Time for Summer Sewing! Here is a FREE pattern!

          Its time to start sewing for Summer! Here is a precious little sundress that you can make in no time at all for some lucky little girl. Its so easy! One of my dear sweet customers made this for the shop several months ago. She had seen a dress similar in a catalog for way too much money and knew that she could make one on her own ~ no pattern is really necessary. She used a cute little printed knit (Pink Mod Floral on our website - we still have a little). The fabric hangs perfectly and requires no slip. This little sundress would be a perfect bathing suit cover-up! Okay, so how do you make one? 

 

1.) Measure the child ~ or adult, as this works for anyone ~ from just under the arm to the proposed finished length. Now measure around the chest and then double this measurement. Cut out a rectangle to these measurements. This will be the entire dress!

Depending on the total width, you might need one width of fabric or more. If you need more then divide the number in half and cut two panels; one for the front and one for the back.

Ruffle ~ This needs to be about twice the width of the skirt. The width of the ruffle is totally up to you. This little sundress has a 4 1/2" wide ruffle. If you are making this for yourself as a "Maxi" dress, the ruffle needs to be probably about 6" wide.

Straps ~ Cut (2) two strips of fabric from 2"-3" wide by around 18" for a little girl or 3"-4" wide by  28" long for an adult.  When you attach the straps to the dress, try it on to adjust to a comfortable length. If they are too long, just cut off whatever is unnecessary.

2.) Preparation ~ First finish the following edges of your pieces with a rolled hem*  in a contrasting thread rather than hemming them: the dress at the top, both sides of the ruffle and both sides of the straps. This is much faster and is prettier by far!

*For perfectly smooth rolled hems, use wooly nylon thread in the upper looper of your serger.

3.) Sewing ~ Sew the dress together into a tube shape. Attach all of the ruffle sections together.

Close-up of bodice shirring.

4.) Shirring ~ about 1/2" down from one edge of the ruffle, shirr 3 rows about 1/4" apart with elastic thread in the bobbin of your sewing machine.

For the dress do the same, but rather than 3 rows, shirr as many rows as you want for the bodice section. 

For the straps, shirr 4 - 10 rows ~ this depends on the width of your straps.

How to Shirr: To wind the elastic thread onto the bobbin, you can start it on the sewing machine as you fill any other bobbin. Then you need to "slow it down" to fill it up the rest of the way. I just hook my finger around the elastic as it goes into the bobbin. This slows it down just enough - like a brake. To shirr, set your machine's stitch length at 4 and sew! Do not cut your threads at the end of each row. Just turn around and go back the other direction until you get enough rows shirred. After you are done at the machine, steam the shirred sections with your iron and watch the magic! It will shrink up beautifully. Do not touch the iron to the elastic thread ~ hold the iron a couple of inches above the fabric.

5.) Finishing ~ Attach the ruffle to the bottom of the dress by pinning it on top of the dress  about 1/2" above the very bottom. (The top edge will look a little like a "lettuce" edge. Cute!)

Try the dress on and pin on the straps where they are most comfortable. Stitch to attach to the sundress and you are done!!!

Post pictures of your little sundresses!

A Quick Trip to Tucson!

      I just made a super quick trip to Tucson and back with my husband to collect a "toy" ~ for him! It was really quite nice to be "trapped" in the car with plenty of time to visit without the interruptions of daily life. I knitted, browsed magazines, help drive and laughed a lot. We stayed the first night in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was so pretty! Desert and mountains everywhere you looked . . . and cactus, of course!  I loved the flowers that were getting ready to bloom on this cactus to your left. We had clear skies with cool crisp temperatures. Naturally after we checked in to our hotel, we ventured out to see what was in town. 

 Did I locate a local fabric store? Why, of course. I did not even look it up, my "fabric nose" just led us to it!

Did we find a great Mexican restaurant? Is there sand in the desert! 

We only stayed one night and then it was on to Tucson to pick up the new/old little motorcycle. This time a '69 Honda 90. I believe that this is #4. Gotta love a man with a hobby!

Here are a few more cactus pictures. There are really interesting to look at.

 

I wanted to share with everyone a few more pictures of last weekend's sewing retreat. We had so much fun that I keep thinking about the next one and what we can do!    

Mollie & Bettie and their completed projects!

 

 

Cathy, one of our novices and 3 completed garments!

 

 

 

 

 

Denise was super productive!

Elizabeth with just a couple of her garments!

