Wednesday, June 17, 2015

JUST SOME MORE SEWING STORIES AND DILEMMA'S.....

Well it's Wednesday shortly before noon, and I decided to put up a quick post....and hopefully it will be quick as my head is all over the place.  I'll try to stick to the subject at hand, lol.  I have been on my usual routine over here.....sewing....I know, shocking, lol.  On Monday I decided to try my hand at something new.  I noticed when I was at Mel's last time that little Claire doesn't have any new "girly" hooded bath towels, but has instead a couple of somewhat tattered looking ones that belonged to her brothers.  Now don't get me wrong.  They get the job done, and Mel is certainly able to purchase some new ones should she chose to, that is of course if she can find the time to address it.  I think she has found herself a little busier then she thought she might be with this third baby.  She is constantly doing something for someone and is forever somewhat tired.  I remember the days well, but my kids were never as close together as hers.  In my opinion she is patient and loving and pays CLOSE attention to the things that matter, rather then worrying about new bath towels or having everything constantly picked up as HER mother did, lol.  Is there even such a thing with 3 children 3 and under?  lol  I doubt it.  But, as I was dwelling on what to make her sister in law, whose shower Melody and I will attend when she is here in July for Brooke's first baby, I somehow thought of hooded bath towels.  So I looked it up on google and sure enough there were several different tutorials, and they all looked easy.  Sooo I purchased some nice terry cloth and nice flannel and decided to give it a whirl.  I made them each a hooded towel and a couple of wash cloths.  I loved the way they came out, and I especially loved how quick and easy they were to make.  I even thought to myself...."maybe" I had at last found something I could make quick and easy and sell on Etsy.  So I then of course checked Etsy out to see how many other gals already were, and found out of course I am WAY behind as usual. Way, way more women then you can imagine already do, making it pointless in my opinion to throw my hat in the ring.  So much for that brilliant idea, lol.  However, I did discover that they sell these sets on Etsy for 30 to 35 dollars!  Can you imagine?  Not that they are inexpensive to make, especially with the kinds of fabric I used, but still.  Let me show you.....

THE TOWELS MEASURE 31 X 31 AND THE WASH CLOTHS ARE 10 X 10

A CLOSER LOOK   A SOFT GREY TERRY CLOTH AND A PRETTY PINK AND GREY FLORAL FLANNEL

LOOKS PRETTY WARM AND COZY

BROOKE'S BABY IS A BOY....I USED THE SAME GREY, BUT THE FLANNEL IS A YELLOW AND GREY DESIGN
I also decided to make Brooke up a gauze receiving blanket.  Now personally I didn't see the point of these HIGHLY popular new blankets, but after seeing the use Melody put to the one I made for her to use, I see it a little better now.  They really are perfect to swaddle a baby with as they are stretchy, and yet they are the perfect light weight blanket for warm weather when you need a little something, but not too much.  Melody uses hers to as the perfect thing to throw over herself when nursing somewhere she needs to be covered, lol.  I found the perfect print at Joannes, and while it IS gauze, it actually said "swaddling cloth" on the end of the bolt, lol.  Let me show you....

