I hope that everyone has a wonderful, safe holiday this weekend. Enjoy time with your families and friends and if you are getting away, remember to enjoy the little moments. If you are staying home and taking a sewing vacation, I wish you much quality sewing time.
Happy Sewing!
This has been a very unusual, hectic, and busy week. My husband was in Denver on a business trip all last week, and he took off this week so that he could have some “down” time and we could do a vacation of sorts. However, I think the “sewing gods” got together with life and made other plans for us. 
Of course, this means there has been absolutely no sewing time for me this week at all…….
In spite of not being able to sew this week, I did get a nice surprise in my mailbox yesterday. My current issue of Sew News magazine (www.sewnews.com ) came in and I’ve enjoyed looking through it. As much as I enjoy my Sew News magazine, I’d really rather be sewing. But, some of the extra activities that happened this week could be a very good thing for our family, so I won’t complain too much. 
Happy Sewing!
I am beginning to believe that my dog Angel knows what the word “sewing” means and I honestly think she can spell “sew”! Every time I even think about sewing, she gets restless and decides to misbehave, which puts an end to my sewing session. Yesterday afternoon, Angel had been good for a few minutes, so I decided to go upstairs and work on the dress I’m making. I got the neckline clipped and the collar partially pinned on before Angel woke up and that was the end of sewing time. One of these days, I’ll get to sew again…
In the meantime, we’ll review some quick easy sewing projects that are also good beginner sewing projects. One thing that I especially enjoy making is pillowcases. Pillowcases can be made with any type of fabric, although I like to use 100% cotton or cotton flannel. When I sew pillowcases, I never use a pattern, I use one yard of fabric, fold it lengthwise, and sew the bottom and side seam. I usually don’t worry about seam allowances either; I Just serge the seams, which makes the sewing quick and easy. I serge finish the top edge of the pillowcase, then I measure down 4 inches and hem the pillowcase on the sewing machine.
Sewing pillowcases can be sew much fun and you can use lots of different fabrics to create a different look. Children’s prints are fun for the youngsters; a tone on tone print with some embellishment might be nice for a lady’s room, or some flannel prints that make you smile when you lay your head on the pillow on a cold winter’s night. Pillowcases are just lots of fun to sew!
Pillowcase sewing instructions and pictures: www.sewseamless.com/Page41.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page42.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page43.html , and www.sewseamless.com/Page44.html
Happy Sewing!
Ok, I’m stepping down from the sewing box today. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to sew in almost two weeks. 
I’m not sure if the sewing gods have decided that I should be busy with other things, or if Angel has decided that, or if maybe the sewing gods and my dog Angel are in cahoots……. Either way, I have been very frustrated at my lack of quality sewing time lately.
I’m still working in sewing the little girl’s dress made out of the blue daisy print, but don’t haven’t made any progress since the last time I posted about that particular sewing project. If I ever get this dress finished, I have some fabric to make a cute boy’s camp shirt and of course, I’ll share that progress here……if I ever get to sew again, that is.
I have been doing some volunteer sewing for Odyssey Healthcare (www.odsyhealth.com ), a hospice in Gulfport, Mississippi, and my goal is to finish a couple of pillows this week, and hopefully, get those things sent off to Mississippi. I’ve made several pillows (www.sewseamless.com/Page22.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page23.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page24.html ), several neck pillows (www.sewseamless.com/Page52.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page53.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page54.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page55.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page56.html ), a pillowcase (www.sewseamless.com/Page41.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page42.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page43.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page44.html , and some tissue holders.
All of these projects were fun and easy, quick sewing projects. The added benefit is that when I get them sent off to Mississippi, they will be helping someone else.
Happy Sewing!
You’ve heard the term “up on a soap box”, right? I’m going to stand on a sewing box instead, being careful not to break it of course.
