Weekend Project: Reminiscing

God gave us memories, that we might have roses in December.

--J.M. Barrie, Courage, 1922

Well, another weekend has gone by unaccompanied by the happy hum of a sewing machine in our household, so I must content myself with remembering past projects. If you are ever looking for something completely silly, pointless and delightfully fun to sew - preferably with a child - you might want to check out this book:

John Murphy provides detailed instructions to make a handful of these creatures, and the inspiration to make many, many more! Here is one of his creatures, Genevieve:

And here is "Star", the Genevieve-clone that my 12-year-old niece made:

Believe it or not, even my two nephews allowed themselves to be talked into making these creatures. My younger nephew, unintentionally displaying both the sweet side of his personality and the all-boy-aggression, named his creature "Sergeant Blue Eyes". ;)

Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures of theirs. But, here are the 3 that I made by myself - they stand watch over my sewing room and never let me take myself too seriously.


If you think you might be interested, check out the official website, Murphy's Original Stupid Creatures. (You'll note that John Murphy has added the disclaimer that no one under the age of 13 may purchase a stupid sock creature from his web site, in response to the new consumer protection law mandating rigorous safety testing on all products for children.)

I hope you had more than just happy sewing memories to keep you company over the weekend, and actually got some sewing done! :)

Friday Confession

I haven't spent any real time in my sewing room for over a month... :(

I remember when I was a girl and summers were magical - open and free, full of uncommitted time to do whatever I wanted. Not so true, now that I'm an adult. This summer seemed even more frantically busy than the rest of the year.

Don't get me wrong - a lot of it was good stuff. Lots of special company, an exciting project that I'm not quite ready to "unveil" here, a great vacation...

But I find myself wishing that life would get back to "normal". I could use a dose of "uneventful routine" right about now. ;)

How about you? Do you have "dry spells" (or busy spells) when you just can't get to your sewing? If so, how long do they last and how do you cope? If not, how do you avoid them?

Photo credit: tawalker

In the Queue Wednesday

So, this project is a bit of a stretch for my sewing blog, but it's pretty much all I've got for you today. ;)

I've started to think about Christmas gifts. Each year I usually sew something for many of my friends and family members. This year, I think I'll weave. Halcyon Yarn has these kits for making waffle weave kitchen towels. It comes with the right amount of yarn in each of a set of coordinated colors and instructions.

Each kit makes 3 towels (17" by 28") and they have kits with different color palattes. So, if I can get people to team up in small groups and agree on colors, I can buy several kits and make enough towels for everyone!

How about you? Have you started thinking about Christmas yet? Will you be sewing any/many of your gifts this year?

Monday Morning Quarterback

Much virtue in herbs, little in men.

Benjamin Franklin

Poor Richard's Almanac

I'm still trying to get back into a normal routine after our vacation, and, sadly, I didn't make it into my sewing room this weekend. I did spend a little bit of time working on the herb garden that I am trying to grow this summer.

I used one of those plastic mini-greenhouse kits and started with seeds. Most everything sprouted within days - I was pleasantly surprised.

Not everything flourished. So far I haven't been able to get any rosemary to grow - that's very disappointing, as I love rosemary. Any my cilantro isn't doing that great (and I thought it was supposed to be easy to grow!):

But some things are thriving - like the thyme:

the peppermint:

and the sage and basil:

I'm looking forward to starting to cook with my own herbs! Do you grow culinary herbs? If so, what are your favorite ways to use them in your cooking?

Well, I hope your weekend was more productive than mine, sewing-wise. Please send me some good wishes for getting into my sewing room soon! :)

Vacation Photos: Day Five

On the last day of our trip, we decided to climb the Book Cliffs above Scout Lake. The lake was named for the boy scouts, who have a permanent summer camp along the bank of the lake. While there is a direct path to the cliff through the camp, climbers are encouraged to hike around, so as to not bother the boy scouts.

Our literature said that the path around the camp was "hit or miss" - but we soon discovered that the author was being generous! Yikes! Somehow landmarks like "pond", "cliff" and "tree" just aren't that useful when you are hiking in the woods, surrounded by lakes and mountain cliffs!

