Susan Sews Daily

A Look at the Inside of a Common Sewing Tool

2011-03-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

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

2011-02-14T05:47:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-02-11T10:37:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-02-08T13:01:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-31T06:56:00.000-08:00

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

2010-07-04T17:22:00.000-07:00

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.

Is it a Zebra? Is it a Giraffe?

2010-06-16T05:12:00.000-07:00

Is it a zebra? Or a giraffe? Miss Meliss was here for 10 days in May and one of the things we did was go fabric shopping. She asked me to make some tote bags for her friends back in Dallas that were caring for her dogs.

We had fun browsing through the forest of huge bolts of fabric at Bonanza. Bonanza is a huge fabric store that specializes in bridal and formal wear fabric.

They also have lots of trimmings. In the past few years they have been increasing their selection of linens, cottons and cotton spandex fabrics. And since a big, mediocre Mexican fabric chain opened nearby, they have an even better selection.

These fabrics were imported and proclaimed “ Algodin Americano” of “ lino Americano” which means American cotton, or linen.

The fabrics are very wide , and less expensive than in the US. I still cannot get novelty prints and beautiful buttons, but they do have a rainbow assortment of zippers hanging without packages on a wall, and art piece by itself. And believe it or not, they carry invisible zippers and told me where I can buy an invisible zipper foot.

It does my heart good to be able to find fabrics and notions here.

I still have to order interfacing and some other notions from the US.

But back to the jungle.

Melissa and I fell head over heels for the faux zebra and giraffe prints. They are wide ( 1.5 meters) soft, and inexpensive less than $5.00 Us per meter.

I usually like to mix prints on the bags making the pockets a coordinating or contrasting print. But these were too gorgeous and too busy to mix.

So I made one side of the bag in zebra print and one half in giraffe print.

When I sent photos front and back to friends, they all said your bags are beautiful. Everyone thought they were two separate bags!

And what a nightmare, being a micro-fiber they were already dense, then I bonded two pieces with Heat N Bond, and created a canvas like fabric that was nearly impenetrable! I broke a lot of needles and cursed …a lot!

But the bag is gorgeous. And here is a close up of the African beads I attached to the zipper pull.

I also made this lovely yellow and white polka-dot bag for Miss Meliss’ friend. And it was also a tough sewing job. But they both look so lovely completed…like child birth, I forgot the pain…

Last week’s guest at the HoneyMoon Hut very graciously took the bags back with them to mail.

Yellow and white and polka dots just scream "SUMMER !" to me.

A few weeks ago I worte on my Mexico slice of life blog about the little seaplane that made an emergency landing in the water in front of my house. So it is a beach photo for you:

Susan is in Tote Bag Hell...It's Her Own Fault

2010-06-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

My sewing assistant, Jennie-Penney

By Susan Klindienst Fogel

It has been a while since I have had anything to say on this blog. Sew today, I’ll show you two Lazy Girl Designs bags I made. I have been in bag-making hell. I committed to making five purses, three Summer Totes for Miss Meliss and her friends, and I have to have them ready when my current guests depart for the US so they can mail them for me.

The other two bags are for my niece and grand-niece.

In October the family gathered on Long Island for my sister Patricia’s wedding. Cousins and nieces and nephews reunited after years of separation.

Kids whose diapers I changed had kids of their own. How they managed to age and I did not is a secret I am not sharing. I could not possibly be old enough to have nieces with kids…some have teenagers!

One of my favorite nieces, Michelle was there with her husband and two darling kids Elise and Ethan. The last time I had seen Michelle was in the early 90‘s when she visited me in California. She was single with no hint of a wedding on the horizon. We had a lovely visit including an early morning trip to Half Moon Bay so we could be there at low-tide.

It was frigid, the air and the water, but so romantic and wild. Later we headed to town for lunch but had a flat on Highway 1. Some Mexican field workers saw us struggling with the spare, and came down and helped us. From there we went to Pasta Moon for lunch, and just enjoyed being together.

