Category Archives: uncategorized

Costumes

UPDATE: Robert did it!  He walked right up to the performance area and delivered the poem he wrote about his PlayMobil pyramid with all the confidence of a 5 year old SuperBoy. We were very proud of him. He really liked his collar.

  We were just as proud when Laurel performed her recital dance without a  flicker of stage fright or a single misstep.

  Then she showed her quilt.  As people oohed and ahhed, an adorable hambone seven year old boy stood up and said, “It’s so beautiful it makes me faint!”  With that he clutched his chest and collapsed to the floor.  Just like Fred Sanborn!  This talent show was more fun than a Disney movie.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    

Costumes.  That’s what I’m  talkin’ about—and it’s not even Halloween.  I got the call this evening that our 5 year old grandson, Robert, has made a last minute decision to participate in a talent show tomorrow.

Is this tacky or what?

Wearing this gaudy neck accessory, he will read a poem he has written about pyramids or mummies or Egyptians.  Whatever.  For this, the first public reading of his literary work, I volunteered to make our little Boy King a “real” Egyptian collar to replace the paper one he had created earlier.

He wanted this picture taken in front of the stairs because it reminds him of the pyramids.

Even for a quick and easy project, this took longer than I expected.  Throughout the process of selecting scraps, evaluating trims, digging through buttons and finally sewing, I reminisced about all the costumes I have sewn through the years.  That’s a lot of memories, all tinged with –or should I say  cringed with–uneasiness.  It just seemed shamefully inappropriate to be tracing off Sarah Howard Stone’s spoke collar for a pharaoh frou-frou. Continue reading

Connections

“Irby” by Ruffle Bunnies, made by Suzanne Sawko

Do you have a really good sewing friend?  Someone who knows what you are all about?  If sewing is your passion and not just an occasional hobby activity, you need someone who understands that part of you, like few husbands or neighbors can.

If you don’t have a sewing pal, I urge you to find one—and be one.  SAGA guilds, EGA, sewing groups and even workshops are fertile ground for developing meaningful friendships with like minded sewists.

I have been blessed with several needlework soul mates, each one a true treasure of the heart. These past few days, I have been reminded in so many ways just how vital these connections are.  Continue reading

Blogging

It seems that everyone is doing it these days.  One needs only to google a topic to find blogs aplenty that will scratch the itch for info, chit chat or perhaps even more than you want to know about a topic.

I had never even seen a sewing blog before I began.  Reading my son’s Gator sports blog was my only exposure to this new form of communication.  Only after posting for many months did I happen upon other sewing blogs—and I was shocked!  They were all fabulous!  I wanted to quit writing and spend my  time reading.   But I really enjoyed documenting my projects and hearing from others about their sewing.  So I continued. Continue reading

Planning Party Favors

He called me to say, “Nana, will you make train teepee bags for my birthday party?” But it sounds like “Eeeja ba Nana wakka nong choo choo dayda eeepeet.” No problem for this Nana. I may not speak the language, but I understand Alastairese.

In 10 days, Alastair’s 2nd birthday party will be in full swing. Could anything be more fun than ten 1-6 year-olds high on buttercream frosting?

Currently, Alastair is crazy about trains so that is the theme of the party. His mother and I are in agreement about the cake–a train engine pulling graham cracker flat bed cars, each carrying a cupcake. It will be so much fun decorating this with Rebecca the night before the party.

Meanwhile, I am assembling all the materials for teepee bags, my standard little-kid party favors. I hope to work it out so that the metal zipper teeth will pass for train tracks. A train design has been edited so that the “choo choo makes a nearly right angle turn, trailing around the bottom of the bag and then chugging up the zipper. Continue reading

YIKES!!!

I have just accidentally deleted the current post with the gingham check luggage!  I am working to recover it, but whether or not I do,  there will be a new post later tonight.

