Stash Enhancement

I never used to enjoy shopping on line, but over the past couple of years I've not found shopping malls very satisfying, and I really don't have a lot of spare time to travel all over looking for things I need.  Or want.

Since about 2009 I've tried many mail order and on line sources for various products.  I do love Amazon for books and other 'hard goods', I've gotten used books for as little as $4 including shipping.  Hey, they read just as nicely as new books, right?  If shipping is free I consider it a bonus because I haven't used $4 a gallon gas to make a purchase, even though my car gets pretty decent mileage and I can sometimes stop on my way to somewhere else.

Yes, I do know the library is free, but there's that time thing.  Plus returning on time... that's a whole 'nother story!

The drawback is you don't always know what you're getting so you have to do your homework. 

Fabric shopping on line can be hard if you don't know enough about weights and fiber content, etc.  Then there's the tactile nature of sewing, fabric shopping is as much about feeling as it is about seeing.

Because in my area most of the fabric stores are quilt shops, which I do love but they don't carry much garment fabric, or they're chains which don't always carry the quality of fabric I want, I started checking out on line fabric stores.  Now if you're an American Sewing Guild member, you get a leg up on this!  Many on line vendors have been at various ASG conferences so you know the quality of their goods.  Many of them offer deals through the ASG web site, so you can try them out and help the Guild at the same time.

I have a couple of favorites... I love Vogue Fabrics in Chicago and will even sometimes take a road trip there.  I've gotten nice things at good prices from fabric.com too.  There are some others but those are my go-to defaults.

I was looking for some leopard print fabric that would be appropriate for a jumper or dress for Miss A.  I only found swimsuit fabric and fleece locally.  But fabric.com had some poly/cotton and some sweater knit so I ordered some.

Of course I also found a few nice pieces for doll skirts and dresses to go with the sweaters I've been knitting.

Here's what came yesterday:

Leopard and some camo, all knits.  The back one is a sweater knit, perhaps for Miss E or my daughter.

Cats and pink plaid are a nice weight of flannel, and the blue and yellow are cottons.

This one is mine, a nice weight of doubleknit for a spring top and there's enough for either a skirt or a cardigan too.

Such a fun time when I come home and there's a package for me!  It's like Christmas... with the added bonus that DH is becoming fast friends with the UPS man. LOL!

Now I need to get some of this prewashed and pick out some patterns.

Oh, did I say I won a pattern package from another blog, Sew Everything (link in my blog faves at right).  I'm pretty excited about that, I haven't statistically been lucky at winning things and it was such a pleasure.  Of course the odds were in my favor, not like the lottery.

New fabric, new patterns, now all I need is some vacation time.

Sew on...

Great Advice

I don't read newspapers much.  I glance at headlines and will read stories that are important or that grab my attention.  I read the local news and the comics and I do any available crossword puzzle.  Usually in ink but only because pencil smudges.

I DO read magazines, books and newsletters, especially the ones related to sewing.  Our American Sewing Guild chapter has a newsletter, plus if you're a member you can go on line and read the newsletters of the other hundred and thirty/forty-some chapters if you like. 

I read the newsletters from the magazines, stores, vendors and internet sites where I have registered.  Actually I am a voracious reader and will read nearly anything.  I read about a dozen books a month, and a gazillion emails.

At work we have a Chatter Digest that comes out daily.  Yeah, I know, but it IS something to read!  Sometimes it's full of useless information that doesn't apply to what I do, but every once in a while there is a nugget of gold buried in the drek.

Today was one of those days.

The title was Wear Sunscreen.  It references a column from the Chicago Tribune.  Now I don't even read my LOCAL newspaper all that much, so I would never have gone out looking for the Trib's column. 

Here's a link; go there and read it if you wish.  I think you'll find it good advice, well written.  There's more than just sunscreen, it's a great read.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-schmich-sunscreen-column,0,5909206,full.column

And if you're a sun god or goddess, here's more advice on sunscreen from the Vancouver Sun (appropriately named, huh?)

