New Toys for My Sewing Machine

I have been having a diffcult time seeing the markings on my sewing machine as I sew and I felt like I did not have enough light. I could not seem to aim the light I have attached to my sewing table to be effective for me. Today we stopped at Hancock's after church, something we do often. Anyway, I noticed a magnifier and a light I could attach to the machine.

The above picture shows the packaging from the light I bought. It is called a Mighty Bright Xtra Flex Super L.E.D. Craft Light. It was on sale which I did not realize until I was purchasing it. That was a pleasant surprise. I was able to attach the clamp to the carry handle of my sewing machine and use the flex arm to aim it right where I need it.
Then I also got the Magnistitch Sewing & Craft Magnifier, which was also on sale. Hooray!! I am beginning to get the aging eyes and have trouble seeing the small stuff comfortably. The picture shows how it should be attached to the sewing machine. I thought this should work pretty good. My husband was surprised I needed a magnifier. Probably forgot I am getting older too since he says I keep him young.
This picture shows the finished set up. A side note to my daughter, yes the lamp is purple. For those who don't know, purple is her favorite color. Or at least it was. I have done some sewing today with the new set up. I found it takes getting used to. But the light definitely helped and I could see better just where I need to sew with the magnifier. One thing though, it sure makes a 5/8" seam look big. I had to keep double checking to make I was not accidently making a bigger seam allowance.

I am hoping this will help to take away some of the frustration I had been having with not seeing as clearly as I would like while sewing. The magnifier will also help tremendously when I need to rip out a seam, which I do now and then. That is especially hard when sewing on dark fabric.

Since McCall's patterns were on sale at 99 cents each, I browsed through the pattern books and found one for myself and two to make things for my granddaughter. I got myself a blouse pattern. No fabric yet. The two for my granddaughter are kind of Bohemian style, or I can probably make it Bohemian style with the fabric choices. So if my daughter-in-love is reading this, I need updated chest and waist measurements for our granddaughter. Hint, hint. I want to make sure I make the correct size so she can wear it right away or grow into it later. I definitely don't want to make it too small.

Long Distance Sewing

This is a little difficult to do, sewing long distance that is. Huh? First some background. I taught my daughter Sara to sew somewhat when she was younger. I would have her sit on my lap as we worked the sewing machine. However, we never really got into all the details about sewing which now leaves her with questions now that she is on her own. When she was in college, she was in the play "Agnes of God" with the role Mother Superior. She did an excellent job with that role, and that is not just me bragging because I am her mother. It was a very intense role. Anyway, she volunteered me to make the costumes. Thanks Sara! She helped me out by sewing the straight seams while I figured out the next step and prepared it and then either she or I sewed the next seam and so on. It was only two costumes fortunately. Hers and the one for the gal who played Agnes. We had to design the headpieces ourselves. Then of course my name was in the program for helping with the costumes.

Another time she was home from out of state, where she lives now, and we decided to get an outfit made for her. She helped with the cutting out, and some of the sewing. That process allowed me to teach her more about sewing details in making an outfit look good when it is finished.

Eventually we decided to help her buy a sewing machine so she could sew at home (her home). We found a Singer that was more simple than the fancy ones. A few extra stitches like the zigzag and so on. Plus we made sure it had a one step buttonhole maker. One machine I had did not have that and I could never make all the buttonholes the same size. I hated that. So that one step buttonhole thing was an important feature.

I was using a Singer 6869 or something like that which has a drop in bobbin. But it was getting to the point I had to pump the foot pedal for every stitch sometimes. That was getting very tiring. And yes I had taken it in for repair and that problem was never solved. In the meantime I ended up with my mother-in-law's Singer Quantum XL-1. I decided to switch to that machine after getting frustrated with mine. The Quantum has a side loading bobbin except it is in the front of the machine instead of the side like the old black singer machines which is what I learned to sew on when I was young. My mother still uses her old black Singer. I guess the Quantum is no longer available. We had a dickens of a time locating the foot pedal since I did not have the original one. We had to special order it.

Anyway, I had just switched to the Quantum machine when my daughter texted me her bobbin kept falling out and she could not sew. Help! I am hard of hearing and no longer use the telephone. Texting about the process would take forever. So I had my husband call her so he can relay the instructions from me to her. The bobbin on her machine is like the one on the Quantum but on the side like the old black Singer machines. My husband stood behind me and explained what I was doing step-by-step to insert the bobbin and the bobbin holder. We told her she had to line up the notch on the holder with the notch where it goes in the machine. She said "What notch?" I told her that you need to look at where the bobbin goes to see that. I was able to picture her bending over to see better and her exclamation of "Oh now I see". Happy day that she was able to sew a seam without the bobbin falling out. New skill accomplished from afar.

