Saturday, October 15, 2011

SAGA Convention Day 4

Day 4, I'm trying to pace my feeble brain. Yesterday's class was good, my eyelets seemed to improve. A trend I hope will continue. After a quick lunch it was time to get ready for the retail market. Always fun. A few Liberty prints MAY have jumped into my bag. I was somehow overcome with a fever. They are beautiful and will be a beautiful addition to my stash. After a few more purchases of fabrics and a sweet thread painting kit, it was back to our room for early evening of pajamas, room service and stitching. We all compared our purchases, relaxed and stitched. We actually were able to get to bed at a fairly decent hour for us. Today's class is beading with Susie Gay. Should be fun. The raffle baskets in the hospitality room are flowing over with goodies. I have spread out my "donation" among many baskets. Tonight is the banquet where the new officers will be installed, artisan achievers will be recognized and those awesome baskets will be given away. Wish me luck!

Friday, October 14, 2011

SAGA Convention Day 3

Well here we are at Friday. Yesterday's day 2 with Jeannie was delightful as always. Tucks, bullions and a new way to attach lace to a hem. Design Show was inspiring as always. A smocked fascinator, a gorgeous embroidered lap desk and an intriguing smocked lampshade. Show and Share featured many beautiful items as well but my favorite was a showstopping Madeira appliquéd and embroidered tea cloth. The stitcher who made it told me it took TEN years to stitch. That is dedication! There was also a Teacher's Showcase featuring class samples from many different teachers. Again always inspiring and exciting. After a quick dinner it was more visiting, stitching and laughing. Today's class is again with Jeannie Baumeister. Eyelet embroidery. I have been happy with my eyelets but not my shaded eyelets. That is my goal for this class, to improve those. This afternoon is market. An opportunity to shop for fabrics, patterns and tools. Always fun. Otherwise it is a much needed afternoon "off". I have raffle basket tickets to deposit in some wonderful looking baskets. Scissors seem to be the theme this year. I am okay with that!!! Back later, faithful reader.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Day 2 at SAGA Convention

Well faithful reader, here we are at day 2. First day of class went well. We pulled threads, hemstitched, wore tiaras, went to our region meetings, had great fun and laughter. In the evening there was a crochet-in for those who wanted to learn how to add crochet edgings to Wee Care gowns, blankets and bonnets. There was a huge turnout for that event. The hospitality room (SAGA central) was overflowing with crochet hopefuls. The region meetings were held during lunch, which was a great idea. It is always good to connect with others from your region and hear ideas from other chapters. Raffle baskets are rolling in and there are some awesome ones. I have to get my tickets ready. We had a relaxed dinner and even got to bed way earlier than normal. I did work on baby boy's coming home gown. I have the pattern lengthened and traced. The fabric is prepared and ready to trace. Today is my second day of a two-day class from Jeannie Baumeister. We are cutting out the dress front and stitch tucks and add lace. Tonight is also Design Show and Show and Share. That's always inspiring. Later faithful reader.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Stitching Time

And we are off, getting ready to start class with Jeannie Baumeister. First night went too fast, too much laughing, story telling, photo sharing etc. Early day. I will report back later. If only I could figure out how to upload pictures to blogger on my phone.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Dressing Baby Brother


Baby brother doesn't need a whole lot, but that doesn't stop Mimi's need to sew. This is just a simple Imperial Batiste daygown. Embroidered with a manly little alligator.


It is from Shadowwork Fun and Fancy by  Martha Pullen/Sew Beautiful. I only shadowworked his scales, the rest of him is done in backstitch.


For the pattern I used "Priscilla's Layette" pattern by The Old Fashioned Baby. It is another out of print pattern but can often be found at some heirloom retailers or online auction sites. If not, you could use OFB Embroidered Raglan Daygown and switch it to a front placket.

 

The arms and neck are bound with green gingham. You know how I love gingham trim. I also set the sleeves in in the round. With a raglan sleeve that can be a bit trickier but it was worth it. Between the buttons are just some simple granitos. I was going to use green floss to attach the buttons, but it was too much.



The pattern calls for a three inch hem. Since the gown is A-line, that causes some fullness in the hem that has to be either gathered or pinched in. I'm not a fan, so I reduced the hem to one inch. It is sewn with a running stitch using one strand of floss. And as always trial and error, I was determined to use the three inch hem and the first go around I used two strands of floss. Looked nasty to me. Took it out, cut down the hem and used one strand instead.

Back to the grind. I leave EARLY tomorrow for Anaheim.

Parting Shot:


The Lucy I posted here on Princess.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Its Not What You Do...

 

..but HOW you do it that makes a difference.

In All People
Finding God in all things means finding God in all people. St. Alphonsus Rodriguez (1532-1617) was a Jesuit brother who for forty-six years served at the Jesuit college in Majorca. Spain, in the humble job of porter, or doorkeeper. Joseph Tylenda, S.J., writes in his book Jesuit Saints and Martyrs: "His duty was to receive the visitors who came to the college, search out the fathers or students who were wanted in the parlors, deliver messages, run errands, console the sick at heart who, having no one to turn to, came to him, give advice to the troubled, and distribute alms to the needy." St. Alphonsus was devoted to finding God in the present moment. "Lord, let me know you. And let me know myself," he would pray. Each time the bell rang, he looked at the door and envisioned that it was God himself who was standing outside seeking entrance. On his way, he would say, "I'm coming, Lord!"                                                   
                                  excerpted from The Jesuit Guide to "Almost" Everything by James Martin, S.J.

