It's Sew Karren - The Sewing Blog

Welcome to my sewing blog where you will find a little bit of this and a little bit of that - a kind of stash drawer of my thoughts and experiences, and not necessarily related to sewing! Here we go!!

Apr 25, 2008, Web Shopping Confession

I have a confession to make. I like web shopping. I often fill my cart with all kinds of things I want for myself or for my sewing room. Fabulous materials, notions, gadgets, vintage patterns. Then I delete everything! It's fun! It's empowering!

I sometimes waste an entire hour on a shopping spree only to nuke the entire contents of the cart before I leave the site. Ok, you now think I'm nuts. I, however, think it's quite clever. I've seen people walk around real stores with their carts full of stuff only to put most of it back on the rack or on the shelf before they leave. How embarrassing! Anyone seeing them immediately tags them as being either an impulse shopper to be pitied or (worse yet) as someone with a conscience! They know they can't afford to spend the money so they put stuff back! Therefore, I give in to my shopping demons in the privacy of my own home. There will be no pitiful looks coming my way. Fill that cart girl! Indulge yourself! Go Speed Shopper!

Just be sure to delete everything. Or just close the web page. Even if you should get caught up in the frenzy and actually continue to the "fill in your information page", you are still safe until you hit the submit button and many times you get one last chance before all is lost. Or better yet, check the "will pay by check" option. Nothing will be shipped until they get your payment so you'll have plenty of time to come up with a good excuse when they e-mail you about your order.

Or, you can go ahead and send the payment because you feel really stupid about accidently hitting the submit order button and making them go through all the trouble to get things ready for shipping. Like I did. For heirloom lace. $100 worth.

Did it cure me? Of course not! I'll use every yard of it. Eventually. Now grease those wheels and give me another cart.

Mar 31, 2008, Custom Sewn Wing Sleeves?

Last week my husband came down the stairs with one of his radio control airplane hobby catalogs in hand and a question spewing from his mouth. Could I custom sew something for him? Oh oh. This could be trouble. I force a smile to my face and reply (very sowly) "maayyybeee."

Oh oh is right. He's been looking at carrying cases (also called sleeves) for all the wings of his extremely large radio controlled gas engine airplanes. Oh joy! He thinks I can save him money if I custom make them. HA!! He's nuts!!!

Let's see. First, I will have to come up with a pattern. No problem, I have tracing paper by the roll. Each wing case will need padding. Also, no problem, this stuff also comes by the roll. They will need handles. Again, no problem, I can find webbing by the yard. They need velcro for closures. Truly, no problem. They need... to be ordered from a catalog!!! By the time I figure all the measurements for the different wing sizes, buy appropriate fabrics, buy the necessary webbing, find and buy thin plastic to prevent wires from poking through the fabric, etc. etc., and actually make one of these things, I'll be adding the cost of therapy to the final bill. Make them cheaper? I don't think so!

I'm ordering these things already made. If he wants me to do some custom sewing, I'll embroider his name on the outside.

Mar 7, 2008, Turn a Sweatshirt into a Cardigan

It's easy to turn a sweatshirt into a cardigan. Follow these simple instructions and let your imagination go!

Mar 6, 2008, Thinking Pink and Heirloom Sewing

I'm going to be a grandmother again and the official word is...it's another girl. I'm thrilled. I love sewing girly things and discovered heirloom sewing a couple of years ago. However, in the event that the bun in my daughter's oven was to be of the snips-and-snails and puppy-dog-tails variety, I had been looking at little boy patterns and blue fabrics. Which is why I recently ordered several back issues of Sew Beautiful Magazine. I saw some adorable items for little boys which were not too heirloomy. That's not a word, but I hope you know what I mean. I don't want any grandson of mine looking like Little Lord Fauntleroy. However, that issue is now a moot point. It's a girl! For the next six months I get to think about ruffles and bows, ribbons and lace, delicate embroideries on delicate fabrics, and dainty prints on 100% cotton. Notice I said think. "Princess" Kaitlyn (my 4 year old granddaughter whom I adore) rarely wears such garments, even when she was a baby. They are not her style. Yes, even little ones have their own style (usually dictated by their mothers). However, I'm hoping this future granddaughter of mine will be a bit more into frilly stuff. And if not? I'll do a little dictating of my own. Really, why have all these wonderful embroidery sewing machines if you can't force a few heirlooms on someone!

