Taking an extended blog break . . .

It's been a couple of months since I've posted here, but I have not abandoned my blog . . . I just haven't had time or opportunity to keep up to date due to our current kitchen remodeling project and other issues.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get caught up and back to posting on a regular basis again in January . . . until then, I'll upload sewing project photos on Flickr and I'll share links on Twitter if I can get to it.

I do have several Christmas gifts in process, but can't share them now anyway.

Merry Christmas!

How I spent National Sewing Month

Earlier this month I put together a few ideas for this year's National Sewing Month theme, Reuse, Remake, Restyle.

And what have I been doing all month?

In terms of quantity, not a whole lot. But in terms of quality, I'd have to say I've learned quite a bit.

Let me explain . . .

I wanted to reuse embroideries from a project I finished a couple of years ago (see my previous blog entry for details). I've managed to take all the pieces apart, but have yet to come up with an alternate use. And I won't get around to that before the end of September.

So this is yet another UFO . . .

On the other hand, most of my sewing time this month has been devoted to working on fitting the bodice for McCall's M5138. I'm working on this blouse as part of an online class offered by PatternReview - All About Set-in Sleeves and Armholes. As I have come to learn, getting a sleeve to fit correctly depends a lot on having a well-fitting bodice and armhole. Here's where I am on version #3 of my muslin:

Trust me, it fits me better than it fits my dress form, but I'm not ready to share those photos outside of the class just yet. I will try to remember to write about this project in detail later, but let me say right now that this class is wonderful and I have already learned a good deal about analyzing how the mockup fits and what needs to be changed to make it work on my body. I've finally reached the point where I can start to fit the sleeve, so am hoping to be able to report more progress very soon. And maybe a real, wearable blouse, not just a practice garment.

If you want to learn more about sewing garments that fit, I highly recommend the online classes at PatternReview. This is the second online class I have taken this year and I feel they are definitely worth every penny.

So that's how I've spent my National Sewing Month this year . . . how about you?

September is National Sewing Month

The theme for National Sewing Month 2009 is Reuse, Remake, Restyle. In keeping with that theme, I have a couple of projects I'd like to tackle this month, though I don't know if I'll enter the contest.

First, I've already begun breaking down this cover I made in 2006 for the embroidery arm carrying case for my sewing machine:

I really like the embroidered Sewing Ladies (embroidery designs from Loralie Designs), which form the pockets on the carrying case cover, but since I rarely take the embroidery arm anywhere, this cover has spent most of its life folded up in a drawer. That's a waste of pretty embroidery, in my opinion, so I decided to take it apart and put the pieces to better use.

I'm thinking that the individual embroideries might be used to decorate some sort of a storage basket in my sewing room . . . or they may end up on the cover of a laptop sleeve. We'll see.

Next, I need a carry-all of some sort for walking and taking the Pesties to the Bark Park. I've been using my Westie Sassy Bag. By the time I stuff it full of leashes, wipes, doggie bags, my wallet and cell phone, it's just too heavy on my shoulder. Plus there isn't room for a water bottle for me or the dogs. So I'd like to make a larger bag with an adjustable strap to go around my waist. I have a training treat bag from Outward Hound, but it isn't large enough for all my stuff, either. I don't want a fanny pack, so I'm still working on the exact design. I plan to reuse the pile of freebie nylon tote bags we've received from various charities overs the years for raw materials - zippers, handles, etc.

I've signed up for an online sewing class at PatternReview.com, All About Set-in Sleeves and Armholes, and I have a few unfinished items and new projects simmering in the planning stage, so I should be plenty busy sewing this month.

Stitch N' Pitch at Citi Field: Sept 21 Mets vs Braves

From the Stitch N' Pitch home page:

"What is Stitch N' Pitch?
Stitch N' Pitch brings together two wonderful traditions — Baseball and the NeedleArts. Come to a ball game and knit, crochet, embroider, cross-stitch and needlepoint. Sit among friends, family and colleagues and cheer on your favorite Baseball Team. Beginners, intermediate and experts are all welcome."

