Everything Sewing

The Week Is Done!

2012-01-29T14:37:00.001-08:00

Whew!! Family Literacy Week is over (though every week should be Family Literacy week) and I don’t have to run out every night to do an activity. That can be exhausting. Yesterday was free public skating and the big prizes. We had 6 prizes in all which made it exciting. Overall, it was a good project, gave us a higher profile and people are asking that we do it again next year.

Daughter was over with some more fabric for me to sew up. She is trying to help out and making the pile bigger by one more shirt. LOL But, I have decided to choose a colour and sew until it is completed. For the lilac, I have enough for 2 or 3 tops and that is what I will make. Two in one size and one in a smaller size. Two with embroidery and one with the flowers and sari on it. Then I will do white of which I have enough fabric for 4 tops. One with a sheer overlay, one embroidered, and one that will be plain. The fourth will have a plain body and very fancy sleeves. Two will be one size and two a size smaller. That is how I plan on getting through the pile of fabric set out for me to sew. BUT I am starting off with another shirt for the Spousal Unit. He deserves one for all the work he has been doing in the house.

I stared at the pattern instructions for the messenger bag for literally an hour and could not make hide nor hair out of the instructions. I just wasn’t getting it; probably because I was tired. You have to slit open pieces of the lining and I didn’t understand why, especially when you had to whip stitch them together later. I finally got that – you pull the fabric to the right side through those slits. I will steam-a-seam them shut. Then I looked again at the pattern pieces and how to sew a lining to the faux suede and finally got that step. I was feeling pretty stupid by the time I got it all figured out. I can now work on those steps and read about what to do next. I have come to the conclusion that the traced pieces will go into the pattern envelop and the pattern will be heading out the door when this purse is done.

My eating has been off the past couple of days due to being out for six nights in a row, having my sleep habits disturbed, and ending up feeling tired. I didn’t walk for the last two days as I had no energy. I drug myself around just getting things done, eating to get those surges of energy just to survive. So I start again today; eating properly and walking. I will be back on my schedule again and that will make me happy.

Until tomorrow..............................

Caturday On Sunday

2012-01-29T05:01:00.000-08:00

A Slow Day–NOT

2012-01-28T07:43:00.001-08:00

It snowed early this morning. There is about an inch of it on the ground and the area looked beautiful when we got up this morning.

Yesterday morning I started off making chilli in the crock pot. I used this recipe. Instead of chicken, I used hamburger and spicy sausage meat. I did change a few things with this recipe using what I had on hand. I added a medium onion chopped and some frozen leeks. Didn’t add chipotle chilli or the sweet potato (none available at our local grocery). I thought I had beef broth but it wasn’t there so I mixed up a pouch of dry onion soup mix with 2 cups of water. This chilli was served over rice for dinner and tasted great.

It was suppose to be a slow day on Friday to account for low energy. I had cleaned up the sewing room and was going to work on the messenger bag for a couple of hours. My goal was to sew the overlays onto the flap and body portion of the bag. Almost but not quite happened.

I ended up with a person buying one of my sewing machines and getting ski pants mended. I sewed her wedding and bridesmaids’ dresses. They are going for an overnight ski trip which they have dubbed “Our Honeymoon”.

Daughter was over so we could do the design on the lilac shirt. That turned out to be a marathon. Ideas flowed and so did coloured jeans and fabric. The pile of fabric is large.

The lilac satin is the next shirt to make and I will be using the white fabric right underneath it. It has these lovely flowers on it that I will be removing to add to the top.

Most of the flowers need to have the white stone sewn securely on them. I am hoping that there will be enough for another top for the rental cupboard.. I know there is enough fabric for a top for the rental cupboard. I will be making the two at the same time; one a smaller size than the other. The smaller one will have embroidery on it.

And I was out for Story Time at the Library. There were 16 people present for this Family Literacy activity and every child went home with a book. So did 3 of the moms. Two moms brought their 3-4 month old babies. But the 3 year old stole the show. She loves Curious George books and when I showed the book on my i-Pad, she grabbed it. As I talked, I showed her how to turn the pages and she sat for 10 minutes at my feet looking at the book.

In all it was another busy day in our household.

Until tomorrow.......................................

The Purple Top

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

It was a sunny warm day yesterday and I got out and walked in the yard. I did 10 laps easily so will be upping it to 12 today. I know I can handle an extra 2 laps a day until I get to 30 laps. Then I will stay at that level and add ball exercises.

The Spousal Unit has some touch up painting to do in the dining and living rooms and I have to go ahead of him and find them. There aren’t a lot but it needs to be done. He did more mudding of gyproc in the hallway. It is coming together quite nicely but we live with a coating of white dust on everything. I tried to keep it down but it doesn’t work. A sanding a day keeps everything white. So I quit keeping things clean until the upstairs is boarded and the mudding is done. Once the paint is on all the walls, I can then clean house which is going to take a week or more. Did I say that I find all this frustrating but once it is done, I love the results.

I headed down to the sewing room fairly fast yesterday morning to work on the purple top. There was a bit more to do than I thought. I had lots of seams to serge prior to stitching them together. But it was completed to crystals at 12:30 p.m. Nice to have it finished.

I want to put crystals around the neckline and up onto the shoulders. Then I want to put rows of crystals onto the sleeve cap and dip it downwards in a curve. The collar will have several rows of crystal.

My next project is to do some work on the messenger bag. It got put to one side as the purple top did a fair amount of shedding. I cleaned up that mess and can work on the bag knowing I have clean surfaces.

I want to start another shirt for the Spousal Unit on Sunday or Monday. I will do a tutorial on pointed yokes. I have a couple of ideas in my head that I hope will work.

Once that shirt is done, I will be working on a lilac coloured top for rodeo wear. I am getting my head around it as I need to add some extra items to it. It is going to be fun and I hope it comes together as I visualize it.

I am starting to feel the nights out – tiredness is setting in. Last night I was out until almost 9 p.m. That I hate. I drove 50 kms each way to the Family activity night and the traffic was unreal; I must have met 50 – 75 big trucks. That I hate. But the evening was fun. I didn’t have a lot of time to unwind before bed and I thought I would toss and turn for a couple of hours. But I slept 8.5 hours. For me that is good. Tonight is story time at the library and I am sure I will be crawling out of bed late tomorrow morning from 5 nights on the go. Saturday is free skating and in the afternoon. I will have a quiet evening and go to bed early. I promise you that.

Until tomorrow..................

A Bit of Confessing

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

So far we have had three successful Family Literacy fun evenings. It is great to see people out doing activities with their children. The goal is to get families doing more together at home.

A little update on the top. The sleeves will be lined with the black satin. The satin will be hemmed and the lace will have scallops at the wrist. It gives a nice look to the top. I should have this top done today if all goes well. Pictures tomorrow.

Joyce mentioned using duvet zippers in the garment bags. She hit the nail on the head. I had phoned Fabricland on Monday and talked to them about zippers and that is what they suggested. I will be purchasing one when I go in next week and will make a garment bag to see how it turns out appearance and cost wise.

I have to confess, I haven’t exercised since the cold weather hit us on Jan. 15. It has warmed up and I did walk quite a bit on Sunday when we were shopping. Monday I had things to do and didn’t get there, Tuesday it rained, Wednesday meetings. I have it on the agenda for today. I will drop back to 10 laps in the yard and build up 2 laps per day. The end of the month is coming and I won’t have met my goal of 30 laps. Feb. 1st I will be adding ball exercises and continue moving towards the 30 laps.

I did look at the exercise room and my walking video but there isn’t enough room. With an antique side board, dresser and treadle sewing machine in the small room and I am out of space for exercising. There is enough room to do ball exercises when I start them. I want to sell the antique sideboard, give away the treadle machine and just keep the antique dresser. That will give me more room.

My eating habits have improved. I am almost back to where I was. I am tired and my eyes are running and I finally figured out why. Not only did I miss some Synthroid, but I am allergic to the drywall compound dust. I am in rolling allergy mode with relief only coming when I am out of the house. I am not complaining but when the upstairs is done in February, I have to clean the house from top to bottom.

The lack of exercise and allergies put my body into survival mode and I don’t loose weight easily. I need to push myself forward; walking and eating properly. I hope it will help me loose weight. I am hoping the allergies will settle down. If not, I will have to take allergy pills to control the issue.

The Purple Lace Top

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the hodge podge day for us. The Spousal Unit started priming the dining and living rooms and I went to work in the sewing room. I was staying out of his way as Monday I tipped his tray of mud over in to the dirt, dog hair, gravel, etc. that I haven’t cleaned up for 3 weeks (why I say when it gets filthy in 20 minutes when renovating). We both heard a dinging noise looked out and there was our accountant getting his case out of the car. Morning gone doing our income tax paper work with him.

After lunch I worked like crazy on the top for 3 hours. I wanted to get the neckline done so I can start the sleeves the next time I can sew. I stuck with it and tried to deepen the neckline a bit, hold the collar a bit closer to the shoulder seams, and here is the result.

I love the look of the fabric. Though it is shimmery lace over satin, it reminds me of brocade. When it is done, I will just add crystals to it. I know of a couple of people who love it at this stage of the game.

Today I am out all day at a meeting and then I have set up the hall for another round of Family Games. Tomorrow I can sew again for several hours.

Until tomorrow...........................

Sewing Along

2012-01-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

Monday morning started off slow and turned into a rush. I don’t know why it turned into a rush; probably just me pushing ahead. I finished the embroidery on the second sleeve before breakfast. By 9:40 a.m. I had the shirt finished and ready for a quick laundering. I have to wait for the crystals to arrive to finish it.

The crystals are Siam red and I will be putting about 720 of them on this top.

While the embroidery was finishing up, I sewed the rest of the interfacing onto the purse. I am going to work on it slowly as I need to think about each step. I have never made a purse like this before and want to have a positive experience.

So my next project is been sewn with black thread. I decided on this fabric with a black satin underlay.

This lace shimmers and I will put sparkly clear crystals on it. It will be an easy top to sew up as there is no waiting for embroidery. It didn’t take long to lay out the satin and lace and cut it out. In actual fact, I got one of the back pieces done.

When I overlay fabrics (lace on satin, saris on twill), I stitch it in place with a longer stitch length and 1/4” from the edge. I can then treat it as one piece of fabric. I hope to get quite a bit done on it today.

I am thinking about making garment bags for the gowns I make. I found this free pattern and will give it a try. I can make them the length I need as the purchased ones are too short. The bonus – I can use up some of my dark broadcloth. These garment bags won’t be cheap – they will cost about what I pay for the ones I buy. Buying long zippers is going to be costly part. I am going to have to buy them when they go on sale for 50% off. I will make one and cost it out. I will only get 20% off on the price of the zipper for the first one as they aren’t on sale.

I was at the first Family Literacy activity last night and it was fun. I got to visit with some of the people I taught in kindergarten and grade one. They are all grown up with children of their own. Tonight I will be heading out for the next activity. I know I will be tired by the end of the week. I don’t do evenings very often with my sleep issues. But I do know getting people out and doing these activities helps them learn more about literacy and it helps me get a feel of what our community is doing.

Until tomorrow.........................

Weighing In

2012-01-23T06:39:00.001-08:00

Our trip to the city was successful yesterday. We got everything we wanted. As we headed out to Fabricland, it started to snow ever so lightly and it gave up after a few minutes. I headed in and bought what I needed quite quickly. We left for home and didn’t hit any snow flurries until we drove down into our community. It had started to snow about 20 minutes before we got home and it continued to snow lightly until early evening.

I worked on the embroidery for the second sleeve after we got home and walked away when I had to put in a full bobbin. That can be finished today. I also cut out the horse hair interfacing for the messenger bag and basted most of it onto the faux suede.

The wall hanging isn’t appliqued. I traced the horses onto a fusible webbing and ironed it on to ultra suede. After I cut out the horses and border, I removed the paper and ironed it onto the quilting cotton. I will make another one of these but will not use fusible batting. I don’t like how it turned out.

The next week is going to be a hodge podge of literacy activities in the evenings and a one day meeting. I will sew when I can and let you know how I am doing. I may not blog every day as I may have nothing to report.

Weigh-in:

I gained .5 lb. Why you ask? I ate too much. I didn’t take my thyroid medication every day (I know I missed twice). I didn’t exercise due to the cold weather. Back at it properly again today.

Until tomorrow......................

Emptying the Bin

2012-01-22T06:55:00.001-08:00

The weather has warmed up and I am heading to the city to do some shopping. I have to get games and a Kobo for prizes for Family Week Literacy. Plus I needed a few sewing items, groceries, and renovation supplies.

I finished the small wall hanging and though I love it, I will have to think about how to do the next one better. It wants to curl up at the bottom corners. The fusible batting didn’t work like I thought it would.

I took a peek into the tub I am working on and there isn’t a lot left to make.

The dragon fly fabric has no other fabric to match it so it will be moved out until I find something to go with it. At the bottom of the tub is a bag full of thread, velcro, and gripper for slippers. I will be putting them into the proper supply drawers.

So...........what was in that tub?

The below project interested me when I bought it several years ago. I had designed a reusable grocery bag and a lady incorporated this design into my pattern. Very nicely done. I am thinking about doing it in my new bag pattern, adapting the size to fit what I have.

I found a brown scrap for the bird and a large piece of the bottom right hand fabric for the bag. I will line it with broadcloth. I look forward to working on this project.

The next bag in the tub had this lovely desert sunset coloured fabric in it. The piece under the black is a peach colour and will be the fabric I do the embroidery on. The black is for the backing.

For a wall hanging that will look like this one.

I can do it vertical or horizontal. This is a fun project to do.

Something with a western element. Just need a piece of fabric for the backing/lining. It could be a crayon tote or an iPad cover or a table topper.

I made a wallet that has zippered pockets in it. I made three or four years ago. If there is enough fabric, I could make an iPad cover like this one or a paper tablet holder.

When these are done, there is still a closet full of craft fabric left to sew up. But the next few projects are picked out. I will begin them in February.

When the white top is finished, I am going to start another one. It will be white with interesting fabric on the sleeves. Daughter found the fabric and bought only enough for sleeves. I don’t think I will do embroidery on this top, just load it with crystals. But that won’t happen until February either.

Until tomorrow..............................

Another Project

2012-01-21T15:00:00.000-08:00

The weather is changing in our neck of the woods. We had a snowfall warning in effect and the temperatures are rising to +3C for today. Such is the weather in the area we live in. Or maybe I should say province as the temperatures are suppose to be warm all over; even in the north where it usually is cold at this time of the year.

I have been thinking about the items I want to make for the Christmas Craft Bazaar I have signed up for in late November. I am going to continue making the crayon totes for children in both the styles I have. I need a project to work on in between times though. So I went to the bin I am trying to empty and hauled out this project.

I have enough to make three of these. I can make one for Daughter for this Christmas and the other two for sale. The remaining fabric can be made into crayon totes and maybe a notepad holder.

I set about making one as I have all the materials. I did the tracing which didn’t take too long. I cut out the excess Steam-A-Seam as instructed.

I then fused it onto ultra suede and cut it out. That was the most difficult part as it is hard to cut when it flops around.

Pressed on with fusible fleece on the back and ready to be backed and bound. This has been a fun project.

The white top has the second sleeve sitting on the embroidery machine waiting for another spool of red thread. I ran out half way through the sleeve. I played with the one sleeve as I want to put iron-on crystals around the cuff.

and up close

By mid afternoon I had the sleeve, collar, and hem done.

And the wall hanging is ready to hand stitch the binding down. I stayed down in the basement as a friend who does boarding and painting for a living suggested I do. Easier on both of us if I come up when called to help.

I was asked if I trace all my patterns and the answer is yes. I use a medium weight pellon called Trace-A-Pattern. I lay it over top of the pattern and trace it with a fine nib pen. It goes quickly unless you are doing a project that has a lot of pieces. As most of the patterns I buy are multi sized, I end up with several different sized patterns from that one pattern. It also allows me to franken pattern if needed. If I hate the pattern, it is in one piece folded neatly into the envelope, ready to be taken down to the thrift shop. I buy the Trace A Pattern from Fabricland when it is 50% off. The last time I did that, I bought 30 meters of it – a full roll. Lovely to have on hand.

Daughter came over on yesterday afternoon to sew but her female Brittney had thrown up in the truck and again on the floor of the sewing room. She took the dog to the vet who had to perform emergency surgery. Nothing in her stomach but her liver and intestines are inflamed. She came home last night but needs to return to the vet daily for antibiotics.

Next week is Family Literacy Week and I have lots to do in the evenings. I hope to be able to sew for a few hours each day. Except for Wednesday when I have a 6 hour meeting and then out for 2 hours at night. I will be glad when it is over and behind me.

Until tomorrow............................

Caturday

2012-01-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

I forgot last Saturday so I had to find a good one and this one is pertinent to the weather we had.

A Top for This Month

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

It warmed up! Well, it didn’t get as cold as expected but there is still a wind and wind chill factor. I won’t be heading out to the city until it warms up on Sunday. I don’t have to and I won’t. The joys of being retired. When I worked, I had to face this weather every day and always said I would not go out into it if I didn’t have to when I retired.

I read the instructions for the Butterick messenger bag Wednesday night and I got confused with it. I began by tracing all the pieces needed for the bag and there is a lot of them; more than I expected. It took me over 2 hours to trace all the pieces.

While I was doing all that tracing, I had the design stitching out on the sleeve. A few minor problems with it though. When I inserted a pre-wound bobbin, I had issues so I had to shut down the machine and started again with a bobbin of embroidery thread. Then at the very end I had issues using a good bobbin. Not sure what it is but I think I will try to update my machine to see if that will help. At the end of the day, I got one sleeve done, the darts sewn in the front and the messenger bag cut out of the fashion fabric.

I am loving the high contrast in this design. It is turning how pretty much how I had visualized it. Add red crystals and it could be popular.

The electrician was in today and got the new plug-in installed in the living room. We are trying to be at electrical code for resale. Now the Spousal Unit can finish gyrocing that wall, put on the layers of mud and paint. The electrician was surprised at how much we have done and told us that the people who bought is wife’s grandparent’s house is doing the same type of renovations as we are. It seems he comes to our house to do ours and within a couple of weeks, he is up there doing what they want. He is enjoying what both parties are doing to the two houses.

All the closet doors in the hallway have two coats of primer on both sides. Even that area is starting to look brighter. Everything is moving along nicely. I don’t know where I am going to put the items at the desk area as it needs two coats of primer also. We are running out of places to put things. The joys of renovating.

Today I have some running around for literacy and Daughter is coming over to do the lining for her dress. I will stitch out the second sleeve and maybe cut the interfacing and lining cut out for the purse. I doubt I will get much more done today.

Until tomorrow..............................

A Fun Sewing Day

2012-01-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

Another cold day under our belt. The wind has died down to just a draft until last evening when it started blowing again. I like calmness when the temperatures dip low; you can get outside without feeling chilled to the bone. Though we did have a wind chill warning in effect, it was cancelled with the calm weather.

I headed down to my sewing room prior to breakfast yesterday morning and worked at folding more fabric. It sadden me that I have such a large stash of rodeo queen fabric and I am moving away from doing a lot of it. Then it hit me; I will make items for rent, which I hadn’t planned on doing. Daughter can store them at her house so she has easy access to them to rent. If I get paid one rental to pay for the cost of the fabric and notions, I will be happy. I can do some of the fabrics I love up into items I really like and do some of the styles I really want to do. I can fit them into my schedule. I got my fabrics in one closet all folded and on the shelves.