Happy Stitching!

Mar 5, 2008, Hand exercises for sewing

Hand exercises for pain free sewing. Keep your hands limber and enjoy your hobby more.

Feb 15, 2008, All White? The Christening Dilemma.

We're going to a christening and reception on Sunday. Which means I had to come up with an appropriate gift for the event and, being me, I wanted to make it. Nothing elaborate. Just something sweet and special. Like a keepsake pillow! Simple right? White pillow, white lace, appropriate embroidery and all would be well.

Ha! If you know me, you know that nothing is simple when I get on a project. My creative juices flow just fine. Problem is, they flow every direction! It took me an hour just to commit to what size the pillow would be. Then I spent another two hours searching for embroidery designs that went with the vision I had in my head (which kept changing). However, the biggest challenge of the day turned out to be: all white or not?

Not wanting to get tossed out on my Protestant kiester at the reception for the inappropriate use of color at a South Louisiana Catholic christening event, I researched whether all white was traditional or a mandate that even the heathen don't break. After hours of research and looking at dozens of websites dedicated to the sale of everything imaginable for christenings, baptisms and first communions, I have come to this conclusion. If an item is used during the ceremony, all white is both expected and traditional. If given or used after the ceremony, all white is still expected but not required. Therefore, since I don't like the look of all white on this particular little pillow and it is NOT being used in the ceremony, I am using pastels in the embroidery.

Besides, I know my husband will catch me if they toss me out.

Feb 11, 2008, Ringing Ears, Slotted Seams and Felting

I was sitting here earlier trying to figure out why my ears wouldn't stop ringing. I kept swallowing and they weren't clearing. Then the dog started her low "I don't know what it is, but it had better not come around here" woof; which she does before she goes and hides. Now I know dogs have incredible hearing, but she couldn't possibly be hearing something inside my head! That's when I realized it was coming from behind me, from across the street. Somebody was using a high pitched electric saw. Don't laugh. When my ears start equalizing, I feel the need to clear the area for takeoff.

Now, let's talk about something that will surely set your senses off. Slot seam embellishment. If you haven't seen the newest issue of Sew Beautiful magazine, pick one up. Anyone who sews, using traditional or heirloom techniques, can create beautiful embellished slot seams. Sue Pennington Stewart has written an excellent article on this sewing technique and shows how easy it is to do. Check out page 46 for creative ideas. The article focuses on garments, but this can be used on quite a number of things. (Like throw pillows and other home decor items.) I'd be willing to wager you'll be trying this out on something real soon.

Also... all you people who got a fancy machine embellisher for Christmas, the same issue of the magazine mentioned above has a short article on felting and the items which were created for the article (especially the jackets) are exceptional. NOW I wish I had asked for that Babylock Embellisher when they were on sale! Of course, I could do this by hand. But if you knew what a klutz I am, you'd understand why I feel the need to avoid hand felting tools. I know I'd wind up needle punching myself. Repeatedly.

Feb 6, 2008, Quilting and Sewing Contests

Information about sewing contests, quilting contests and other fun stuff.

Jan 31, 2008, Beware the Pile with Ribbon on Towel

Ok, that should get your attention. Or not. When I was at the sewing shop last week, I noticed some wide fleur de lis ribbon had been ordered. (We LOVE fleur de lis stuff down here.) Anyway, the shop owner (male) was concerned that the yards and yards of ribbon his wife had ordered wouldn't sell and was a waste of money. Anyway, he just couldn't visualize the numerous possibilities people would find for this latest addition to the shop. So, I proceeded to show him.

The shop sells hand towels to embroidery customers. So, I'm thinking, the gold ribbon with the purple fleurs will look great above the border on the purple towel, the purple with the gold fleurs equally attractive on the (LSU gold) towels. I got him to agree that having a sample or two for people to see would help sell both the ribbon and the towels and that I could whip a couple together in no time at all since adding ribbon to almost anything is super simple!

