The Fashion Designer by Nancy Moser

Why does it seem that the older we get, the faster time goes or is it just because I have so much I want to do? One of the things that keeps me busy is reading or using products from Amazon in the Vine program and then writing reviews about them. One of the last books I read, was a book that sewers might like to read called The Fashion Designer by Nancy Moser. It is the second in a series with the first book called the Pattern Artist.

I love to read 'feel good' books and this was one of them. I was hoping to be able to read the first book, The PatternArtist in the series, but never had the chance to, but this book was able to stand on its own unlike some books in series. A note to those it will make a difference to, it is written from a Christian perspective.

 

This book takes place in the early 1900's a few years after the Titanic disaster. A former house maid, and other immigrants to the USA are working together to get a business going of making women's clothing for the non-rich women that can't afford custom made clothing. They wanted to be able to have a selection of different styles of dresses in all sizes that they could offer in a store for women. In other words, off the rack clothes that weren’t being offered yet to women. ‘Unruffled’, as they said for women that needed clothes that they could do things in like go to jobs or just running their homes.  It sounds like starting a business back then wasn't any easier than it is now! They needed loans and backers as well as supporters to help get the word out about their fledgling business. And they were all poor as well so had to find a way to keep a roof over their head and their businesses head as well as food on the table. But these women were persistent. If you love fashion, the early 1900's, sewing and good friendships, you might enjoy this book. I did, and it was a change of pace from mystery and thriller fiction books that I normally read.

 

I saw the first book in the series, The Pattern Artist, as well as this one advertised in the sewing magazines that I read, so for me this was a bit of a blurring of the lines between my reading, my business and my hobby. Please remember that this book was not meant to be the great American novel, but entertainment especially focused on sewing and for Christian women or those that don't like books that are too 'raw'. It didn't take long to read, and it provided a bit of escape for a time.

I hope you will take the time to read this book, The Fashion Designer and I hope you enjoy it!

What has been your Needlework Story?

Seeing some posts in the Janome Digest that I belong to, posts about their sewing journey to this point made me curious about when others started needlework, what kind did they do, how did they learn, what is their favorite thing to do. So this is my story, what is yours?

My mom had an old Singer and made most of my sister, mine and my mother’s clothes when I was young. She also embroidered at times and I took that up. I hand embroidered two sets of pillowcases for my ‘hope chest’. My friend at school taught me to knit and after making two potholders, that was enough for me. I also learned to crochet granny squares and finished making enough of them to make an afghan around the time my oldest was born and my ex’s grandmother sewed them all together for me. As they had been made over many years, the gauge had changed and so were all different sizes. I also crocheted a doily using that little green covered book I think it is called Teach yourself to knit and crochet. At most points in my life my local library had very few books on needlecrafts of any type and my mom only knew the basics of sewing and I didn’t have grandmother’s or aunts to teach me. One grandmother’s hobby seemed to be having babies along with making bread. She had I think 14 kids and would make 30 loaves of bread at a crack. I do think I inherited her bread making gene!

I was learning to sew garments at home before I started home ec. I knew more about cooking during that class than the teacher taught as I grew up helping to can and cook. I hated sewing in home ec. And it made me hate installing zippers and hand hemming the rest of my life. I don’t think that was how it was supposed to work. But since eighth grade (age 12-13) I have been making many of my own clothes over the years, but not so much anymore as the clothes I made won’t wear out and the thrift store has had things in my size at a good price.

