A different sort of towels...

 A while back Fabric-Store.com had a sale on their linen waffle fabric.  It's a very interesting thing...fairly stiff when it arrives, it shrinks variably and waffles up when washed.  They have a tutorial on their blog for cutting two bath towels one hand towel and two washcloths from three yards of the fabric; I ordered an extra yard to get a total of two hand towels and 4 washcloths...which is what I always get when I buy towel sets.

I added an extra step after cutting...I serged all the raw edges.  The fabric is sort of loosely woven and regular towels sometimes fray out so, an excess of caution prevailed.

I used templates cut from manila folders to press the hems up...slightly narrower than recommended

 (1/2" turned twice instead of 3/4")

At this stage the fabric is really nice to press.

The instructions are just to fold one side over the other and stitch them down, but I like mitered corners so the first two washcloths I mitered the corners.

Now, I don't like MAKING mitered corners, I like LOOKING AT Mitered corners, lol.  They are fiddly and tedious to do...

But after grinding through four, I suddenly realized that those threads were gonna shrink when washed and I got worried that I'd trimmed them out too much.

But I didn't want bulky corners...what to do...

Finally I decided to trim a bit out, then fold the hems over each other like the instructions.

But I box stitched the corners to make sure to hold everything down well.

 

Once everything was done, I washed the towels to waffle them up.  Here's the before the wash and after the wash...

Hand towels:

 

And the bath towels:

The towels are still really big, compared to my Lands' End towels.  I am actually standing on the hearth, lol. But...it needs the length.  When I used them, my subconscious reaction was 'Ew!  Cheap thin towels!'   And I had to remind myself that they weren't thin, they were different.   So the extra length kinda makes up for the lack of heft. They ARE really absorbent.  And the miters seemed to have held up fine...after one washing, anyway.  But the box stitched corners are way faster to do and there's no chance it will come undone.

So...it was an interesting experiment.  I've read that the towels get softer over time.  I may do a follow up report after six months or so to let you know if the opinion changes, lol.

I am going to label this as Home Dec, which is isn't, technically, but that's the best label I've got, lol.

Santa Claus is coming tonight....

 ...at our house, anyway.

We have always done Christmas under our tree at an odd time; when the kids were growing up, it was always New Year's Day.  We were typically at grandparents' on Christmas Day itself, so we just made use of the whole 12 days of Christmas thing and had our traditional Christmas on January 1.  

I thought that would be a good preparation for the inevitable day when we had kids who needed to visit inlaws on Dec. 25; we could do our celebrating later on and it wouldn't feel like we were changing tradition.  Much, anyway.  Now, with kids who live out of state and have to be back to work on January 2, New Year's Day doesn't work for celebrating anymore...they need travel time.  But, no matter, we have almost a whole week to work with; this year we are gathering on the 28th.

And we needed three new stockings this year...two weddings and a new baby meant I needed to get crafting again. I have posted before about making stockings to match the original set we got in 1985, but this year was different because one of the stockings had NOTHING for me to trace/ copy...I was on my own.

And I realized I don't have a moniker for the newest grandson, the Little Prince's Little Brother.  I'm going to have to puzzle on that one for a bit; he's a corker of a kid at 10 months already.  But, meantime, his was the easiest since it was just another Teddy Bear stocking...and I'd already made two of those. 

I was a bit perplexed over the Dancer's stocking...she's The Artist's new wife...but when I took a really good look at his stocking I realized it wasn't going to be any harder to replicate than the teddy bears.  I just tweaked it a little...giving her horse blonde mane and tail and batty eyelashes, lol.

 But the Actor's stocking was the Jolly Old Elf himself...so his Little Redheaded Girl needed a legit Mrs. Claus on her stocking and I was stumped.

I took an applique pattern I'd used before to make stockings for my inlaws and also for My Sweet Babboo and me...Snowman/Snowlady...and adapted the Snowlady pattern but I wasn't happy with it.  I did the other two first while I stewed about Mrs Claus.  Last week, as I was finishing up the blonde rocking horse, The Princess was over looking at my handwork and I lamented to her about my lack of inspiration for the last one.  So she did what I should have done...hit up Pinterest and found a felt applique (for sale, of course, not a pattern).  It was quite different from my snowlady adaptation and I wasn't sure I was up to it, but she sent me the link to the picture just the same.

When I fnally couldn't put it off any longer, I pulled up the pinterest picture and decided it was worth a shot.