We wandered vaguely in the approximate direction of the cliff for a couple of hours - convinced that we were going to help some lucky boy scouts get their "wilderness rescue" badges! But, in the end, we found the specific cliff that we were looking for and enjoyed another great day of climbing. :)

Here is a photo of my Mom on "Gone With the Wind" (5.7).

And here is a shot of my parents at the base of the cliff, overlooking the lake.

Our climbs were serenaded by the shrieks of the boy scouts as they dove into the lake below us. (Apparently the water was cold!)

That night we packed up all our gear, and after one more delicious breakfast the next morning, we headed back to the Salt Lake City airport, and flights back to home and the "real world" - mentally refreshed and physically exhausted! ;)

Vacation Photos: Day Four

After a rest day, we were all eager to get back on the rock. For day 4, we decided to climb on the Scary Spice Cliff at Wall Lake. There were some cool "roofs to pull" (overhangs to get over). Here's a 2-shot sequence of my Dad getting over one of them:

One of the most fun routes on this cliff was Inside Scoop (5.9). Here I belay my Mom on the climb, while my Dad watches.


We had the cliff to ourselves all day long. And it was here that we had the only casualty of the trip - one of my approach shoes (a cross between a hiking shoe and a sneaker) split open. Mom used a sling and a carabiner to hold it together long enough for me to get back to the car.

As we hiked back to the car (looking forward to the hot tub that awaited us!) it was difficult to believe that we only had one day left of our vacation...

Vacation Photos: Day Three

Day three was a rest day. (Hey, we're not spring chickens anymore...) We got some pictures of the B&B where we were staying - the Woodland Farmhouse Inn. It was a wonderful stay - the house was beautiful and the innkeeper, Sheri, took such good care of us!

In the morning we browsed around the small town of Midway, Utah.

Our best stop was at the Midway Mercantile, an antique shop, where Norman, responsible for "Customer Service" according to his business card, took excellent care of us. He was nice enough to pose for a picture before we left:

We spent the afternoon in Park City, Utah. We visited my great-grandfather's gravesite and met up with my father's cousin, whom he hadn't seen in over 50 years!

It was a really nice day, and the rest left us ready to get back on the rock! :)

Vacation Photos: Day Two

For the second day of our trip, we decided to climb on the Good Medicine Wall at Ruth Lake. Our guide book neglected to mention one tiny detail about the hike in - the HUGE scree pile that we had to scramble up at the base of the cliff! If this doesn't scream "broken ankle", then I don't know what does...

Here's my husband starting up the climb named Sun Dog (rated 5.8).

And here's my Mom on the same climb:

The cliff was laid out to simultaneously keep us in the shade AND funnel wind down on us. We thought we were going to freeze to death! (That's why you are looking at pictures of climbers in jackets, not tank tops.) Other than the temperature, it was a great day - fun climbs and (amazingly enough) no broken ankles!

Vacation Photos: Day One

Hello! How has everyone been? I've missed being in touch and am happy to be back! :)

This week I'm going to post some pictures from our vacation. We flew from Florida to Salt Lake City and met my parents, who flew from Ohio, in the airport. The 4 of us shared a rental car and drove about an hour east, to Kamas, Utah, in the Unita Mountain Range. We stayed in a B&B for a week, mostly rock climbing cliffs in the Uintas. While Salt Lake City enjoyed summer temperatures in the high 90s and low 100s, we hiked and climbed in mid-70s at around 10,000 feet above sea level.

We got most of our climbing information from the book Uinta Rock by Nathan Smith and Paul Tusting. We generally went to cliffs where we could hike up the back side and hang a rope, before climbing the face.

During our first full day in Utah, we climbed at Picturesque Cliff. Here are my parents at the top of the cliff, preparing to hang the rope:

Here's a close-up of the anchors for a top-rope:

There was a perfect spot for picture-taking on a separate cliff to the side, so we got our most dramatic shots on the first day. Here I am climbing the arete (corner). (The bright pink top gives me away!)

And here's my Dad, near the top of the same climb:

My husband and I don't get out on real rock very often (very few mountains in Florida), so the first few outdoor climbs are always very intense (i.e., scary). But the rock was excellent and the climbs were a blast!

