Back to Sewing

Well, it's been on again, off again with my sewing; but it's on because I need some positive "therapy".

I have Fibromyalgia and Sjogren's Syndrome both of which are Autoimmune illnesses.  Both have a lot of overlapping symptoms which include overwhelming fatigue, and constant all over pain in my joints and muscles.  In addition to the pain and fatigue, Sjogren's also causes dryness in your eyes, ears, nose, skin, mouth and even some internal organs.  Though I do have all of the above the worst of the dryness is the mouth which is sometimes dry and burning, and the eyes which feel like I got sandpaper in them. Today was a really bad day with yet another flare up so that even my hair hurt, and all sounds were amplified.  So, I went for my Physical Therapy, spent time in the warm water pool, picked up my meds, and after dinner went into my sewing room for some Sewing therapy.

Had to bring my sewing machine in the other day because the screw holding the needle in broke off and there was no way that it could be replaced.  So, today I cut out a few projects, and put everything that I needed together.  So, perhaps this weekend I'll pull out the machine I picked up at a garage sale for $10, and finish some projects.

Having everything together before you start sewing a project is like having all the ingredients together before you start a recipe.  You don't want to find out you are missing a key ingredient when you are halfway through a recipe and you have to run to the store.  The same with sewing.  Even though you can easily set aside a sewing project until you get the necessary "ingredient",  your momentum is lost.  So, a project that might have been completed that day, may languish for days, weeks or months before you start again.

So, tonight I'm sitting with two heat packs and trying to relax my muscles, then will take my muscle relaxers and hope they kick in and give me some relaxing sleep.  Looking forward to getting back my sewing momentum and posting what I've been doing.

Placing a Value on Your Sewing

This post started because I saw an article on Sew Mama Sew on Placing a Value on your Quilts .  After reading it and following all the links on the subject, I knew I wanted to keep this for future reference.

I am just finishing a quilt for my DIL's friends' son.  It's a TShirt quilt using his shirts from his 10 years as a cub and boy scout.  He just got his Eagle Scout award and this is his remembrance of his scouting journey.  Now, we had not discussed costs and I was unsure of what to charge.  I have quilted in the past; but only made it for special people: a quilt for my son from the shorts I made him the year he went to college.  A double wedding ring quilt I made with my sister Alice for my Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary.  And last year, the quilt I made for my granddaughter using 4" squares of knit fabric that I had machine appliquéd letters, numbers, and her name.

The first articles are on the subject of how We are Sew worth it.
The following articles are from Hunters Design Studio
Sew Worth it  and this

What's it Worth?and then this…

What's it Worth? A Bigger Picture 

and an invoice

The invoice in MS Word is here (you have to do the math and type it in) >> Sew Worth It – Word InvoiceTemplate

The invoice in MS Excel is here (does some math for you) >> Sew Worth It – Excel Invoice Template

And Molly Sparkles tells us that No Value Does Not Equal Free

And yet another article on The Worth of a Quilt by Quilts of a Feather detailing how she priced one of her beautiful quilts.  

Don't know if it will help me for this time, but it certainly is something to consider for the next time.  

Make the 10-Minute Tablerunner

I definitely need to make a few of these.

Sew to Speak: Petite Pack

Sew to Speak: Petite Pack
Morgan loved her Mom's bag.  I think this would be a perfect one for her to make for herself. 

Late night sewing...

Been making my heat packs lately. Don't know if it is because my fibromyalgia and back pains been re-occuring, or just the fact that it is getting colder. I call them my "warm hugs". I have made quite a few of these lately, even have a production line going. Some are for gifts, some to hopefully sell, some just for me. They really help with all my aches and pains, and sometimes I even have 3 of them going. I usually use them in the morning, at least once during the day, and before I go to bed. In fact, as I sit here now, I have one on my neck. Now though with the cold weather, I use them just so my fibromyalgia doesn't flare up, and to keep my muscles warm.

My chiropractor has some, and was interested in seeing what I make. I made a variety of my favorite sizes. I think the most versatile is the 8" x 30" one. This can be used for the neck, or the low back. You can even warm it up, and use it as a scarf before you go into the cold. My favorite is the shoulder one, it does the shoulders and upper back. I still need to tweak it so it can also be up around the neck.

