Sewing Sunsets

I’ve been “missing in action” for a while .  Over the holidays, we took a trip across the country and back.  We were moving our youngest daughter to California for her last semester of college.  During that time, both she and my husband had a cold/virus/upper respiratory infection.  I fought it very hard for a while, but those germs finally succeeded in getting me down.  When we got home, I got better and then I seemed to get worse.   In fact, I haven’t felt like sewing and when I don’t feel like sewing, I know I’m sick!

Also during this time, my hubby applied for another job and it now appears that we will soon  be making a move to another state in the near future.  In fact,  it’s quite ironic because we are going back to the state we lived in prior to moving to this location.  All I really wanted to do when I got home from my very long trip was sew and sew.  Life really does seem to interfere with my sewing because every time I plan to sew, real life has other plans for me!

When I am completely well, I hope to at least be able to talk about sewing in posts here.  Hmmmm…..I wonder if real life will decide that I shouldn’t talk about sewing either?!

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

One of my favorite sewing experts is Sandra Betzina.  A few years ago, she hosted a tv show several times per week, and I learned sew much about sewing from that show.  Unfortunately, that particular sewing show was cancelled. However, Sandra has also written quite a few books about sewing and I have most, if not all, of those. 

Recently, I learned that Sandra has reconstructed her website and is now offering sewing shows on the internet. She offers three free shows and then you must buy a subscription in order to view more shows.  This is definitely worth the time and money.  There are three ways to subscribe–yearly; quarterly; and per show.  Her new website is www.powersewing.com  

Sandra Betzina teaches sewing in a way that is easy to understand, and she addresses all levels of sewing, from beginners to advanced.  She also teaches garment construction and gives you some good ideas for sewing crafts and home dec items as well.  I’ll be watching!

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Does it really have to be this cold right now?! I absolutely hate cold weather, and for me, anything under about 75 degrees is just too cold.  Right now, however, I would welcome 65 degree weather.  This single digit stuff is for the birds, and somehow, I suspect even the birds don’t like this extreme cold.  The only somewhat “good” thing about cold weather is that means it’s a good time to stay in and sew.  Unfortunately, I still don’t feel like doing much sewing. Of course, perhaps sewing would cure my cold.

I’ve been telling you about sewing mens/boys bathrobes.  After the bathrobe is complete, the only left to do is to sew is the tie belt.  That is quite easy and fun.  My particular sewing pattern had a tie belt with a seam in the middle.  After this short seam was sewn and pressed open, then the belt was folded in the middle and sewn, leaving a space for turning right side out.

I always enjoy sewing bathrobes, although this particular pattern isn’t my favorite.  I have another pattern for bathrobes that I prefer.  Maybe I’ll share that with you here sometime.  In the meantime….

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Well, maybe I’m not going to hum while I hem, but I might hem while I hum. Probably not.  Hmmmm……..does that count as humming?  I’m just being very silly here, probably due to being sick for almost two weeks, my looooonnnngggg trip across the country and back, and being subjected to frigid cold temperatures everywhere I’ve been.  I am a hot weather and sunshine kind of gal so this frigid cold is making me very cranky indeed!  Hmmmm…..maybe I should try humming while I’m hemming.

Enough of that silliness for now.  I think in my last post we were talking about sewing the band on to the front of a bathrobe.  Usually, this band is turned inside, and turned under over the seam and hand stitched down.  (I usually use the hand slip stitch (www.sewseamless.com/Page20.html )  to do this.  ) 

Before hemming the bottom of the bathrobe, the bottom of the band must be finished and turned right side out.  This is really very easy because all you do is pin the right sides of the bottom of the band together and stitch the short seam.

As you can see, the bottom of the band hangs below the bottom of the bathrobe.  

After the bottom of the band has been sewn, you just turn it up and then machine hem the bottom of the bathrobe. ( I like to serge finish the raw edge of the bottom of the bathrobe first. ) Then I press up the hem, place my sewing machine needle all the way to the left and place the edge of the presser foot along the finished edge in order to sew.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

It’s been sew long since I’ve done any sewing or even talked about sewing that I’m not sure I even remember how to sew! From what I remember, I started to tell you about sewing men’s or boy’s bathrobes, but I only got as far as showing you how I sew the belt loops/carriers.

I like to sew flannel bathrobes and there are quite a few easy patterns on the market.  Some bathrobes have a band down the front, while others have a shawl collar.  Both are fairly easy to sew.  Most bathrobes are designed with a dropped shoulder, which means that the sleeves are sewn in flat (www.sewseamless.com/Page28.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page29.html , and www.sewseamless.com/Page30.html ), after the shoulder seams have been sewn and pressed.  Shoulder seams are sewn first, then the sleeves are sewn in; the next step is to sew the side seam and sleeve seam, which is sewn in one long seam.

This particular pattern has a band that is sewn down the front.

