, everything. The color is brighter here than in real life. It's garnet, with black cross dye. I can't decide on buttons and will probably wind up doing self cover, or solid black if I do buttons at all. I too am unsure if this washed dupioni was right for this top without having been interfaced. I'm having some wrinkle issues with the upper chest - like it's too wide. Of course these wrinkles are not there at all in the mirror, only in picutres.
While I love the style of this top and it's slenderizing effects, I am just not sure. It would probably help if I didn't feel really big lately. Time for the diet and treadmill! Seriously. NO MORE bellyaching. I'll Just Do It. Really. Yeah!

Waiting for a Unique experience

2006-10-26T13:33:00.000-05:00

HERE is a link to the currently 84 Simplicity patterns that are available at the Unique website right now. I didn’t check out the New Looks yet.

Let me start with the most intriguing thing I read in the Unique literature sent with my package. I’m paraphrasing here:
There will be about 6 locations in the USA opening at some future time where you can just go into a Joann’s Fit Place and get scanned and wait while your pattern prints. But, get this: the newsletter also talked about how they are working on technology where you will get scanned, select your pattern and wait for it to print out NOT on paper, but directly onto fabric which you have designed yourself. I have no idea of what that entails.
Anyway, the main differences between the European Cut and Unique measurements are like this example:
The full bust: In European Cut, you take CB to side, then side to CF. In Unique, you take the front bust, side to side, and then the full bust.
Unique has you take measurements all the way down the body, from 2 to 12” below the hip. We were at my knees by that time! You also take full thigh, knee, calf, ankle and instep measurements. You take hand measurements as well. They include a plastic tube, which you tape around the underarm against the shoulder point. Very useful, but no butt or bust bridges here - just tape and mark the bust points, side seams, neck edges, shoulder point, and several inches down from the hip. You use the 1/4’ elastic for the waist, and you put it where you want to wear it – NOT parallel to the ground like in European Cut. Everything else is parallel to the ground, though.
They encourage you to send a photo front back and sides of yourself in a form fitting outfit. You are given a table to check for the following figure situations, with illustrations on what each look like – again, very helpful:
Forward head, fwd shoulders, protruding abdomen, protruding flat or average seat, scoliosis, one hip or shoulder higher or lower, knock knees, swayback. Many others I’m not listing – you get the picture. You are asked to asess your body type, as in hour glass, cylinder, triangle, etc. I am a cylinder of course.
The one thing that concerned me was NO upper bust circumference measurement, but they do ask what your bra size is. Otherwise I was impressed with the measurements and questions asked about my figure. There are 36 or so measurements with European Cut and 48 with Unique.

There was a regular newsletter included, and one special for newbies. They explained what “fabric fitting” is and how important it is, and familiarized me with other stuff as well. The patterns are promised to fit from the envelope, but they warn about inacurate measuring and give tips on that, and also warn about fabric differences. You are told to pin fit after cutting out with each new fabric. This seems reasonable to me. There was a helpful article on sewing collars and stands without bumps from Kathy Ruddy.
There is a line drawing of the first free pattern I'm ordering. I think this type dress will tell me where I made measuring mistakes. It might be very interesting to order my favorite Simplicity patterns (my favorite pants are offered), and see how different the Unique pattern is from the original Simplicity that I altered myself. But, should I bother spending all that money to compare and no one will really care?

Since doing European Cut, I can see where it’s so easy to make major measuring mistakes. I would not want to guarantee a pattern to fit right out of the envelope for Ms. Newbiesewer and she is taking her own measurements! I’d like to do the bodyskanner at some point, but have no plans to go to Dallas right now. The other locations should be listed at The Fit Place.

No, I'm not associated with Unique or European Cut for that matter. I’m just a pattern-o-holic who has to try every kind of pattern that comes along. I’m currently eyeing Garment Designer too. I do love to overwhelm myself don’t I? Well, at least this Unique thing should make things easier. If it works. With less and less time for sewing looming in the months ahead, I need all the help I can get.

European Cut part two, complete with pictures - YIKES!