IT'S 40 BY 40 AND SIMPLY JUST HEMMED ON THE ENDS

A CLOSE UP OF THE DECORATIVE STITCH I USED.  WITH A COUPON THIS COST ME ABOUT 3 DOLLARS.  THE BOUTIQUES AND ETSY SELLS THEM FOR 30 DOLLARS OR EVEN MORE.....I JUST CAN'T EVER BELIEVE THE PRICES, LOL
So that brings me to yesterday and today....and here's where the frustration has set in.  I decided to finish off my gifts to Brooke with a few burp cloths.  Practical, you can never have too many in my opinion, and talk about easy to make.  Well, I decided since unlike a lot of new mom's she actually has a theme, I wanted to make something fun.  Her theme is woodland animals....sooo, first I found an absolutely darling cotton fabric with woodland animals on it, and then found some applique designs of a fox, a raccoon, and an owl, and then I had some white flannel and some of the left over grey terry cloth and figured I could make her some super cute ones VERY inexpensively.  I downloaded the designs on my machine, got things set up and began working on the applique designs first.  I don't find a lot of need for applique, and I soo enjoy it, that truthfully I look for excuses to make it.  A new baby and a baby shower are the perfect ones.  Anyway, I am not sure how many [if any] of you know how machine applique works.  I sure didn't until I got my machine.  Well, the first thing that happens AFTER you hoop up your fabric with stabilizer and get going is that it outlines whatever it is you are going to make, which in my case was a fox.  That way you know exactly where the design will be and you can make sure you are going to have it covered in whatever color and kind of fabric you have chosen.  In this case since it was a fox, I put a little square of orange cotton down. Then the next step is the machine again goes over the outline of the fox in a little heavier of a stitch. Then you remove the hoop from the machine and trim the fabric just as close to the stitching as you can possibly get.  Just so you know I HATE really dislike this part!  It is not the least bit easy to get as close as you need to, and I am not exactly patient and it makes kind of a thread fraying mess as well. Anyway, then you again re-hoop and now the machine outlines the closely clipped fabric in a pretty satin stitch to keep the fabric from fraying on your project.  Depending on the size and how complicated the design is you might have a few or several different fabric changes before you are done.  Now this fox I was working on was a SUPER easy one and should have gone quickly. However, when I got to the step where the pretty satin stitch was called for, suddenly my machine did a strange jump and my stitches were off by a good 1/4 of an inch!  In other words, it was RUINED! There is NO WAY to tear out machine embroidery stitches.  There are simply TOO many of them and ripping the fabric is a given AND yes, I have done so trying.  So, trying not to dwell on the fabric, thread, stabilizer [very costly!] I had just wasted, I decided to take my machine apart as I had been taught to do and give it a super good cleaning, and oiling, and then changed the needle and re-calibrated the hoop for good measure.  Then.....I cut and prepared ANOTHER piece of fabric and began again.  The exact same thing happened!  Now, not only was I angry, I was alarmed, and called both of the local Bernina dealers for advice.  Both of them pretty much said that it was probably the design I had bought and to try another.  Well, as much as that rubbed me the wrong way, I decided I would. The designs only cost anywhere from 1 and half dollars to 4 or 5, and this particular one was 3.  You can purchase them numerous places online and then download them to a jump drive where they can they can be stored permanently on your machine.  I searched for a while before finding another fox design that I liked, and truthfully it was not as cute as the original one I picked out.  But it was a reliable company selling the design, and I decided it might be more important then I originally thought.   Well hooping up my THIRD set of fabric and stabilizer etc., I started another fox this morning.  And I think you know which way this story is going....Yes, as I got to the satin stitches on this new design, it AGAIN jumped and began stitching out of place.  Now I was somewhat hysterical as I realized there was something indeed wrong with my machine, and I doubted it would be cheap to fix. NOTHING on this machine is inexpensive!  I also need a new zipper foot [for a mere sixty dollars!] and a new bobbin case for my embroidery module [for another eighty!] and service is due again which I need to do every six months due to the amount of sewing I do, for ANOTHER 125 dollars!  This is indeed a pretty costly hobby!  Well, I called my center and found out that more then likely it is the circuit board which needs to be replaced, as this particular model has had this problem a few times.  Thank goodness though it is STILL under warranty and so therefore won't be costing me anything!  I took it over there and he is just going to go ahead and replace it since it's under warranty and he is ninety nine percent sure this is the problem.  He is going to go ahead and service it as well since he will have it apart anyway and I am due.  Soooo bottom line of this story? I will be without my machine for probably a week or more!  How will I make it?  lol  I have Brookes gifts to finish and Mel just purchased some more fabric for things for Claire.  However in her lack of being able to concentrate on what she was doing, the fabric just arrived at her house instead of mine like it was suppose to!  lol  So it will probably take a good 4 or 5 days at least to get here and that's IF she put it in the mail today!  I can pull out my old Bernina and do just regular sewing on it which I guess I will.  Nothing ever went wrong on that machine.  I will have to wait to do the burp cloths till I get my machine back.  Melody needs a few more for Claire too.  We only made her six as Mel was hoping she wouldn't need as many with this baby.....a yeah, that didn't work out very well, lol.  I need to have all that sewing done by July 10th when Melody is arriving for a few days.  Plus my sister Diane intends to spend some time here this summer again working on her Christmas quilt.  My machine out of commission just really doesn't work in.  I have NO IDEA why on earth I just told this long complicated story which some of you might not understand.   That's if anybody is still with me, lol.  Maybe it was good therapy.  I will leave you with a few pictures now...