I think it turned out looking better than the modified snow lady would have...but it's still far from perfect.  I had problems with the sewing order...the arms  are UNDER the dress bodice but ON TOP OF the apron.  And, yes, I messed it up and had to do a plan B but if I don't tell you what I did you probably can't tell, lol.

It'll do.  If they have any kids, I will find a pattern for applique elves, lol.

So, here are the three stockings I made, pretty much since the first of the month, lol.  Nothing like waiting till the last minute...again...

And I kept the stockings out of storage last year so I could work on them before the last minute...oy, the best laid plans...Then, I had a minor accident with the Actor's stocking and an uncapped marker...sigh.  I managed to get the spot, which is fortunately on the back side, down to a rather large shadowy spot, but I'm not posting that, lol.

As a note, this year I actually noticed a manufacturer's tag in the stockings.  Facepalm; I hadn't paid any attention to it at all in the past.  They were made by Russ; I did a quick google search and actually found Ebay listings for the three original stockings ...Used Santa and Teddy Bears, selling for about $8 each, and New Rocking Horses (3 of those!). Selling for about $16 each.  So they are not particularly valuable collector's items, lol.

The Flute Player chuckled that I had no idea what I was getting myself into when we got those first three stockings...

ETA...and here's a picture of the whole lot of them with their stockings.  Prince Charming's is just barely visible behind the Princess....

Left to right: The Little Redhaired Girl (who is married to) The Actor: The Flute Player and her hubby The Jokester; The Artist and his wife The Dancer; The Little Prince, Prince Charming, The Princess and ...The Little Prince's Little Brother, who shall have a nickname before long....

A Wee bit of overdue Christmas Sewing...

 Like, you know, a year overdue.

You will remember that The Flute Player got married this summer.  Which doesn't seem to have much to do with Christmas, but her hubby (henceforth called The Jokester, because he is freaking hilarious) being added to the family and all means that he needed a Christmas Stocking.

And, wow,  went to link last year's post about Christmas stockings and discovered I never wrote it.  So this is an overdue post about overdue stockings.  Rewind to a year ago....

So, last year,  we added Grandson number 1 (Guess I'm going to refer to him as The Little Prince) to the family, and of course, he needed a stocking.  I'd already made a stocking for his dad, Prince Charming, back when he joined the family, so I knew what I needed to do...just make the same little applique'd teddy bear in a different color way.    

And, I decided I'd make a stocking for The Flute Player's betrothed as well, and wrap it up and give it to him as a Christmas present.  The Flute Player's stocking was the first one I created, based on the three stockings that her siblings had that we'd purchased in a Christmas pop up shop just before her oldest sibling was born.  Back then, the three stockings were for the Princess, My Sweet Babboo, and me, but we had kinda repurposed mine and my hubby's for the other two kids as they came along.  

 (The Originals, purchased at the pop up shop in 1985) - 

But we had nothing for the Flute Player the year she arrived,  and there was no going back to the shop that popped up eleven years earlier so I used a design from an applique' pattern book I had and made her a little girl mouse stocking:

 

But now, almost a quarter of a century later,  I needed to make some more.  I had a box of Christmas related fabric somewhere but I couldn't find it...so I snagged some other green and red and dug through some scraps and made up another teddy bear applique'd red stocking and the partner boy mouse applique on green.

However...I discovered when I actually pulled the stored stockings out...I'd used the wrong stocking pattern.  I had made an oversized one for My Sweet Babboo's parents stockings years ago and that, apparently, was the one I used for the new ones.  About 20% bigger than the rest.

No problem...I'll just trace off a new pattern from an older stocking and recut therm, right?

The Little Prince's stocking came out ok...even though the applique looked a little smaller, that really wasn't a problem.

The Jokester's mouse was a wee bit off center on the oversized stocking; I thought I could finagle it when I recut it and get it better centered.

Only somehow I goofed and it ended up MORE off centered.

 

Devastation.  I did such a good job embroidering that little guy; I was heartsick.  I showed it to The Flute Player, who did her best to tell me, in a nice way, that it wouldn't work.  But I knew it anyway.  For most guys...yeah, they wouldn't even notice.  But The Jokester is a graphic artist/ animator.  He would notice.  And it would bug him.

So I rolled it up and put it away to deal with later because I was out of time and we didn't really NEED it last year.

But I didn't want to deal with it and all I got done over then next 11ish months was to unpick the seam joining the red cuff to the green body. But I did find the missing box of Christmas fabric...including the green canvas that the Flute Player's stocking had been cut from.  