2006-10-24T11:40:00.000-05:00

Here is the sewing table I want. I am purchasing this or one just like it as soon as my house sells. This is a wedding gift to myself, as well as a reward for not only delving into the world of slopers/pattern drafting, but for making the ultimate sacrifice to the sewing community: pictures of me (weighing the most I've weighed in a while), in a sleeveless bodice sloper, for all of you to look at, complete with faint images of my bra underneath:

Now you know I wouldn't do this without purpose. Gee I used to be a cylinder but I'm heading toward barrel!! I want any and all comments on the wrinkles. You can click on the pics to enlarge them. The only one I'm really concerned about is the V wrinkle in the chest. Could that be due to square shoulders and the sloper is too sloped in the shoulder? Or not wide enough across the shoulders? Ms. Allemong says the thing is supposed to only have breathing room, NOT like commercial pattern slopers which have wearing ease built in. You are not supposed to be able to even sit in it. I know I couldn't. Fat spreads. I'd pop those darts and side seams, and burst through the velcro!.
Anyway let me share a few more tips I picked up along the way sewing this sloper:
1. If you are doing the try on alone, sew velcro to the fronts. This thing is just like Ms. Allemong says: it will seem too small at first. I couldn't get it to meet in the CF at all by myself. Perhaps it is too tight I don't know. I'm sending Ms. Allemong these pics and see what she thinks!
2. Don't let anyone who is disinterested or in a hurry do your measurements, and do them twice. Do them, have some lunch, go to a movie, and then do them again. Beware if you hear what I heard as my fiancee did the job, "Oh, well, I guess, um, let's see, uh, we'll call this one, uh, uh, maybe 20 inches?" I appreciate him so much, and you know I have to trust him, he knows too much now!
3. Every measurement is important - everyone of them. However, some of the most important ones that affected my sloper were side length (underarm to waist) shoulder slope front (shoulder point to waist), front chest width (crease to center front).

Now, I can't wait to refine this a bit more, and learn how to use it to adjust some commercial patterns or draft some simple ones.

Did I mention I'm also doing Unique patterns? HA, surprise!! I ordered the manual measurement kit, being that I'm already having to do them. I got it in and did the measurements this past weekend. Tomorrow I will talk about the differences in the two measuring systems, and just tell you some other things about that. Stay tuned.

Pwoject Wunway

2006-10-19T09:36:00.000-05:00

I love Heidi Klum - and the way she says the title of the show. My plan was slopers last night instead of watching Project Runway. Who was I kidding? All I got done was the back bodice. I could have done the front too if I hadn't been rushing, and had to redo it not once but twice. Here is the rough draft - I have to trace this now, eliminating any of the unecessary lines. You can click the photo to enlarge it.
More on this later, after I sew it up.

I didn't know Laura was sort of a home-girl, growing up in New Orleans. She did get a taste of her own medicine at the end though, didn't she? I laughed when Michael Kors seemed amazed that she did all that beading herself, by hand.
Well, I felt so bad calling Michael's line ghetto fabulous, but it seems I wasn't the only one. I loved his work during the season, but I think the judges were spot on in saying he just needs to mature. He could easily wind up being the most successful designer of the 4 if he is this talented at 28!
On a personal note, I have to admire Jeffrey. This guy was abused as a child, and then lifted himself out of the drug and alcohol gutter to raise a son and use his talent. My hat is so off to him - especially the attitude towards his son. We humans usually repeat the mistakes of our parents. It takes tremendous guts and effort to NOT do that.

DD is one 14 year old who does not mind being unglamourous if she'll get a laugh. She's informed me that she must have a Haloween costume by next Saturday night's party. She thought of being a horror-cowgirl. My idea would never go over in her crowd, as the "sewing, and Project Runway is hip" thing has not reached our neck of the backwoods yet, but I think we should make some really outlandish outfit, complete with rosettes, unfinished hems, and all manner of tacky embellishments and call her a Pwoject Wunway Weject.