In trying to keep Angel occupied and out of trouble yesterday afternoon, we went on a short car ride. A song came on the radio, and I liked the words. It was a song that talked about taking the time to enjoy the simple things in life. The lyrics talk about taking time to breathe a deep breath of mountain air, calling elderly parents just to chat, spending time with a spouse, and pushing a little girl on a swing. In the song, it is also mentioned that you could break your neck trying to earn lots of money, but you can’t take that with you when you leave this world, so the song focuses on taking time for the important things in life.
I’ve heard that song before, but really hadn’t paid attention to it. This time, I listened and I liked what I heard. We have such a short time on this earth that I think it would be a shame to waste it rushing and hustling and bustling and forgetting to enjoy the sweet, simple times of life.
Some people may say that it’s hard to enjoy the sweet simple times of life when the economy is bad and people are struggling in many ways. While there is some truth to that, haven’t we kind of done this to ourselves in a way? As I pointed out in an earlier post, some years ago we had a similar problem with gasoline prices increasing, and one way that was addressed was to lower the freeway speed limit to 55 mph. During that process, we learned that it saved gas, and it also saved lives. Oh, yes, it took longer to get to the destination, but there was time to enjoy the scenery of the countryside and there was time to have a real conversation with our fellow passengers. Of course, somewhere along the way, we got in a hurry again and we got very impatient because we needed to move faster, so the speed limit was once again raised to 70 mph and higher, and the rush, hurry, and bustle began all over again. Yes, we can get to our destination faster, but it is now costing us even more money to do so. Shouldn’t we have learned the first time around?
I do some volunteer sewing for a hospice in Gulfport, Mississippi (www.odsyhealth.com ) and I’m sure if we had the opportunity to talk to the hospice patients, not one of them would say that they wish they had hurried or rushed through life more. I suspect that they would all say that they regretted not spending more time with their families and friends, or in some cases, they might say that they were glad that they took that time. There is another old song out there that has a line that states “tomorrow never comes”. For many hospice patients tomorrow never comes.
While we won’t all be hospice patients, we all will face the end of our lives someday and I suspect that not one single person will wish they had spent more time at the office, or worked more hours during the week to land that big account, or have a huge beautiful house. No, I suspect that every single one of us may have at least one regret about words that were left unsaid, or relationships that should have been mended and weren’t.
I’m not trying to be morbid, and of course, this is just my opinion, which I’m sure isn’t shared by the majority of people. However, I still think we should slow down, take time to smell the coffee and the roses , and learn to enjoy life more. Life can be tough, and it isn’t fair, but there are some beautiful moments in life if we’ll just pay attention. What is a more beautiful sound than newborn baby’s cry, or a grandchild’s sweet little voice telling you a story about their day? What is more beautiful than the face of a toddler proudly presenting his mommy a weed, thinking it’s a beautiful flower? Those are the moments that we need to slow down and pay attention to in life. We can learn from those toddlers. Have you ever watched a toddler as he or she explores the world? They find such pleasure in simple things–a blade of grass, a flower, the clouds in the sky, an airplane flying overhead. Each discovery can often bring squeals of delight from a toddler exploring the world around him. Somehow, when we grow up, we lose the ability to delight in the little things, and we start hurrying and rushing through life. Is it any wonder that so many of us are stressed, anxious, and depressed these days?
Ok, I’ll step down off of my sewing box for now. However, I still think we should all slow down and focus more on the truly important things in life because one day tomorrow may not come.
Once again, I’m straying away from talking about sewing, but that’s only a temporary condition. However, I’ve been thinking a lot about life and today’s world and how different things are today than they were back when I was a child. Somehow, I still think life was just simpler back then. We all seemed to see beauty in simple things and find pleasure in those same simple things of life. It seemed to me that people knew how to have genuine relationships where they truly knew each other. There didn’t seem to be this need to rush and hurry and bustle about so much. Maybe I’m romanticizing it, but it just seems that in many ways, life used to be simpler.
The simplicity of life is sometimes illustrated in shows like “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Leave It to Beaver”. I love watching old shows like this because there was always a moral lesson to be learned, but the shows were also entertaining and funny. The Andy Griffith Show was set in the early 60’s in a small town in North Carolina and I love the characters that lived in that little pretend town. Andy was the sheriff who didn’t carry a gun. Wouldn’t we all love to live in a place where the law enforcement didn’t feel the need to carry a gun?
