I am not very frugal or thrify, but now apparently, no scrap is too small for me to save. These little flowers usually go on doorsigns, but I think these go on notecards or will be barrettes, once my test market - the big one and her friends - give me their feedback. The headbands have been a big hit, although one friend did tell me the elastic "itched like a sailor".
IDA MORGENSTERN: It's over, Rhoda. I've left your father.
RHODA: What happened?
IDA: We had a big fight.
RHODA: Does Pop know about it?
I love headbands these days. Not only the bear kind. These are adapted from all the headbands I have been seing around these days.
I also love the Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda, although when I went looking for an image of Rhoda, I was horrified to see that the lineup on NickatNight and TVLand now includes, Murphy Brown, Designing Women and Mad About You. I love these shows too, but I watched them IN COLLEGE.
My sewing maching has returned home. The new foot control is higher than my old one and is white plastic, so it looks like a bit orthopeadic and I am having trouble controlling the speed. I still think I will consider a new machine, sometime this spring. But in the meantime, I can get back to work.
I am working on a couple of wholesale orders and trying to build up my inventory for a show in April. I tried to involve the big one and the dad by asking their favorite fabric combinations. Ideally I should have a set collection, but that is so hard. I tried to start with five boy, five girl and five gender neutral. But after we decided on a few, I found some more forgotten fabric and wanted to add those as well. I decided to start with five of each and if there is time add the others.
I am also torn right now between just getting a bunch done and wanting to perfect some patterns I am working on. It is hard to spare the time to do the new stuff, but it is what I really like the best - that and buying the fabric.
sunny day
looking at the pretty fabric so I can forget that
my thermometer said -17 degrees, kind of day
I have been through a number of fabric organizational models. The most long lasting seems to be the pile. Currenty I am trying to use chip-board baskets from Ikea and sorting by color or fabric theme - oranges, Denyse Schmidt, cowboys, etc. But I buy more fabric than I keep up with, so pretty soon the baskets are buried under piles of the newer purchases and I end up having to haul everything back upstairs. I am also easily charmed by new fabric lines - currently the Heather Bailey line , new colors from Jennifer Paganelli and the Aunt Grace 15th anniversary line by Judie Rothermel. Heather Bailey and Jennifer Paganelli have terrific blogs too. It could also be true that I don't get much cleaning done because of all the craft blogs I love reading.
I have been sewing on this little machine nearly every day for the past year. My parents got it at an auction and had it refurbished for me. It came with all the attachments and the little instruction book still in its plastic envelope. It has served me well.
Sometime this summer, someone in my family, did something to the treadle. I was able to balance it back together and continue sewing.
Then in about October it began to take about three minutes of "warm up" sewing after each thread change to begin to sew correctly, but I continued on.
Then this last week the treadle began to sloooooow down. The machine sews for about thirty stitches, then stops stitching, so I have to pick up and shake the treadle to get it going for about thirty stitches more. Needless to say, it has slowed my production considerably, and about 1:30 this afternoon started to make me very cross.
I really want to think that I can get it fixed, but at what cost and how long will I have to be without it? What would the learning curve of a new machine be? I might be tempted to buy something fancy and grand, but deep down know I would be better off with another old tried and true machine. I have never sewn on another machine and maybe it could be so much better.
Back when I started selling my little handmade things, I used to hand stamp each letter of sheppard girls on the back of each item, one letter at a time. It was the part I dreaded most. It took so much time and made my hand tired, but getting a custom made stamp seemed like a big project, and probably a lot of money too. Finally, after a big order I came in, I decided to investigate a new stamp. $10! Man what a lot of time I wasted.
I should probably go get a new machine huh?
It is our last day of swimming lessons until the new session begins in January. The little one has the best teacher ever. She went from bouncing around on the steps of the pool saying "but you have to hold onto me the whole time...." to swimming a whole ten feet or so, all by herself. This teacher deserves a big silver statue, or maybe one of those vintage glass glitter ones. (She is getting a little journal)
During lessons each week the sweetest little girl, about 4 or 5 years old, comes to sit next to me and watch me sew while her brother has lessons. She was so interested in what I was doing, that I began making sure I had new projects each week.
We put together a little pile of fun art stuff and a little bird journal for her. She liked the birds best she said. So Merry Christmas to Brooke.
The blessing of having a sweet sick three year old on the couch with a fever, is that there is a lot of sitting around time available. So I was finally able to get my Etsy shop up and running.
Oh my goodness, did it take a long time. Maybe it gets easier. When I first tried to set up my blog, it almost made me cry, but things have gotten better here too, so I will hope for the best. Let me know if you see anything crazy, or have any suggestions. I am still not exactly sure what I am doing, but the crafting public seems to be a forgiving lot.
Handmade teacher gifts always SEEM like such a great idea, in late October. In mid-December, when they are actually needed to be handed out, is not the time to be strongly encouraging the older one to "get embroidering". She made the little red flower and I made the rest. Super cute and sweet, but I was handstitching one 15 minutes before we left for gymnastics this morning. I am such a last-minute-Lucy that things never quite come together in the inspired way I hope for until just before (or quite honestly, just after) they are due.
We tucked a little handmade card and Target gift card inside the notebook, because let's be honest, the notebook is cute, but Miss Betsy would probably get more use out a trip to Target.
My nephew has a baby doll named Paul. I love that he has a doll and I love even more that his name is Paul. So simple and yet so funny. I made Paul a little blanket and pillow, inspired by Shim + Sons patchwork scarves. I am not a quilter. I try to stress this to the ladies at the quilt shops where I get my fabric. I have never even attempted to put together anything quilt-like. But this little blanket was very fun and I think that I could take on a scarf.
William Alexander: 52 Loaves: One Man's Relentless Pursuit of Truth, Meaning, and a Perfect Crust
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