 

 

I was highly influenced by Little House on the Prairie books which I think I lost track of how many times I read all of them after 20 times each for the series. And since you can’t be a clone of Laura and Mary without taking up a needle of some sort, I decided to make a quilt! I’m appalled at what I did to make that quilt. I started it in 1968 prior to the Bicentennial and all the quilting books and fabric that came out at that point). I knew nothing of templates and so cut a square out, laid it on another piece of fabric and cut another square out and so on! Incidentally I was using fabric from my mother’s ‘rag’ bag of leftover sewing bits. So this quilt had squares of upholstery fabric, and lightweight crepe. Lots of cotton/poly blends as 100% cotton was hard to come by. I finished the top right before I left for college. My mom bought me backing fabric and batting and I tied the quilt using red string that I could barely get through the quilt sandwich. However, I was as proud as punch when it was finished. A bright happy quilt that I took with me to college. It lasted about 10 years before it fell completely apart. I ran into some old squares one day and I finally knew many of the things I had done wrong. Those ‘squares’ differed in size by up to an inch! I sewed them together with whatever stitch length my mom had last set the machine, so many of the squares where basted together! I still have a few cherished pieces from that quilt that I insert when possible into very special quilts.

 

 

When Log Cabin Quilt in a Day came out, I started making log cabin quilts and then branched out from there. After 50 quilts, I stopped counting! Most were given as gifts or to Project Linus. I also still do garment sewing, Made window covers for several of the rooms in the house, through pillows as well. I do some hand embroidery and want to get more into that as my hands can handle holding the hoop. My favorite thing is reading about sewing, quilting, embroidery, etc. We are so blessed at this point in time to have so much reference material for any type of sewing we want to do. I still remember not being able to find anything to teach me how to quilt. I got to take a quilting cruise with Doreen Speckman using a sign on bonus that I got years ago in 1990 and that was the only in person teaching I’ve ever really had.

 

 

 

So what is your story? 

 

Me and My Sewing Room

For awhile other than to continue sorting out and cleaning up, I haven't gotten much done in my sewing room, then I had the chance to review some items from Amazon that were good 'blanks' for embroidering on. So I have been doing more sewing, but running out of time for posting. I'm not sure how others find time to post so much.

One of the first things that I got to embroider on were these lime green towels that if you are a regular customer you get your pick of colors, but if you are a Vine reviewer you get what you get. Of course I found that the lime green went great with the Project Linus frog quilts that I haven't gotten finished, but I embroidered the frogs from Embrodiery Library and used the lettering in my Janome 300e to write on the other end, Burp Baby Burp. I did this one in blue to go along with the quilt, and the next burp rag will be in pink lettering since the quilt will be more pink. I think I have enough of the frog fabric and coordinates to make at leat two more quilt tops and happy to say I have two more lime green towels too so I can make burp rags to include with those quilts as well! I know when my boys were little they were champion spit-up kings so spare burp rags are always welcome.

In the midst of the sewing I got another addition to my sewing room courtesy the Vine prgram. It is a bedside stand, but as far as I am concerned it is making a great stand to hold my Janome 300e at the proper level. No more stretching my arms up to thread it. Beautiful isn't it?

Then I got this great set of placemats and napkins. I didn't attempt trying to embroider the placemats as they were woven and seemed pretty thick, but I did embroider the napkins. With a niece getting married, it seemed appropriate to embroider their monograms on the napkins using a design that has been built into all Janome embroidery sewing machines since the first 8000. It isn't like I don't have more lettering and wreath styles to enclose them, but as the years have gone by, the software for manipulating designs on the 300e it has become harder and more time consuming to transfer designs to the machine. So I always end up with the default designs. If I had my druthers, I would upgrade, but don't have the finances to do so at this point in my life.

I also got a set of two black butcher aprons. I wasn't real impressed with the weight of the fabric or the construction, but sufficient if you need some colored aprons for a one or two time event. So for the newlyweds I embroidered their name on each apron, the letting again from the 300e and I appliqued the free-hand cut heart on each apron. Not even sure if either cooks but trying out their aprons might inspire them.

I also got in two different sets, one was a set of six purple tea towels and several weeks later a set of purple and white zig zag pot holder and oven mitt. This was great as I got some items that coordinated. This afternoon I embroidered the curvy lines on the towels using my Janome 7700 stitch #149 on the default settings. I used the cloth guide to keep me sewing straight as I didn't want these lines going all over. Some people complain about not being able to draw a straight line, I can't sew a straight line without a little help! I do wish that there was a stitch like this one only more pointy like the zig zags on the pot holder and oven mitt. Maybe some machine have them. Mine don't.

