Refresh the cover...

My ironing board cover was showing its age.

I'm not sure exactly how old it is; I *think* I bought it after we moved into this house, which would mean it's no more than 10 years old, but I found some photos with the current cover in 2007 and it was already rather marked up. It was, I believe, the 3rd ironing board cover I have used since we got married in 1980.

But over the years, water stains, odd bleeds and mucho fusible residue  had left its mark.  I  had gotten to the point where I was laying an old shirt over the cover to keep it from marking white fabrics.

So, when I was in Target a couple of days ago and happened to walk through the homegoods section, I spied ironing board covers and got one.  No print comparable to the sky-and-clouds that makes me smile, so I got a plain one.

For some reason I decided last night that it was time to do the switch.  I pulled the iron stand and cord support off,  unclipped the drawstring and released the velcro straps and pulled it off.

And was astonished to see that the inside of the cover was just as nicely finished as the outside.  It was self lined and...oh, my, the seams are all on the inside...could it be???

I turned it inside out and put it back on the board.  Except for wrapping the velcro straps backwards, with the free end next to the board, it was completely reversible.  I had a nearly ...a few water marks had bled through...new looking cover right there.

I put the other one in the cabinet for use  at a later date and commented to my hubby I had purchased a better cover than I knew.

Then he asked me if I replaced the pad.

See, he's gone on a wool blanket kick.  First he made his capote from a wool blanket, then he began scouring ebay for good deals on wool blankets.  He made another capote for a friend, but the blankets have piled up.  One of them was a green army blanket, which turned out to be too small for his purpose, so he gave it to me for an ironing board pad.

I'd forgotten about it.

But, whilst I had the clamped accessories off the board, it seemed a good time to add the wool padding, so I pulled out the blanket, washed and dried it on hot to felt it up some, then cut it out, using one of the old poly pads as a guide (I actually had 3 pads on the ironing board...the original one, the padding from the second one, and the padding that is built into the current cover)

 I serge finished the edges, although that probably wasn't absolutely necessary since it's been felted, then put it on the board.  I threw away the oldest poly pad (not pictured anywhere) as it was pounded paper thin, but I kept the one I used for a pattern as it was still pretty cushy.  I cut two wool pads and laid them over the old one.

 Then I rather carefully secured the cover, reverse-side- out, over the triple layer.

You can't even tell that's the inside, can you?  I figure it's going to be good for another 5 years...and I've got the replacement already.

It might take me a while to get used to the smell of the wool under the steam iron, though...

And, I might have enough of the wool to make a button-in lining for my trench.  Maybe. ;-)

Work Wear 15 and a Goodie

I just may document each of the new tops as I wear it...

Today it was the long sleeved black Jalie 2566 T   (ahem.  You did notice that I FINALLY REVIEWED THAT BABY!)

It was worn with black/brown striped Loes Hinse Oxford Pants (and the stripe is not nearly so pronounced when it is not in front of a flash...)  and Burda magazine's 'waistcoat' from May 2009.

And my spontaneous infinity scarf purchase, just because it has black, brown and denim blue in it.  I felt way spiffier than the photo looks.

Two of the three outstanding fabric orders arrived today and one of them contained a goodie I've been trying to snag for years...  Emma Onesock actually carries those Pantone color guides!  I found out because she mentioned that it was excluded from her recent sale.

Now I can be spot on my choir colors! LOL!

Actually, I bought it so I could reference the numbers to get a better idea of what the actual colors of fabrics are from the retailers who cite them.  My monitor is NOT the most color correct thing out there.

I've marked two of our upcoming choir colors ...Lucite Green,just under the tab on the left and Scuba Blue, which is just above the sticky note on the right.

I will say that Lucite Green is considerably lighter than I thought, and Scuba Blue is more intense than I thought.

Two of the fabrics that came in today's boxes were ordered because I perceived them to be close to what I thought was Lucite Green;  neither one was...although one was the next-door-neighbor color to Scuba Blue and will probably pass for that.

So.  Hopefully the guide will help me actually pick the right colors going forward...lol...

Major Players Traced

I finished tracing the pieces printed on the pattern sheet today; I haven't made facing or lining pieces yet.  I'm going to do a quick muslin first, then alter the pattern and then make the facing/lining pieces from the altered pattern.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to shorten the sleeves by about 2", but that's a pretty standard alteration for me on everything.  I haven't sewn enough Burda patterns yet to have a regular set of alterations for them.

