Frugal Devolution (or why one shouldn't blog when feeling pensive)

A couple of sewing thoughts to ponder. They're not just sewing thoughts, but could honestly apply to anything in life. So let's get started.

There is talk nowadays about 'devolution.' It's nothing new; the music group Devo had it down to an art. They suggested that everything is created for obsolescence and that we were devolving. Okay, that's a little heady, but it's worth thinking about. In the process of devolution, we will have met our level of competence (or a Peter Principle - level of incompetence) with technology. Our electronic world will begin to fail and we will start stepping backwards to a time when we knew how to take care of ourselves. Many people today would be hard pressed to raise their own food, build or maintain their own homes, keep themselves warm with fire, or to make clothing. That's where sewing comes in. With our sewing skills and curiosities, we're way ahead of the game. I would wager to guess that not only do people who sew create great clothes, dolls, crafts, etc., they most likely do something else that is creative - growing vegetables and cooking them into delightful dishes - that kind of thing. So congrats on knowing or learning how to sew. You're ready for the electronic crash.

A lot of discussion is held about frugality these days too. Not cheap, but frugal. Frugal often is defined as living beneath your means, like voluntary simplicity. (The two are not mutually exclusive, you know.) There are many ways to sew and do it frugally. There is no hard and fast rule that says you have to buy your supplies at a traditional fabric/notions store. Nor do you have to buy the most expensive sewing machine, used or new, to make the magic happen. I personally started with hand embroidery. I embroidered all the time. My work wasn't as perfect as machine embroidery, but that's okay. I didn't spend a fortune on an embroidery machine and I have such a respect for those who still embroider. I drew pictures on fabric and turned them into colorful paintings with thread. But I digress. I've had my sewing machine for 25+ years, keep it cleaned and tuned up, and it's running as good as new. I purchase fabric at yard sales, sometimes the thrift store, often on line (eBay is a great place for a smokin' deal, but keep an eye on those shipping rates!), and from friends or Freecycle for free. I do go to Hancock Fabrics from time to time, but only with a coupon from their flyer. I recycle towels into hand towels and dish towels. I recycle cotton tee shirts into cloths for cleaning. I recycle old blankets as batting for a quilt project. I use small pieces of fabric for doll clothes and crafts. I try to save where I can, but I also try to make sure I make time to sew.

Whether it be devolution or frugality, people who sew are ready for at least one portion of the de-techologicalizing of our lives! And we're going to keep practicing too, right?

Wonder Under is my friend, yours too!

Wonder Under is an amazing product. I use it often, so buy online since prices are usually better than offline stores, especially since WalMart stopped carrying sewing items.

I have used Wonder Under to recreate pictures that my children have drawn by tracing the picture, cutting the pieces out of fabric, fusing them to a piece of muslin and then doing a tight zig-zag or satin stitch around all edges. I finish the edges with Fray Check or a similar product and the life of the piece is endless. I have washed and dried many pieces I've made using this method. Check out my dish towel project - this is a typical Wonder Under application, as are the many potholders I've made. I've used Wonder Under to fuse photos printed on fabric for use with memory quilts as well. You can see another use in my bib project.


Some people use Wonder Under without stitching the edged; they simply fuse and let it go. I've not had good luck with that method. In order to make something that you can wear or use several times, items you are able to wash and dry, you really do need to stitch the edges. The only reason I use a fray reducer is that one project with printed photos did some unraveling on the edges. The fabric upon which the picture was printed was fairly fragile. Better safe than sorry with usable items. As mentioned above, I made hand towels using Wonder Under and have washed and dried them a lot with only minimal expected wear that is uniform and not limited to the fused fabric.


You can buy WonderUnder on line and off. There are other products similar to it, but I've not used them. I tend to stick with what I know most of the time. Now, go crazy and make some stuff!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the last post of 2009! It's been a year of change for ZenSewing.com and our new home on Typepad. To summarize 2009: I've been working on migrating projects and information from my old sewing websites to here with the goal of having everything in one place in an organized fashion for you to use. The life of FrugalSewing.com has come to an end and that site is not being updated any longer. TheSewingDictionary.com is still alive and will continue to be updated when new, edited, or other information dictates. It will continue to be a pet project of mine and serves as a compendium of sewing and fabric terms. ZenSewing.com proper will redirect here in time. Right now, this destination is highlighted on the site.