I also tried out Embroidery Library's Wild Rose Spray on one of the towels. These towels really embroidered easily, just be sure to use the right stabilizer behind it. I still have three more of these towels to embroider, but not quite sure what exactly to do with them.

I was just happy to be in my sewing room more than I had been in a very long time. I'm feeling much better than usual. I don't know if it is the Remicade IV I get every six weeks, the warmer summer weather or the fact that I have been cutting out a lot of chocolate out of my diet. Could be all of them or none of them, just happy for each day I feel fairly well. I'm even trying to push myself to take extra steps as much as possible each day. They say with RA it is important to exercise but it is so easy to go too far and end up not being able to move for the next couple of days, so I'm trying to 'sneak' the exercise in! Hey thanks for reading.

My latest on my wish list of machines I would like to have. They also have a new Janome 9400 out but doesn't look like it is currently for sale at Amazon. What can I say, I love sewing machines and the fancier the better. With our current family economics, these are just dreams. I'm fortunate to have a great dealer in my town where I would buy my machines from, Super Stitch in North East, PA, but for those that aren't that fortunate isn't it great to be able to buy something like this on line?

A Book List for Fashion Sewers

With the arrival of the internet years ago so many opportunities have opened up for all of us. The biggest one is the ability to learn on line no matter your finances and your physical abilities. I know I would like to go to college and study sewing with instructors that can tell me what I'm doing wrong. Especially in those situations where I know intellectually how to do something, but my fingers can't accomplish it.

I do read a lot and so have learned many skills in sewing that have far surpassed my retched Home Ec class of many years ago. So today I decided what opportunities are available on line. I hadn't gone very far before I found a list of resources on pretty much everything to do with fashion and garment sewing. I was happy to see that I had many of the books on one section of the list. While clicking the links on the list takes you to Amazon where you can buy the book, you can also note the information and either look for the books at yard and library book sales, or ask to borrow them from your library or interlibrary loan. Here is the Book list url: http://www.universityoffashion.com/fashion-books/ . You can also look at the entire website that is called the University of Fashion. I do not endorse this school or say it is not a place to go. I only found it by way of an internet search and know nothing further about it. However their resource list is impressive!

Ideas For Recycled Blue Jeans

 



One of the best things about Pinterest, in my opinion, is finding terrific blogs and websites with a bountiful supply of ideas. Finding this blog started with seeing one photo on Pinterest and then following the link to this blog called ANDYAAF . While the site is in another language, once the photos load, you can click on the button at the top of the blog to have it translated into your language. I have NEVER seen such a wealth of ideas for using up old worn out blue jeans. No matter how they get worn, there are always spots on the jeans that will wear like iron for another decade or so. Pop on over to visit to get some great ideas. Maybe you can make all your stocking stuffers for Christmas out of a stack of old blue jeans hanging out in your sewing room, or maybe just one idea will grab at your creative heart. Whichever, you need to visit this site!

A blue jean purse and a blue jean apron I could have thought of, but blue jean sandals?!?!!

After visiting the blog, write in with photos and tell us what you made once you got an idea of what to do.

Curvy Sewing Collective

For all you curvy gals out there, myself included, a website devoted to the curvy woman that sews her own garments. So great to see examples of how particular patterns fit and see many take offs from some of these ladies favorite 'Tried-And-True' (TNT) patterns. I'm sure we all have one. I have a top that I love to make that I think I've made in at least 6 if not more variations. Also this site will give you even more inspiration to sew patterns that you haven't been sure about. Truthfully I was surprised at how well some dresses like a shirtwaist dress could look on some of these women. I have avoided anything with a definite waistline for years, maybe I will get brave enough to try one since dresses with waist are my favorite kind, but I can no longer do zippers up the back so will probably have to stick to front buttons or other kind of front closure.