I kinda thought I'd just cut the little mouse guy out and then applique the whole little thing onto the green canvas replacement.  But I put it off and put it off and suddenly it was Dec 18th and I HAD TO FACE IT.

And the green on the off-center stocking was a terrible clash with the green canvas that I was going to make the replacement out of.

So I took a deep breath, dug out the applique' pattern book, and made a whole new guy mousie.

Who isn't as good as the off-centered one but ...at least he's not unbalanced, either, lol.

And they do look kinda cute together.

 Not sure what I'm going to do with the off-center mouse...but I will think of something.

A Rather Inauspicious Start to 2018

Sometimes, the urge to MAKE SOMETHING just gets irresistible...

Even in the midst of the crazy...hubby out of town, the church, which is also my place of employment, moving into a new facility that's still in the midst of renovation...packing, moving, unpacking, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning...lol.

Last year, I bought about 4 pieces of fabric to make tablecloths.  I love using upholstery cottons; they're usually treated w/ a stain resistant finish and they're drapey and washable...what's not to love?

Oh, yeah.  They're usually only about 52" wide...and my round table on the porch is about 55" around.

But I came up with a plan.   

1. Buy extra length.
2. Straighten one edge; measure off 62" and pull a thread and cut.
3.  Split the remnant in half lengthwise
4.  Remove all selvedges
5. Match the cut pieces to the center of the long piece; sew the seam and then serge it.
6.  Fold carefully into quarters
7.  Mark an arc 31" from the fold point
8.  Cut on the marked arc to get a circle
9. Use the serger to roll the edge.
10.  Fray check the tail and trim after dry.

Simple, no?  It really doesn't take long.

And the Sewing Urge hit, so I thought I'd sew up one of the pieces of tablecloth fabric.

But I had a problem with this particular piece of fabric....

The first time I made a circle table cloth, I didn't pay any attention to the placement of the motifs on the center line.  As a result, the large motif is slightly off center vertically.  It's not terribly wrong, but it bugs me.  So this time, I picked out the prominent motif and measured out of the center 31" on both sides.

Unfortunately, I had a fairly sizeable chunk on the end that I would otherwise have just evened up to square.  Which meant that, after I matched up the long end to the sides and folded it into quarters, the extension quit about an inch too soon.

Sigh.  I guess I'll just have a slightly short drop on the cloth.  I didn't want the off-center motif thing going on again.

So I folded it up into quarters, with the shortest side up, and made the arc 30" instead of 31" from the center.

And it sat there for about a week before I could get to it again.

When I had a chance, I trotted upstairs and cut along the marked arc.
Gave the remnant a tug but it didn't seem to move right.  Oh, the rotary cutter didn't get all the way through the layers.  Not unusual, just give it a quick little slice.

But that slice seemed awfully thick.  Did it really not go all the way through?

No! Gasp!  I had looked at the thing cockeyed and for some reason CUT UP THE PIECED SEAM .

I'm still not sure what crossed my wires, but I had a 6" gash on either side.

I don't often cry when sewing, but I confess to shedding a few tears at that point.  I really, really liked the fabric.

But, it's either fix it or consign it to tote bags, so I scooped up the circle and went to the sewing machine, where I zig-zagged those gashes shut.  They're on the drop...they won't be noticed...right?

Someone's gotta look close to see it.  One is right on the seamline, the other is just off a bit.

But, whilst suturing the gashes, I noticed that I DIDN'T have the shortest side of the matched pieces up.  There was a healthy divot missing off of one end of the arc.

No!!!

What to do, what to do...

Y'all, I unpicked the seam a bit, whacked a square of the remnant (it was a trick to get my brain around matching that on two sides) and pieced it in.

It's not invisible, but it's not very noticeable, and, given the patching already done, perfectly serviceable.

In hind sight, it probably would have worked better, matching wise, to have put one of the smaller motifs in the center.  It would have at least still been balanced.  But...it is what it is, and it'll do.

And I just realized I'd knocked it about an inch off center before I took that last pic.  Oh, well.  You get the idea.

But, given how hard I tried to ruin that, lol, I'm kind of skeered to tackle anything else until I've gotten my calm back, lol.

Last project of 2017

Back in, oh,  September I managed to find some kind of Christmassy-themed upholstery cotton and ordered 3 yards for a tablecloth for the round table in the sunroom.  Because, you know, I wanted a bit of Christmas cheer to go with the ancient kitschy aluminum tree with the color wheel.