NOW THE SEWING:
Next is to actually make an outfit. She has texted me in the past about how to do something or what does something mean like "What does it mean to baste? How do I do that?" Anyway, she is involved in a theatre show and is part of the ensemble and has a couple of lines I guess. She also volunteered to help make a couple of the costumes. A Simplicity New Look pattern and a McCall's pattern were chosen for these two costumes. The New Look pattern had a confusing neckline to work out. I looked at the pattern on line to try and help her figure out what to do. Again this was on the phone. She would ask my husband and he would repeat to me and then I would explain loud enough for her to hear me. It was crazy! A three-way conversation. At one point she even called my mother for sewing help about this crazy neckline. I finally decided I was going to buy the pattern so that I could help her through it better with the instructions in front of me.

Last Sunday, my mother and I went to the fabric store to get the patterns. Thought I would buy the other one too as well as baby pattern I wanted to get. Wouldn't you know? That New Look pattern was not available at all. Not on the spinning display rack nor was it listed as one of the patterns in the pattern book they had there. Bummer! So I looked through the other pattern books to try to find a pattern with a similar neckline. Turns out all the ones I found had a simplier way of making that neckline. I had my mom call Sara while I was doing the looking and helping my mom explain the process. Since we could not find any patterns with the intructions anywhere near the way the New Look pattern has them, Sara and my mom together came up with a different way to finish the neckline and have it lie down neatly. Whew! What a process that was! This was one time where I really wished my daughter and I lived closer together so that I could get to her easier to help her out when these kinds of things happen.

She was successful putting in a zipper for the first time. So that was a good feeling for her. Sara will become a good seamstress eventually. Even if I have to teach her long distance through texting or email.

Looking for Quotes

For my other blog I have several quotes that I like but I also wanted to have some for this blog too. But they needed to be craft related. After some searching I found the one I added above. I had to laugh when I came across that one. It reminded me of the craziness of having too many 7" hunter green zippers. Of course that was the result of being disorganized and not being able to find the first and then second zippers I had bought. But because I was disorganized I got to experience the joy of discovery. Although I don't know if I was feeling joy, more like oh brother, because I misplaced the zipper twice and I to buy a third one. Darn!

On the other hand, there is joy in finding something you haven't been able to find for awhile. "Oh there is that thingamajig I have been looking for!" Do you ever have that kind of experience? I am sure everyone has at least once in their life, unless a person is so organized they never misplace a single thing. That I would like to see.

Writing this post reminds me of the day I decided to organize my sewing stuff. I had those plastic storage drawers made by either Rubbermaid or Sterlite. I don't remember who made the ones I have. Anyway, these drawers, I have 8, were stacked in the closet in the sewing/computer room and I was not really taking advantage of the storage space. So I spent a Saturday morning organizing my sewing and craft supplies and trying to make heads and tails out of what I had and the best way to sort and organize them so I can find what I need when I need it. And yes, I put all the zippers I have together in one place and I was surprised at how many I actually have now. For future projects I better check my supply before I buy a zipper. I made labels with a labeler for the drawers which really helps in locating a needed item. And now that leads me to another favorite product that I have and use now and then.

I also used the labeler to label the drawers where I keep my scrapbook papers allowing me to find the colors I want to use easily. Plus the drawers keep the papers neat and wrinkle free.

Last Christmas, or maybe it was my birthday(it is in December so it is easy to forget what I got for what) my husband gave me a Scrapbook Labeler by Brother. He had gotten it at Office Depot after I spotted it and told him I wanted that. I searched the Brother website as well as the Office Depot website and I can not find it anywhere. I wanted to include a link for it. Oh darn. I get the feeling another thing I really like has disappeared. That happens to me a lot. Favorite food items, favorite fitting bra, favorite fitting underwear, favorite salad at Applebee's, and a favorite flavor at Baskin Robbins. Why my favorite things disappear I don't know!! Anyway included in this blog is a picture of my Scrapbook Labeler. You will find it in the column on the right in my favorite products box.

More on Baby Gifts

The pictures above are of the outfit and close up of fabric used for the gift I made for the baby shower held earlier this summer for another co-worker. This picture includes the hat. Both this outfit and the one pictured below are from the same pattern. Simplicity 4243.

I still have enough of the fabric to make another gift for another friend who just had a baby. But I am going to use a different pattern. I still have to give them the hat as I mentioned in my previous post. I had gotten replacement ribbon. Yesterday I sat down to start working on opening up the seams on the hat so I could replace the ribbon. I discovered the ribbon I bought is not quite the right shade. The hat will also be trimmed with rickrack like it is in the first gift I made. So I need to get more of the color I bought originally to have it match the rickrack. I will just have to save what I bought for something else. Sigh....I guess I will have to stop and get more after church today.

Yesterday I also started to cut out a baby boy outfit using the same pattern as above. This one will be for another co-worker expecting a boy. She is due in September. And then another one is due in January, but that co-worker does not know yet what she is having. So I have several opportunities to make baby gifts. Making these little things are kind of fun. As long as I don't make too many mistakes.

Boo Boos Happen

When sewing I admit I make the occasional boo boo or sometimes a lot of boo boos. I mostly finished the baby boy outfit I was making. But I realized that this particular outfit may not work for this time of the year. It would work better for a baby born in the spring. So I think I may make something else in a larger size that will work next spring for this particular receipient.