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Sunscreen+safe+summer/8572397/story.html

I guess the moral of the story is you can find anything if you will just read.

Sew on!

The Adventures of "E" -- Teaching Kids to Sew Part II

Oh my goodness... this has been in my 'draft' folder for almost a year!  Well, have a read and you can chide me for being a bad blogger. 

March 2012:

I had the opportunity to take some time off work while the grands had spring break.  E, my oldest grand wanted another sewing session.  I have blogged before about how she's learning to use the sewing machine.  We were guest bloggers on the American Sewing Guild blog, found here.

This time she wanted to learn how to use the embroidery machine. OOOOOO-kay... well, she's pretty good at threading the Viking so I thought we'd give it a shot.

She picked out a few spools of variegated embroidery thread to use.  We found stabilizer and some white-on-white cotton fabric.  I showed her how to hoop everything. 

She picked a one color design, since the thread color would change automatically.  Little sister thought watching the multicolored butterfly appear was very cool.  When the design was done E removed it from the machine and clipped threads.  Then she went on to pick another design and another thread color.  Much discussion ensued about what would look the coolest. 

Her first ever thread next!!

E did four more designs, including her initial in gold in a scroll-type font.  We talked about how to use these squares in a project.  She decided to make a place mat.  For a pattern she pulled a placemat from the linen closet.  



She is good a choosing complementing colors.



From the fat quarter bin she chose a lovely piece of blue plaid that coordinated with most of the embroidery thread she had used.  She used a scissors to rough cut a large rectangle for the center, and I finished up with the rotary cutter.  (I think rotary cutters are just a bit dangerous for a beginner, especially with a little sister running around!)  I also trimmed out the embroideries.

E took some time to arrange her embroidered squares in a pleasing layout, and assembled her place mat top.  Next we went to the ironing board.  Oh-oh!!  Even though we were being very careful, accidents sometimes happen, and she touched the hot iron with the back of her finger.  (2013 update:  she has since learned to use the iron without ironing her fingers...)

We took a break for some ice in a baggie for the burn, and had a beverage.  After the sting wore off, she decided that it was time to read a book for a while.  Mom came home and we stopped for dinner.

Next day we returned to the project.  E had chosen a white fabric with multicolored dots for a backing.  She pinned it up, and we discussed how to sew almost all the way around, leaving a whole for turning the project.  She remembered having done this way back when she made her little dog blanket last year, so she happily worked her way around the edges, pulling out the pins as she sewed, stopping to pivot at the corners. 

She turned it right side out without assistance.  Once it was turned, I pressed it.  Not wanting another burn, E declined another trip to the ironing board!  I showed her how to use the edge stitch foot to close the gap in the seam.  Voila!  This is one very lovely place mat!  And one happy grand, with a success in the sewing room.

Things to remember:

• It's fun to choose your own 'ingredients'.
• Build on previous knowledge.
• Don't be afraid to try something new.
• Accidents happen.  Be careful but be prepared.
• It's OK to take a break.
• Make it FUN!!
• Be proud of the finished product. 

Happy sewing!

Friday News...

If you're reading this early and the ASG blog hasn't updated yet, please go back a little later today.  Those of us who check EARLY in the morning sometimes beat the postings, but Samina at ASG promised it will be there today.  And E and I thank you for your interest in her progress!

I mentioned this week that it was Administrative Professionals Day on Wednesday.  I got a nice bouquet of flowers from one of the execs I support, and in the afternoon I received an email from Amazon.com Gift Cards that said

from the managers in the office for all your efforts every day making the office run smoothly.

So I went right out and bought a copy of Bonnie Hunter's book,

... which I have been lusting after and somehow never ordered.  Her books almost never go on sale anywhere.  Then I added



because if I'm getting one 'free' with my gift certificate, that is the same as getting two for one, or half off both!  I'm very happy and expressed my gratitude to Chuck, Kevin, Paul, Mike and Jim, a bunch of truly great guys to work for!  If you have to work outside the home, it's good to be in such great company.