SEE HOW THE STITCHES "JUMPED" WHERE THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE?

THE CUTE WOODLAND THEMED FABRIC I FOUND!

TELLA SPORTING HER NEW GEAR!  SHE WAS SOO EXCITED!  THEY FLEW OFF THIS MORNING FOR THEIR TRIP!

LOVED THIS PICTURE OF THE LITTLE COWBOYS AS THEY WERE WAVING AT THEIR CROP DUSTER.  ONLY COUNTRY BOYS WOULD WEAR BOOTS AND SHORTS AND COWBOY HATS!  

AND LOOK AT THIS DARLING LITTLE SANDALED FOOT!  SHE HAD HER 2 MONTH CHECK UP TODAY AND SHE IS UP TO 10 POUNDS AND 5 OUNCES!  SHE IS NOT GETTING BIG AS FAST AS HER BROTHERS DID, BUT SHE IS DOING GREAT!


7 comments:

  1. Oh, Debbie, the frustration! So glad that your machine is under warranty. Loved seeing Tella all dressed up...looks great! The boys are so cute and that little foot is, too. Hope that the week flies by as you work with your former sewing machine.

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  2. Debbie, you must feel as if you are without an appendage with your sewing machine out for repairs!! So good that it will not cost you dearly!

    The woodland animal print is darling, as are the hooded towels. Hope you are able to enjoy your week. Maybe you can look at it as a vacation! :)

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  3. Well that just wore me out, Debbie. I felt your frustration for sure. But loved the bath sets. I made a set (nothing comparable to yours) for my grandson 20 years ago and he still has the towel. I was so moved to find it while visiting a while back. I do hope you are able to get all your projects completed in time for the shower. And those boys and baby sister pictures are adorable. Oh my, those precious little feet!

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  4. Ugh. I'm so sorry for your frustration. But I'm thankful that you have a back-up machine that will allow you to keep sewing while you wait for your good machine to be made new. And even more thankful that the repairs will be under warranty.

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  5. Wow! That would be so aggravating. Hope they get it all fixed up very quickly for you. I love all the pictures of your grandkids. The are so adorable!

    Hope you have a great day!

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  6. I'm like LIbby, that just wore me out reading about your frustration, not just once, but 3 times. Goodness, I would have probably had to scream. But, glad we were here for you to share it with. Love the bath towels and no, I can't believe they sell for such expensive prices on Etsy. Happy weekend Debbie!

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  7. It is always nice to stop by and read about what you have been doing. I love those bath towels. I start thinking about getting a new machine, and then I read about your trials with yours and I change my mind. Even though, I think I would love to learn how to do machine embroidery. I just love the way things look like that bag and hat. So pretty.
    I love Claire's baby foot in tiny shoes. The boys look so cute in the hat and boots. I hope you are feeling better, or just a bit with your shingles. You are always so busy Debbie, you keep me inspired. Have a lovely weekend

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I am so glad that you would take the time to comment on my thoughts and feelings, it is such a blessing to me!