Book Review: 1,000 Clever Sewing Shortcuts & Tips

As a last bit of holiday spending, I obtained 2 new books with a Barnes&Noble gift card this past week.  A big kiss to Mr. Skooks' grandparents for that one.  :)  I'm going to tackle my reviews of them in separate posts.

The first one I chose (which I have had my eye on for quite some time now), was 1,000 Clever Sewing Shortcuts & Tips by Deepika Prakash (of PatternReview fame).  Remember back when I tackled the organization of my interfacings?  Well, I gleaned that nugget of organizational awesomeness from an excerpt of the book that I read online . . . the sample chapter I saw put it on the short list of sewing books I wanted to get.

Now that I have it in hand, I'd like to share a few things about it for those who might be interested.  This book is LOADED.  Just tons and tons of info.  I'm going to come straight out and say that I'm glad I own this book.  I can see that it will be a nice reference to have in the sewing years ahead.

With that being said, I'd like to point out that it heavily focuses on tips and tricks for garment sewing, which is not something that I am hugely into at the moment.  My experience with garment sewing is pretty small . . . probably 4 or 5 dresses for Little Miss over the last 4 years . . . and fairly simple ones at that.  This is not to say I have no interest in garment sewing, but it's just not something that tends to get me terribly jazzed up these days.  (I blame the CPSIA, without which I would probably have sewn LOTS of kid clothes to date.)

This is not to say that there is nothing in there for us non-garment sewers.  Actually, there is quite a lot in there which is worth reading and noting.  If you're on the fence, see if you can find it in the library or in-store and breeze through it ahead of time so you can make a more informed decision as to its usefulness in your sewing journey.

Like I said, if you're a garment sewer, I'm pretty sure you'll love it.  If you're all over the place like me, I still think you'll find good stuff in it (and it may even give you the confidence to tackle garment projects if you've been scared off from trying) . . . though you may find yourself skimming over several sections.

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Four Things Friday - er Twelve

Sooo . . . when I said, "wouldn't it be fun to do this little funny 4 Things you don't know about me Friday thing" what I really meant was "I'll do a random 4 things post once ever couple months." 

Whatevs.  It's Friday.  Here's the 4 . . . and by 4 I mean 12 . . . things.  (Hat tip to my pal, Jane, for the questions.)

1. How long have you been blogging? 

• I started a personal blog when Little Miss was about 3 months old.  That was almost 5 years ago!  Crikey . . . I didn't even realize that until just now.  The blogging thing . . . not how old my daughter is.  This blog is somewhat younger (I started it towards the end of 2009), though when I started it I took all the sewing/creative posts from my personal blog and transferred them over to keep all that stuff together.  It was a bit painstaking and those posts were meant for family and friends so they're probably a bit less cohesive than the ones since I started SP, but I'm still glad I did it.

2. What is your favorite restaurant and why? 

• Hmm . . . I'm inclined towards many different ones, though I tend to choose Red Lobster when the occasion and the budget allows.  This is to say that I don't live anywhere near the sea and really love seafood.  If I lived somewhere a bit more coastal, I'm sure I would love a more "local" and less "chain"-like place.  As it stands, I haven't found better seafood in my town than at RL, so it is what it is.  In more you-won't-find-these-everywhere-else locales (and if you're ever in Grand Rapids), I have had great meals at Marie Catribs and Twisted Rooster.

3. If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?

• Hmm . . . hard to say, not knowing how much is in the pot.  But I would love the ability to pay off my mortgage and put aside money for my kids to go to college and for Mr. Skooks and I to retire someday.  It would be divine to actually quit my job if I could do so.  If'n there was money left over after all that, I hope that I'd resist the urge to buy useless things and instead be abundantly charitable with others.

4. How many pairs of shoes do you own? 

• You know what, I have no idea.  And that's not because I have crazy amounts of shoes.  There are probably only 3 pairs that are in the rotation right now (one pair are boots, one are sneakers, and one are just everyday casual kicks.)  I've got a few good pairs of flips for warmer weather, a few pairs of sandals, and only one pair of heels that I ever wear for those very infrequent times I actually dress up for something.  I try to buy quality footwear over quantity.  Cheap shoes just don't hold up, and I don't have the money to waste on stuff I will wear infrequently or won't last. 

5. What is your favorite day of the week and why? 

• Every day brings different stuff.  These days I dig Wednesdays just because Tuesdays are usually horribly exhausting for me, and Wednesday is a nice no-obligations day in for the kids and I.  With that being said, I do have great love for Fridays because it means that when Mr. Skooks walks in the door in the evening, he is going to be around all day for the next few days and I always prefer it when he is around.  :)

6. What’s your favorite color to wear? 

• I'm not much of a clothes horse these days.  I tend to enjoy any color (read: shirt) that fits well and doesn't make me feel like a whale.  I'm now in my third trimester . . . thanks to my awesome neighbor I do have a few "colors" that fit into that category.

