This Really is A Little Bit of Sewing!

My intention in starting this blog was to write about my sewing and document  what I have learned and made.  However, I seem to keep writing about everything but sewing!

Tonight it is school supplies.  Have you bought school supplies lately.  My word!  I attended school in California from second grade up.  My parents didn't have to buy school supplies until I started middle school, or Junior High as it was known in California.

When our oldest daughter started school in Gearhart, Oregon I had to send a dozen pencils a couple of packages of notebook paper, a box of crayons, two boxes of cookies, a box of tissues and two rolls of paper towels.  I thought that was crazy.  Then we moved to California for a few years and we didn't have to furnish anything for school

In Hawaii, it was notebook paper, crayons, erasers, glue, paper towels.  I don't remember all of it, but I do remember walking them to school the first day and we got all of it in my red wagon (Not a station wagon, a four wheel red wagon with a long black handle. I bought it for unloading groceries and bringing them from the parking lot to our town house.  Very handy.  Yes, it was MINE.)  We even carried the neighbor's school supplies in it.  That wasn't so bad for my three and my neighbor's one.

From there it was Washington state, and I don't really even remember school supplies until the oldest one hit middle school.  Next it was Virginia, and when we arrived there we bought notebook paper, pens, pencils, and crayons, plus we paid a book fee of $2.00 for each child and a supply fee of $20.00 per child.  By then I wasn't even surprised.

I volunteer each year to get school supplies for the two grandchildren that we take care of that are school age. I met Roger for dinner and then we went over to Walmart.  Thank God he was with me or I would have turned around and come home.  I do not like Walmart; I do not like crowds, and I really do not like Walmart when there are crowds and everyone is going every which way.  I deal with an Anxiety Disorder, where my chest gets tight and pretty soon I can't breathe.  But he got in there with me and I kept my eyes on him to help me stay calm and focused.

I could not believe the amounts that they had to have.  They each had to have 4 dozen sharpened pencils, yes, 4 dozen, SHARPENED pencils.  What does Walmart have?  Packages of 8 unsharpened pencils.  So, that was six packages for each child.  Now we just have to sharpen them.  Three boxes of crayons each, three boxes of colored markers each, and a box of  colored pencils.  Two pink erasers each, and a package of pencil top erasers each.  Four dry erase markers each and two highlighters each, pink or yellow please.  Then there were the various notebooks and folders.  None of them was one or two each.  It was four, six or eight each. 

Then came the notebook paper.  First grade Keira had to have two packages of 500 sheets of wide ruled notebook paper.  Third grader Joshua needed three packages of 500 sheets of wide ruled paper.  Of course, Walmart had it in packages of 150 sheets.  We bought 17 packages of paper.  Now, I ask you, what in the world are they going to do with that much wide ruled paper?  I got to thinking about the school supplies I bought last year.  I remember buying wide ruled paper last year, but not nearly that much.  But I don't remember seeing work come home on that wide ruled paper.  I just remember worksheets coming home.

The list went on and on; white glue, glue sticks construction paper, three boxes of tissues each, liquid antibiotic hand soap, rulers, zipper bags, pencil boxes, and a new book bag for each of them, not on wheels, please.  The total was approximately $150.00. 

I have to ask the question:  Do they really need all that stuff?  Really?  What happens if the parents/grandparents can't afford to buy it all?  Is the child going to learn any less if he only has two dozen pencils, one box of crayons, and a couple of erasers?  My husband works for another school district and his question was where is the teacher going to put all this stuff for each child?  Isn't this really excessive?

Oh, and it all has to be labeled with their names.  This year I'm going to print labels and stick them onto everything instead of sitting for hours  writing their names.Oh, yes and sharpen all those pencils.

I am exhausted, so there will be no sewing tonight.

Happy Sewing?  Wish I was!
Phylly

Off the Grain

My dear Aunt Estelle was a seamstress.  She sewed for other people for her "pocket" money.  She was a very talented seamstress and very good at fitting.  I wish she had taught me fitting, but I didn't need much fitting in those days, except for shortening everything.  Of course, I never saw Aunt Estelle in pants either, so she didn't have that fitting challenge.  I'm really showing my age, aren't I?

Every summer I would spend two weeks at Aunt Estelle's.  She taught me to sew and I will savor her memory forever because of that.  My mother loved to sew, but she did not like to teach.  It made her nervous, so Aunt Estelle was my teacher.

