Much Needed Sewing Retreat

I had the most wonderful weekend!  I actually got to sew for three entire days.  I love being productive.  Oftentimes when I sew like this I'm working on one big project, but this time I actually worked on many different things.  I put rolled hems on six napkins and cut out six more to finish at home, free motion quilted six placemats and a matching square for the center of the table, cut out two sets of doll clothes and sewed them up except for buttons and buttonholes, cut out a long sleeved top for myself and sewed it up, cut out a top for daughter #2, wound bobbins for the quilting of my Christmas quilt my friend put on her frame and she quilted for me with her fantastic system and mostly had a lot of fun with my two sewing friends!

Digitizing Machine Embroidery Designs

While I'm usually sewing, not using the embroidery features of my machines, every once in awhile the "need" to paint something with thread raises its beautiful head.  Sometimes (like today) it's because I have gifts I want to get ready, but other times taking a drawing and turning it into stitches just fits my mood to create.  I've actually combined them today, because I digitized both the designs on the burp rags seen in this post.

I love using the Gerber flannel burp rags that I can find at Target or WalMart.  They are a great weight, are absorbent, and I can find them in pinks, blues, yellows and prints for boy, girl, or "we don't know yet" babies.  I've been making these for several years to give as gifts, and some of my daughter's friends who are expecting their second babies are asking for them again.  I like to wait till the baby is here so I can add the name, which makes it a special gift.

I did some commercial digitizing several years ago, and this lamb was one of the designs I digitized from a client's artwork, and she then sold sets to quilt stores.  Unfortunately she's gone out of business.  The teddies I do are an act of love because the detail found in the drawings takes a lot of time to work up, but the results are exquisite.  I have always loved teddy bears, and the out-of-print Cherished Teddies book has given me hours of digitizing pleasure. 

Pneumonia, in the Summer?

I thought it was strange when Miss E was diagnosed with pneumonia about three weeks ago, but I can tell you first hand that she definitely had it and shared it with Grandma.  ARGH!!!  Not the way I wanted to spend the last part of my vacation before gearing up to teach another year, for sure.  The bright side is that it is responding well to a broad spectrum antibiotic, for which I am forever grateful!  The down side is that I'll be starting behind the curve as I haven't done near enough on two fronts--cleaning and sewing.

Miss V's dress did get finished, and she's here modeling it for us.  Her Grandpa said the picture makes her look so old--wonder what that makes him and me?  :)  Anyway, she loves it and wanted to wear it home with her matching shorts underneath, so that's a good sign.  I'd like to make her 3 or 4 pairs of Capris to wear to school this fall since it is so hard to get pants to fit her.  Not sure if I'll have the time or not, but we can try.

I still need to finish the curtains for her sisters' room, so maybe that's what I will do next, or maybe not.  I still have pants and tops to sew for them and they like clothes more than curtains.

Think it's time to sit in the easy chair and read for a bit, eat some dinner and then get some more rest.

Summer Sewing -- Marking Fold Lines the Easy Way

I love summer, but it just goes by too quickly!  I've worked on several projects and have many of them "still in progress."  Sometimes I really hate that phrase, but sewing is both a "what I'm in the mood for" and "what needs to be done immediately" sort of thing around here.  The curtains for one granddaughter's room are finished, and the ones for the twins' room are about half done.  The girls have each gotten tops and shorts and Capris, or at least they will when they are sewn. Isn't cutting it out half the battle?  I did finish dresses for the twins and worked on two different quilts.

I'm currently finishing a cute dress from Kwik Sew 3906 for Miss V for school.  The matching shorts are done, and the dress only needs buttons, buttonholes and hemmed.  It's been several years since I've made a little girl's dress with ties in the back--and finishing the ties so they were pointed was probably the biggest challenge!  Remembering to clip across the point before folding twice to sew was something that wasn't in the directions, but I pulled out of the recesses of my mind from long, long ago.

I've been using a technique lately for marking fold lines on things like ties and straps and hems that has really made a difference.  I change my stitch length to 6 and then baste the fold line markings.  Using the built in walking foot on my Pfaff, the fabric doesn't gather at all, so I can then press right along the stitching, then remove the basting and when it comes time to do the folding it's all marked and looks great.  This is so much easier than trying to measure it in the round!  The shoulder straps and the ties were much easier using this technique.  It's particularly useful for hems on shorts, Capris, and pants as well as waistband elastic. It works on doll clothing, too. I'm so glad I figured it out.

Sewing for the Dolls

I have to be honest--I think I'm in my second childhood.  I guess that's partly what grandchildren are for--right?  Well, since they don't know this blog exists I can spill the beans.  Dolls will be coming for Christmas, and Santa Grandma has been commissioned to help make clothes to go with them. 

