The Shack

Two days ago my husband came home with a book from the library for me. I didn't remember ever requesting it until hours later as it had taken awhile for my turn for the book to come. As I first held the book in my hands wondering how and why the library had sent it to me, I saw the author's name and as it seemed familiar, I flipped the book over and saw the brief biography for the author. Then I knew why the name sounded familiar! I had gone to college with this man (back in the dark ages).

The Shack is a New York times Bestseller and currently #2 ranking bestseller on Amazon. Of course, if a college mate of mine had managed to write a best seller, I wanted to read it and read it I did. It touched my heart and hope it will also touch yours.

This fictionalized account of a man meeting God is a fascinating story and if read with an open heart will help you understand the type of relationship God wants people to have with Him. I highly reccommend this book, which is why I'm talking about it in my sewing blog as if even one heart is touched by the reading of this book, then the time will be worth it.

Where did the summer go?

Where did the summer go? Suddenly it seems everything is colored orange, pumpkins are all over the place and the trees are changing color. I have been busy trying to make my hubby a pair of pajama pants. Should be an easy enough project right? Hardly when the pants are being made out of a solid color with no discernible right or wrong side and then throw in a dyslexic seamstress trying out a new technique. I never realized how many ways there were to sew something together wrong! Finally, I was done and I had certainly learned a few things--the most important being mark your right and wrong sizes before ever moving the pattern tissue!



Lingerie Secrets is a great book and certainly not the reason for my problems with sewing those pajamas. In fact I recommend it as I learned a lot from it. It has just enough text and photos to guide you along in trying some simple basic techniques. If you are looking for ideas on sewing lingerie, then this is the book for you as it covers camisloes, panties, slips, nighties, and boxers. It even goes so far as to remember the pregnant or nursing mothers with guidelines for them. The disabled with dressing problems even are shown some projects that give them more independence in dressing with a wrap half slip and a button/snap front full slip or nightie. As someone who has trouble getting her arms over her head, I was happy to see these ideas. I got my copy of the book from my local library and have a copy on my Amazon wish list as I do have a birthday and Christmas coming up. This book I would consider one of my personal top 10 general sewing books.

Apron Magic

I’ve never been the type of woman that thrilled to be doing housework. You kniw, the dusting, vacuuming and dishes. I always preferred reading a book or sewing. The one night I couldn’t sleep and at 3 in the morning found myself sewing a pink apron with white eyelet ruffles on the pockets. It was a butcher style apron that covered my whole front in case of splashes.

The first time I put that apron on something strange happened. I became Betty Crocker, June cleaver and the happy homemaker all rolled into one. I found myself cooking up a storm, thinking nutritious thoughts, cleaning and sweeping. I couldn’t stop myself. Every day that apron got more and more splashes and splats and I knew it was time to throw it in the laundry.

Now what? The old me started creeping back. What to do until laundry day? I went up to my sewing room and made another apron. This one had a white background with blue roses print. A pocket with lace and a blue rose embroidered from Janome’s Victorian Rose collection. I put that apron on and the magic returned.

I realize now that if I make a couple more pretty aprons I’m going to have a clean, neat house and lots of savory smells emanating from the kitchen. There’s just something magic about wearing aprons.

4-Hobby Machine Embroidery

I’ve found another interesting machine embroidery site called 4-Hobby. This sites has an eclectic selection of designs including Christmas, snowflakes, butterflies and flowers. It also has a Hebrew alphabet in two sizes, Hamsa designs, and other Judaica embroidery designs including Star of David and Chanukkah designs. I haven’t ever seen this type of collection of Jewish embroidery designs in one spot as it seems Jewish designs are fairly rare. They also have a nice selection of Freebies to so that you may try out their designs. This site would be worth your while to stop on in for a visit and a purchase.

Laura's Sewing Studio

Just found a terrific machine embroidery site, Laura’s Sewing Studio. I haven’t had the chance to check out all her designs, but I’m very impressed with the machine embroidered quilting designs. One is a Broken Star design that when put together looks very much like a Texas Star. The way the embroidery fills have been designed, they resemble fabric. She also has Grandma’s Garden, Double Wedding Ring, New York beauty and many more. If you are a quilter and a machine embroiderer, you have got to check out this site!