But nobody makes cotton upholstery fabric in greater than about 54" widths, and trial-and-error has proven that a 62" diameter circle works best for the tablecloth.  So piecing is in order.

Sometimes I can get an invisible line...sometimes not so much.  This time is not so much, but the little trees (those are green trees with red trunks.  Actually they are lime green trees with fuschia trunks, but at a glance it's red and green) are kinda eye-swirling anyway so I don't think it's going to be too noticeable.  Green wooly nylon serger rolled edge.  The trickiest part is the piecing and the cutting.

I've got half a yard...ish...left over.  Eventually I'll make a little totebag out of it.

While I had the serger set up for a rolled edge, I decided I'd tackle another quick project.  Last year, I found a 70" red jacquard tablecloth and tried to make it work.  But it was so long it drug on the chairs and got in the way and...anyway, I decided to cut it down to a 62" circle and serge it up.

I was really surprised when I cut it out; I folded it on the lengthwise grain (easy to see due to the jacquard pattern), then folded again on the crosswise and the hem was way uneven going around...as much as 3" off in one spot.  Cheap construction, I thought.  I marked the arc and cut the circle down, changed the thread in the serger and took off.

I checked the progress after about 6" and found that the weave on the fabric was so loose that the rolled edge just pulled off.  Oy.

So I put my wide rolled edge foot on the sewing machine and began to sssslllooowwwllly work my way around it.  I didn't do too badly until I hit the first part of the circle in which I was sewing against the grain. Oy oy and double oy.  The fabric just opened up.  The edge frayed like crazy and the hem suddenly got really ugly really fast.  I stopped and ripped and started again and stopped and ripped and got frustrated and just kind of gritted my teeth around to the cross grain bit, which worked better.   Went pretty good again until I got to the opposite side where I was going against the grain again and...after starting and stopping a couple of more times, I pulled the whole side off and zig-zagged the edge, on the off side so that I was sewing with the grain, to stabilize it.  Then I went back and ran that quarter through the rolled edge foot again.  Still not great but  much better.  When I looked at the first rough quarter...it was bad.  So I ripped that out, trimmed the crazy thread tails and zig-zagged it on the right side and then ran that side back through the rolled edge.

Oh yeah.  On that first side I forgot to switch back to a straight stitch so I actually zig-zagged the rolled edge.  Which laid so much nicer than it did the first time that I also zig-zagged the second side when I re-did it.  So two alternate quarters are straight-stitched on the hem and the other two are zig-zagged but I'm OK WITH THAT.  At least all the edges are secure.  If anyone looks close enough at the hem to see the inconsistency...I'll think they're really weird...lol.

And when I folded it up to put it away, I saw that the edges were not at all even.  I have real empathy for the poor stitchers that had to sew it in the beginning.  It was ghastly.  But I have a dressy-festive table cloth to put on the round table if I want to.

And if I'm not at church or a party tomorrow, I'm going to be cooking, so...no more sewing this year.

Gonna do some thinking...hard ...about sewing priorities for 2018.  There may be a paradigm shift coming...

A cover for the round table...

One of the furnishings I wanted to put on the newly remodeled porch was a round patio table...because I figured that would be an inexpensive table...with a glass or metal top, and a tablecloth, to hide the fact that it was a patio table.

We found a suitable table at Costco...not perfect, because it had legs on the perimeter instead of a pedestal/ legs in the center...but for the price, it will do quite nicely until I find exactly what I wanted. 

My standard tablecloth fabric is cotton upholstery fabric...it's 54 ish inches wide, and it's treated to be stain repellent.

I looked and looked and found ONE fabric that looked suitable on fabricdotcom's website.

I was delighted when it came in...the colors in it are dead perfect for the sunroom.

But, the table is 50" in diameter.  1" waste on each side for the selvedge meant my fabric was only about 52" wide. 

I didn't want a long drop...I hate it when the tablecloth gets tangled up in my knees and gets pulled askew...but 1" on either side just wasn't going to be enough.

So I pieced the  sides, cut a 60" diameter circle and serged the edges.

The pieced seam looks like a crease in this photo...can you find it?  :-) 

I have the pattern well balanced on the cross grain, but when I put it on I realized it really was not possible to balance it well on the lengthwise grain.. it's asymmetric and directional, which I didn't perceive until I put it on the table.

But the colors are so perfect I'm not gong to let that bother me.  It works.