I hope everything has been well for all of you! I'm looking forward to catching up on your blogs...and I hope you don't mind a week of vacation photo posts. Hey, it could be worse - it could be a 2-tray slide show after dinner at our house! ;)

Talk Back Thursday

Thank you so much to BConky, Shannon, Annie, Ivalyn, Uta, Gwen, Cindy, Sue, Becky, Summerset and Sarah for talking back to last week's question! Gwen of All My Seams asked what colors everyone likes to wear and why.

People split pretty evenly on whether or not they align themselves with a published color system. About half of the commenters referred to the Color Me Beautiful System (with 1 Summer, 5 Autumns and 1 Winter). The other half stressed variety - basing their color choices on their current mood or job, or the season. A few people talked about how their color preferences have changed over time.

The thing that was true across the board was that people know what they like and are passionate about color! :)

As far as specific colors go, pink didn't fare so well in the tally, but I was intrigued by how many people called out red as making them feel powerful, energetic and happy. I may have to give it a try and put on some red when I'm anticipating a challenging day...

Thanks again, everyone! As always, I loved reading your stories!

So, I won't be posting for a couple of weeks - I'll miss you and look forward to being back. In the meantime, happy sewing to everyone!

Photo credit: kalandrakas

In the Queue Wednesday

This week's queue has a different kind of project - packing for our summer vacation! We're off to Kamas, Utah for some rock climbing in the Uinta Range.

After tomorrow's "Talk Back Thursday" post, I'll be "off the air" for the next couple of weeks, but I'll have a surprise for you shortly after I get back, and I haven't forgotten about the "How Much Fabric?" tops table that I promised everyone!

Don't worry, I'll get to it! It's in the queue... ;)

Photo credit: Muffet

Friday Confession

I don't know about you, but I've really been enjoying the guest questions that have been running here for the last month or so. Of course, it's nice to get a break from having to come up with my own "confession" each week. But more than that, there have been some really interesting questions that have brought out a lot of wonderful stories and useful information!

Today's guest question is from Gwen of All My Seams. Gwen would like to know about your choice of colors - what do you wear and why?

I'd like to add to her question by asking about schemes - do you subscribe to any particular scheme for finding your best colors? For example, do you use the season scheme where people are classified as being either a Spring, Summer, Winter or Fall?

Personally, pink I like pink warm pink and bright pink colors. ;)

How about you? We'd love to hear how you think about colors and color schemes! :)

Photo credit: tiny_packages

Talk Back Thursday

Thank you so much to Cindy, Shannon, Summerset, Meredith, Lois K, Elaina and Pamela D for sharing their stories with me and Cindy last week! Cindy asked to hear stories about the oldest pieces of fabric that people have in their stashes. I really recommend that you read these stories first hand (here) - they are very cool!

I'll try to tempt you with just a few details... The fabric ages ranged from 20 years old to 90 years old! The stories carried wonderful memories of special ocasions (like a wedding), adventures (such as a young Navy wife in Sicily), special places of the kind that are getting more and more scarce these days (an independent fabric store, a local fabric mill), and, most of all, special people in our lives (family and friends)!

Most of those pieces of fabric are still waiting for just the right pattern - but Cindy used her fabric to make an earth day project - grocery bags. You can see her tutorial for this project on her blog, Learn2SewFlorida, here.

Reading the stories reminded me that sewing is more than just the clothes that we make - it colors our whole lives.

Thank you to everyone for the wonderful stories! :)

In the Queue Wednesday

As I mentioned last week, my two nieces came to visit for the Fourth of July, and number one of their wish list was a trip to Joann's so that they could pick out new outfits for me to make for them. The 8-year-old actually asked for a repeat of a pattern that I've made for her before. She calls this her wedding dress:

Because, after all, an 8-year-old can never have too many wedding dresses! ;)

This time she picked a shiny pink satin and a sparkly pink tulle:

The first time we went for the traditional white... Here she models it (pre-hemmed):

Not sure exactly when, but don't worry, I'll get to it. It's in the queue! ;)

Weekend Project: Oldest "Fabric" in Stash

Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends.

~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

On Friday, Cindy of Learn2SewFlorida posed a guest question. She asked to hear stories about the oldest pieces of fabric in people's stashes. So far, we've heard some wonderful stories and if you haven't read the comments to that post yet, I highly recommend it! (You can read the stories here.)

