New years resolutions or rather goals for 2014

Ok it is time to face the music.

When I started my blog I said that I didn't like to made resolution but would make goals.  I didn't meet most of my goals but that is really okay.  I still think goals are important so I am going to continue working toward these in 2014 and have even added a couple of items.

 1.  Start a blog and post at least weekly             

      I published 43 posts so I am 9 short by number but there were more than a week between many posts. 

 

2.  Sew a winter coat

     No, this didn't get done yet but it is cold and I have been eying some of my wools.

 

3.   Sew slacks
     I did sew a pair of elastic waist one seam pants mock up but I am not counting those even though I will probably make some in the future.

4.  Knit a sweater
     Not yet, couldn't find a pattern, yarn match that I wanted to spend money on. I can' spend on yarn, beads and fabric.

5.  Make most of my own clothing in 2013
     Yes, I did.  I prefer making my own clothes but haven't quite committed to not purchasing any for an entire year.         That would be like going on a diet, it would just make me hungry to buy something new.

6.  Clean and organize my sewing room
     Pipe dream

7.  Learn German
     I think adding 5 words to my vocabulary doesn't qualify so I need to book time weekly for this.

8. Be less wasteful
     Yes, I am less wasteful.   Before I made a purchase  I am conscious of where an item was manufactured, how it will be used and  how will it be disposed of.  This includes food as well as other goods.  The problem is that this is hard to measure.  I could take a picture of any wasted food, the amount of recycling done and the amount of trash picked up or items donated and post weakly.  What do you think?

9.  Keep my paperwork up to date.  This includes balancing my check book.

10.  Sew 2 yards of stash fabric for every yard purchased. 

Wish me luck and I hope you all have a happy and prosperous New Year.

Snow, frigid temps and empty store shelves

We have had some extremely cold weather the last couple of days.

 Luckily we had some warning and knew since Friday that we would be getting lots of snow on Sunday  and frigid temps on Monday and Tuesday.  We received about 11 inches of snow some more or less in the central Indiana area.  Shoveling snow is good exercise.  The real more serious problem is the temperature which started dropping late Sunday early Monday.  Right now it has warmed up a bit, it is -9 degrees F which is -23C  Earlier today it was -13 with a wind chill of -25 to -40 degrees F.  Baby it is cold outside.

Churches were closed on Sunday and many business were closed today and will be closed tomorrow.  This I am sure will be a financial strain for many people and small business.  I brought my laptop home on Friday so I was able to work today.

We  adopted a cat from the animal shelter and  on Saturday evening I wanted to get a couple of toys for her so I went to Walmart.  I knew that there would not be any bread or milk, but I was surprised to see so many empty shelves.  It was like this all over the store especially in the freezer case, with the exception of the ice cream  the pickings were slim.

 

Good thing I was only looking for cat toys.  She loves these and already has received 3 of the 6 to play with.

Simplicity 3634 ruffled knit

I recently made my ruffle shirt.  I had purchased this fabric from Emma Seabrook a couple of years ago at the American Sewing Guild Expo in Indianapolis.  I fell in love with the fabric because of all the colors and it is fun. However, it is not a fabric you want to wear when you're trying to look thin.




 

 

 

I used Simplicity 3634 without the cowl neck and scooped the neck line just a bit more.  When working with ruffled fabric you are basically working with a moving stripe so you will need to either pin or baste each row to keep the ruffles/stripes running in the same direction.  Finishing the sleeve and bottom hems was easy, I just trimmed so that a finished ruffle was at the bottom.  the neck line wouldn't work that way so I just serged a small binding on just like you see in a t-shirt.

I also had enough left over fabric to make my daughter a skirt which ended up being finished way before my top was. You can see it on her blog. How to Make a Ruffled Skirt without a Pattern

Simplicity 4784 Christmas Stockings

It is hard to believe but I actually made 4  stockings this year and had them ready in time for Christmas.  I used some plaid fabric I found in my sewing room, the cuff was from a red wool jacket I found at Good Will and the lining was from scraps.  These were very easy to make and the size is just right, 17-1/2 inches tall by10" at the wide part. 

Carol's Zoo pattern & Nursing home gifts

Every year for the past 5 years or so  my mother, daughter and I work together to give a gift to some nursing home residents.  At first we wanted to give all the residents a small gift but decided that we would rather focus on those that do not have a family.  The Nursing home we chose is a small facility located in Franklin.    Last year there were 11 and this year there were 8 residents that didn't have a family.                                                  

 

The items in the gift bags are purchased throughout the year and include, shampoo, body lotion, a toothbrush a comb, chap stick and warm no slip socks.  We also like to give them something soft to hold.  Last year and this year we were able to use donated pillow panels and animals that had already been cut out.  When we made the pillows we made a inner pillow,  stuffed it then inserted it into the prepared printed pillow and hand sewed the opening shut.  Even though this takes longer than just stuffing the pillow the result is much nicer.  The 2 plain white pillows on the side are filled with sewing scraps and go to the local animal shelter for pet beds.

 

 

 

 

The two frogs were pre cut so we just had to give them eyes, sew and stuff.  I didn't have directions so I don't think the eyes are placed quite correctly but I think they have lots of personality.  The pattern is from Carols zoo.  They have a range of animal patterns that just have 2 or 3 pieces.  I have made several and they are all cute and make perfect projects for a beginner sewer.  The frog takes longer to turn and stuff due to having legs but if you get the bear  pattern below the Sewing, turning and stuffing is really fast and easy.  The entire range of patterns is available at Carolszoo.com

 

 

 

Fleece hats for Christmas

Our church was having a Christmas party for the neighborhood kids where during the party they were all going to receive a shoebox of gifts donated by our members.  I also thought it would be nice to give them hats because Indiana winters are cold.  I sent the hat request to my Franklin Neighborhood group of ASG and knowing how busy sewers are at Christmas hoped to get a few hats. I was pleasantly surprised when during the meeting I received all the hats below from Renate, Cindy and Shirley enough hats for all the children.

Thank you very much.  The hats have been happily received. 

My silly African Grey

As I have said before we have an African Grey by the name of Elizabeth.  She is not a particularly aggressive bird but like most birds she has a strong flight instinct if something scares her.  If you walk by her cage carrying something you have to talk to her or she will flap about trying to get away.      I have no idea why, but she is not afraid of the Webster, in fact she hated it the very first time she saw it.   Here is her recent reaction when I got it out to clean some cobwebs.