So, while I was folding fabric and looking for fabric to make my next crayon tote, I thought out what I was going to sew for a rodeo queen. It will have embroidery on it and can stitch out while I do other things. The white faux suede with red embroidery would be perfect to start with. So, once I got a few things done, I cut out the top and began the embroidery only to finish one side by mid afternoon. The stitch out was giving me a few problems and left me a bit frustrated.

The blue stitching is the neckline and the tailor’s tacks are for the darts. I put a row of crystals around the cream centers of the Gerber daisies as the red stitching shows through the cream thread. Personally, I like it.

The front was finished just before dinner time; thank goodness we were having stew. Ignore the darts as I pinned them in to stitch today. The sleeves are to be stitched today. I need a zipper before I can finish sewing this top.

The crayon tote was finished by noon. It does not have a second colour fabric as I have lots of this colour and nothing in light blue heavy enough for the pocket and straps. Some little girl will love it as it is.

The next project I am going to work on is a messenger bag. The pattern is Butterick 5964 and this purse will be made out of black faux suede. I am not sure where I am going with it as I only have a piece of leather that is 12 x 12” square. I will figure out something even if it is only leather on the flap. I can layer faux suede on top of faux suede and do coppery brown top stitching.

Until tomorrow...........................

Window Toppers–At Last

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

It was cold Tuesday morning –20C with a wind chill of –33C. But, it is colder this morning –23C with a wind chill of –33C and a severe wind chill warning. The arctic flow is causing this cold weather of which the last cold spell we had was in 2008. Supposedly one more cold day and then warming up.

First thing yesterday morning I worked on the drapes using the tutorial I found the day before. I did do a few things differently though. I cut each of the three pieces 20” long x the width of the fabric. I cut off the selvage and checked to make sure the wasn’t a top and a bottom to the fabric. Good thing I did, there was and it was subtle. After I sewed the 3 pieces together, I serged the seams to give a nice finish. I then folded the sides in so they were double folded and stitched them down. After that, I didn’t really follow the directions. I serged the top and folded it down 3” and stitched it in place close to the serged edge. Then I stitched 2” down from the top as my rod is only 7/16” across and will fit in a 1” opening. I then serged the bottom edge, folded it up 2” and stitched it in place. Pressed well and hung it up with the Spousal Units help.

I have 1/2 meter of the fabric left to make a table runner for the white dresser. Then I can get the pictures up on the walls and a couple of shelves for some of my knick knacks. Next on my list – I am going to make another crayon tote. I need a craft fix and something to work on while I stay inside. Might just as well do something for the craft bazaar tub.

I was up to see my hairdresser yesterday as I really needed a hair cut. She and I were talking away about sewing and we are going to do a booth or two together selling crafts this coming fall. Perfect for both of us. I have the booth request in for near the entrance so people will look coming and going.

The rest of the day was spent folding paper in half so they can be put into grocery bags and mail boxes. The Spousal Unit helped. I did over 600 sheets and he did 200. Monday night I did 800 sheets and he did 200. Not grumbling as that is 400 sheets I didn’t have to fold. They are delivered. Next is to purchase prizes. We are doing 6 days of Family Literacy next week; fun but a lot of work when you have to do most of it yourself.

Betsy and Elizabeth, I use your method to sew on buttons and I still can get them out of alignment, especially if my mind wanders. I just don’t like to put on buttons and I think they hate me too. I will persevere though and not let my mind wander.

I also worked on the dratted table cloth last night and almost got the dark blue thread done on the one design. Tonight I do hope to finish all the blue stitching – dark and light and start the outline stitch.

Joyce, I don’t count calories but watch what I eat. I tend to eat only protein (eggs and turkey bacon) for breakfast, ham and cheese on whole grain bread for lunch and a mix of meat and veggies and canned fruit for dinner. If I have to have a snack at night, I eat a piece of cheese. I try not to snack between meals and I know people do have two a day but it doesn’t always work for me. Snacks can be a trigger for me to want to eat more. I try to drink 8 cups of fluids a day. Exercise is walking though I must start on some ball exercises soon. I really want to loose my excess weight and feel better; some of my joints hurt because of my weight. Plus I have problems with my back from standing on cement floors for 12 years when teaching. Loosing weight helps it though I know it will ache if I over do the exercises.

Until tomorrow...................

The White Shirt

2012-01-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

Monday flew by in a flash. I spent some time cleaning up the basement; putting away items in the workroom (which is a storage room really) and cleaning up the exercise and sewing room. I do love clean areas. It is just the middle of January, two weeks into the renovation, and I am tired of the dust and mess in the dining and living rooms and the hall/front entrance. I have another 6 weeks to endure. The Spousal Unit is in his element by the way. He is doing what he loves to do and I am impressed with his work. The living and dining rooms look bright rather than dark and dingy. The walls are being mudded except for one section; we need a plug-in installed and are waiting for the electrician to come and do it. He has put 2 coats of primer on the the upper cupboards in the front entrance and it is making that area look brighter also.

I got the hem and button holes and buttons done on the white shirt. I chose tiny 2 hole buttons as this shirt has to be plain, plain, plain. The only detail is the top stitching which is subtle.

I am also proud of myself for putting the buttons on right away. My confession – I hate putting on buttons. I can screw the alignment up royally. Daughter does a way better job of buttons than I do.

For everyone’s information, this is the type of shirt I would wear. I do not wear bling; a subtle silver or gold thread in a stripe is bling for me. It is not my personality. No matter how hard some people try to get me to wear it, IT. IS. NOT. ME.

I did not get at the window topper yesterday but I did find a good tutorial on planning and sewing toppers. I now know I need three widths of the fabric and each piece needs to be 21” long so I will be using over 1.5 meters of fabric. That will leave about .4 meter for a table runner. I will need to purchase two plain or tonal fabrics for that plus a piece for the backing. Not too bad. Once the pieces are cut out, it won’t take too long to make them or at least I hope it doesn’t.

I didn’t walk again today. It was too cold. I did get outside though and it didn’t impress me at all, the wind was not nice. We live in a north/south valley and those artic north winds just whip in (as do the south winds). We can also get some pretty cold east winds too. In the big scheme of things, the dog didn’t want to be outside for long either. And, Elliott only sniffed at the door before turning around and returning to the dog’s bed in front of the fireplace. Even the Spousal Unit put on his winter coat when he went to feed the horses this morning. If I had my snow pants, I would have been out there if it was calm but they are missing; borrowed and not returned.

The dratted tablecloth is on hold. I have 1000 sheets of paper to fold in half for Family Literacy Day. They need to be out tomorrow along with another 860 sheets. So I know I have two long sessions of folding. At least I can do it and watch TV.

Until tomorrow.............................

Sewing and Loosing

2012-01-16T06:20:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we had our first real taste of winter in two months. The wind was from the north and the temperature dropped all day. As it was –15C with the wind chill factor, I did not walk my laps. I did a few extra runs up and down the stairs. I wasn’t going out with the wind in my face. Too many risks. I will walk again as soon as it becomes calm.

I worked on the white shirt most of the day. I got it completed to the hem, buttonholes and buttons. Then I saw something on the cuff. It looked like something off the iron. So I rubbed some stain remover onto it and put it into the washer on a rinse cycle to get rid of it.

Horsemanship shirts have to fit well; they can’t be baggy or balloon out from the waist of your jeans. They have to be sleek and fit into your jeans smoothly. To meet that end, I put darts in the shirt and then curved the waist in a good 1 to 1 1/4”. It fits a lot smoother in the body.

I did get another piece of broadcloth pressed, folded and onto the shelf. This piece is 60” wide and a peach colour. I usually only get 60” wide broadcloth in black or white. And much to my surprise, there is a turquoise blue piece that wide also. My hunch states I found it in the $2.14/ meter fabrics at Walmart prior to them shutting down cut fabrics, trims, etc. Walmart in Dawson Creek had some wonderful fabrics in that section and I bought them for shirts. Now they can be muslins or linings for craft items.

Today the shirt will be finished and I am going to work on the curtain toppers in my sewing room. It is time to do them and see if there is enough left over fabric for a runner on the white dresser.

For weight loss (or as Shannon says “Taming the Arse”), I lost another pound for a total of 6 pounds. We had a treat this week of ice cream and raspberries. That won’t come around again for a while. As I didn’t walk yesterday so I now need to clean up the exercise room (again) and start doing exercises in there while the weather is cold.

Until tomorrow..................................

Sewing and Snow

2012-01-15T06:39:00.001-08:00

We are having some of those gray days of winter. The sun comes out for a while and then it clouds up. The temperatures are going to drop to –17C or 0F at night. This is the first “real” winter feel we have had this winter.

Yesterday, I did make it out before lunch when the sun was shining to do my 14 laps. I always feel good when I get them done. And then, when we took out paneling from the front entrance mid afternoon...............it had started to snow. When I checked the weather forecast, we are suppose to have flurries for 4 of the next 6 days. Two days are suppose to have periods of snow; whatever that means. I am assuming it is going to snow.

I got blue shirt done – the buttons are on and now I can ship it to its owner. I decided to finish this shirt while the Spousal Unit took the paneling off the walls in the hall/front entrance. I did help him when he called but it is safer if I am not there when I am not needed.

He only has one wall left to destroy – the one beside the basement stairs. That requires taking off the railing, covering the opening, moving the cat and dog stuff upstairs and us using another means of getting to the basement. That includes figuring out how to get Elliott to the greenhouse as he is afraid to be outside. We will have to do this for 10 days while we do that wall. But when that room is finished; we will have the upstairs totally redone. I am feeling excited about it coming to an end. We will finish the downstairs next winter.

I got the sleeve plackets done on the white shirt and am pleased with them. When I do these plackets, I have to get out my sample that I did with Ron Collins.

Yes that is my book of info I keep on what I have learned from Ron. I refer to it constantly.

I love these plackets but I don’t do them on every shirt. I love them but some clients don’t.

I haven’t worked on the dratted tablecloth for a couple of days. One of my eyes is bothering me; watering like crazy. Could be from the dust though I do notice a gray dot in my vision on that eye. I am heading to see the eye doctor as soon as I can get an appointment.

Until tomorrow.......................

The White Shirt

2012-01-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

Friday was one of those days where I was going six ways for Sunday all morning and for part of the afternoon. I had several down times waiting where I folded some of the fabric and then I worked on the white shirt.

The white shirt made good progress as I used those short periods of time to work on it. I added the front button bands and did the top stitching. I love both my edging and stitch in the ditch feet for perfect top stitching. I set my stitch width at 1.8 for both feet and stitch length at 3.0 for my Husqvarna Viking machines.

I got the collar done but there is a bit of operator error. When I sew the collar back seam together, I need to take a deeper seam. I know that but forgot to do it. I did the curves on the neckband according to the instructions but they don’t look like they should. More than likely more operator error. But on the whole, I like the process; I just need to perfect it to suit me. I do have ideas.

This is part of my learning curve. If the next collar band isn’t what I want, back to what Ron Collin’s taught me. I like his method but I would like an alternate method also.

Just before lunch I went out and did my 13/14 laps around the yard. It was cool but not unreal; we are starting to get a bit of winter. I know watching what I am eating and doing these laps is working; my coat is a bit looser than it was on Jan. 1, 2012. The scales will tell the story of weight loss on Monday. But if my hunger pains are anything, I hope there will be a decent loss. Today I could eat the door knobs, I have been so hungry. I have refrained but it was hard.

Pauline from P'thrifty Sewing gave a wonderful sounding recipe for bread and I have drooled over it. But the weight loss gods will not bless me if I make it and eat it. So I am refraining from making it. But we did do a fun potato dish for dinner tonight.

Potatoes au Son (Recipe is from our Son)

Cut potatoes into small chunks (can be peeled prior to doing that if you wish) and toss into a casserole. Dice 1/2 red pepper and a small onion into it. Add Italian seasoning and salt to what you think you will like. Pour in enough olive or canola oil to coat. Put on lid and bake at 350-375F oven for 40 to 60 minutes.

I usually make enough for 2 meals as we heat it again in the oven or microwave the next night. You can also put them into foil pouches and cook them on low on the BBQ. A nice alternative to mashed potatoes when having steak or hamburgers or pork chops.

Until tomorrow....................................

Less Stress = Happy Person

2012-01-13T07:26:00.001-08:00

Yesterday’s post was late as, it seems, I can’t tell the difference between AM and PM. How silly can I be. LOL

Yesterday was to the city for an appointment with the respiratory therapist re: sleep apnea. I have had a CPAP machine for a year and it was the annual visit. The machine is working for me as my apenas are very low; less than one per hour on the average. I know I have other sleep issues, which I thought surfaced from getting my machine. But after a lot of time spent thinking and writing in a journal, I know what triggers those sleep issues; stress. It is good to know what triggers this and what doesn’t. As my stress level has declined, my sleep habits have gotten better; the information diagrams show that.

I also have SADs. It affects me worse in the winter than the summer. Though we live in a desert and have lots of sunshine, we also live far enough north that we don’t get enough Vit. D to ward off SADs. Many studies have been done on this topic where we use to live. I decided I am buying the blue light to shine on me daily in the mornings when I read blogs and catch up on things. I can use it for 6 to 7 months of the year and more if I can’t get outside. But I want to be outside more all year round.

While in the city, I went to Fabricland to get royal blue buttons for the blue shirt. I snooped around at the sales and found some great bargains. I was only buying fabric on sale for 65 to 70% off and got some fabulous bargains.

A tiny check poly/cotton 60” wide for 2.40/meter (reg. 8.00/m). I got enough to make 2 shirts for the Spousal Unit. I also bought a cotton for the same price to do some designer features on these shirts.
Poly cotton blend denim fabric – black with a gray stripe 60” wide for 2.40 meters (reg. 8.00/m). Bought enough for jeans and maybe walking shorts for me. This fabric has no stretch.
Xmas fabric 45” wide at 7.70/meter for Xmas gift bags I want to make (reg. 21.00/m). The top part of the bag I bought plain cotton for 6.00/meter (reg. 10.00/m –worst savings).
White chambray 60”wide for 4.80/meter for a shirt for me (reg. 16.00/m).
White rayon, polyester, with spandex 60” wide 6.00/meter for a shirt for me (reg. 20.00/m).

I was happy with my selection as I focused on us and not on clients.

My goal for sewing less for clients has a good choice for me; I was able to attain it quickly. I have one person who coaches rodeo queens plus a second person for who needs a wardrobe by June 2013. After 2013, I will decide what I will be doing about clients. I will probably keep the one client and no one else. Daughter is working on her rental wardrobe and can take all of my extra clothing if she wants it; there will be 12 outfits. We can come to an arrangement on how she will purchase them. I am not going to stress over any of it.

The white shirt – the yoke was approved quickly. That means I can start topstitching it – two rows so it will look like this.

It will be fun to do focus on a detail – top stitching and a technique – collar and collar band without worrying about matching plaids or doing embroidery.

The dratted tablecloth – I finished the medium blue on that design. I will work on the dark and light blue now and then finish up the flowers and outlining. It is coming along and when this design is done, one end of the table cloth will be finished.

I didn’t walk laps yesterday as I was in the city. I did park as far from the stores as I could and walked to and from them briskly. I will get out and walk 13 laps today though. I really enjoy doing them and being outside. I really forgot that with so much client sewing.

Today Shannon from Hungry Zombie Couture showed how she kept track of her fabric on an Excel worksheet. I am not sure if I will do that as I have a relatively small stash of fabrics for me and DH. Even my rodeo queen fabric stash is small. But I bit the bullet and did it for yesterday’s purchase with four tabs for each of my stashes. I might add my other fabrics but I won’t be filling in all the blanks. I could do it if I put my mind to it but that would mean going into Fabricland and costing it out. Not sure it is worth it at this time.

Until tomorrow...................

Organization

2012-01-12T16:46:00.000-08:00

Shannon of Hungry Zombie Couture did a fabric folding tutorial on her blog on Tuesday. She actually illustrated how she did it. I pulled out the broadcloth material to see if I did it that way and actually, I am not far off what Shannon did. I refolded mine and piled it on the shelf to see if I like it better than standing on its side. To lay it flat I had one less fold to do. I use broadcloth mostly for muslins but, on occasion, someone will want a shirt out of it.

Thanks goes out to Shannon for making me stretch my thinking of how to store this fabric. I like this better than before. I can see each piece and if I have to pull out something, I can put it on the top rather than stuff it in. I had to slide mine in sideways but I took my time to make sure the folded (not the selvedge) edge was facing outwards. I will do more as I have time as there are two more shelves in that closet.

It got the white horsemanship shirt cut out. I cut out two of the front and back so you can’t see through the material. I stitch them together with 1/4” stay stitching at the neck to begin with. After that I sew the front and back shoulder seams and add the yokes.

The front has small western yokes on it. I will do double rows of top stitching on this shirt starting with the yokes.

The back yoke can be changed to straight across if necessary or left as is.

Once the decision is made about the back yoke, I will do the top stitching and start the collar a la the Debbie and Belinda method.

I got out and did my 11 laps yesterday even if I did have a headache. Cause was from the fumes that come off the stuff we put on our wood ceilings to seal them. Walking did help a bit but it took time for the headache to leave and it left me very tired.

I did 60 minutes on the dratted table cloth. I am almost finished the first shade of blue. It has the most stitches. I did have problems over stitching and having to pull it out. So I quit when I got the part of the bow I was working on done. I just might have that colour done by tomorrow night. I am glad I am not the only one who is having problems getting their dratted tablecloth done.

Until tomorrow...................

More Continuous Goals

2012-01-11T07:17:00.001-08:00

Elliott is the laugh of our lives. He is such an intelligent cat with a unique personality. From his evil looks before he attacks us to his cute face wanting dinner, he has stolen our hearts. During renovations, he climbs the ladder to see if he can get higher up to snoop and if you are working on the floor, he has to be right in your face helping you with the job.

One of Elliott’s favourite things is to sleep on the dog’s bed in the afternoon. Often, he usually curls up on top of the blanket and spends a couple of hours snoozing. He is known to burrow completely under the blanket if it is covering the bed. Monday we sat quietly and watched him wiggle his way under the blanket, which was only half on the bed, and settle down for his nap. Even with the Spousal Unit ripping off paneling in that room, he slept for a full two hours in this position.

Of course, when he finished with his nap, he was into everything; things had changed in the living room and he had to explore to see what was new.

Yesterday I talked about one of my continuous goals – continue improving in shirt making. Not only do I want to make more shirts for the Spousal Unit, I want to make myself some shirts. Ron has fit me for shirts and I know what I need to do to get a good fitting shirt. I need to take some time to redo my pattern as I am not happy with how I traced it. Once I have that pattern fitting properly, I hope to take what I learned to alter another pattern to fit.

My second continuous goal is to fit a pair of jeans for me. Ron had almost perfected the fit of the muslin at my first class with him. I am sure they don’t fit now (hence why I am loosing weight), but when they do, I will try the muslin on and get ready for Ron to continue fitting them on me this September. If they are too big, I will make a new muslin. I am game as I want to have a TNT jeans pattern.

As I planned, I didn’t spend much time in the sewing room yesterday. I did get the white broadcloth pressed, onto the cutting table and the pattern pieces spread out. I will get it pinned and cut out today hopefully as I want to sew on it this weekend.

