Art, Craft and Needlework, March, 2012

[Harriet]

What fun things are you getting to these days?
Creativity is the icing on the cake of a productive day!
(And a pretty good topper for any other day, for that matter! )


Nancy finished the last of her sock puppets for the pre-school
and hemmed doll blankets and a crib sheet
Harmony is almost finished hand-quilting her grandson's quilt
BookSaver used acrylic paints to decorate a storage box
and made tote-bags for pre-schoolers
Sunny embellished her granddaughter's quilt with yo-yos and buttons.
SuzLew is working on her quilts for her daughters
Harriet encouraged!

[Nancy]

I am working on the next batch of crochet yarn puppets that I make for dgson's 3rd grade class at school I have one fourth of these done. Yea for progress.

Today I got some yarn at the thrift shop in various colors to finish making puppets for dgson's 3rd grade class I"m winding some of it into balls now.

Found some quotes in my March card file about crafting.

Granny was knitting a lovely lacy sweater. She had a piece of paper with tick marks and numbers on it. "Where is your pattern?" God gave you a brain didn't he? Granny was a thinking knitter. I wanted to be just like her. Lydia Goetz

[Harmony]

More puppets, Nancy? You sure are ambitious!

I have rolled the quilt up to the other end. I am completely quilted all the way (including border) to the one end. At the other end I have 1/2 of a block all the way across and the three border strips to do. If my fingers weren't so sore I could make some real progress.

I missed my goal date. This quilt was supposed to be done 2 days ago!

[Nancy]

I know about missed deadlines I wanted to have this next batch of puppets done for Dr. Seuss birthday yesterday. [3-2]

I have ten of twenty five complete now! Yea for progress! Some of them make us laugh out loud they are so cute!

At church they have a crochet group the leader was showing a gal how to cast off the knitting looper frame during the social time between surfaces and had one of the bags they crochet out of plastic sacks cut into strips it was great looking. I made need to go to this to learn how to make one of those bags!

In knitting as in life there are usually two ways to go; the easy way and the hard way. Often we find out about the easy way only when we are three quarters of the way through with the hard way. Ann Shayne & Kay Gardiner Mason - Dixion Knitting

[BookSaver]

Last night I cut the legs off of a pair of worn out black jeans and converted them to tote bags for my sewing rulers and other long/skinny tools like tube turners. I was not trying to be neat & tidy, just practical. I'm kind of liking the frayed deconstructed look, but I can always make them pretty later by finding some printed cotton to bind edges and applique.

I will also make a tote bag from the top of the jeans. Then I'll have a "matched set" for carrying tools & supplies to sew-ins.

I've heard about people sewing through a finger and wondered how it could happen. Turns out it's actually quite easy. Oh and also OUCH!

I was of course in a tearing hurry and didn't realize my left hand was so close to danger. About 3/8" from the end of the first finger, at an angle through the nail and out the tip. The bottom half needle broke out of the machine, so I just pulled it through. Strange, it only really bled on the nail side. Lots of antibiotic ointment and a bandaid, then I finished sewing the bag handle. Yes, my tetanus shot is up to date.

I went to a fabric shop yesterday to pick up a door prize for tonight's meeting. So many pretty new fabrics but not the specific type I'm looking for, so I didn't buy anything. Making note of a beautiful batik and a very soft cotton print that might work for blouses. I'll go back to that store as soon as I calculate how much of those fabrics I need.

I copied several diagrams for 1930s patterns from a library book. Must choose 2 or 3 to draft in my size, and pick out fabrics from my stash for test samples.

[Harriet]

(((((BookSaver))))) That is going to hurrrt tomorrow, love. Actually, now that I have read the paragraph through again and thought carefully about exactly where it went through... ... it hurts ME! Kudos on approaching the keyboard, even.

My dear friend in my teen years and fellow sewing enthusiast did that when she was in her mid-teens and I remember my dmother saying how happy she was that my friend's parents were there in the house, because it might have been scary for someone so young.

Very impressed that you are figuring out how to fit retro clothing and studying the vintage patterns to do it. My consistent disappointment with the clothing patterns of that era (or, for me, more 40s) is the assumption that everyone is slim! ( 'course I say that when shopping stores now, too) But really, the vast majority of available '40s patterns are for very slim women. Perhaps all the ones for normal women were so well used they've long disintegrated.

Any time now we are going to be hearing that Harmony has completed that quilting!

Smiling to think of Nancy's family laughing at creative little faces.

