Remodel Mayhem

In the midst of this crazy remodel, I managed to crank through a whole load of sewing! I got a baby blanket started AND finished (sorry no photo, it's a gift not yet given. To a baby, not yet born...). And I got some small Christmas gifts finished. Yes, the F-word. I haven't used it much around here lately, as I've gotten very good at starting, and not so good at finishing things. And I got a darling coat cut out for my little one. Photo of that soon.

But I'm sticking my head in here to say that there are two spots open for the upcoming Apron Class at Bolt. You will have your choice of a very cute and feminine apron with a bib OR a waist apron. There have been some amazing apron patterns coming out, and we've grabbed TWO of them to play with!

The apron could be made to be worn at the holidays, so you look super cute in the kitchen OR it would make a fantastic gift - one size fits most!

Happy sewing and I hope to see you in class!

New Classes at Bolt

I am so grateful to teach at Bolt. It is, by far, the coolest shop I've ever shopped, has the greatest owner/person I've ever worked for, and has the most wonderful clients that sign up for classes in the most record time ever! I've wanted to post the class list for a couple of days, but the classes are all nearly full. If you aren't on the Bolt mailing list, you can sign up in the store. That way you'll get the email notice of the new classes as we add them.

For those of you patient enough to be on a waiting list, it's worth a try to get into:

Zipper Clinic Sunday Nov 18th, 4:30-6:30pm
Cute Skirts Tuesdays, Nov 6th and 13th, 7-9pm
Aprons Tuesdays Nov 20th and 27th, 7-9pm
Learn to Sew: Swing Bag Sundays Dec 2nd, 9th, and 16th 4:30-6:30pm

Call Bolt at 503-287-BOLT. If the class is full, you can ask to be added to the wait list. That way, if we add another session, you'll be the first to know. But each time we send out a new class list, the wait lists start over from scratch. Basically, if you still want in the Cute Skirts class, get on the waiting list. At some point you'll get in!

And if it all just makes you crazy and you want the class r.i.g.h.t.n.o.w. , I am resuming giving private lessons in Portland. Right now I am limiting it to Sundays, prior to teaching class at Bolt.

Happy sewing!
-- and that photo up top is an apron I made for a friend for her birthday! It's roughly the apron pattern from Amy Butler In Stitches. I like her method for the waistband and ties. Instead of handstitching, I just did stitch in the ditch from the front, and it worked nicely.

Sister's Retreat 2007

I've been back from the Sister's Retreat for about a week now, and am finally recovered from the sore abdominal muscles! Wow, we had some serious laughs! I have such a great family, and when the women get together, we have SO MUCH FUN!

We got a lot of sewing done, and I'll post some snippets for you. None are all the way finished (except maybe one), but you'll get the idea. ;)

We worked on fabric postcards, and mine was originally going to be that project that you just jump into, thinking you'll toss it in the trash and move on to an attractive version of what you started... It might still get replaced by a better version, but I was aiming to a) play with my new machine (eeeeeek! yay! it's so gorgeous and wonderful. More about that later!) and b) sew myself a reminder of the view from my sewing machine for the weekend. I could look out the window, and beyond the deck rail was a beautiful view of Hood River, the Columbia River, the railroad on the Washington side of the river, and Mt. Adams.


First I backed the fabrics with Wonder Under (or maybe Steam a Seam?) and fused them all together. You'll notice I forgot to add the mountain. The day I worked on this, it was cloudy and I couldn't see the mountain. Out of sight, out of mind!
Then I sewed some fancy stitches to be the "train" and played with thread colors to make the muddy embankment on the far side of the river.
I spent way too much time trying to get the deck rail just right. I played with the paper backing on the fabric and using my ruler, drew the rails. But after I cut out the deck rail, it was way too big. And the scraps left over from the cutting looked better. So now I still need to sew it all together.

Oops, gotta run, more photos tomorrow!

Off I go...

To the 2007 Sisters Retreat! I'll be gone until Tuesday and then will have all sorts of delectable photos to share, hopefully one of my solid color quilt! So far it looks like this. Have a good weekend!

p.s. Be sure to keep your eyes out for the November/December class list from Bolt! We'll be offering another slew of great classes!

