Sewing Sunsets

Here are some pictures of the fabric I purchased on my recent “fabric therapy” sessions, held at the local JoAnn’s fabric store.

Some of the fabric is 100% cotton, and some is cotton flannel.  I have plans for all of this fabric.   In fact, I am currently sewing an apron and will share that with you here soon.

The peace sign fabric will be a pair of pajama pants, and the mottled green will be the top. 

I have plans for the fabric, but since we all know that actually planning to sew is never a good idea in my case, I have no plans to sew.   I’ll just hope to sew.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Although I”m still busy getting my mom settled into the assisted living facility, I have had a few minutes to sew recently.  And, I also had some time to engage in some much needed and long overdue fabric therapy.

My fabric therapy sessions both took place at the local JoAnn’s fabric store and my gift card paid for the total purchase both times.

I’ll post pictures of the fabric soon.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Although I am still a bit anxious and nervous, I’m also excited.  I’m anxious and nervous because we moved my mom into assisted living a few days ago.  When any type of change is made, there are a lot of adjustments until a new routine is established, and I am still concerned about my mom.  However, she enjoyed getting her hair done in the beauty shop and she seems to enjoy the ladies at her table in the dining room.  She has even started putting on her makeup again–including her lipstick!

Admist my angst, I’m also excited because I can reset my own schedule and include some much needed and long overdue sewing and fabric therapy.  This morning, I hope to go to JoAnn’s and also to visit a local sewing center here.  Hubby got me a gift certificate months ago, so I think I need to check out the machine embroidery threads in the sewing center–and all the other goodies, too.

Yesterday, I washed some fabric and picked out my next sewing project, which I hope to be sharing here with you soon.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

When my children were small, I often enjoyed sewing their Halloween costumes.  They were more unique than store bought costumes and I had a lot of fun creating them.   Although I don’t sew Halloween costumes anymore, I still enjoy looking through patterns to see what is available each year.

This year, I’ve had some trouble finding costume sewing patterns that are suitable for beginners, but I did find a few today that might be easy for beginning seamstresses.

Simplicity 3595  includes a witch, a magician, and a vampire.  There are a couple of other patterns included as well, but the ones I have mentioned are mostly capes, which would be easy for beginners.  The only concern I would have is that the fabric in the pictures appear to be slippery types of  fabric and may be more difficult for beginners to use.  However, these are costumes so the sewing doesn’t have to be perfect.

Simplicity 3997 includes sewing patterns for pirates. a cowboy or cowgirl, 50′s teen for boy and girl, and soldiers.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Halloween has never been my favorite day, but I do enjoy seeing the Halloween themed fabric and costume patterns in the fabric store this time of year.  When I first started sewing, I decided to make a Halloween costume for my youngest daughter one year.  I really didn’t quite know what I was doing, but it turned out well, and she actually got a lot of compliments on her unique costume.  The bonus was that I had fun sewing it, too!

This year, I don’t have time to sew and unfortunately, I live too far away from my grandchildren to sew costumes for them.  However, the current issue of Sew News magazine has some great ideas for Halloween sewing.

On page 32 of the October/November issue, there is a tutorial on making a candy cauldron.  The pattern pieces and instructions are provided, pages 32 through 35.

They have also given you some ideas for costume sewing on page 36.  They mention patterns from Kwik Sew, McCall’s, Butterick, and Simplicity.  Kwik Sew has a Batman costume pattern: 3723.  Kwik Sew 3629 is a Halloween costume for your dog if your doggy likes to dress up.

McCall’s 5731 is a princess costume in both adult and child sizes. 

On page 38, there is a pattern for a table runner that might be used in a gypsy themed party. Instructions are included, along with instructions for a crystal ball mat, which is found on page 41.

Page 42 includes instructions for a very small treat bag. The picture shows this small drawstring bag holding coins.  I think you could probably enlarge the bag dimensions and create a trick or treat bag using Halloween themed prints. 

Sew News magazine always has a lot of good ideas for every holiday, and they also include a lot of sewing tips and techniques.  You might enjoy checking them out online as well: www.sewnews.com

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Here are links that will take you to a tutorial on how to sew shorts.  This tutorial includes written instructions and pictures.

The beginning, pattern, sewing inner leg seam and side seam; www.sewseamless.com/Page33.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page34.html

Sewing the crotch seam on shorts: www.sewseamless.com/Page35.html

Sewing the waistline casing: www.sewseamless.com/Page36.html

Inserting elastic and finishing the waistline casing: www.sewseamless.com/Page37.html

Beginning steps for hemming shorts: www.sewseamless.com/Page38.html

Finishing the pair of shorts, hand blind hem stitch instructions: www.sewseamless.com/Page39.html

Additional hand blind hem stitch instructions: www.sewseamless.com/Page20.html

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

I am hoping that my daily care giving duties are soon coming to an end and I will be able to return to sewing some new projects soon.  Because my 83 year old mother needs some assistance with her activities of daily living, we are going to place her in an assisted living facility here in town.  I have talked with someone today and an apartment is available; it’s just a matter of getting all our ducks in a row, so to speak.

In the meantime, let’s finish sewing those shorts!

The shorts have all been sewn, except for the hem and that is the easy part.  All you have to do is to turn up the hem, press, and pin.  The pattern that I used suggested a 1-1/4 inch hem.  Make sure that you have finished the raw edge in some manner.  Use a seam gauge to measure the hem, just as you did to measure the waistling casing.

Some patterns may suggest sewing the hem by machine, especially if it’s a casual pair of shorts.  If you have the capability to move your needle all the way to the left, place the presser foot on the finished edge of the shorts and sew all the way around each leg, slightly overlapping where you started sewing.

