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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Sewing Fun



     This is a photo of a top I made from an ASG Simplicity pattern. Every year ASG, American Sewing Guild, has a national conference and also works with Simplicity pattern company to have special ASG patterns. The idea is to make something from one on these patterns and then wear it at conference.

      For the past few years I was not too excited about the patterns they came up with. This year I really liked several of the patterns. The one you see here is Simplicity 1916, view D. I made it from a soft knit from Nancy's Notions and trimmed it with lace from my stash.

      I also made a dress from Simplicity 2703 but right now it is at the Lake County Fair getting judged. I used a cotton damask tropical print that I had picked up many years ago while on a vacation. Don't even remember where we were right now.

      I will probably wear the dress at conference for 'Wear Your ASG Pattern' day. I don't have any photos of the dress because I just finished it before I had to turn it in for the judging. Nothing like last minute sewing;-)

      I have been busy keeping up with my two garden plots. The tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini are coming in like crazy. I have also picked a few peppers and some celery and a few carrots. Most of these I started from seed so it has really been fun to watch it all grow.

      I am in the midst of ramping up my running and biking in preparation for my October marathon and December duathlon.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Beginning Sewing Camp July 2012



     Here are Nonie and Rebecca with their first two projects. By the end of the day on Tuesday they had earned their sewing machine 'Driver's License', made a sewing bag and a belt to wear. Rebecca had done a little sewing before while Nonie had never even tried sewing with a machine. It is amazing how quickly young children pick up the skill.





        By the end of the fourth and last day of camp Nonie had finished making herself a pair of shorts and Rebecca had made herself a skirt. They both also got about halfway through making themselves a blouse.




     Rebecca was so proud of her skirt that she wore it for the rest of class and then proudly showed it off to grandma when she picked her up. I just love seeing the smiles on the girls faces when they are able to wear something that they made.




     Next week is Purse-onality Fun 4 Camp. Nikki and Mia will be joining me next week to make three fun purses. You can check out my fall schedule on my website, www.sewmuchfun.biz. I am looking forward to helping more children learn the art of sewing.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Summer Eating




     These are the first of the tomatoes from our garden. They are from a couple of tomato plants that I bought at a local plant sale. I only bought them because I was worried that the tomatoes I had planted from seed were not doing well. Now I have 14 tomato plants because after transplanting the tiny seedlings into the ground, every one of them started growing. I have 6 plum tomato plants and 6 beefsteak plants and then the two I bought. Hoping to have lots of tomatoes to share with the family. 

     The lettuce and spinach have started to go to seed so I just planted some more. I just wish that I could have lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers all at the same time. The cucumbers are growing well and I have already picked a few. We even had one in our salad at our family dinner on Sunday.

      It looks like I should have some nice celery in a few more days and then time for the peppers. For the first time I had a good amount of peas but just as I was thinking it was almost time to pick them, some creature came along and ate them all. I'm thinking it was a chipmunk. Trying to figure how to keep him from eating my next batch. Speaking of critters eating our food, the birds managed to eat all the cherries of the netted tree in the backyard. It looked like they beat the tree from above and then when the branches and cherries fell to the bottom of the net they were able to eat them through the netting. They even ate all of our pie cherries this year, they had never touched them in the past. Getting tired of working so hard to feed the birds and such.

      This past Sunday was our monthly family get together. We hosted it here. I made sauteed pork medallions with parsley from our yard, bourbon glazed yams (that my hubby grilled), green beans from last year's harvest that I had frozen and a salad with lettuce, spinach and cucumbers from our garden.

     Next week I will share some photos from this week's Beginning Sewing Camp with Rebecca and Nonie.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Children's Charity Sewing Camp



     Here are Hayley, Lauren and Amy with the blankets they made for Project Linus. Last week I had a camp to teach intermediate sewing skills. This camp focused on sewing for other children. The first thing we made were blankets. The girls supplied the pre-washed flannel. We then cut them to equal sizes, rounded the corners, sewed right sides together and turned. A little topstitching and they were finished. Hayley's blanket is pieced because she forgot her supplies the first day. I pulled flannel squares that I had cut from my leftover fabric. I was planning on piecing them myself at some point to make a blanket so I let Hayley do it. She needed a little help with some pinning because she has only been sewing since January.




     Next up were pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer. I taught them the 'hot dog' method of making pillowcases which leaves no raw edges. It was fun to see their eyes light up when they pulled the center out after sewing the first seam. Again the girls supplied the pre-washed cotton fabrics for the pillowcases. They all came up with some great combinations.




     Here the girls are with their 'Little Dresses for Africa'.   I had the fabric from an estate of another sewer. The girls supplied the bias tape. The dresses turned out really cute.




     These are 'Britches for Boys' shorts made from new adult size t-shirts. I found the directions rather confusing myself so all three shorts ended up being constructed slightly differently. Oh well, I'm sure they will still be appreciated by whoever gets them.




     And last but not least, here are the girls with their bags for TLC ministries. I supplied the fabric but they supplied the cord and all the things that went inside. These went together quite easily. Lauren still had time to sew another pillowcase from my stash of precut pieces, to be donated to ConKerr Cancer also.




     And here they are, turning in their blankets and pillowcases to Jennifer at Quilt Play in downtown Grayslake. What a great week we had. Many thanks to their parents who instilled in them a sense of giving to others. I thank God for the chance to be able to share my love of sewing with them.