Dish Towel Decorating

Pop on over to Embroidery Library to see their New Look Book showing great ways to decorate your dish towels with machine embroidery designs. Make some matching potholders, placemats and napkins, etc. and you could have Christmas present al 'sewn' up!

Incredibly Cute Baby Quilts

I love seeing cute ideas and Hatched in Africa's latest newsletter has a wealth of them. from baby quilts to child grow charts and tote bags to haul baby stuff around, I'm sure you will find some great to fantastic, girly sweet to all boy quilts as well. Visit them today to see what they have.

Hatched in Africa has always been very good about giving out freebies, using on Fridays, so be sure to sign up for their newsletter.

Free Fruit Cameos Machine Embroidery Designs

As always, Embroidery Library delights us again with their free machine embroidery designs. This year they will be releasing a new fruit cameo for free every month for the whole year. That will be 12 designs. This month's cherry design comes in 5 sizes. Don't forget even if you don't have a machine that can use all the larger sizes yet, download them while they are free just in case some day you get a machine that can handle the size. Don't forget to sign up for the Embroidery Library newsletter so you know what is on sale and when you can get some freebies.

Don't forget to get this free design during January 2016 (available now) also. It comes in two sizes and is perfect for kitchen towels or aprons.

Happy New Year to all of you! Let's hope we all have plenty of time to be creative and sew this year.

Borders & Motifs

Here is another book review of a great book that I purchased for myself.

Borders & Motifs by Michaela Learner ISBN 9781844489091 Published by Search Press 2014 UK, Printed in China. 96 pages of text with color photographs of completed work and diagrams for color use, plus 32 pages of 84 iron on embroidery transfers. Softcover Book. From the Ready to Stitch Series.

This book has many lovely designs that are classic in that they should be as lovely now as in 20+ years if someone wants to use them. One thing I really did like about this book is that many of the samples were stitched in two ways with different colored threads and different stitches so you can get ideas for how you might want to use the designs themselves. I don't recall ever seeing this in an embroidery book before and I do think I would like to see it more often. The only designs which I'm not sure I personally like, are the ones with fairies in them as they look like a cross between cherubs and fairies. Just a bit strange to me. Please note that in this book there are no fonts to embroider.

One of the designs in this book I have seen the UK magazine Stitch, October/November 2015 Issue 97 page 20 being used as a design on a tote bag. Before purchasing this book, I had already flagged this project as a possibility to do. I could flag just about every design in this book as possibilities to make as well. If only my hands could hold up for the job!

If you like to embroider, are looking for project ideas, or just like to read and look at needlework books, this is a very good embroidery book. Seeing the designs embroidered in two sets of colors and stitches makes it even more likely that you will come up with more ideas of how to use the designs.

Just Listed! Star Dust Christmas Panel Fabric

At your wits end and need some quickie Christmas crafting ideas? I just found this great Christmas panel fabric by VIP fabrics. It has plenty of motifs for use on sweatshirts, totes, aprons, Christmas stockings and anything else you can think up. As usual with these panels the instructions are right there with the fabric. While you can't see it in the photo, the panel has glitter in selected areas of the motif for extra sparkle. You can purchase it here and as always quick shipping with delivery confirmation.

Pillow Party Trunk Show Christmas Edition

Embroidery Library has lots more videos and tutorials so you can get some great ideas and learn how to use all your embroidery designs that you have collected. Don't have a machine that does machine embroider? Many times you can substitute applique, hand embroidery, decorative stitches, ribbons, lace, etc to perk up your projects.

Needing Donations of Embroidery Supplies for Congo Women

Since I started our pattern business, Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts, my heart has gone out to third world women that do not have the resources like we do to improve their lives and have respectable ways of earning a living to support their families. We have been donating 10% of our profits towards helping these women. One of the projects that we help support is one in the Congo, by way of Carma Nelson who has served as a Christian and Missionary Alliance missionary there for many years. While she is no longer assigned to Congo, she still helps coordinate this small project. This is a grass roots project that started maybe 6 years ago that I have helped when I can.

There is a lady in the Congo that is knowledgeable in embroidery who teaches the other women, who then can sell what they make to help support themselves. To help her and her students out, I have been sending packages of embroidery supplies; embroidery floss, embroidery fabric, hoops, needles and books and booklets on embroidery over the past few years.