As I finished up, I moved the pattern sheet around and suddenly had a fresh appreciation for how small it really is...astonishing that an entire trench coat pattern is on that sheet, along with some others.  My Sweet Babboo stuck his head in the room just shortly after and took a look at what I was doing.  'Wow,' he said, 'How can you see anything on that?'

Just takes a little patience...

But I finally got to use the little curvy ruler that I won in a giveaway a while back.  If I had bought it, I'd tell you it was worth every penny.  I zipped through adding seam allowances.  I was going to post links to the etsy shop for them but it appears to be closed :-(  However, Claire did post a note there, saying that anyone who had questions could email her at sales [!at] sacurve.com .  Perhaps she still has some available...NAYY and all that...

Next step: Muslin.
Time is tickin' away...tick tick tickin' away...

Sewing Gadgets vs. Sewing Tools.

When I was at Hancock's on Monday, virtually every one of the sales staff was aggressively hawking a gizmo that dispenses straight pins. I'd seen it in the sale flyer and snorted at it just a bit. But they were flying out of the store; I saw SEVERAL ladies with them in their carts or under their arms (It's on sale! Plus you get today's 10 percent discount! I love mine...I have two!).

It was all I could do not to laugh out loud when the sales pitches were thrown my way. Really? I mean, really?

Now, there are kinda oddball tools that I use and love...my wooden clapper, my collar/point turner, my buttonhole chisel, Wonder Tape...but these gadgety things just make me shake my head.

I shook my head similarly when the bobbin winder gadgets came out and had no problem resisting the sales pitches on those, either, but a well-meaning soul in my family saw those and thought 'Lisa sews! I bet she'd LOVE one of those!' and gave me the Dritz model for Christmas a few years back, which I dutifully unboxed and tried out, hoping for the sake of the person who gave it to me that it turned out to be a wonderful little tool.

Alas, it was not so. Despite the package labeling, I had to pull the thread out of the machine, same as I do with the on-machine bobbin winder, as it didn't pull the thread through the machine (foot up...yes, the tension was released!) at all. Then the stand-alone model filled the bobbin at break neck speed, with 80% of the thread on the bottom half of the bobbin. It was Not Useable. Not only did it not work any better/easier than the bobbin winder on the machine, it didn't come at all close to working as well. Gadget.

Bless her heart. She tried.

Now, I know there are folks who love their little bobbin winders. But I'll be honest...I don't get it.

I like my little magnetic pin grabbers (I have 3). I know some folks don't, because of the contagion of magnetism, but I can pretty much toss pins in its direction and they'll land on it, or I can wave it over a handful I've dropped or pulled out on the ironing board and it grabs 'em. I don't have a computerized machine, so I don't have to worry about the magnet. They're pretty cheap, compared to the Automatic Pin Dispenser..and I got it on a half price notions sale. Plus, it only takes up about 9 square inches on my sewing table, unlike the pin dispenser, which looked roughly the size of a loaf of Arnold's Whole Wheat bread and would be totally In My Way.

So, really, I'm just hoping no one decides I need a monster pin spitter for Christmas this year.... ;-)

Got a New Gizzie

Let me lead up to this in a round about fashion...

Years ago, I remember seeing commercials for a 'hand held blender' -- a whizzer thingie that you held in your hand and dunked up and down in the large container of whatever food item being pureed.

I thought it was the silliest kitchen gadget I'd ever seen.

But about a year ago, I had a gift card for Bed, Bath and Beyond, and a coupon and, well, I went in looking for something to use the two items on and came out with a hand-held blender. I wasn't really sure why, other than there really wasn't anything in the store that day that looked like an urgent need, and the coupon was about to expire.

It is one of the most used appliances in my kitchen. I LOVE that thing.

Now, when Simplicity came out with the little bobbin winder gadget, I thought, 'That is the silliest sewing gizmo I've ever seen.' Since the spool of thread had to go on the winder, I could not see how it could possibly be that much of an improvement over the machine's own bobbin winder.

You guessed it...I got one (actually, the Dritz version) for Christmas.

And I do see a picture on the side of the box showing it operating with thread still on the sewing machine, so I am withholding judgment and trying to keep an open mind. Perhaps it will be the sewing room equivalent of the hand-held blender.

Um, yeah. Maybe.

So...here's a question...do any of my blog buddies have a bobbin winder? Do you use it? Any opinions to share?

I'm listening... ;)

New Iron

It's been over two months since my good iron died, and I was getting tired of the continual dribble from the old iron that it had replaced. I had a 20% off any one item coupon from Bed, Bath and Beyond, and a little time in between events yesterday, so I hit the store to check out irons.

And, despite my trepidation at getting another Rowenta (which is what the old drippy iron is), I came home with a Rowenta Focus.