The Mets' 3rd annual Stitch N' Pitch event is scheduled for Monday, September 21 @ 7:10 pm vs. Atlanta Braves. The Group Ticketing page at mets.com contains info about this year's event at Citi Field. The ticket price for Promenade Reserved seating is $15 and all participants will receive a Citi Field Inaugural Season Scroll Pen (with advance ticket purchase).

I attended last year's Stitch N' Pitch at Shea Stadium. Most of the emphasis is on knitting and crochet, which makes sense since most projects using these techniques are very portable, and TNNA, the force behind this program, is a trade organization for professionals in the knitting, crochet, cross stitch, embroidery, needlepoint and embellishment industries.

I'm not sure if I'll be attending this year -- last year's game was so cold and rainy we actually left early. I'll probably wait to decide to go or not a few days before the game.

More information about Stitch N' Pitch:

• Buy Tickets to Stitch N' Pitch at Citi Field from local shops in CT, NY and NJ and direct from mets.com
• Follow Stitch N' Pitch on Twitter
• Shop for Stitch N' Pitch merchandise

UPDATE -- Post-game links & reports:

• Celebrating Yarn at Citi Field > Lion Brand Yarn blog post

Ugga Bugga in my Garden

I thought this was a dragonfly flitting around my head in the garden the other day -- until it landed on our deck:

Here's a closer view:

Creepy! Spent the rest of the day shrieking, ducking and covering every time a flying insect passed by my head. And feeling itchy.

Meanwhile, the garden was a total disappointment this season (much like the Mets -- but we won't go there). Just about everything drowned and rotted.

Everything that is except for the cherry tomatoes. For some reason these are virtually indestructible. Here's one day's pickings:

The basil is also doing well too, so we've had lots of cherry tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella salads this summer.

The last surviving zucchini plant managed to produce two more smallish squashes, but they are not very pretty to look at. I'll probably shred them and make one last zucchini bread, then call it a season.

And like most of this year's Mets -- hopefully we'll be ready to start again next Spring.

Socializing SewAmazin

I have succumbed to peer pressure and have recently set up an account on Twitter. I'm not sure how useful it will be or how often I'll post an update since I don't have a texting plan for my cell phone (which means it costs me $0.20 per text). For now, I'm following a few people via the web. I can send updates by text from my phone, but I'm not receiving them. I'll be tweeting and following via the web.

If you'd like to follow me, search for sewamazin. I'm still poking around and trying to understand how it all fits together, but eventually I'll post updates. I've added a Twitter widget to my blog sidebar for my tweets.

I'm also on Facebook, but I'm limiting my Friends to people I know in real life, mostly family and friends, with a few exceptions for people I've previously exchanged emails.

Please don't be offended if I ignore a friend request on Facebook. I think I'll probably use Twitter for more general socializing -- if that makes sense; so look for me there instead of Facebook.

Late Summer Update

I'm still here, still sewing a little this summer. I just haven't had enough time for blogging. I hope to be back on a regular basis in September.

Just so I don't forget any projects, I'm making a quick list of some things I've finished lately but haven't blogged.

Simplicity 4589, View E - Tops: I started these back in May and finished two trial versions. Thought I'd have time for more this summer, but these two were all I got around to. They fit okay, good enough for around the house. The best point I remember from working on these is that I used a special gathering foot for making the gathers at the neckline and top of the sleeve, and a narrow hem foot for the sleeve and bottom hems.

Simplicity 4149, View B - Tunic: I moved on to this tunic style top in June. I like this top, but there are some problems with the shoulders on this trial version.

Simplicity 4366 - Pants, View C & E for the Build Better Pants Class on PatternReview in June - still no photos, but I did finish the shorter version as capri pants well enough to wear at home. The longer pants (View E) are done, but still need to be hemmed.


Cool Ties for the Mahwah Marine Moms: I've been working on these on and off all summer and just finished up a batch of about 40 ties, which brings this summer's total to either 95 or 100 . . . I lost count.

