4th Sewing Lesson

For the 4th Sewing Lesson, I had a new companion- my friend Kim from work. She, Ryan and I all commuted to Mom's house together, so Ryan could continue work on her dog bed, I could make more napkins, and Kim could get reacquainted with her sewing machine (and start on some shoe bags).

Kim barely remembered her machine ;) But after a couple hours they were old friends again.
Finally making some progress! :)
Taking a break from napkins, I started on a new project- A Fort Kit- made from thifted curtains. I love green giving + fun + imagination.
And I put the draw string in the bag that will hold one of the Fort Kits [once its contents have been made and purchased]. One more project completed. It may not be perfect but its damn cute, and its done (with love).
Before we started work, I was showing off my great, cheap, green finds from Goodwill & Salvation Army. Ryan was eyeing this blue checked fabric, which I agreed to give her (I had no specific plans for it- except for the drawstring which went into the bag above). With plans to make it into another dog bed for Shooter, Aunt Milly went to work ripping stitches and prepping it.
Yes, sewing night is fun. Everyone works. Everyone laughs. Everyone (except perhaps Mom) make some sort of progress.
Although Mom has learned how to use Evernote (one of my favorite applications), and of course has imparted MUCH knowledge to the rest of us so she definitely say she accomplishes a lot each week :)
In fact, she does usually do at least a little sewing. Had to capture some proof of that.

Thanks for being a great teacher mom. We love you!

3rd Sewing Lesson

My third sewing lesson was much of the same.

Dinner with Mom, Ryan, Auntie Milly and Dad before heading upstairs to work on my napkins.

What was new- was the cool sewing machine Jeff got from one of his job sites awhile back and lent to us for the cause. It was super dirty, so the only real progress we made for the night was getting it somewhat cleaned off.

And of course- Admiring it!

Isn't she beautiful!?

It's a Zig Zag brand sewing machine, apparently made in Japan which is nearly impossible to find online... Its old and gorgeous, weighs about 14 tons, and in old-school fashion, still appears to work. But there was no time to delve into learning a new machine.... we had sewing to do.
Ryan continued work on her dog bed....

... and I made some more napkins. Let the progress, and the learning, continue.

Sewing Lesson #2

January 27. 2011.

Sewing Lesson #2.

In my second week of sewing, I had some much appreciated company. Another newcomer to sewing, but a crafty guru like myself- my good friend Ryan.

Her first project is a giant dog bed/pillow for her beloved puppy dog to use in the back of the car when they travel to/from New York. She spent much of the night reviewing the pattern with my Mom, then finally starting to cut fabric.

Wait, did I do this right?!

Is it supposed to be STRAIGHT?

Eh screw perfection- let's go for SILLY.

Ninja Ryan!

As the night was winding to a close, I offered to have Ryan sew an edge on one of my napkins so that she could leave her first lesson being able to say "I actually sewed something tonight." Mom taught her how to thread the machine.

Putting down the foot and getting ready to start. We messed up the machine and the tension wasn't quite right but I think Ryan learned a lot. And certainly had some fun.

Mom continued work on the flannel pj pants:

She sewed the hem on the pant legs:

She even got the elastic sewn into the waistband!
GO MOM!

Oh, and I did some sewing too. 6 more napkins completed! Still a long ways to go, but I'm getting a little more confident with the machine. I had to rethread the machine quite a few times that night {great practice} and I had to thread the bobbin {great practice}.

And so the adventure continues. I have so much more to learn but I'm enjoying the process. That's the important part.

Dressed for Success

From: Singer Sewing Book, published by McGraw Hill in 1954

On how to prepare yourself for sewing:

Mentally
Prepare yourself mentally for sewing. Think about what you are going to do. Choose a fabric and pattern right for your purpose. Practice sewing on scraps of the material until your stitch is just right and you have confidence in your ability to stitch straight. Approach the job with enthusiasm. you must want to make something lovely, to handle the fabric with appreciation, to watch the beauty of the article grow as a result of your planning and effort. Never approach sewing with a sigh or lackadaisically. Good results are difficult when indifference predominates. Never try to sew when the sink is full of dishes or beds unmade. When there are urgent housekeeping chores, do these first so that your mind is free to enjoy your sewing.

Physically
When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible. Go through a beauty ritual of orderliness. Have on a clean dress. Be sure your hands are clean, finger nails smooth- a nail file and pumice will help. Always avoid hangnails. Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on with care. Looking attractive is a very important part of sewing, because if you are making something for yourself, you will try it on at intervals in front of your mirror, and you can hope for better results when you look your best.

Again sewing must be approached with the idea that you are going to enjoy it, and if you are constantly fearful that a visitor will drop in or your husband come home and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing as you should. Therefore, “spruce up” at the beginning so that you are free to enjoy every part of any sewing you do.

Mom sent the text above to me in an email before our first sewing class. What a great Mom, always making sure I'm ready for my first day of school! ;)

I did wear a new dress that day (mostly by coincidence) and as it happened my pretty pearl necklace matched the outfit, so I was feeling pretty good about starting this.

Mom picked up Aunt Milly, Dad and I picked up pizza and Aunt Florence met us at the Mom's house to eat, and then get started! Mom has a newer, fancy sewing machine [with so many features she doesn't actually know how to use the majority of them], and Aunt Florence has a really old machine that she needed to learn something about, so the two of them put their heads together to figure out a few machine-related issues.

I had decided that my first project would be cloth napkins. I've been wanting to buy some (in an attempt to further green our house and get rid of the paper napkins all together) but cloth napkins are really expensive and far too large for every day use. If I could sew, I could solve this problem! Score.

Wednesday night I went to the Salvation Army and scored big- a very large dark green cotton duvet cover that cost me a whopping $2.11. And so, with material on hand and 3 teachers, I was ready to sew!

Aunt Milly taught me how to snip the fabric and rip it so it would cut straight. Easy!
Then she showed me how to fold over a 1/4 inch seam which is then folded over again to give you the edge. With a few pins in place, it would be ready to sew shut.
But I didn't know how to sew yet. Nor did I know how to use the machine. Mom taught me how to thread my bobbin (that cute little metal spool on the far right).
She then taught me how to thread the machine all the way through until you finally get to that little tiny eye of the needle
Sigh. Wooden spools of thread. I am keeping this one. It makes my heart happy.
Then there's nothing left to do but sew. I put the fabric under the needle, put the foot down, pressed the petal. AND I WAS SEWING!

Get this, its really not that hard! {at least at this stage}

I only made 1 napkin {see below folded in quarters}
But I was damn proud of it! Can't you tell?!

(please note the new dress and the pearls. powder had also been freshly applied but working through 3 different teaching methodologies wore me out just a little)

All in all, it was a great success. After the first few seams, Aunt Florence threw Aunt Milly's methods out the windows and told me I was being too fussy about it (certainly not my intention- these are napkins for us to wipe our mouths on and throw in the laundry). She ripped out the pins and showed me how to fold over and iron each edge then put it through the machine. Much easier. And I'm getting better at knowing what a 1/4 inch really looks like.

Thanks everyone for sharing your love and knowledge of sewing with me. I can't wait to learn some more.