Looking toward 2010, I have a few goals. One of them is to continue to highlight projects and how to information. That may be enveloped in projects that I myself have done or that friends who wish to donate ideas have created. Boutique clothing is coming. I did not meet a deadline for a Christmas dress for a local young lady, so she will be getting a winter one. I will continue to document how to do this or that embellishment in the event that you wish to try your luck. I will be working on inventory for a craft show toward the end of 2010, and that will provide me with the opportunity to show you how to use your stash in a variety of ways. The focus will continue to be sewing frugally and sewing because it meets a need for you, both inside and out. Another goal is to encourage everyone to teach someone something related to fabric arts, be it sewing, learning to replace a button, enjoying a no-sew fleece scarf, or embroidery. It's an art we cannot allow to die.

My wish for you is that you have a healthy new year. As with all works in progress, this site will continue to improve. I also consider myself a work in progress, and I will continue to improve too (I hope!).
Thank you for visiting and sticking with me over the years. Here's to many, many more. - Donna

And so it's just about Christmas

My daughter has a friend who asked me to help her make a jellyfish costume for Halloween. Well, that never worked out and she made it herself. Recently, my daughter asked me to make a cat Christmas stocking for the friend and I said, hmmm, wonder if I can work in a jellyfish! And guess what, I can and I did. I used striped cat fabric, silver rick-rack, fluffy white terry for the cuff, and some silver sequin fabric and silver rick-rack to make the jellyfish. She posted a picture on her Facebook and I stole it to show you here. And with this stocking picture, I say Merry Christmas to everyone!

One more stocking and then a break

It's about time to set sewing aside for holiday stuff. The Christmas tree needs decoration, the cookies need to be made, the house needs to be readied for guests. I did make one more stocking, though. How about a Hokie stocking?

Just a little something for our Virginia Tech friends. I did try something new with this - I purchased some fluffy terry from Fabric.com and found out that it sewed very nicely. I have quite a bit, so will use it for cuffs from here forward, at least till it's gone. This stocking is two sided, so the user has a choice of which way the toe points. That's the age-old question with Christmas stockings, isn't it? This stocking is not quilted, so it's very simple to make. Cut, making sure your fabric is going in the right direction (this had a one way print), stitch cuff on the top, sew the two pieces with right sides together using double seams, clip curves, turn, bind raw edge. There you have it.

I'll begin on Valentine's Day items after Christmas. By next year, I should be two seasons ahead instead of right on time. That makes for better shows and selling! Whew.

Ties for stockings take 2

Ah, Christmas stockings. Can you ever make enough? I finished three more which I made out of neckties. Wow, that stuff is hard to sew. The harvested fabrics were silky and on the bias. Two-punch - stretchy and slippery! They turned out mighty nice, though! As mentioned below, I spent an evening taking the ties apart and learning about them. I pressed them and used the strip quilting technique that I've mentioned before. I covered the seam lines with gold rick-rack, the cuffs were made of a fluffy terry fabric, and the backs were created with simple Christmas fabric.

On a side note, I put out a "wanted" on my local Freecycle group for Christmas fabrics and score! Another Freecycler had a bag of Christmas fabrics she had been sitting on and realized she'd never use. Interestingly, several of them matched fabrics I've had for years, so they're not all modern prints. They are also the smaller prints that I tend to gravitate towards. What a great find.

I'll post pictures of the stockings made of ties at a later date. Right now, I have several Virginia Tech Christmas stockings to sew! Like I said, can you ever make enough? I'm putting them up on Etsy as I finish them. It's more about the making than the selling, though.

Update - here are some pictures of the three I finished.

Ties for stockings

I've been sewing a lot lately out of my stash. I'm trying to use what I have rather than purchase more, and am having some success with that. Over the past few years, I've been collecting silk ties with an eye towards making Christmas stockings, girls' skirts, or other things I'm inspired to stitch together.

Last night, I sat down with my seam ripper, a sharp pair of shears, a small trash bag, and my box of ties. I dissected all of them that had red or green in them and set them aside. I learned quite a bit about tie construction by taking them apart. Funny how that works.

There will be more to the story as I continue to sew, but for today, that's it. I have to work till 5 and have an errand to run after that, then dinner to make, and then work a little more. I am not sure I'll have much sewing time between now and then!

Now, would someone tell me where my box of Christmas and other holiday fabrics is?