So, I've only been sewing for 9 years, and I don't really have any special stories of long-term residents in my stash. But I remembered that I do have a very special textile-based treasure that has been with me for about 30 years. A dear friend in high school made a peasant blouse for me and decorated it with beautiful needlework of her own design...

Needless to say, this blouse will be with me for the rest of my life. Beyond the undeniable beauty of the handiwork, the beauty of her friendship shines strong and powerful. :)

If you have a wonderful story to go with the oldest piece of fabric in your stash, please share it with me and Cindy in the comments to my Friday post. If you'd rather share it on your blog with photos, then let me know and I'll add a link in my "Talk Back Thursday" post next week.

Happy Sewing to everyone! :)

Friday Confession

Today's guest question is from Cindy of Learn2SewFlorida. She would like to know more about your stash. In particular, she asked if you would tell about the oldest piece of fabric in your stash and the story behind it. I need to think about this one. But I'll add my story to the comments too. In the meantime, we're both looking forward to reading yours! :)

Photo credits: vintagefairytale, normanack, jbcurio and geishaboy500.

Talk Back Thursday

Thank you so much to Lisa Laree, Shannon, Mamafitz, Faye Lewis, Gwen, Uta, Cindy, Elaina, CarlaF, Karima and Sarah for talking back last Friday! It was another guest question, and Gwen asked how people feel about natural versus synthetic fabrics.

Many of the people who expressed a strong preference voted for natural fibers, such as linen, silk, wool, cashmere, cotton, rayon and bamboo, over synthetic fibers. The most commonly cited advantages included: easier to sew, easier to press, breathable and cooler in hot weather. Uta also pointed out that natural fibers are “greener” and age better than synthetics.

But it wasn’t a completely one-sided chorus. Several people appreciate blends – such as a touch of polyester or lycra with cotton – and others pointed out that there are certain types of clothes that pretty much require synthetics, such as bathing suits. A couple of “pros” to synthetics were called out as well – such as being wrinkle resistant and coming in a wide variety of colors and prints.

Finally, there were a few folks who don’t have a strong preference either way. For example, Cindy enjoys working with all kinds of fabrics, CarlaF will buy a fabric if she likes the way it feels, looks and it seems easy to work with, regardless of the content, and Elaina keeps an eye out for bargains.

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to talk back to us! :)

Photo credit: net_efekt

In the Queue Wednesday

How do I let myself get talked into these things? My mother-in-law and her two great-granddaughters just spent a few days with us, and practically the first words out of the girls' mouths when I saw them was, "Aunt Gwen! Can we go to the fabric store?"

The older one, 12, picked the same pattern that we made together last summer - the top featured on the left of this Simplicity pattern:

Last year she and I made it together in a stiff cotton - pink with angels and sparkles. (She also made the shorts that she's wearing in this picture!)

This year she selected a bright blue polyester with sparkles. We got quite a bit of it done over the weekend...

All I have left to do is add the trim - a strip of silver sequins along the bodice. Not sure how I'm going to attach it - I'm afraid the machine needle will shatter the sequins. :(

Next week I'll show you what the 8-year-old picked out. I haven't started that yet...but, don't worry, I'll get to it. It's in the queue! ;)

Weekend Project: Fabric Scraps and Fireworks

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.

~Abraham Lincoln

Happy (American) Independence Day! Our house was full of people to celebrate, and I accidentally discovered a wonderful way to use up your fabric scraps. All it requires is a couple of 8-year old girls and about 5 pounds of fiberfil! Mix thoroughly with a sewing machine and... voila!

Pillows! Lots and lots of pillows! (Note: a key component of this plan involves sending the pillows home with the girls at the end of the day!)

And here we are enjoying the fireworks from the best seat in the house:

I hope you and your family had a wonderful weekend! :)

Friday Confession

This week we have another guest question from Gwen of All My Seams. Gwen would like to know your opinions on natural fibers vs. synthetics; specifically, which you prefer to use and what you think are the major pros and cons of each.

Once again, I can match her question with a bit of a confession. As you have probably noticed, my sewing isn't very sophisticated - sundresses and Hawaiian shirts tend to use a lot of cotton prints! ;)

When I made Susan's wedding dress, I did insist on real silk instead of something man-made. (I was allowed to insist, because as part of our wedding gift to them we bought the fabric.) Interestingly, as an engineer she was a bit "put out" by my insistence that natural is better than man-made. That caught me by surprise!