Visit The Curvy Sewing Collective for Plus-Size Sewers and see all the great info and chances to participate in monthly sewing photo ops.  While we may not carry all the patterns that are posted on that blog, we do carry a large selection of plus-size pattern styles at Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts.  We would love to have you visit and make us your pattern stop. When sourcing patterns for our store, plus size patterns are always the first thing we buy, any other size comes in after that.

Great Little Sewing Light

I have the privilege of being on Amazon's Vine Review Program (sorry you can't ask to be in this program). Besides lots of books that I get to read and review, I also get all sorts of items to use and review. This little light I just got to review. It can clamp onto an embroidery hoop if you need extra light for part of a design. With the arthritis in my hands, I can't continually hold onto my embroidery hoop with even this little bit of extra weight added on. But if you are in a tiny very technical spot, and need extra good lighting this little light will do the job. I have also checked, and if I clamp it onto the accessory table that came with my Janome 7700, and then point the light to any unsewing I have to do. Don't you just hate unsewing? I know I do and with this little light I'll be able to see those stitches that are hard to focus on with bifocals.


 

Artful Machine Embroidery: A Visual Guide to Creating Clothing You'll Love to Wear

I just saw this book on a embroidery design site. I'm not sure how this book got past me as it was published in 2012. It looks like a terrific book to help you learn some principles and design settings for using machine embroidery designs to make your garments just that much better. The book is Artful Machine Embroidery: A Visual Guide to Creating Clothing You'll Love to Wear by Bobbi Bullard. The book is 227 pages with ISBN 13 - 978-1607055822 and is a softcover. It also come with a bonus CD with 20 machine embroidery designs. I always love getting some of the designs that are used in a book so that I can recreate the look. 

Back when I had my first sewing-embroidery machine, the Janome 8000, you could only buy designs from Janome and they cost almost $100 for 8-9 designs, all smaller than 4" x 4". Since Janome was the first out with a sewing-embroidery machine combo for home sewers, no wonder new designs were so expensive and would entail a wait of anywhere up to around 6 months before the next Memory Card would come out! We are so fortunate now that we have an abundance of machine embroidery designs and no waiting or extraordinary high expense to purchase them! I have probably several thousands designs that I got for free from the different companies so that you can test their designs before purchase. Way back in the early 1990's I would never have conceived of being able to get designs for free! I post many of the ones that I find on a Pinterest page and just in the last two years since I started Pinning I have over 400 free designs posted!

 

The Janome 12000 is my current dream machine!
 


Don't have a ton of money for a dream machine (which is why it is a dream machine!) The Janome 350 is a nice stand alone embroidery machine that can be used to embroider while you sew on your regular sewing machine.
 

Machine Savvy: Tips for Creative Sewing

I just discovered a Craftsy class last night that I hadn't seen before. It is called Machine Savvy: Tips for Creative Sewing . The teacher is Linda McGehee. She uses Janome sewing machines for what she is sewing and teaching. Best of all the mini class is FREE! I love finding instructions for doing things based on the brand of sewing machine that I have, although I don't see Janome projects very often except on their website http://janome.com/ so I am extra excited about this class! Most of the projects for this class provides a foundation for making bags of all sorts and who doesn't need another bag?

If you have a Janome sewing machine, or any machine for that matter (although you may have 'transpose' some of the instruction to fit with your machine) this should be a great class to learn some of the techniques to take your sewing and crafting to the next level!

Here is a book that might be of help to you as you do the projects in the class and then want to finish the samples into bags. This book isn't written specifically to go with the class, but should provide some good guidance in making your bags.

Inspirational Reading

One of the things that is most frustrating to me with this blog, is the days I can't post and the things that I want to. Having a chronic disease that never lets you be in control of your schedule is rough. The last few weeks, or lets be serious, most of this year has been grueling which means not only am I not posting as much, but I'm not getting much sewing done either. That doesn't mean however, I have lost my interest in sewing. I had a 3 1/2 hour Remicade IV session on Wednesday and was still exhausted from it on Thursday, so the mail was exciting for me. The latest Threads magazine (Oct./Nov issue) with an interesting article on making shirts using Simplicity 1279 as the base, but any shirt pattern would do.

