Sewing!!

So we decided to buy a lovely used Singer Futura SEQS-6000 Quartet off of Ebay for embroidering some baby clothes and other small home projects. But OMG! This machine really does it all. We downloaded some patterns from Urban Thread and my daughter in law is working on making colorful feathers to put together for a mobile for the baby. She only had to use two layers of water soluble stabilizer and embroidery thread. She downloaded the pattern, then sent to the machine. Press a button and voila! When this mobile is done, it will be beautiful! She plans to use an old wooden embroidery hoop for the base of the mobile I can't wait to see it when it's done! Check out the feathers she embroidered so far: I checked on Amazon for a newer Futura. This one has an endless hoop to embroider long pieces of fabrics. I am in love! SINGER XL-580 Futura Embroidery and Sewing Machine with 250 Embroidery Designs Here are a few more machines that are a little more afforda

With the holiday season upon us and less money than ever to spend, online shopping has become bigger than ever. I've seen so many major retail stores closing in our area that I have fallen into this depressed mood as my muscles have started to waste away due to the inability to walk around a Sears or Kmart. However, things may be looking up as I can find many things online at pretty good prices. shopgoodwill.com is pretty darn cool with their cool Ebay style of auctions on some of the coolest stuff. My biggest weakness has been the vintage sewing machines. Their lower prices have allowed me to build up quite a collection of those gorgeous vintage Singers, right down to a little featherweight. They have fabric, thread, and so much craft supplies. I cannot possibly list it all here. I even started to look at some clothing on this site to help clothe my family, however, the shipping is a little high. So, Amazon and Ebay may still be the choice when it comes to buying clothes. So a

Silly me, decided to go ahead and make my own formal dress as the mother of the groom from Simplicity pattern D0685. Just sort of played around with it and decided on a combination of the three dresses. I wish I could say this was easy. Which it was not bad sewing together, but it took a while to finish. Decided on a copper satin, golden tulle, and a vintage looking lace overlay. Although it was not a goal of mine, it was definitely very "steam punk." In fact, at the wedding reception, had a young lady ask if it was a steam punk dress. Sewed the bodice together. One thing that became important to me, was to try to match up the lace on the seams. Very hard and I did not meet that goal a few times.  I had to cut the pattern out for three different types of material: the satin, then the tulle, and on top was the lacy material. Hard to see the golden sparkle tulle in the pictures, but it was there. As I was sewing this together, I thought I

Here is a beautiful summer dress I made for  myself. This dress is EASY, Easy, easy!! I am about a size 18-22. I am starting to earn my spare tire; as I am nearing 50. If you are around my age; you will know exactly what I mean. It is really hard for me to find a dress in the stores that I would be comfortable in or one that I feel would flatter my body type. So I made this one. Without the sash; it looked like a great maternity dress. Since I am well pass the age of childbearing; I added the sash. So if you are looking for a great maternity/maxi dress, this dress would fit you with or without the sash.  My dress form goes out to about a size 16; so the dress is loose on my dress form.   Supplies: Materials needed: 2-3 yards of  stretchy material, thread to match, sharp scissors, and pins. Oh, and of course, a sewing machine. I used contrasting knit material I found on sale at Hancocks. You may need a yard for the bodice and 2 yards for the skirt of contrasting color or