 

Our Dessert on Saturday Night

         This is what we all had for our dessert Saturday night at the sewing retreat! Its German Pecan Pie and it was delicious. Just looking at it makes me want another piece! I still have more pictures to share of our fun projects, but it is late and I am packing to go on a little trip with my husband tomorrow ~ Yeah! 

Here is the recipe for all of you to try: 

German Pecan Pie

4 egg whites beaten                                  1 t. vanilla

1 C sugar                                                       24 Ritz crackers

1 C. pecans chopped                                

Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Squares      

Put crackers in a zip locked bag and roll with rolling pin until you have an even fine grind.  Beat egg whites until stiff then slowly add sugar and beat until blended.  Stir in crackers, vanilla and pecans.  Pour into greased 9 inch pie plate.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool 1 ½ to 2 hours. Cover with Cool Whip and shred chocolate on top.  Refrigerate.

YUM!!!!!

Spring Sewing Retreat!

My annual Spring Sewing Retreat was this past weekend and I think that it was the best one ever! Our projects included making Easter dresses, the ever popular Twirl skirt, a fabric flower, a sewing notions bag (or several!)  and a knit yoga skirt and/or leggings! As always, the menu was decadant and memorable ~ I do not think that I will eat now for at least a week! 

Friday Evening's Dessert

And, the accomodations . . .  pure elegance and homey~comfy! I hold our sewing retreats at the Southern Comfort Retreat House in Mineola, Texas. See how pretty it is!

Here are some photos of just a few of the completed projects:

This is Miss Lily by Samantha Caffe of The Handmade Dress ~ of course it was not handmade! ~ made on the sewing machine! I do not know why her patterns bear that name.  

And below is a little suit made using a pattern by Jackie Clark, the Baby Overalls. Isn't this a classic! And, monogrammed too!

Here is another cutie: this is a pattern by ModKid Designs, Isabel.

Many of the participants made themselves a Notions Bag:

And some people made more than one!

I’ll post more pictures tomorrow of all of our fun as well as a one of my favorite recipes from our retreat hostess!

Back Home Again!

SEWING EXPO Puyallup, WA
Janice manning the booth!

One market and three sewing expos and we are finally back home in Texas! A month is way too long to be gone from home and hubby! It is hard to believe that I left home a month ago today ~ first I flew to Seattle to attend the Northwest Fabric Show as well as THE Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup, Washington. If you have never been to this show, I think that all sewers should plan to go at least once! It is so awesome! This is one of the biggest sewing shows in our entire country. Its main emphasis is on sewing clothing as opposed to quilting; although there are a fair number of quilting vendors & classes.  I was privileged to be asked to teach again this year. I had two seminars; one on ruffles and the other one on shirring. The classrooms hold one hundred in each and all four of my sessions were full.  People come from all over the Northwest US as well as Canada to attend this venue. Lots of wonderful sewing sisters! It was so much fun ~ And, of course, our booth was super busy! I think that we are going to need more booth space next year and additional help. Janice, from the shop in Texas, joined me in Seattle for this Big show. It was critical to have someone who knew everything about our products other than me. Each year we get busier and busier in Washington.

A little over a week later, we both flew to Atlanta, Georgia for The Original Sewing and Quilt Expo. My dear sweet husband drove our truck - a twelve hour trek - full of goodies from Texas to Atlanta and even picked us up at the airport. Wow, the timing was incredibly perfect. We could not have accidentally "not planned" it any better! He even helped us set up the following day. It was wonderful to have an extra set of arms and legs to make the unloading easier. Then he returned home to rest and go to "work"! He says that my job in physically exhausting and the hours are too long! This was our second year to be in Atlanta, but this year I was contracted to teach two classes each day and do one stage presentation a day. Just like in Washington, we met so many wonderful people. The weather was better than Seattle as we went from snow, sleet and rain to Spring like temperatures! The flowers were blooming everywhere and it was so green. 

       

Savannah's Cane River

On Sunday, after the Atlanta show, Janice and I drove down to Savannah for a couple of days of rest and "playing tourist". Oh, my gosh, it was so beautiful!!! We walked and walked around town enjoying the gardens of flowers, the wonderful architecture, the ships, we did a little shopping and ate very well! We even got to eat at Paul Dean's restaurant! Every bite was incredible. We definitely went off the healthy eating plan that night!

Paula's 3 story restaurant!

Downtown Savanah

Then it was on down to Lakeland, Florida for our final and third show in just three weeks! By now, I had to go find some sandals as none of my shoes were going to work for temperatures in the eighties! Oh, I think that I failed to mention that I broke my baby toe three days before I left for this adventure. I only had one pair of loosely fitting boots that were semi comfortable. Or, should I say, bearable! And, suede boots in Florida would have looked ridiculous! 