Yeah right.

Confession time here. I haven't put ribbon on a towel in years, let alone a super plush spa type towel. At first, I thought it was me. Geeze! Are my eyes THAT bad? Is my equilibrium off? The ribbon is NOT going on straight! I sneak a glance to the right, then to the left. Good. Nobody is watching me. Thank goodness the shop owner doesn't sew. The amount of time I was taking (along with the number of times I was taking out stitches) might have made him rethink having me on site! Even I was rethinking have me on site.

At first I thought, ok, I should have pinned the ribbon in place along the stitching line instead of eyeballing the placement while I sewed. However, even with pins, the ribbon was going on at a slant rather than straight. Sometimes, it takes me a while for the light to come on. My "aha" moments are not always instantaneous.

Finally it hit me. The pile was acting like a conveyor belt and moving the ribbon off line. Also, the depth of the pile meant the stitches were sinking further into the material and causing the ribbon to contract as it was being attached. Which is why I had to make an unexpected adjustment on the amount of ribbon turned under at each end. It basically "shrunk" as it was being sewn. Good thing I had cut the ribbon with extra length to begin with.

In the end, the towels turned out quite spiffy and people were noticing them. That afternoon, he had a customer buy six yards of ribbon. Which means the shop owner is feeling better and his wife is feeling... let's say... victorious? I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more ribbon in the store. Soon.

Jan 21, 2008, My How Time Flies

My daughter recently chastised me for not keeping my sewing blog up to date. Funny how roles change. Actually, I just got swept up with the holidays, family stuff, work... you know, LIFE! And boy does time fly when life events kick in.

My husband and I missed a trip to see family over Thanksgiving since we were passing around a nasty stomach virus (upper and lower if you get my drift). I really believed that spraying everything with Lysol (including my spouse) would keep me from getting it. WRONG. I was soooo sick. Thanks for sharing honey! We eventually got over it and then it was Christmas time.

It took us forever to finally determine when we could drive up to Shreveport to visit with my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter in their new house. Of course by the time we nailed down the dates we could go visit, we couldn't get the dogs into their doggie hotel so we had to take them with us. Casey travels well. Dottie, however, makes me nuts. Travel seems to kick her bladder into overdrive! Thank goodness for dramamine. She travels really well once she's sound asleep. Anyway, we had a good visit even though their house was freezing cold. One reason, a low set thermostat (which I totally agree with) the other...they don't have carpeting in their house. They have lovely stamped, stained concrete. It's supposed to be a high end thing with builders and new homes. After that visit, I have determined I will NEVER have stamped, stained concrete in any house I ever live in.

We weren't back home but a couple of days when I had to make an unexpected trip back to the northern part of the state to take care of my 82 year old mother for a few weeks. Miss Cleo fractured a vertebrae in her back while on a trip with other family members and needed me to stay with her while she was recuperating. At least her house has carpeting. After two and a half weeks taking care of her every need, I now have a huge respect for people who do home health care.

Anyway, I took one of my machines and a box of supples, fabric, embroidery threads, stabilizers, etc. to do some personal embroidery projects while I was up there. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring any of the machine's hoops. So... I didn't do any of it. I did however, finish knitting a hot pink fuzzy neck scarf, put together TWO large jigsaw puzzles and discovered that spider solitare is addicting. Guess who got me hooked? My 82 year old mother.

Catch you later and happy stitching!

Nov 12, 2007, Burps, Giggles and a No Sewing Weekend.

My granddaughter spent most of the weekend with us and I didn't even think about sewing while she was here. I was too busy entertaining and being entertained by the world of a four year old. When she couldn't remember the word syrup she called it waffle juice. When she wanted to do something she knew I would say no to, she insisted the dog told her she could do it. She informed us that she takes baths outside when it rains. We informed her that she didn't. Then there's her need be both seen and heard. Not to mention her delight in making bodily noises. Even though she politely excuses herself, she makes sure her burps are classified as genuine belches. Loud and long, followed by a fit of intense giggles. If there were a wall of fame for pre-K belchers, she'd be on it. Of course I couldn't let her have all the fun. Let me have a cold Dr. Pepper and I can rate an honorable mention myself! Which, of course, set off another round of intense giggles. By both of us. It was a fun, albeit noisy, non-sewing weekend.