It was the soleplate that got me. All those teeniny steam holes...it's different from any other iron I've seen.

I'll give it a couple months and let you know how it works. ;)

Just Say No

Or, how do YOU keep your family away from the Good Shears?


My good, super-sharp, wonderful Kai shears, purchased at last year's Expo, were AWOL for a couple of days, then turned up ON THE COMPUTER DESK. Where PAPER IS CUT.

DD the Elder (Life Philosophy: It's easier to get forgiveness than permission) was, of course, the culprit. She'd needed some scissors (she HAS scissors! EVERY ONE got utility scissors in their Christmas stocking last year) and maintained that these were the only ones she could find (well, they were right out on my cutting table. Imagine that).

I determined that she probably hadn't done any damage to the shears (as opposed to the time she borrowed my Fiskars to cut floral wire...but that was when she was in, oh, middle school?), then gave her a severe injunction to keep her hands OFF my good shears.

The resulting eye rolling prompted me to use a Sharpie to remind anyone looking for scissors that SOME are Off Limits.

And promptly got me labeled 'Control Freak'....oh, the injustice...

Perhaps another pair of utility scissors should show up in her stocking this year.

Progress (at a Snail's Pace)

I *did* manage to get the book explosion cleaned, the vacuum exercised and the sheets in DS's room the guest bedroom washed and back on the bed; nope, not nearly everything that I wanted to do but we got through the weekend and had a very nice visit.

I even escaped into the sewing room for a few minutes while college football played on the newly-moved TV and made a wee bit of progress on the tiered skirt.

I put my stranger-than-fiction-looking ruffler attachment on that I'd gotten for Christmas a few years ago and forgot about until last week, adjusted it, and ruffled up the bottom tier.

Only I don't think it ruffled up enough. I still have to sew the middle tier, so it'll be a couple of days before I know how close I was/wasn't. Still, the ruffler's a neat, if rather noisy, gadget and if I'd just take the time to learn how to adjust the thing (and the tiered skirts are perfect for that...wish I'd remembered it when I was making DD's) I'm sure it will be a welcome and useful occupant of my gadgets drawer. ;)

Anyone else have potentially useful gadgets in your drawer that you've forgotten, or am I the only one?

Squeezing the Pattern

Yup, I added two more projects to the WIP list...the Donna Karan tunic (and I've got enough of that gorgeous fuschia knit to make another top...hmmm, what'll it be...) and the Vogue Wrap Dress.

Cutting the dress was an exercise in creativity and patience; I'd originally ordered two yards of the knit, with just a vague idea of making a top. Ann sent 2 1/4 yards...possibly because the print doesn't quite go all the way to the selvegdes..it has a scant 58" of workable width. But as soon as I saw it, it said 'Wrap dress!'.

And doncha know the pattern says it requires 2 3/4 yards of 60" fabric.

Well, I've had lots of practice squeezing pattern pieces on fabric (see The Encouragement of Minor Miracles for the most recent example), so I started playing with the layout. Because the front skirt is a full pattern, cut twice, I had to use a single fabric layout for that piece, so doing a whole trial layout really wasn't practical. I took a deep breath, and started cutting. I figured if I were short, I'd just make a sleeveless dress.


But, since the fabric is the same coming and going, I could use a 'without nap' layout and I got it all on there! Barely...this is the totality of the remnants. Whew...

But I did have a real bummer happen during the cutting process...the little red thingy lying on the far side of the cutting board is a piece from my nice Martelli rotary cutter; it fell off the table and I stepped on it (I didn't hear it fall!) and..well..it broke. It's the piece that holds the spring that holds the blade guard in place; I've had to tape the guard back now, just to keep it out of the way when I'm cutting. It will no longer guard the blade...yikes...

So now a new rotary cutter is on my list of Things to Get at the Atlanta Expo Next Year. If I can wait that long.

Expo 07 Report: Patterns, Books and Notions

Going to the Expo not only gives access to fabric that I can't find anywhere around, it also has patterns, notions, gadgets, books, videos, DVD's, machines, buttons, laces...if it has to do with sewing (or knitting) you can probably find it somewhere.

I got three books (Or booklets; the binding and printing and artwork is pretty self-published-looking):

Louise Cutting's Cutting Across the Country In Style, which has tips on everything from choosing garments for a travel wardrobe to going through airport security to how to stand in a photo so that you look thinner (she also demonstrated that in class; I'm going to see who starts standing that way for review photos...incidentally, in one of my other classes, the instructor had some slides of RTW garments for inspiration...and one of the size 00 models was actually standing as Louise recommended! I'm sure everyone else in the class wondered why I snickered at that photo...)

