Old dogs can learn new tricks and tools of my trade

I make a lot of tote bags to keep and to sell, but I never mastered the bottom of the bag corners.

For a quick tute - Sew4Home How to Box Corners.

I did not use the cut out instructions; rather, I used the basic instructions. I didn't want to try this on a big bag that I might mess up, so I did it with a mini-bag. I had some 6" squares of M&M fabric and some M&M ribbon. Here's the end result:

I think it turned out pretty good. And guess what? I'm no longer scared to make boxed corners. I can do it!

As I was ironing the seams open on another project this morning, I started thinking about what I use when I sew that I consider required tools. I started a mental list:

1. Seam ripper. I know, that sounds like an odd must have, but it gives me the confidence that if I 'mess something up,' I can take it apart and start again.  It's my mistake fixer. I have a few around the house in all the areas where I sew. I happen to use the Clover flat seam ripper. 
2. Good sewing needles. I buy Sullivan's for hand sewing and Schmetz for my machine. Without a sharp, proper sized needle, for hand or machine sewing, it's difficult to make a good seam. I use my sewing machine and hand sew about equal amounts of time. It took years to settle on Sullivan's, but I have never regretted it. Great needles have made all the difference for me. 
3. My Bernina 1130 and my 3-thread Bernina serger. I purchased the 1130 about 28 years ago. I love it. I take it in religiously to have it serviced and cleaned. My guy at Nancy's Calico Patch in Newport News, VA keeps it running like a top. He's tried to interest me in newer models, but I'm still that old dog and I won't change if I don't have to. I use the serger for finishing seams and that's about it. I'm fine with that too. I know there are fancy sergers that will do just about anything. Mine was free with the purchase of the 1130. I don't have an embroidery machine. All embroidery I do is by hand.
4. Quality thread. Guttermann makes about the best thread for my purposes, in my opinion, but I do use Coats and Clarke too. It is so annoying when a thread breaks while I'm hand sewing. That's a function of either the needle, cheap thread, or both. I'm a stickler for making sure I have the same thread in the bobbin that I have in the needle when I machine sew; I've had too many bad experiences with mix-and-match experiments. My new thing is variegated thread. I have embroidered in the past with variegated threads and I'm glad it's available for sewing now. 
5. Amazing scissors and pinking shears. Find a brand you like and keep them sharpened. I have two pair of "don't you dare cut paper with these" scissors. They fit my hand well and cut like a dream, but only when I keep them sharpened. Again, my guy at Nancy's keeps them in good shape for me. 
6. Ironing board and iron. I keep the board set up. A friend came by once and said, astonished, "you iron?" I press fabric, seams, fusible webbing, fusible interfacing, transfers, and who knows what else. Yep, I iron. A lot. As I sew, so shall I iron.
7. Marking pencils and pens. Love them. Can't find the perfect one, but before my rotary cutter was ever used, I was marking and cutting with scissors. 
8. Rotary cutter. I was late to the rotary cutter game, but I use mine often. I have two. The hard part is finding 65 mm blades. (My cutting mats tie with the cutter. I have a rotating one, a large one, and a couple small ones.)
9. Rulers! I have a 4" wide, a 2" wide, two wedge shapes, a 4" square, and several others. I still have the first see through ruler I bought back in the stone age. 
10. Fabric glue, fray stopping agent, bias tapes, pins (they must be long and with a beaded head for me), magnetic pin cushion, tomato pin cushion, clear plastic containers for fabric and notions, and bookshelves - these all tie. They're all super necessary for me. I have to stay organized or I lose track of what's what. The containers are clear so I can tell what I have!
11. Oh, and let's not forget fabric. I have years' worth of fabric squirreled away. I could use more! You can never have enough. I have Sponge Bob, firetruck, Halloween, Strawberry Shortcake (both vintage and new), Christmas, Hanukkah, rainbow, fruit, Peter Max, and oodles of other theme or print fabrics. Don't forget my box of receiving blankets that I use for the center layer of placemats and my heat resistant batting for potholders. Oh yeah, I have a lot.
12. Plans. I have thousands and thousands of projects in my head ready to come out at any time. Potholders, tote bags, placemats, kids' clothes, clothes for me, quilts, and gosh knows what else. 
13. My dog. She's great at feedback, listening, hanging around, being supportive, and in general, giving me dog looks that reassure me that maybe I'm not a crazy fabric lady after all.

Okay, there are probably a thousand more things, but that's the start of my list. What's yours?

Loads of scrap stitching ideas

Are you hooked on Pinterest like I am? Even if you're not, take a look at this board:

Sewing Scrap Inspiration

Heather Valentine explains it as: "What to do with those pesky little bits of goodness."

