A Look at the Inside of a Common Sewing Tool

Sew, have you seen the TV show Sliced? It has just arrived here in La Paz, and we watch it once in awhile. It is interesting to see  things from the inside out.
 Last week I was sewing, and I dropped a common sewing tool. It shattered on the tile floor.
 It was old, , much used, and scratched up, but 100% funtional.
 I was shocked that it shattered.
 But I was interested to see it's innards.
 Here is one photo. Can you guess what this is?

 Maybe this photo will help:

Actually this is what it looked like right after it fell. Well with a lot less pins, they were scattered on the floor.

I used the magnets to collect all of the pins that scattered before Coco-Nut Ibrahim Garcia, our new Chihuahua started to scarf up the pins. He loves to grab things in my sewing room and run off with them. Here's a picture of Coco-Nut



Still not sure what it is that I dropped?

 Well, Here is a picture of  the new one I bought when I was in California last week:

Yep! a GRABBIT magnetic pincushion. My old one was red. It was scratched,nicked and dented you could say, very well-used. My best guess is that it is at least 20 years old. I could see no reason to replace it  it did its job. And I have dropped it before. It must have just hit at the  right angle to cause it to shatter.

 So now I have a shiny new GRABBIT!

And here is a beach picture, well a sunrise over the bay with the lights of La Paz in the background:

Happy Valentine's Day

Some Valentine fabric I have had for years, and some Valentines I have given to my love, and some I have recieved.

 Listen to Ella Fitzgerald sing to song that is "Our song"

My Funny Valentine

Valentine's Day, Coffee, What a Combination!

Valentine’s Day is a wonderful little holiday, and it is especially nice for sewing little gifts.


Sew I wanted to send Miss Meliss a gift for Valentine’s Day, and I wanted it to be something she could use when she entertains, which she does a lot.

So I made the Lazy Girl Designs Suzy purse insert.

Well it was designed as a purse insert, but many of the Lazies on the forum used the design for other things like desk organizers, picnic table ware holders, and one ingenious woman used the small Suzy to hold coasters.



I was inspired!

Then I received a mailing from Janome with a pattern for a set of quilted coasters embellished with hearts!

I was doubly inspired.



Miss Meliss and I adore coffee, we are addicted, and have no shame about that. In fact we are a two woman coffee society.

I have this wonderful coffee cup fabric from the Spill the Beans collection designed by Barbara Tortillotte for Clothworks. I love it! I savor it…pun definitely intended.

I use snippets of this fabric on many different sewn items.

And what would make better coasters than these wonderful cups centered in a heart? Well, nothing.

Sew here is my Suzy as a coaster holder for Valentine’s Day. I made th smaller version and left off all of the pockets.

And this is what it looks like all filled up:

And a photo from La Paz

This cactus was the size of a walnut, I received it from my friend Fernando Garcia when we went to see Mateo, his first grandson. Mateo was five days old whenI  received the tiny cactus. He was less than two years old when this cactus bloomed!

Some fabric scraps make magic!

Day eight of the juice fast. I am losing weight, I feel good, and my energy levels are high.




Sew, here is my Asian Inspired Lazy Girl Lily Pocket Purse.

This is the front of the purse. I love the shape and the space it has inside.

 Gentle pleats at the top and tiny darts on the bottom  give it drape and shape.

If you tuned in a while back you saw the Margo bag made out of the red and black Asian Fabric.  Margot was also made from scraps.

Here is the back of the LILY bag.  I embroidered an Asian letter motif on a piece of a fat quarter which adds a touch of elegance to the pocket.

Lily is made out of scraps from these two items:

 I love this vest, and it loves me, it makes me  look very slim. I drafted the pattern from my Lutterloh system.

 I like this jacket a lot. The lapels and sleeves are from the same fabric as the band on the Lily. The circular top-stitching and sequins give it interest and glitz.

 The body of the jacket is Egyptian cotton and the lining is part of a Sari.