Nov 6, 2007, About Sewing Machine Needles

A quick overview of sewing machine needles and the fabrics they sew on.

Nov 5, 2007, Needles and Pins

I went to the dentist this morning. It's been over two hours and my mouth, lip and lower half of my face are still numb. However, the pins and needles itchy feeling you get when the novacaine starts wearing off is beginning to really set in. My dentist is high tech. So are his fees. I'm fairly certain I personally paid for the dental chair I was laid back in for the procedure.

Sewing has gotten high tech too. At least as far as the machines and software that goes with them. The good news is, you don't have to buy the most expensive machine in order to sew a great garment or other project. A solid, dependable machine that does a straight stitch and a zig zag stitch is truly more than capable of doing a great job. It's just not as much fun as sewing on a machine with lots of built in stitches and options. One thing common to both, low tech and high tech models, however, is the fact that you still have to use the right needle for the job.

Do you know your sewing machine needles? They come in size 9 through 18. The different sizes are designed for different weight fabrics. As the fabric weight increases, so does the number (size) of the needle. As the fabric weight decreases, so does the number (size) of the needle. If you don't want to stock a lot of different sized needles, a 14 can be used on most fashion weight fabrics. Sewing machine needles also come with sharp points for woven fabrics and ball points for knits. You also have needles designed for regular sewing, specialty sewing and needles designed just for machine embroidery. If you are new to sewing, chances are you do not yet know your needles. Take the time to learn which ones should be used with specific fabrics. The August issue of Sew News Magazine had an excellent article by Sarah Doyle on this subject.

While I'm at it, I also want to point out that sewing pins are not all the same either. You have ball point and sharp point for the same reasons mentioned above. The type you use should be determined by the fabric they are being used on. You also have the choice of short or long. Plastic heads or glass heads. As long as you remember that plastic will melt under a hot iron, and are careful when ironing something, using pins with plastic heads shouldn't be a problem. The only thing I do want to stress is, pins, if bent or dull can cause snags and damage your fabric. If your sharp isn't sharp, toss it.

Nov 3, 2007, Easy to Sew Embroidered Door Hangers

Be creative! Make your own embroidered door hangers.

Nov 2, 2007, My Embroidery Sewing Machine Hates Baby Bibs.

I'm not kidding. My machine acts up every time I put a particular terrycloth baby bib on it. Things will be going just fine. Everybody is happy. The machine will be stitching out an embroidery design and purring like a kitten at it's mother's (you know what) with no problems what-so-ever... then, the sound subtly changes.

Within a few seconds, it has gone from a happy camper to one pitching a hissy fit. It has realized it is sewing on a baby bib! It turns to its own version of Psycho. It's the scene in the shower. The needle stabs, stabs, stabs. The thread gets shreaded to bits. Nasty birdsnests show up on and below the surface of the fabric. I've changed needles in case there was a burr. I've tried different stabilizers to see if there's one the machine likes better for the specific task at hand. I've made sure the top stablizer is secure. I've checked for hang-ups along the threading system as well as under and around the bobbin case. I TRY to make it happy!

Nope. It just doesn't like these baby bibs! It USED to like these baby bibs. Not anymore! Maybe baby bibs remind it of the child it never had. Who knows what the heck is going on. My repair tech tells me the problem is ME. HA! I don't think so. He never tests it with BABY BIBS. It's definately the machine.

It was working fine prior to the bibs and I can stitch just fine on woven fabrics, so far. This is one of the darndest stunts this machine has pulled on me yet. I guess I'll be dragging it in to the shop once again. I wonder if a few hormones mixed with the oil will straighten it out. Maybe I need to find a sewing machine THERAPIST! My machine is nuts. If it's not one thing, it's another. Maybe, my machine is going through..."the change". That might explain the crazy mood swings it seems to have. In the meantime, I'm keeping all bibs at least 10 feet away from it.

Happy Stitching!