I was touched by Michelle’s calm, sweetness, and her gentle relationship with her children at the wedding . Later back at our beaches, me in La Paz, Michelle in Delaware, we struck up an email relationship. Her father, my older brother died when Michelle was very young. Up until that time their life had not been very stable.

It feels good to be keeping my promise to my brother that I would always be there for his kids.

I sent her photos of my stash, and all of the Lazy Girl patterns I had on hand and asked her to choose a bag for herself and one for Elise. They both chose the same fabric:

This deeply hued batik

And they chose the Chelsea Tote. It can be a tote bag or a backpack. Their special motif: butterflies.

So I also embroidered a butterfly on each of their bags. Michelle’s butterfly took 42 minutes and 11 thread changes!

Midway through the construction, I remembered that Elise is only 8 year old and very slight. I asked Michelle to measure a kid’s backpack. The bag I was making was just too big for tiny Elise.

I shave 3 inches from the bag dimensions, and shortened the straps from 34inches to 21 inches. I had already quilted the bag and made and attached the pocket. Re-sizing it and keeping the shape and the pocket took a little effort, but I am pleased with the results:

You can see the innovative way the straps unzip to become shoulder straps for a backpack.

And a beach photo. It is untouched, other than the cropping. The sea star was already dead, so I took it home, and now it will go to Delaware as a gift for Ethan.

Keep Sewing!

Susan Receives a Wonderful Sewing Gift

2010-05-18T18:38:00.000-07:00

Susan Receives a Wonderful Sewing Gift!

Sew, MissMeliss has been here for ten days without her beloved, and we have had a wonderful time having pedicures, long leisurely lunches, and coffee with some of my friends. She even overcame her childhood trauma of going fabric shopping with me.

Well she was choosing fabric for friends. I had agreed to make some tote bags for her special friends back in Dallas, where there is no beach.

We met with my friend Lulu (a recipient of three of my handmade bags) at Café Exquisito on the Malecon for a café mocha.

Lulu handed me a small soft package and said: “ I saw this and knew it was YOU!”

Inside the lovely tissue wrapped bundle were two tea towels with coffee spelled many ways, cups and lovely coffee drinks stamped on them. I thanked her, gave her a kiss and then…

She took out another bag. And she started to lay out hardware for purses: d-rings, big hoops, a shoulder strap with clasps, the magnetic snap, and the zipper from an inner pocket complete with the brand label still attached.

She said: “A friend purchased a new purse. I asked her what she was going to do with the old one. When she said she was throwing it away, I took out my scissors and cut out all of the parts for you”

And Lulu laid each one out and made sure I saw every one of the pieces. “So does this mean you want me to make you another purse?” I asked with a grin. “No,” she said, “ I just knew you could use these.”

I was so touched. This was a thoughtful gift. And I have already started thinking of ways to use the hardware.

We should all recycle whenever we can. In Mexico it is a way of life. We don’t throw things out that may have another use.

The plastic pointy end on an empty caulking compound tube became the up spout on my decorative fountain.

I have seen coconut shells hinged and made into purses.

Dead palm trees are cut short, up ended, their root ball removed, and turned into planters.

So Lulu’s friend’s Nine West purse will be recycled into something I have made.

And here is a beach photo of Miss Meliss and I, well our newly pedicured feet on the Malecon (boardwalk) beach in downtown La Paz. My two feet, Miss Meliss' one foot!

Special Order: Patricia's Cow Pillows!

2010-05-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

Sew…My friend Patricia loves cows! She is a city girl born and raised in Mexico City. Now she lives here in La Paz. We have been friends for years. And she is a true individual. She keeps balloons and ribbons in here purse, when she sees kids she stops to blow up a balloon, ties a ribbon to it and then ties the balloon to the child’s wrist. She once talked a policeman out of giving a ticket to a man she did not even know. “ He was poor” she said. “He could not pay a ticket.”

