THREE THINGS

I have three things to share today.

ITEM ONE - During my recent Twin Needle Sewing Class, I learned an easier way to join bias strips. I don't know about you, but when I just need a yard or two of bias tape, I'm not interested in doing the whole sew-an-off-center-tube-thang. And going the other route ... cut out your bias strips and join them ... has not been a roaring success because I rarely get it right on the first try. You know what I mean. I end up with something that looks like this instead of a nice - straight - strip.
I always hated doing bias tape because I'd sew it, rip out the stitches and re-sew it. But with this new technique, I just zing right through. Here's how it goes: instead of trying to join the angled ends, you cut off the angles so the strips have a straight end, lay one at a 90 degree angle to the other and sew diagonally. See (rough) drawing below. LOVE THIS TECHNIQUE!


ITEM 2 - A sewing machine repairman showed me how to release thread when it gets caught in the bobbin area. Some threads come out right away, but some get caught ... and even broken off from pulling on them. I don't know about all machines, but on my Pfaff, there's a way to get a thread unhung without a repairman.


This is how my Pfaff bobbin area looks. There's an arrow pointing to the screw. All you can see from this side is a little hole, but that's where the screw is. There are three on the housing, but you have to manually rotate the wheel to see all three ... one ... at ...a ... time.



This is how the side of the bobbin housing unit looks when it's out of the sewing machine ... but don't take it out!!! Slow down! We just want to remove a little tension from the screw. The arrow points to the screw and if I had a better picture, you could see there's a little spring around it. (Okay .. I know my drawing of a screw with a spring is lame, but it was the best I could do this afternoon).
Sorry this picture is fuzzy. What he's doing here is pressing on the screw which relieves a little of the tension. It only moves about a hairs breadth, but it's enough to get your thread out.

He's using this dental tool -- it's great for reaching around to press on the screw. And there's not a lot of space in there when you're coming at it from the front.

I'm so glad I learned how to do this yesterday because I had to use it this morning. Since I didn't have a dental thing-y, I just used a teensy screwdriver, but IT WORKS. HA!

ITEM 3 - I finished the test apron and, all in all I'm pleased. I'll use the pattern again, but I'll probably use a wider bias tape next time. I think Sophie looks great in this. Wish it looked this good on me!

Have a fabulous day!

Potatoes and Onions in Bags! Oh, MY!

I've been busy sewing for myself instead of for a shop - what a surprise - think of that -- sewing for myself! One project I made was burlap bags to hold onions and potatoes. Since up to this point I didn't have a good storage solution, I decided to make bulap bags and embroider them to identify what's inside.




I made them of 2 layers of burlap ... it still allows the air to circulate and the double thickness makes them quite sturdy, so they stand on their own. And they're completely washable. Woohoo!
Since I made this in a flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants method -- ummmm - my usual method -- I used a satin stitch to join the layers at the top, but I think if I make these as gifts (or to sell in my shop) I'll make the bag out of one long piece of burlap with a long seam ... fold it in half with the seam inside and then I'll stitch along the top of the fold. Maybe I could embroider along the top edge .. like Pommes frites .... Spuds .... Taters ... etc. Hmmm, I guess I'll have to research names for onions.

The potato bag holds just over 10 pounds of potatoes and the onion bag holds more than 3 pounds. I like it. Works for my kitchen!

Also, recently I took a twin-needle sewing class. I haven't had a formal sewing class since Miss Nowatny in 9th grade home economics . This is the finished project.




I think it almost looks like heirloom stitching. I didn't notice until I took the picture that the center pintucks are slightly off center! DOH! Nevertheless, I learned a lot of really good techniques in the class and now I've signed up for a towel embossing class. I have several embossing designs already from Emblibrary.

Hellooooo! Good Christmas gifts! Can't wait!

TODAY I'm working on a "test" apron. I call it a test apron because I'm testing my pattern on cheap-o fabric before I commit scissors to the expensive stuff. Sooooo I'm using beige cotton with red trim. Sisters may remember the red fabric from my retirement Girls Only Party. I used yards and yards of it for the tablecloths. Doesn't Amanda look sweet?

Gotta go now. My break is over and my sewing machine is calling out to me.

Sisters Weekend Part II

Sorry it's taken so long to get the remaining pictures on here. Reason? DH and I went on a long trip shortly after the last post and when we got back, we couldn't access the internet. Boyz howdie -- who knew how much we depend on access to the internet?!?

But, I'm ba-a-a-ck and ready to finish the wonderful sisters weekend memories.

When we went to the Pine Mountain Jamboree, we noticed a tower nearby and Billie wanted very much to climb up it. TO THE TOP! So we came back the next day. It's a tall one!