Sewing Friends

The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you’ve had.  ~Author Unknown

Judy lunching in the potting shed

Hmmmm……I am blessed with fabulous friends, friends with whom I have had some of my very best conversations. But silence was never a part of those dialogues. I’m not sure we could ever sit on a porch without saying a word. My friends are pretty chatty and so am I. Have you noticed?

One of my dearest friends, Judy Day, flew in from Missouri to spend a few days with me. I doubt there was a moment when we were not talking, mostly about sewing. Just ask my dear, understanding husband.

While Judy was here, our chatter was nonstop until the lights were out.

What a delight it was to hear about her projects, to tell her about mine, to discuss new sewing tools and techniques as well as the joy and satisfaction of sewing for our grandchildren.

Judy brought me the sweetest gift–a sachet with my monogram inside a heart outlined with some of her grandmother’s tatting. Judy hoards this stuff like the crown jewels as she  metes it out, striving to make it last through special garments for her own three grandchildren. So not only is the tatting lovely, it is part of a very loving gift.

I gave her one of my favorite books, The Love of Lace by Cynthia Hart and Catherine Calvert. That was appropriate because we both are intrigued by the beauty, variety and history of this delicate adornment and because we spent a good bit of time studying examples from my collection of laces, both antique and contemporary. In my stash we were able to find just the right lace for her granddaughter’s first communion dress. Continue reading

Part II Goodbye SATB2011

I hope you are not yet tired of the details of Sewing at the Beach 2011 because I am still enjoying the fresh memories of a great school.

The young man in the handsome blazer was a doll and a great escort for the cutie pie in the smocked dress. She had been well-coached to smile at people. But the minute her eyes turned away from a member of the audience, her dazzling smile warped into bored fatigue. It was late for little ones.

As a wrap up, I would like to share with you a few photos of the students projects, fashion show and banquet table party favors.

Then I want to introduce you to living proof that sewing is, indeed, a bona fide Elixir of Youth.   Continue reading

Goodbye Sewing at the Beach 2011

This incredible week of fun, friendship and sewing classes is over. And what a memorable time we have had!

I was privileged to be part of the faculty which included  Connie Palmer, Jan Kerton of Australia, Kathy Farmer, Jane Briscoe, Margaret Fain and my wonderful, talented, wild and crazy roommate, Terri Click.

Their classes included Jan’s exquisite handwork projects, most notably her underwater landscape quilt, Kathy’s camisole and celtic heart, Jane’s faggotted romper and elegant etui, Margaret’s vintage sachets and mug mania, and Terri’s tee shirt pattern drafting and kumihimo bag handles.

The variety of projects amazed me.  There was truly something for everyone, though everyone seemed to want everything.

Each day, mid-morning and afternoon, students trekked to the hospitality suite.   Stocked with homemade goodies,  fresh fruits and vegetables, the suite was a comfortable and welcoming place to visit with old and new friends.  And talk about sewing.

On the 16th floor, lunch was served in a private dining room that overlooked the ocean.  Continue reading

One Well-Spent Dollar

the honest-to-goodness Snow White with 6 year old Laurel, Snow White Jr.

This Disney Snow White costume/dress has more lives than a lucky cat.  It just keeps coming back!  Laurel’s homeschool group just spent the day at  Epcot and her mother sent this picture of Laurel wearing her favorite princess dress with Snow White Herself.

3 year old Snow White, aka Laurel Cade, Greg Wiggle, aka Robert Charles, and Robert’s constant companion moose, aka Moosie

The dress has a long history.  And just when I think it has finally seen its last days, it rises like the phoenix to be born again. Continue reading

Miniature Wonder

2 3/4" doll in sewing box

This is one of the sweetest Christmas gifts I have ever received.  The 2 3/4″  porcelain doll is nestled into a comparably tiny sewing box generously stocked with minuscule materials.  Rolls of silk fabric, 1/8-1/4″ spools of  thread, snippets of antique lace, silk ribbon and more set a needleworker to dreaming about dainty delights.  Continue reading