In the meantime, the shower for a co-worker was today, so I was scrambling to finish that little girl outfit. It seams I kept making one mistake after another. That happens when I am hurrying or when I am tired. So I did a fair amount of ripping out. But the worst boo boo was scorching the ribbon on the baby hat. You can see me pressing part of it in a previous post when I brag about the mini iron by Clover. I had the hat all put together and was pressing the edge before doing the topstitching. It wasn't until I had done the top stitching when I noticed I had accidently touched to ribbon with the iron causing it to shrivel in that area. Grrr!! If it had happened toward the end of the ribbon I could just make it shorter. But no, it had tohappen closer to where it was attached to the hat. So I will have to do a little ripping and then replace the ribbon. I got replacement ribbon yesterday while we were in the area. I had to go to the doctor so made the stop there, especially since it was in the same shopping center where I was picking up my prescription for pain medication. See my other blog for the pain issue.

I just could not get the hat fixed before today's shower. I had to get to a Physical Therapy appointment for my back and then go to work. But the dress and the panties were finished. Yippee!! I wrote on the card that I would get the hat to them after I fixed my boo boo. (Yes, that is what I said on the card.) The father of the baby works with us also, so I can give it to him after I fix the boo boo. Today was the last day for the mother. She will be on maternity leave for awhile. Obviously!

They both really appreciated my efforts at giving them a handmade gift. And that is the best feeling of all. They recognize what goes into making a gift and thought it was special. Deed accomplished. There are others at work expecting. So I will continue to make them. One I know is a boy, but the other is not known yet. Fun times coming. But this time I will try to finish gifts early so I am not scrambling to finish them. But unfortunately I have a tendency to do that. For example the night before our wedding I was still sewing buttons on the sleeves of my wedding dress. Also I would be scrambling to finish Halloween costumes for my kids the night before Halloween. I made costumes nearly every year while they were growing up.

Changing the Background

Ok, so I decided to change the background on this one. I hope it is not too busy. But since this is a craft blog I thought I would make it look more crafty. Kind of goes with my theme. I have nearly finished the first of the two baby outfits I'm am currently working one. I am not going to decribe them yet. Don't want to spoil the surprise in case someone sees this blog before getting the gift. :-)

Now I better get off the computer and get to sewing!! See ya!

More on the Redo of Sewing Room

Here are a couple more pictures of the evolving process of redoing the sewing/computer room. Here you can see that we have the room partially painted in a color called Summer Yellow from Kelly Moore Paints. I decided I needed a cheery color to help with making this room a happy place to be. The one of the cabinets in the corner is new and the other was in the family room. One holds office related stuff such as printer paper, phone books, envelopes, instructional manuals and anything else related to office. The other holds scrapbooking stuff. I keep paper and other supplies in there for scrapbooking. Still working on improved sewing storage. In the other picture I did have 3 bookcases along that wall. I moved one back out to the family room and was able to fit in the sewing table in between the other two. Doing that really opened up the area and makes it much easier for me to get to the sewing machine and serger. Sewing is becoming more enjoyable to do in my more cheerful room. We are not finished redoing the room yet, but it is a start. We can only do so much at a time and of course having the funds to do what we want takes time too.

Making Baby Hats

When I started making baby outfits I also include a hat to match the outfit. If there is not hat on the pattern, then I choose a hat from a different pattern. I decided to include hats not only because they are cute, but because we know so much more about the damage too much sun can do. So by including a hat, I am hoping the parents of the baby would remember to use hats more often on their precious babies when out in the sun.

Anyway, I discovered it was difficult to press those little 1/4" seams with my regular iron and not burn my fingers in the process. I remembered seeing ads, I think about a mini iron made for that kind of thing. When it was on sale at my local Hancocks Fabric store, my husband said to go ahead and buy it. Now I am finding it very useful for those little seams. The picture shows me using it on a baby hat which is on a pressing ham in a ham holder. The hat will go with a dress I am working on as a gift for a co-worker. The shower for that co-worker will be this Friday. When I finish the outfit I will post a picture of it. The picture in the side bar under fav product shows the full mini iron. It is by Clover and I got the set that includes a pouch and several different types of heads to attach to allow to iron just about any little thing. It also has a blade attachment that will allow you to cut vinyl by using the heat coming through the blade from the heat source. Click on the picture in the side bar to get to the Clover website for the mini iron and other great craft help products.

The Before Mess

This picture shows a before mess. The sewing/computer room is getting a facelift and this is before we started that process. I did not have much room to walk to get to my sewing chair. That frustrating process resulted in my not wanting to sew as often, plus I could not find things when I wanted them. For example, I ended up with 3 7" hunter green zippers because I could not find one when I needed it. I eventually finished the project I needed the zipper for, but now I have 2 extra zippers when I only needed one. Oh well. Now I have them if I do another project that requires a 7" hunter green zipper. At the moment that kind of a project is not on my to do list of sewing projects. Plenty of other things are at the moment. But I will stop here for now and come back later for an update on the changes in the sewing room. In the meantime I gotta get back to the baby gift I am currently working on right now. I need to get it finished before the intended recipient outgrows the outfit before I finish it.