Heather keeps a blog worth watching too:

The Sewing Loft Blog

I just had to share when I saw all of these great ideas. Anyone who loves to make do or sew with scraps will love some of her ideas. Enjoy!

Sewing Catch Up - Quilt, Buttons, Tote

I'm back in Virginia after being in Texas for a week. While there, I had the opportunity to take a photo of a quilt that my sister and I made. She started it for her husband before she died. He sent it to me and a couple years later, I sent it to him. He had collected beer bandannas, and here's the result of my quilt-as-you-go quilt:

It is a little smaller than queen sized. My sister's work was done by hand. Mine was primarily done by machine. Michael, who passed away last week, picked the flame fabric for the sashing and binding. The back is a mix of several types of muslin; I could not match what my sister had used, but it's okay; it looks great. They lived in Grand Prairie, Texas. Before I traveled to Texas, I cut out a quickie hexagon mini quilt. I always have to have something to sew! I'll post pictures of that later. But I digress! The quilt above was finished in 2012, and it has taken this long for me to get a picture. Somehow, I let it get away without photographing it. Here is the initial story of this quilt - Sewing a Memory

One of the things I'm working on now is a button art project. The first installment of that project is here - Button Art. I took an updated picture of the work in progress today:

I have a long way to go. I can only do a few buttons at a time and allow them to completely dry before I can shift the form and add more. I'll reattach the stand to the form when it's done.

Lastly, I've been moving my sewing room/computer desk and that has taken a lot of my time, but I did find time to make a couple of Peter Max tote bags! I have them on Etsy.

I put a Velcro closure pocket inside with my label.  

That's it for now. Well, one more thing - it's amazing how much stuff you find when you're cleaning a sewing area!

Sew well and stay cool.

Button art

I've always loved buttons. As a child, I would sit with my mother's button box and sort them by size, color, and sometimes, just loved to play with them and match them up. I spent hours doing this. I have her button box and three of my own. So, a few years back, I made this:

I made it from buttons from her button box. Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I went to see my daughter finish the Monument 10K in Richmond, VA. Walking from the parking spot to the race finish line, I passed a small art gallery. In the window was this:

My brain started spinning. I could do this! I have small manikins and oodles of buttons, right? I started it the next day. I picked one of my mini dress forms, the biggest of the bunch and one with a stand. I cleaned up the felt finish and started going through buttons. I decided to keep dark colors and white out of the mix, focusing on red, green, blue, yellow, pink, purple, and orange. I do a few buttons a day and stare at it a lot, trying to decide what to do next. Here's the progress since April 13, 2013:

Front 

Side 

Side

Back

It's taking a lot longer than I expected and I was running short on buttons. I contacted a button collector friend of mine, and she sent me a jar of colorful ones. Now, I'm looking for very tiny buttons to help fill in some spaces. 

Because I can only do a few at a time in order for the glue to dry and the button not to shift, I suspect it will be another month or so before it's done. I will finish it with acrylic to keep it together and give it a washable coating. 

Who knows what I'll do next. With my sewing machine in the shop, I have to find something related to sewing, you know!

Feeling the pain!

My poor little Bernina 1130 has gone to the shop. I was working on a skirt and it started to go 'clunk, clunk, clunk.' I changed the thread and matched the bobbin thread. I cleaned out the machine, including the bobbin and bobbin case. I turned it off and on. And lordamercy, it still clunked.

I guess it's good timing. Or is it ever good timing? She'll get a good cleaning and a tuneup, and hopefully, there isn't something majorly wrong with it.

What's a gal to do? Hand sew! I'm still working on the never-ending hexagon quilt and that's keeping me busy for now, but I have 4 skirts cut out! Argh.

Come home safely, lil Bernina. I miss you.

Getting some summer sewing done

I finally found a skirt pattern I like. The past couple of days, I've been cutting out summer skirts. I've lost a considerable amount of weight and don't want to buy a lot of clothes. I did buy some tees in various colors and decided that it's going to be the summer of skirts. I'm lining each one so I don't have to wear a slip. It will be a loose lining that is about 2" shorter than the skirt. The pattern has a waistband, so it works out perfectly.

I haven't sewn for myself in a while. It almost feels scandalous! I have a drop waist dress in the works. I didn't think it would fit, but I do believe it will now! It's kind of fun to sew for me.

What are you making?

Binding Tracey's Quilt

I've been working on Tracey's quilt since January 2. It started with her mentioning she'd like an Aunt Donna quilt. She had me. That was all it took. I should have completed quilt pictures in a day or so. Be on the lookout!