 It is an old Cindy Crawford pattern.

I don’t want to give this bag away, but it is for my sweet friend Laurence. She is French. Enjoy, and hey, it gets lonely in the blogosphere, leave a comment.

Brand New Lily Pocket Purse for Miss Meliss

Two  articles have been written. I met my deadlines, so the next few days are for me!
 And today I made a Lazy Girl Desings Lily Pocket Purse.
 I have several cut out as Christmas gifts. And you know how my Christmas went.

 Sew I am finishing these bags and then will be sewing for myself.

 This is  Day Four of the Juice Fast and I am doing well, trying out some juice combinations,  loving some,  and pouring some out! And  the weight is coming off, I am feeling better and look forward to  feeling better and to the END of the  fast.

 So here are photos of Melissa's bag.

 She is a writer and the managing editor of an e-zine called All Things Girl, and she writes and performs on podcasts.

 Her blog Escribition has a background of typewriter keys, and she even has earrings made from old typewriter keys.
   I had to cut the typewriter motif from the main fabric and piece it, it is a pocket.

 The top band of the purse is also pieced from the body of the fabric.
There are two fabrics . The fabric with " Paint it Write It" and the typewriter are one fabric. The green with the old fashoned typewriter keys is another.
 "Paint It Write" it is from the Urban Art collection at Zands Fabrics in Denver.
I cannot remember the name of the green, but it is also from Zands. I ordered it all online.


Next up will be the Asian-inspired black, gold and red bag for my friend Laurence ( a woman, she's French)
 Off to the juicer, then I will start on the next bag.
 I am sewing and happy!

Sewing Again

Hola Sister Sewists!


I t has been months since I have written anything.

I did not fall off the face of the earth. My sewing machine did not give up the ghost.

My tiny, almost 8-year old grandson, Thomas has been fighting the battle of his life against cancer.

From August till today, it has been a tortuous fight. This is a case where the cure certainly seems worse than the disease. This courageous boy will soon be facing another surgery and we hope it will be the  one to save his life.



I have been sewing, somewhat manically actually. I do this to keep from breaking things, or collapsing in grief and rage at what is happening to Thomas and the family.
And then my husband needed an emergency implant of a pacemaker -Christmas Week- in Guadalajara.
 He is doing well and is back to work.



Sew, in October I made 19 softie pumpkins from a pattern in Sew News.

My first few pumpkins and the Sew News article

My pumpkins on display, I didn't remember to take the photo until after I sold   lot of pumpkins

 I went to the segundas ( second hand shops) and found four cornucopia and sprayed them gold. The background fabrics on my table are purple, orange, and chocolate Thai silk as well as some velveteen I did not know I had.  There were no lights in this side room of  Cafe La Boheme in downtonw La Paz. We had the shutters open to let in some light,I was shooting into the sun, that is why the photos are dark.


The pumpkins were such a success, I looked around for another hit.

Some African print, I just outlined the desgins in glitter

I found softie trees, and adapted designs I saw online. After all they were just a cone. I worked out several sizes of trees. Then I enlisted two sewing friends and we went to town. We emailed our ideas and photos back and forth and by the time the La Paz Festival de Arte rolled around we had over 100 trees. We had a very successful sale and our donation of the proceeds put a new roof on the dog hospital!

We were showing the trees to friends and they were buying them before we ever got to the show, we finally had to stop pre-selling them so we would have something to sell at the art fair!

Tomorrow I’ll show you some fabric I plan to make into purses.

Thanks for your patience.

Susan

Embellish Some Flip-Flops and Have Happy Summer Diva Feet

Don't you just love all of the whimsical flip-flops in the stores?

 Don't you just hate the exorbitant prices?

Would you believe I embellished these two darling paris of flip-flops for less than  TEN Dollars...for the TWO pair!

I cannot believe how easy  this was.

 And so much fun!

 Here is a video showing you step by step.