Andy’s family also just seemed to take pleasure in such simple things. After a supper that was cooked by Aunt Bee (and I’m sure everything was home made, not something out of a box), they would often go sit out on the porch and just talk, eat home made ice cream, or Andy might play the guitar and sing. It seems that they didn’t need lots of whistles and bells and gadgets to entertain them. They had church socials and a community choir and a local band. The band was featured in one show that I think holds a great lesson for us in today’s world. Apparently, it had been quite some time since the town had held a community band concert on a Sunday evening and when this suggested, Andy and his buddies decided to get the band together and hold a concert. The costumes needed to be repaired and cleaned, and that job went to Aunt Bee and Clara Edwards. The band stand needed sprucing up so Barney and Gomer went to try to get the band stand ready, finding that it also needed much repair and cleaning. Andy got the band together to practice and that didn’t go very well. By the end of a very short few hours, nerves were frazzled, tempers flared, and everybody was angry with someone else. They got so busy with the details and the rushing around to accomplish a goal that they forgot to have fun. Isn’t that what we often do in today’s world?
We rush and rush and we’re always in a hurry to be somewhere, whether it’s a meeting at work, meeting a new client so we can land that big account, rushing to school activities, or even rushing around to try to get ready to go on vacation. I often think we forget to have fun in the process and just enjoy the small things in life. At the end of the day, what have we really accomplished? Have we really talked to our spouse at some point during the day, or have we simply grunted goodbye and hello as we come and go to and from our workplaces? Have we spent any time with our children, or have we just muttered an absent minded ”that’s nice, honey” when they have tried to show us a picture they have drawn?
Earlier in this post, I also mentioned the show “Leave It to Beaver”. This show was set in the late 50’s. Beaver got into trouble for things that today we might think was silly. However, back in those days, children were taught to respect their elders and to be polite and have manners. Also, children could go play outside in their towns and feel safe. In many neighborhoods, if a child did something wrong, one of the neighbors would call his/her parents and the child would be disciplined.
I’m sure that the two shows I’ve mentioned painted a picture of idyllic life that may not have truly existed in the real world. However, those shows also somewhat reflected the morals of the day. Women stayed home and ran the household while the men went out to work and provide for the family. Lots of families had clothes lines, which was where women often got to know each other. I can remember having a clothes line in our back yard and I think it was kind of fun to hang clothes out on the line. Nothing smells better than clothes dried outside. Of course, there were the hazards of a rain shower popping up or birds creating the need to wash the clothe again, but the clothes line was also a place where you could talk to a neighbor over the fence and get to know each other.
Once again, I think about the rush, rush, rush and many of us being connected to some kind of device–lap top computer, iPod, cell phones, and other electronic gadgets, and while these things are nice, I just think that in some ways, they have prevented us from experiencing the real beauty and simplicity around us. We’re in a hurry, so we get impatient with the driver ahead of us; we drive through the nearest fast food restaurant to get our supper; and we fall into bed at night totally exhausted and stressed out from all the rushing about we’ve done during the day. My question is: is it really worth it?
Personally, I prefer enjoying a beautiful sunset, a home made, healthy meal, just talking with a friend who truly knows me and understands me, or sipping a glass of iced tea or lemonade while sitting out on the back porch on a summer afternoon. Many people will tell you these days that they don’t have time for such foolishness as that, but I think they’re missing a whole lot of the simple pleasures of life.
I think that when Angel gives me time to sew, she makes up for it the next day! Yesterday exhausted both of us! She was active, busy, and misbehaved most of the day. However, she had a few tummy issues, so I suspect that might have been a lot of her problem. This morning we have been on a short car ride and a long walk so Angel is under the bed, resting up for my next doggy adventure! 