As I read the article I thought back to the last time I made shirts and blouses with button fronts, collars, long set-in sleeves with cuffs, etc. and realized it was 1985 when I made myself some clothes for nursing school. I came out of nursing school and for most of the next 14 years lived in pullover scrubs.  The tops I had gotten down to making them up in about 45 minutes. Now, buttons aren't part of my life. Still the article was interesting about those small details that can mean so much in making your garment look great. In sewing the clothes for school I made 11 garments in nine days! A bit different than the pair of shorts I'm making for hubby ALL summer when I feel up to sewing. Maybe today I can get them finished.

Besides the Threads magazine which always fascinates me, I got a cookbook from Amazon to review called Sweet: Our Best Cupcakes, Cookies, Candy, and More . It seems like most of the cookbooks that I have gotten to review lately weren't my cup of tea, with most ingredients missing from my pantry, but this books I have many of the ingredients and many of the recipes, I wanted to go make then and there they looked so yummy. I will definitely need to spend some more time with the book and try a recipe or two before writing the review, but this looks to be a good one. They even include a few recipes that are gluten free or can be made gluten free, but that isn't the thrust of the book. Yumminess is!

Today's Patterns: McCall's Sewing Pattern 8032 & 8033

 

I used to dream of one day having a little girl and making us matching dresses to make cookies in and other fun activites. Well I had two great sons, but no little girl, nor do I have any little grand daughters (at least at this point!). So that is a dream I have had to give up, but that doesn't mean that I don't notice patterns coming through that can make monther daughter clothing. McCall's Sewing Pattern 8032 is a great mother's dress and it looks as if it is loose enough to wear for the first 6-7 months of pregnancy as well. McCall's Sewing Pattern 8033 is the same style only for little ladies. What fun it would be to dress up alike to have a tea party!

Even if these aren't the patterns for you, if you want mother-daughter or father-son patterns we do have a category for that in our store that you can go to by clicking here.

Today's Pattern: Butterick 3039 and 4950

When I want to sew, I want to make something that is quick and easy because anything that is slow and detailed might take a year for me to make! I spent 6 weeks once making a lovely top with hand sewn facing, etc. and about my third time wearing it I got a bleach splash on the front that chewed holes into the fabric and I never could figure out a way to cover them up. After that fiasco and the time it takes for me to sew due to my physical problems, Butterick Sewing Pattern 4950 has become one of my favorite patterns to use for myself. I have lost track of the number of tops and skirts I have made off of my copy of the pattern. However, I only have one copy of Butterick 4950 left for sale but a customer reminded me today of a very similar pattern, that is Butterick Sewing Pattern 3039 . We still have copies of Butterick 3039 in all three size ranges so you can purchase it in sizes 16W-32W. If you want to make something fast these patterns will do the job for you. If you want to spend more time on a garment, I have seen patterns resembling the pullover top in many variations with different embellishments. The joy of sewing comes from your fabric choices, embellishments and colors you can always have a unique wardrobe suitable for any occasion.

These two patterns are just 2 of many that we sell in our Women's Plus Size department and we invite you to come and look if you haven't already here. For a shorter Plus size woman, we also have some rare, hard to find Half-size patterns here.  Of course for any other kind of sewing pattern you can check our store Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts where we have over 8000 uncut sewing patterns in all sorts of sizes and styles. We also have many patterns that aren't yet listed and we would be more than happy to check for you to see if we have it. We do need the brand and number of the pattern and the type of garment as the major pattern companies repeat their pattern numbers about every 8-10 years. In the meantime enjoy your sewing!

Tips on Sewing

Just wanted to share a tip I saw about sewing with vintage patterns. Many older patterns that have the cutting lines printed on the tissue paper are much thicker than the lines we get currently. Those line can be up to 1/8" thick, which means depending on how many seams in a garment, you could be making it an inch larger or smaller than you need, and if you cut out the armscye and sleeve pattern differently then you might have a bit of difficulty setting in the sleeve. Most vintage style patterns can be quite fitted, so stop and take the time to measure from side to side on each pattern piece to decide where you need to cut and where your seam line should be. The cutting lines shown below are 2mm wide which is 1mm shy of being 1/8" wide. the width of the lines may differ from each manufacturer and what era, so be sure to double check before cutting.