Lauren's Quilt: Late July I decided I had to make a simple quilt for my niece's 3rd birthday, so I could get some more quilt-making practice. Lauren recently got a big girl bed and she loves purple, so I used lots of different purple shades and patterns. The quilt design is from BH&G Quilts and More magazine, Winter 2008 issue, and is basically 36 10-inch squares with a solid back and pieced binding. I quilted in the ditch and then used machine embroidery to quilt each square using designs from Anita Goodesign's Quilter's Paradise collection. The batting is bamboo/organic cotton blend. You can see more photos of the quilt in this Flickr slideshow.

Emily's neck pillow: I made this for my niece Emily's 6th birthday in early August. The letter E is a machine embroidered Curlz appliqué alphabet monogram design purchased from Embroidery Boutique.

Richie D's Car Keychain: This was a belated birthday for nephew's 3rd birthday in July. The in-the-hoop machine embroidery design is from Embroidery Library.

I stitched this design earlier this year as an appliqué on a shirt for nephew Joseph

That catches me up to date on finished projects.

I've signed up for two more classes at PatternReview - All About Set-in Sleeves and Armholes begins in September, and Make a Skirt Muslin begins in October. I hope to finally figure out why my sleeves alway seem wonky in the first class, and the skirt muslin class is recommended as a prerequisite for Make a Pants Muslin which I hope to take in the future to figure out my pants fitting issues.

Summer Update & Blog Holiday

Not much sewing has been accomplished since mid-June, for various reasons. This post is a semi-random list of what has been going on around here, just so it doesn't look like my poor blog has been abandoned.

Early last month I was working on finishing two pairs of pants from the PatternReview class, which I haven't posted about yet. The class was very good and I learned a lot about finishing techniques and upgrades for pants.

At the end of June, I took a quilting class on paper piecing at the Cozy Quilt Shoppe. This class was really good, too, and I enjoyed making a pair of paper pieced leaves, but I haven't had a chance to finish them yet. The Bahama Breeze Quilt I want to make uses this technique and I took this class so that I could be sure I understood how to do it correctly. At some point I'll post about the class . . .

I'm continuing to work intermittently on Cool Ties for the Mahwah Marine Moms.

In June, I found this vintage toy sewing machine at the Scranberry Coop:

I don't know much about it yet other than it is old and I really like the color. I also brought home an old sewing company stock certificate and a pile of old thread spools.

By the beginning of July, the weeks of rain in May and June had produced more weeds than veggies in my garden, so when we finally had a few dry days in a row my energies were focused on removing them while the ground was damp and soft enough to get most of the roots out.

The color of the perennials in our garden have been especially vibrant this year:

see all my 2009 garden pix here

Earlier this month we attended our first Brooklyn Cyclones game at Keyspan Park in Coney Island:

see all my Cyclone pix here - taken with my LG Chocolate, excuse the blurries

The Cyclones defeated the Aberdeen Ironbirds. Since the Mets have been floundering this year, it was nice to watch a team with a winning season. Go Cyclones!

A few days later, we went to Citi Field for the second time this season to see the Mets win against the Reds. It was lunch box nite, and all fans (not just the kids) got souvenir lunch boxes. We arrived super early for the game and wandered the stadium as much as we could. Our seats were in the Promenade Club level along the first base line.

The Pesties (my new name for Keli & Penny, our Westie and Wauzer dogs) have been squabbling and fighting with each other on and off for several weeks. It has not been entirely pleasant around here and we still haven't figured out what may have changed their previously friendly relationship. This photo is from mid-May and they were actually napping side by side; lately they hardly want to be in the same room together, although they will play and take walks together. We have been working on training and exercise to modify their behavior, so that has taken quite a bit of time and energy (physical and emotional) away from my sewing. I think we are making progress . . .

Anyway, that's about the long and short of it. I hope to post about the pants and quilting classes sometime soon, and I have a few projects I'd like to get to before the summer is over.

I'm just not sure when I'll be able to post anything new, so I'm declaring this a Blog Holiday for the balance of the summer. I hope to be back by September for National Sewing Month.