At this point I’m asking for your help as well if this strikes a chord in your heart as well. The teacher needs more 6-strand cotton thread/floss especially in pinks and browns but any color would help. Also I’m sure that embroidery needles for hand embroidery and embroidery fabric would help, even those little embroidery scissors so each woman can have her own pair for when she works at her own home. If you used to do embroidery and gave up on a project and still have the floss, we can use it. Not sure if you should send a tangled bunch of floss. Sure go ahead. David loves untangling when he is resting as do I. So don’t let things like that go to waste, and you can feel good about recycling and helping others directly. Any embroidery supplies you may have but no longer plan to use are welcome. Put them to work in the hands of women that can earn a living by using them. If you live in the North East, PA area and can drop any donations off at my house, I would appreciate it as would Carma and the ladies in the Congo. If you aren’t close by but would like to help, You can mail me the supplies (please email me at gailete@hotmail.com for my address). Or you can make a donation of cash by way of https://paypal.me/GailRodgers to the project and I will buy the supplies with my trusty shopping helper, Steve. I want to send the parcel to Carma by way of her mother on Monday, November 16, 2015. If you don’t have time to get something out by then, no worries. I constantly collect for this project and then send the supplies when Carma lets me know that we should have transport of them to the Congo. Their mail service can’t be used as it isn’t trustworthy.

This is not an official charity, so I can’t send out receipts for tax purposes. I have found that I like donating to a project where I know every penny or thread strand will get to where it can be used and this is the case here. 100% of all donations will be sent as supplies to the Congo.

Thank you so much for your support for this worthwhile project.

 

 

Gingham Aprons of the '40s & '50s by Judy Florence

This is a copy of a review that I also posted to Amazon. I received this book as a birthday present from my incredibly long Amazon wish list and was very happy to get it.

I enjoyed reading the book very much and loved seeing the many close up photo details although I am stumped in why these aprons look so pristine! I am an apron wearer and I make my own aprons and most of them with use would never make it to a collection of 'Aprons of the 1980's to 2020's'. They are pretty mucked up within a five to ten year span, but then that is the whole point of an apron isn't it? I can see that some of the apron would have been set aside for good, or like my Christmas apron only for certain special occasions.

Most of the aprons in the book were homemade using machines, while some were completely sewn by hand. The worse looking aprons were made in factories and it certainly shows the difference between tender loving care when sewing and seeing just how many you can whip up in a day when being paid via piecework.

While it was nice to see some approximate values on the aprons, you have to remember that the book was published in 2003 and with the plethora of on line selling venues available since that point, those values are most likely highly inaccurate at this point. My favorite thing was seeing how the makers worked all sorts of rick rack into the aprons as well as embroidery and 'Chicken Scratch' embroidery. I have all sorts of vintage rick rack that I have acquired at my local thrift store and it was good to see the different and attractive ways I can use it. It is obvious though, that the ladies of long ago who made these aprons had no access to Pinterest and its many ideas and links to websites that showed some magnificent ways of doing Chicken Scratch embroidery! If they had they would have really gone to town with Chicken Scratch! It seems that the more ideas spread on Pinterest the more people are trying to out do each other.

All together a very interesting book to those that love aprons, embroidery, rick rack, vintage sewing and/or vintage garments. It is about research and study and has no instructions for making any of the aprons although it does reference a few vintage apron patterns as well as embroidery transfer patterns. The author does have a legible photo of a vintage apron pattern instructions in the book and you should be able to follow them if you like since there are no tissue patterns involved and it even includes two different charts for doing counted cross stitch to embellish the apron. For more apron patterns, you should be able to find both current and vintage as well as vintage pattern reprints on sewing pattern selling sites including mine at Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts. Since reading this book, I have put the author's other book; Aprons of the Mid-20th Century: To Serve and Protect (A Schiffer Book for Designers and Collectors)on my Wish List.

A Great Stash and Scrap Quilt Idea

I've never been big on the idea that I have to 'bust' my stash of fabrics. To me my fabric is like money in the bank. I have enough to keep me happily quilting along for many years with only the need to buy thread and batting. So when I see websites for using up scraps  I'm always happy to file those ideas away in my head, especially ones that will use mis-cut fabric that once cut wrong, all you can do generally is make it into a smaller piece and that wastes your precious scraps. So check out this website for a quilt top that makes use of left over strips and 'crumbs'. Visit Quilting is still my Passion for a very interesting idea. While the writer says you can use any color, think about how this would work using leftover juvenile prints for more Project Linus quilt tops. Or if for some reason you have been doing a lot of quilting using the same colors, this would be a great way to make one more quilt in those same colors. Or using all your leftover plaid pieces or leftover dot or stripe pieces. Anything that is a variation on a theme. So while you may have made a bedroom quilt, you may be able to make so pillows or a lap/nap quilt to go along with the room décor but without the having the same designs.

