I won! I won! I won!

I won! I won! I won!
I am so excited to say I won a packet of patterns from Missy over at Missy's Homemaking Adventures. I have not been able to sew one up yet due to the fundraiser sewing but I plan on digging in soon. Thank you Missy!!! 

I'm a horse nut, have been since birth, so this is so fabulous! I'm thinking to use the applique pattern to make a baby quilt? Reverse the horse, use different fabrics and colors. It will be adorable! We have 5 horses and an ass now. Our numbers fluctuate as I rescue and rehome animals :) 

Check out this stuffed reindeer head. Who shot Rudolph and stuffed him?!? LOL Just teasing! I love it! Make Rudolph, his friends, maybe a girlfriend ... what was her name in that one Christmas special? You get the idea. 

Missy is in the midst of a move from Texas to Missouri. As a veteran of many moves, she has my sympathies. There are so many details that have to come together to make the transition smooth. Missy has several rescue cats plus a fabulous collection of old, antique, collectible, working featherweight sewing machines. She is so talented she can hand crank her machine and free motion quilt at the same time. She can treadle and free motion quilt! I'm still mastering pushing the pedal and not stitching my finger to my fabric, LOL. 

What's in a name?

What's in a name? The name of a fabric that is. I have never been a name follower in any fashion or industry. I'm a simple girl. If it's comfortable or fits the purpose, it's my choice. I try to be unbiased. Can you see my Libra side showing? I really do weigh my options.

I will admit to loving sales. Craving bargains. I don't buy anything just to have it, except fabric for my stash. Recently Hancocks was having a great sale (Is there ever a bad fabric sale?) and I went in with a list of fabrics for some fundraising projects for my daughter. We needed fabric to make hot-cold bags, their slipcovers and complementing fabric for hostess aprons. We needed sale, closeout, aka bargains.

The bolts were piled on long tables. My hand stroked them lovingly (Hello! My name is Heidi and I am a fabric addict!). Florals and stripes were pulled to find colors that would mix and match enough to look nice. It was a quest for beauty and potential sales.

We loved this floral. It has a great mix of colors making it super easy to coordinate a stripe and extra appealing to a potential buyer.

And this stripe. Bright and cheerful.

And this floral. Perky and dark enough to not show stains from messy cooks.

It wasn't until I had my pattern drawn and ready to lay out that I noticed I had picked up some 'designer' fabric by M'Liss Rae Hawley. I love her fabrics but sadly they are not usually in my budget. I want fabric for under $5 a yard and preferably $3 or less. I have 2 kids in college, so my budget is wrecked, LOL. The Hot House by Top Drawer isn't a designer but it is named. Most of my fabrics just have colored dots on the selvage.

When I started following quilting blogs, I started tripping over people raving over the various designers collections. I admit they are pretty and it must be gratifying to buy a group of fabrics and have them all coordinate without any effort. But .... my budget doesn't allow me to spend $10 a yard. And I'm fine with that. Less pressure to be amazing you know?

I have to say though, the M'Liss fabric is fabulous. It may come from Hancocks - a budget price fabric store rather than a fabric boutique, it is still great fabric.The colors are vivid. The thickness and texture is spot-on for what I need. I may have to relax my budget to include more of her lovely creations. Hindsight, I wish I had noticed at the store and searched for more of her fabrics on sale.

You can explore her story here ... M'Liss Rae Hawley

Do you buy collections of fabrics? Favor any particular designer or line? I can feel the upscale fabric world pulling me to the yummy side ... LOL.

Have a great day! Go create!
   

My Stitching Corner

Welcome to  my sewing corner!

I dream of a light filled sewing room or studio. Until my Sewing Fairy Godmother appears with her magical wand, I will stitch happily in a corner of my bedroom. I'm delighted to have a permanent place to create. For years I had to transport machines from my closet to the dining room table and back again each day. This is a great improvement.

My husband encouraged me to find a sewing cabinet last year. Craigslist to the rescue! I found this baby is amazing condition from a sweet lady that was moving to Maine and needed to reduce her furniture. The machine hole does not fit any of my machines, so they sit on top for now. Has anybody ever altered the hole? Pros and cons? I think we can do it ....

You can see my newest lady, a Janome Horizon 8900 in the first photo way up above. It looks stuffed full of a king size quilt - in reality, I had plenty of room to turn and spin the quilt. It is an incredible machine. I also have an 80's model Babylock Ellure and a Brother 1034D serger.

I feel so blessed to have three machines for my creative yearnings. I sew clothes, crafts, quilts, whatever takes my fancy. My kids have all enjoyed having an in house seamstress to mend, alter or create their clothes or costumes. I guess we never outgrow the desire for custom clothing. I know I have never outgrown the need to create beautiful and functional items.

At one time I had more machines and a huge cabinet full of fabrics but a house fire in 2010 destroyed our little world. My Babylock was in the shop and survived but I lost 3 other machines, including a hand me down from my grandmother in law. I bought the serger online while still living in a hotel. The Janome was my reward this year for surviving and rebuilding. Now to rebuild my treasure of textiles. I miss the old stacks of fabric.