7. What is your favorite fruit?

• Hands down, it's avocado.  Yes people, that's a fruit.  And I can't get enough avocado in my life.  I do love guacamole, but I love it just as much just sliced up with some lime juice and salt on top.  Mmm.

8. What TV show do you most enjoy watching? 

• Depends on my mood.  I'll admit, I'm addicted to the Biggest Loser.  I'm a sucker for how it changes people's minds about how they see themselves and helps them see that life is worth living WELL.  I'm also a big fan of Fringe (really, any show that JJ Abrams has had a hand in . . . I've pretty much seen them all) and Up All Night.  For totally worthless laughs, Wipeout gets me going every time.

9. Who is one person, alive or dead, that you would love to have a conversation with? 

• Jesus.  I've got questions, and he's the only one who can answer them for me.

10. What is the worst decorating/crafting/fashion mistake you’ve ever made?

• Hard to put my finger on any one thing, but I cringe at a lot of the . . . ahem . . . "design choices" I made in our first apartment.  Just about everything we had was hand me down, but we tried to make it look like it wasn't . . . which . . . didn't really work.

11. Coffee or tea?

• Um, pop?  Coffee only works for me if it is sugared up, flavored in some way, and about 8 million calories (think Starbucks Vanilla Latte).  I almost never have it.  Tea is ok at times, but I tend not to reach for it very often.  I really have to be in the mood.  I wish I didn't like pop so much, but it is what it is.  So now you know.

12. What’s the temperature in your city today?

• Well, most of the snow has melted off so it's probably in the upper 30s.  Now that I'm checking the weather though, it looks like it's going to snow all night and through tomorrow.  So much for the melt-off.  The weather is kind of on an acid trip lately.

Anyway . . .  that was fun.  If you want to play along, please do so and come link back.  I'd love to read more about what's going on with you too.  :)

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WIPs - Inching Along

It doesn't feel terribly sexy to use the bulk of my Field's gift card to buy quilt batting, but that's just what I did.  I've got 3 quilts at varying degrees of done-ness and the reason they have been left undone (largely) is because I was out of batting pieces large enough to accommodate them.

When I went in for my extra battings, I had a nice conversation with the employee who initially helped me with my choice of sashing for my Vintage Sheet Freedom Bee quilt top.  I have no quilting calculator and didn't feel like crunching the numbers, so she graciously helped me figure out how much extra Kona I needed to beef up the sides a bit (I'm not looking forward to the actual quilting of this thing due to its size, but I would like to make this into a picnic/beach quilt so it needed to be a bit bigger than it already was).

I also got a lot of oohs and aahs from the other ladies who were working . . . I would have blushed a bit if I had more to do with it.  As it was I was happy to brag on the awesome ladies who made the bulk of the blocks.  :)

So, some Warm and Natural, some Warm and White, a cut of some shade of Kona blue that I'll figure out when I compare it to my color card, and some variegated purple thread later I walked out armed and ready to tackle my WIPs.  (That's Works In Progress for the less make-something-partway-and-then-sit-on-it-for-half-a-year people.)

The Warm and White is for this beauty:

The actual quilting step is definitely NOT my favorite part of quilting (probably because I don't have a long arm, or any faint clue what I'm doing), but in order to make these endeavors worthwhile they need to be finished already!  I've got other goodies on the horizon that I would like to make before Peanut Pants makes an appearance in a few months, and I need to clear some of these things OUT of the sewing room first.  NO EXCUSES!

I've got a sewing date with my friend this Saturday so I'm hoping to make loads of progress this weekend to that end.  Until then . . .

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Button Heart Clutch with Removable Wrist Strap

Remember how I was going to open an Etsy shop someday?  And then I got all frustramatated because I wanted to make stuff for kids and there was all that stupid CPSIA malarky that scared me away from pursuing that?

Well, that happened.  And it really took the wind out of my sails for awhile.

So I shelved it.

Awhile later I resurrected the shop idea but decided to switch the focus because the CPSIA was giving me the heebs.  I shifted my eyes to Bags.  Purses.  Clutches.  Not because I am a person that needs to change my bags out constantly . . . more because they're fun to make.  I'm all about beautiful and USEFUL.  :)  So I got my sew on and made an assortment of goodies for my eventual shop.