Guest Blogging Friday

My granddaughter E and I are guest blogging this Friday on the American Sewing Guild blog again.

You can check us out at www.asg.org by clicking on the Blog icon in the upper left corner of the screen.  It's open to the public.

While you're over there you might want to check out the member benefits, and if you want to join you can do that right on line!  ASG has lots of great things going on, including meetings in a neighborhood near many of you, on line classes that come free with your paid membership, newsletters and quarterly publications, member discounts at lots of merchants, and the best national convention you will ever attend.  This year the conference is in Houston, Texas, which just happens to be the home town of ASG headquarters.

If you love to sew you should be a member of ASG!

Keep on sewing.

I'm Guesting on American Sewing Guild's Blog!!

Just wanted to let you know that today I'm a guest blogger on American Sewing Guild's blog!

I've been a member of ASG for a more than 14 years.  They have always been a great organization for those who love sewing.  They have a wonderful web site at http://www.asg.org/.

Recently they have made great strides in electronic communications. Available for members only from the web site are the Notions Magazine on line edition, chapter newsletters and FREE sewing webinars!  And this is at no cost once your membership fee is paid.  You can even join on line and pay your dues with a credit card!

My guest blog topic is teaching kids to sew, and my blog model is my oldest granddaughter, E.  We hope to make this a recurring appearance as she develops her sewing skills.

Check it out! If you do, please leave a comment there.  And my thanks go to Samina for her encouragement and assistance.

The Road to Tara

In July 2010 I attended the American Sewing Guild Conference and Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA. Wow, what a show! Almost 1,000 attended, and the teachers and presenters were among the best in the industry. Shirley Adams, from Indiana, a ground-breaker in the field of teaching on TV, was inducted into the Sewing Hall of Fame. Sadly she's retiring from the circuit, but I don't think we've heard the last from Shirley!

Many vendors come to Conference, showing off the latest and greatest in sewing tools. I picked up some shrinking thread, which actually helps to create puckers and tucks in fabric, making for interesting textures. I also bought some lovely wool, a few hand dyed horn buttons, and of course a couple of patterns and books.

A really special part of the trip was the tour I took on Monday to Jonesboro, GA. The site of a Civil War battle (or as the Sourherners say, the Recent Unpleasantness), there are many museums and memorials in Jonesboro. One is the Road to Tara Museum, dedicated to the film and book Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell. The other is a lovely Plantation called Stately Oaks.

At Stately Oaks in August, you can take the Victorian Mourning tour. The public rooms of the house are decked out for mourning as if there had been the death of a child in the family. The docents leading the tours area knowlegable in all phases of mourning in the Victorian era, which was approximatlely 1850-1905. After the regular tour, our group was treated to a southern style luncheon, and then a presentation from Miss Martha on 19th Century clothing construction. She is the acknowledged expert, helping to keep the Plantation's docents and re-enactors authentically garbed.

The dresses she made are made the same way a woman in 1864 would have done it. The seams are impecably finished inside and out. Bodices are lined, and 'underpinnings' protect them from touching the body. Believe me, if you took 30-40 hours of hand work to create a dress, you would not want it to be tossed into the washing machine! She showed us the inner construction techniques, and the hundreds of tiny Cartridge Pleats that gathered skirts and sleeves. Amazing work, considering the woman of the house would have done all this after her normal chores.

Underpinnings, and men's shirts

Had you lived in 1864, you would probably have had 3-4 dresses for every day and one for 'good' -- that is unless you were very wealthy and could hire a seamstress! But just like today, chances are your good dress would have been black.

I have a new appreciation for sewing machines, sergers and steam irons! Although I am making myself a vow to try to get more proficient in better seam finishes, so the insides of my garments look better, even if they never reach the stature of Miss Martha's work.