I’ve been busy.

 May 1^st I had a bit of a shock when I found my hours had been drastically reduced, but I took a deep breath and said, “this could be a good thing”!  Within a few hours I had convinced myself it was going to be a very good thing indeed, and was full steam ahead with plans on how to live a new lifestyle, including different ways to make money.  May 2^nd I got a phone call saying, “here, take most of these hours back” and my mood plummeted for a while.  I might add all of these hours are night shift and after 3 years or so of this I am not adapting real well yet.  I’m fatter and weaker and less sharp and way less social, which is to say not at all.  But the alternative income is like the sound of a bird in the bush, and the night shift hours are a bird in the hand, so to pay the mortgage and electric…..

ANYWAY, I’ve been soothing myself with two needle crafts that I’d laid aside for quite some time.  At work, I’ve been doing hand embroidery.  It’s pre-stamped on pillowcases and not requiring any real creative input from me, but it’s something I haven’t done since the 1970’s.  I really really like doing it, and can foresee more stitching in my future.  I’m doing these for me and that makes me glad, I haven’t made myself anything in a long time.

 

At home, I got busy on the two crib quilts that got shoved to the back burner for a year.  I’m pretty confident that I will complete these before either Grand is in school.  I made some quilted bedding for my eldest granddaughter’s 18” dolls this winter and it reminded me of how much I loved doing free machine quilting.  I’m not very good yet, but I think I might learn to be. 

 

I very much enjoy the free motion even if I can't make it as smoothly as I hope to.  It's one of those activities where the zone thing happens for me, and I can forget time and worries for a little while and just DO.   I made 2 twin sized quilts 20 years ago, and one wall hanging so I'm still pretty much a novice.

Would you believe right in the middle of my groove my bigfoot broke?  I've had the thing for 20 years and have been unsuccessful trying to freehand embroider or quilt on various machines without it.  Stranger still, I impulse bought the darning foot pictured beside it this winter, thinking of doing these quilts and "just in case"  It works just as well.

When I started to piece some more on the second quilt, my little quilting foot with the quarter inch markings had disappeared.  I suspect a toddler.  Luckily I'm able to decenter the needle to the right and then the last mark on the throat plate is 1/4 inch away.  My piecing improved in just one quilt!

 

 

The advice you may have heard to fill extra bobbins when machine quilting is very valid, as I was reminded quickly into my project.

 

I spent some time and money investing in books on quilting and sewing before the internet got big.  Here are two great ones on just the quilting (nothing about piecing) here.  The Fannings also did a great one on machine embroidery.  They are probably still in print, and maybe at your library.

 

I'm already thinking of more quilts!  This summer I'm also planning on some pants, capri's, and shorts for myself, to fit my larger nightshift body.   I'm going to try to finish both quilts before I start another project.  I'm very good at letting projects rest for a while.

what I really want to do

is write.  Since I was a little girl.  I guess I don't, or haven't, wanted to do it enough or I'd have DONE it.  As previously mentioned, I used to crank out those long letters.  When I start on fiction I get bogged down by the mixing experience with fantasy.  I worry about getting sued.  I've had some outlandish experiences in my life that are too good to not put down.  There are other survivors and what if they picked up something and got mad at what they perceived as my portrayal of them?  I'm probably fairly safe with the stuff from my 1970's in backwoods Florida, not many of those folks still live and maybe only one or two read.  Likewise my times with the cold war army in the 80's (though I would guess most of those CAN read).  But the stories I really want to write come from my days as a prison nurse in the 90's and 2000 decade, and those could get me into trouble.  There's HIPAA (your federally protected health information).  There are all those inmates who are a very sue-happy population anyway.  There's the brotherhood (even though there are plenty of women officers) of correctional officers who'd be offended about everything I wrote about it, and I would still dearly love to go back there to work one day.  The clearance check for employment is pretty extensive and I'd probably never be allowed to go back if I told the stories even here online, let alone wrote a book.  There are some great stories though.  Prison is not what people think it is like inside, too much Hollywood.  I watched a couple episodes of Oz because I was told that was pretty real, but I didn't think so.  Even the reality shows skim the surface.  It's like watching a show on the beach versus going into the ocean and feeling those currents of cold and warm and forceful waters once you are in over your head, and knowing there are plants and creatures and fish all over down deep.  Or being in a big city and aware that you are in the midst of many cultures that you are not participating in, the foreign ones as well as the rich ones and poor ones and homeless and crazy and druggie ones while you are just on the bus trying to get to work and buy those pans and the throw rugs that your apartment needs.  Prison was fascinating for me, everyday.

