No Sewing Yet....

Nope, no sewing yet but I am dreaming. I'm still working on the re-arranging of the sewing room. I think the furniture is where is needs to be but I'm struggling with the organizing of the essentials of sewing which is mostly fabric and stabilizers. I don't have a closet available to put stuff in but I do have 3 cabinets and 6 crates. I know it will get figured out eventually. I just want to be able to find what I'm looking for. Maybe I need to think about some shelves that hangs on the wall. I have put away all of my patterns in the cabinet that I purchased for my patterns and I must say that it is full. I guess I need to give away some patterns.

The zappos order arrived and I liked both pair of shoes. However, fast forward a couple of days and I hear about the Zappos database being accessed and that Zappos had notified all of their customers. This customer didn't get notified. I will be watching the cc very closely over the next few months. I did get an invite to be a Zappos VIP. I wonder if the two are related. New, more secure passwords on all accounts. I hope I can remember them.

Sewing related things that I have done in the past few weeks. I joined the Superior University. I love having the opportunity to learn and to combine it will my love of sewing is even better. The only thing that would be better is if I could do this a class with other people. The first lesson has arrived and it is using Razzle Dazzle. I have not worked with this thread before so I hope it will be a good experience. I am going to try to work on the lesson this weekend. It will require another try to the store.

Yesterday, I also purchased a new sewing machine. No, I do not necessarily need another sewing machine. I just wanted this sewing machine. Here's what I purchased:

It's the Singer 160th anniversary Edition Sewing Machine. Isn't it cute? Of course, this will add another layer of clutter to my sewing area. I will need to purchase Singer sewing needles for this machine. I needed to do this any way I have a little vintage Singer sewing machine that looks much like the new above. This one could end up at my store. I haven't decided yet.

I purchase a new book and it looks like a winner. It is "Make It Sew Modern" by Vanessa Christenson. Here's the cover:

The book is divided into 4 sections as shown under the title. Each section has at least 5 projects. Most of the projects are very doable. In fact, maybe as something fun, I will work through this book and do that projects that are of interest to me and post the results.

My weekend plans are to work on my Superior University lesson for Razzle Dazzle and work on de-cluttering/organizing my sewing space. If I get to all the above and want to continue, I have a pair of jeans to work.

Happy Sewing!

Time flies when you're having fun...

Where has the past two weeks gone? I did play with my embroidery machine some more but the table runner I was so inspired to make didn't happen. The snowflakes wouldn't stitch out with the thread I wanted to use. I'll move on to something else. I did get the fabric for the pillow I want to make but it hasn't been washed yet. So, that project is on hold until then.

Work has kept me fairly busy for the past couple of weeks. I've been too tired to think about any projects or work on anything. However, today I was was energized to rearrange my sewing area. DH got me a 3-way mirror for Christmas and it needs to be mounted on the wall. The room where my sewing stuff is located is fairly large room but it is a busy room with my son's study area and the home office in there too. I moved the storage cabinets to the opposite side of the room on an unused wall. Moved the sewing table for the second time this year. Now, the wall where I wanted the mirror to be mounted is open. The room looks like a tornado has blown through it. I do think that it will take me many days to finish rearranging but the big pieces are done. I did get to handle and look at every piece of fabric I own. I honestly don't have too many pieces that are "What was I thinking?" material, but I do have a lot of items that were purchased with "working in an office" in mind. I still like getting dressed up but it is much more casual now.

I did a little bit of shoe shopping today. Here are my purchases: Zappos was happy to see me today. I love the red sandals and really hope that they fit when they arrive. The black shoes are just for when you need something a little bit dressy. We'll see if the low heel is a good idea. I generally wear shoes with about a 2" heel. I certainly don't need anything to make me feel short. Both my husband and my son are over the 6 foot mark and at just under 5'5", I don't know anything else to make me feel that way.

Oh, I did find some beautiful fabric for a tablecloth among my stash. It was a lovely deep green. I did want to make holiday tablecloths this month. Maybe I will be able to get to this by the end of the month. I also found the suede sherpa I was looking for. Oh, I have so many projects that I want to do. I wonder if my family will mind finding their own meals for the next month or so. LOL.

Happy Sewing!

Still rolling along...

Yep, today found me still happily working on my project. The pillow fabrics were washed and pressed today. Last night, I did a test run of the embroidery design and a loose weave fabric. I was happy with the way it turned out. Here's the design:

My test design looked very similar. This design is from Embroidery Library. I will be stitching this on a osnaburg fabric that has been stabilized. I just need to figure out the size of the pillow. Does anyone know how much room to leave around a design?

I couldn't resist going to JoAnn's today. I had a 10% off coupon and needed to get zippers for the pillows. I also picked up bells for another project and a pillow form for a neck roll. I didn't spend much but there wasn't really much a sale going on.

Oh, I've added a new project. I'm going to make a table runner and decorate it with snowflakes. I need to practice with the embroidery machine and this is perfect project to practice with. Now, I need to locate the snowflakes.

Happy Stitching!

It's 2012....Happy New Year!

Well, 2012 has me busy in my sewing room. I have promised myself that I'm going to sew at a minimum of every Friday night. It remains to be seen whether or not this will occur. I have finished one project that was started last year. The body pillow cover that I started sometime last fall is finished. I have now put the new comforter, pillow shams, and body pillow on the bed. A great way to start off the new year.

My first efforts this year are going to be to finish the decorative pillows to match the new comforter. The fabrics were washed today. Now, they need to be pressed. Then, I need to decide what type of pillows I want. I have three fabrics - 2 solids and 1 stripe. One pillow is going have a machine embroidery feature on it. I have picked out the design now I just need to play with the colors. I'll post pics when they are done.

The remaining projects for January are:

1. 2 Christmas tablecloths - I never seem to have enough tablecloths for the holidays and I really do like using them.

2. Silhouette Lana Jeans - I cut this out in November or December and never got back to it. I'm hoping they work out.

3. A knit top of some kind. There is a sew along starting at Stitcher's Guild and I think I'm going to try to sew along in an unofficial capacity. The sew along is for 1 top a month. I know it sounds doable but we'll see. I don't know what pattern I'll be using but I do think I'm going to use a cotton/lycra fabric that just arrived at my store.

Also, I started the year with purchasing some new patterns. There's a sale going on and I couldn't resist. Here's my purchases:


This is Vogue 8715. I'm specifically interested in this jacket shown above. This pattern also has the Custom Fit option which I'm hoping will help with any fit issues.

This is McCalls 6519. This pattern I'm interested in the the dress and the skirt. The short sleeve top might be of interest also.

This is Butterick 5429. I'm only interested in the short sleeve top on this pattern.

Well, that's it for now.

Happy Stitching!

Time Flies...

Wow! I didn't realize that it been so long since I posted anything. No, the jeans are not done. They are sitting in the same spot when I left them a month or so ago. I have been busy though. I spent a week in AR with my family and friends. I was a great trip but very tiring. I was able to spend some time with an old friend that I had not seen in years. It was good.

What have I been doing? Cleaning the sewing area and moving the equipment has been happening. It is still in the works but getting there. I have been knitting a scarf in the evening. This has been very relaxing. The scarf is about 1/2 way finished. I really wanted to finish it before Thanksgiving but some things are not to be.

My son and I created a Christmas garland. Here's a picture:

Didn't it turn out cute? It took a little more time than what I had intended but it was nice spending time with my son and talking with him. I purchased the instructions from an Etsy store called StudioCherie. The instructions were good.

Happy Stitching!