A Little Summer Reading

Yesterday, my newest sewing book arrived. It is the New Complete Guide to Sewing by Reader's Digest. Step-by-Step Techniques for Making Clothes and Home Accessories. This book was on Target.com for less than $20. The MSRP is $35 which made it a good bargain. In this book, everything a beginner or more experienced seamstress needs including tailoring tips. It is over 350 pages with photos on almost every page. The tone of the book is easy to understand. I have been collecting sewing books over the past 10+ years. Each new book I buy teaches me something new about sewing. How about you, have you learned something new about sewing lately? What is your favorite sewing book and why?

Mama Mia

That's what my daughter called me this weekend. She came home from the camp where she works for one night so we could go to the movies to see this movie. It was hilarious and we laughed our heads off. My hubby thought there was a wee bit of "men bashing" going on but he laughed with us. Meryl Streep did an outstanding job in this film as did Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth. Cannot remember the other actresses and actors names. However, over all, it was a good movie. Since I seldom go to movies, it was a special family event. The costumes were outrageous and the scenary gorgeous. My legs ached as I watched the characters climb up all those steps on that Greek Island to the little church. I certainly could not do that and it wasn't wheelchair friendly. Just getting to the theater in my wheelchair was like going thru an obstacle course.

Before our fun family night, I spent Saturday morning at our ASG neighborhood group meeting. Our program was to cut baby bibs for the upcoming craft fair fundraiser. I got 12 bibs cut and then spent some time cutting out 2 pairs of pants for me. Hopefully, I'll get those sewn this week along with the bibs. I do need to pick up some bias tape for the bibs so will make a run to Hancock Fabrics soon. While skimming thru Target.com, I found some sewing books that just had to follow me home. I love collecting sewing books and have more than my bookcase can hold. Being the good listener that I am, I ordered 3 more books. They are the Reader's Digest's "New Complete Guide to Sewing", "Fit Patterns with Confidence" by Nancy Zieman, and "The Complete Book of Sewing Shortcuts" by Claire Schaeffer. This will give me some new reading material for those days I'm confined to bed rest. So, what do you like to read?

Shopping Day

Today was a great day for shopping. My local Hancock Fabric store was not crowded and I had plenty of room to maneuver my wheelchair. I missed the pattern sales but ended up purchasing 2 Vogue patterns by Claire Schaeffer. One is a pants pattern Vogue #7881 and the other is jacket pattern #8519. Both patterns have couture techniques which I think will be fun to try. I haven't done any tailoring in years but this will be a great challenge for me. Just wish I could have gotten them for $3.99 but I missed that sale last week. At least this time, they were in my size. Didn't find any fabric which called my name but I did pick up some needed thread and note cards. I also bought the new Vogue pattern magazine. I'll have some great reading tomorrow. That's when the sales start on the Simplicity patterns but I won't have an opportunity to go there then. Oh well, a day late and a dollar short as the saying goes.

A Good Sewing Day

Today was a good sewing day for me. Went to our ASG meeting this morning and we celebrated the 5th anniversary of when our chapter was chartered - July 29, 2003 is the actual date. We had a lot of business to discuss as we heard reports from the nomination committee on new officers to be elected, reports from the ASG convention, presentation of certificate to a member, and show & tell. By the time we were ready to sew, an hour had already passed. Our program was to make a Holiday Table Runner. Now, I am totally a dork when it comes to Home Decor sewing or quilting. This project involves both. I pressed my fabric, got out my scissors and 8 inch ruler to cut the pieces needed. One of our members took pity on me as she watched me struggle. So she showed me how to use a rotary cutter and mat. Fortunately, she had the proper size ruler and then quickly had all of my pieces cut out before I could finish setting up my machine. What a great friend!!! Now, all of my pieces are ready to put together. Now, I just have to finish sewing it up, add the batting, buy some welting cord for trim and put on the backing. Then voila, my first table runner. Maybe it won't become another UFO. Ya think???

Upside Down Day

This morning was fun with a trip to our local sewing club for a program on cutwork embroidery. I've always thought that one had to have an embroidery machine to do these amazing designs. Not so! With a template and little tracing skill, these designs can be created with a sewing machine. That was good to know. Guess what I'll be trying out later in the fall. Just imagine how pretty a pillowcase would look with a cutwork embroidered edge or a dresser scarf or even a sweatshirt jacket. I'm always amazed at the creativity of others as I am not that imaginative.

After a yummy BBQ lunch with hubby, I started to take my nap when DD called from camp to ask me to order her college textbooks for her. She sent me an email list but wanted to walk me thru the process (as if I have no clue). While giving me instructions, she was also chattering with the other staff members at camp. I got so confused over the conversations, I ended up ordering one of her textbooks twice. Oh well, she can sell it at school or on the college swap site or amazon. Fortunately, the book was relatively inexpensive as she wanted used textbooks. I asked her how she was going to pay for this and got "awwww, Mom, Dad said that he would". Nice to know. Anyway, she's all set for school when she school starts. But knowing her, I imagine there will be some clothes shopping too with Dad picking up the tab.

Now, that is finished, hubby reminded me that we needed to go pick up my serger before the shop closed for the weekend. We race out the door because we only have 45 minutes to drive across town. The serger is ready and all it needed was the auto tensions calibrated and a cleaning. Whew! That was a relief until I saw the bill. It was almost $165 ... yikes. But, as usual hubby is prepared and writes them a check. I do have a good hubby as he never complains. My expensive machines have expensive price tags. What can I say, I love my machines. So, now I'm back home, hubby is cooking dinner. Hope you have a good weekend.

New Pants

This past two weeks, I've been sewing pants. Having lost close to 90 pounds, I found myself in need of some clothing that fit my new smaller size. I chose the Palmer-Pletsch pattern McCall's #4007 which is a basic straight leg elastic waist pants. My fabric is a chocolate brown gabardine rayon from Hancock Fabrics. I read thru the directions and thought I didn't need to adjust. Come to find out, I need about 2 more inches in length as they stop at the middle of my ankle and not the top of the shoe. They will work with sandals for summer but am unsure how they will look with my loafers. I applied my usual elastic waist treatment of sewing the elastic in the round and then using a triple zig-zag stitch as I folded over the fabric to form a casing. All in all, I'm pleased with how they look and the fit is good. What is your favorite pant pattern?

Brighten Your Corner

One of my favorite poems is by Helen Steiner Rice and is called "Brighten Your Corner". This blog was created to brighten your corner with postings of my musings and sewing projects with a little bit of family news. In my little corner of this world, I sew, knit, embroidery, share photos, and live the "good life". Won't you come and visit?