It is not what you do in life, it is how you approach what you do. A reminder I need everyday.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Great Concept


One of my girls works for Living Social. An online "electronics commerce" or "deals" site. Like any good mother, I like to check in on the deals for her region to see how well they sell. I worry about her keeping a roof over her head you know. In reality, I should worry about her ability to support her designer shoe and purse habit but that is a story for another day. Well in my pursuit of helicopter mothering, I looked at today's deal for her region. Imagine my surprise when it was for sewing classes.


It is for a sewing studio in the New Orleans area, called Sew Sew Darling. I have NO affiliation with this shop, and it wasn't even a deal that my daughter sold, another account rep did. So if you see this in time and purchase it, thank you; but it will be of no monetary benefit to my girl. Just so you know I am not out here hawking her sales in the name of nepotism. Not that I am above that. I'm just innocent this time.


Back to my thought that started this post. This studio features sewing classes in a way that a real beginner can come and sew without investing in a sewing machine first. That can be a real stumbling block to a person who wants to learn to sew but doesn't have a machine. Doesn't know if they will like it. Doesn't want to plop down big bucks purchasing a piece of equipment they know nothing about. The studio provides machines, serger and ironing and cutting areas as well. In looking over the classes they appear to be beginner and intermediate classes aimed at getting the beginning sew-ist in the door and on their way. A Great Idea if you ask me.

The do parties as well. Birthday Parties, Bridal Showers, Bachlorette Parties. There is even a Champagne Sewing Party,
Champagne Sewing Party
Start with our Basic Sewing Party and add champagne, decadent cupcakes, and an abundance of girl time. Each party attendee receives a $20 gift certificate for a sewing class plus their own take-away sewing kit. Don’t worry, we’ll help you choose an ultra stylish project that’s perfect for fashion mavens and sewing newbies. $60/person (min. 4 ppl), 3 hours.
Sign Me Up! How can you go wrong with sewing with girlfriends that is mixed with champagne?

I know a lot of fabric stores that also sell machines have classes as well, but they haven't seemed to be marketed in the same way. In order to appeal to young adults, you have to market things in a whole new way than what us old ladies are used to. This particular studio seems to be doing that.

I don't know how new the studio is but by the looks of how many of these deals have sold; they are going to be very, very busy. I wish them luck and hope that this idea catches on.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Same Song-Second Verse


I am on a roll trying to clear this cutting table before I leave for convention on Tuesday. I finished the floral blouse to go with yesterday's jumper. This is a floral remnant that I got from BessieMary when I bought both the orange dot and the green ghost fabrics. Thanks Jan, I would never have thought to put these together, but I love it.


Blouse pattern is the same as yesterday and the brother/sister outfits. I knew I was short on time so I just cut them all out at the same time. As stated before, the blouse is CC "Meg" which is out of print. It has a sweet sleeve, though I did lengthen the sleeve by about a three quarters of an inch. For this blouse, I added a sweet ruffle to the collar for something different.

The collars are all drafted using Gail Doane's instructions from her Peter Pan Collar class. If you ever get a chance to take that class, I highly recommend it. To add the ruffle, I trimmed away 3/8" 1/4" away from the collar pieces.(Correction: Since the collar was already designed for a 1/8" piping, to add space for the 3/8" ruffle, I only needed to remove an additional 1/4") Since this is a pretty firm cotton, I only gathered the ruffle for the collar about 1.5x the distance around the collar. My goal was just a sweet little frill, not loud "gathers."
 

This is a size 2 "Lucy" with a size 1 armhole cut on it. Princess is a tall young lady and a bit on the "stocky" side these days. She needed the width and length of the 2, but her armsyce length is a size 1. Instead of all that figuring about how to enlarge a size 1, I had a light bulb moment of just using the armhole and making the rest the next  size up. It worked great. She is 32" tall and 28# at 14.5 months. I hope that helps for those trying to decide what size to make.

Parting Shots:

 



Great baseball! Great win! Our prayers go out to hometown boy, Phillies player Ryan Howard, and hope that his injuries heal quickly.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Boo-Quick


Time is speeding by around here, so anything sewn has to be quick, quick, quick. I am also not a big Halloween person, but I saw this cute fabric and had to have it. It is a Riley Blake design that I purchased from Bessie Mary. I thought it was so cute, the little ghosts look so friendly. As I said before, I am not a huge "sew-for-Halloween" person, so whatever I made I wanted it to be versatile. I decided on a blouse she could wear with either a jumper as shown or over a pair of jeans. She can wear jeans now.:) I used an OOP Children's Corner pattern, "Meg", for the blouse.

 

The jumper is my current go-to, Children's Corner "Lucy" out of a Fabric Finders twill, also purchased from Bessie Mary.

I have to tell on myself. I tried really hard, to NOT pipe this jumper. I had the lining pinned to the twill and was ready to sew. I couldn't do it. I had to pipe it. In the interest of time, I did concede to whip stitch piping instead of making piping. I wanted this done TODAY! Part of my problem is, I can't stand seeing the lining peek out. Piping really guards against that. I even shorten the lining on the jumper by 1/4" to pull the twill to the inside so you won't see the lining at the hem. My house may be a wreck, but by jingy you aren't going to see my linings!

I love this ghost print a lot but its life expectancy is short so I have another blouse from a floral remnant almost finished. That will take this cute little jumper through Thanksgiving. I wonder if there is any orange Christmas fabric anywhere? Don't tell me if you find it. There are way too many projects on the cutting table as it is.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...