Nancy and I decided to forego the fun (LOL), so I took pictures of our adventurers. Ginger suggested she go first, Billie next and Alice last. I think they were worried about Billie getting scared -- even though this fun treat was HER idea -- so they made a Billie-O sandwich!

Going thru the turnstile. Gee whiz! You pay to get in so you can climb your bu** off!

Going up.

GOING UP. (The letters show the position of Ginger, Alice & Billie.)

Almost there.

Finally there!!!! And Billie takes a picture of us safely back at the bottom . She's taking a picture of me happy, happy, happy that my calves aren't quivering from the trek up and down. Okay ... maybe it was a picture of me secretly wishing I'd been been braver. Perhaps I can do it next time!

After our climbers made it safely back down, we hopped the trolley to the Crescent Hotel. It's a wonderful old (haunted) hotel we stayed in last time we were there and they had the BEST Margaritas ever, so of course we HAD to visit it again.

Sitting on the balcony, we could see the tower! Looks pretty tall there -- sticking up out of the forest!

And then .... sisterly laughter among the drinks. Really, those people didn't have to leave the balcony. We weren't laughing THAT hard. Were we?

Anyway, it was another WONDERFUL sisters weekend. Definitely a special treat! Can't wait till next year. Sooooo, Alice?? Where are we going next year??? Maybe we should call ahead and get them prepared.

Sister's Weekend 2009 Part 1

Just a quick blurb about the wonderful time we had on Sisters Weekend 2009 at Eureka Springs, Arkansas. This was the front porch of our lovely cottage. While we were snapping various group photos on the front porch (oops-- I didn't get any!) Ginger began to sing, "I'm too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt, ...." Laughing, laughing all weekend!

The first afternoon, we sat outside on one of the stone patios. So charming! This is Nancy looking down to the patio.

The next morning we all went for a walk. We noticed several houses that had these witches hat roofs. I've never seen anything like it before. It's copper topped, which is very interesting.

We bought 2 day trolley passes and rode the trolley as much as possible. It was a great bargain and the trolley drivers were so nice. At least I thought they were nice until one of them called ahead to the station to warn them we were coming! What was THAT about!

Because Eureka Springs is very vertical (in the mountains, narrow streets, lots of S curves) we rode the trolley to the top of the hill in the shopping district and then walked/shopped our way down the hill. Very interesting shops. And street musicians. And restaurants.

We felt that family was with us all weekend, because we kept seeing their names everywhere. If you look closely at the pastor's name, it's the same as our oldest brother!

One of our walks included going to breakfast at Myrtle Mae's (great food!) and I saw this funny sign in a yard on the way back. Vintage humour!

Although we didn't eat at Gramma's Beans and Cornbread, we have fond memories of our last trip. Our "public singing career" started here! We have a tendency to do drive-by singings at absolutely no provocation or invitation! LOL!

We went to Pine Mountain Jamboree again -- loved it on the last trip. The new show was totally different from our last trip, but it was utterly enjoyable. There were lots of songs we could sing to and the entertainers were fabulous.

During the intermission some of the performers come out to chat with the audience. Billie bought some souvenir "hats" that look almost like a vase until you push it down onto your head. Then it looks like a pith helmet. However, when she tried it out on her own head, she couldn't get it to stay on -- it would just POP off -- almost FLY off -- everytime she pushed it down. One of the performers laughed so hard at her efforts, he had tears in his eyes. Not everyone can say they go to a comedy review and entertain the comedians!

I'll post the remaining pictures soon.

New Etsy Shop

I've been BUSY BUSY BUSY!

I've been away from blog world for awhile. Not only have I been silent, but I haven't even been checking my favorite blogs except Sumpn Sassy -- can't miss my sassy sister even if the rest of blogland fades away.

Recently I opened a new etsy shop (LittleSassyMini) and moved all my miniature rugs to that shop. And I've been cranking out some mini rugs. I've got some other products I'm working on. I'll let you know when I've mastered that. Busy - busy!

I participated in my first etsy TX one-on-one swap. It gives you a chance to make friends with other Texas etsy-ites. For my gift, I made a tissue cozy and matching cosmetic bag for Judy at http://butterflykissforyou.etsy.com./.

And I received a beautiful necklace and earrings from Cheri at http://itsmecheri.etsy.com Aren't they gorgeous?! This swap thing is FUN!

Then I made an apron for sweet Susan - to celebrate her birthday and to commemorate her winning a baking contest with her pineapple upside down cupcakes. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out and will be making one for my Little Sassy etsy shop.

Now I'm working on another etsy TX project. It's a promo and sample swap. Everyone makes an item for each of the participants. Then when you sell something in your shop, you add one of the sample items in your shipping package. It's a nice little freebie for your customer and it's great advertising for other etsy Texans.