Fabric, Cushions and a Staple Gun...

...and a willing Sweet Baboo to do the manhandling stuff...

I've not been able to get to the sewing machine due to the misplaced stuff, but I hit a magical moment about a week ago.

Amid all the dusting and cleaning of places where sheetrock dust had accumulated, My Sweet Babboo happened to look closely at the nearly 20 year old dinette chairs.

'Those are gross.' he stated.

Weellll....I had just so happened to have picked up a couple of upholstery flat folds and some foam cushions back when Hancock's had a sale last summer.  Just for the very purpose of replacing the seat cushions and covers.

We started with the bench.  Which was kinda not so smart, as it was the most complicated one...cutout corners and pieced foam cushion (from the leftovers of the slab used for the porch swing cushion).  But...we did have the hardest one out of the way first.  We worked on the other 4 chairs for the set over the next few days...one at a time.

 In all honesty, these are pretty cheap chairs; we got the set at a local flea market and the soft wood has picked up more than its share of dings and scratches; one or two have had to be repaired.

But, with materials on sale and our own labor, it's good enough to get us a little farther down the road. ;-)

And, because I just picked up two lengths of the flatfold, we decided there was enough leftover to do another desperately needed recover:  our almost 35 year old card table set.  Some of the chairs have been 'repaired' with duck tape...that was the case for the one we recovered first.  There are three more to go and...as luck would have it...I got a Hancock's coupon in my email Monday  that was only good for 2 days, so I managed to get the extra foam cushions AND a chunk of vinyl to recover the table as well, on sale and with the coupon.

But we decided to pack up the recover tools until after Thursday...got plenty to do between now and then to get somewhat moved back into some semblance of order.  It's going...slowly...but it's going.

A Little Photo Catching Up...

 A quick catch - up post.... we took Choir Wardrobe photos last week and this week, but I'm not going into great detail on them; last week, the only thing I wore that had passed through the sewing machines was the silk/rayon burnout scarf.  Today I made the tunic dress and the leggings...the dress last year and the leggings, oh, 20 years ago?  Maybe?

But the renovation work is finally done.  We still have to move the furniture back in...but that's going to involve a LOT of rearranging in other parts of the house, so I'm not sure how long it will take.

If you compare those in-front-of-the-fireplace photos to earlier ones, you'll see the difference between the yucky pink carpet and our new tile hearth apron.  It looks so much classier.:-)

A couple of composite photos to just share the transformation; each of them show the appearance of the room when we bought the house in the upper left, and the end result in the lower right.

First, the den, which we didn't plan to renovate at this time, just because we didn't put two and two together and realize that, duh, we were knocking the wall out...we need to redo both rooms!









 Then the sunroom, which has been in transition for about 4 1/2 years.  I was nearly despairing of ever seeing it done...

Because I was impatient, the 'finish' photo isn't quite; we still needed lights and the ceiling fans.

So, here are a couple of photos showing the lights and the ceiling fans, which My Sweet Babboo installed yesterday.

So...now begins the frenzy to get the furniture redistributed before Thanksgiving...



And, as I likely won't get back to the blog for anything significant for at least a week, Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow 'Mericans; I hope you get to spend time with family and friends and that you have much to be thankful for!

I know I do. :-)

Just A-Swingin'....

 Cushion #1 finished.  I probably should've made it a little wider so that it would hang over the front a bit; it scoots back when anyone sits down.  But that's a minor issue.  I'm actually pretty pleased with it and it makes the swing MUCH more comfortable.

Credit where credit is due; I found this tutorial most helpful.  Only I put the zipper along the long back edge instead of on one end...two zippers, actually, that meet in the middle.  Worked great.

Next up:  cushions for the chairs 'round that table...

New Territory

No choir post this weekend...we were out of town, so no choir. ;-)

But the time has come for me to face up to some sewing that NEEDS doing but that I have not been enthusiastic about.

Home dec stuff.

I've been accumulating the various required goods and such from Hancock's during sales in the past year or so, and it's all big and bulky and needing to be out of the way.  So, with plenty of items to wear for the next couple of months...it's time to face the giant and tackle my fears of wonky seams, lumpy corners and ill fitting covers.

The first item up is a cushion for our porch swing.  I got a foam slab from Hancock's...on sale, and with an additional small discount as the foam was damaged on one end.  But it was well oversized so the damaged area is easily avoided.