In the meantime, I can tell you a little more about sewing the sleeves of the dress I’m working on now. As I told you yesterday, I sewed the cuff facing to the interfaced cuff piece and then understitched (www.sewseamless.com/Page7.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page16.html ) the facing. Then I sewed the cuff to the bottom of the sleeve. Sewing the sleeve seam and cuff seam in one pass is quite easy–much easier than the way the pattern instructions suggested. I matched the seams and notches, pinned the cuff and sleeve seam together and then sewed the seam. After the seam was sewn, I pressed it open from the wrong side and also from the right side. In order to finish the bottom of the sleeve, I still need to fold the cuff facing to the inside and turn under the bottom about 5/8 of an inch or so in order to cover the seam and create a clean finish. I will then slip stitch the cuff facing “hem” and this will create a nice finish to the bottom of the sleeve.
Since I did actually have some time to sew earlier this week, I’m almost ready to sew the sleeves (www.sewseamless.com/Page8.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page17.html ) into the bodice. I decided to hand hem the cuff facing before I inserted the sleeves because it was easier to handle the sleeves before they were sewn into the dress.
It is taking me a lot longer to finish my sewing projects these days because I seem to have an Angel “helping” me quite a bit. I often think she knows how to spell the word “sew” or knows when I’m thinking about sewing because that is when she decides to become very active or misbehave. 
We’re going to have to work on that one.
Happy Sewing!
Yesterday I had a “first” of sorts. Angel was being quite entertained by a nice bone so I had plenty of time to sew, but I started feeling weird and had to stop! And yesterday was one of the few days that I actually had some quality time to sew, too! Sigh…..are the sewing gods just preventing me from sewing for some reason?
Even though I’ve had a challenge in finding time to sew lately, I have made some progress on the little girl’s dress I’m currently working on. This is the same pattern that I used for the previous dress, made out of the green watermelon print. For this dress, I’m using a blue daisy print and it’s quite cute. And since I’ve already sewn with this pattern before, there is much less frustration….so far.
I have sewn the yokes to the front and back of the dress, and yesterday I sewed the shoulder seams and side seams and pressed those open. I have also completed the sleeves. This time I knew to disregard the sewing pattern instructions and do things my own way, which is much easier than what the pattern suggests. These are gathered sleeves with a cuff, so I gathered the sleeve cap and the bottom of the sleeve and then set that aside. Next, I sewed the cuff facing to the interfaced cuff piece. And because I wanted to prevent the cuff facing from rolling to the outside when the garment is worn, I understitched (www.sewseamless.com/Page7.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page16.html ) the cuff facing. This is much easier understitching because everything is straight.
The next step after understitching the cuff was to sew the cuff to the bottom of the sleeve. This is much easier with the sleeve flat, rather than already having the sleeve seams sewn.
Once the cuff was sewn to the bottom of the sleeve, I sewed the sleeve seam and cuff seam as one. I’ll show you that progress in my next post.
Although the title of this post is about sewing with blue daisies, I’m sure that you noticed that I’m not actually sewing with blue daisies. I like daisies–the kind on fabric and the real ones, too, but I’m not sure I could actually sew with the real daisies.
Happy Sewing!
Every night in the news, we hear about the high price of gasoline to fuel our cars, the struggling economy, and the collapse of the housing market. While this is considered bad news, I actually think that there might some good that can come from this.
As you know, I am constantly talking about taking the time to enjoy the journey, slowing down and enjoying the simple things in life, and taking the time to truly get to know other people. Because many people want to save money on gas, they may not be taking “real” vacations this year; instead, they may be staying home with the family and actually spend time together. A “vacation” doesn’t necessarily have to mean going to some exotic or far off place. I think that a wonderful vacation would be to put up a small wading pool in the back yard for the kids, have a picnic lunch, and spend time with the family, doing something different and special for a few hours, one day, or a week. There is a commercial on tv now where the dad declares the day “beach day” in his house and what I’ve described above is what is depicted in the commercial. That could be a very memorable vacation.
