Vacation!

Well, as much as I hate to do it, my sewing machine is put away for a couple of weeks.  We are headed out on a much-needed vacation.  Our family likes to go camping, so an electric sewing machine is out of the question.  But, that doesn't mean creativity and crafting comes to a temporary halt!

Some of our grandkids are going with us.  Oh, yeah, their parents are tagging along, too.  At any rate, I've got some surprises for the kids.  We are making bags from bandanas, tie dye t-shirts, and having a tea party, complete with tiaras and top hats! We may even throw in a little Duck Dynasty celebration.

There will be lots of cooking, campfires, hiking and playing.  I'll probably need a vacation when we back from vacation! 

Don't forget to make time for yourself and your families.  Of all the many things I remember from my childhood, vacations with my family stand in the forefront.  My own children reminisce about our family vacations.  So, we're off for a vacation adventure to make some memories!  If you see us, stop by for some smores.  We'll have plenty!

Sewing Gene?

Is there such a thing as a sewing gene?  Well, I think my family has one.  My grandmother was a fantastic seamstress.  She taught herself to sew on her own mother’s treadle sewing machine when she was about five years old.  She was actually supposed to be taking care of her 3-year-old brother while her mother worked in the fields.  Well, she watched Virgil.  She made him sit under the sewing machine and push the treadle with his hands while she sat on her knees in a chair to sew.  She could also see through the window and knew if my great grandmother was on her way home.  She would quickly clean up her sewing stuff and thought her mother never knew!

As she got older, she learned to make her own patterns.  There was never any extra money to buy ready-made patterns so this was necessity not creativity.  Although as her sewing advanced, so did her creativity.  When she was 75 years old, she made my wedding dress without a pattern.  She had a newspaper drawing of the dress I liked and that was all she needed.  She could do the same thing with crocheting, quilting – you name it – Granny could replicate it!

Between my daughter and me, there are 60+ years of sewing experience.  I used to panic when I would buy a pattern and piece of fabric for Amanda.  She would start altering the pattern as she cut it out!  I could barely afford to buy the one piece of fabric.  I certainly couldn’t afford to replace it if she messed it up.  But, she never did! 

One thing Granny taught me a long time ago was that there was no excuse for the inside of a finished item to not look as good as the outside, whether it was sewing or embroidery.  This week I pulled a pattern out of my cache to make a changing pad cover for a custom nursery.  Out of habit, I skimmed through the instructions and when I saw the underside of the final product, I thought, “Yuk!  That is the ugliest thing I have ever seen.”  It was so bad, I even showed it to my husband who can’t tell a French seam from a serged edge.  So, you know what?  I put on my thinking cap, tapped into my sewing DNA and got busy.  And I think I came up with a very good alternative.  We’ll see what my customer thinks when she gets it.  I’ll let you know!

Wow!  A lot accomplished this weekend.  Started loading the travel trailer for vacation.  Not quite done.  Fell out of the travel trailer.  (Didn't break anything!  Just some scrapes and bruises.)  Made two covers for nursery changing tables.  Made two fleece jackets for my four-legged babies.  Almost done.  (Ran out of bias tape on one of them.  Need to get to the fabric store today!)  Great time of worship at the retirement center chapel and then again at our church.  Cooked a great Sunday lunch for the hubby.  Made a chocolate meringue pie. And even read part of my new book.

But, now it's back to work at my regular job.  Oh, well, another weekend is coming up soon!  Until then, I'll just have to work on my to-do list!

Have I told you lately that I love to sew?  Well, I do!  For me, sewing is a stress reliever.  I know some of you will vehemently disagree, and I feel sorry for you.  Nothing makes me feel more satisfied than taking a flat piece of fabric and creating it into a useful item.  I love to think that some of the things I create are actually  masterpieces.  I may never be internationally renowned, but for now, I'm happy making others happy when they give me a chance to sew for them.

Some new items are posted on our Products page today.  We are so eager to work with you!  Our customers make us who we are.  We would not be in business at all, if it weren't for you. We continue to work on current orders and hope to be filling new ones soon. 

No time like the present!  We are launching the blog so that you can get better acquainted with us.  We've been on Facebook and Twitter for a couple of years but realized a lot of people just don't use the social medias.  We're hoping our business will show up when you do an internet search looking for handmade clothing, gifts and more!

We offer great quality and competitive pricing on a wide variety of things you might need for your wedding, home, nursery, or yourself.  If the blog goes well, you may be seeing us on Etsy next!