One of the first things that Aunt Estelle taught me was to straighten the fabric.  Back then fabric was usually 36" wide, with 45" about the widest you could find in the store.  We would clip at the end of the yardage  and pull one thread all the way across.  That took a bit of time because the thread would pull three or four inches, if I was lucky, and then it would break.  I would take the scissors and carefully cut as far as I could on the line that was made by pulling that string.  With my luck, it always seemed that about three inches from the far side, the thread I was pulling would disappear into the cut end of the fabric and not make it all the way across to the other selvedge.  Then I painfully started over. (With a big, deep sigh!)  Then we would fold it in half with the selvedges together.  If the ends came together and the fabric laid nicely at the fold then the fabric was on grain and we were ready to start pinning on the pattern.  Unfortunately, that seldom happened.  So we would unfold the fabric and she would take one corner and I would take the opposite corner and we would tug the fabric on the bias until when we folded the selvedges together the ends were even and the fold laid smoothly.  When I was by myself I would start at one corner and again work my way down the length of the fabric tugging on the bias every few inches.  Believe me, that is quite a  workout!

When I started quilting about ten years ago, I was told I didn't have to do all that tugging anymore.  To square the fabric, you simply folded it in half with the selvedges together.  When the fold was laying nicely with no wrinkles, and the selvedges were together, you took a long ruler and placed it square with the fold and took your sharp rotary cutter and cut the uneven area off.  I was also told that if you go to all the trouble to tug the bias until it was straight on grain, it would just go back to being off the grain later.  I don't remember the fabric returning to being off grain when we tugged it until it was straight.  Believe me, when we man-handled it into place, it wasn't going anywhere.  In quilting you are cutting small pieces, so it may not matter if the fabric is a little off grain, but when you are making a coat or a pair of pants, it really is important.

Four years ago, I started making all my clothes.  I have found that most fabrics don't have to be pulled and tugged until they are on the straight of grain.  Manufacturing methods have changed and improved and fabric isn't so distorted.  But once in a while you get a fabric that is off grain and you have to get it back on grain. Sometimes, it is the best fabric that is off grain.  Instead of the 36"-45" wide fabric of my teens, the fabric is 45"-60", but my arms didn't get any longer, and I'm not  nearly as limber or strong as I used to be.  If there is anything that I would say I dislike about sewing, it is having to straighten off grain fabric.

Yesterday, as I laid out my fabric to cut my pants out, I discovered that the fabric was one of THOSE!  I have had my husband help me a couple of times, but he just isn't as efficient as Aunt Estelle was.  I even had to explain what I meant by the term, "bias".  But yesterday that would have meant going in the living room to get his help.  Since the living room was full of kids (grandkids plus the neighbor kids) I decided I would just do it by myself.  Believe me that isn't so easy to do when the fabric is wider than you are long!  I did the best I could, but it wasn't perfectly straight.  By the time I said, "Good enough!" I was worn out.

I didn't think to take pictures before so you could see how much off the grain it was.  The fabric was from Cloth Merchants in Tulsa, and bless their hearts, they pull the thread across and cut it off the bolt so you know the cut ends are straight.  At least I didn't have to do that.  I do have a few pictures of it after I worked on it.

 A definite sign that the fabric is off grain.  The selvedges aren't together and below you can see the  "lump" in the folded edge.  I would like to say this is how it started up, but this was the best I could get it.  The picture above makes it look worse than it actually was.  

I don't know what I did this time, but I can't get the printing down below the bottom picture.  That is all for now.  I'll show you pictures of my pants later this week.  It is time to go to bed.

Oh, forgot to say, daughter, SIL and grandkids went home tonight after dinner, which SIL & DH made.
Happy Sewing, Hugs, Phylly                                                                                         

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Nanas.....

Oops!  I completely forgot about cleaning the oven.  I did clean the dining room up, but that was as far as I got.  I was exhausted when I finished.  I decided I'd done enough for one day.  I wish I had taken pictures of the before.  I have no space in my laundry room to fold clothes, so they get piled on the dining room table until I get time to fold them.  Yeah, right!  Which is the problem; I never find time to fold them.  To complicate the issue the grandkids computer is in the corner of the dining room and with them in there the clothes get knocked on the floor and pretty soon you can't tell we have hardwood floors.  It looks as if it is carpeted in clothes. Oh, not my clothes.  Its the grandkids clothes, underwear, towels, sheets, Roger's clothes, etc.  I usually hang mine up out of the washer.