I did 10 laps (and maybe 11) yesterday. I think I am going to buy a good pedometer that will count steps and hopefully time how long it is taking me. I am getting there in terms of not being as tired at the end of the laps I do compared to the first few times I went out. I still come in puffing but I am recovering faster than I was just 5 days ago. That is moving forward. I had thought about walking with others in the community hall but I am going to stick to outside and soak in the daylight on a daily basis.

I didn’t do anything on the dratted table cloth last night. I read instead as I was exhausted. I did 4 meetings in 2 days and had a spell of wakefulness Monday night. I noticed how tired I was during the day and it was worse in the evening. No use making mistakes as that spells frustration.

Until tomorrow............................

Goals

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

One of my continuous goals is to become better at making shirts. I have taken two workshops with Ron Collins, the last one I worked on improving my shirt making skills. I learned a lot from Ron. This coming September I will be taking another shirt back for him to help me again. I want to do the cuffs and hidden collar button placket as done on Son’s high end shirts.

I am continually looking for references to help me. Pauline at P'thrifty Blog wrote that she got Dave Page Coffin’s DVD on Shirt Making Techniques. I did a search on Amazon Canada and the only reference they make to it was it is a sold out VHS tape. If I want it, I will have to buy it from Threads (50% off right now). I am wanting to get several reference books for my library.

I just printed another method to do a collar and collar stand; the Belinda and Debbie’s collar and band SDBev wrote about it on her blog. I am going to try doing it on my next shirt; a white horsemanship shirt. I will be focusing on the collar and band and, once again, top stitching. I find returning to these (and other) techniques allows me to improve my sewing a lot more. It becomes easier each time I do it. As I said to my students learning their multiplication tables – Practice makes perfect.

On my lifestyle front. I had a meeting at noon yesterday and took my sandwich with me so I wouldn’t get over hungry. I had a second meeting just before supper and ate an apple to fight hunger. I didn’t have to have a late supper. Today I have a lunch meeting and one again just before supper. “Food to go” to help my body remain stable and continue loosing weight.

I did not get into the sewing room yesterday to sew though I did spend a few minutes cleaning up. I may not get into the sewing room today though I would like to for an hour. Hopefully for a couple of hours tomorrow to lay out the white shirt. My first priority is to walk laps every day. I feel so much better when I do them. Even though I was busy preparing for meetings yesterday, I walked those 9 laps. That was important to me.

Those laps around the yard have a two fold purpose. First it is exercise and I do like walking. It gets me breathing deeply and moving. Second, it has me outside in the daylight. I have a mild case of Seasonal Affective Disorder; mild compared to other people I know. I take Vitamin D year round to help combat it. I live far enough north to be short on getting it from the sun, especially in the winter. January is my worst month; the hype of Christmas is over and I want to hibernate until the longer days of spring. I have found if I can get out and walk for 15 to 30 minutes just before or shortly after lunch, it helps to keep my SAD somewhat at bay. Or my mood more positive. What ever it is, I feel much better physically and mentally. Last winter I didn’t get outside very much and I noticed a huge difference. The winter before, I walked 30 minutes a day and felt great mentally all winter.

The dratted tablecloth - I didn’t get anything done on it last night. I did statistics last night as one of the groups I work on is starting to look at trends in our community. I hope to work on the table cloth tonight unless the meeting I am at runs late.

Until tomorrow.................

A Little Exercise

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

It took dedication, persistence and the flu to loose 5 lbs this week. I started walking the back yard adding one lap per day. Yesterday I increased my speed for the first three laps and did 6 more. I also did some heavy lifting with moving an 8 foot china cupboard twice and helped with demolition of the living/dining room. On the eating front, I watched portion control, ate more protein, and didn’t snack. That means I limited my starches each day, and had only one cookie during the week.

One positive note – I slept better as my body was happy with what was happening to it. Most nights I got 8 hours of sleep. I let stress pass by me and watched how overly focused I can get when I am sewing. I am learning how to shut the sewing room door and walk away from it. In all it was a good week.

Yesterday I wanted to finish the blue shirt and after doing our paper work, I got at it. I realized I had to fix the first cuff and it took about 30 minutes of pick out and re-stitching to have what I wanted. The second sleeve and cuff went in well and the shirt was ready to hem at lunch time.

After lunch I hemmed the shirt and started putting on the crystals. There are 12 large designs to put crystals on to plus the cuffs. They seem to be going on easily but they weren’t sticking like they should. My new iron and I are on a learning curve and I finally figured it out. I did take the needed break to walk outside and got the shirt finished by supper time. Except for the buttons. When I looked in my button stash I found out they were just a figment of my imagination. I need to buy them when I go to the city.

Mid afternoon, the Spousal Unit asked me to help him move the 8 foot china cupboard again. It was removed from the dining room wall and resting in the living room against our chairs. It went to the basement yesterday. We went down the deck stairs (8 feet off the ground) and then down a few more steps into the basement. It is in its new resting place. Next year we renovate this room and it will be put on that wall. That means one more move as the walls will be gutted to the studs and gyproc put on.

In the mean time it will be the Spousal Unit’s coat hanger.

The dratted table cloth got about 30 minutes of stitching last night. It is coming along and my goal is to finish the design I am on by mid next week.

Until tomorrow...........................

Moving Along

2012-01-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, much to our amazement, it snowed. It started while we were cleaning up the family room in the basement. We want to put the china cupboard from the dining room (that is now residing in the living room) in to that room. It will be painted and used to hold books, games, crafts, etc. and be a feature of that room down the road. During the clean up, we talked about what we are going to sell from that room and will only be keeping a few items. We haven’t missed using them in three years and they will just clutter up our space (which they are doing now). We are not hoarders but we had to come to terms with selling items we bought with love for our previous homes. We are almost there in letting go.

I got the first sleeve inserted today while the second one stitched out. The cuff is really tricky to do. The inspiration shirt is this one

I used this pattern plus my regular western shirt block to make the shirt.

This shirt has pleats in the lower sleeve and when I did my mock ups, I didn’t care for them. With a lot of thought, I stitched the pleats down for 4.5” and that was really helpful. Next time I will stitch them down 5 to 5’5”. When I added the cuff, I had to sew slowly and think each part out twice.

With 2 pieces of Steam-A-Seam, I was able to stitch down from the top to where the back of the cuff meets. Such a fiddly little piece to sew. I had to turn the sleeve inside out in order to sew from the right side.

I will sew the buttons on so the cuff remains permanently shut. And will I do the cuffs like this again – NO!! I have another way that I like better.

The weight of the embroidery on the sleeve makes it lie flat and I am not sure if I like that. It will be okay on the person.

I will finish this shirt tomorrow if I have the buttons in my stash.

Early yesterday afternoon, I had the privilege of helping the Spousal Unit remove the shelving unit from the wall by my chair. It had to go as the electric heater wires needed to be checked and they were illegally done. I had the honour of holding one end while the Spousal Unit hammered it apart. I cringed hoping no damage would be done to me. I hope to have a new unit put in but it won’t take up the whole wall. Maybe we will talk about it over the next week. We need something to hold our favourite knick knacks and pictures. Just some of them as I can put some on the shelves in the front hall. By the middle of the month, I can see the laminate floors going down. It is one of the easier rooms to do.

On the dratted table cloth – the green is almost done on the bouquet I am working on and I did a bunch of the blue ribbon. When it is done, the first end will be completed. Being accountable and persistent is helping me get this project done and out of my hair. It is going to take me a lot more months to finish the project.

Until tomorrow............................

Caturday

2012-01-07T07:30:00.000-08:00

More Of The Blue Shirt

2012-01-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we got at it fairly early as I wanted to make Ham/Green Pea Soup for dinner. The Spousal Unit wanted to work on the dining room. He had a few little things to do before applying the tape and mud (which is more like a glue) to the joins and then cover the screw heads. We both had success in what we wanted to get done.

I got the embroidery done on the cuffs. Those 4 little flowers had me up and down so often that it ended up annoying me. But they are done and suit the shirt. Actually they are one of the flowers from the main design. I just worked at deleting the rest of the design to get what I wanted on 4-D.

I am happy with what I did and will add crystals when I am done.

I then sewed up the sleeves as I made them into a two piece sleeve. I didn’t need to do that because I didn’t do it when I made daughter’s shirt with those cuffs. But I am going to be different and learn something new especially in altering the pattern. While the first design was stitching out on the sleeve (there will be a total of 4), I put the collar on the shirt.

It certainly changed the look of the shirt. I didn’t embroider the collar but will put crystals on it.

The first sleeve was finished by supper time and I did a bit of fooling around with it.

With the cuff laid on it.

And it put onto the body with pins. No stitching together until today. And I will do it while the second sleeve stitches out.

I set up my new iron. It is amazing; unlike any iron I have ever used. Mom’s old electric iron that had no steam comes in second for pressing. I took the embroidery and steamed the back and then ironed the front. Wrinkles were gone, which didn’t happen with my old iron. I am sure I over steamed today but I will get better.

I did get my 6 laps in yesterday. Our dog, Jill ran them with me and had me laughing at her antics. She thought I would take her out one of the gates and go for a drive. It was sunny and cool when I was out there. Later in the afternoon, it clouded up with a few snowflakes falling.

And the dratted table cloth, I got the third flower and a bunch of of the dark green stems and leaves done. Not bad for 90 minutes.

Until tomorrow...............

The Blue Shirt

2012-01-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

I can sure tell I had the flu Wednesday. I slept 8.5 hours Wednesday night and felt much better Thursday. I went out to walk laps in our back yard and could tell I had been sick. Egads! Anyways, the positive side is I got out and walked in the sunshine and warm wind – I did it!! Tomorrow I will add one or two more laps to my daily total. I only did 5 today as I knew what my body was going to do after being sick. Yes, it rebelled.

I worked on the embroidery for the blue shirt all day and only got 2 designs done. It is taking a lot longer than I thought so I totalled up the minutes of stitch out time. I had thought an hour; well each design takes 70 minutes to stitch out. Add thread changes, putting in full bobbins, and cutting the back threads I would say it takes 90 minutes from start to finish.

While the designs were stitching, I interfaced the collar band ready to attach and made the collar.

I also worked on the cuffs and designed the flowers for them.

By the middle of the afternoon, the Spousal Unit had the gyproc up in the dining room. I helped haul it into the house. What a difference it makes to that area. I took this picture after the sun had set and before dusk set in.

And for those following the dratted tablecloth, I did 90 minutes on it. I didn’t finish another flower last night as I had issues with the colours. But it will be outlined tonight. Hopefully I will get some of the blue ribbon done too.

Until tomorrow............when the first coat of mud should go on the gyproc.

Worth While Thought Processes

2012-01-05T07:54:00.001-08:00

I had a good dose of the flu that started yesterday mid morning and ended this morning. I was mainly feverish and ached all over. Though I have some sore spots this morning, I feel much better.

Yesterday morning I had a good 15 minutes to play with beads and crystals. I had thought about putting them onto a rodeo queen top where I usually do the embroidery. This is my first design and it would come down from the left shoulder.

Upon thinking I remembered that I had some glue on rhinestone trim in red and clear and laid it out for the cuffs.

They look nice together.

Then I thought about the Gerber daisies and can add rhinestones and crystals to it.

I think I may go with this one and add some beads and crystals. Decision made. I think it will look perfect.

I am trying to get three outfits plus a dress sewn for a June competition. The first outfit will consist of white faux suede top with the above embroidery and crystals, white jeans, belt and boots and these amazing earrings.

While I waited for the Spousal Unit to need me, I set up the second front of the shirt I am embroidering. There is a lot of embroidery on this shirt and I am wanting to see how it turns out. I spent all day doing one and half of the design on this shirt. I put on the front bands and sewed the shoulder seams. It took me hours to do this as I felt rotten – the start of the flu.

One of my goals this year is to do less client sewing. There are several reasons why I am cutting back.

I want to have time this summer to garden and enjoy our yard. I love sitting outside in our covered patio in the evenings when it is cooling off and enjoy the birds and flowers. I spent many evenings the past 2 years inside sewing in the evenings until I made a concerted effort to stop. Even then, I did hand sewing outside.
We want to do some short trips and if I have a lot of sewing to do, we don’t get to go snooping around the countryside.
Now a biggy – cost factor. I don’t think we sell our clothes for enough $$. We did a huge exercise on this and I sold most of my dresses for 50% less than what I should have charged for them. In the end, I made the cost of materials and very little for labour. As I am established, it is hard to double the cost of my clothing in one year and maybe two years.

The shirt I am making right now (above) will have 12 to 14 of those flowers on it. Each flower takes an hour to embroider. I can sew some while the embroidery is stitching out. By the time the 12th design is done, I will have $26.00 worth of thread used plus 12 hours (12 stitch outs) invested in this shirt. If I use BC’s minimum wage of $9.50/hour, that is $114.00 for labour. Yes, I will have the collar on this shirt. I can insert one sleeve but it won’t be finished until I embroider the cuffs. I made the piping for this shirt to get the right colour which is another 2 hours plus supplies which includes thread, interfacing and buttons. That is about $30.00. Cost to that point will be $170.00 including minimum wage for my labour. Will I get what this shirt is worth? No I won’t, hence one of the reasons why I am cutting back on my sewing. If I can get what it is worth, then I will do more client sewing. No wonder Son pays $500.00 for a custom made, perfectly fitting, suits him dress shirt.

I am only sewing for two clients this year and that will be enough.

Time for another cup of coffee after that huge thought process.

Until tomorrow.........................

Renovating

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning we started slowly. I didn’t sleep well and felt blah all day long. Too many later nights and too much rich food. Not. Good. For. Me. But that tiredness got me eating to keep awake. If I had slept during the day, I would have repeated the previous night’s sleep pattern. In the end, I went to bed early last night and slept fairly well. I also think I might be fighting a cold. With our weather so crazy here (10C at 6 a.m.) I am surprised we don’t have the flu.

In the morning, the Spousal Unit and I took out the china cabinet that was built onto the wall in the dining room. It was built after the house was finished as it was attached to the wall and sitting on carpet. Also there was an extension to hook up the electric heater (an electrical no-no). We worked our way through the process of removing it without damage and it is sitting in our living room.

We can’t have company as these cupboards are leaning against the two extra chairs. LOL

After lunch the Spousal Unit ripped the paneling off the walls and now we are rethinking the situation.............just like we did when we renovated the kitchen last January. We may just gyproc the walls and not put in the china cabinet. I have a bow faced china cabinet that I can put on the wall and with the server, gramophone, table and chairs, it should look perfect; simple and non cluttered. If this unit fits, we can put it in as a craft cupboard in the family room. It can be painted a light colour or white and work quite well for that. We even talked about putting it out on the lawn with a FREE sign.

Above the paneling is gone and the cedar tung and groove is showing. The room looks brighter already. And larger. Getting excited about this room.

I ordered an iron Christmas Eve as my old one is wearing out. The old iron will be used to apply hot fix crystals. My new iron is a Iron Maven J420 and it arrived yesterday. I think it is going to be perfect for my needs.

I won’t get it set up for a couple of days as I have to help the Spousal Unit put on the gyproc and do Literacy work. I am going to try and embroider the second front of the shirt I am working on. It is slowly coming together for me. That dratted tablecloth did not get any stitching as I was to tired to work on it. Tonight I hope.

With this thought, until tomorrow.................

Custom Made Shirts

2012-01-03T05:57:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I started my healthy life style. I monitored what I ate and increased my fluids. I also parked a long ways from the stores and walked a lot more. It was a good feeling. I did gain weight over the holidays and am now back on track with my eating. Exercise will be walking to start off with. As there isn’t a lot of choice in our village, I will have to figure out what I am going to do and do it.

When Son arrived, he gave me his first custom made shirt which was like winning the lottery. There is much to be learned from this shirt in the area of shirt making. He also let me take pictures and trace two of his other shirts. Son pays around $500.00 per shirt but they fit him perfectly and the fabric is to die for.

Shirt #1 is either an Italian cotton or a linen cotton blend. It has a gorgeous hand even though it wrinkles. But the wrinkles aren’t ugly and they seem to smooth out while being worn. The feature of this shirt is the cuffs and collar band.

The cuffs have this dark brown piece added and they look so smart when the shirt is worn. I traced the cuff to get the exact measurements.

The collar band is solid coloured on the outside. When worn you just see it. The tailor also did the inside of the button bands with the plain fabric though you didn’t see them unless the top buttons were left open. I thought it was such a neat idea that added a different element to this shirt.

This tailor sews the buttons on using an X design with the thread.

Shirt #2 was bought in a shop in Toronto. It is a high end cotton that has a very subtle sheen to it. Son met three of the shop’s top employees during lunch at a pub. As the pub was packed full and he was alone at a table, these men sat with him. They talked and after lunch, he got a grand tour of the store, met the owner, head tailor, and a raft of other people over three floors. This shirt is imported but the store still does alterations on them for clients. The unique feature of this shirt is the collar.

There is a second collar sewn to the under collar prior to it being sewn to the top collar and then to the collar band. The white stitching on this collar is sewn down to under collar after the button hole is sewn in.

When the collar is buttoned down, you don’t see the buttons on top of the collar. Very unique. The inside collar band and the yoke lining are made of the same fabric as the second collar piece. The second unique item of this shirt was the hem. The fronts and back were hemmed prior to sewing up the side seams. This allows the tailor to alter the shirt without taking out the hem.

The buttons have the name of the company printed on them. When Son had it dry cleaned, the dry cleaner did not take care to protect the buttons and the finish has been removed from some of the buttons. They can be replaced when Son goes back to Toronto.

On both shirts, the sleeves were inserted using a flat felled seam that is 1/2 – 5/8” in depth. The side seams are very tiny flat felled seams. The hems are tiny also. I learned so much about expensive shirts and will be applying some of them to the shirts I make for the Spousal Unit. I will be sharing this information with Ron Collins.

The dining room as it looked last night. You can see the tung and groove cedar on the window wall. We don’t know why this was done, but it certainly adds an extra layer of insulation in our house. Our house is easy to heat; we hardly ever use the electric heat in the winter. The fireplace heats the upstairs.

This morning I have to empty the china cabinet so we can remove it from the wall. Hopefully it won’t be damaged so we can put it back on to the wall. The unfortunate part of this – the back will not be mahogany unless we add it as a backing. That will be the breakfast discussion.

Until tomorrow........................

Happy New Years

2012-01-02T19:38:00.001-08:00

Here it is Jan. 2, 2012 and I am finally saying

Happy New Years

to all my blogger friends. Son and his girlfriend arrived Dec. 30 and we visited, laughed, cooked, and had a fabulous time together. Just a relaxing time together where we weren’t on a strict time line. Such fun to do that. On New Years Eve, we sat up until just after midnight to bring in the new year together, something we haven’t done for many a year.

I have set some goals for this years. They are not resolutions but goals that I hope to accomplish.

Loose weight and exercise more. This is my number one goal of the year. It is for health reasons mainly. This includes being outside as much as I want to be doing outdoor things I like to do.
Finish that dratted table cloth. I need it out of my life. My plan is to work up to 2 hours a day on it most days of the week.
Do less client sewing (I am taking on only 2 clients and am booked for the year).
Sew some for the Spousal Unit and myself.
Do more fun sewing – crafts, quilting, and a bit of home decor.
Begin pattern drafting. Buy the book and start.
Take another course from Ron Collins. Plan my course of action and take two items to work on. One will be another shirt for the Spousal Unit using some ideas from Son’s beautiful custom made shirts.