All of the "warm hugs" are made with the inner liner of a rice/herb blend, and a removable outer cover. Since I use mine so much, I know the benefits of having a cover you can wash. Not pretty otherwise!!!  Here's some pics...... (updated January 1, 2010)

Also made a set of hand warmers. Jim's hands get cold a lot, so just this seems to help. Just 30 seconds in the microwave and he can hold it in his hands to warm them. Should also be good inside a glove or mitten. Did a pair of mittens with the heat pack in it; but it was a little bit too tight, so back to the drawing board.

Finally, made a infinity type scarf out of fleece and cotton. Saw the link at Infarrantly Creative . Did a little variation with a bias strip (which I made as a continuous bias strip....still perfecting how to do that easily) with some green and gold trim. The only thing was that I cut the fringes too wide, so I didn't think it layed (laid??) right. Going to recut it and see.

Halloween costumes

Well, the grandkids' costumes are finished, shipped and just got a webcam call before they went out trick or treating. They look adorable. I made the Morgan - the 7 yo's cowgirl outfit and the Tyler, the 4 yo's Spiderman. I entered them in the Pattern review contest, hopefully you'll be able to see the notes there. Here are pics of the costumes before I sent them.

Spiderman is first, complete with muscles. Fabrics used was what I had on hand: Cotton spandex, batting, beige stretch lining, ultrasuede scraps, red flannel backed vinyl. I have more details at Pattern review.com This is the full outfit.





Morgan wanted to be a cowgirl. I based the costume on the picture she sent me. I used a remnant, that's been around FOREVER, black suede fringe bought for 80% off, and pink fringe made from a garage sale ultrasuede remnant. Also lined it with dusty pink lining from my stash, and made a scarf from a remnant that was leftover from making a tablecloth. The boots were pull on - kinda like spats. Very cute.



Here's 3 yo Madison's costume...Cinderella (the one I didn't make) We got her costume from a friend - an awesome Cinderella
complete with tiara, purse, and 2 pair of shoes. I love to sew, but couldn't pass that up. I'd rather spend my time on something else for her.



It was really fun to make it for them, though being far away it was hard to figure out whether it would fit or not. It challenged my creativity. Now on to Christmas sewing.














.

Bathroom updating

Forgot to get a picture of the shower curtain and window valance I made; but it was made from an old pink sheet, and 2 different garage sale print fabric. Here's what I did with the leftover fabric.

This is a great update. The towels were from my son & dil's shower 15 years ago. They have sinced gone to the kids/guest bathroom. I just took leftover pieces and sewed them on to the bottom. Really looked cute.

Another plastic bag holder. Great for keeping the bags in the bathroom to line the trash can, for the disposable diapers. Leftover from the shower curtain and window curtain.

Head Bobber Stoppers

I just hate to be riding in the car with my grandkids and they fall asleep and their heads start bobbing. It hurts MY back and neck just to look at them in those positions where their head is down to their knees. Ouch!!

Well, when I went to Florida to visit 3 of them, I brought along the pillows that I cut and sewed for them at home. Their jobs were to help stuff, and I finished sewing them up. Here's one of them

Well, they loved them so much they were using them at home and forgetting to take them in the car. So, we got some more fabric and they helped sew this time. All 3 of them, ages 2, 3 and 7! The 2 and 3yos worked the pedal. I put it on the table and told them to "stop" or "go". Both of them were wonderful. The 7 yo actually did the sewing with my guidance. And, it was a lot easier for their little fingers to stuff the pillows. We just used fiberfill and stuffed until it felt comfortable.

The pattern for them was really easy. I just made a large C shape and cut it out of newspaper, then tweaked it until I liked it. I figured anything had to be more comfortable than having their heads hanging down. Even easier to make it is to draw the outline of the pattern on the top fabric. Place another fabric, same or different pattern stacked right side together- and cut a larger square around it - but not too close. Then, just sew on the marked line leaving a space about 4 inches on the top for turning. After sewing - then cut about 1/4" away from the stitching. This is much easier to do, no shifting. Try it.

It was so popular that I have to make another one for my DIL to use when she is traveling. The tool pattern was one we bought at Jo-Ann's for my grandson. The doggie patterned fabric was one I had at home, and the smiley face fabric was a garage sale purchase - 3 yards for 50 cents!

These were so popular, that I made 3 for our great grandkids. They used it the other day on a 3 hour trip to Chicago and Mom said they loved it. If you have kids, strongly consider making this. In fact, I'll be making more as gifts for traveling friends.