I pulled out a utility knife and hacked it down to the correct size.  It wasn't beautifully even...I had to cut each side 3-4 times, so it's a little jagged...but it'll do.  I made a slipcover out of an old sheet so that I can slide the cushion in the cover once I get it made.

I got some outdoor fabric from Hancock's last year; I probably have way more than I need but I'm allowing for goofs and re-dos. ;-).  I got two 22" zippers, which I will tack together so that they zip from the center to the edges, and install that whole assembly on the back side.  I need to get some bias tape to use for ties, so that I can secure the cushion to the swing; I thought I could use the same fabric but the upholstery fabric is really stiff so it's not going to make nice ties.

I've also got some square pillows to cover for the chairs we have around a table on the porch.  Mostly because I'm a shrimp and without a cushion on the chair it feels like I'm a little kid pulling up to the table.  I'll use the same fabric, and I'll make envelope-style covers, for which there conveniently are instructions in the current issue of Sew News. 

I also have foam slabs and some upholstery hopsack style fabric to replace our dinette chair cushions.  The table and chairs was a flea market purchase...new, not used...back in 1996 and, well, it wasn't terribly high quality furniture.  The cushions have gone flat and the fabric just looks tired and faded.  I don't think there's going to be much sewing involved with those...just cutting the foam to size and then wrapping fabric around the foam-and-chair-seat and fastening it down with a staple gun and screws.

So it should spruce/comfort things up considerably when I finish it, but I have to admit this is not my preferred kind of sewing.  So I'm gritting my teeth and, with the exception of the fabric I have en route from a sale-I-couldn't-resist-because-I've-been-wanting-that-fabric-for-ages, I'm not going to let myself get anything new until it's done.

I find that is usually sufficient motivation to stay on a long term tedious task...

Almost there...

I am within spitting distance of having all the non-wardrobe sewing caught up...do you suppose I might actually get to spend a little of the holiday weekend doing a little personal sewing?  Maybe?

Finished...all the costume pieces I have had assigned to me so far.  There may be a few more before the kids go to camp...after all, camp is pretty much the epic high point of the summer theme...but at the moment, I'm done.

Finished...a little sewing room organization project that's been languishing for about 2 years.  I had some remnants from sewing a table cloth, and I got the brilliant idea of making a long skinny sack with a pocket on it to store my rulers.  Ignoring the still out-of-place-due-to-home-renovations clutter around my little cart, and you can see the finished product:

The cording is a remnant piece, and is probably just a little too long; the bottom of the bag is on the floor, but it is sufficient for the task of keeping my rulers handy.  I didn't make a pattern, and I didn't even really make a plan...just made it up as I went.  But those pieces have been cut to size and floating around my sewing room for a LONG time while my rulers wandered about on their own.  So glad to have that finally put together and put to use!

The other long-languishing project is a salvage job on a mattress pad.

I've talked before about the difficulties of finding good bed linens for our waterbed; I've made the last 4 or 5 sets of sheets, just because I can't find them ANYWHERE.  The mattress pad is a similar story.

We bought a pad when we bought the bed back in 1980; after a number of years it began to get thin so we replaced it.  Now, the original pad was just a flat piece of quilting with strips across the corners; you lay the pad on the mattress, reach between the pad and the corner strips and grab the corner of the mattress, pull it through, then flip the strip under the corner.  Easy and anchored.  But the new pad that we bought was not made that way.  No, the head and foot edges were elasticized, and there was a tricot knit side piece, all of which was supposed to be wrapped around the mattress.  It wasn't easy, it wasn't secure, and after a ridiculously short amount of time the tricot side panels began to split.  So we went back to using the nearly worn out older one.  But, I had the brilliant idea of using the old pad as a pattern and cutting the new pad to size, using the remnants for strips and...ta da...new pad that actually worked.

But, well, I never really got motivated to do it.  Until I laundered the old pad for the last time and the worn spots just became large gappy holes.  So.  Last week, I pulled out the newer, useless pad, cut off the tricot, unpicked all the elastic, and laid it out under the old, shredded pad and did some whacking.

It was fortunate that the newer version was meant to wrap around the mattress somewhat; I had plenty left over for those corner anchor pieces that you can see on the old pad on top.  I have now serged all around the cut-down pad and corner strips and sewn the corner strips on.  All that remains is some bias tape binding just to make sure it's not going to fall apart on me too soon.  Not sure what I'll do if this one shreds...but, in all honesty, at this point it ought to do us until we decide that things like acid reflux will have made the waterbed a thing of the past...