I have cut back on client sewing this year and by next year I might only take one client and then no one. I want to enjoy sewing without having to be on edge with clients. I want to move to enjoying my sewing again, and do things outside with the Spousal Unit. That is how I am feeling right now.

Today I went in to the city to get groceries, DMC embroidery floss and notions from the great Fabricland Sale. Walmart was a gong show – everyone and their dog was shopping as the kids go back to school tomorrow. Michael’s was busy when I got the DMC floss but nothing really that bad. Fabricland was busy. Each of the two cutting tables had 2 to 3 people cutting and the line ups were 10+ people in length. The till had 10 to 12 people lined up to pay. I bought notions that didn’t need cutting, paid and left. I went to the druggist in a mall and that was the quietest place of all.

The Spousal Unit started ripping apart the dining room this afternoon and had to quit. He burnt out his Dremmel cutting the paneling away. Then he discovered the china cabinet was added after the carpet was laid. Now we have to empty it out and remove it from the wall, remove the carpet and start again. Only the second surprise upstairs and we don’t need any more. Once that is done, the rest of demo will go quickly.

Until tomorrow.................

Last of the Reflections

2011-12-30T15:50:00.001-08:00

More reflections from 2011 goals

Goal 5

Western shirt inventory

Aaahhh....the western shirt inventory. It started out with an idea which ended up me doing more embroidery for Daughter than for myself. I did do one shirt and then had to move on to sewing for clients. In between I made a couple of children’s western shirts that were cute. Then on July 25, Daughter dropped the bomb. There would be no more western shirt business. She shut it down for reasons of her own. I was angry, upset, and a lot more. I then had to take a deep breath and debrief with myself for several days and then reflect for several weeks. In the end I was happy it was gone. I can be my own identity and if I want to pursue making shirts I can. Right now it isn’t happening. A few orders and that may come to an abrupt end.

Though I started out persistent with keeping the western shirt business going and doing inventory, I am glad I backed off and let it die. As I look back now with 5 months behind me, I see many things that disturbed me with what we did. It is over with and won’t happen again.

Goal 6

Sew for myself

Not done. No time. If I looked at it, I got another order to sew. Thinking about sewing for me became a curse – I always got another order to sew. It was felt that I should build the rodeo queen clothing business and that led me to think about me second.

No more comments on this. It reflects back to “No one will look after me except me”.

Goal 7

Remain healthy

My health issues are under control surprisingly enough. I do have sleep issues and they seem to be worse when I become over stimulated with creative thinking. I am not exhausted with it as I do fall back asleep and get up later in the morning. But, I need to link back to Goal 1 – Loose weight. If I loose weight and exercise, I will remain healthy. And I hope my sleep issues become less.

On to other things

Our son is coming to see us for the next couple of days. We haven’t seen him for three years; he came the first year we lived in this house. Visiting, dinners, and laughter shall prevail in our household. Son travels a lot with his job and he usually gets caught up on sleep and visiting with friends over the holidays. This year he was home for the month before Christmas and is not suffering from jet lag and exhaustion.

The dratted table cloth got more done on it last night. With so many reruns on TV, we tend to ignore the shows and do other things. The Spousal Unit is reading and I am embroidering. We both stop to watch the news and talk about what is going on in the world.

I set up the embroidery for the fronts of the shirts and while one front stitched out, I cleaned house. Not a lot to do as it stays clean when the Spousal Unit is not demoing. By the way, he couldn’t stay away from ripping something apart. Two days ago, he made one wicked noise, having me jump almost out of my skin. I ran up the stairs with Daughter in hot pursuit. Lo and behold, he ripped the door casing off between the living room and the hall. He was grinning like a Cheshire cat. Now he is counting the days until he can start again. Seems I will be putting away Christmas on Jan. 1.

The dark tunnel

While I waited for daughter to show up, I made another crayon tote. I did the simple one as I was short of the butterfly fabric to do the bigger one.

And with the other tote. I know that both will sell to some little girls who love this concept.

Until the next time. I am not sure if I will be blogging when Son is home. That remains to be seen.

More Reflections and Sewing

2011-12-29T18:07:00.001-08:00

More reflections from my goals for 2011.

Goal 3

Take part in a craft sale

I did make a few items for the craft sale held in late November. But to make it worth while, I had to dig out items I had made over the past 6 years and sell them. Most of the items were either quilted or embroidered and sold well. I also made crayon totes for a free draw and people have asked me to make them for sale next year. I can see doing more craft items and less client sewing in the books. Less stress, more fun, and I can do a bit each day and not worry about changes unless I make them.

I was not persistent with this goal. I think I dabbled in it to see what the market would bear and I will try again in 2012.

Goal 4

Loose weight

I did not meet this goal at all. I actually gained weight much to my dismay. The cause was stress overload for 7 months; sewing rapidly, designing on the fly, and changing what had been asked for originally. Most of the change came from not knowing what they, the client, wanted or being them pushed into some other design at the last minute. It is hard to mentally design a dress or top only to have them changed quickly. I am then left with no mental design to work from. I did not enjoy being in the sewing room hours on end and pushing myself to do hours of sewing while everyone else was enjoying themselves. I also juggled canning nearly 400 hundred jars of fruit and vegetables.

I was not persistent in this goal. In actual fact, it seemed to get buried beneath a huge pile of fabric and crap; yes, I am going to call all the verbose flung around and at me crap. I actually realized no one was going to worry about me unless it was me. I stopped the long hours of sewing and took outside breaks. I was exhausted and felt horrid. My most fortunate thing was the Spousal Unit and I did most of the canning together. We set time limits and once it was done and cleaned up we took great breaks at the table in our covered patio. When I started journaling about this, I realized I have to look after myself and not let others sabotage this goal.

While writing in my journal about my feelings, I realized I am a stress eater. If I get upset, worried, or become angry, I eat to help sooth my feelings. Most of it comes back to sewing for clients and how it was handled this past year. Even Daughter sewing this dress made me feel stressed but I have realized if she wants to sew, I will help her this once and she is on her own. If she wants to sew for clients, she can do that and I will move on to other things that I enjoy. That will include non sewing activities.

On to other things

Last night I did more than one extra hour on the table cloth. I actually finished embroidering and outlining one flower in the next bouquet. That was progress. I will try to do another flower tonight. I need to buy more blue thread when I go to the city as I have run out of the medium blue.

The pieces I have finished. This one is the smallest I have done but there are some more that are smaller.

The same as the one I am now embroidering.

I finished up the baby loves books bags before breakfast this morning. It didn’t take me long as the last bag needed the lining and handles sewn and then put together. That makes 8 bags to take up to Public Health next week. I am happy I got them done.

I then set up the shirt I am going to make on to the embroidery machine. The back yoke got embroidered and put on to the back of the shirt. While the embroidery was chugging away, I made the hot pink piping. Ready to start the front tomorrow.

I even tried to do a curved welt pocket with piping. Not great but not bad for my first try. I am thinking about not adding these pockets to the shirt as I need a lesson on them from Ron Collins, YouTube and who ever else I can find.

In the afternoon, Daughter came over and we worked on her dress. I helped her set in the sleeves and she finished the appliques on the sleeve cap. She starts the lining tomorrow.

Reflections and Sewing

2011-12-28T07:56:00.001-08:00

We are approaching the end of 2011 and it is time for me to reflect. Though I started thinking about 2012 right after Labour Day, I like to reflect on the past year near the end of December.

In 2011 I wanted to be persistent. Persistence is defined as refusing to give up or let go. How many goals did I meet as some of them were going to require persistence.

Goal 1

Learned how to knit socks two at a time from the toes up

I have knit socks before using double pointed needles. They were knit from the top down. What I didn’t like about them was knitting the first sock and then trying to knit the second sock exactly the same number of rows as the first one. Then I heard about knitting socks from the toes up two at a time. At first I was nervous about doing it, especially casting on for the toe. I tried, I failed, I went for help and now can do cast on with the use of a YouTube video. I practiced the magic cast on several times prior to knitting the socks.

I got a lovely book on knitting socks toes up for Christmas last year. I chose a pattern that matched the wool I wanted to use. As I can knit fairly well, I decided to do a K1P1 ribbing on these socks as the technique is new to me. I read the book, tried it out and ended up unraveling the socks. Yes I knit the same pair twice as the first pair were too big for anyone I knew. The second time knitting went well until I got to the heel. I ripped it out three times before I understood the directions. Also the bamboo circular needle I bought for this project are splintering and need to be replaced before I can knit the next pair. After knitting the socks, I am not thrilled with the shape of the toe. I read the instructions one last time and I did not do it correctly. I need to increase every row for the first two rows not knit a row between.

I certainly was persistent at this project and am ready to knit another pair of socks later on. I will do up my post-it notes and put it into the book. I have another two balls of wool to knit socks for daughter and I will inquire about using a different ribbing; maybe K2P2. I don’t do fancy designs as Daughter wears these in her winter riding boots.

Persistent? Absolutely. Other than learning how to do the Magic Cast On, I taught myself how to knit these socks. It took a lot of thinking, laughing, reading and redoing to make these socks.

Goal 2

Complete the embroidered table cloth I started about 5 or 6 years ago.

I didn’t get a lot done on the tablecloth. I finished up two designs and have started the third one. I hate this project and it is an albatross around my neck. I give up on it too quickly as I never seem to feel like I am making progress. But I am making progress, just not as fast as I want to. I would toss this project but it belongs to someone else. And she does not do handwork.

I was not as persistent with this goal as I could have been. Anything and everything was the perfect excuse not to work on it. Hopefully I will be better at working on it this year.

On to other things

Today I continued to work on the baby loves books bags. I would love to give 8 of them to our Public Health Nurse next week. She loves putting in some books and her material and give them out. I started before breakfast this morning and within an hour I had one bag 75% done. They have become so easy to make. I made two of the remaining three today, except for the hand sewing, as I have the process well oiled in my head. After they are done, I have to buy more cotton to make more; I am thinking about 12 more.

We did a good 2 hours on the dress today. Daughter sewed up the side seams and I did the back seam. I pinned the sleeves on to the dress so the appliques could be added. She is gluing them on for homework this afternoon.

The left sleeve. The design is at the bottom as it helps balance the dress on that side. It will have a scattering of small flowers glued on up at the cap.

The right sleeve has the appliques up at the shoulder cap and less down towards the cuff to balance out that side of the dress. There will be a small scattering of small flowers down to the cuff.

Looking at it from the front. It will have more flowers put on it plus pearls and crystals. This is just the starting point.

I tried a new godet today. Rather than it be one that juts out, I studied a few dresses and came up with this idea. It will stay behind the dress but will cover the boots and legs. Am pleased with my design.

The table cloth is being worked on and progress is good for today. I will probably do another hour on it before I call it quits tonight. I really want to finish this before Xmas 2012 so wish me luck.

The wind came up this afternoon with great force. The temperature jumped to 10C and remained there during the evening. We have been having above normal temperatures this winter and today was the warmest for December in our community.

Until tomorrow......................

More Sewing

2011-12-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

I woke up during the night and couldn’t sleep for a couple of hours. As I laid in bed, I listened to a coyote howl. He seemed quite close (window was open) but he wasn’t. Jill, our dog didn’t bark or fuss over the noise. It is unusual to hear coyotes howl at this time of the year. It could be the mild weather that has them more active the last few nights. The Spousal Unit said he has heard them during the night also.

Pauline, the shirt I had to replace the sleeve on has the embroidery already on it; it is embroidered taffeta. Thank goodness for that. I cried more when I had to toss all the expensive crystals on it. They are firmly fixed on the shirt with a special glue. When the new crystals arrive, I will put them on carefully. The iron will not be cranked up high on linen but on a lower temperature.

I get the Spousal Unit to help put on the snaps as the old variety were painful to do. I now get my snaps from The Bee Lee Company and even I can handle them. He will now do just the pearl part of the snaps and I will do the back part. I use an awl to poke a hole in the fabric, shove the back piece on, set it in the holder, snap the top piece onto a metal rod, and hammer them together. I did 10 backs in about 15 minutes.

Daughter came over today to work on a dress. She wanted a basic rodeo queen gown. I took one of my tracings and redid the neckline for her. She got it cut out and the darts sewn in the front and back. I had to do the zipper for her. Then she put on the details for the front of the dress and will glue most of it down at home for “homework”.

The design has gone from this

to this (taken by Daughter on her iPhone.

She has cut all the designs from a sari for this dress. The back will have one of the big designs on it and a horizontal row of flowers at the fringe line. The sleeves will have a large design on each one and some of the big flowers put on them It will have lots of crystals and pearls put on also. Colour of crystals yet to be determined. While she did this, I finished up the sleeve on the said shirt and it is hung up waiting for its crystals. In the afternoon, I worked on book bags for babies. Nothing too earth shattering at this time.

Please note behind the dress in the top picture – the closet now has doors. The Spousal Unit did them just before Christmas. It is so nice to have them on and I truly appreciated it. Instead of doing demo, he did completed some jobs that needed to be done.

To end the day, I spent two hours embroidering on that table cloth. I have to buy more embroidery thread but that will not hinder my progress. There are a lot of colours to do. I hope I will stay persistent with it and get it done.

Until the next time.....................

A Sewing Day

2011-12-26T16:28:00.000-08:00

I hope that each and every one of you had a wonderful Christmas. We certainly did. We enjoyed our time with Daughter, Son-in-Law, his mom and her boyfriend.

On Christmas Eve Day, I had an hour and a half to sew so I finished up the Java Press set I had been working on. The coffee press got a wrapper to keep the coffee hot. It is a flying geese pattern. I also made 2 mug rugs for coffee cups to sit on. While doing research for different ideas for mug rugs, I came across a mug rug that is 7.5 x 11”. It is suppose to be large enough to put your cup and a couple of cookies onto. Perfect, I thought for the java press and a few cookies or cream and sugar. A cute set.

Ideas are rumbling in my head to use up the rest of that coffee bean fabric. You will have to wait and see.

On Christmas Day, the Spousal Unit and I put the snaps on his shirt. The shirt I started with Ron Collins in Nanaimo in September. It is done and in the closet. Whew! Nothing else got looked at though as the rest of the day was spent away from our house.

Today I am spending some quality time in the sewing room. I am working on My Baby Loves Books bags – embroidered four of them ready to sew. I remembered I had to put crystals on a shirt for Daughter so dug it out and proceeded to work on it.

I had 5 more flowers to put crystals onto and when I went to do the next flower, I melted the sleeve fabric. It is taffeta and my iron was too hot for it. So I spent the next 2 hours doing book bag embroidery and taking the sleeve out of the shirt and cutting a new one. As I have 7 silk coloured crystals left, I won’t be working on this shirt until the next batch of silk crystals arrives in 3 to 4 weeks.

The socks are done—they were finished this morning. They look long and skinny but I have a feeling it is the K1P1 ribbing that does that. They fit around my feet nicely and the length is just the perfect length for Daughter.

I have another pattern for a heavier sock to try next. But, I need new needles. Mine (bamboo) have chipped off at the tip of one needle. I had to smooth it with my emery board. I have knit with bamboo needles for many years and this is the first time I have had this happen.

It was a great Boxing Day at our house. Until the next time..........................

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T03:00:00.000-08:00

From Elliott

Caturday

2011-12-24T07:00:00.001-08:00

Banging My Head

2011-12-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

A good four or five years ago, I took a workshop on making a quilt for our bed. It is from the book Quick Trip by Eleanor Burns. It was a lot of work as I made it between a queen and a king size. I sent it out to be long armed quilted, choosing a silk batting as I got raving reviews on it. When I showed it to the Spousal Unit last winter, he told me it would be too warm for us. I put it away and, today, I put it on the guest bed.

I showed the Spousal Unit and his comment was “Why don’t we have one like that for our bed?” Bang my head against a brick wall.

I guess I will be making one for us.

And I will be using blue in it also.

And it will have a silk bat in it also.

Will I ever win? I need to find a bed skirt to finish off the look. I made the afghan last winter.

Onto the socks!! The first heel is done and it looks fantastic. The second heel is done and it looks fantastic. I am working on the legs now. The issue with the pattern is behind me and I am happy with my progress. It won’t be done for Christmas but it will be done before the end of the year. And I was persistent at learning how to do this.

Until Boxing Day......................

Persistence

2011-12-22T21:10:00.001-08:00

I have been working on socks for Daughter as one of her Christmas gifts. They are the toe up socks done two at a time. I am on my second shot making them and I almost wore the wool out doing the heel of the first sock.

I have had a very hard time with the pattern; the heel in particular. I got it all ready to shape the heel. I read the directions and did what I thought they meant. I had this funny narrow heel that was taking me to half the stitches I needed fast. Ripped it out. Read the instructions again and tried again after looking up information on the Internet. Still was getting to half the stitches I needed fast. Ripped it out again and read the instructions super carefully and got it. How dumb can you be, Ann. I missed the part that was so important, pick up the wrapped thread from the stitch and knit them together. I was knitting those two stitches and the next one together. You only knit three together at each end (once) so there won’t be a hole showing. But persistence paid off and it looks like a proper heel now. The socks won’t be done for Christmas but I will keep working on them and have them done by New Years; or at least I am aiming for that.

I got 5 dozen cookies made yesterday morning and started to clean up the spare bedroom. I took all the Christmas presents out to wrap. I was stumped at how to wrap one gift so headed down stairs to make Daughter another bag. One-third done in less than an hour. And finished early this morning.

For this bag, I took the fabric I had on hand and cut it to look good. It had to be tall enough for the kitchen utensils I bought. Once the horse fabric was added, I made it the same as the rest of the bags I made with one exception. I added a little flap and button.

I didn’t realize the beige fabric has lyrca in it and the handles stretch a bit. Not bad but...... I am turfing the rest of that fabric, which is only large scraps. I have a bit of the horse fabric left to put onto an apron.

The spare room is about one-third cleaned and I want to get it done today. I am staying on top of this so I can relax tomorrow afternoon and Christmas Day.

Until tomorrow..................

A Few Of My Favourite Things

2011-12-22T07:23:00.001-08:00

Yesterday morning was spent in the kitchen baking. I made 42 butter tarts, a butter tart square and 24 mincemeat tarts. Today I plan on making Ginger Sugar Top cookies; an old recipe from my mother. It gives the Spousal Unit and I time to talk about our childhood Christmases while I bake.

In the afternoon, we set up the master bedroom. The curtains are too long; I need to fix the header and shorten them to 6” below the window. As we have electric heat, I can’t have long curtains on the windows. Ideas are swirling in my head on how to finish up the room. Pictures still need to be hung, we need a headboard, and something to finish off the bed. That will come with time. We are thrilled with the room.

I did not get down to the sewing room yesterday and I am not sure if I will get there today. Getting things ready for Christmas has kept us busy. The upside has been the discussions we have while working together.

I went looking at my pictures and saw this collage I had put together showing the clothing I had made from Oct 1, 2010 to October 31, 2011. It isn’t every thing I had made, just my favourite pieces.

The two dresses on the bottom are minus the crystals and they still look great. I wonder what will be designed this year though I do know it won’t be as much as I did last year.

Until tomorrow......................

Decorating Done

2011-12-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

We finished up the decorating mid afternoon yesterday. The tree is decked out but we plan on buying more garland and ball ornaments after Christmas to fill it up some more. I hope to sneak 2 more packages of lights in also.