I was trying to decide what to make. I could just have done the gussied-up matchbooks I usually do for my customers, but I'd like these to be a small sample of my work. It's a lot harder than it might sound to decide on a good - small -- example. My first thought was to make a bookmark with a summer image (flip-flops, glass of lemonade, sunglasses, beach ball) plus some text, but I found that (1) you have to make the text really teensy and that's difficult and (2) I don't want the back side of the embroidery showing and (3) how do I finish the edges?? ... even if you use ribbon, you have the ribbon ends to contend with. Oh, bother!

Keep in mind, I'm not charging for these samples and I have to make at least 26 of them. Soooo, after two days of messing with this ... that ... and the other, bookmarks are definately out. One of my best attempts was on felt (easy to make crisp edges, but two layers of felt is really FAT). When DH saw it, he suggested I turn the felt thingy into a little nail file holder by leaving one end open. Good idea! So off I go to the 99 cent store. After I got there, I saw these little clippey things that are so popular and decided I would fancy them up instead. I embroidered a flower on unbleached duck and put that on top of 2 layers cut from a lavender bandanna and sewed the whole thing to a lavender clip. I sprayed it pretty heavily with starch and blew it dry to make the edges curl up to look more like a flower. It's the first time I've done something in the "shabby" style - I'm usually more tailored -- but I thought I'd give it a try. FEEDBACK PLEASE?! I'm really feeling insecure about this and need some honest --even brutal -- feedback.

Thanks!

Welcome, Sophie!

Yesterday after my hair appointment I was feeling all gorgeous and perky, so I decided to stop in at Ruth's Room - a thrift store that benefits Habitat for Humanity. For awhile now I've been looking for a new side table for the living room and I took a chance to see if they had what I want. No luck on the table, but I hit the jackpot with a lacy metal dress form. Tightwad that I am, I hesitated to pay $38.00 for something that's not a necessity, but after a very short hesitation, I plunked down my money and loaded the thing into the back of my VW. The form doesn't fold down or come apart, so getting it into the bug was easier said than done, but with some finagling (lowering the back seat and moving the passenger seat all the way up) I got it in there and brought the dazzler home. Isn't she lovely?

I'm gonna call her Sophie. I don't know why, but the name popped into my head first and I can't get it out of there even by insistently repeating the names Audrey (love me some Hepburn) or Coco (love me some Chanel) or Chloe (love me some Lagerfeld). Soooo, Sophie it is!

I called DH and told him of the purchase because I felt a little guilty about the (seemingly) foolish splurge. As always (he's such an angel) he helped me find reasons it was a good purchase - aprons, totes and purses can all be displayed beautifully on it and since I'm going to re-vamp my etsy shop and will be including aprons, totes and purses, this will be a great tool. I checked prices on comparable dress forms and they start at 119.00! It was a steal at $38.00!! And I must say, now that I've got it home and draped it with an apron, it feels somehow that my business is more substantial. More than just a hobby or a sideline, it's a BUSINESS. Know what I mean?

While I was still in town I stopped by Walmart for some necessities and I hit the mother load in the close-out section. I bought 8 bottles of the Sugar-free Vanilla syrup we use in our morning coffee for a total savings of $28.64. And 3 bags of 8 O'clock Coffee beans for a total savings of $8.04. Then in the dairy case, butter was on sale so I bought 4 pounds for a savings of $4.00. That exceeds the $38.00 I spent on the Dress Form, so it feels like Sophie was MEANT TO BE in our home.

So, please welcome Sophie to our family!

Gettin' a little ADD here!

After I finished the post yesterday -- and before I wore my patootie out running errands -- I checked to see if I could find some soap recipe's. The best I found (that would work with the Little House in the Suburbs soap re-milling technique) were from Craftbits. http://www.craftbits.com/viewCategory.do?categoryID=SOA

Don't these sound good?

Citrus Burst
Lavender & Honey
Coconut Cream
Vanilla Rosemary
Cucumber
Honey Rose
Goats Milk

So, now I'm REALLY wanting to make some soaps!

However, yesterday I bought 2 books with apron patterns. I had such fun making the Debby apron (and the 50's ripply apron recently) that I can't wait to start working on some of these. They are sooooooo CAYUUTE!!!

And I also bought a reusable shopping bag when I was at the health food store. Billie has been suggesting I make some -- Arlington, Texas is going to go disposable bagless soon -- and I've already bought some great fabric, but haven't put it very high on my LIST-O-THINGS TO DO.

What to start on first!?!?! Soap, Aprons, Green bags?!

And then reality steps in and says " Mow the three acres close to the house because spring has definitely arrived and the grass is only gonna get taller." Oh, well. Later gator on the fun stuff!