Unlike Joy Joy, I am not a cleaning machine.  She keeps telling me she makes messes, too.  The difference between us is that while she will clean her cutting table of books and magazines by tossing them in the floor, she will pick them up when she is finished with what she is doing.  I would walk by the mess in the floor for six weeks and every time I would think to myself, "I need to pick that stuff up."  I always have good intentions, but never get things done.  My life is just too busy.  Of course, Roger says that I could find the time to clean if I wanted to (as he sits in his chair watching TV.)  He forgets that if I don't get to sew, I am not happy and if I'm not happy I can get mean! (Yes, Joy Joy, mean!)

As I said before, I have my three grandchildren five days a week, Thursday through Monday.  I work Monday through Friday at FMS.  When I get home the kids are there and we have them as late as 11:30  on week nights.  Usually we have them 8-10 hours on Saturday and Sunday.  I love them dearly, but they surely wear me out.  Roger and I had three children that were stair steps just like the grandkids.  One day I said to him, "I don't remember our kids wearing me out so much and getting on my nerves."  He just looked at me and smiled, "You're thirty years older than you were then."  It does make a difference.

Remember, I said I have nine days vacation from the kids?  Well, my vacation ended last night at nine o'clock with a call from my daughter saying that their plumbing had backed up and their apartment was flooded; could they come over.  What else could I say but, "Yes."  So, they arrived an hour later.  As much as possible, I am trying to be invisible in my sewing room and direct them to their mother for all their needs.  That does not usually work.

I thought you might want to see some pictures of them. What grandmother doesn't share pictures?

 Keira, age six and Nana, 10 x 6.  Yes, she is ornery,  cute and never stops talking.  Ever!  She begins every sentence with "Nana...."  I tell her she is wearing out my name.

 Joshua will be eight in August.  Smart as a whip, but has an, "attitude" sometimes that gets him in trouble. I've taken care of him since he was a newborn.  He never leaves but what I get kisses.  Loves to "scare" me.

Justin in his Easter outfit.  He loved that hat!  He is pure boy!  If he can pick it up, it will be thrown.  He will be three in November.  Have you ever had a child go through a "yes phase"?  He says, "yes" to everything.  "Do you want a spanking?"  "Yes." says Justin with a big grin.  How do you spank him at that point?

Please pray for me!

There will be sewing in the next post, I promise.

Hugs, Phylly

Wonderful Fridays!

Don't Fridays just feel wonderful?  Its the beginning of the weekend and I can sleep late in the morning.  Sleeping late means past 7:00 a.m. to me.  Such a luxury to not have an obnoxious alarm go off and wake you up.  I really hate alarm clocks.  When the alarm clock makes a little "clicking" noise I reach up and slap the thing off because I hate the loud noise.  On the other hand, my dear husband, Roger, lets it blare on forever!  I'll be in the kitchen on the other side of the house from the bedroom and it will be driving me crazy!  He doesn't even hear it.  Fortunately, he hears my voice when I politely (or, maybe not so politely) ask (demand) he turn it off.

Oh, yes, we were talking about Fridays being the beginning of the weekend. A lovely weekend for me.

My plans for tomorrow include cleaning the oven.  We won't discuss how long it has been since it has been cleaned.  Supposedly you can set it to clean itself and come back in four hours later and have a shiny clean oven.  Yeah, right!  It never has worked that way.  Halfway through the cycle it starts beeping and flashing numbers at me which, in oven language means, "YOU BETTER TURN ME OFF BEFORE I BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN!"  I had a repairman out to fix it and we thought it was fixed, but the next time I turned it on, it did its flashing and beeping thing.  So, I've just decided to do it the old fashioned way. 

The only reason I can clean my oven tomorrow is because I don't have my grandchildren this weekend.  Its the first time I haven't had them on a weekend in a couple of years, other than when I have been out of town.  Normally, I have them nine to ten hours on Saturday and Sunday.  So, my plans are to clean the oven and at least the dining room tomorrow and maybe clean the kitchen floor on Sunday.  After that I can do what I want to do-------SEW!

I want to finish  Joy Joy's birthday gift tomorrow.  If I get that done, then I will cut out some pants from my new Marfy/MSS pattern.  I've decided to make the pants out of denim.  Then if the fit isn't perfect I'll just use them for "around the house" pants. If they fit well, then I'll have a new pair of pants I can wear to work on Fridays and out of the house.  Not that I get out of the house much except to go to work.

No pictures today, but I think I've finally found one for my blog that I like.  I spent the evening watching videos on using Photoshop Elements and then playing with it a little.  If nothing else, I know how to crop photos now.  If I could just figure out how to save them and move from the Edit side to the Organize side without being rudely beeped at a dozen times I would be so happy.