And then I sat on them.  For like A YEAR.  Umm . . . more than that.  A variety of other factors took the wind out of my sails about the shop idea AGAIN and those precious items were (lovingly and sadly) put aside for the *someday* that seems to never have come.

Then I got a call from one of my very best friends who wanted to know whether I had ever gotten around to opening that shop that I was talking to her about a year ago?  As it turns out, she had seen some of the things that  I made oh so long ago and had been waiting for me to "put them up for sale" so she could buy a specific clutch purse from me.

Whazza?!  Why the world did I not sell it to her a year ago when she was right in front of me looking at it and telling me she wanted it?  I have no idea.  Seems silly now . . . I think at the time I was in the headspace that I wanted to have an impressive "opening", and it was taking me longer than I thought it would to create my first batch of inventory.

Anyway, the moral of the story is, if someone is standing in front of you holding an item you made and offering to buy it . . . SELL IT TO THEM RIGHT THEN.  I know what you're thinking . . . that's some impressive kind of  special knowledge I have of business dealings.  I should start a class.  Oh wait . . . then I probably shouldn't have shared that little nugget with you.  I should have just sat on it for a year plus while I proceeded to come up with like 5 other little nuggets of joy that I would proceed to never share with anyone since that seems to be my M.O.

All this to say, my overly patient and loving friend recently became the new owner of this gal:

It was made using a pattern by Noodlehead.  I'm sure some of you recognize it.  I love buttons in all shapes, sizes, and colors so I added some of those to give it a bit more . . . ahem . . . heart.  I have to say, it was my favorite of all of those kind of clutches that I made, and my heart sings a little bit knowing that one of the best people I know will take over her care.

Here are some shots of the inside that I took a million years ago that were not at all professionally staged (HA - - as if anything I photograph is) so the quality is not awesome . . . but it gives you an idea of what's happening inside:

Hard to tell from that photo, but there are actually 2 credit card pockets and a small pocket on the other side (lipstick, chapstick, what-have-you).

You know what . . . it felt good to sell one after all this time.  Maybe I'll do it again sometime.

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Fresh Floral Contemporary Table Runner

I don't consider myself a pro in the sewing world.  Far from it.  I believe I've gained a lot of knowledge and ability through trying many different kinds of projects and through quite a bit of trial and error.  I've definitely gotten better over the years . . . I can see that when I look back at some of my older projects compared to the more recent.  For sure.

The thing is, sometimes . . . even though I KNOW I'm not a pro or whatever, I still eye up a pattern and think "easy!" and then proceed to make stupid mistakes on it . . .  with the utmost confidence that I'm making *no errors at all*.  It makes for a frustrating "finish" when I turn the whole project right side out and see the silly mistakes that I made.  Blargh.

Anyway, though I don't have pictures of the mistakes I made on this project (that I tried my best to take apart and fix, though at least a bit of the damage couldn't be undone), it is now done and ready for gifting.

The only fabric repeated in this pattern are those 2 orange squares on each end.  My mother-in-law lived in Latin America for many years and LOVES color.  :)

I made this little runner for my mother-in-law for her birthday which is next week.  I was able to use 2 of my previous *wins* to make this project come together . . . namely the Deb Strain Fresh Flowers layer cake I won from Fabric Donkey a few SMS giveaway days ago and my copy of 101 Patchwork Projects (which I won from somewhere, but cannot for the life of me recall).  The pattern called "Contemporary Table Runner" was written by Vivica Hansen DeNegre and is a great project to use if you want to show off a lot of different little bits of fabric.  :)

You can see a bit the transition from green to white in the stitching . . . I really like using variegated thread sometimes.

Something I added to the pattern was some decorative stitching around all the borders using some Sulky variegated thread (kind of a green to white with a bit of sheen to it).  I used some Kona Tomato for the backing that was sitting in my stash.  One thing that didn't show up as well as I had hoped was some yellow variegated thread (from Coats . . . no sheen . . . nuts) that I used for the top stitching of all of the x's.  It just doesn't stand out particularly well . . . makes me wish I had used the Sulky for that part as well so the whole thing had shine on it, but oh well.  I'm still pretty pleased with the results.

You can *sort of* see the sheen in the thread in this picture . . . it shows up a bit better in real life.

Other than the Coats thread I picked up for the topstitching, this was a total stashbuster project which feels AMAZING.  I even had the perfect sized piece of batting left over from the quilt I made for Kee-ku way back when to give the runner a bit of heft.  Hurray!

Any finishes for you yet this year?  I'm about 70% done with a Christmas decor project that I never got around to making last year that WILL be finished to hang up in 2012.  I'm on a mission!



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