But tonight, I hemmed a dress for a friend to wear in, um, let's just say a special event coming up very soon.  My only request for compensation will be that she doesn't tell ANYONE who hemmed her dress.

So...I'm breathing just a bit easier now that I'm nearly to the end of this tunnel...trying to decide what I'm going to sew next.  Choir clothes, I'm sure...I got no Tangerine for next month... ;-)

A Stocking for Prince Charming

Twenty-six years ago, My Sweet Baboo and my large pregnant self made the trip to family in  Northern Indiana for a baby shower to welcome our soon-to-arrive firstborn.  Driving 8 hours at 36 weeks meant that we stopped at every mall along I - 65 so I could walk around a bit.

At one (on the north side of Nashville near Goodlettesville...can't remember the name off hand), there was a shop with cool appliqued stockings.  We decided we'd get some, since we weren't going to go to our parents' for Christmas that year (the baby was due Jan 3).  I selected a stocking w/ Santa, MSB picked a rocking horse and, even though we didn't expect the baby before Christmas, we picked one for him/her anyway.

Back in the day, routine ultrasounds were not done and we did not know the gender of the imminent arrival, so we got a gender-neutral teddy bear.

Of course, the Princess showed up two weeks early, so we were glad to have a stocking for her.  However, we neglected to imagine having MORE kids at that point, as other kids came along we adults relinquished our stockings to them...The Artist got the rocking horse, and The Actor got my Santa stocking.

At some point, I made a pattern from  the stockings and made Mr and Mrs Snowmen stockings for My Sweet Baboo and me , and, when The Flute Player came along, I made a stocking for her with a little girl mouse on the front.

We were all set at that point.

Until this year, when we added a son-in-law to the mix.  I thought I would just buy a stocking somewhat similar to ours, but I couldn't find anything that didn't look...tacky.

Then I found out that the Princess thought it would just be LOVELY if he had a teddy bear stocking like hers.  Unfortunately, my stocking pattern has been AWOL for a while.

No matter.  I retraced it last night and used odds and ends of fabric scraps and snippets of yardage in the stash and, behold, the sort-of-matching set:

I omitted the green toe and used blue accents instead of green, but it's reasonably close.  The bear really isn't pink...it's a beige velour.

Except it apparently came out a fuzz smaller.  Not sure why...unless it's just not lying quite as flat as the quarter-century old stocking.

The Flute Player's comment: "Well, you messed up his mouth, but he's still cute."

It'll do, anyway.  At least it looks better than what I could find retail. ;-)

Slow Fade

I had to pick up a few things at Wal-Mart yesterday, so while The Actor was at his weekly drum lesson, I scooted into the Wal-Mart just down the road from the music shop.

As it happened, that is the Wal-Mart of the bodacious dollar (ok, now dollar-fifty) table. So I picked up the items that I had to get and, because I still had a few minutes to kill, went back to the fabric department.

Alas, it is a shadow of its former glory. The discount table is gone; there's a rack there that has *some* discounted fabric but it also had fabric marked at higher prices. I decided to check and see if I could find something suitable for a tablecloth, and while I was looking things over the long-time department manager cut a piece of fabric for another customer, and I heard her say 'Oh, no, I don't know anymore. When I was doing the ordering, I knew what was coming. But I'm not ordering any more, so I never know what's coming or when it will be here. Stuff just shows up."

When she cut my fabric a few minutes later, I asked her about it, and she verified that she's no longer ordering merchandise for her department. "That explains a lot." I commented, looking at the noticeable stock reduction that had taken place since my last trip.

"I knew it was gonna go away the first time my manager told me to reduce the shelves by four feet," she said, "In fact,'she added, gesturing towards the edge of the fabric shelves, "I just took four more feet off those shelves today."

Hence the higher priced fabric on the shelves with the discount stuff. She had to put it somewhere.

I remember going in a year or two ago and hearing a story that one of the frequent customers of the fabric department there had written to someone at the corporate level and gotten a response that the fabric department would stay.

So much for that.

She sighed, "It's going away. It's going slowly...but it's going away."

Guess I'll be making more frequent trips to the discount fabric store in Fayetteville in the future...

But I did get fabric for a nice tablecloth; it was $3/yard but the selvage says 'soil releasing'...which I thought would be good for a tablecloth! ;)

Laundry and PJs

The sheets are done and will be in their place today...it'll be nice to have a set to switch out on laundry day.