 My current fabric stash lives in a big tote bag right now. I am keeping an eye out for a cabinet that will hold yards and yards of textiles AND fit into my little space. I will succeed eventually. My fabric addiction has grown since this pic but it may not be wise to post the evidence where my family could see my truth. They know I have a problem. They humor me by looking the other way when I carry arms full of bolts to the cutting table, asking for a yard of each fabric. There is no 12 step program for my problem.

Thank you for stopping in to check out my corner! I am going to do my best to link to Ellison Lane and The Sewing Loft's Studio Spotlight Tour. Have a fabulous day!  :)

AWOL camera

When it rains, it pours, right? First my camera was misbehaving. Now it is gone. I have no idea where it disappeared. Instead of accepting that it was pretty trashed anyway, I keep looking for the crazy thing. It wasn't working but I insist I find it before replacing it?!? My brain is shot! I think the Oklahoma humidity and heat have melted my common sense. 

And since a blog is a boring without pictures .... I haven't been posting. I'm still stitching but no show and tell for me  : (

I will start shopping for a new camera tonight. It won't be fancy. I just kill them anyway, LOL. Please feel free to share what you use for pictures. I need a camera. Need! School is going to start in another week and I want to carve out sewing time for myself. 

Joy of joys - I am done homeschooling children! Wahoo!! I love teaching my kids. I really do but I'm happy to wrap it up. The last two are enrolled in college. I will now be relegated to homework assistance. I can do that ;) 

Is your summer winding down yet?  

Happy Father's Day!!

Ugh! I am having problems with my camera! In bright light, it gets a weird hue to pictures. It seems that the shutter(?) is too open, letting in too much light and glare. I'm debating having it fixed versus buying a new camera. There is a plethora of inexpensive digital cameras out there now. Maybe one of my kids can thump a solution into the camera? LOL

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there. All the Moms standing in as Dads. All the grandparents raising children. I'm blessed with a wonderful husband who adores me and our kids. Sadly, I lost my father several years ago to cancer. If you have the opportunity, give your Dad an extra tight hug for me. 

Have a great day!! 

Decorative stitching brightens the day

Life is messy, clean it up. Clothes get holes, sew them up. I have been doing more mending. This time I sewed a scrub top of my daughters. I made her several scrub tops a few years ago. They have ties at the waist and are more fitted to be feminine. As a nurse, I loved the jammy feel of scrubs but disliked the boxy shape. I worked labor and delivery, so we wore hospital scrubs - no opportunity to personalize. My oldest daughter works at an optometrist office and can have fun with her work clothes.

The waist tie had opened the side seam. I sewed that seam easily, then pondered how the once gorgeous fabric was starting to look faded. It needed a little pick me up. And I admit I am eager to use every decorative stitch on my machine. I'm goofy that way :)

I noticed part of her bottom hem was coming loose .... yeah you know I did it. I picked a flower stitch and went around the bottom of her shirt. I used a vibrant purple color - her favorite.

The trim on this shirt was pink but the background was a pale purple color. I picked this stitch because if you let your eyes blur a bit, gaze from a distance, it kind of looks like a butterfly which is the pattern of the fabric. It pleased me to see how this simple line of decorative stitching brightened up the whole shirt. It's a reminder for me to not overlook the details or the decorative stitches just sitting on my machine waiting to beautify fabric.

Roll that hem!!

My chore list had sewing on it, yeah!! My daughter is a member of The International Order of Rainbow for Girls. It's a youth group through the Masonic family of lodges. Amazing group! They teach leadership, service, speaking and best of all, responsibility. This weekend is Oklahoma's Grand Assembly when the girls from all over the state get together to compete, practice their skills and install the next group of officers to lead them for the next year. 

It also means I have at least one store bought dress to alter. Ugh. But this years dress is really nice. It's well made with boning and lining. My daughter was delighted to find it also has POCKETS!!! She hasn't had a formal with pockets. I laughed because my dog show friends will pay dearly to have pockets fitted into the dresses they wear to compete their dogs. You gotta love a formal with a pocket full of dried liver - Blech!

I cut almost 4 inches off the bottom and hemmed the skirt. Then hemmed the net underneath. Then underneath that, I cut 4 inches off the lining and hemmed that. It's a full skirt, about 12 feet around! Lots of hemming. Lots and lots :) 

Enter my amazing super sewing machine, the Janome 8900. My previous machine probably had a rolled hem foot but I never discovered it. I sat down today, pulled out my owners manual, found the correct page, found the foot and tested it on a scrap of fabric. 

The Heavens opened and angels sang!!! It worked! This may sound nuts but to someone who has struggled for years to fold fabric twice over, super thin and sew it properly .... this rolled hem foot has revolutionized my life. It simplified a task I have struggled with on formals for over 15 years. I sewed my own wedding dress 28 years ago and it didn't even have a rolled hem. I bet I would cringe at some of the workmanship. But I made a beautiful dress on an old Kenmore sewing machine that cost about $100. I am still proud of the accomplishment.

Check out the finished hem. I love it! I had hiccups along the way but overall it's a great hem. All sewing should be this joyful.