I did just take my nieces (12 & 8) to Joann's and we ended up with a lot of polyesters from their Casa Collection - you know, shiny, sparkly and slippery! Yikes! (Thank goodness I have a serger!)

So, how about you? What do you like to sew with and why? Will you use most anything or are you more discriminating? Gwen and I are looking forward to learning what you think! :)

Photo credit: Sukanto Debnath

Talk Back Thursday

Thank you so much to BConky, Cause, Donna, Elaina, Lindsay T, Mamafitz, Summerset, Gwen, Elizabeth, Kathy, Cindy and Claire S for talking back to me and Kathy! Kathy asked when people are able to fit their sewing into their lives.

I think the best overall summary is that EVERYONE is BUSY and each person does the best she can to find those moments that fit into her life... Some prefer sewing in the mornings and tend to make mistakes if they try to do too much sewing in the evenings. Others only sew at night, because they are interrupted too much during the day. Some prefer weekends, while others primarily sew during the week.

Cause described the system that she uses to space her sewing out over 30-45 minute blocks of time that she can fit into her evenings after work. She has figured out how to divide the whole process of sewing a single garment into stages (kind of like "bite-sized chunks"). If you are struggling to find a way to fit sewing into your life, check out her system (here)!

This reminds me of a tip that I read once for those times when you are splitting your sewing across multiple sessions. The author recommended that you always end one session by doing all the prep work for the next session. For example, even if you don't have time to start sewing in your current session, take the time to fill the bobbin and thread the machine. Similarly, if you don't have time to sew the hem, at least mark it and/or pin it up. The idea is that, if the prep work is done, it'll be easier to get up and running and be productive during your next session. In addition, the author argued that if the prep work is already done, you'll be less likely to procrastinate picking up your project again! Does anyone do this? (I try to.) What do you think?

So, back to your answers to Kathy's question, I guess it just goes to show that sewing is our passion and no matter how busy we are, we find a way to do the things that we love! :)

Thanks again, everyone! :)

Photo credit: John-Morgan

Questions and Answers

The most important questions in life can never be answered by anyone except oneself.

--John Fowles

Luckily, I've recently been asked a few slightly-less-important questions that I CAN answer for you. ;)

On my most recent "How Much Fabric?" series table (dresses), Kathy asked for the pattern number for the Vogue (full-skirted) shirtdress (that needs the maximum yardage in 45 in width fabric).

Answer: It is Vogue 8577.

NancyK asked what I do for a living.

Answer: Somehow I don't think it will come as a surprise to anyone to learn that I crunch numbers for a living. More specifically, I am a Psychological Researcher and I design experiments, collect and analyze data, and write reports. My area of interest is the effective use of technology in education and training.

Someone (anonymous) asked why I don't have sizes smaller than 6 in my table, and in particular she needs help for size 2.

Answer: Very few of the hundreds and hundreds of patterns that I have found so far include size 4, and NONE of them include size 2. I haven't included the size 4 numbers because there were so few patterns that I don't trust the data to be representative. For example, in the dress table, where the size 12 average is based on 344 patterns, I only had 35 size 4 patterns. I'm sorry - all I can suggest is to use the size 6 figures (and have a little extra fabric) or only buy fabric when you have a specific pattern in your hand.

NancyK also mentioned that she finds estimating for dresses a lot more difficult than estimating for pants, because of the wide variety of types of dress styles.

Response: You're not kidding! I was really blown away by the variety in styles and fabric requirements while I was populating the dress table! In fact, I put more than twice as many patterns into this table as any of the others, just to try to deal with that variability (to make the averages stable).

The only perfect solution, of course, is to have the actual pattern that you plan to make in your hand when you purchase the fabric. My main table is most helpful if you have a concrete idea of the style that you plan to make. If you're fuzzy on that, then I hope that my "safety margin" table will help by letting you know the impact of adding different amounts to the average (say 1/2 yard versus 1 yard).

Speaking of variability, I'm expecting a similar challenge with the tops table, so it may take another week before I get it up. Sorry for the delay and thanks for your patience!

Thanks so much for your comments and your encouragement! This has turned into a big project and it means a lot to hear from you! :)

Photo credit: tj scenes