Some people are also opting for slowing down their speed when driving, especially on the freeway. I think this is wonderful! Years ago, when we had similar issues with gas prices, the speed limit was lowered and we saved gas and we also saved lives. For some reason, we didn’t learn and everybody wanted to get there faster and rush and hurry, so the speed limits were once again raised. I’ve always wondered why we didn’t learn that this worked the first time around. Personally, I think that a speed limit of 55mph on the freeway is great! Yes, it takes a little longer to get to the destination, but taking longer to “get there” allows more time to enjoy the scenery of the countryside and perhaps even allows for more meaningful conversation with the family who may be traveling with you in the car.
Sew—bad news may not always be bad news. There can be some good that could come out of this whole “mess”. Taking time to enjoy the journey while getting to your destination couldn’t be all bad. Getting to know your spouses, children, elderly parents, and perhaps making a new true friend or two also couldn’t be all bad. In fact, this might result in happier healthier people, and that might be a very good thing for our world.
Now, you know I couldn’t end this post of my random thoughts and opinions without mentioning sewing, right?!
Taking time to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life includes hobbies like sewing, among others. Most needle craft arts such as sewing, quilting, knitting, and crocheting take time. The garment, blanket or quilt isn’t finished in a few minutes; it takes time. And that time is quite enjoyable and allows for some enjoyable moments. The feeling of accomplishment when a garment, quilt, or blanket is finished is a great feeling. These types of crafts tend to force those who enjoy these hobbies to slow down from the rush and hustle and bustle of the day, and I think that is a great thing.
Sew—for today, when you hear the “bad news” on tv, think about how you might turn that bad news into something good in your own life. Take time to slow down, get to know people, enjoy a beautiful sunset with a loved one, have a picnic in the back yard, or sew a beautiful garment or quilt, and learn that the quiet, sweet, enjoyable moments of life are to be cherished and can’t be rushed.
Happy Sewing!
I love to sew, and I love to sew during all seasons of the year. However, sewing also means pressing, which means turning on the steam iron and during the hot, humid days of summer, sometimes that part of sewing isn’t sew pleasant. I sew anyway. Of course, sometimes I prefer to sew quick, easy projects during the summer months because that way, I can finish a sewing project quickly and get back into the cooler part of the house.
One quick and easy project to sew is a neck pillow. I have found that many older people seem to enjoy using these neck pillows. Since the 4th of July is just around the corner, it might be fun to sew some neck pillows with patriotic fabrics.
To me, these neck pillow patterns sort of look like the letter “C”. Creating your own neck pillow pattern is really very easy and there are two ways to place the pattern on the fabric. One way is to place the pattern on the fold of the fabric and cut it out (shown in the top picture above) and the other way, which is probably a little less time consuming is to place the pattern on the fabric just like you see in the bottom picture above. Either way, you will have two neck pillow pattern pieces.
After pressing these two pieces well, it’s simply a matter of pinning them together, right sides together and sewing around, making sure to leave a space for turning to the right side. Because some of the curved seams are outside curves, I also trim the outside curves with pinking shears because outside curved seams need to be notched, and then clip to but not through the stitching line. The inside curved seam is just clipped to the stitching line.
Sewing neck pillows can be fun, quick, and easy and is a great way to use up fabric scraps or some of the fabric stash. Neck pillows might be great items to use as gifts and also to donate to charitable organizations.
Detailed instructions, along with pictures, for sewing neck pillows: www.sewseamless.com/Page52.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page53.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page54.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page55.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page56.html
It’s also fun to sew round and square pillows, and you can also make patterns for your own round or square pillows. Use some fun fabrics and you’ll have some great pillows to spruce up your own home decor or to use as gifts.
Round pillows: www.sewseamless.com/Page22.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page23.html
Square pillows: www.sewseamless.com/Page24.html
Blankets are also easy to sew and these reversible blankets make great baby gifts.
How to sew reversible blankets: www.sewseamless.com/Page46.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page47.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page48.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page49.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page50.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page51.html
Pillowcases are also easy and fun to sew. These can be sewn out of cotton fabric or flannel for the winter. Use fun print fabrics for these and it can brighten up someone’s day.
How to sew pillowcases: www.sewseamless.com/Page41.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page42.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page43.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page44.html
Happy Sewing!