The band is sewn all the way around the front (including the neckline) of the bathrobe.

Finishing the bottom of the band is really easy.  I’ll share that sewing technique with you in another post.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

I am very glad to be back home again.  We have been on a very long trip across the country.  Both my husband and I caught a cold, so neither one of us has felt well for some time.   This was not a vacation, but a trip of necessity so we couldn’t just stop and do much sight seeing along the way.  We had to hurry up and get to our destination. mostly due to circumstances.  I hate to travel anyway, but it’s more difficult when you can’t enjoy the journey along the way.  Even hubby expressed a desire to slow down and enjoy the journey.

Also due to my long cross country trip, I haven’t had the opportunity to do any sewing so I’ve been having major sewing withdrawals. I have a gift certificate to JoAnn’s and when I’m feeling better later this week, I think I’ll go engage in a little fabric therapy.  That should kick the cold germs right out of my body, don’t you think?!

I think that I started a tutorial on sewing a men’s or boy’s bathrobe somewhere before the holidays.   In the next few days, I’ll review that and continue that tutorial.  (Computer access was very limited during my trip so I didn’t have the chance to blog regularly.)

Today, I hope to take it easy and get some much needed rest.  Of course, the sewing room is calling my name…….

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

We are heading back toward our home on the opposite side of the country today.  I had hoped that this would be a one way trip and we could be moving to a different area, but real life decided otherwise–at least for now.

Although I really hate to travel, I am looking forward to getting back to my sewing machine and being able to do a little sewing.  Sewing will soothe my soul and I think that’s just what I need about now.

While I’m on the road, I will post as much as possible and very soon I hope to be able to continue the tutorial about sewing men’s and boy’s bathrobes.

In the meantime…

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Most of the time I write about sewing and when I get back to my own house, I will continue talking about sewing because I am having major sewing withdrawals right now!  Believe me, I have needed to engage in some major sewing therapy just to relieve all the stress of this particular journey that I’ve been on recently.

I’ve mentioned before that I absolutely hate to travel and there is a very good reason for that.  Most of the reason that I truly hate traveling anymore is that there never seems to be time to enjoy the journey.  We always seem to be in “get there” mode and that leaves very little time to stop and admire some of the beautiful scenery of that particular geographical area.   With this trip, there was a deadline for arriving at our first destination because of the holidays.  (Need I even mention that as much as I hate to travel, I especially hate to travel during the holidays!)

Just after the holidays were over, we continued our journey to our final destination which was California.  My youngest daughter will be spending her last semester in college in this area.  Too many people have mistakenly thought that this journey was a vacation, but nothing could be further from the truth. This was more of a “business trip” and as such, that left little time for sight seeing or just slowing down–until today.

Today was the only day that there were no college orientation events and so there was time to just slow down and relax.  However, it seems that every minute of every day has been planned and once again, there is very little time to enjoy the journey.  On this particular morning, I overslept because I seem to be getting lots of help in not getting into bed at a reasonable hour. Several members of the family were going in one direction and others were going in another direction.  I really wanted to go on one of the sightseeing trips, but because I overslept, I didn’t get to go on this particular jaunt, and this was something I had really wanted to do–and thought I had made that clear.  Yes, it was my fault that I overslept, and I realize that, but what upsets me is that my voice never seems to be heard–and more importantly–understood.  One person in my family seems to have difficulty in understanding what I’m trying to communicate and that tends to keep me in a constant state of frustration.   I speak; I voice my opinions; and I try to make sure that I communicate as clearly as possible, but for some reason, it seems that my family just doesn’t understand.  For a number of years now, I have felt that my words are not valued or deemed important enough to listen to or pay attention to by some members of my family–and that is beyond frustrating to me.  Words are important and should be valued.  While this may seem like I”m having a bit of a “pity party” (and maybe I am, although that’s not really my intention), this blog and other online areas are the only places where I feel that my words are actually heard and valued.  Feeling heard and understood is very important to me, and I suspect that I’m not the only person who feels as if their voice isn’t heard and understood.  It is a very lonely feeling to go through life this way.  That’s one reason that I’m so thankful for my online friends because they seem to have the ability to see the real me and my words are valued–with these people, I feel understood and as if my voice is actually heard.  So, a great big thank you to my online friends!

I now have another journey to face and that is the journey back to my house on the opposite side of the country.  Once again, I suspect that we will have to be in “get there ” mode and there will be no opportunity to just slow down and enjoy the journey.  And while you might think that would be a great opportunity to make my voice heard, that won’t be the case because I would probably still feel that my voice continues to go unheard and my words are both misunderstood and undervalued.  Being quiet is difficult for me because I am a very chatty and social person, and I place great value on words.  Words are powerful and I often think we don’t realize that as much as we should.

I am not looking forward to my next upcoming journey, but I am looking forward to getting back to my sewing room, some much needed (and long overdue) sewing and fabric therapy.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com