Happy Sewing,
Phylly

Inspiration

I am a short person.  According to Palmer and Plestch, I am not petite, just short.  From my waist up I am normal, but my lower torso and my legs are very short.  Then to top it off, I am large busted.  Very large busted.  Consequently, I find that I am better off  wearing solid colors or small prints and trying to dress from head to toe in one color.  But ever so often a beautiful large print speaks to me and I want to wear it  You know what is  coming next don't you?  I found a beautiful Asian floral print that was just gorgeous and I wanted to wear it and share it with other people.  So, I decided it would become a jacket.  Joy Joy helped me fit the pattern and then I cut out the jacket in my beautiful fabric.  I basted it together to check the fit again and discovered.....LARGE PRINTS ARE NOT FOR ME!

So, I decided maybe if I made the side panels in a dark coordinating fabric it would break up the big floral print and look good.  I had a perfect fabric in my stash; another Asian print, but this time it was tone on tone and read like a solid.  It was another favorite fabric.  So, I cut the side panels in the new fabric and then basted them in place.  I repeat,  LARGE PRINTS ARE NOT FOR ME!  Joy Joy didn't even get to see it.  I pulled it off and it went straight into the scrap pile.

That was two years ago, and it has been in my scrap pile ever since.  Then, I discovered Ann Williamson's blog and website.  Eye candy is definitely the word for it.  If you haven't visited her blog or website, you really must take a look at it.  This is the web address:  http://annwilliamson.com/handmade-designer-womens-apparel/   She does lots of strip piecing of fabric.  Her jackets are just amazing.  As I was working on my pants pattern tonight I was thinking about her jackets and how beautiful they are.  It dawned on me that the fabrics I'd used in my jacket would be beautiful broken up as Ann does.  So, tonight, I pulled the jacket out of the pile and started cutting strips.  I will have to find another navy color because I only had a half yard of the tone on tone.  That isn't nearly enough.  But I may have more in my stash, or I'll find some elsewhere to match it.

Isn't inspiration great when it just strikes out of the blue like that?  I think I just need more solid and less floral and it will be great.

Happy Sewing,
Phylly

the Beginning

This is my first blog post and I'm really not sure what I am supposed to be doing.    My goal is just to make it a place where I can record my sewing, maybe a bit of life and some of my thoughts.  I'm not much of a photographer and I'm not the fastest writer or typist in the world, (That would be my friend Joy Joy.) and I live a very busy life.  I work 40 hours a week, then I come home and five days a week I watch my grandchildren, ages 2 1/2, 6, and an almost 8 going on 17. I have them all day Saturday and Sunday.  I sew when I can, which isn't nearly often enough.  I do as little house cleaning as I can get away with, mainly because my choice is cleaning or sewing and I'm afraid cleaning is almost always going to lose out.

I've become interested in Marfy patterns recently.  I tried a free one out of the catalog that I ordered from Vogue and liked it.  I ordered three patterns; two jackets and a pair of pants.  All three patterns came in a 6"x8" envelope.  Each pattern was folded into a little packet just a little longer than a playing card.  (I know, this is where I should insert a picture, but I don't know how. I need you, Joy Joy?)  Anyway, I decided to try out the pants pattern.

It is Marfy 3110 in a size 48, straight leg pants.  It has pockets, a fly front zipper and a narrow waistband.

Woo Hoo!  There is some wasted space, but I managed to copy a picture over here.

The really nice thing about the Marfy pattern is that the pattern is already cut out in your size.  I compared it to my wonderful Louise Cutting "My Swing Set" pants pattern and the crotch shape was almost exactly the same.  The MSS pants have an elastic waist, but I really prefer.a zipper in pants instead of elastic.  Elastic always seems to pinch.  Believe me, I don't get the elastic too tight.  I do not like discomfort!  But there always seems to be a pinching sensation.  I realized after I traced off the Marfy pattern (I"m not cutting into a pattern all the way from Italy!) that what I had done was morph the waist from the Marfy pattern onto my MSS pants.  The Marfy legs were too wide for me so I narrowed them to the MSS width.   I had to take almost two inches off of the area above the crotch.  Marfy's length from the waist to the full hip is 8", mine is 6".  The crotch was almost the same, which is what I really like about the MSS pattern because it actually fits me there.  Marfy does not have seam allowances, but that is not a problem for me.  The first time I make the pattern up it will have 1 inch seam allowances.  After that, I will use 5/8" seam allowances.  I'm not sure what I will make it up in yet.  I have to check my stash.

Well, this is the beginning and I don't know how long I will do this, or how often.
Happy Sewing,
Phylly