National Sewing Month!

I put my sewing aside for way too long. I am getting inspired by all the fall patterns I've seen online.  One of my favorite sewing websites iswww.palmerpletsch.com. I first encountered Pati Palmer when I was a young Fabric Consultant for Discount Fabrics, a chain that started in Portland Oregon. Pati Palmer came to one of our local stores as a representative from Armo Interfacing to present a day-long seminar on interfacings.  I learned so many tricks and tips that I became the go to gal in our store.  Her lessons have stayed with me.  When I learned about her first book on tailoring I decided to try my hand on making a wool suit with a coordinating blouse. Talk about fear and intrepidation, but her patterns were so stylish and she was so encouraging that I bit the bullet and found a lovely piece of wool to take the project on. It turned out so well that I got the bug to make a coat using one of her coat patterns. Oh my I love that coat. I still have it although it is rather shabby. I can't part with it as I have too many memories of that accomplishment.  You can almost feel her encouragement inside the instruction pages of her patterns and right now as I sip my first cup of coffee today, I am considering my sewing machine just waiting to be plugged in. This is the exact same machine I used to make my coat and it still hums along every seam. My mind is conjuring up fabric for this versatile knit wardrobe. Mixing and matching the pieces will make getting ready for work every morning a breeze.

Sewing Memories

I remember seeing this book at home when I was a little girl. I wanted to be the little girl in the picture, sewing industriously. The book was published in 1958 under the supervision of Singer Sewing Machine Company.

The illustrations were done by Catherine Scholz, who has several children's books to her credit. Her style is unique to an era where we wore dresses every day. Aprons were commonplace and the more the merrier. My mother favored the old cobbler style apron, preferring all over protection from flying flour or spatters.

When it came time for my first Home Economics class, I hoped we wouldn't make an apron. I didn't want to have one made from organdy; it seemed to impractical. My teacher, a venerable Franciscan nun decided to let us make a purse instead. I made mine from corduroy and lined it with half inch gingham check. That purse was a workhorse that took abuse all through high school.

Over the years I have made so many things and still have many more things I want to create. I started sitting by my mother's sewing machine at a young age and watched her mend our clothes or create new dresses. She turned my brother's collars when they began to show wear. Thrift was practiced and it is amazing how resourceful you can be when you sew. I am in the process once again of cleaning and purging in my sewing room/office. Much is to be done so I can relax and start sewing for Christmas.

Sewing Is A Lost Art...

I participate in an online sewing group, Sew Much Talent...where we share ideas, projects and pictures of things we are making.   One of our recent discussions is whether we believe that sewing is a lost art...and have all had varying thoughts we've shared with one another.

Do you think Sewing is a lost art?

I can't wait to try this bib I made today on my grandson! He will love the monkeys. I like the color combination!

I love to sew on whimsical fabrics.  I would enjoy finding this soft waterproof fabric in other colors and prints.  I don't believe this is vinyl yet it is too soft to be any of the oilcloth fabrics I have felt lately.  It looks like a research project in the making.  In the meant time I will look for other things to make with the monkey print.  My brain is full of ideas now for time to put them to work!

In the meantime, I know this bib will be more comfortable than the others with smaller necks and Velcro.  I have caught the hair of many a child with Velcro and in my experience, it is easier to get a tie untied without catching the hair of a little one.  Now that he likes to "feed" himself, the waterproof aspect is a plus!