Don't miss out!

There is one spot left in the Cute Skirts class!

Class will be held Tuesdays, September 25th and October 2nd, 7pm-9pm.

Call Bolt Fabric Boutique at 503-287-BOLT (2658) to sign up.

Here's your last chance to get a fall skirt started! These skirts look great with tall boots or with tights and the cute shoe of your choice! They also look fantastic in light wool, which would last you through the winter in this area!

Have I mentioned that I can even ride my bike in this skirt? It's just the right length for decency and just full enough to allow me to easily pedal! This skirt is awesome!

Which sewing machine to purchase?

I was just over at Whip-Up where they allow readers to submit questions and someone asked what machine to purchase. After typing up my comment in reply, I realized it's a question I answer frequently. So I'm re-posting my comment here.

My advice is to buy from a sewing machine dealer!

You can find all sorts of cheap, unreliable, and unpredictable machines from Target or Sears or Jo-Ann Fabrics or Costco. That's not to say that all of them are bad, but most of the machines under $250 simply aren't worth buying.

I see a lot of different machines when I teach, and the least expensive machines I endorse are the Huskystar machines made for Viking. They are made in China, so not the highest overall quality (compared to machines made in Europe), but they are good machines. They currently have four models of regular sewing machines, of which two are mechanical and two computerized. The mechanical models are fine, but have very few features. The computerized ones have speed control, a drop-in bobbin (making them quieter), and are very simple and easy to use.

By purchasing a machine from a dealer, you can take the classes they offer. I really recommend these, so that you learn the ins and outs of how to care for your machine properly and you can develop a relationship with the dealership so you can fearlessly have your machine serviced there when needed. Those folks will know your machine really well and can teach you all the tricks!

If you buy a Bernina, the dealer will likely offer Bernina Club, which is an amazing resource of monthly classes, each month teaching a new use of the machine. My mom has been sewing for 45 of her 55 years, has taught sewing and fiber arts classes for close to 30 years and attends Bernina Club down in Eugene and still learns new things (and has a lot of fun!)

Once I have daytime child care (aka preschool), I will totally go to Bernina Club!

I have a Bernina 1080 that I have mixed feelings about and a 1970s Elna that I also sew on. Both have great features. You just have to find the machine that you like and can afford!

Things to consider shopping for:

-Speed control (especially handy when doing small work quilting)
-One-step buttonhole (see the demo to confirm it really is one-step)
-Walking foot attachment (for quilting and for working on specialty fabrics)
-Symmetrical zipper foot (most machines have these, but low-end ones don't always and an asymmetrical zipper foot makes zipper application much more difficult)
-Portability (if you'll be taking a lot of classes)
-Large work surface or a table that fits your machine to increase the work surface.

Locally, the places where I have had (or witnessed) good service are:

Montavilla Sewing Center (NE Portland)
Sewing Center West (Beaverton)
Aloha Vac and Sew (Aloha)
27th Street Fabrics (Eugene)

Happy Sewing!

More Cute Skirts!

If you are one of the many on the waiting list for the Cute Skirts class at Bolt, rejoice at the addition of two more sections of the class!!!

The Cute Skirts class will be held:

TUESDAYS September 25th and October 2nd, 7pm-9pm

and

WEDNESDAYS October 10th and 17th, 7pm-9pm

Call Bolt Fabric Boutique to sign up: 503-287-BOLT

This is a bit later than other weeknight classes I've offered at Bolt. We've changed the time to make it easier for me to get to class on time without causing crazy stress at our house at the changing of the guard... If I have to be in Portland at 6:30pm, my sweet husband has to hurryhurryhurry home and then we barely say hello as I dash out the door. The last time we did this, the little one was bawling at the front steps. So this should make it much easier. And if it works for everyone involved, I may be back in business for weeknight classes!

It's not that I don't have things lately that I've made, but this fort that I made today for my son is the most interesting this afternoon! This is a quilt my mom made for me for my birthday this year (if you zoom in, you can see how old I am!) and my son has just discovered the fun of building a fort and hiding in it!