Life has been, shall we say interesting for the past few weeks. Got up a couple of weeks ago to a dead monitor. This is not good when one has an on-line business and generally has to get orders out every morning. At the same time my back-up laptop is slowing dying. Try to go too fast with it, it will freeze up and it is pokier than I am and that is saying a lot. At the same time I had been sent a computer to review -- Yeah me! It is Windows 10. Our Wi-Fi for some reason was going slow as well. You don't pay for satellite speed to get the equivalent of dial up! So hubby had his work cut out for him as he also had his own computer that needed installed and it wasn't Windows 10 compatible. A week and a half later, I'm using my new computer and flat screen monitor, but our Windows office doesn't seem to want to play nice with our older files. Can you imagine the work to reconstruct a database that has over 12000 patterns listed in it along with all listing information? So he is still working on a few things. And trying to keep up blogs, etc. went by the wayside. I always want to be more regular with all three of my blogs, but with poor health and computers demanding vacation time, I can't always get to it like I would like. For that I apologize.

Crafty Christmas Trunk Show

Check out this video to see some great ideas for Christmas Crafting for gifts and decorations.

Embroidery Library Pillow Party Look Book

 

Embroidery Library Pillow Party Look Book

 

 

Embroidery Library does it yet again with a wealth of design ideas. If you are already crafting presents for the holidays for your home or to give as gifts, you will want to look at this Pillow Party Look Book . It not only has an abundant showing of great pillow ideas, you can also find the instructions on how to make each of these pillows. There is no charge for the Look Book or the instructions and if you have been collecting embroidery designs, you might already have some of the designs that you would like to use. Currently a lot of the pillow embroidery designs are on sale with the sale ending today (9-13-15) but the designs won't disappear. You can always find them to buy on Embroidery Library and if price is a factor, Embroidery Library has frequent sales and monthly freebies.

 

 

And folks for those of you that don't know, Janome is coming out with a new embroidery machine, the Memory Craft 500e. The MC500E has a maximum embroidery size of 7.9”x11”! and it comes with 4 embroidery hoops; RE28b 7.9" x 11", SQ20b 7.9" x 7.9", RE20b 5.5" x 7.9" and SQ14b 5.5" x 5.5". Designs are easily imported through a USB and edited through the machine's advanced on-screen editing functions. Navigation through all of these features has become easier with the MC500E’s new LCD color touchscreen. And Yes, I'm drooling! Can't you just imagine embroidering large designs and quilting in one go a 8" X 8" quilt block which is one of my favorite sizes to work with using my 2 x 4 pre-cuts that I make myself. One of these days I would like to make one of these machines mine and this is why I always encourage downloading free embroidery designs that you find even if you don't have the capacity to do it yet. Some day your prince, er. machine will come!.

What's NEW at Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts?

Starting today, August 13, 2015 at Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts, any US buyer that buys 2 or more sewing patterns will be automatically upgraded to Priority Mail. For a long time we have offered buyers of 5 or more patterns paid for will receive Priority Mail shipping, even if you buy 20+ patterns there will be no increase in shipping costs than the rate as if for 5 patterns. Now we are happy to give a upgrade in shipping to those customers buying 2-4 patterns. We appreciate your business and want you to come back and shop some more and tell your friends about us! Always fast shipping and a huge selection of over 8000 uncut sewing patterns. While the timing between First Class Mail and Priority Mail may not be huge and in some cases, there may be no time difference, we know that the sooner you get your patterns, the faster you can start your project before you lose your enthusiasm for doing it, thus perhaps less UFO piles!

If you have any questions about this new policy please ask. We wish we could do it for our international customers but with the increased costs of shipping that go up by several dollars per OUNCE, we just can't afford to do so. Currently we are helping subsidize the shipping costs for many international shipments when a pattern is extra heavy.