This weeks sewing

Little by little I've been working on them and this week I finally got finished with the large curtain panels for our 'sunroom' sitting area upstairs. They are made out of heavy decorator cotton and are lined. It is rather difficult to pin and sew something precisely when it is bigger than your cutting table, but one pair matched and were completely even at the bottom. The other set is off by about a 1/4". I would have agonized about that until I remember the curtains that we bought for our living room downstairs. Some of the pairs are off by over an inch or so at the bottom.

I still have to make the valances and tie-backs. The main curtains are a floral print and the valances are going to use a coordinating plaid/stripe fabric. Thankfully my brain got in gear just in time before I starting cutting that fabric and remembered that I had to cut them so that the repeats matched! Good thing that I remembered because when I was done cutting them, there wasn't an inch of fabric leftover!

I can hardly wait to get the curtains done as I have a stack of patterns that I want to try out and a closet begging for some new clothes!

We are also busy starting up our new store at ecrater. After many years at ebay we have decided that they are not the right place for us. It will take some time but eventually we want all our stock transferred over to ecrater where we be able to do things like have coupons for repeat customers. We love our repeat customers but have not had any way to show it prior to this move. In the meantime, visit us at both our sites for 1000's of New uncut sewing patterns!

Threads Magazine Back Issues

For a limited time only, Threads Magazine has many of it's back issues on sale. Threads is a fantastic magazine for learning how to sew, improving your sewing techniques and becoming a master of your craft. This is a great time to catch up on the issues you may be missing -- they just might have the answer to your latest sewing dilemma.

I have found sick days a perfect time to look through my back issues of magazines and have found even when my brain isn't functioning on all cylinders, that many or the articles and pictures penetrate and I learn something new that I didn't pick up the first time I read the magazine.

Gosia Designs

I just visited Gosia Designs and found that currently they have ALL their designs up for sale on one CD for $49.00. That is for over 2000+ designs! This company is great about regularly sending us notices that new FREE designs have been posted. I have used several of their monograms to embroider towels and they are gorgeous designs that sew out well. You can get their designs in all the standard home sewing machine formats, so this is a huge bargain. Even if you don't want to purchase the CD, sign up for the newsletter so you will know when you can pick up a free design.

I finished the top I have been working on and loved the fit and how it looks. The pattern has lots of optional ways to make the top, so I will probably be making this one again many times. It even has 3/4 length sleeves which I have found necessary even in the summer as my medications and sunshine don't agree with each other. I have to try my best not to expose too much and not to be roasting in my clothes.

I'm back to making curtains for one of our upstairs rooms. It gets most of the sunlight in the summer, so we need something up to help block the sun. I finished the lacey sheers and they make a big difference even without the main lined curtains that will be going up!

Butterick Sewing Pattern 5173

An FYI for anyone that has purchased Butterick Sewing Pattern 5173 in the past little while. Apparently there was a major problem with the pattern itself and it has been recalled. Please visit http://www.butterick.com/ for details of the recall. Our store Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts has never had this particular pattern in stock, so I don't know what the problem is. Just letting you know in case I can help one person keep from making a major mess of their sewing project.

Winter is rough for me. Arthritis loves this time of year but I don't. Even though it is now spring, as I type this snow is falling. I have been doing some sewing in 10-20 minute increments of time and am almost finished with a challis top. Compared to winter type fabrics, just trying the top on for fit felt like I was putting on a silk summer top it felt so cool and light-weight. When I finish this top, it will be the third one I have made since I started trying to follow the spirit of SWAP sewing even though I can't actually participate. I also have made 2 corduroy skirts from fabric that has been mellowing for a long time in my stash. I like the pattern I made them with so will be using it a lot. The best part was getting to make them 2 sizes smaller than the last time I made a skirt. That is always a happy day.

I managed to snag a couple Austalian Stitches magazines off of eBay and they were so much fun to read and look at. They have great articles and usually for more casual clothes which is what I need. I'll be looking for more of them as I can find them.