Don't forget for all your pattern needs, stop in at Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts first as we have over 8000 new, uncut sewing patterns in all styles and sizes. I list new patterns almost daily as my health allows. While the pattern tissues and instructions are in factory folds on the patterns we sell, their envelopes may have wear, tears, writing, sticker residue, etc. The inside of the envelope is generally what is important. If you collect patterns for their looks, please be sure to double check with us the envelope condition.

Today's Pattern: Butterick Sewing Pattern 5143 Misses Dress

Yesterday I was so busy listing patterns, I never got a chance to post one here. This is one of the patterns that I posted yesterday. It is Butterick Sewing Pattern 5143 Misses Size 8-16 Halter Neck Sleeveless Sundress Dress . As soon as I saw it I thought it looked familiar and then it dawned on me, it is very much like the halter neck 'Pillowcase Dresses' that have become so popular lately. Everything old is new again for sure. While this isn't an actual pillowcase dress, the lines are similar and the halter neckline is cleanly finished with a better fit than a pillowcase dress would give you. It would make a great sundress or even a dress to wear at the office if you have a jacket or bolero to wear over it. After work take off the jacket and you are ready for the grocery store or a date. That is one of the joys of sewing; depending on fabric choices and embellishments, you can sew up a dress and have it ready for any occasion that you like. Try this pattern or any of the thousands more that we have at our store, Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts.

If you are looking for a particular pattern in our store and can't find it, we have plenty of boxes of patterns that we don't have listed yet and we would be happy to look for the pattern for you. We do need the brand and pattern number and type of garment you are looking for. Pattern companies repeat their pattern numbers about every 8-10 years, which is why even with the brand and number we still need some idea of what we are looking for. We can not however, look for a certain garment pattern without the other information as I can't remember every single pattern that we have tucked away to list. I've gotten to the point that I have a certain amount of senioritis based brain leakage!

Today's Pattern: Butterick 4448 Misses Size 6-12

While I have seen every single pattern that we have in stock at Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts, sometimes when someone buys a pattern and I get it out of it's box, I'm surprised with delight. When someone bought a copy of Butterick 4448 today, it happened again. Butterick Sewing Pattern 4448 Misses Size 6-12 is a lovely and feminine summer dress that would be great for parties, weddings, and dates. It comes either sleeveless or with cap sleeves, a slight cowl neckline and several options for an asymmetrical skirt. Fitted enough to show off a ladies figure without being immodest. I could wish all I wanted that I could fit into this dress, but I have never been in that size range. We currently still have one copy left of this dress, so if you want one, you had better get it before it is gone. Never fear though if it has sold, Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts has over 5000 uncut Misses patterns, so you have plenty of other choices!

Today's Pattern: McCall's 2930 Girls Size 6-8

I find it funny that on TV before school had even let out in our area of the country, they were already advertising back to school sales and each day it gets worse. I trust I can be forgiven for bringing up back to school thoughts here, but if you sew for your child, that does mean a bit of pre-planning and sewing ahead of time. McCall's Sewing Pattern 2930 Size 6-8 is the perfect school outfit with it's jumper in several variations and blouse with long or short sleeves. We currently have several copies of this pattern available and also some in Sizes 4-6 . I do have one question about the model photo on this pattern, does she really need glasses or is this just another attempt to show that studious kids all need glasses? For more selections of  over 1000 children's uncut sewing patterns, stop in at Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts: category Children's.