Embroidery Library YouTube Videos

If you are a visual learner, Embroidery Library now has a YouTube library of videos that you can use to learn how to do different projects with your machine embroidery designs, or how to embroider out special designs like free standing lace. You can see the list here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfWcXk2p7YgIJTdURASrBmg

Crafting Project Planning

One of the things that has gotten the hardest for me as rheumatoid arthritis keeps sucking up my stamina, is how to stay involved in the needle crafts that I enjoy. I do read much more about sewing, quilting, embroider, etc. than I used to but that doesn't give me the hand joy of working on something. As I see more and more Pinterest pins with all sorts of new ideas, I want to do more and more. Then I realize that I can't finish large projects. So a couple of weeks ago I chased down the directions for quilting as you go hexagons when I found this YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbK09aT9mJ8 While watching it, a light bulb went off in my head. What about making large hexagons with a different technique on each of them? I could try all the different techniques that I want to try, without committing myself to anything more than one ~4" hexagon. When I have enough made, I will be able to hand sew them together and I will have a sampler Hexagon quilt. This way a lot of the work on them will be taking place on my couch while watching TV of sitting propping up my legs which I can't do in my sewing room.



So for my first hexagon for this project, I did hand embroidery onto a doily which was another project idea I had seen on Pinterest from this blog: Ernest Hope. While these lovely pillows were for sale with no instructions for making them, I figured that they wouldn't be to hard to replicate. So my thrift store came to the rescue and supplied me with an old white bed sheet to use for a foundation backing ($1) for the hexagon and a small doily (10 cents!) that would fit into the hexagon size I had decided on. I already had plenty of embroidery floss, so used DMC Variegated floss 4215 that ranged from a mid-blue color to light purple and back. I used three strands of thread in the needle, but I think with such a heavyweight crochet cotton in the doily, I might have gone up a bit on that. I did find out some of the doily makers' 'oops' moments, but just went with the flow. I didn't even have an embroidery plan when I started out, but when I got to the end I decided it needed a little bit of something else, so I added French knots around the edges of the doily. For my first attempt at this with no instructions, I think it came out pretty well. What do you think?

 I'm calling this hexagon, Hexagon Sampler quilt #1. I'm working on #2 which is smaller hexagons that I'm sewing into three rounds and will applique it onto the backing. Since I discovered that hexagons are actually easy to make, I been making a lot of them with no final use for them in mind, so I was happy that I was able to find pre-made hexagons in the size and prints that I wanted. I'll be posting it when finished, although I don't give myself deadlines any more. The nice thing is I got the desire to make a larger project off embroidering on doilies out of my system and so can move onto other ideas that I have in my head thanks to Pinterest.

My take on all of this is if you want to do something, break it into small pieces and work on it little by little. Since I have started working on this project, I have gotten more ideas and am looking forward to trying them out.                   

Free Christmas Butterfly Designs at Embroidery Library

Only time for a quick note, but didn't want anyone missing this freebie from Embroidery Library. An entire set of designs in multiple sizes. The Christmas Butterfly Wreath and border design in 5 sizes and the corner design in three. These designs are free for only through Sunday, July 26 so get them while you can! Seeing this later? You can always purchase these designs and any others that were freebies after the fact. Embroidery Library has MANY sales, so keep your eyes open to keep your embroidery costs lower.

Embroidery Library 2015 Christmas Club - Sign up NOW!

I think by now, everyone knows that Embroidery Library is my absolute favorite machine embroidery design store. Well I just received noticed that it is time to sign up for the 2015 Christmas Club. Once you sign up, this is what you will get:

• Earn points toward a gift card for purchases from now until December 25
• Sign up before July 31 and get 25 bonus points
• New monthly free designs
• New monthly Christmas "collectible" designs
• Exclusive coupons and sales
• Exciting holiday inspiration, and more!

During prior years, I have gotten some spectacular Christmas Designs. Once you sign up and are given a free design, don't forget to download ALL sizes of the design, just in case an embroidery machine with a bigger embroidery field is waiting under the tree for you, or like me hoping one day to find a Janome 12000 at a yard sale. Since the designs are free, make sure you get them all.

 

If you haven't already, make sure you sign up for Embroidery Library's newsletter as well so that you know what other great new designs have come out and what is on sale. They have so very many terrific designs so you can find something for just about anyone's interests and if you can't, they do take design requests.

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!

The Shirtmaking Workbook by David Page Coffin

When I first signed up for the Amazon Vine Review Program I was hoping I would have a chance at more books like this one; one I wanted and yet didn't have the budget for yet. So I was very excited to be offered this book. While I have read it already, this book will take many hours of study and even more hours on line to fully appreciate all that the author has pulled together for us. this is my first book and internet and it is terrific. It isn't just a couple of wimpy links, but lots and lots of links with great information.