Sew we were out for breakfast one Sunday. Patricia reached into her purse and passed over a stack of photographs. “Would you like to see my cows?” she asked, as if she was asking if I would like to see baby pictures.

“Sure!” said I.

And sew, I browsed through a stack of pure white and black and white bovines grazing on a small grass patch outside in an urban setting.

“Where did these cows come from?” I asked.

“They were just there, outside my gym. They must have been following the Spring vegetation.”

“Aren’t they beautiful?”

“Well , er, of course they are”

“And you know, I love the way they smell too!”

I told you she was an individual, with a capital I.

Patricia is so real and true, that you just have to love her and smile and naturally understand that she loves cows.

I asked her beloved Gordon to email the photos to me.

And two Christmases ago I made her a Gracie Bag by Lazy Girl Designs. I printed the cow pictures on fabric and also wrote “Patricia’s Cows” and made them the inside pockets of the bag.

She went crazy at our Christmas breakfast, and said she loves opening her bag and seeing her cows.

This year I asked her if she would like to go through my Lazy Girl patterns and fabric and choose the design of her choice for her birthday.

“No” she said” I would like you to make me some pillows with my cows on them. I like to look at them.”

And sew, here are Patricia’s cows on pillows.

I was in the best fabric store in La Paz with my friend Mary and I said “Too bad they don’t have any cow print fabric here.” La Paz fabric stores are very limited in what they have. I never believed they would have any novelty print.

Mary asked the young man that was cutting her fabric if they had fabric with “piel de la vaca” (skin of the cow) and he said he did in the back room.

“Mary” I said, “It’s probably real cowhide…I don’t want that!”

Lo and behold, they had some pajama fabric with a cow print! And that is how Patricia’s pillows came to have the perfect backing fabric.

La Paz is the capital of Baja California Sur, with a population of 200,000. It is a city. There are not a lot of pastures near downtown.

But farmers let their cows wander wherever they like, so this set of cows ended up on the grassy circle in front of Patricia’s gym.

There is a clash of cultures in La Paz. The ranchers will not give way to cars, private property and highways. Cows are left to wander. One night two of our friends were wakened by an awful commotion. They were sure a cow was giving birth…sideways. They turned on their patio lights and could not believe their eyes…a cow had fallen in their pool and was furiously bellowing it’s frustration and trying to climb up the side. Crashing and splashing and cracking the pool tile, the cow mooed and flailed. The more it slipped the louder it wailed.

Imagine trying to get a two-ton dumb, scared and angry creature to climb the steps out of your pool! They managed to rope it, so with MS pulling from the pool’s edge, and MR in the water pushing the cows bony rump, they managed to get the poor thing to the steps and out of the pool. Not everyone loves cows!

And here is a beach picture...without cows

Susan Sews a Pareo Dress, the First of Many

2010-04-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

The weather Is warming up, and soon it will be too hot to move.

I will swim before sunrise. Retreat to my sewing room with the AC cranked and sew and write.

After lunch and before my siesta I will take another swim. Since the heat of the day keeps everyone inside, I can swim naked. But I always keep a pareo nearby in case someone comes, and I can quickly wrap up. I swim late at night as well and when it is really hot, I'll jump in the pool during commercials while watching TV, then I’ll come back inside wet, and will cool down quickly.

This is a pareo. I took the photo from Pareo.com a great place to buy them online. It doesn't have fringe like mine does, they are all a little different.

Clever people make pants and dresses out of them and then hawk them on the beach. I bought a yellow pareo that had elastic smocking on the top to make it into a sundress. But, the Baja sun and my body heat degraded the elastic. The fabric was still good. Sew I cropped the smocking off. Opened the side seam, and re-cut the pareo into a dress. I used the bodice from the dress I made for the wedding. The bodice is lemon yellow linen lined with a soft Egyptian cotton(only the best against my tender bosoms). I lightly gathered the pareo to fit the bodice width.

