Sewing Women Are Awesome

If you are reading this blog because you read Rita Farro's blog, all I can say is THANK YOU and I am so blown away by Rita's generosity!  She is awesome in so many ways.

As you can read in my previous post, I won a sewing machine at Nancy's Notions Sewing Weekend Friday night YaYa Sisters event.

I know that the machine was from Babylock and Nancy's Notions, and suitable thank you notes are making their way to them at this time.  My mother always said writing thank you notes was part of our jobs as kids, and I continue that whenever possible. 

But it just seems so perfect to have won that machine at the 'hands' of Rita and Mary Mulari.

I have sewing sisters who meet on a regular basis like Rita does.  Mine meet on Friday nights at the home of one of my aunts (unless said aunt happens to be on a jaunt somewhere).  We have supported each other through loss and illness and celebrated with each other the birth of grandchildren and eaten cake for birthdays.  Girlfriends are true treasures.  If you don't have some, you can probably pick some up at a fabric store or yarn shop near you.  Really!

I like that Rita and Mary both appreciate that and encourage it.  And they both encourage sewing for joy and with love, regardless of your skill level.  And the more you do, the better you get at it.

My oldest granddaughter is the proud owner of the brand new Babylock machine I won last Friday.  She is 13 and a half, very creative, loves to craft and she knows how to sew.  She makes jewelry and wall art and is my best shopping buddy in fabric and craft stores. 

About two years ago or maybe more, she made a placemat using both my sewing machine and my embroidery machine.  She did it all herself.  We guest blogged on the American Sewing Guild blog.

 

She is always up for trying new things.  She tested all the fancy stitches on my machine on scraps of fabric just to see what they do, sometimes using pages from the telephone book to anchor her work because she thinks outside of the box.

This is one of my favorite things she's done, a fabric collage which she glued up on foam core and hung on the wall as artwork.

After I gave her the new Babylock, we went into the 'resource center' and kitted up a sewing box.  I believe in using good tools, so I gave her a nice pair of 8 inch scissors, a small pair of scissors, every size sewing machine needle I had, several spools of basic colors of thread, a box of quilters glass head pins, a box of finer pins, a pin cushion, various measuring tapes and small rulers, and a yard stick, among other things.

For her first project, she's making a pair of PJ bottoms with some cotton fabric she bought for that purpose (as in, she picked out, I paid for and I was supposed to sew!) the last time we were at our local quilt shop.  Black with spider webs... very cool.

I also let her pick out a whole stack of five inch squares from my scrap bin so she can practice her straight seams.  I cut scraps of quilting fabric into usable sizes rather than keeping big piles of miscellaneous stuff.  She is excited to be able to come away from the practice sewing with a potential quilt top!

Passing all this on to a new generation is invigorating and inspiring.  I can't wait to see what she does.  Whatever it is,  I will love it!  I hope to channel my great aunt Mary, who always emphasized the positive when she was teaching me sewing, and never made me feel like I'd done something terrible if I made an error.  She's say "OK, how should we fix that?" and fix it we would, or find a work around, or even start over.

That's what I love about Rita Farro and Mary Mulari... they make you feel like you can do it.  Whatever it is, try it.  If it doesn't work the first time, try again, or reach out for some help because chances are, one of those girlfriends will have an idea.  And Nancy Zieman too is always there, 24-7, on the internet, ready to help.   They are a big part of what makes the sewing industry so special.

Not to mention YouTube, where you can find so much good stuff.

If you're in a sewing funk, having stitcher's block, not inspired or not motivated, I highly recommend getting together with some sewing friends, and sharing what you know.  Put the fun back in!

Oh, and share your stash/resource center.  You'll never use it all in your lifetime anyway...

Sew on!

Getting Ready for the Craft Fair Season

A little while ago I asked the question 'where did the summer go?'  I'm starting to PANIC!!

I made a deal with a couple of friends to go into three craft fairs this fall.  Three!!  OMG What Was I Thinking?? 

OK, they're in three different months.  There is some space between them.  I made a rule for myself, one day fairs where the cost to me would be below $50.  You have to sell a lot of $5 items to make that back and show a profit....  And no driving many miles to get there, it has to be in the counties touching the one I live in.  I can't/don't want to add the cost of a hotel room to the mix.

Good plan, right?  And the first one isn't until October.

October!  It's almost September now!

I checked my doll clothing stock.  I have been doing things all along but I put it all in a box and don't think about it again.  Well I guess I'd better start thinking about it!