And, while I've got white thread in the machine, and the remnants of the flannel out, I think I'll go ahead and make the pajama/lounge pants...once I decide which two of the three of us I'll make them for.

Or...maybe I'll just make a whole set of PJ's for my niece for Christmas....hmm, there's a thought...

But there's laundry to be done today, and white shirts that I can make w/the white thread that's in the machines, and some patterns to adjust.

It won't matter that I won't have a car ;)

Love those sales...

Ok, I'm on a fabric moratorium...but that has no bearing on pattern purchases, as you've seen over the last few months! I still can't find quite all the hardware I need for the LaRue bags; I don't know if I'll get those done for this Christmas or not.

But I did look for them...at both the Hobby Lobby and the Hancock's on the other side of town. The Hancock's had completely remodeled since the last time I was there; I couldn't find much (it was a recent remodel; one of the clerks had some merchandise she was trying to put back in its place and she finally had to ask a co-worker where it went). But I did find the patterns; Vogues were on sale for 3.88 each, limit 5, so I picked up some that were on my ongoing list:


Vogue 8333; one of Claire Shaeffer's Couture patterns...it's a double-princess seamed jacket with an interesting little pocket-in-the-pleat detail. I'll blame that one on the overwhelming inspiration of everyone's fabulous jackets. ;)

Don't laugh...Vogue 1017. That one's been discussed on the boards, and, while the sample and illustration look like a hot mess, that shirt actually has some nice details, and I think it'll look cool once it's made without the front frou-frou.

Vogue 2882. The skirts are great, ok? And, you never know, I might get inspired to work hard and lose 25 pounds ...

Vintage Vogue 1019. I'm a sucker for anything from the 40's.

And, finally, a pattern for a Romona Coat (think of Tom Baker as Dr Who...)Vogue 1266. Oldest DD gave me a mile-long black and white mottled fringed scarf for Christmas about 5 years ago that's been waiting on a long princess seamed coat in red or royal blue or purple or grey or black so I could throw the scarf around my neck and be Romona...

And, Hobby Lobby had Simplicity patterns on sale for $1. Their stock is pretty thin; I almost think they just get the patterns when they're released and then don't restock them, but I could be wrong. Anyway, I got:
Simplicity 3557, which is reminiscent of a dress I had in the mid 90's that I loved. Those vertical lines...

Simplicity 4273. Should I do SWAP, this is a contender for the wardrobe pattern required. I'd have to add a lining to the jacket, though, and pockets to the skirt and pants, but it could be done.

AND, last night I tore the waterbed sheets down to size. I misremembered how much to order, so I had a chunk of extra fabric. I can get some NSS pants (i.e., sleep pants) for two out of what's left, since it's 108" wide. Maybe both DDs? Maybe a pair for me? Hmmmm.....

The Easiest Christmas Present

(Well, I loaded the photos to a draft post on Friday so I could quickly post this on Saturday the 2nd...but it's showing as being posted on Friday instead of Saturday....
I just learned something about posting that I'm glad to know: You can't draft posts ahead to publish at a later time, if you want the post date to be different than the day you draft)

This will absolutely be the easiest gift I'll give this year....
DS had a favorite sweatshirt; he'd pull it on, with a towel, and, with tongue firmly in cheek, proclaim, 'All Star Man to the Rescue!'. He was heartbroken when I finally convinced him that it was getting way too small, even for fun, and the last time it went through the wash, I stashed it, rather than putting it in his 'clean' basket. I think he believes it has gone to the Goodwill bin.



However, I had other ideas...it wasn't tricky to do, but if you want the (very few) details, you can check the Review for a Sweatshirt Pillow. I intend to wrap it and give it to him for Christmas...won't he be surprised?

Cold Front + Warm Flannel = Cozy Sleeping

I put the new sheets on the waterbed today and posted photos to the review...

Not any too soon, either, the temperature will be dropping all day today.

I've got another set made of regular sheeting about 1/2 finished; then I can get back to some fun sewing ;)

A Little Domestic Sewing....

I finally got the extra wide flannel put through the washer and dryer three times; I think it shrank about 3" in width...I didn't check the length.

It's getting chilly...I want my warm sheets!

So I measured and tore the whole set yesterday and, since the other chunk of sheeting I've had sitting around waiting to be turned into sheets is also light blue, I tore it into appropriate sized chunks, too, and I'll just make both sets of sheets this week.

I'll have my nice flannel sheets by the weekend (I hope), and 13 yards moved from stash.

I'll take some pictures of the process and post them when I'm done.