I was watching Stephen King speeches and a documentary on him on YouTube.  He just wrote like crazy all the time, no matter how many jobs he was holding down while a young father.  He was driven and gifted.  I don't have that.  I am more niggled and maybe not gifted at all.  The fact that I do want to write says maybe I could do it, if I just did.  I think about Gone with The Wind, Margaret Mitchell.  Huge book this lady cranked out over the years, her only work ever.  I don't believe she ever submitted anything else, though they wanted her to.  I'd like to have a book written, probably more than one.  I work a night job that would afford me 6 hours or so each shift to do nothing but write!

I wrestle all the time about how much I produce.  Do I clean enough, exercise enough, create enough, etc etc etc.  I work an exhausting job, though it demands little enough from me while I'm there and almost nothing when I'm not.  Night shift sucks the life from you.  I'm gentler with myself than I used to be, almost 53 years old and still not back to where I was before hip replacement surgery last year I forgive myself for not getting it all done where I couldn't when I was 30 and 40.  Thank God!  I had my 5th kid after my marriage died and was working one and 1/2 jobs all the time, no local family support, no financial help.  My house was messy but clean under the flying debris of kid stuff, I was outside raking and planting and mowing, I was cooking real dinners and running to girl scouts and ball games.  I still went to bed thinking I should do more.  Now at least I feel virtuous sleeping whenever and as much as I can.

And if I didn't start that great american novel today (really, I just want to be as good as the Stephanie Plum novels) I did at least write!

Easter Dress

I made an Easter Dress for the first time since my grandbabies' mommas were babies.  It took me longer than I thought ("Oh, it'll only take me 45 minutes once I cut it out" phhhht!).  I really, really enjoyed doing it.  I blended a FREE and very lovely pattern and tutorial from Lindsey at The Cottage Home with a paper pattern, Simplicity 2688.  It's still so cool here and I wanted the little puff sleeves.  I am so glad I added them.

 

I was a little worried about using a sleeve from one pattern and just sticking it on another- but it was so gathered that it worked very well.  Match seams, pull up threads till it fits, pin and sew.  I loved sewing on this little bias cut band.

Because I added sleeves I had to change the way I put in the facing as well.  It now required hand stitching around the arm holes.  A little labor of love.

I am very proud of how well made it is, but there were as always a couple of flaws.  The biggest, I made the darn thing too big!  I always did this for my babies too.  I'm thinking about sewing in some pintucks above the contrast band hem, but the mommy was ok with it as is.  It really is kind of sweet that long, and the bodice has a little wiggle room too, so this dress as is may fit next year.  The other thing was I didn't mark pieces and whoops used the tie for the bottom band and vise versa.  It meant extra seams in the band, which didn't hurt anything.  Also it made the bottom band shorter.  I would have liked the impact of more inches of fabric contrast, but again this dress was long enough as is.  I'll watch out for that next time I make this dress.

I feel like writing

tonight.  I do recall when I first learned about blogs it seemed they were all about writing.  That quickly changed.  Most of the blogs I follow or even stumble across now rely as much or more on photos than the written word.  Even my journalist friend relies heavily on (his very wonderful) story- related photos.  I have had a fondness for reading and writing since I was quite young, so tonight I indulge myself here.

I miss letter writing.  I developed a mail phobia sometime after buying my house in the 90's, a kind of delayed post traumatic stress disorder reaction to being homeless while pregnant with my 5th kid.  I sailed through the homeless period remarkably well, probably because I've always enjoyed change.  I can always put some positive spin on change, while stagnation can weight me down into deep, suspended animation depression.  Anyway, though I developed the mail box phobia, it was ok because I had email.  I used to love early mornings at the computer with a big cup of coffee on a day off, kids at school.  I'd write lovely, lovely emails.  Now facebook and text messages have whittled down those long rambles of the written word to quick, little, and to the point notes.  I don't ponder and write much anymore.

Thank God for the library and Kindle, I still read plenty. 

It's still very odd to write what I think or what I feel for posting onto the internet.  For all to see, forever, right? 

Teaching my grandaughter

just a little about sewing.  She's got a short attention span and low frustration theshold at age 9.  She cut out SOME of the pieces and she sewed most of one pair of the pants, including learning how to draw the elastic through.  By the second pair she thought that part was fun.

 

 And now the flannel leftover pile is smaller.  I have to make room for new fabric!

fill the salt shaker

with salt.  Some great advice I picked up from somewhere regarding what to do if you are so depressed it's hard to do anything.  Picking a simple goal is likely to result in accomplishment and so provide stimulus to continue with greater goals and more energy.  I am applying it to creative endeavors these days, and when I can't bear to contemplate or work on a greater project, I try to get to work on some very simple ones.  The other day I made rice bags for hot or cold therapy from left over flannel in hopes of prodding myself into a bigger project.  It worked!  Nothing amazing, mind you, but I'm pleased enough.  I finished another pair of big butt baby pants (pattern by Rae, here) and made a little ruffle skirt for the younger cousin without a pattern.