I put some things up on the design wall, in outfits.  The girls and their moms/grandmoms want things that go together.  I learned last year that you can't just lay out the jeans and tops, you have to put them in sets. 

I need some kind of top to go with that blue and white skirt on the bottom.



The aqua and green striped top, the green top and one pink top came from discarded adult tee shirts.

This is a portion of what was in the box from spring and summer.

I added some other things....



The denim skirt is made from the leg of a pair of jeans worn out by my DH.



I made these patterns up as I went along... wish I had made some notes!



Dresses can be made from scraps, they just take a quarter of a yard each.

These and a few other pieces are all done... I have to sew some tops for the multiple number of jeans and denim skirts I made.  I have multiples of the white pants and skirts too.

I was digging in my stash of tee shirt knits, I need to supplement with some pastel colors, specifically pink and blue plus maybe yellow.  The pajama pants need some tops.  I made some adorable zebra fleece hats and scarves but didn't take pictures. 

My friend Carol and I are working on a plan... our color scheme is pink-purple-aqua-bright green, with denim and red tossed in for good measure.  She's making some things, like robes and aprons, and I'm making others, like the tee shirts and pajamas.  Hopefully when we get together to take inventory, we'll be working on the same plan!  She's working independently so we haven't compared notes yet.  Fingers crossed!

I am a little worried that after the October fair, I'll need to restock and there are only three weeks between that one and the one we're doing in November.  So I'm cutting out huge stacks of basic things like denim skirts and white tee shirts, and I'll keep sewing until it's all done.  Or until I get sick of it?? 

My youngest grand has her eye little on the black and white knit dress in the picture at the top, and this sweater...

I'd make another one, but the reason it has three colors in it is that I ran out of the main color after partway through.  In my sizable yarn stash I have many things that were close, but not close enough!  So I frog stitched it back to half of the yoke, added the other colors, and used the tiny bit that was left over for the base of the hat.  I guess I could do one with different shades of peach or maybe pink and give her this one for Christmas!

I asked my sewing grand if she'd be willing to help me... maybe she could sew some simple pieces like pants, or do hems or something.  She's thinking it over.  I guess she's not motivated to earn any extra cash right now!  But she did offer to make some doll jewelry...  we'll see.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... I wish making clothes for myself was this easy!

Sew on...

Vacation Projects

I took last week off at work, hoping to get some projects done and some errands run.

Here was my list pre-vacation:

Road trip to Vogue Fabrics in Evanston for pants fabric
Sew some pants for myself from acquired fabrics
Renew passport
Stock up trip for beauty supplies (I'm out of shampoo, etc)
Lunch with the aunties
Buy some new patio doors
Spend some time with the grands

Here's what I actually did:

Spend some time with the grands
Lunch with the aunties
Lunch with the grands
LOOK at some new patio doors
Clean up yarn stash
Organize the church quilt group cabinet
Help a friend pin four quilts

Yes, I'm still out of shampoo...

Here's one of the projects the girls and I did.

We saw this on one of those local news magazines that come on at 9 a.m.  Of course theirs were done by adults with very precise placement of dots on stem-less wine glasses.  They were classy!  They had tiny little dots very closely spaced, it must have taken a while to do.

Ours were done with whatever nail polish we had.  I was not too worried about how they turned out because I purchased all of these glasses at the Goodwill store for $1 or less each.  That's why I have two different sizes.  I think I have more somewhere, but they must be packed away.

We had a great time choosing different polish colors, and then dotting them, either with the nail brush directly on the glass, or in the case of Miss A, she used a Q-tip dipped into the bottle.  And of course it was a race to see which of the girls could do the most glasses!  I think the polish will stay on, even in the dishwasher.  But if not, we know how to do touch-ups!

Craft on...

Slipper Update...

Update to the grandson's slippers -- they are done...well except for the weaving in of the ends. They are so cute in camo!

A woman at church had seen me knitting and asked about them.  Her husband wants some.  When he saw the picture of the camo slippers he said 'those are exactly what I need!  I'll take two!'  We giggled because he meant two slippers and I thought he meant two pairs...

So now I have to knit an adult sized pair.  I think I will knit them both on the same set of needles because my main problem with making two of anything is always getting them exactly the same.