I also picked up Cynthia Guffey's Simple Guide to Master Tailoring Volume 1: Jacket and Precision Measuring and Pattern Alterations I have so many notes from her classes w/hurriedly sketched pattern pieces that are, well, almost indecipherable later. This way, I have nice clean drawings and explanations to supplement my notes.

That leads to Notions:
At last year's Expo, Cynthia came into class with a pair of Kai Shears and actually stopped her lesson for a couple of minutes to sing the praises of them. The kicker was that she doesn't sell them...but she told us that Emma Seabrooke does. Of course, by the time I got down to that booth, the only ones left were for lefties. So those shears went on this year's list, and Emma's booth was my first purchase...those printed slinkies and a pair of Kai shears. Cynthia recommended another pair of scissors this year...micro tips from 'The Scissor Guy'. He was sold out by that class, so they're on the list for next year. She passed them around: needle-tipped snipping scissors that I declare could cut a single thread. I've never seen anything like them, but Cynthia said they were much, much better for cutting buttonholes than the chisel-and-block. I guess that's next year's first stop... ;)

I also got some fusible tape; I was looking for Steam-A-Seam, but that was one thing I didn't find. I got some of the soft double-sided fusible (it has paper on both sides) to try instead, and both black and white fusible bias. Since I do a lot of turn-and-stitch necklines, I thought that would be a good investment to use for stabilizing them.

And of course I bought a new package of blades for my ergonomic rotary cutter.

And patterns! I came home with...9.

Four were from Silhouettes: Me Too! One-Piece Skirt and Yoga Pant to see if DD will be interested in some more sewing experience, and Lana's Jean and Sonya's Blouse for me.

From Louise Cutting, I got AnythingBUTOrdinary, even though I had thought it wouldn't suit me. When I saw it in person, I decided I wanted it after all... ;)

I also got Diane Ericson's Skyelines pattern. I *know* her patterns are designed for tall women, but the lines on this one have appealed to me for a long time and, since I did take a class from her, I decided this would be my purchase. I'll just have to account for the difference between my body type and what she's designing for when I prepare the pattern. It does have such nice strong vertical lines... ;)

Finally, Miss A and I did make a trip to JoAnn's (actually, we visited a couple of JoAnn's and a Hancock's, searing for fabric for Easter costumes. We did find what we needed; I'll tell that story later in the week), and I got two Burda patterns, 7932, which strikes me as being very similar to Vogue 7281, only with more 'opportunities for fit'. The other Burda is 8960. And, I decided to be conservative and I only got one pattern off of my Simplicity list...3877.

Ah, so much sewing to do...so little time in which to do it...

Threads Tip Implimentation

Every once in a while, a real lightbulb goes off when I'm reading the Readers' Tips section of Threads and -- this is the unusual part -- I actually remember it later. Such was the case with these nifty little bobbin wraps. This tip was in issue #129, and I asked my DH to pick up some 1/2" tubing (we figured that would work for size 15 bobbins) next time he visited Home Depot. He had to get 10 feet of it, but since it was something like 40 cents a foot it still wasn't a major investment.

When I was looking for the teal thread to match the ITT fabric the other day, I hit the !!!!! stage in dealing with the tangle of bobbin threads erupting from the boxes I kept them in and I remembered that the tubing was now in the house. By trial and error, I found that a width of about 5/16 of an inch works best; I worked with 6" - 8" lengths of the tubing, which I slit first, squished sort of flat, and cut with my old Dritz rotary cutter (the one I use to cut wallpaper, cardboard...etc).

Wow. What a difference. No more tangles...no more tears... :p

A Close One

Before I could actually start sewing the ITT outfit with a good conscience, I needed to finish off a bit of detail work on some, um, unusual puppets for the kids' puppet team at church. I'd had these characters...in a rubbermaid bin which occupied a fair percentage of my very cozy sewing nook...since before Christmas, with the knowledge that they really weren't needed until the end of February.

Ok, since it's the end of February...

It wasn't difficult, but it was rather fiddly and tedious and made a little more awkward by the fact that the well-meaning puppet master had already stuffed the bodies of the victims. Overstuffed, actually...they had kind of a rigor mortis look about them. So, I unstuffed them substantially, added the details that were necessary, then stuffed them reasonably. And had two large zip lok bags of polyfill left. Now the rubbermaid bin will be leaving the house when the kids go to puppet practice tonight, and I'll have another couple of square feet of space regained.

But, that put me rather late changing the thread and such to start on the ITT.

