Happy Thanksgiving

I'm off to my sister's house for a family Thanksgiving. My contribution is seen here. Pies: apple, pecan and cherry. The apple is very large, deep dish and made with Granny Smith apples. The cherry pie was made with Splenda, for those who much watch sugar. This is my first sugar free pie, hope is tastes good.

The red dish is the classic fresh cranberry-orange relish.

I always make pumpkin pies, and will make those on Sunday when we will have company here at our home. It seems odd not to have pumpkin today.

Thanksgiving

The year has turned its circle,
The seasons come and go.'
The harvest all is gathered in
And chilly north winds blow.
Orchards have shared their treasures,
The fields, their yellow grain,
So open wide the doorway~
Thanksgiving comes again!

—Unknown

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Happy Halloween!

If it's Halloween then it must be time to celebrate spiders! I love spiders and have been known to look for spider motifs in home decoration and fabric. I found this fabric when our local Hancock went out of business a couple of years ago. It's a Michael Miller print called "Webmaster". Perfect.



I thought that the Butterick 5223 jacket pattern would suit this fabric well. The hanging ties on the sleeves and back seem very spider web like.















And then, I found a perfect button at Joann's. These big black buttons look very web like.

So, I go off into the world today feeling very festive and ready to celebrate everything spidery! Hope you have a Happy Halloween too.








More on spiders...

Native American Spider Woman mythology here and here. Spiders, good for the garden here. And spiders in the home here. As the last site says: "Next time you see a spider just repeat this sentence: Spiders are good guys. Spiders are good guys."

Sewing with Bamboo

I purchased some textured bamboo fabric at the sewing expo. This is the print. I washed it in cool water and dried it on a low setting. It came out very soft and with a very nice drape. I wanted a shell with sleeves that I could were tucked in or out. I am pleased to say I found that New Look 6483 is perfect. I did make one change to the pattern, I wanted a more open neckline, so I make View A top with the neckline of view E. The pattern has a short slit at the center back and a button closure. With the wider neckline I can get the top on without opening the button, but I do like the detail of the button closure.

Sewing with the bamboo was a pleasure. It had such a soft hand, but still has nice body. The edges did fray quite easily, so I serged every single seam.

I am sure I will use this pattern again, it has a good fit for me. I like the versatility of this top.

Alternative to plastic produce bags

Just a quick post to share what I have come up with as an alternative to using plastic when purchasing produce. I purchased a square of green netting from the Joann's 70% off bin and made up several rectangle shaped bags. I sewed all seams with a zig zag stitch. I turned over the top to make a casing and then threaded some kite string through for the top closure. They are super light weight and durable. I went to the Farmer's market last Saturday and came home without any plastic bags!

Yoga mat

I have resumed Yoga classes after a break of a couple of years. So, I now need a yoga mat bag. Now here is a bag that I have not yet made. Yea! I found these instructions on line and followed them, pretty much. My goal was not to purchase anything to make this bag. So I used some upholstery material that I purchased at a discount decorator store in Columbus, Ohio, a shoe string in my stash, and a chincher (? I am not sure what these are called) that I also had in my stash.

Since the fabric is an upholstery weight I figure it will be somewhat rain resistant, if I have to dash from my car to class in the rain.

As they say in Sanskrit, Namaste.

Sewing with Katy & Maggie

My friends Katy and Maggie visited up north (with their folks) and we took some time to do some sewing. I forgot to get pictures while we sewed, but in the photo you can see the bag that Katy made. Katy's bag is red on one side and purple on the other, with one red and one purple handle. These were fabrics that she choose, she did add a polka dot pocket, which I highly approved of. : ) Don't you love the gold fringe? Katy did most of the sewing herself, she is a natural at the sewing machine, which I love to see. Gives me hope for the next generation. Maggie made a curtain/drape kind of thing to put over a house that she has made for her cat. I did not get a picture of it, but was told that it fit very nicely over the cat's abode.

For each of them I made a change purse/wristlet. They both chose to add a little fringe trim to the wristlet bag, very cute indeed. Here is a photo of the 2 writstlets with one more that I made that will go to a friend who really likes snakes. I love making these, they are super simple and a great use for scrap fabric.

Polka Dots for Mikayla

We had another beautiful week up north, the week before Labor Day. At the beginning of our vacation we were visited by Mikayla and her folks. Since Mikayla is too young to sew for herself I had her pick some buttons and polka dot fabric for a bag. I love her pink and green color combo.

She choose a blue polka dot for the inside pocket, she is showing it in this picture.

She was very pleased with the bag, and proceeded to fill it up with her books and toys.

I made her a little change purse / wristlet to match the purse. I used the tutorial here to make the pouch with a zipper top. Adding the little strap makes it a "wristlet".