There was a nice border down each side. I cut one section off and attached it on the outside to the bodice seam and it hangs freely. You can see it on the side in the photos. the wind was blowing, but it would not pick up the border stip and fling it about. I hope you can see that detail. I wear it with thin-strapped orange metallic flip-flops, a big hammered brass cuff and dangling tropical earings.
It is not floor length, the fringe starts at the knee. It feels so free, light, cool and tropical.

I love it. And I have received many compliments on it. Don’t forget to add your compliments below!

I love it so much, I am going to make another with one of my many other pareos. Watch this space for later!

And as I have said before, my mother was the Queen of “reclining” and she loved muu-muus and caftans.

I have been bitten with the bug. And the climate here at the beach lends itself to soft, cool, loose garments.

Sew I made this Vogue wrapper. The short white one with the Mandarin collar. I found this lovely batiste fabric with the fresh and springy embroidery.

After a hard day collecting shells, or swimming, or sewing, I like to take a relaxing bath or shower. The last thing I want to put on is anything close fitting or structured. And sew I have adopted caftans and other lightweight, stylish and cool wraps.

Here is my finished wrapper.

Then next one I make will be about four inches longer.

The sketch on the pattern envelope shows it to be almost knee length…not so! It is much shorter. And for proper reclining, a little more length is required.

And here is a beach photo. Well the beach is in the background apropos of reclining, I decided this was a good photo, I call it Tranquility Defined:

Susan finishes and Wears Black Linen dress to A Wedding

2010-04-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

Here I am in the linen dress I made for Dhorea's wedding.

The ceremony was in the Cathedral on the square in downtown La Paz.

As the wedding party was posing for a few photos on the alter, a young man with a camera sauntered down the aisle and asked us (and others) to pose for a photo.

I thought "How nice of the bride to have someone take pictures of all of the guests."

After the bridal party made their exit, we followed .

And there on the square in front of the church was the young photogapher with all of the pictures he had taken, laid out on a table, they were framed and matted, and for sale! How entrepreneurial!

The photos were only $100 pesos ( about $9.00 US). We had celebrated our 28th anniversary the day before the wedding, so we decided to buy the phoot and call it our anniversary picture.

And there is my dress all finished.

It felt wonderful, the lining swished, and the linen was soft, and I received many compliments.

We spent the two hours between the wedding ceremony and the reception walking along the malecon ( waterfront) and arrived at the reception just behind the bride.

The setting was lovley, the liquor flowed, the music was sixites rock...but not loud and crashing. the food was mostly hot, and tasty.

Tthe guests at our table were all new friends for us and interesting, charming people.

We were home and in bed by midnight!

The dress made it thorught the evening without a wrinkle!

Here it is lounging near the pool:

Linen dress resting with friend.

And here is a photo of the Malecon in downtown La Paz

A Few Sewing Themed Gifts I Have Received

2010-04-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

Although she claims she has ben traumatized for life by having to stand in line with me in fabric stores as I waited to have my fabric cut ,my daughter, MissMeliss has sent me some thoughtful sewing related gifts (as have friends).

And now that I live in Mexico, and she lives in the great shopping mall in the sky: the US of A, she is willing to venture into fabric stores on my behalf. On a trip to Minnesota, she willingly went to an Amish quilt store and purchased 15 fat quarters for me. They are on their way south of the border as we speak.

During her high school years , and after she married and lived nearby, we would have coffee dates. If I mentioned I had to stop at the fabric store "just for a minute" she would groan and say: " I'll wait in the car." Or she would ask:
"Are you going to have fabric cut?" If I wasn't buying fabric, she would deign to come in.

If I was going to be buying fabric to make something for her, then her whole attitude was cheerful, helpful and excited. Well, she was a teenager.