Plastic Bag Holders

My daughter in law wanted some holders since the one I made her many years ago had fallen apart. These were true refashion/recycling projects. The fabric were leftover sheet pieces I had in my stash, the white area was from some muslin bought at a garage sale (22 yards for $1!!!) and some trim which has to be at least 20 years old from my Mom's stash. Made several different sizes.

My 7 year old granddaughter made this when she visited us this summer. All fabrics are from garage sales. Even the pink webbed handle was a garage sale find. My granddaughter designed the bag - note the pocket at the corner. She even sewed it too (with grandmom's help) Don't you just love the fabric?

Recycled Sweater Mittens

Saw this at a garage sale. I had been looking for wool sweaters to felt (full) and told the lady that I had planned to make hats, bags, and mittens from them. She went inside and showed me a pair that she had. It was very cute; but I personally don't like how they don't match. I've already had some started, am making for my granddaughter in college. The ones in Florida don't really need it!!!

Chefs in the Kitchen

Chef Hats and Aprons made from Stash Fabric. All 3 were made with the same fabrics; but styled slightly different. The yellow fabric was part of an old sheet.

Baby Present

Mix and Match baby clothes for a baby shower.

Quilt made from knit swatches and bound with knit sashes.

Aprons and Chefs Hats for the Little Chefs

Today was spent at a funeral for my hubby's cousin. What with the early time we had to be up and on the road, the driving, sitting, standing, and visiting, I was exhausted and in pain by the time we got home. Plus the weather was in the 90s and hot and humid! In fact, I fell asleep on the way home and caught a half-hour nap. Then when we came home, took a pain pill, and snuggled up to my heat pack...like it wasn't hot enough out? So, after sleeping awhile, and having a light dinner, I started on my evening projects.

Last week, I had a friend who wanted to come over and refresh her sewing skills. Well, we decided to make an apron for her 4 yo daughter. I made one also for my 7 yo granddaughter, They both turned out really cute. This one was made for my granddaughter here in Illinois. It is reversible and the pics show both sides...

Well, I decided to make more aprons tonight for my Florida grandkids. It will be great for them to have when grandma comes down, and they can "help" me in the kitchen. And maybe even a chef's cap - just because!!!

My fabric was one I had picked up at a garage sale last week $2 for several pieces mostly cotton. The one I used was a blue with sailboats on it. After all they do live in FLA. I did it differently than the one last week. All 3 were made with the same fabrics; but styled slightly different. The yellow fabric was part of an old sheet. The red was also garage sale.

Sewing with the GrandKids

My grandson and granddaughter wanted to sew while they were in town for my son's wedding. They are 7 (girl) and 3 1/2 (boy) We sewed while their sister (2 yo) slept and mom and dad went to the ball game.

His was the leftover pieces from a blanket I made for him earlier this year. This was really getting creative, I even looked thru my "kids stash" (boxes of fabric scraps I've kept for the kids to create with) and came up with a long top hem piece from a sheet in a perfect construction yellow for the handles. He even wanted me to use a small 4 x 3 triangular piece, so I added it to more yellow fabric and created a pocket. Finally went thru my button stash, and found 2 adorable trucks to put on the ends of the handles. Really cute.

Refashioning

Since the clothing business I was in folded last year, I've done a bit of refashioning. One is turning a sweetheart mid length dress into a sleeveless top.

Another is just a simple shortening of a top, cutting just below the unattractive (on me) drawstring waist, and then sewing up the slit neckline to a more acceptable for me opening. A really simple fix, which is resulting in a top I can wear a lot.

Wedding Sewing

My youngest son got married just before Memorial Day. I was thrilled to make my granddaughters' dresses since they would be flower girls. Also made the ring bearer's pillow (with my grandson's help) and we had so much fun we made 3 - one for each of the grandkids.

Plus, I made my Mom's dress which was a beautiful print we got for $3.95 a yard. Mom has been sewing most of her life, and she is 92 yo. She looked beautiful in it.

Speaking of my dress, I did make 3 trials, 2 in fabrics from my stash, and one final one.

I altered the bride's dress, and under - bustled it. That took me longer to make than my dress did. Also, made the card bag, and a bib for the bride. That's right a bib - not an apron. She wanted to make sure her dress stayed clean, so bib it was.

As soon as I figure out how to do, I'll post pics.