My Cup Overfloweth

2006-10-17T15:14:00.000-05:00

My cup overfloweth with projects, meetings, and appointments! I hope to get back to the slopers tonight. I did some remeasuring and decided to start over. I think the drafting will go much faster the second time around, and I can sew them up by Friday, posting pics of me modeling them by Saturday. Taking the pics will probably take longer than the sewing! I know Elizabeth wouldn't approve of me taking so long, but life happens. Me, have a whole evening and next day all to myself to just measure and sew, measure and sew?? NEVER!
I am taking off work Friday to take DD to the dentist and have some routine blood work done. Then, she is off to her Dad's for the weekend. I should have the whole afternoon and evening to myself! My fiancee likes me to come to the new house to spend the weekends when DD is with her Dad, and he likes me to come Friday night, even though he doesn't get in from his game till after 10pm. I might just tell him I'll see him Saturday instead so I can just get these slopers done!
Of course I'm doing all this work, yet plan to try to lose some weight as well. Not just for the wedding, but, I feel like I've gotten huge here lately. I'm uncomfortable in most of my clothes. Well, at least my bone structure won't change, and maybe if I lose weight I can just gradually adjust the slopers.

When Deepika, owner of PatternReview, requested moderators for the message boards, of course I had to volunteer, and have accepted that responsibility. Thankfully, the tips and techniques podcasts I do for PR are almost all caught up, so that will free up some time, until we start doing some other more exciting things via podcasting. I'm not at liberty to say, but it'll be fun and more interesting than tips.

PROJECT RUNWAY: Did Jeffrey get aufed is the big question, but I doubt if I get to see the results on TV since I'll be too busy working on my sloper tonight. Jeffrey's collection is showing at the .New York Times Fashion Week site , along with Michael, Uli and Laura. (may take a minute to download but runs fast after that). I really loved all of the collections this time, except most of Michael's. That disappointed me, really. The shiny urban hooker-ghetto look didn't work for me, but I really liked his work throughout the season. Uli was my favorite judging just on my initial reactions to each photo as it popped up. But, I LOVE color. All the collections were great for the crowd for which they design.

European Cut, Louisiana Lady

2006-10-16T11:52:00.000-05:00

I took the plunge, and dove right into Elizabeth Allemong's European Cut.
We're doing a sew a long over on Patternreview, and HERE is a link to a review by Diva Georgene which is what encouraged me to purchase the book. HERE is another, more recent review, by Kathleen Fasanella.

I think this will be one of the best things I've ever done for my sewing education. Going through these motions really teaches you how all the points on your body come to be a pattern, and what measurements are used to determine the different pattern lines. Also, I can see the usefullness of a sloper now. Before, I didn't think it was that great of an idea. I guess I would have to disagree with Kathleen's discourse in the above linked review on how slopers are not very useful for the home sewer.
Elizabeth is right when she emphasizes the importance of accuracy. DBF took a couple of the measurements wrong, and it was apparent as I was drafting. Measure twice!. My shoulders are squared, not sloping. So, a quick check confirmed a 2" error on my shoulder slope measurement. A giantic bust dart appered out of nowhere. I've made enough bust cup adjustments to know that is not a normal dart for me. So, a check on measurement 10 confirmed that one was 2" off. That is a tricky one. Think of it as half of your usual underarm/upper chest circumference measurement - the one you use to determine your bust cup.

Doing the draft is not a hard thing at all. It's pretty quick, actually, with Elizabeth's superb instructions.
My personal observations so far, just from making the bodice slopers:
1. Don't skimp on making the bust and butt bridges - it's quite easy, and you could even use something else you have handy, like coat hanger wire. Floral wire is by crafts with the plastic flowers at Walmart.
2. Do use the graph paper to help keep things square, or use a large square quilter's ruler. You can find free one inch graph paper online HERE. I taped together 9 sheets, overlapping the lines, for each bodice piece.
3. Don't trace the back sloper onto transparent paper until you are done with the front too, and are satisfied. I didn't notice the shoulder slope issue till I was working on the front bodice, and had already traced the back in ink.
4. I did not make the compass, but she includes instructions on using two rulers instead.