2nd Blogoversary

Today is my 2nd Blogoversary -- it's been two years since I started posting about my sewing projects here on Blogger.

Why do I keep this blog? This is where I get to "show and tell" my sewing and needleart projects and experiences, kind of like my virtual scrapbook. It's surprising to me how many different types of sewing projects I've attempted in just the past year.

I'm not trying to teach anyone how to do anything -- I'm not accomplished enough to do that. As an experienced beginner at just about everything, I'm just trying to share what I'm working on and how I'm doing it and maybe inspire someone else or get some feedback and advice for myself. I'll continue to share links to instructions and supplies or resources when I can find them.

What's the plan for the coming year? I have a long backlog of projects I'd like to get to very soon. I've been trying my hand at quilting a little, and have 2 or 3 quilts I'd like to work on this summer, one for my bed and a couple wall/throw quilts with a Westie theme.

I'm also making a concerted effort to learn more about constructing garments. In fact, I'm currently taking an online class at PatternReview.com, Build Better Pants. I've learned several new-to-me techniques, but now I think I need to go back and take the muslin class so I can work out more precise fitting issues. In addition to pants and shorts, I have about a dozen patterns for tops, blouses and jackets I'd like to make this year.

The focus will continue to be mostly about sewing projects, including more attempts at sewing garments, machine embroidery and quilting.

I will try to post one entry per week, but will not feel guilty about not blogging when I have nothing new to show. Even if I don't have time to write, I'll post photos to Flickr.

And if I don't have an entry here, I'll probably post something over at Keli's Korner~The Westie & The Wauzer.

-June 18, 2009-213 entries-
Read my first blogoversary post here

Cool Ties for the Mahwah Marine Moms~2009 Update

Last year (Summer 2008) I made cool ties for the Mahwah Marine Moms to send to the troops in Iraq, to help them keep cool in the desert heat, especially during the summer. The Moms shipped about 500 cool ties for the troops last year.

In April, Terry contacted me about making cool ties again this year. Even though some of the Moms' sons and daughters are finishing up their active enlistment, they are continuing to collect and send care packages for the Troops. In March they shipped 94 cases and later this year they will start another town wide [Mahwah, New Jersey] Support Our Troops Care Package Project in September.

This year, their contact is Chaplain Mike, who ministers to 7 units out of Indiana who are serving all over Iraq.

A few weeks ago (mid-May), Chaplain Mike shared what the conditions are like:

The average temperature this past week, has ranged between 115 and 126. It is so hot here, the toilet water is hot, the shower/sink (on cold) is hot. If you have eye drops in your pocket and use them it feels like you are squirting hot water in your eyes. Cold, bottled, water only takes about ten minutes to get to where you are drinking hot water. When the wind blows, and it is 120+ you feel like you have a blow dryer in your eyes and your eyes dry out. We had a sand storm blow through. What a pleasant experience to have it be 110 at night, with hard blowing sand and dust hit you in the face and get into your nose, mouth and eyes. When we wear our "battle-rattle" (warfighter body armor) you can add 5 - 10 degrees to the temp.

One of the reasons I haven't posted much lately is because I have been working on making more cool ties, as many as I can crank out this summer. I've been working on a few other projects, too, but instead of posting about them, I've spent that time making cool ties. I'll catch up on the blog eventually.

Last year, the deadline for shipping was in July, because the Mom's contacts were leaving after that and they needed a contact person in order to ship packages. This year they have Chaplain Mike for a contact through the summer, so I'll try to match my effort from last year. My plan was to make 20 ties a month last summer; so far I've finished 55 (delivered 35 to Terry, 20 are ready to drop off) which keeps me on target for April, May and part of June. I just bought another 5 yards of fabric, which should yield about 50 more ties I hope to finish by August.

If you'd like to help make Cool Ties (also called Neck Coolers) or donate items for care packages for the troops, you can contact Terry by email at MahwahMarineMoms at yahoo dot com for more information. Instructions can also be downloaded from my Google site.

I've also embedded a Picasa Photo Album below showing how to make Cool Ties.

Cool Ties Instructions