Today's Pattern: Butterick 3909 Size 10

Butterick 3909 Misses Size 10 is another pattern that I wish was in my size. Over the years I have come to love bateau or boat necklines. Ever since I had surgery on my thyroid, I haven't been able to stand anything tight on my neck and this type of neckline fits the bill. I also generally wear skirts and dresses after having my knees replaced to avoid the problems with my legs swelling. The problem with a skirt or dress is sometimes they actually aren't the most modest solution. However culottes or split-skirts can be, especially when as full as this split-skirt would be. Butterick 3909 is available at our store Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts where we have over 8000 uncut sewing patterns in all styles and sizes up for sale.

Today's Pattern: Simplicity 9904 Misses Size 12

As I list patterns almost daily, I often run into one that just speaks to me. I want to make it. I want to be the size shown so it looks right on me. I can see how it would just fit into my life. Some patterns, it just doesn't matter when they were printed, for by using today's fabrics you could still have a great outfit. Simplicity 9904 is one of those patterns. Because of the many different garment pieces you can make with this pattern, in my store, I call it a wardrobe pattern. Other than the shorts being a bit too short, I think it would make a fantastic set of summer clothes especially if they were made of coordinating fabric. Just think, several different colors of tank tops, a couple of shirts, and a couple pairs or pants and a some skirts and you have an organized wardrobe or set of clothes to take on vacaction and still fit within a luggage allowance. This pattern is currently available in my store, Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts because unfortunately it is a size 12 and I haven't been that size since the mid-70's!

Pillowcase Dress for Women

This past summer, our area had some truly funky weather. A very wet spring that moved into a fairly cool summer and then a week of heat that felt like we were in the desert. At that point I knew I needed another summer dress and I needed one that was easy to make. So I figured that since pillowcase dresses are easy to make for little girls, why not make one for this grown up girl? I pulled out some fabric that has been mellowing for over 20 years that I had bought in Antigua during a Doreen Speckman quilting cruise. I measured how long I wanted it from above the bust line to were it would hit on my legs. Added on enough to make a fairly wide casing at the top for 3/4" elastic as well as enough fabric for a 2" hem. Used my rotary cutter, ruler and mat to cut the piece. Sewed the casing and ran the elastic through it. Adjusted the elastic so it wasn't cutting off any vital circulation and yet wasn't so loose that I would have a wardrobe malfunction. Cut fabric for straps (made from wide fabric tubes) and then with a bra on tried to adjust the straps so that not only would they stay up, but would mostly cover my bra straps. I realize that it is the latest fashion apparently to have all your straps showing, but that isn't my style! Added some patch pockets to both sides and I was done. This actually took me several days to do all this, but actual sewing room time was probably only an hour and half at most. I just run out of steam sooner than I used to.

The nice thing was I actually had several short sleeve tops that coordinated with some of the bright colors in the dress that I can wear under the dress if I go into town so it works very well as a jumper. I'm hoping to make one out of somewhat heavier fabric for winter. It isn't that I don't have some really great sewing patterns that I could use (see my store), but my sewing time is so limited by my health needs that I need to make things faster and easier if possible. So if you need a sundress quick, this is a style to try, especially if you get last minute tickets to a Caribbean cruise this winter!

Janome 15000

Available October 1, 2013, Janome's latest "baby" the new Janome Memory Craft 15000 sewing/embroidery/quilting machine. From what I've seen, I'm getting that "Be still my heart" feeling, especially when I saw it quilting. Although my machine set up is very good at this point, quilting by machine using embroidery/quilting designs is still difficult for me as I only have approximately a 5" x 7" area before I have to re-hoop which ends up with puckers and designs that aren't always precise when coming together. I generally end up doing a modified stitch in the ditch with decorative stitches, especially on my Project Linus quilts. I would love to see what I could do with them with this machine.

I just have to face it. I love Janome sewing machines and the more do-dads and features the better I like them. I am however, waiting for the day they come with the ability to cut fabric and also dispense chocolate! LOL

If you are interested in seeing what this machine can do, here are some links to  YouTube videos of it in action. I'm sure you will be as impressed as I am.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSqhK8MNHTc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miLr0Nqo3lU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Oaj0yvQ_rY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PprjWENH9XE