Once when there was a big thread sale, I had two coupons for thread. The coupon clearly said "Limited to one coupon per customer." I handed her a coupon and some money and asked her to get in line behind me. "That's not honest, you are the customer, not me!", she so aptly pointed out. I do not remember my response, but she did agree to stand in line and buy the thread. There was something about new purple shoes as the trade-off. I am not 100% sure on that, she was 15 at the time. She is 39 right now. (Funny how she is now OLDER than me. I am a young 35).

Hey so I am a fabric/sewingaholic, I am not proud of the depths I will stoop to to get a litle extra thread.

Sew back to the point!

The sewing related gifts:

The golden stork embroidery scissors were a gift years ago when she was in high school. I talked about them for weeks, and that Mother's Day, she presented me with them. I love them for their beauty, and because she gave them to me. They are dull now and cannot be sharpened, but they will always be with me.

And the dress form:

We spent Christmas 2001 in France. We had agreed no gifts since we were having a BIG gif:t three weeks in France.

On Christmas morning I presented her with a purple pashmimi I bought in the market in Perpignon, she presentd me with the miniature dress form.

The patchwork pillow:

I was visiting Missmeliss in Dallas and she gave me a lovley set of nine fish patches from Bali. She also gave me a copy of the quilt show brochure which I have kept. She actually went to a Quilt show. She has overcome her youthful trauma. I made the pillow and it is in my living room.

The cigar box full of buttons:

On my 50th birthday in 2000 ( Ok so I am not 35) MissMeliss threw a black-tie party for me. Everyone was asked to bring a sewing button.
Some people got confused and brought political buttons. And my friend Kiki Yamamoto walked in with this vintage cigar box with Japanese
hand-printing on it, and said " I could not pick just one." So he handed over his mother's button box! It still makes me tear up>

The antique bobbin:

Another of Miss Meliss's gifts, she knows I love old sewing implements. And I sold most of what I had when I came to Mexico.

The little hatbox:
A gift from my friend Andrea.

And the seal skin thimble:

My sister Patricia was the writer in residence in Sitka Alaska, she found the thimble and knew I would love it.
I actually used it when I was sewing all the buttons on the yellow sundress.

The rubber stamp:

Another birthday present from MissMeliss: if you look closely you will see the seamstress stitching her finger and her tongue is out .The blue language is implied, though I never curse while sewing , really. When I am concentrating, I stick out my tongue, or so I am told.
MissMeliss had actually made a set of business cards for me using two rubber stamps one with the sewist and one with my name. I cherished them for years.

The Button Book:

She used it for quotes on the photo montage at my 50th birthday party.
And then she gave it to me.

I wonder now that she is older, if I kept talking about the Janome 11000 she'll get it for me for Christmas?

I do know that she is willing to brave the fabric stores again, I sent her my wishlist of fabrics and she is going to get me a bunch!

How blessed to have a daughter...with a paycheck!

And here is a beach picture:

Me after a hard day of shell collecting!

Lazy Susan Makes Purses Using Lazy Girl Designs Patterns

2010-04-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

About two years ago my daughter was accepted into a writer's group in San Francisco.
she asked me to make a special tote bag for her. I make great totes. But I wanted something different for her.
Sew I searched the internet and found Joan Hawley, owner and designer of
Lazy Girl Designs (LGD). She designs wonderful, usable, sewable handbags.
The Summer Tote spoke to me.
I was having trouble finding a source for the pattern, and called the number on the Lazy Girl website. Joan answered, and heard my tale of woe. I offered to pay the full price of the pattern if she could fax or email it to me. The design of the pattern guidesheet would not allow that.
So Joan gave me the name of a few distributors, and asked me to choose one, she would then instruct them to send me an additional free pattern for my trouble!

So began my love affair with LGD and a renewed creativity for me.
I had been so beaten down by my stressful job, and worn out from building my new house, my creativity had withered and almost died.