The tree sits between the dining and living areas of our house. I wish we had more of the copper garland. I did find some plastic barb wire and bought the last two packages of it and that isn’t enough either. When I buy, I usually buy all that is left but it is never enough. I won’t be buying any more of the fancy decorations. They are western and I can’t buy them where we live now. I found them in shops and stores in and around Dawson Creek.

We don’t have a tree topper so I use a gold star ornament and ribbon. I do love it. The flash lightened up the picture; we can see much of the tree after dark. What was so amazing – Elliott has ignored the tree. Slept while we decorated it and hasn’t so much as sniffed it since then.

Can you see Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore in our tree? They have resided in our tree every year for 33 years. I made them when the children were 2 and 3 years old.

We had so much fun making them just before Christmas that year.

We got the outside lights up also. Not a lot, but more than we usually put up. There was a bitter north draft that chilled us to the bone and we were happy to get inside when the job was done.

Yes, that is a moose. Let’s everyone know we lived in the north. Who knows what will be added next year.

On the sewing front, I got the insulated sleeve done for the French Press. It is a bit big for mine but it does work. I also cut out the two mug rugs and pinned them together. Just the large mug rug left to design and make. It will be a great for the craft sale.

Until tomorrow..........................

Christmas Decorating

2011-12-20T11:52:00.001-08:00

We are in the midst of decorating today. Though the Spousal Unit has not always been agreeable to decorating with my intensity, he is already planning on doing more than previous years. When we lived in the north, he did not (like refused) put up outside lights. When we put up outside lights the first Christmas we were down here, only 50% of the bulbs lit up. When he looked at them this year, he saw, and laughed, that those 4 strands of lights are wired correctly for the first 50% of the bulbs and incorrectly for the last 50%. We have 4 strands of good bulbs now and he is going to do his thing this year. Along with our lit moose and some lit stalks. I am not complaining in the least.

The dining room is full of gingerbread decorations. Those little men snuck into everything this year.

Everywhere I could put gingerbread I did.

Even the doors on the china cabinet got gingerbread decorations.

This china cabinet is built in and is staying as a feature of the house.

And a wall hanging also. It is on the unfinished gyproc wall.

In our area we have chuckers. They are a type of partridge and the locals make sure they are well taken care of, feeding them grain during the coldest days of winter. A local pottery shop made sets of them for sale and I like to add red balls to our display. Of course they get to sit on gingerbread themed trivets I made.

Every year, we put up the nativity. Our set is around 55 years old and I remember it as a child. We always have it up somewhere in our dining/eating area. This year I put it on the middle section of the china cabinet.

In the kitchen I have a small tree on the window counter. It reminds us of our parents as both of them had tiny trees when they were alone.

As I went through my Christmas boxes some of my items are missing and our living room is somewhat skimpy this year. A good guess – the missing items were left in a school in the north. Not a big worry as it gives me an excuse to make more things.

Until tomorrow..............................

Another Small Project

2011-12-19T20:32:00.001-08:00

This coming week is our time to decorate for Christmas. We started this evening and will try to be done tomorrow. The reason we decorate later evolved around my teaching schedule and, now, renovating. Next year I will be able to decorate earlier as the whole upstairs will be done.

We have decorated the house in the same theme for the past two Christmases. I do a gingerbread theme for the kitchen and dining room and the living room moves towards a lodge look. It flows well from one room to the next. I will continue this theme for another couple of years as I build up towards a new theme. I do have blue, white, and silver started using snowflakes and snowmen. I will add red cardinals as they are my favourite. I will need to embroidery lots of snowflakes, make a tree skirt, and do some other quilting; of which I have the fabrics on hand. It could work out nicely for alternate years.

In between decorating and baking, I plan on embroidering the next batch of My Baby Loves Books bags and making an insulated sleeve for a Hot Java French Press. I will add a couple of other items to the mix for my craft box. Someone might just want it as I will include a Java French press. Or it might become the free draw I plan on having. Here is what the front side looks like.

I have the Velcro to put on and sandwich the top, batting and back together. The backing is the bean fabric. Then on to a larger mug rug for the French Press and 2 coasters for cups. That should use up almost all of the three pieces of fabric. But wait – I have more of that fabric to make something else for another package.

We are both tired as we finished up Christmas shopping today and managed to beat the crowds. The traffic had got heavier between our last two stops and we were glad to know that we would be heading home. Our biggest issue – what route to take. A furniture truck caught on fire on our normal route home and shut the highway down for over three hours. It opened just before we left for home. It was quite the fire – nothing left of the tractor and the trailer was totally gutted. The people in the truck noticed the fire, stopped, and got out safely.

Until the next time................

A New Crayon Tote

2011-12-17T16:18:00.001-08:00

We have had a busy week as we volunteered to help do the Christmas Food Hampers. Each day we spent 3 to 4 hours gathering the goods, sorting, and doing the hampers. Today was the day they were delivered and there was quite a crowd of volunteers there. We laughed and carried on throughout the time we were there.

Yesterday I started a new crayon tote. I bought the pattern at Gingercake. When I read the instructions, I was confused as you only use one pattern piece. But as I started to cut out, I understood what the instructions meant. By the time I was done, I was thrilled with the pattern.

I love to put pencils and an eraser in each of the totes I make. When I put them into this one, they kept sliding out of the pocket above the writing tablet (where a child can put stickers). So, I glued Velcro dots to hold that pocket shut. Voila, the pencils and erasers don’t fall out.

I haven’t put the crayons into their pocket yet but I will get them on Monday when I go shopping. It will be for sale. And I am sure some little girl will love it.

For the rest of the day, I am going to read Taunton Press book on shirts and blouses, make supper, and relax. Tomorrow, we are out for part of the day and on Monday, most of the day. After that, we will see how much sewing I will get done each day.

Until the next time.......................

Caturday

2011-12-17T06:17:00.000-08:00

Fabric Gift Bags

2011-12-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

These Christmas gift bags are so much fun to make though they do take time. I really like the fact they can be used every year.

I first learned out to make these bags at Embroidery Club a couple of years ago. The bag was for a wine bottle and I ended up adapting it to get a gift bag. I don’t do the embroidery any more and won’t unless it is a gift for a special person.

For these bags you will need:

2 – 13” squares of printed fabric (Christmas or otherwise)
2 – 13” squares of light weight interfacing
2 – 4 x 13” rectangles for the cuff of the bag. It can be plain, marbled, or a small print.
2 – 4 x 13” rectangles of light weight interfacing
2 – 13 x 16.5” rectangles of lining fabric (I use broadcloth)
2 – 13 x 16.5” rectangles of light weight interfacing
I cut this bags lining and interfacing only 16” for a small amount of the cuff turned to the inside of the bag.
ribbon
Optional 2 – 1 x 13” pieces of a contrasting fabric ( will make the bag with them this time)

Iron the interfacing on to all the pieces of the bag. Trim interfacing that shows if necessary.

Fold the 2 pieces of 1 x 13” pieces in half so they are 1/2” x 13”.

Lay the long thin pieces onto the cuffs with raw edges to raw edges. Pin into place and stitch 1/8” from raw edge.

Pin the raw edge of the stitched piece to the top of the bag making sure any print is going in the right direction. Stitch in place using a 1/4” seam. Press seam allowance up to the cuff.

Mark the button hole in the center of one piece. I marked 1” from the seam line and then marked the button hole up 1/4” from that line.

Stitch the button hole starting at the bottom of the top line. My button hole is 13 mm and they can be as long as 15 mm. Snip the button hole open. I apply Fray Block prior to cutting the button hole open. Your choice.

Pin one side together making sure the cuffs and the little trim match nicely. Sew with 1/4” seam allowance. Press the seam open. Repeat with the other side.

Pin the bottom together and sew a 1/4” seam from the stitching line to the stitching line of each side seam. Do not sew the piece of seam allowance that is a single layer.

Press the bottom seam allowance open. Next take the side seam and bottom seam and match them up to make a triangle. Pin through both the seams and smooth out so there are no folds on both sides.

Using a 6” ruler and the 45 degree lines, have the triangle of the fabric match up to the triangle on the ruler.

I use a chalk liner to make a stitching line across the the base of the triangle. As you can see I have set the line coming down the seam at 3” but you can do 2” or 2.5” if you wish. Sew across the chalk line. I do both of these at the same time.

Fold and press the stitch line so the triangle flips up the side seam.

Your outer bag is done. The lining is done the same way except you do not add a cuff at the top and you leave an opening in one of the side seams. That is where you will turn your bag to the right side.

Both the lining and outer bags are done. Have the lining turned inside out.

Take the outer bag and put into the lining. Match up the side seams and pin around the top. Stitch the tops of the two bags together with a 1/4” seam.

Pull the outer bag through the opening in the lining so both bags are now right side out.

I press the joining seam towards the outer bag. Push the lining into the outer bag and arrange to fit. Mine had a bit of the cuff on the inside (just trying something new).

I used a quilting marker on my sewing machine and stitched 1” down on the print of the outer bag. I then used my ditch foot to sew in the ditch where the print meets the cuff. This makes a casing for the ribbon.

At the top of the cuff, I top stitched 1/4” down. I ladder stitch the opening in the lining to close it up neatly. Then I threaded a ribbon through the button hole to tie the bag shut.

Knit and Learn

2011-12-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

I got the toes done before breakfast yesterday morning. I knit hard and fast to get there.

I read the instructions for the toes twice, looked at the demonstration at the front of the book and after I got a bunch knit, I realized the instructions for this sock and the example are different for the first two rows after doing the cast on. I am persevering with this pattern before trying a new one.

I used the Magic Cast-on for these socks. When I went to do it, I drew a blank and the pictures in the book left me confused. Probably because I had a brain block. I did a YouTube search and found this wonderful Toe Up Video.

Knitpurlhunter did an excellent job of explaining and demonstrating this way of casting on.

One thing I have learned when making these socks is to M1R and M1L. I did not do it as explained and had to do another YouTube search. The Knitwitch has some very good video clips to help with several of the stitches needed when knitting these socks. On the whole, I am learning a lot even though I am doing the socks for the second time.

We finally got our bedroom closet finished. We had huge issues with it as it isn’t as deep as a normal closet (original designer error) and had to design our own rod hanger and shelf. As the closet is only 5 feet long, we will built a large walk in closet in the storage room for out of season clothing. That will help out with any extra clothing plus the rodeo clothes I make can be hung up in there also.

I also got a gift bag made for stocking stuffers. I put them on our plates to be opened before breakfast is served. Lots of fun for all of us. This one is for Son-in-law who loves to hunt and fish. Love the moose on the bag.

Daughter’s will be made today.

Until tomorrow.........................

Some Sewing Accomplished

2011-12-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

Another little annoying job is done. When we started renovating the house Aug. 2009, the Spousal Unit put all the reno receipts into a drawer. When I got home in July 2010, the receipts were on the verge of over flowing and by the time I set up Excel to record the receipts they were falling out of the drawer. Yesterday morning, I finished that job and sealed the envelopes for 2009 and 2010. They are in their proper storage tub in the cold room. 2011’s envelope will march down there by Jan. 5, 2012.

I also went through the drawers and baskets at the little desk in the front hall. I put the garbage can in front of me and worked fast. The garbage can is full and the drawers and baskets are purged. The desk top is a mess as I am still doing some other cleaning in that area. Should be done in the next couple of days.

I laid out the pattern for the blue shirt.

It is a pig of a pattern with the two piece sleeve. The fabric is a polyester/cotton twill. A nice shirt weight.

Once I got it cut out, I started playing with the embroidery. I got the back yoke embroidery placed so they are mirrored onto the same spot on each side of the center fold.

I then decided to do a sample of the embroidery on a scrap of fabric. Here it is about 1/3 stitched out. This is so the client can approve it before I start stitching it out.

And while the designed stitched out, here is what I did to the socks.

Yes, I ripped them apart. When I measured the foot, they would fit a size 12 or 13 foot. Daughter’s feet aren’t that big. So I begin them again..........

as the embroidery stitched away like crazy until it was done.

Until the next time.................

A Dark Dungeon

2011-12-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

Just for the record, you will see dust as this room has a good hour of furniture cleaning left to be done. But I thought I would show you how dark our living room is. No wonder we both feel depressed in the room during the winter.

Looking into the living room from the hallway. What drew us to the house were the windows and the open beam ceilings. But we wondered about the darkness but knew we would figure out how to brighten it up. This picture has no flash.

Looking from the dining room to the living room. Very monochromatic until you hit the 1960’s green rug. Time to update wouldn’t you say? The gas fireplace was installed in 2009 and we love it. It keeps most of the upstairs warm during the winter.

Looking at the other half of the living room from the dining room. The light wall on the right hand side is the wall we had to build between the dining room and kitchen when we redid the kitchen from January to March 2011. All you do is look at that piece of brightness and see the joins and screws. But it is brightness!

By the end of yesterday I had the dust off all the furniture and did some wiping up in parts of the house. As I was working, I thought of Fly Lady. I took a look at her website and I have certain rooms that are “there” in terms of being decluttered and clean. They are the ones that are easy to clean up on a regular basis. Others are coming along but.............as much as they are decluttered they still take extra work to clean up. I will get there. I have learned one thing from years ago; when I handle something it either stays or goes (toss, donate, sell). I let very few “hmmmmm’s” hang around. They are usually left in a spot for a couple of days and then I have to handle them – stay or go.

I have the heels done on both socks but I am not happy with the pattern. They will do for this round and I will move on to a new pattern for the next pair. Will do pictures when they are done. I will keep the book Toe-Up 2 at a Time Socks as a reference. The other thing I am going to do is buy a longer circular needle; I think mine is too short.

Today I am hoping to start the blue retro shirt. I have thought about it a lot and think I am ready to begin. I need to work on it daily for about two weeks as there will be a lot of embroidery going on to it.

I think there will be approximately 16 of this design embroidered on the shirt. A lot of embroidery. It can embroider while I do other things.

Until the next time..........................

A Bit of Sewing

2011-12-12T07:34:00.001-08:00

The Spousal Unit got the living room and dining room ceiling done by mid afternoon yesterday. We got to experience the fumes for the evening. But the job is done and both of us are happy. My job in all of this; scrub ceilings, move furniture and spot check for drips on the ceiling.

Last night we looked at the living and dining rooms and noticed how monochromatic they looked with the darker ceilings, dark stained walls, and our furniture. The only light is one gyproced wall. All we could say was “Thank goodness the wall are going to be a creamy white colour". We have to endure the darkness until January 3.

I did some more cleaning up yesterday. Not a lot but some. I did get the tops of some of the kitchen cupboards scrubbed. They have to be very clean as there is going to be some work done up there in the next couple of days. And I hope our bedroom will be finished also.

Between and after all the furniture moving and cleaning, I went down and cleaned up the mess on the cutting table. I want to start sewing the shirt I did the sleeve muslins for. To warm up, I made another crayon tote. The last of this pattern for a while.

I am going to try another pattern that I bought from Gingercake. That won’t happen until January at the earliest.

I got the heel done on the first sock (again!!) and started on the second sock. I am not sure about the heel at this point. And I am looking at Knit Freedom's sock patterns. When I downloaded her free patterns (PDF) and started to read them, she has links to video clips on how to do certain terms. Next pair will be from her pattern. I will send the instructions to my iPad.

This is the start of our busy week. Today I have a potluck luncheon, tomorrow is free, and then Wednesday to Saturday we are helping with the Christmas Hampers in the morning. In the afternoon, I will do some baking and more cleaning. Next week I decorate for Christmas and I have to go grocery shopping by then.

Until the next time.......................

Busy Busy Busy

2011-12-10T21:23:00.001-08:00

Over the past few days, I have read several blog entries that have talked about having a more simple and uncluttered life style. One person was deleting her Facebook account and told everyone to either call or email her. Another talked about the path they want to take in the future. Living more simply has been on my mind the last little while.

As I looked around at our house, which is in a constant state of devastation during renovations, I thought about how we can have that simple uncluttered life style we so love to have. How can we do it and what can we do to move towards that again has been the big question.

We both love minimalist but somewhere along the way we tend to get clutter. Even going through a small cabinet, I found information we had stuffed in there for the future. We haven’t looked at it so I tossed it. I took books that I had in the living room and piled them up to see what I can get rid of. The rest will go down stairs and I still have to decide what other books and binders I can let go of. I still keep adding to the yard sale pile and know that a bunch of furniture will be sold. Who needs three dining room tables. With less clutter around, we both feel more peaceful and relaxed. So we are moving towards that as we renovate.

The other big question has been the impact of social media on us. Blogs, Facebook, text messages, etc. I deleted all my blogs but one. It is the only one I wanted to keep as the rest cut into my other time. I will probably keep Facebook as I keep up with others on it plus I get news on items I have subscribed to. What I don’t look at closely, I will unsubscribe to. We both love our iPads and will not give them up. The Spousal Unit reads books on his. I have downloaded some pdf files and use my iPad when sewing from those files. I love using my iPad for reading books and I do surf the internet also. When it comes to computers, I am ready to have one good laptop rather than a laptop (old) and a desktop computer. But we will have to wait and see on that one.

The Spousal Unit continues to put the finish on the wood ceiling and I do the spot checks for drips for him. It works out well as the roller can’t always see the drips. We hope that job will be finished today. My eyes are burning from the fumes and we can only keep the door and windows open for so long before the house is uber cold.

The socks!! I wanted to finish up one heel on the socks and worked on them this morning. I discovered that, somehow, I had dropped 4 stitches and I had to unknit the socks to the completion of the increases for the instep. I was upset to say the least. But I will move on and knit on them during the day so I can finish the heel on the first sock and start on the second sock. Once that is done, I will only have the legs to knit. I should be done by Christmas, barring any more mistakes.

Until the next time................................

A Few Interruptions

2011-12-10T15:38:00.001-08:00

Renovating has been cutting into my sewing time but I am not complaining too much. What has to be done, has to be done. I spent a couple of hours washing half of the wood ceiling in the living room. Another hour spent moving furniture and cleaning up some messy drawers. I finished washing the ceiling this morning and the Spousal Unit put the finish on it. Wood ceilings are lovely but a lot of work, especially if they haven’t been done for many years.

When I had some time to relax, I worked on knitting socks. It seem to take forever to increase the instep of the socks 32 stitches. I kept thinking I was done and I still had more rows to do. I have started to shape the heel now. If all goes well, I should have them done for Christmas. I am shaping the heel now. Very different than what I am use to.

I finally got in to scrub the ensuite. I have cleaned the master bedroom several times now and quit. Once the closet is done, I will give it the last cleaning before we move our things back in. I didn’t realize I would be continually cleaning once I thought the bedroom was done. I quit before frustration set in and let it go. Not good for an A type of person.

Elliott had his needles yesterday and is not feeling the best today. The rabies vaccine leaves them feeling that way. He has eaten a little bit but spent most of his time sleeping. Poor fellow. He should be fine tomorrow.

As I have met my goals for today, I can sew some tomorrow. That will make me happy.

Until the next time................

Caturday

2011-12-10T10:45:00.001-08:00

A Bit of This And A Bit of That

2011-12-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we headed out to the city to get the bed frame for our mattress and box spring (which is stored in our bedroom). We looked at headboards but the Spousal Unit couldn’t decide so I will get it later on. I know what I want and he was okay with it. Not wood like we had hoped but metal.