Here is the review that I wrote for Amazon:

The Shirtmaking Workbook: Pattern, Design, and Construction Resources by David Page Coffin ISBN 9781589238268, Published by Creative Publishing International 2015, Soft Cover, 176 pages, full color illustrations.

After reading Mr. Coffin’s first book on shirtmaking years ago, I have been looking for another book from him for a long time. He writes with a clear style so that you can understand what he is talking about. He understands the needs of a home sewist as he was that himself. After many years of waiting, he has come out with a new book, The Shirtmaking Workbook: Pattern,Design, and Construction Resources. This book has all that and more. More than just a book it is a huge resource to on line places to learn more, get supplies, find inspiration, and visit his blog for help and more learning. While you can learn from this book without a computer, a computer just helps expand the reaches of the book at least a hundredfold.

At first I was scared when I heard that Coffin had published another book on shirtmaking. I was worried that it would just be an expanded and edited revision of his last book. Not so at all and actually if you have both books you will have what you need to make shirts on your own and to design the special touches you want but can’t find a sewing pattern with that actual technique. He emphasizes that they are not just books for men and their shirts, but both men and women’s shirts so that they will be the best made shirts you could ever hope to sew and have.

This book has an enormous amount of color photo illustrations of different types of collars and stands as well as lapels. It also has many full color photos of different types of shirts and has them categorized to help you learn the special techniques that each type of shirt requires. It includes interviews with famous sewists; links to their websites as well as links to the many different resources mentioned in the book including more than 100 downloads for collars, cuffs and plackets. All in all a Masters’ degree program in learning how to make shirts. If I could give more than 5 stars I would.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I would suggest that anyone interested in this book to acquire the first Shirtmaking book first as it will help your understand how to sew the shirts you will want to construct. While it does go into some changes for the shirts that you are making, it doesn't go into the detail that this new book does. If you need a pattern for a shirt to start you off, we have plenty of them at Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts. Here are a few of them: For men's shirts you can go to this link. For Misses shirt patterns, you can go to this link. And for Women's Plus Sizes you can go to this link.  Here are some sample shirt patterns that we have at our store and there is plenty more where they came from! Sorry I don't know how to make them clickable.

 

 

 

Creative Kids Complete Photo Guide to Sewing

I just posted a review of this book: Creative Kids Complete Photo Guide to Sewing on my blog Moonwishes Reads and Reviews  that you might want to read concerning this book. I saw no point in copying it over to here. This is the first real sewing book for children that I have run into, but I found it to be disappointing. However, if you are willing to overlook some of its flaws and work with your child to help them learn the skills in the book, then it might be worthwhile for you to purchase or see if you library has a copy.

Janome Purple Tip Sewing Machine Needles

I belong to a Janome sewing digest and have seen the ladies on the board (could be men as well, hard to see through the monitor screen) asking where they can find Janome Purple Tip Sewing Machine Needles . While I haven't used them as yet, I do know where you can find them as well as the Red Tip and Blue Tip Needles. the folks on the digest that have used the purple tipped needles swear by them to help prevent skipped stitches.

Here is some more information about the Purple Tip Needles from Amazon:

Janome Purple Tip Sewing Machine Needles are designed to prevent skipped stitches when sewing on stretch fabrics.

The Janome Purple Tip Sewing Machine Needles are great for sewing quilt layers and also for sewing across the hem.

The Janome Purple Tip Sewing Machine Needles are in size 90/14 and are 5 needles per pack.

Here is some more information about the Blue Tip Needles from Amazon:

• The Blue Tip needle is specially designed for Janome machines. The unique design has a slightly longer than normal scarf to cure skipped stitches and puckering in any problem fabrics especially synthetics. Size 75/11 Highly recommended for all Janome embroidery machines.

Here is some more information about the Red Tip Needles from Amazon:

• Janome Size 14 Red Tip Sewing and Embroidery Needles are designed for denser embroidery. Created in the same style as the classic Blue Tip needle, the Janome Size 14 Red Tip Sewing and Embroidery Needles provide the extra strength and durability needed for denser embroidery and thicker fabrics. This Janome Size 14 Red Tip Sewing and Embroidery Needles are equipped with a larger eye, which helps to prevent the thread breakage that can occur when working with tricky threads, such as metallic.

I would love to hear from those who have used these needles. Are they worth it? Did you have any trouble with them? Do your skipped stitches disappear when using them? Any comments that can help out your fellow sewers would be appreciated.