I have been piiiining awaaay for sewing , and even more so for donating, especially after reading/viewing about 2011 donated quilts online. So, unable to stand it anymore, I researched exactly the most-needed dimensions and other most-needed criteria like sturdiness, etc., for handmade crib/child quilts and shopped on ebay until I found the 2 or 3 most likely auctions (watching out for best feedback) and finally bought the closest choice for the money that had a pleasing pattern. It should be here in a few days and I will check it over to make sure I'm satisfied and send it on as a donation, probably to Wrap Them In Love Foundation. With shipping, it will come to a $50 donation (I really shopped a while). It will make me happy just to have had some input, even if it was more along the lines of shopping to meet certain needs rather than getting my hands on fabric myself.

[Harmony]

Oh, Harriet, that is such a nice generous thing to do. I often thought if I had extra time I wouldn't mind doing sewing for preemie babies like some do.

Sigh...so many good thoughts in my head, so little time..

Booksaver, that just made me cringe to read. I have had many mishaps with needles, though never with the machine needle. I have sewed my tshirts or slacks to my material, I got the thread wrapped around a safety basting pin, I've sewed the top layer to the wrap around the quilt rail. I've even taken a stitch through a finger, but only in and out of a thick calloused area and that actually did not hurt, or bleed, the hard part was getting the thread out.

I am sewing away. I have about four 5 1/2" squares to do and the bottom 4" strip. That strip will take a while. It is hard to see the chalk marking. I am sewing with deep red on deep red material at this point. Today just for fun I crawled underneath to see the beige material with all the little deep red stitches. Very interesting, however those little stitches sure show up any dissimilarities in stitch sizes.

I have my next quilt pattern picked out. An easier one. I still have to draft it up to match the size I want. Booksaver, that is awesome that you can make your own patterns. I made maternity slack patterns myself for DD2 with the stretchey panel.

Nancy, I always picture Kookla Fran & Ollie when I read about your puppets. Anybody beside me remember them?

[Lynlee]

I think clincher belts, girdles and little waists were the hallmark of the 40s- 50s - Sucked in tummies were the norm for many.
ouch booksaver. been there done that too. I don't think the needle broke though. distant long ago memory.

[BookSaver]

Harmony ~ I've heard about Kookla Fran & Ollie but did not see the shows. I remember Shari & Lamb Chop. And Beanie & Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent. I am so impressed at how quickly you do your hand quilting.

Lynlee ~ Corsets & girdles & tight belts no way would I want to go through that! I appreciate my comfy clothes. I'm just trying to figure out how to stop looking like such a frumpy drudge.

Harriet ~ I don't even try to use vintage patterns, I have given up on trying to find any in plus sizes. I collect them for inspiration, but I don't think it's worth the time to work directly from those patterns. For one thing, something as simple as the way an armhole fits has changed so much even since the 60s and 70s. It isn't just size, it's our modern expectation of comfort.

My dream for awhile has been to open a design studio to translate designs from 1880-1950 into plus sizes using today's fabrics.

When I look at this particular book of 1930s clothing, it appears to me that they are taking a basic shape for a blouse, skirt, or dress and adding a particular style of design that makes it say "1930s." My theory is that if I can figure out how to recreate that "style" I should be able to add that to either a pattern or purchased clothing that fits my very-plus-size body.

Of course, I'm sure this would be much easier if I'd ever had a real class in pattern drafting. I'm learning through trail & error.

But I have picked up a lot of fabrics at garage sales & the freebie table at my sewing group meetings. It's not going to cost a lot of $ to experiment, just a lot of time -- and I've reached a point where I'm looking forward to spending that time.

Other than that, I'll need to spend cash for new thread, because I've learned that thread does go bad with age. I have old thread on wooden spools but only use them for decoration. Any time I see a fabric store coupon for 40% or 50% off any item, if I'm in the area I'll stop in and buy a big spool of good thread in a basic color.

[Harriet]

Two points jump to mind reading Lynlee and BookSaver's thoughts. First the "bad news" thought is the maps of the US that Dr Hyman used in his PBS special last evening, with states colored differently to correspond to obesity rates. In the 1980s when he graduated med school, not one state on the map had more than 20 percent obesity. Then he switched to a 2010 map, and not one state did NOT have at least 20 percent obesity. That was sobering to us. A lot can be said in H & F of course but perhaps a "no comment" from me here! I'd rather not get into how many clothes types I can't wear because of my waist, so ... ... moving right along!

Second, the "good news" thought from me is all the examples of wonderful neckline treatments of the 40s and 50s which, on practical inspection, were embellishments onto classic garment style. I have a large collection of apron patterns from those decades, and the neckline treatments would be done on aprons, too, sometimes in miniature but sometimes just as large. Probably more casual with use of everyday trims like large rick-rack, but still very much a trademark of their time. You can think of Ethel Mertz walking in the back door of Lucy Ricardo's kitchen wearing a housedress or apron and remember the trims, yokes, buttons used.