The Summer Tote pattern would not reach me in time to make the bag for Miss Meliss's trip.
So I found the videos of Joan making the bag. and I watched it over and over again, and ripped and sewed and finally got it right.
Here is the very first LGD bag I ever made:

Melissa's book is called Universal Blend and it is about the first cafe on Mars. And coffee has always been an important part of our lives. That's my pool in the background.

Since that summer in 2007 I have been sewing non-stop. My stressful mortgage job went away with the crisis, and I am better for it. And now I sew daily.

I have made bags for friends and everyone wants another!

Melissa again asked for a specialty bag, " A Sassy Bag that looks like summer, I miss the beach...and you too, Mom.'

Sew here is Miss Meliss's Beachy Sassy Bag:

My cousin Barb sent me hundreds of dollars of Thai silk she had purchased on her travels and never used. She shipped it all to Miss Meliss, and on every trip to see her I would take some silk home with me.

Here is the LGD Claire bag I made from Thai silk and African fabrics:

And here is the inside pocket:

I love the elephant print.

My sister Patricia is a master gardener, and has written a book: The Earth Knows My Name. I made this Summer Tote for her. I also added two Perfect Pouches to keep things neat inside the bag. Since there are specially -sized pockets on the outside I found good looking pictures of fountain pens, cameras, keys and a picture of an Iphone on the internet, printed them, cut them out and put them in their corresponding pockets. Here is what she said:

" My bag just arrived! I love it.....love the fabrics, the colors, all the pockets, with their smart little cut outs to tell me what goes where (including the great fountain pen).......and the way you made it double thick. The zipper pouches inside are perfect...I can never find anything when I dump it into a bag, and this will help me organize. And they're just so lovely and cheerful. And that I can slip out the insert to wash it is great. Now I can't wait to use it."

Here is the very veggie tutty fruity Summer Tote each side is different, the inside is the same. and following are two Perfect Pouches I made to go inside:

When I sent MissMeliss's tote via DHL from La Paz it cost me $55.00.

My last guest at the HoneyMoonHut very kindly agreed to send all the bags to my sister Dee and she agreed to mail them off to everyone.

So for Dee I made a Horsey Sassy Bag. She is a horsewoman, and loves to sew.

I made this for her as a gift of love and to give thanks that when she was recently thrown from her horse and broke her neck she was not paralyzed.

The brown is Thai silk, my wonderful Janome 9500 and I embroidered the horse on the front. The blue fabric is Batik. The Bakelite barrel button is one from the collection I received at my 50th birthday bash.

The Lazy Girl Designs bags are wondeful, the instructions are clear, easy to follow and Joan's wit shines through. I highly reccommend them to anyone beginner or advanced. I have made many of Joan's bags and have never been disappointed. And neither have the recipients of my gifts.

Thanks for visiting.

Here's another beach photo:the beach in front of my house on a still, silent morning.

Susan Sews a Dress for a Wedding

2010-04-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

Since we have been living in La Paz in Southern Baja, we have been invited to many weddings, christenings, business openings, buirthday parties and general parties.

We have been invited to a formal wedding next Saturday.
I am making a floor length black linen dress ( lined with HOT pink). It is a classic sleeveless, scoop neck with a high waist. I have embellished it with African bead trim.
And I am making a bolero jacket in a wonderful green on black batik print.
Here's the fabric:

I really should be making pajamas and a robe! The wedding will be in the cathedral on the zocalo ( square) at 4:00 p.m. The reception follows in a party salon(banquet hall). The problem is: It's a Mexican wedding. There will be lots of liquor, a band with speakers as big as two refrigerators pumping out music that can be heard without amplification on Mars. We will all be seated at tables, and wait, and wait, and wait for the food. Some botanas ( snacks) will be served round, and the wine and Tequila replenished with a flourish and no regard for the bar bill.

It can be close to midnight before dinner is served. Then the party is just starting to come alive. We learned early on to take naps and have a snack before going to some Mexican homes for dinner. And also to arrive two hours late (which is often early for Mexicans). It is difficult at a wedding. Arriving late means you will miss the ceremony.