I didn’t get any sewing done as we are gearing up to work on Christmas Hampers. It is our first time helping out with this and we will see if we like it or not. So far it has given us a diversion from renovating the house; which can be done in the afternoons.

I did dig out my knitting again. It has sat on a shelf for months and I want to get the project done. They are the socks knit from the toes up. Both socks at the same time on a circular needle. Hopefully they won’t be too big for Daughter’s feet. I am working on the heel cup. There has been an issue with holes where I make one stitch (M1S). I was doing it totally wrong. I need to watch it on YouTube and do it at the same time. That I will do today. Practice, practice, practice.

I will be climbing up and down the ladder today washing the ceiling in the living room. The Spousal Unit wants to put the sealer on it and the dining room this weekend. Once the New Year comes around, he can strip the walls and put up new gyproc. The upstairs looks like it will be finished this winter.

Elliott, the cat goes to the vet today for his vaccinations. I am sure he won’t care as he is not afraid of much. We both assume he would turn into a traveling cat if we allowed it. But that won’t happen.

Once the living room ceiling is scrubbed, I will start sewing the vintage looking shirt. I think I have the cuff process figured out in my mind. I would love to get it done before Christmas. Let’s hope that happens.

Until the next time..................

The Sleeve Again

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

I woke up yesterday morning thinking about the sleeve pattern I had fixed so I could use the vintage cuffs. I mentally put the sleeve together and, wham, it hit me.........I would be putting the sleeve in like a blouse sleeve; sew up the seams and insert the sleeve as a circle. Not what I wanted to do. So I got to thinking and this is what I came up with.

The sleeve pattern looked like this yesterday.

And I did this to it.

The under arm part up the back, I eliminated off yesterday’s sleeve and added the 5/8” seam allowance. Then I drew the other piece to make a 2 piece sleeve.

On to the muslin. I cut out the pattern pieces onto a left-over piece of broadcloth and sewed the seam at the back of the arm where the continuous placket would have gone.

After I pressed the seams open, I turned it over and laid the pattern piece of the one piece sleeve onto it to see how it fit.

Perfect fit. And ready to start the retro cuff. First I pinned the pleats in the sleeve. I made them quite long at this point. I can always adjust them prior to stitching down the cuff. And I can always make the seam opening shorter. The joys of a two piece sleeve.

The cuff has trace-a-pattern on the back of it but I would interface it with sew in interfacing the next time though it may not happen if the fabric is heavier than this broadcloth. That is a wait and see situation.

The sleeve was sewn under the arm. I would be attaching the sleeve to the shirt first and then wrestle with the whole thing.

I then attached the cuff with the right side of the cuff to the wrong side of the sleeve. Stitched down the sides and across the bottom. At the top of each side, I snipped to the seam allowance on the sleeve so the cuff will turn and the sleeve seam stays on the inside. Trim all seam allowances and cut across the corners.

Turn to the right side out and stitch the cuff to the sleeve. Watch the pleats so they lay flat. Stitch the opening shut from the top stitching on the long side to the top stitching of the short side of the cuff.

What would I do differently with this pattern:

I would interface the cuff with no fusible interfacing so I could turn the top of the cuff under for a smooth edge and have the cuff interfaced.
Baste the piping on to the edge of the cuff and then add Steam-A-Seam to the piping and press it in place. I would then top stitch the piping in place. Do the same for closing the one edge.
Pay very close attention to the pleats in the shirt and have them lay straight. Mine are laying at a bit of an angle.

Otherwise I am happy with this sleeve. I do have my retro cuff on a shirt now.

Until the next time...................

Sleeve Ideas for Vintage Shirt

2011-12-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

I am not MIA, I have been off doing other things. Sunday morning the Spousal Unit and I decided to have a leisurely morning. We read our books instead of rushing around. It felt great sitting there and doing nothing but read. In the afternoon, I climbed the ladder a gazillion times washing the dining room ceiling. It is tung and groove spruce and is a feature in our house. Those boards hadn’t been washed in many a year – probably not since they were installed. They have been dusted up until maybe 15 years ago and left to accumulate dust and dirt since then. I have the living room to do and then the new finish can be put on.

I got into the sewing room today and fooled around. I spent an hour looking for my western shirt pattern and found it after a lot of thinking. My question was “Why did I put it into a tub of fabric???” I wanted to mock up the next sleeve idea I had.

The sleeve pattern from my western shirt is a one piece tradition sleeve that you add the continuous placket to.

It is hard to add a fancy cuff to so I thought about how Palmer Pletsch does their sleeves in their pattern McCalls 4079. That wonderful seam down the back can be so helpful when adding a fancy cuff; or at least I hope so.

I used the pattern piece to help me out and after one failed attempt, I got it traced and drawn correctly.

I copied out the cuff pieces to see if they will fit or if I have to adjust the sleeve or the cuff.

I plan on stitching down the pleats at the cuff edge of the shirt so they lie flat and then pouf a bit at the top of the cuff. As it took me all afternoon to do that job, I won’t get started on the muslin until today or Wednesday.

Until tomorrow......................

Vintage Patterns

2011-12-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

You might still think that I am out to please others by making a shirt that is somewhat retro and very popular today. It is the last item from last year that I moved to my off time. I looked at it in such a way that I could use it as a design element for this year and it might just come to being. On a very limited basis to a few specially chosen clients.

I read the instructions for the cuffs about three times before they sunk in. I was thinking cuff – double thickness -- but this cuff is placed on the sleeve in a single thickness. So I proceeded to work on it.

This is not perfect but it certainly is helping me understand what I need to do.

After I cut out the cuff, I sewed Trace-A-Pattern onto it for a backing (this stuff has the red dots on it and is light weight). I used the pinking shears to trim the seams down to 1/4”. Once your cuff is done, you can trim it away to within an inch of the seam line.

I then turned it right side out and pressed. I pinned and basted piping onto the long side and the curved edge.

There is a mistake here. At the bottom of the straight side, I needed to pull the piping into nothing as shown in the diagram below.

I then started to sew the cuff onto the sleeve, scratched my head, and tried my best. I know I will do it differently the next time as there are a few errors that had to be fixed.

I will dig out another pattern that looks similar to this one and try it. I am not happy that the long end of the cuff is at the underarm seam. I will have to play some more.

What did I learn – to baste a lot, read everything twice or three times and look carefully at the pictures. Vintage pattern instructions can be confusing to say the least. But the patterns do have wonderful elements to bring forth into our clothing today.

I ended the day making shortbread cookies. The recipe is very old; my mother got it from my aunt and who knows where she got it from.

Until tomorrow.............

Caturday

2011-12-03T09:20:00.001-08:00

A Bit of Sewing

2011-12-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning we woke up to a crystal clear day. It was cool and crisp. The events of the morning were to get a few things done before we had to decorate the truck for the parade.

After I got the few things done I needed to do and helped the Spousal Unit, I decided to do a mock up of the sleeve of the vintage pattern. I wanted to see how it worked before I change the sleeve pattern on my regular pattern.

When you look at the pattern, you really wonder what is going on at the bottom of the sleeve.

I traced the pattern and cut out the sleeve in a piece of left over broadcloth. Between using the pattern and the instructions, I got the bottom part done.

You cut on the dark line, make the pleats, match up the seams and sew with a 3/16” seam allowance tapering it off at the point just like a dart. Very different in my opinion.

Next I had to do a gathering stitch on one side of the sleeve to ease the side seams to match. That must be for elbow room. I will finish the mock-up of the sleeve today, adding the cuff.

While hunting for ribbon for the float yesterday, I found these beads. I had bought them for the Hutterite children to make gifts for their mothers. I use to hunt for ideas and then purchase the materials. We had fun doing the projects.

I can see these on a shirt for someone. The colour would be cream so the beads pop out. How I love those beads.

I also bought these to put on a cream shirt. They are equally as interesting as the above ones but have no sentimental value to me.

We did the parade, got home, and were relaxing by 7:30 p.m. It was a big parade this year and lots of people came out. No matter what your float looks like, everyone appreciates what you do.

Until tomorrow....................

A New Design

2011-12-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I got the front entrance to our house cleaned up. Though we are not pack rats, our house gets really messy when we are renovating. And dusty too. So, I decided to start cleaning up the untidyness as the Spousal Unit is almost finished our master bedroom. That is the next place to clean along with all the gyproc dust in the ensuite bathroom. I had a meltdown for a couple of days but am over it and doing the clean up. We should be clean for Christmas only to repeat again after January 3rd. Our son is coming home for New Years thus keeping sanity for a few extra days in our house. Or at least I hope.

I plan on sewing a shirt for a client next week. This lady wants a replica of this shirt.

My idea is to use this pattern as my working block

Her choice for embroidery is

I have made a huge decision over the past few days. I am only having one client and Queen Emma this coming year. It was a huge decision to make but I am happy with it. I really burnt out and turned sour this past year with all the sewing I did and all the problems I had during that time. I really want to enjoy life and do other things. Some of that is sewing for us, others is exercising and doing some traveling. It is time to move away from pleasing others to pleasing ourselves. It will be hard as we have served in that capacity for many years but we are ready to move on.

Until tomorrow.......................

Late!!

2011-12-01T08:46:00.001-08:00

I am late to the computer today. I had a lazy afternoon yesterday and didn’t bother to start this post. And then I slept through the night (unusual for me) and didn’t start this post when I got up. So I am starting it late.

Yesterday I finished up the Christmas shopping except for the day the Spousal Unit and I go in to do the shopping for our gift. Being the person he is, I am sure it will be a well thought out trip on a Tuesday or Wednesday when the crowds are not so heavy. I had planned yesterday’s trip to the T. I wrote out all the stores I would be going to in the order I wanted to go to them and then put down the items to be purchased under each store. I got to the city just after 9:00 a.m. and left around 1:00 p.m. I even gassed up the car as fuel is cheap in there $.99 a litre compared to $1.30 a litre where we live 60 miles away.

Today I have to finish up the musical notes and get them ready to put on the truck tomorrow. Tomorrow is parade day. I also have to write letters about our fun week at the end of January. And I may get some cleaning done if the Spousal Unit finishes up the master bedroom. If not I will do the front entrance and stairs to the basement. That area will be renovated sometime in the late winter. I just want to get it ready for Christmas. No wall washing as all the wood comes down and gyproc will be put up. But I want to get ready for Christmas.

I will add pictures of the truck after we get it decorated tomorrow. This will be a fun project but it will take most of the afternoon to do.

Until tomorrow......................

A Bit of This And A Bit of That

2011-11-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I chose to clean the kitchen. I scrubbed and wiped and cleaned everything I could. I am thrilled at having a clean kitchen again. I keep it clean on a daily basis but it needed this deeper cleaning. Once the renovations are done, I will wash the walls and the tops of the cupboards but not before then.

In the afternoon, I worked on finishing up the laundry and tidied up the sewing room. And then I started to work on the musical notes. I put glue on 4 of them and sprinkled them with glitter. There are 10 more ready to be done and 4 left to spray paint.

Then I shook the glitter off and moved them around.

I can take the paper and make a trail of glitter down the middle for the next four I do. I just pick it up and put it on the glue and add more. Good thing I taught Kindergarten and Grade One for many years. Those primary school teacher tricks come in handy for projects like this. I will put a hole in the top of each one with a nail, string some ribbon through them and somehow hang them onto the truck for our float. Friday is going to be one busy day. By the time we head out to the parade, we will be in terrible moods trying to get it all done properly. Oh well, such is life.

Today I am trying to get the rest of our Christmas shopping done. I just want it done and over with. I am trying Wednesday this time to see if there are less crowds than on a Friday. My goal is to be done or just about done so I can sew next week. Five whole days of sewing coming my way.

Until tomorrow................

Water Again

2011-11-29T07:09:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was another full of day of the hot water tank and no water. But it is done and we have hot and cold water again.

We also got three new electric heaters installed in the master bedroom, exercise room, and the sewing room. We firmly believe that updating this house as much of what we are handling is original (1965). We don’t have to touch the wiring or the drains as they are up to code (thank goodness). The down side is so much needs to be done but on the upside we are the second owners and deal only with the original materials.

I did cut out 9 large music notes from tag board and have 9 more traced. Four are now painted red. They are to put on our float on Friday so I need to finished them up today. Friday is assembly day with the parade that night. This week is another busy one for literacy. Thursday night I am out at a dinner meeting.

The Spousal Unit will get our bedroom done today. That will allow me to clean up the room and the ensuite as we can’t move back into the room until we get the new mattress on Dec. 8. But we can do a few things while waiting.

I hope to finish up the Christmas shopping tomorrow. I can hardly wait to get it done as the stores are going to get crowded with shoppers. I will only have to get groceries and I usually go to the city early to get them during the Christmas shopping time. Then I do some of the quieter stores and come home. I do not like crowds and waiting in long line ups. Been there done that.

Until tomorrow......................

Drat the Hot Water Tank!

2011-11-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning when I ventured downstairs, I noticed water on the kitchen floor. Upon looking closer, the hot water tank had sprung a leak and needed to be replaced. By the time the Spousal Unit turned a tap he thought would shut off the water to the tank, we had a mess; the tap was also shot. Darn and double darn!! I spent a lot of time cleaning up the water and went into wait mode to do laundry. I wasn’t a very happy person but knew the hot water tank had out lived its life expectancy. It was 15 years old and should have been replaced 3 to 5 years ago.

After working the better part of the day and doing some yelling, we found out the new hot water tank needs more copper pipe to hook it up. So we ended up the day having only cold water. Better than no water but not good. We will get it in today.

I got a 5 more snowflakes embroidered yesterday and all my crafts stuff cleaned up. I also go the rest of my shopping put away. I hate it when things are left about but I have been so busy that I just haven’t had the time to put it away and in the evenings I am too tired to look at it.

Tomorrow I hope to do some sewing though I should do some housework. I can’t put that off forever. I will have to clean the master bedroom and bathroom prior to moving back in to it. And the bedroom we are in needs cleaning also. Having had Daughter’s female dog while in heat left our house with an odour that needs to be dealt with.

Until tomorrow......................

Craft Bazaars

2011-11-27T07:29:00.001-08:00

On Friday I did most of our Christmas Shopping. I planned out my route and followed it quite carefully so I could get most of the shopping done. I have one more shopping trip to go and I should be done. I will do it very soon so I can be done except for groceries.

Fabricland had 40% off fabric for the weekend. Their flyer sale also had interfacing on at 50% off. I stocked up on interfacing as I am getting down on that. I had about 30 meters in my sewing room that I bought for $1.25 on sale. It is almost gone. This interfacing is 45” (115cm) wide and great for certain types of sewing. I can’t get it in our new location but bought something similar to it for some projects. I bought more expensive interfacing for clothing. So I am set until the next sale.

Yesterday I had to do a survey for literacy at the local craft bazaar. I made the survey sheet, made the prizes, and added candy. The table would look empty. So I dug around in my tubs and got my crafts ready to go. When I arrived, they put me in the best spot in the hall. Was it because I had taught their children? Or because I was there early? Who knows. I set up my table and I sold just about everything. I am able to donate $150.00 towards books for the free book draws we have. That was so exciting. It also let me talk to people about what to sell next year. On the down side, no one wanted to do the survey and only some people wanted to do the draw. Lesson learned.

Today I have to make three gifts for the next free draw at the next craft sale. I don’t have to man the booth though. I think I can get them done today. Monday I have two meetings to go to and I would love to hand the package over to the lady who is running the booth.

People want items in craft sales for children and lots of people requested the crayon/drawing bags for next year. I was also asked for business cards. It has confirmed that I will be back next year with another table or two to sell. Hmmmmm........... maybe I can get Daughter to do a few things for the table too.

Until tomorrow........................

Caturday

2011-11-26T05:51:00.000-08:00

Christmas is Coming

2011-11-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to the doctor’s and my thyroid tests came back at the level they should be at. I am happy about that. Next trip is in February. The Spousal Unit got his second TwinRix shot and gets his next one in five months. Hopefully we stay well.

I fired up the Diamond mid morning to do some embroidery. I decided to stitch out five snowflakes that look like this only in white. The red is so you can see the detail.

The stitch out time was 5 hours for five snowflakes. That is if you have no problems. I had to change the bobbin three times. These snowflakes are very thread intense but look gorgeous when done.

Here they are when I took them off the hoop and cut away the wash away stabilizer

And then in the water.

I left them in the warm water for about 5 minutes so they will be stiff when they dry. I laid them flat on a towel and will steam them this afternoon.

The Spousal Unit is ready to put up crown moulding in our bedroom. He makes his own with a router.

We paint it to match the walls as it enhances the ceiling. White paint did not work.

We have gained about 24 inches on the window wall at the corner. There use to be a wall coming across making an alcove going into the bathroom. The previous owner had her safe in that alcove. You can see the new plywood on the floor – reclaimed area!!

The window trim is done and the floors are ready for the underlay. Then the laminate.

You can see that we have open beam ceilings in our house. All rooms but the bathrooms and we love it.

Today I am heading to the city to do our Christmas shopping. I want to get most of it done. Not a lot of gifts but a lot of looking for them. We certainly haven’t been given any hints on what is wanted. I also have to find out how to run music off my iPad for the Christmas Parade. The theme this year is Christmas is Music.

Until tomorrow........................

Crafty

2011-11-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning when I got up, it was snowing hard and it carried on for several hours. Then it quit and we had a lovely sunny day. Just as I was serving up supper, the power went off and the whole town was thrust into blackness. That only lasted for two minutes. We thought the power would be off a lot longer than that but we were lucky.

I have been following several blogs lately. I somehow got hooked up to some blogs when they did 12 days of crafts by 12 different bloggers. It moved from there to digging and snooping and returning to those sites every couple of days. It has made me think about doing more crafts to use up my supply of cottons.

The literacy group I run/manage is having a booth at the local craft sale on Saturday. I will be there for 8 hours with set up and take down just for a survey. People will be buying not wanting to fill out a survey. So I will take a few things to sell plus I will do a draw for free items. Fill out the survey, your name goes into the draw. Hope that helps motivate people.

Once I got that straight in my head, I looked at the craft blogs I have been following. One item that excited me was a Mini Colouring Tote found at Little Big Girl Studio. I snooped for fabric and made two of them. I wanted to do one more item so I went back to her site and made Organizer Wallet. You can store credit cards, your smart phone and have a memo pad and pen with you. By the time supper was ready to be served (in the dark), I had completed all three items. Such fun they were.

The cowboy themed mini tote was made out of fabric that I had hanging around. They were less than one meter in length. The red and black heart themed tote was made out of fabric that I have 2 meters of. Both of these will have a box of crayons in the front pocket, eraser, pencils, paper and book of some sort in them. The organizer wallet was made out of remnants from my scrap box (which is small). They turned out to be fun projects.

My goal for making the mini totes was to see how popular they are as I plan on making these ones put out by Gingercake Patterns and Designs. I want to make some for sale next year.

On another blog I found The English Geek’s way of putting together Disappearing Nine Patch quilt blocks. I truly love the effect she got. It has me thinking of what I have in my stash to make a quilt like this one. Not Thanksgiving but maybe on a winter theme. I keep it in the back of my mind.

My Embroideries has a 75% off sale until the end of the month. The site is moving so slowly due to the high volume of people looking for great purchases. I am looking for a couple of pieces. If you want to look and want to buy put SUPER75 into the promotional code when you pay. I do like their designs and get the monthly free ones but only buy others when they come on sale. They are pricey.