And I discovered I couldn't find the thread that I really believed I had. I found one lowly little bobbin that was the right color...but nothing else. So I had to make a trip to Hancock's at 6:45 last night. I went ahead and picked out buttons...that took a few minutes because the only buttons in the right color and size were on a different display than the button wall (they were also more expensive than the ones on the button wall. Sigh.). While I was dragging my little fabric swatch across the rack of Metrosene thread, an announcement came over the PA: 'Thank you for shopping at Hancock's Fabrics. We are now closed. Please bring your purchases to the cash register.'

Yikes! I thought Hancock's closed at eight! I spotted the matching thread and grabbed two spools and hotfooted it to the cash register.

The clerk said that they'd had the new hours for a little while now; the corporate offices just rather abruptly notified them that the hours of operation would be cut back. 'It's nice for us', she said, 'We get to go home a little earlier.'

But the lady who let us out just shook her head. 'They'll change it back one of these days...probably with no notice then, either.'

But, knowing that Hancock's is in financial difficulty, it kind of scares me just a little that they have whittled the hours a bit. I pulled out after procuring my thread and buttons in the nick of time, just as some folks with out-of-county license plates parked and walked up to the door. Guess they hadn't heard about the new hours yet either.

Anway, Wednesdays are pretty full days but I'm hoping for 30 minutes or so of sewing this afternoon. We're leaving for the Expo a week from today...and I'm determined to wear this ;)

Meet Gertie

Gertrude (or, as Dad called her, Gertie) arrived with my folks over the weekend. She had belonged to my grandmother, and had resided in the basement at my folks for the past 5 years or so. I don't remember Gertie; so I'm assuming Grandma got her after I moved away in 1980. She has a label scotch-taped to her shoulder that states that she is a "Tru-Shape Dress Form by Singer", Size B. I haven't had time to play with Gertie much yet, other than to tighten the nut in the base so that she was standing up straight instead of leaning over. Her front...assuming I can, er, get things to level up, so to speak...is roughly my shape, but her back is waaaayyy more curved than I am. She has a system of sliding bars and wing nuts to adjust and support her shape; don't know if a little WD-40 will make them moveable or if they're wopperjawed out of shape so badly that she's more or less what she'll be.

And, she's a little short; a good height to use while sitting in a chair, actually, which may have been what Grandma did. There appears to be a height adjustment in the support bar; I'll have to get some WD-40 on that, too, before I know if it really is an adjustment spot or just an assembly joint.

Her panels are muti-ply cardboard, and have de-laminated a little in places. I'm not sure whether the tube knit is supposed to cover the whole thing or just the lower portion...or even if it came with her originally; it doesn't quite match the fabric that covers the top panels.

But, even if I can't get her adjusted to my size and shape, if she stands up straight she could easily be the inner support for a future Duct Tape Double...hmmmm....

I Must've Been a Good Girl

I got sewing stuff for Christmas!

The biggest gift, literally, was the gate-leg craft table, from The Man of the House. It's a hair smaller in both length and width than the kitchen table, but it's 36" high. Hopefully, that will help with the lower backache that has me moving Real Slow after a day of cutting or tracing. I've decided I want two for church, so we can put them end-to-end...if we ever get a sewing room set up there. ;)

My sister and my mother went together and got Helen Joseph Armstrong's Patternmaking for Fashion Design for me. That's a pretty intimidating volume! So far, I have barely opened it. Is there a good way to digest that thing, or should I just plan to use it for a reference mostly?

Finally, my Dear Sis-in-Law in California gave me a straight stitch throat plate/presser foot combo...that doesn't quite fit my machine. I can fudge the foot by nudging the needle position over a bit, but the throat plate doesn't fit the opening...it's about 1/8" too long. My New Home *is* something like 16 year old, and it may be that the dealer out yonder thought this kind of generic Janome set would fit. I'm going to run it over to my local guy this week and see if I can switch them out for a set that actually fits my machine, but that may not be possible. I really hope it is; I've looked at the day-before-the-Expo classses for the Atlanta Sewing Expo, and both Louise Cutting and Cynthia Guffey have straight stitch throat/foot on the Materials List that students are to bring. I originally bought this machine because I couldn't get specialty feet for my (then)10-year-old Kenmore; I'd hate to replace it just because I can't get feet for it, either...

I've been working all weekend on de-decorating the house; I should have all the trimmings and trappings boxed and ready to carry to the attic before I go to bed tonight. I hope to get to the sewing machine this week; I'll see one of the ladies who helped us move way back when next weekend and I'd like to have at least her thank-you gift done in time to take it with me ;)