Once at a formal party thrown by the agency where my beloved works, I fell asleep sitting up at the dinner table! and there were fireworks!

Another time on a weeknight we attended a mixer for the Chamber of Commerce, outdoors in winter on the terrace at el Caimancito the former president's mansion now a public facility. The Tequila and wine flowed. It was cold, we were hungry. But there were no botanas, no sign of food prep and lots of speeches. We kept asking the wait-staff and they said "five more minutes." Well those were Mexican mnutes...which are not at all like a New York minute. At 10:00 p.m. a few stale botanas were passed around. At eleven we said "adios" to the formal party and went to Rancho Viejo a late night street barbecue place.

We found a table and waited for a friend to arrive. We ordered a beer and some carne asada tacos (tender filet mignon grilled and cubed and piled high on a tortilla) and dug in.

At midnight as we were getting ready to go, other people in formal dress started arriving. "Were you at Caimancito?" We asked. They said yes and that the food still had not been served!

Anyway, I will need this dress for other occassions, like a short trip to Mazatlan, or dinner with friends in Mexico City. And with my weight loss and total lack of anything to wear, I decided on a new semi formal dress. A girl has to be prepared.

Here is a detail shot of the African bead trim:

The trim is going on the neckline and at the seam line for the high waist.

Here is the finished bodice:

The dress is almost done, I basted it all together for a final fitting. it looks wonderful, so now I am completing the construction.

Here is the pattern ( dress only).

Now I have to use a FrankenPattern to make the bolero.

Shoes? Shoes? What about shoes?
I have lovely black sandals with gold coins on them, elegant and just the right touch. BUT! the beads on the African trim are silver?

What if I added a gold coin ( also African) and wore both a silver cuff and a beaten bronze cuff ...one on each wrist? Funky, mixed metals?

I am thinking about that.
Oh! And I am going to make a purse to go along with the ensemble.

That will show up next!

Here is a beach picture:

Susan Finished the Yellow Sundress

2010-04-03T10:39:00.000-07:00

Sew, I have finished the yellow sundress and jacket. I did don the dress and ask my beloved to take photos of me, but it is early morning and there was no good location that would show off the dress, and allow me to have my eyes open. Sew here is the dress and the jacket hanging form the red bougainvillea beside my house.

Tthe buttons on the jacket were a gift from my friend Maria. Ten years ago when I met her for the first time she was wearing a pretty yellow and white dress. I said " Maria, i love those buttons, when that dress wears out, I want them."

Eight years later, on my birthday, Maria presented me a tiny box with four of the buttons inside. And here is a close up:

The buttons are placed to fit my curves, not the pattern markings, so they look a little off. But on me, they are fine. And I remembered to use my sewing machine to attach them. And yes one is square. I love them!

And here is the button detail on the front of the dress:

The fish button in the center is one from the many I received on my 50th birthday.

And here is a beach photo:

Susan Sews a Sundress

2010-03-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

Susan Sews a Sundress

Of cool lemon, hot orange, and some batik to tie it all together.

While the rest of North America is still trying to shake off the winter chills and gray weather, it is heating up in La Paz in Baja California Sur (southern Baja).

It looks like a hot summer ahead. We are already folding away the long pants and taking out the shorts, tank tops and sundresses.

I have been on a weight loss regimen, and want to have some new clothes, and of course sewing daily is what I do now.

When it warms up, I like loose , lightweight and cool clothing, but I love hot colors. Linen works well for that. The yellow linen is thin, and my belly button shows through but I have a fix(read below). The orange is crisp, perfect for the jacket. And the Batik will be the turnout facings and upper collar.

Here are the patterns I chose:

Yes they are both simple See and Sew, but I like the lines of the dress and they compliment my hourglass shape. The jacket has princess lines is short and adds a lot of punch to a dress that could become too sweet for me. And I watch How to Look Good Naked and What Not to Wear and I am learning about my shape. No more trying to be stick thin…it will never work for me.