Today we head up to the doctor’s office. I get the results of my thyroid tests and the Spousal Unit gets his next TwinRix shot. Then I will work on the survey and the Spousal Unit will work in our bedroom. He is doing the trim around the windows, then the floor, doors and trim at the ceiling. We will be moving back into our bedroom in about 10 days (or when our new bed arrives).

Until tomorrow........................

Christmas Tablecloth

2011-11-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I literally had the sweat pouring off me. I decided to make Daughter a tablecloth for Christmas. I bought the fabric when Fabricland was doing their moving sale and got it for next to nothing. It is a jacquard Christmas design. I had washed it and the fabric wasn’t square. I spent an hour squaring it up which had me stressed out and sweating. Got it done and ready to do the rolled hem.

I needed to practice on some scraps of fabric before I started on the tablecloth. So I set up the serger, which is a Husqvarna Viking 936 – the best serger ever in my mind. You can’t buy them new anymore but look for them second hand.

I removed the furthest needle and set my machine as per the screen. Those number at the bottom mean I set the N/R to R, use only needle D, the knob below the throat plate goes to 6 and the tension dials are set to N, 3, 6. I started practicing.

I did my practice run and perfect. When I roll hem, I lay the edge of the fabric right to the edge of the plate; it covers the N and R.

That way I cut off about 1/8” of fabric and know that I won’t be stitching off the edge of the fabric. I kind of figured that out doing the wedding dress.

The end of the table cloth is done and it looks perfect in my opinion. And Elliott didn’t come into the room at all which was a bonus.

I did all four sides in less than 30 minutes. This fabric is really nice to work with; it has good body for this type of hem.

Done and on the cutting table. I fray blocked the four corners and next I will give it a delicate wash. Dry, press and package. Makes me forget how much I sweat when squaring the fabric.

After that was done, I worked on another My Baby Loves Books bag. When it is done, I will take four of them up to the Public Health Nurse. She will fill them with her items and give them to mothers with new born babies. Then I need to work on the next four bags for this program.

Until tomorrow.......................

A Good Laugh

2011-11-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

Life has it laughs. And when you are living in gyproc dust, you need to find it. And I did. It has lightened up the day.

We do not own a smart phone and won’t for a bit of time. We have been happy with the phone we have (lovingly called “The Dumb Phone”). We only pack it when we are travelling. When I came home from Nanaimo from the Ron Collins workshop, I stopped to talk to the Spousal Unit and my phone said Emergency Only. I wasn’t too surprised as I was driving in the Fraser Canyon and you don’t get cell service through most of it. The cell phone continued to work but one day I got the emergency only message in Fabricland, where I always get reception. Then, on Friday, it was the message where ever I was. I was confused. I Googled for information on our phone and found out this is a common error when people change service providers. Not in our case, we have been with our provider for years. Then I found a simple, concise online manual for our phone and started to read. Within a few minutes I found out that under the battery is our SIM card. I removed it and put it back into place, replaced the battery, and turned on the phone. It worked!! I had a good laugh as it was so easy to do. I just hope that it holds until I get the new phone. If it doesn’t, then I can repeat the process until I can get in to the city.

Over the course of yesterday I finished the blue blouse. As I had a few other things to do, so it took a better part of the day. It hasn’t been properly pressed but I am going to launder it first. The marks from my old ironing board cover just spread out when I tried to get rid of them.

The shirt will probably be worn this way most of the time. That way a necklace can be worn with it.

The neckline can be closed at the throat with a snap if necessary and a necklace added.

Most of the time, it will be worn under the brown jacket with brown jeans. I think it is a good fit.

This morning it is raining hard. The temperature is 3C which means our roads could be slippery in spots. From snow to rain; weird. Glad I don’t have to travel to day.

On the what can I do with my crafting – I plan on looking around this Saturday at our local Christmas Craft Fair. Then I will finalize my plans. A few things I would like to make are:

Colouring Totes – mini or regular size or both sizes

Disappearing Nine Patch quilted table cloth

Fabric grocery bags

Mug Rugs (two different methods)

Table runners

Aprons, potholders

That would use up large amount of my craft fabric.

If I wanted to move on, I might do Etsy but I am not sure.

Enough rambling. Until tomorrow...................

Cabbage Rolls and Sewing

2011-11-21T07:27:00.000-08:00

We had those yummy cabbage rolls last night. They are not the ones in which you use a tomato based sauce to cook them in. Nor does the meat have rice in them. Many years ago (1984 I think) a friend gave me her recipe.

Country Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage- simmer in a pot of water to wilt. Drain reserving the 1.5 to 2 cups water. You will need 16 to 20 leaves.

3/4 lb. ground pork	1 lb. lean hamburger
2 medium eggs	1 box Chicken or Turkey flavoured Stove Top Dressing
1 clove garlic chopped finely	1 medium onion chopped finely

Crush the Stove Top Dressing until it coarse. Set aside 1/4 cup for sauce if you wish to. Mix all ingredients into a bowl and let sit to blend the flavours.

1/4 cup butter or margarine	1/4 cup flour
1.5 cups cabbage water broth	1 chicken bullion cube
1 can cream of celery soup

Make sure the cabbage water broth is hot and dissolve chicken bullion cube in it.

Melt butter in a pot. Add flour and cook for a minute or two. Add liquid and stir until thick. Add cream of celery soup. If the sauce is too thick add more cabbage liquid. You can stir in the Stove Top Dressing if you want to.

To Assemble:

Mix 1/4 cup meat stuffing in each leaf. Roll and tuck the cabbage leaf around and place into a large 9 x 13” pan. You might need a smaller pan also. Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls and cover with foil. Bake at 350F for 1 1/4 hours. Remove and skim off fat if necessary. Spoon on 1 cup sour cream, sprinkle with paprika and bake 15 minutes longer. (We do not do this step – personal choice).

If you feel that you have enough for 2 meals, divide into 2 equal size baking dishes, cook one and refrigerate the other. Do Not Freeze.

The Blue Blouse Again

2011-11-21T07:00:00.001-08:00

Sunday was cooler than Saturday by a lot. Enough that people in the higher levels couldn’t start their trucks if they weren’t plugged in. We are suppose to warm up some though. Let’s wait and see though as the forecast could be wrong.

Yesterday morning I let out the darts on the blue blouse and shortened them by 4”. That gave Queen Emma more room she needed through the hips.

I am happy enough to start on the sleeves. The only other alteration to do is to unstitch the side seams about 1.5” and I will decide before I do the hem.

I have decided to show you how I did the cuffs on the sleeves. When I was down in Nanaimo, Ron Collins talked to me about the flap on the pockets of the Spousal Unit’s shirt. I was not to worry about the depth of the seam allowances and to focus on matching the bias to the shirt. I never transferred that thought to the cuffs until I watched Ron do it on the DVD #10 Shirts and Blouses. All my fussing about the cuffs was solved. I made sure the sleeves opening was the same for both sleeves and then proceeded.

1. Pin the cuff onto the sleeve leaving about 3/8 to 1/2” seam allowance on the one end and pinning around.

2. Sew the cuff on, trim the seam and press the seam towards the cuff. Notice I have turned under 5/8” at the other edge of the cuff.

3. Pin the cuffs together so the folded edge is slightly lower than the stitched edge. This is so the folded edge will cover the seam when turned.

4. Using a ruler to help you, mark the stitching line where you have pinned. It should be a couple of threads away from the continuous lap for the turn of cloth.

5. Stitch on the marked line, cut at top on an angle and trim the seam allowance to about 1/4”. Press open.

6. Turn the cuff and press so it is nice and neat. I put Steam-A-Seam on the folded edge and when I am ready to do the final pressing of the cuff, I remove the paper covering and press it into place. Stitch close to the edge using an edging foot.

7. The finished cuff.

I then inserted one sleeve and didn’t need to worry about adjusting the sleeve cap. It looks might good.

Wrinkled and I know I need to do a couple of adjustments to the side seams prior to finishing this blouse.

While sewing, I have been thinking about what to do with my craft fabric. I have lots of it and need to figure out an outlet to sell the finished products.

As you can see the closet is full to the brim. I do not want to put it into a yard sale as I will only get 50% of what I paid for it. So I need to decide what I want to do and begin reducing what is in that closet. How can my crafting make me some money ran through my head.

This morning I was blog reading and clicking onto links. I found this wonderful blog -- Rhoda's Creative Life. I emailed her right away for the Napkin Ring Pattern and within 90 minutes I had the pattern. I love this pattern. Anyways back to my thoughts. Somewhere along my clicking of links, I saw this book, Handmade Market Place.

The little preview of the book intrigued me so I added it to my cart along with the pattern making book I want. I will order them soon and will wander around the local craft sales happening over the next two weeks to see what I can do that is different than the others. But it must include what I enjoy doing. I want to do mostly small ticket items though I do have a few larger ticket items in my stash.

In the mean time, I need to plan out a few things, make some curtains, and finish the blue blouse. I certainly am moving slowly with it. On the up side, I made our favourite cabbage rolls for dinner. Will share the recipe with you tomorrow.

Until tomorrow..................

The Blue Blouse

2011-11-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was our coolest day so far. Not cold, just cool. Good thing, it is suppose to warm up to above freezing on Monday. It could be a crazy winter the weather man said.

I did get a bit of sewing done yesterday. I am ready to put the sleeves into the blouse but I am first going to fix the darts. I will take them out and end them three inches up from the bottom edge. I need the room over the hip area. I might also open the side seams for two inches for side vents. Overall it is coming along nicely.

I may get it done today if I focus.

The Spousal Unit is almost ready to prime the master bedroom. He has four corners to sand down in the closet. Before he can paint, he has to fix some of the ceiling. When he did the second coat he got operator error (as he call it). It will be nice to see this room take on its personality. Though smaller than most master bedrooms, we do like how it looks now.

I spent some time embroidering a tablecloth. I hate this project and I do procrastinate on doing it. I have just about finished two motifs on one end. I should keep working on it to get it done and move on to what I really want to do; sew and knit. I am working at doing up some of my crafts and will probably put a few into the yard sale. I can’t do everything.

Anyways, what I hate about this table cloth is that it is stamped. I hate anything stamped as they do not look nice when done (my opinion about my work). It is a combination of cross stitch, lazy daisy, straight stitch, and outline stitch. I am doing my best but I don’t like it. I. will. never. do. anything. like. this. again....... In the mean time, I am going to put away items in the living room and dining room as the Spousal Unit should be starting in there in the next two weeks. But I can see him starting demolition prior to that.

Once I get a few more things done, I am going to do some other sewing and practice some sewing techniques. Looking forward to that.

Until tomorrow................

Back Again

2011-11-19T08:41:00.001-08:00

Thursday and Friday were certainly great days visiting with others who do the same type of work I do in the community. We laughed, talked, and encouraged each other in what we do. The roads on the other hand, were horrid. Thursday morning we woke to snow and it was falling heavily.

I drove about 40 minutes gritting my teeth and thinking I should go home after a certain point if the road was still bad but the snow disappeared. On Friday morning, we woke to it snowing and blowing. I had thought about not going but I did. The traffic was moving along and I have 4 wheel drive. Both days, the trip home was great; near perfect roads to travel on.

One of the presenters is a knitter and she is working on her Master Knitting Program. She has finished level one and is getting herself ready to do level two. I would love to do that program but think I will start well below that level at Basics, Basics, Basics. More my level. I can work on techniques and improve my knitting as I go along. Something to think about.

Today I have to do some housework and I am going to sew. I don’t know how much but I am going to sew. Hopefully, I will get the blue blouse done this weekend.

Until tomorrow.......................

The Blue Shirt

2011-11-17T07:03:00.000-08:00

Blood test went well yesterday. My veins were ready and I gave a large vial vs the small I usually give. After I came home, I puttered around the house some getting ready to be away for two days. We went out to celebrate Daughter’s birthday which is today. She is 35 years old.

I started sewing the next blue blouse. I got the fronts done and like the length of this shirt. I added 3 inches so it can be tucked in.

I used a new dritz paper and have to use water on it to make the marks disappear. As I was ironing the damp fabric, I noticed dirty marks showing up on the fabric. When I did the back of the shirt, I realized that these marks are coming from my ironing board cover. I will get a new one today. Sewing stopped to a grinding halt. I rinsed the marks with warm water and left the shirt to air dry.

I went to reading “Ruffles on My Longjohns” by Vivian Edwards. This book was written when Vivian and her husband, Earl, came to the British Columbia to homestead in the central western part of the province. It is a tale of how they survived in that isolated area with few close neighbours, one being Earl’s brother, Ralph Edwards of Lonesome Lake. A good read.

When I got up to take the pictures for this blog entry, I could not find my picture card for the camera. I hunted high and low and finally found it under papers I had moved about. After getting myself organized, I ran out into the cold and took pictures of the back of our house. It is not done—we have to take off the old siding and put on new. That will be the next two spring’s work. We want to be done this house in 2013.

This side of the house has only two window on the upper level; great when the temperatures hit near 100F and the sun shines through them. They have been replaced with new E windows. They help considerably but it is beneficial to keep the drapes drawn during the afternoon in the summer. The upper deck is not very wide and will go around the side of the house but not the front of the house. It has Dura deck covering on it. Underneath is the covered patio and we live down there in the spring, summer and fall. It is a nice home that suits our needs.

Until Saturday......................

An At Home Day

2011-11-16T07:18:00.001-08:00

It is cool here and we are suppose to get snow flurries and periods of snow over the next 3 days. I have to travel for 2 days and I am not happy but I will survive. It is those first snows of the year that make people tense and cranky. You never know what you will be dealing with out on the road. At least it won’t be like the Coquihalla Highway.

Yesterday was an in and out of the house day. It kept me busy and out of the sewing room. When I was home, I was going through information on Adult Literacy; a big item for our area and for the meetings I am in on Thursday and Friday. I am excited that the partnerships I am building in our area are coming together for those who wish to upgrade and get their Basic Adult Education (ABE).

Today I have to have blood work done for my thyroid. Three months is up and I know I am on the right medication. I am feeling good. As I have issues giving blood, I don’t plan on doing much today. I turn it into a stay at home day.

So, I plan on sewing the blouse I cut out. It is a good project to do on a day like today. I can multi task household chores. Tonight I will get the post ready for tomorrow so you can see the progress on the blue blouse.

Until tomorrow................

Whew!

2011-11-15T10:19:00.001-08:00

I hit the floor running this morning. I slept all night and felt so good when I woke up. I usually only sleep 5 to 6 hours a night, wake up and don’t go back to sleep for 90 minutes or longer and then sleep a short period of time and have to get up. I hope that I am on the tipping point of sleeping better at night.

Yesterday we had a skiff of snow. It didn’t make the world look pretty but it was snow. Most of it is covered with frost this morning and the shining sun will melt it all away. Only the shaded spots will have the reminder. We are so fortunate in our area as snow has hit other areas harder on the weekend. One of our highways, the Coquihalla, was hit hard by an early snow storm on Friday and driving it was not recommended. Still horrid last night. Many travellers were stranded. Even the ferries to Vancouver Island were shut down. I also read that somewhere in BC (northern part) had 6 feet of snow fall causing a freak avalanche. Two of the many ski resorts are opening this coming weekend which is positive. About a week earlier than normal.

The Coquihalla Highway (pronounced Coke – a – halla). I have driven this road under these conditions and it isn’t fun, even for the experienced. When I lived in Dawson Creek, these types of roads were common. On a long weekend, people without the correct tires, people not use to this, and you have disaster.

On the literacy front, I am busy this week though it is fun to be learning new things. I did a lot of reading this morning and was able to download a bunch of ebooks on Adult Literacy.

On the sewing front – I have cut out the next blue blouse. Now I can start sewing it. It will be fun to do this one as I have the pattern figured out. When I cut out the sleeves for this shirt, I used the pattern as traced.

I then unpinned the sleeve cap from seam to seam and pinched out 1/8” at the shoulder dot.

I pinned the sleeve cap down again and checked to see how much fullness I was removing from the sleeve cap.

It is pretty close to 1/4” where I needed it. Using the sleeve pattern as is, is pretty close to fitting perfectly so this adjustment should be okay. Next I trim the sleeve cap. If I needed more, I would take in 1/8” tucks at each of the remaining dots. That would make about 3/4” less fullness in the sleeve. What I plan to do is baste the sleeve in, see if there is still to much fullness, and then do the remaining dots. This trick I learned from Ron Collins. Love these tricks!

Until tomorrow......................

Hurry Up And Wait

2011-11-14T07:01:00.001-08:00

On the weight front—I gained 1.5 pounds. Stress eating, fighting a head cold (almost won that one) and hanging around waiting took its toll on me. But I am back on track.

I didn’t get as much done on Sunday as I had wanted to. I hung around waiting for the girls to come over to try on a dress and get fitted for a pattern. Did Not Happen. I wasn’t a happy camper as I gave up one day for nothing. Grrrrr......

The Spousal Unit has the master bedroom boarded. It certainly looks different – brighter than it did.

And the Spousal Unit in the closet.

He started to mud but does not have the correct mud for the first coat. He then decided to call it day and get the mud this morning and start mudding and taping.

While I was in a holding pattern, I watched Sandra Betzina and Ron Collins’s DVD on blouses and shirts. Though I have seen Ron’s techniques in real life, I was interested in what Sandra did as she used silks and other very light weight fabric. A good DVD to have to refer back to when sewing shirts. There are a few things I want to try – flat felled seams on the Spousal Unit’s shirt. I like the idea of not having the raw edge of seams showing. Sandra has some good tips on that.

I am not sure how much sewing I will get done this week. Today my schedule is FULL as we are doing a fund raiser and literacy awareness day tomorrow. Tomorrow is the fund raiser and I get my hair cut. Wednesday I have to go for thyroid blood tests (my time again) and Thursday and Friday I am at a workshop on Adult Literacy. Seems as if I will be ultra busy.

My goal this week is to get another blouse cut out in blue so it will fit Queen Emma. That remains to be seen. The pattern is traced and ready to go – Saturday’s project.

Until tomorrow................

Having Fun

2011-11-13T07:14:00.001-08:00

I woke up during the night knowing why I have been a slug – I am getting a cold. It is not something I want. So I am now taking stuff to get rid of it. I can understand why I was so tired and eating all the time. My body was trying to ward off the bugs. So I will behave again and rest during the day. I do not need a cold!!
Yesterday we had two young ladies over for a couple of hours. One is Queen Emma and the other is a contestant who want to win the title. The Spousal Unit did a Personal Interview with the one and then we sat around and talked about the the Queen Event. Then there was modeling and impromptu questions. We did laugh a lot and had fun.
I did do a couple of pictures but it was cold and damp outside. You got chilled in a couple of minutes.

Both the girls have black hats on and needed to be wearing white hats. They both need to be in colourful shirts also. The bush behind them was a quick pick and turned out interesting. I don’t think they will be ranked well enough to be their pictures for finals. Just fun pictures.
Today is another quiet day for me. I am not sewing but might just trace out the blue blouse in a larger size. I have a couple of pieces of fabric to launder and then I will wait and see if I am to do any sewing for MRC 2012 to prepare her for going to the National Finals Rodeo in Los Vegas next month.
My other goal is to do some house work in the renovation zone. I think I can take over the bathroom and clean it and then do some cleaning in the kitchen. The Spousal Unit has put me on notice – as soon as he starts mudding the gyproc in the master bedroom, he will start tearing the dining room apart. Let’s all hope he has it all put back together in time for Christmas.
Until tomorrow.....................