I'm going to use my yarn winder to make cakes instead of balls 

so I can use both ends of the cake for one slipper and both ends of a second cake for the second slipper.  Cakes have the advantage of not rolling around.  And since I bought the winder, I probably should use it!  (I used to own a knitting machine so it came in handy, but the machine took up too much space and the shuttles were too heavy to work comfortably so I sold it.)

I made a second girlie pair.  The picture looks pink but they are actually two shades of red, garnet and chardonnay.  I added a pompom.

Sew on!

Friday Night Sewing

The aunties and cousins and I get together almost every Friday night for sewing night.  If you visit me often you probably already read about Becca's project.  She's nine, and she does a bang-up job!

Last Friday there was no sewing, and it was kind of a mystery as to why for a while.  But our hostess was off doing some other stuff.  I had taken off early in the afternoon because I knew I was hosting the two next door grands until later in the evening.  So we had our own sewing night.

Of course Miss A organized us all and laid out the dolls who were also attending.  She set up her 'desk' with doctor's office things and took care of several broken appendages with colorful bandages.  She had us all read our contracts and sign them to admit our injured babies.  Boy, does that girl's mind go a million miles an hour!  She's like a Philadelphia lawyer...

The babies with their leg injuries...

I have a system with scraps that provides instant materials for times such as this.  Face it, with two adolescents in the sewing room, I'm not actually going to get any serious work done!  But I have my two inch strip drawer and my 2 1/2 inch drawer and my 'scraps to cut into usable pieces' basket, so I was all set.

Previously I had assembled some quilt blocks using the 2 inch strips.  I made the block that is sometimes called Jacks in various kiddie prints and whites.  Miss A decided that she was going to do the sorting and snipping of threads and Miss E would do the pressing.

Surprisingly, well actually surprising to no one BUT me, Miss E decided that she would press, and she wasn't one bit afraid of the iron.  Her mom later said that in her Girl Scout group she was the only one who knew how to use the iron.  Goes to show they're growing up while I'm not looking again.

Anyway, Miss E pressed all the blocks I had done, then was looking for more.  So I started sewing my 'sorted' two inch strips together with the whites, and made more sets, which then turned into more blocks.  Miss A reacted in amazement when the blocks were pressed open -- where did that pattern come from??!!  Really, those strips turned into that pretty design??  WOW!

This is how so many new quilters react when those intricate patterns turn out to be nothing more than strips and squares when you break them down.  I have a pretty large pile now, I should be able to put some flimsies together this weekend.

Unless, of course, the girls decide we need another 'sewing night'!!  Then I'll have to wait for direction from Miss A.  :-)

Sew on...

Gramma, I'm Building A House...

Yesterday when I got home from Church, there was a very large piece of paper on my coffee table, with a smaller piece on top of it.  Miss A had been over visiting before I got there and had left me a sheet of "instructions" and a "plan".

-- the six year old version of this.

Hmmm.

She's building a house in our back yard, and I have to help her.

OMG when you are six the world just looks like anything is possible!  She started collecting tree branches to build a house.  And not just a small playhouse.  Oh no!  No way.  She's going to build a regular house

with a pool and a hot tub inside,

swings,

a teeter totter

and two guest rooms.  She's planning that I will make her some quilts so people will be comfortable.  And since the guests might want to stay very soon, she thought I might need to get started.

Oh yeah, I have "blueprints" for those too, drawn up by you-know-you.

I'd better get busy!

Sew on!

I'm Going Back to School!

Tomorrow I'm going to Kindergarten!

Nope, I haven't regressed, and I haven't been demoted.  I'm standing in for a Parent at Kindergarten orientation day at the local elementary school for one of the grands.

Through no fault of anyone involved, except maybe the Murphy guy who's laws tend to mix things up, tomorrow is Kindergarten Splash and both parents are involved in work things that prohibit their attendance.  All preschoolers who are going to this elementary school are attending one session with their prospective teachers, and there is a "Parents' Session".

My DD said "I hope you aren't bored at the Parents' Session"...but I don't think I will be!  For one thing, I love going anywhere I can meet with new people.  Also, I remember fondly my days in school, and being in school, any school, always makes me happy.

I think she may have the same teacher as her older sister had, and that teacher is a lovely young woman with a creative and adventurous mind.  I went to her class once to help with a kid-level sewing project and read them the story about "Corduroy the Bear".

My boss gave me the afternoon off and said "Do you think you'll pass this time?"  He only thinks he's a comedian!

So I'm going back to school.  I'm looking forward to it!  I just hope I get a decently sized chair!!