Tonight I will finish the front sloper, and will post some pictures of what my final bodice patterns look like. Hopefully I'll get to sew up the bodice in muslin for a trial fit tonight. She does say that you'll need your helper back again to help smooth things out and tape then pin the front together. Perhaps DD will help me. DBF is unavailable except on weekends. Football season is here, with basketball on the horizon. He is at meetings or games every night. :(

Here is the funniest part. My fiancee came over to help me on Saturday. I warned my daughter so she would not crash into my room and be traumatized at the sight of him taking my crotch length measurement. She assured me she planned on staying far away, but asked if I was sure he'd still want to marry me after seeing me in my underwear! I told you 14 yr old girls are merciless.

Ghosts of Halloween Past

2006-10-12T09:24:00.000-05:00

I was never a Halloween costume Mom. I only made one costume, a poodle skirt for my daughter when she was 10. See the sidebar, it's in my pattern reviews. When she was little, she'd wear one of that years' dance costumes, and we'd do up the boys with makeup and torn clothes. We didn't have money to outfit 5 kids, but we did a good job nonetheless. Since it's that time of year, I had to share these. The one below is my favorite costume, a handmade costume from when my DD was 2. Her Godmother worked at a nursing home, and one of the kindly residents made this for her. Phooey on me for lending it out later and never getting it back. But, we do still have the pumpkin!

I can't exclude my son - he's the ghoul with the chainsawed arm. Having 3 step-sons, I have no idea which one was the masked man.

Here is my all time favorite DD picture. She's trying to create her own Halloween look. Letting girls play makeup at an early age has it's advantages. She was sick of the overdone look by 7 or 8. Now, at 14, she applies her makeup tastefully.

You are not leaving this house looking like that!

2006-10-10T15:17:00.000-05:00

14 year old girls are ruthless. Especially when it comes to what their mother's wear. I can't blame my daughter. There are days I wouldn't want to go anywhere with me looking like I do either. Last night we went to high school night to decide which Catholic high school she'll attend in our new town. I had to change before she'd allow me to take her. She saves me from myself on a regular basis.

This sort of fits in with my new life philosophy which I was working on in that first post. Diva Gigi suggested the ending to my "As God As My Witness" line be: "I'll never sew with lousy fabric again!" No more lousy fabric means that I'll probably be more careful about my pattern selections, and more careful sewing them, therefore looking better. Here is the latest project, a Sandra Betzina top which I've made before.

So I've taken out some dark red silk dupioni from Denver Fabrics to sew this. I washed it and it lost some sheen and gained some softness - just enough to make it more casual. I've sewn in the darts, CB and dolman shoulders/arms. The fabric is fragile, so I have to be real careful. I guess I'll pin baste the sides tonight and gingerly try it on.
I'm debating on what seam finish to use. I don't have the patience for enclosing all the seams in seams great or self bias binding. I could press the seam allowances to one side, trim the bottom one, fold the top over that, and topstitch them down. I may try that on the shoulder/arm and back seams. I'd gain some extra seam security. Not for the sides though, on Dolman - too much curve. I really don't want to serge the seams on this, or even serge finish the allowances. I have natural color thread in the serger, you see! Perhaps I should serge up the Loes Hinse Bistro Jacket in Oatmeal first since the machine is already threaded for that. Right now, sewing is keeping me from the impending interior painting that must occur before I can sell my house next summer.

About the high school night: Does there exist a Catholic school in this area with students who have both average grades AND are athletically impaired? Unbelieveable, but true! And it's close to the new house.
She is beloved by her present classmates and they are all doing their best to make me feel guilty for taking her away. They tell me that the class will never recover, nor the school be the same without her. My mother is sad because she would have been part of the 4th generation of our family to graduate from this school. Well, there are other cousins whose kids will make 5th generation eventually, so we weren't going to win a prize there. She told me that she hopes I am so wracked with guilt that I wake up at 3 am every morning sobbing into my pillow. I'm thankful the new school has a Drama department. Ah well, life is about change isn't it?
The school has a diverse population racially as well. The principal told us that the school does not prepare the kids for the real world - they'll be living in the real world at this school. There is a place for every sort of child from the below average to honors plus student.