An In Between Day

2011-11-12T07:19:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I was exhausted. I am not sure if it was driving 6 hours or what. By 7:30 p.m. I was ready for bed. But I made myself stay up until 9:00 p.m. I slept all night and am feeling better today. I usually do not sleep all night which is annoying.

With the exhaustion comes comfort eating or is it eating to keep going. What ever it is, I eat and that is bad! Today I am refocusing on eating properly. I do need to focus on that.

I tried the brown jacket on Queen Emma and it fits her perfectly. The blue blouse is a size too small. When I looked at the finished measurements on the pattern, I thought her normal size was going to be too big so I dropped down a size. Just like I was shown to do. But this pattern fits perfect to the measurements on the pattern. So I will have to make her another shirt. I put snaps on the front of the shirt just in case I have to take photos this afternoon. Then they come off and I put it in the muslin bag. I will make the next size larger.

Today I am not sure what I will be doing. I have to take photos of two girls and then measure them for my book. I am in limbo as I wait to hear from Miss Rodeo Canada about what I have to make for her wardrobe for NFR in a month’s time. I feel the stress level rising.

Until tomorrow.....................

Miss Rodeo Canada

2011-11-11T07:21:00.001-08:00

We got home with Queen Emma at 3:30 p.m. and took her up for a hair cut. That took a long time but Kim did a fantastic job of her hair. Love what she did. Tomorrow is the day I will be taking some pictures of her and another girl. I am hoping that I get a couple of good shots.

This past week has been one of interest to us rodeo people. The Miss Rodeo Canada Queen competition was run and the Canadian Rodeo Finals started on Wednesday. The MRC Queen event has always been of interest to me; the past two years of greater interest as I have done a lot of sewing for contestants. It is fun to look at pictures of the contestants and to hear what is happening. There is a lot of stress as these girls move at a fast pace and get little sleep during the competition. As do a lot of other people who work hard to prepare the girls and get this competition put together.

The dress question yesterday was one of the stresses the girls had to endure. I made both of the dresses and though they have some elements that are similar they are very different. Dress 1 is a mermaid with a retro off the shoulder bodice. Dress 2 is a fishtail with a bustier top. Someone accused someone else of doing an exact copy of Dress 1. Add another person upset with a judge choice and you had contestant high stress. But they seem to have pulled it off and put on a nice fashion show. I had 50% (two out of four) of the dresses in the contestant’s choice portion of the fashion show. I was super thrilled about that.

The purple and the black with white under the sleeve. In this picture, I have sewn for 50% of the ladies.

The contestant in the purple dress is Miss Rodeo Canada 2012 and I have been told to be ready to sew her some clothes to attend the Miss Rodeo America pageant and the National Finals Rodeo in Los Vegas Nevada in December.

Today is Remembrance/Veteran’s Day; a day to remember those who died in the line of duty.

Until tomorrow...............

Going, Going, Gone

2011-11-10T06:27:00.001-08:00

We are heading out in about an hour. We are driving about 3 hours to pick up Queen Emma and then driving right back home. It is going to be a long day!

I finished up the shirt yesterday to the buttons. It is a muslin to see how this pattern works. Two thinks need to be done – I need to make it longer so it can be tucked in. It is a perfect length to wear out over jeans or trousers, or a skirt. And I need to pinch some fullness out of the sleeve cap. Other than that, it is a great pattern.

And under the jacket.

A question for you lovely readers. Are these two dresses exactly the same?

AND

Blouse or Shirt

2011-11-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

What is the difference between a blouse and a shirt?

From Wiki Answers

A blouse is a nice comfortable flowy shirt that is more fancy than a shirt. Now a shirt can be a t-shirt or just a regular cute top that fits tighter than a blouse and is more fashionable.

Another answer: A blouse is a female item of clothing while a shirt can be worn by either sex.

Another definition is from Pattern Review:

I believe the difference lies in the construction details. A shirt generally has a two piece collar and fold over facing for the buttonholes and button area. There may be a back yoke and the sleeves, if long, have a placket and cuff. The shirt is tailored, whether for a man or woman, according to traditional men's tailoring techniques. There is topstitching involved.
A blouse will have a facing that extends into the shoulders, a one piece collar, no yoke and often a sleeve that is gathered or pleated into the cuff. No top stitching except for decorative effect.

So is this a blouse or a shirt? I am assuming it is a blouse as it has no collar stand or back yoke.

Yesterday I started McCalls 5138. This blouse has lots of shaping through the use of darts and the side seams curving in at the waist.

This blouse is a mock up done in cheaper broadcloth. It will be worn under the brown jacket and then photographed alone.

I got it done to the sleeves, hem and buttons. Not bad for one day as I had to go out to meet a person and help the Spousal Unit haul in gyproc for the bedroom walls.

One of the things I like about doing new patterns is learn how to do them properly. Technique is a big thing for me. This shirt has basic techniques though I do incorporate a few things I have learned. One is starting and finishing darts with tiny stitches. No need to back stitch. Today I will finish this shirt to the buttonholes. I have to buy buttons for it when we go to get Queen Emma tomorrow.

On the renovation front; I have to vacuum. I am tired of the mess that is associated with “rip everything back to the studs and do it again”. I am not patient; I want it done now. But I practice patience and when it is done I love the look of what we did. In the mean time, I have 5 months of this left to go. And I do love how my house is going to look when it is done.

Until tomorrow...................

Setting in Sleeves

2011-11-08T07:10:00.001-08:00

They sky looked like snow yesterday morning when we got up. By the time it was light outside it was snowing. Just enough to cover the ground and disappear in the afternoon. No one was singing “Let it Snow”.

The Spousal Unit sealed the clear plywood ceiling in the master bedroom yesterday morning. He put on the second coat after lunch. Windows were opened and a fan was running but we still smelled some fumes. By dinner time, he had half of the bedroom closet framed in. A good day’s work. He will continue working in there today.

For the first part of the morning I worked on the jacket. I did photograph putting in the sleeves. These are the instructions that Ron Collins gave us when I was in Nanaimo in late September. Here is what I did with the instructions I wrote down after doing this with Ron.

1. Sew side seams of sleeves.

2. Cut Tailor’s Pride (horsehair canvas) 1 1/4” wide on the true bias.

3. Starting at notch, put strip 1/16” from edge and needle about a fat 1/2” from edge of sleeve.

4. Back stitch to hold strip in place. If your pressure foot lifts up like mine does, turn this feature off so the pressure foot holds everything tight when you stop.

5. Pull the strip hard and sew 1 to 1 1/2”. Stop, Pull again.

6. Stop pulling 1/2” before and after the center dot (which I had snipped).

7. Continue pulling the strip and sewing to the last notch. Back stitch to secure.

8. Insert sleeve into jacket pinning it into place. I matched up the shoulder and under arm seams and all the markings I had transferred from the pattern. I used a lot of pins.

9. Stitch the sleeve into the jacket with the sleeve closest to the feed dogs to ease in the sleeve. I start from the shoulder seam and go around. I also use the free arm on my machine as it is easier to control the fabric.

10. Double stitch from back to front notches under the arm. Trim that piece to 1/4”. I stitched a little less than a 1/4” from the seam though I will double stitch the next time. Both ways work.

11. Where the sleeve waves from the gathering

Cut V’s out of the sleeve only so it lies flat.

12. I finger pressed the canvas to the sleeve prior to pressing it with the iron.

I was going to do a sleeve wrap also but ended up not doing it. After asking about it, I thought it would be overkill.

I got to thinking that I had seen a YouTube video on this so I searched for it. Gertie's New Blog For Better Sewing had the video so I added it here.

She is using a wool/mohair fabric and she does not notch the fullness out of the sleeve when she is done. Otherwise it is the same as what Ron showed.

Today I am going to start a blouse that will be worn under the above jacket. I felt some pressure to finish the jacket last night and do the blouse today. But I did not feel stressed. That is good as I do not plan on going down that trail again.

On top of it all, a girl pre ordered her dress for next year’s Miss Rodeo Canada competition. That is one of my limited number of spaces filled.

Until tomorrow.................

Fall Back An Hour

2011-11-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday night we, the unfortunates, changed from daylight savings time to standard time. The fall back an hour syndrome. When we lived in the north, we lived on daylight savings time all year round and we loved it. Winter is winter, my friends, and daylight is shorter the winter than in the summer no matter what time you are on. I loved this:

I got the main bathroom scrubbed yesterday. It took about 2 hours due to all the surfaces that needed scrubbing. The most surface – both sides of the glass shower. That is 6 sides in total. But it is shiny. I went to do the ensuite and the Spousal Unit worked in front of the door to that room all day. I will try again. He got a piece of plywood on the ceiling and the floor fixed. It may not sound like much, but it is a lot of work as he had to do a bunch of prep work. And I had to help which was fun.

From there I worked on the jacket I am making. It will be worn twice and then I will see what I will do with it. I like bright colours, not muted or dark even if it has bling on it. If I have to go darker, I like to lighten it up with something bright – embroidery and crystals. Or a lighter coloured shirt underneath. This dark brown could use a light coloured shirt.

I cut out the fashion fabric (taffeta) and then cut out broadcloth to underline. I machine basted them together after carefully pinning and smoothing out both fabrics. Once that was completed, I sewed the jacket together. New Look 6028 is an easy pattern to make. By 4 p.m. I had the body of the jacket done and the sleeves hemmed.

The sleeves need to have a strip of horsehair canvas put around the sleeve cap to gather it. Once the sleeves are in, I plan on wrapping the sleeve with fleece using Ann R's Sleeve Wrap Tutorial that I read about in SDBev's Project Journal. I will try to do photos of that procedure (that’s if I remember to do it).

Today is weigh in day. I have lost 5.5 pounds since Nov. 1. A good start. I am focusing on 10 pound increments as I have a lot to loose. My exercise this week included cleaning, scrubbing, and helping with renovations. About 2 hours a day. Not bad for week one.

Until tomorrow...............

What Do You Mean?

2011-11-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the Spousal Unit asked me to hold off with scrubbing the bathroom so I could be available to help him in the bedroom. “What do you mean?” I asked? He wanted to get all the strapping off the walls, everything hauled out, the carpet removed and I wash the ceiling. So down another path I went. I waited for him and helped him load up two truck loads for the dump and then scrubbed the beautiful clear plywood ceiling ready for it sealer.

Our house was built around 1965 and is the second house of this plan that the previous owners had built. We never know what to find behind the walls. The electrical is good; the electricans have gone over it for us. But, there are walls that have 3/4” tung and groove cedar behind the mahogany paneling. You can see that in the above picture.

But the wall between the bedroom and ensuite has nothing. The Spousal Unit put some insulation in when he did the ensuite. He will finish it now. On the outside walls of this house, there are 2 x 4” studs, insulation and then the 3/4” tung and groove cedar over top of that. We are very cozy in our house and run one gas fireplace for 2 hours to warm it up in the morning.

The Spousal Unit has to build a closet on the bathroom wall. It will be about 6 feet long; small by today’s standard. But we manage with that.

So while I was waiting to help the Spousal Unit, I froze leeks from our garden. I also cut out a jacket – New Look 6028 – View D

I got the fashion fabric cut out and have the underlining and lining to cut out yet. I don’t know how far I will get on it today as I have two bathrooms to scrub. Hmmmm.......if I get busy I may have them done by lunch time.

Sewing Geek from My Sewing Story sold me a bound buttonhole maker. Thank you very much for doing that. I can hardly wait to get it and try it out.

Pauline from P'thrifty Sewing Blog understands my dilemma about sewing a SWAP wardrobe while loosing weight. I want to do this as I love the criteria but I am not sure how I will go about it. I will have to make a plan for this.

Until tomorrow...........................

A Shopping Day

2011-11-05T07:06:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I went to the city to do our shopping. I knew it was not going to be a quick trip in and out but in the end I had to miss a couple of stores. Daughter showed up at Fabricland and my back started to spasm. Drat and double drat.

Fabricland had most everything in the store on sale at 50% off. I was going in to buy white broadcloth for a horsemanship shirt, buttons, thread and to look at cotton knit for myself. If the Bargain Center had anything good I wanted to buy from there also. I ended up with the white broadcloth, buttons, and thread that I wanted. I went to the knit section looking for a nice white knit for myself as I want to make Jalie 965 View B tank top. (no longer available)

I found one nice knit but it was 100% polyester. I kept looking and finally found a nice cotton/lycra knit that is perfect for this top. I got the fabric. I also bought a piece of off white faux suede to make a Queen top with many ideas roaming through my head. When I did the Bargain Center with Daughter we discovered a taffeta in eggplant and then saw a remnant in brocade.

I was ecstatic with this find. The taffeta was on sale at 2.50 a meter so I got 3 meters. There is 1.2 meters of brocade.

After I left Fabricland, I headed to one of the malls to get the Spousal Unit’s iPad. I am so disappointed with that store that I will only buy small items from them. I will go elsewhere for anything else. They tell you one thing one week and something else the next week. While I was waiting for my prescription to be filled, I went into a little shop that has been in the mall forever. It is full of jewellery. I snooped around and ended up buying a pair of earrings to go with the off white faux suede. At home I fooled around matching crystals with the earrings.

The red crystals are cheap ones so I will order the expensive crystals in that colour to glam up the shirt. I also have some sew on crystals I could use. I am not sure if I will do embroidery on it or not.

After I did the grocery shopping, I headed home. My back was just too sore to do anything else.

Today we are freezing leeks and I will be copying out a jacket pattern for Queen Emma. As I am doing fall cleaning, I will be washing walls and a deep cleaning in the main bathroom. Not a real exciting day though I do have to figure out if I will interface the underlining of the jacket or not. I will do a test piece to figure it out.

Until tomorrow.................

Caturday

2011-11-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

Dritz Bound Buttonhole Maker

2011-11-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, the Spousal Unit and I moved everything from the master bedroom to the spare room. We are officially sleeping in there for the next month. There is very little spare space as we have our computer, filing cabinet and an antique bedside table residing in there also. My job was to shorten the curtains as they will remain in that room after we move out. They go with the quilt, table runners and pillows I made for the bed that I will be putting on the bed when it becomes a guest room. In the midst of moving, I found a missing earring, some missing receipts, and Elliott had a blast snooping and trying to help as much as a cat can help – him in your face watching what you are doing while dismantling the bed. Once the room was empty, the Spousal Unit went into destruction mode.

When I was reading SDBev's Blog on bound buttonholes she mentioned using a Dritz Bound Buttonhole Maker made way back when (like the 1940’s or 1950’s). I thought it would be great to own one to use when I start doing more tailoring.

back front

On my first Google I found there was a discussion on Stitcher's Guild in 2008 about this item and how much they cost to buy on eBay. I did an internet search again and found one (which includes the welt pocket maker) on eBay starting at $29.95. I bid on it with a set budget. Four days later, it has been bid to $61.00 and there is still 2 days left to go. Needless to say I am out of the bidding. But I will let you know how much it goes for. And I will learn how to do bound buttonholes the manual way.

Other than shortening the drapes for the spare room, I almost made a Books for Babies bag. Just about an hour left and it will be done and filled with information. That will make three bags and once the fourth one is done, I will take them up to the Public Health Nurse.

Sherril commented that my clean room is the sign of a sick mind. Absolutely yes. Add anal to the mix and you have me. Exactly how Daughter describes me. LOL. I have to say “A good one Sherril”.

Until tomorrow.....................

SWAP Sewing

2011-11-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of those haphazard days. The Spousal Unit went to get supplies as he has officially started to renovate the master bedroom. Today we will move into the spare room for about a month.

I did a tiny bit of sewing on My Baby Loves Books bags. It was a case of putting interfacing onto two bags and their linings. I sewed one seam on one bag.

Most of my day was spent getting everything put together for our literacy fund raiser. Letters, emails, wait, more letters, more emails, and more wait. It got done late in the afternoon. Now I have to write two to three articles for the newspaper on family literacy with an overtone of reading. We live in a community where many of our young parents have quit school and don’t promote literacy in their homes. It is noticeable in the schools. We are thankful there are many good programs in the area that helps reach some parents but we have those who isolate themselves from these programs. It is hard to reach them but we all try.

I do hope to get into the sewing room and complete the two book bags so I can start something else. Maybe I will hem a tablecloth for Daughter. I want to do a rolled edge on it. It will take some practice to get it right but I have a good idea of what to do as I did the hem on the sheer of the wedding dress. I also want to get the window topper done for the sewing room window. I know I am on call to help the Spousal Unit and I need to do a bit of literacy work also.

I am feeling a bit lost with no sewing for clients but I am focusing on other things. I am trying to watch my diet and to do more activities around the house. I have also looked at the SWAP 2012. It has me intrigued.

Dragon Lady wrote:

This year, our SWAP will focus on fitting, and making tried-and-true patterns: testing and fitting paper patterns, muslins, and fashion garments that will help lower the overall sewing failure rates, result in fabulous clothing to be proud of, and (hopefully) give every contestant a pattern or two that works every time it is used.

Choose any seven garments from this list:
Button Down Shirt w/Collar (x2)
Blouse or shirt (collar is optional)
T-Shirt (x2)
Vest
Overshirt (x1)
Dress
Jeans (x2)
Trousers (x1)
Shorts or Capri Pants (x1)
Skirt
Jacket (jean jacket, windbreaker, hoodie, etc.) (x2)
Coat (suit or sport coat)
Overcoat or Raincoat
Bathing Suit & Coverup

From those seven, choose four to make twice for a total of 11 garments that will work together. Those four may either be repeated garments from the same pattern, or one each from two different patterns.

What I like about this years SWAP is the flexibility of choosing patterns that suit your life style and turn them into TNT patterns. Though I liked the original SWAP of a specific wardrobe, I like the flexibility of choosing what I want.

I am thinking of joining in but am not sure how far I will get. I am trying to loose weight and don’t want to spend several months working on clothes only to have them too big at the end of the contest. But here is my idea if I do it.

I will probably add another item to the mix. It is a Jalie pattern that has been discontinued; a tank top to wear under the blouses I plan on making. Better for my body style.

Until tomorrow.................................

Sewing Room Done

2011-11-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

I woke up yesterday morning with the worst pain in my back – I had muscles cramps and spasms that I get about once a month. I did a bunch of stretches and had a hot shower. It took meds to get it under control. I hate this but it is better than when I quit teaching 16 months ago. It would last for days at a time. Now it is over in a couple of days.

I hit the sewing room to tidy it up. The Spousal Unit put the electrical covers back on the plug ins and light switch. He also hung the hook that I use to hang clothes up on. After that, I started to sort, wipe and put away. That took the better part of the day.

It made me feel so good to have that job done and now I can enjoy sewing again. I love my room neat and tidy; messes interfere with my creative juices. I will try to get white floating shelves hung on one wall to put my sewing knick knacks onto. And I do have a picture or two to hang up also.

The Spousal Unit decided we didn’t have any sawdust upstairs. He got out his tools and removed the door from our bedroom and the doors off the bedroom closet. Renovations are officially underway in our bedroom. And nothing has been moved out of that room.

Today I have some letters to write, the spare room to get ready for us to move our bedroom stuff into. I shall be busy on that most of the day to say the least.

Until tomorrow...............