Here's a little "then and now" on our garden also... The first photo was taken in May. The second one today while little O was playing with our friends who were visiting from Norway (!!!). It was so good to see them. And good to take a break from the never-ending processing of the harvest from the very bountiful garden!!!

I've hardly had time to sew for all the canning I've been doing! I've put up another peck of pickles (we don't have a scale large enough for the pickles, so all I know is that I filled five 2-quart jars of pickles. This is in addition to the 20 or so quarts already in the fridge! We are in pickle heaven around here!!!

I've also made a few preserves from this book:
It has a really varied selection of recipes, which I especially needed in dealing with the zillion pounds of plums from my parent's tree! I've made Amaretto Plum jam, Orange Plum Marmalade (with Cointreau in it!), Orange-Blueberry Jam, Plum-Raspberry Jam, in addition to spaghetti sauce from our tomatoes/leeks/peppers/herbs and today we're working on harvesting our grapes and turning them into grape jelly. The juice is so good I'm tempted to just drink it, but I bet it will make superb (if a bit cloudy) jelly!

Eventually I'll get back to that solid color quilt I'm supposed to have done at the end of the month!

What's that, you have more time to spend at the computer?

Here it is folks:


It's like Etsy, but out of Europe. Germany or the UK, as far as I can tell.
You can read it all in German if you like... ;)

Zippered Coin Purse

There has been a lot of blogging about zipper pouches lately, and I wanted to add my two cents about how I teach my coin purse! This is the pattern that comes with my Farmer's Market Tote Bag pattern!

I interface the fabric, to make it a bit more rigid, and I make mine about the size of my driver's license and debit card, since that's what I carry. You could make it just about any size. And if you wanted, you could fuse two fabrics together (or quilt them together) and then treat the finished fabric like one piece. Because of how I install the zipper, you have limited scraggly edges, especially if you serge the side seams!

Place the zipper face down on the fabric. The zipper should be slightly longer than the fabric is wide. Here I've used a 7" zipper and the fabric is about 5" wide. Center the zipper on the fabric, aligning the edge of the zipper tape with the raw edge of the fabric. Sew down the center of the zipper tape, using a zipper foot.

Bring the other raw edge of the fabric up to the other side of the zipper tape. The right side of the zipper should be touching the right side (not the interfaced side) of the fabric.


Sew the zipper to the fabric, again aligning the zipper tape with the raw edge of the fabric. Make sure the side seams will line up for the next step!

Here's where my zippered coin purse is different.
Instead of having the zipper at the TOP of the purse, align the side seams so that the zipper tape can be completely flat! This means the zipper will lie on the FRONT of the purse.

In the picture you can see I've already sewn one side seam. I had the zipper mostly closed to sew that side, just to make it easier.


Be sure you OPEN THE ZIPPER before you sew the second side seam!

I sew across the zipper teeth a few times, to be sure it is secure!

Once you've sewn both side seams, cut off the excess zipper tape, using sharp scissors. It's important that you've used a nylon zipper, not a metal zipper or you could really trash your scissors. In the picture I'm using applique/embroidery scissors, but only because they were closest to the sewing machine that day!

Trimming the corners before you turn the coin purse right side out removes the excess fabric (and zipper tape) that causes rounded corners.

Here it is finished!

The photos don't show the ribbon being inserted, because it is put in the side seams. But here's how to do it:

On the side with the zipper stop, take 1 1/2" ribbon and fold it in half. Tuck the ribbon under the zipper teeth, with the raw edges of the ribbon lined up with the raw edge of the fabric. At this point, the zipper tape will be extended beyond the raw edge of the fabric, thus hiding the ribbon. Pin the ribbon in place and sew the side seam.

On the side with the zipper pull, take 6" of ribbon and fold it in half. Tuck the folded ribbon under the zipper teeth with the raw edges of the ribbon lined up with the raw edge of fabric. This side is trickier, because the zipper has to be open. Pin the ribbon in place and then place each side of the zipper teeth on top of the ribbon, holding the zipper teeth as close together as possible.

With the long bit of ribbon, you can wear the purse around your wrist or you can attach it to your Farmer's Market Tote Bag! That way your money is close by and doesn't fall to the bottom of the bag!