Shopping in Savannah!

We have never done this particular show in Florida, so all was new to us. I had the same teaching arrangement, so we were plenty busy. There were naturally a lot more women who were retired that attended this show. They all seemed to be having soooo much fun! I guess not having to work anymore and living "on vacation" all the time will do that to you! Lucky ladies! Of course, not everyone who came to the show were in this group! We met so many wonderful sewing sisters in each city. We all have such a bond. Perhaps we should be called "Sisters of the Cloth"! 

Wow, was that a very full month! Will I do it again? Hmm . . . perhaps with a few adjustments! I really missed my hubby!

I'm here in Seattle!

            

          I made it to Seattle on Friday morning! Everything was shipped out this week to our storage unit in Puyallup. This is where the Sewing and Stitchery Expo is held every year. Just at the base of Mt Rainier! It is always a huge relief when everything is packed and shipped. Of course, this year, we've packed for 2 other shows at the same time. But I don't want to think about that right now!

       After I collected my bags and rental car (which almost did not happen!), I headed to Tacoma ~ see the Tacoma Dome?! I have always wanted to go to the Museum of Glass there, but never had any time, at least when they were open. It was fabulous! And, here is a picture of the famous Bridge of Glass at the Museum of Glass. These are all pieces by Dale Chihuly ~ ah!!! I'd go to any museum to see his work and I've gone to quite a few. Truly an amazing artist! His work is breathtaking.

         So, why did I almost not get my rental car? Because my Driver's license had expired! Can you believe it! I guess that I never did get the reminder letter and these days, hardly anyone ever asks to look at it. Of course, you cannot rent a car without a valid license. Luckily my husband was at home and fortunately I had renewed my license in person the last time. So, I was eligible to renew on line. Yeah! We subsequently emailed the document to the front desk of the car rental company. They accepted that as my renewal and then they finally rented me my little economy car! By then, I felt worn out! So, I headed off to have some fun! You might want to check your license!

           On Saturday I attended the Northwest Fabric & Notions Show in Renton, just outside of Seattle. I saw lots of wonderful new lines from Alexander Henry, Robert Kaufman, Riley Blake & Michael Miller to mention a few. Most of these are not even on their sites ~ they are that new! I did order lots of goodies  and they should start to arrive within 3 to 4 weeks. You would think that after so much sewing getting ready for these three big sewing expos, that I would not feel like looking at more fabric. Wait, what I am saying? I always want to look at fabric, buy it and then play with it! I found some incredible new fashion fabrics too. Stretch denim for jeggings, cotton burnouts, stretch sateen shirtings, silk voile, more european lawn cottons, some fabulous jersey knits and some wonderful rayons! Ah, I can hardly wait to have them in the shop and start designing!

          On Sunday, I treated myself and went to my favorite knitting shop in all of Seattle ~ Weaving Works. I love it. I spent over two hours there and looked at everything! I did come away with three small and easy projects and I even started one that evening. 

           Today was all work though. I have been on my computer nearly the entire day. I only stopped to eat. And, tomorrow I will be going into Puyallup to check on our shipments and drop my class handouts off at Office Depot for printing. I will be going back to the airport in the late afternoon to get my dear friend and helper, Janice. We are going to have so much fun ~ yeah and a lot of work!

  And, here is one last piece of glass that I fell in love with!

If it snows, I'll sew!

       

           Yes, we have snow in the forecast AGAIN! I can't believe that we are actually experiencing a real  "winter" here in Texas. Last week the shop was closed until Saturday due to ice and snow. That's not good for business. But, boy did I get a lot of sewing done! 

                 Everyone at Sew It Up has been working on lots of new kits for Spring. We try to post the new photos on the website every few days.  I'll be leaving in three weeks to go to three different sewing expos, so, naturally we need new goodies. It makes my head spin how much we have going on right now. But, here is one interesting observation. The more I design, the more I sew and the more ideas that come to me. I have a notebook that I carry with me everywhere.  In this notebook, I write down my ideas, sketch up my "visions",  and jot down "to do" lists each day. The only problem is that each item that I cross off this list, I add two more! So, I feel that I'll never get everything done. It's a delicate balance  of knowing when to stop and when you have enough . . . . and knowing when to rest. That last one is the hardest one for me. But, maybe it will snow again tomorrow and I will "rest" in my sewing room!