Other patterns will suggest a hand hem, which is my preference.  I like to use the hand blind hem stitch because it provides a nicer finish. 

The hand blind hem stitch is easy to do.  Insert the needle into the fabric or body of the shorts and take a small stitch in the fabric. This is the first step and is illustrated in the picture above.

The second step is to move forward a bit, and take a stitch in the fold of the hem that you have turned up slightly.  This is illustrated in the picture below.

Hemming this way provides an almost invisible finish on the outside (right side of the fabric) of the shorts.

A better and more detailed description of hemming the shorts and the blind hem stitch can be found at www.sewseamless.com/Page38.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page39.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page20.html

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

The shorts are almost finished!  So far, the inner leg seams; the outer leg seams, and the crotch have all been sewn.  the casing has been turned down, pressed, and sewn, leaving an opening so that the elastic can be inserted into the waist area. 

You can use a special tool such as a bodkin to help pull the elastic through the casing, or you can use a large safety pin to help pull the elastic through the casing.

One thing I forgot to mention in my last post is that you should baste each side of the pressed open seams down about 3 inches in the waist area.  This helps the elastic to pull through those areas more smoothly.

After you have inserted the elastic, you need to sew the ends of the elastic closed.  Some patterns instruct you to sew a seam in the elastic, but this creates a lot of bulk.  One technique that I learned from Sandra Betzina’s tv show is to butt the ends of the elastic together, wrap a small piece of scrap fabric around that and zigzag over the area.  This technique creates much less bulk.

When you have sewn the elastic ends together, insert the elastic into the waistline casing and finish sewing the casing closed.  An easy way to do this is to put your sewing machine needle all the way to the left and sew close to the finished edge of the casing.   Adjust the elastic in the waistline area and then stitch in the ditch in each seam to prevent the elastic from turning when the shorts are being worn. 

The next step is to hem each leg of the pair of shorts and they’re finished.  Those instructions will be in my next post.

Detailed instructions, including pictures,  for sewing the waistline casing and inserting the elastic can be found at  and www.sewseamless.com/Page36.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page37.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page38.html

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

For the past two days, I have had some time off from my caregiving duties.  Most of that time was spent looking at assisted living facilities and trying to figure out how to pay the current care bill, while trying to figure out how to finance the assisted living bills for the first three or four months.  These past few months have been stressful and trying.  In spite of that, I did get a little time to sew last night and it felt “sew” good!   I will share that project with you another time.

In the meantime, let’s continue learning how to sew shorts.  So far, the shorts have been sewn together at the inner leg seams, outerleg/side seams, and the crotch has been sewn.  The next step is to sew the waistline casing.  This is really quite easy.  The size of the casing usually depends on the width of elastic that will be used in the waist area.  Many casual shorts will have a 1-1/4 inch casing.  Use a seam gauge to measure the casing accurately.  Turn the casing down, wrong sides of fabric together, press, and pin.  Make sure that you leave an opening so that you can insert the elastic.

You will sew closest to the finished edge of the casing.  If you have a machine that allows you to position the needle, move it all the way to the left and use the edge of the presser foot to help guide your sewing.

After the casing has been sewn and pressed, your next step will be to insert the elastic, sew the elastic together and then sew the opening in the casing closed.  There are a few other steps after that in order to complete the waistline casing.  Hopefully, that will be covered in my next post.

More detailed instructions, including pictures, on how to sew waistline casing on shorts can be found at www.sewseamless.com/Page36.html

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

I will return to posting about sewing shorts soon, but I am going to update you on my caregiving duties today.  This has been a stressful week and I hope that things settle down very soon.  I have been actively engaged as a daily caregiver for my 83 year old mom for five months, and I’m tired and worn out.  We have lived in our new location for only five months and I have called 911 three times and spent two days in ER with my mom.  The last ER visit was just a few days ago.

My mom has been having some gastric upset for quite some time, but otherwise seemed ok.  In fact, she seemed to be feeling better; her appetite was good; and her cognition had improved.  This past Tuesday, she got up late, which is her habit, got dressed, and seemed fine and in good spirits.  I gave her the first meal of the day (for her) and she started eating and seemed fine.  At least the first time I looked at her, she was fine.  I had looked away to look at the clock because we were expecting someone and when I looked back at my mom, she didn’t look ok.  I asked her if she was ok, and her answer was no, she was going to pass out.  I raised the recliner so that her feet were up and pressed her lifeline alert button.  Her stomach hurt and she felt sick.  She looked ashen gray and pale and you could tell that she felt awful.  When the paramedics got here, they checked her out and asked which hospital.  So…..we spent yet another day at the local hospital.

My mom has yet another bladder infection.  The doc in ER gave her an IV antibiotic and sent her home with an oral antibiotic that I knew would cause even more issues. When I questioned him about it, and told him what her doctor gives her that is easier on her and works better, he was quite curt in his response about his decision. She had a dose of the strong antibiotic the next morning and I thought we were going to have a repeat event.  I called her doc and got them to change the antibiotic.  Luckily, the home health care nurse agreed with me that the ER doc’s recommendation was not the correct one for my mom. 

Today, my mom feels some better, but is still weak and tired.  Because of all the issues, it is time to put my mom into assisted living.  I would prefer to hire 24/7 care through the agency that provides caregivers for her now, but it is too expensive that way.  It would be the easiest decision, but not the right one financially.  This afternoon and tomorrow, I will be taking a break to try to find the right assisted living facility for my  mom. Hopefully, we can find something and get her moved and settled in quickly.  I think she will get the care she needs, and I will get a little bit of my life back.  I’m really missing my sewing room.

Happy Sewing to you all!

www.sewseamless.com