Flat Bottomed Girl

2006-10-09T15:36:00.000-05:00

My butt is so flat it looks like I've slid down a sandpaper mountain. When I first downloaded the pics from my camera, I had to look hard to determine which was the back and which was the front views of me wearing these. Pitiful. I have no hips either. When I say "Do these jeans make my butt look big?" I am looking for a positive answer. NOT the one I know is usually the truth: No, you look like you have negative rear. You could get away with some thick Depends - no one would know, really."

Link To My Jeans Review
The review pretty much says it all. I love these. Yes, yes there seems to be a slight bit of muffin top going on there, but pants have to be snug on my waist or I could wind up looking like one of those teenage boys who think it's cool to wear their pants below their butt. My son tried that look. I stopped him by suggesting that I could hike my shirt to show his friends my new wonder bra.

A word about jeans:
Ahhh, Men's Levi's! They fit me so well when I was a teen. In the early 70's women's jeans could hardly be found. I was a 13 year old girl with a boys shape in 1972, and it never got any better. The girls jeans were all super low waist. I'm talking skanky low. My Mom wouldn't let me wear them. I knew girls who wore tops that snapped at the bottom, because you had to wear a tucked in top. If you didn't, there was no point to having them that low. You wanted to show off how low they were. You would have to shave or show hair to be able to wear a short top with these. The ONLY solution was a snap onesie type top that was swimsuit tight. Think Brittney in her super low rise days, only worse. I'm talking two button rise. I have no idea how they kept them up.

Then when waists started to rise, they rose so much that once again, I couldn't wear women's jeans. My waist didn't go that high. The jeans would button right below my boobs. Finding a good waist fit meant I'd look like clown butt with fabric saddlebags.
So, it was men's Levis for me. $11 back in 1975. Yeah, yeah so I'm old, but at least I'm not telling my kids how I walked to school uphill both ways, and was so happy for that priveledge.
So I've sewn myself some jeans. Took me what, 20+ years of sewing to do it. I feel so "Project Runway" as the fabric is from Mood in NYC!! I bought it on my one and only trip there, for Patternreview.com anniversary weekend, 2003. I doubt if I ever get to go back, sob, sob. My soon to be hubby wants us to do all trips together or not at all. NYC is so far removed from his idea of a vacation.... he's the rugged mountain man. Remember Crocodile Dundee in NYC?

When Life Hands You Green Velvet Curtains....

2006-10-06T14:05:00.000-05:00

When life hands you green velvet curtains, make a green velvet dress. Okay, I don't claim to have made that one up - the book is Scarlett Rules
My friend's mother took a bunch of us to see GWTW the first time. We were 12 and I will never forget my friend saying she didn't want to see any Gone With the Retarded Wind. We all sort of thought the same thing, but of course we're saying different on the way home. Seeing GWTW as a school field trip is a sort of a rite of passage in the south - at least when I was growing up. They would run it in the theatres here occasionally and you'd go as a class trip. They don't do that anymore of course. I'm sure it's considered too politically incorrect nowdays.

I wanted to be Scarlett. She broke all the rules and got away with it. Rhett left her but you somehow knew she was going to be just fine with or without a man. And it didn't hurt that she was Irish either. I also liked the sequel to it: Scarlett. The opening that portrays Scarlett taking care of an aging, dying Mammie? Well I about shouted and jumped up and down when I read that. YESSSS!!! Scarlett was a selfish bitch, but she was a bitch who had grown up and let life teach her some lessons by the second book. And, btw, read the books. The film is a classic and wonderful and all that, but the book is a real treat.

So anyway there is the introduction to my blog. Being Irish with dark hair, light eyes and from the South is about as close as I'll get to being Scarlett. I've never had an 18 inch waist, and never made a green velvet dress. The father of my children does think I'm a better mother than a cat. But, I do know how to turn on the charm when necessary and how to be a Southern Belle when I feel like it.

And, as God as my witness ---umm, let me work on that one. I just like the sound of it.