 

These are from vintage printed denim from my stash.  I bought it when my kids were babies sometime in the early/mid 80's, but it looks 1970's to me.  When we tried them on the waist was too low, so I added the waist band out of necessity and the bottom ruffles and waist tie followed to tie in the contrast fabric. The flower is one laying around I just safety pinned on.  I'm pretty happy with the end result.

 

This rear gusset is what makes them "big butt".  They are so cute on little diapered bottoms!  I added piping to play up the feature. The pattern is $10. but is simple and unique at the same time.  She does have a free downloadable for baby pants without the gusset.

 

There are two tiny grands at my house, so if I sew for one I try to sew for the other.  This simple ruffle skirt is out of twill or a light weight denim from the stash and scrap lace. It broke up all those polka dots on the shirt and leggings.  I doubled the fabric width for the second tier, I'm thinking now maybe 1 and 1/2 would have been better for the weight and hand of this fabric.   I didn't use a pattern, but I was inspired by this picture and tutorial by Tanya Whelan at Grand Revival Designs.  She does multiple tiers and also a version of a skort ruffle shorts, lots of other great stuff as well.

 

Now I have to stuff all those trims back into the drawer.  Ah, well, it's a great way to take inventory. 

vintage fabric score (and more jamma's)

All fabric 50 cents! There was a big box at my local thrift store. 

It felt like looking into my mother's fabric stash, were she still alive and still keeping a stash.  I'm pretty sure I had a blouse made out of this in 1975.

 

This one really made my heart sing!  It looks to me like the old corelle casserole dishes, like a 1970's kitchen.  It puts old country and western songs playing in my head.

 

Here's another one that I'm sure I had a blouse made up of in the early early 70's.  Very sheer with those bars of almost entredeux like strips.



 

This looks home dec, but it is calico (quilt wieght) stuff, maybe with a bit of poly blend.   

 

An added bonus, not vintage but nice quality broadcloth yardage, $4 for about 7 yards of these two grays.

 

 

Of course, I feel guilty buying fabric at all, when I have a fairly large stash of stuff from the 80's all the way up to this winter, waiting to be made.  Including some cut out but not yet sewn pajama pants projects from christmas!  I have completed some, 6 of the requested 9.  After my shopping spree I got busy on the almost-last pair, and the only pair I was sewing from fleece.

 

The fleece was accidental. I bought all the flannel on line and of the two men's patterns, one turned out to be more feminine than I thought would be appreciated.  So I used the fleece, with some heavy cotton plaid from my stash for trim.

 

 

I quickly started to remember all those tips for working with fleece, like use a stretch stitch (plain zig zag is a good one) and stabilize for button holes.  That's what is happening above, any paper that is within reach I rip into size and use.  These button holes were not faced and the fleece is stretchy so I used paper above and below the fabric.  Works wonderfully, tears off easily.  You don't need an expensive tear away or wash away stabilizer unless you are working on your wedding dress or a baby's baptismal gown, any paper is fine.  Some other notions/gadgets I used were:

 

$1. thread snippers from the dollar store.  Performance beat the heck out of some I bought from a well known sewing company. Saves time for lots of pesky thread cutting over scissors.  The little bottle of fray check there is a favorite for button holes and many other sewing jobs.  I've used it for years, good stuff.

 

The quick turn fabric tube turner!  This was a first time for me, it is an inexpensive tool that I just never bought before because I have safety pins and know that trick, right?  And even if it was cheap, I can always spend those dollars somewhere else in a fabric store.  I've got those cute girl grands, and I figured I might be wanting to turn some spagetti straps.  There are a few different methods but I thought it was time to try this one, and I liked it. Invest if you promise 9 people drawstring jamma pants.  I did the other 8 pair without, no biggie but from now on, I've got my quick turn tube turner thing.



 

What's this? One of my longtime favorite notions, a soap sliver for marking fabric.  Preferably dried a day or two, then they last for months of marking.  Show up very well and duh, wash out.  This one was hard milled lavender, has the benefit of great fragrence everytime I pull it out.  I do have chalk markers and disappearing markers, but I love the soap best unless I'm working on very light fabric or need a precise fine line, like darts for a Barbie fine.  Otherwise, this works as good or better.

 

 

Only 2 more to go, and that Mom didn't want them until she moves into the house she's having built.  They might end up waiting until next year for sewing.  I'm ready for some other projects.