The first two finished are for Miss V since she will be with me at Grandma Camp next week.  I'm going green, too, since both of these outfits are made completely from scraps from things I've made this year.  The pajamas on the right are the remnants of a shell I made for myself this summer and the outfit on the left is actually made from scraps from an outfit Miss V got to start school in.  The doll's outfit isn't exactly like V's, but she'll recognize the fabrics, smile, and say something about her doll being dressed like her.  Check out the red buttons with white polka dots on the top.  The picture doesn't do them justice, but they just make the top!

Christmas is Coming!

I really love this time of year.  As a child, it was a really magical time and we looked forward to the entire holiday season.  One of the things I remember was our stocking tradition.  We had one each year, and you could be sure there would be an orange, an apple, candy canes and lifesavers along with other assorted goodies. 

It's one tradition I wanted to bring to my home when we married, and we did have stockings those first years, but nothing fancy. I did get a pair of pearl earrings that first year that I still wear.  When our first daughter was born just a couple of weeks before our fifth  Christmas, there wasn't time to make anything special, but for her second Christmas I found a Vogue stocking pattern that I loved, and have used in the 35+ years since to make stockings for our family. 

When the granddaughters came along, their first stockings were sewn like long johns with the back flap being the opening.  We're retiring the last two of those this year and Kathryn and Elizabeth will get their big girl stockings.  The third one I made recently is special.  My Mom now spends winters with us, and last year I noticed we didn't have a stocking to hang for her.  This year she'll get her very own stocking!  Holiday traditions are indeed wonderful!

Happy Thanksgiving, World!

As I'm waiting for the gluten free/dairy free pumpkin pie to finish baking, and hoping it will be OK made with coconut milk, I started thinking about Thanksgivings we celebrated when I was a kid.  My Dad was an only child, so my Mom's family, which was a large one, just added my Grandparents to the fold and we all celebrated the holiday together.   They weren't the only ones adopted into this huge, extended family.

Thanksgiving was the one time the entire clan got together with the location rotating from year to year, and everyone who could drive the distance came.  The house was filled with aunts and uncles and cousins galore, and since my Mom was an aunt twice before she was born, my cousins ranged from younger than me to older than my Mom.

The weather was unpredictable, at best.  It could be a balmy 70 degree day or it could be snowing.  We had a time or two when it even had to be postponed due to a blizzard.  It was a day we all looked forward to, and the adults in our lives worked to prepare the goodies we considered traditional.  Each family had certain things they always brought, no matter what.  My aunt made the best popcorn balls anywhere.  She had big canisters she used each year to carry them in and we loved to help her bring them in from the car.  My Mom's treat was always fudge, and I mean multiple batches of fudge.  She'd make fudge early and freeze it, and of course once we figured out where it was in the freezer and get into it, she'd have to make more.  I think my chocolate loving Dad probably helped us make it disappear, but he never admitted to it.  Another aunt made the red velvet cake--mouthwatering.  One of my cousins brought a raspberry jello salad with a cream cheese-marshmallow topping.  Having the sweet tooth I still possess, but try to control, you can see what traditions I remember best. :)

Whoever hosted the event got to fix the turkey, or sometimes two.  If it was at your house you got to help clean to get ready for the event, and then Mom would prepare the stuffing and get the bird in the oven in the wee hours of the morning so the 25+ lb bird would be fully cooked for our noon-ish celebration. We had a double oven, so we could fix two or sometimes cook duck or pheasant if someone had been lucky hunting.  If you traveled, you had to come two and a half to three hours to get there.  Most of us were from big families so the car rides were crowded, noisy affairs.  The trunk would be filled with food and suitcases, because we'd usually spend the night.

Kids ran everywhere.  There was usually at least one person your age, although I had the dubious distinction of having boys who fit that category.  My one girl cousin my age lived in California and rarely made it back in November.  As I got older and the gender thing became more of an issue (cooties, you know), I started hanging around the kitchen more with those preparing the food.  Everybody helped.  You could peel potatoes, clean finger vegetables, get tables set or any number of other chores that had to be done.  It was an orchestrated madness that was such a kick to be a part of.  When the turkey was finished and carved, the potatoes mashed, and the gravy made we all gave thanks and then piled our plates high and stuffed ourselves till we could hardly move. 

As we've all grown up, had families of our own, moved across the country and our elders have mostly gone now, those wonderful Thanksgivings are just memories.  My immediate family still gets together to celebrate the holiday and with the grandchildren, our circle has grown.  There's still turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry jelly and green olives, but no fudge or red velvet cake.  The pie is generally sweet potato, although not this year.  I've had to learn to bake gluten free, and every recipe is an adventure when you have to make substitutions for dairy, but we're still thankful on this day of Thanksgiving for our many blessings.  I guess I'd have to say the traditions are evolving, but the spirit remains the same.  Thanks Be to God!