Judi's Sewing Room and More: October 2010

I have always loved sewing since I was a little girl at about 10 and started making Barbie clothes on my Mother's treadle Singer sewing machine. Actually this machine was originally my great grandmother. My uncle had installed a motor on the machine but I was not allowed to use the motor until I was a little older. Mom made almost all the clothes for herself, my sister and myself on this machine. I remember standing in the middle of the kitchen table so Mom could use the hem guide to hem our dresses. When the dresses were done we would spin in the living room to see how far out the skirt would go. That was of course after we sometimes found a wayward pin in the waistline. Not only was Mom an inspiration for my sewing but also my Aunt Kate. If Mom didn't have a solution to a problem with a pattern, Aunt Kate surely did. And then there was my friend's Mom, Mrs. Muir who lived up the street that was always helpful when I needed it. They all encouraged me to keep sewing and I continued to use the old Singer machine. When I got my first full time job, I bought my own new sewing machine. It was a Pfaff cabinet model and I bought it at Witherill's from Mr. Thorne. And, this machine went in reverse! I soon upgraded to a Pfaff free arm machine and then to a Pfaff 1471. I am fortunate to have three beautiful daughters and I can't begin to tell you how many hours are on that 1471 making them clothes from infancy right up to adulthood. Play clothes, dress, coats, 1st Communion dresses, dozens of Halloween costumes - even in high school and prom dresses. For many years I did little sewing and missed what I call "my therapy". There is nothing more relaxing to me than to spend an evening sewing. So, last Spring I bought a used machine. I said, I don't want a fancy one - I don't do embroidery but the 2170 fit the bill for the features I wanted and it did embroidery. Well, I was soon taking classes at Knecht's and have found a love of machine embroidery. I was jealous of the other sewers with their Creative Visions and soon upgraded to one. I am having so much fun with this machine and have found a whole new world of sewing in embroidery. I thought that I would share some of my projects as I go along. I don't profess to be and expert seamstress but I love sewing and I love sharing these with you. Hope you enjoy them too! Thanks for looking.

REMEMBER THAT YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PICTURE FOR A LARGER IMAGE!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Everytime I make something for my daughter her cats try to take it over. They lay on it, climb in it if it's a bag and leave hair all over it. I had some of these blocks from a quilt in a hoop class made from left over scarps. I probably would never use them for a larger project so I made a few more, stitched them together and made Bobby and Hank their own cat mats. And it worked. Bobby loves the green one and Hank likes the blue one. I wonder if it is the 100% cotton fabric that they like. Also, I know the blue one should have had two more blocks - but hey - it's for the cats!

Thanksgiving time! On our shop hop I found this fabulous fabric at Sew Nice in Norwich, NY. I love this octagon table piece because it is fast and easy! I made a pattern for place mats to match.

I love this banner. It is from the Hanging on a Star collection from joinedatthehip.com. I haven't done this type of applique in quite awhile but I really enjoyed doing it. My sewing buddies and I went on our own "shop hop" a few weeks ago and found the pattern and kit at Patchwork Angels shop in Endicott.

Happy Halloween. I embroidered these aprons with these cute Halloween motifs. I found the aprons at Sam' s Club - 3 for about $11.00 and they are very good quality. The designs are from the Dakota collections. They each took about 2 1/2 hours to embroider but well worth it. I used the 5D Software to pull one of the candy corn out of the design and place them so that they look like they are falling into the pocket of the apron. So cute!

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