I have made this dress several times. And like labor pains, you forget them between births. Well so I hear. I have had only one child. Anyway. I zipped through the construction. Found out the pattern alterations I noted on the envelope were too much. I had to taper, and taper again. No complaining here. But the little item I so conveniently forgot? The shoulder straps. They are wide ( good) they are curved (also good), but they just don’t work. After many tries with my sweet beloved helping me with the back placement. ( and he stabbing himself over and over a again) I gave up on those straps.

I made some long straight straps, decided to cross them in the back so they would not slip off my round shoulders. He pinned and yelped ( did not bleed on the dress). I basted them on they looked good. “I’ll go with these” I said.

I sewed on the facings and the straps looked awful. And the fabric is a thin linen, the facings hit at an awkward angle on my bust. “Ok, said I, I’ll line the bodice”. So I did. And that gave the dress nice body, and a nice smooth line. The straps were still awful.

Well it is Semana Santa here in La Paz ( Holy Week) everyone is on vacation. We had plans to enjoy some grilled veggies and t-bones at Mary & Rogelio’s . So we went to lunch, had a wonderful meal, a few copas de vino and came home just in time for siesta.

All during my nap my mind raced with ideas about how to fix this dress.

I got up , went back the original straps. They looked good, but now the dress was tight and would not zip.

I could not have gained weight at lunch, somehow the dress did not fit right after lunch. Could the bulk of the inetrfaced facings and the lining have changed the fit? Or did one and a half glasses of Chilean Merlot?

So I ripped out the tiny underarm darts I had sewn to take away some gap in that area. Re-cut the facings, installed the old straps and voila! It fits! Do not ask my why I had to suffer with a day of fits and starts and pin jabs to be back where I started.

Here is miss priss yellow dress waiting to be hemmed and pressed…and embellished:

I ripped and stitched and ripped the front area so many times the fabric looked used and abused.

So I went to my button stash and did this ( I now have to sew them all on):

I HATE hand sewing, but I think the buttons add interest, and cover the mess.

We have to drive to Cabo San Lucas tomorrow to visit the American Consul and renew our passports. I would like to wear this outfit.

Let’s hope there are no issues with the jacket. I have wonderful, lush Latin ( Italian) upper arms and sleeves are often an issue. I changed sleeve patterns, and altered them, I know the pattern gods will work with me. Right?

This little dress that should have been done Saturday afternoon for the pool party at Ann and Fernando’s has taken too much time. I’ll keep you posted.
Here is a version of the dress from last summer. I had just a little bit of fabric, so I added wide bias tape to the hem, and made a tuxedo bow at the top of the zipper:

Oh, and please make comments. It’s lonely in the blogosphere.

And a beach foto for you:

This beach is a 5 minute walk from my house. I live on the beach, but this foto is so romantic.

Susan Cleans Her Sewing Studio

2010-03-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

March 28th, Palm Sunday 2010. My new sewing blog is up! And here is something I wrote form another blog that you may enjoy:

Today I am going to clean up my studio. No really, I am! After my Christmas frenzy of sewing almost every gift I gave. My sewing room and fabric cupboards were exploding with fabric I had pulled out to test for color, and threw back in. It took two days to straighten one cupboard . Well they are not small, they are each nine feet high and four feet wide. Luckily they have doors to keep the fabric safe from the hot, searing, relentless, Baja sun, and to keep the mess out of sight.

So here they are all organized:

MissMeliss and her husband Chris came for Mother's Day and with them they brought a new sewing machine and 100 cones of thread. I have been learning to use the machine and to download embroidery motifs. Do you know how hard it is to find sophisticated designs? I am not a cutesy animal person, or a sweet floral person, and Disney, well…no. Each design had to be stitched out and tested. And new sewing projects had to be designed to incorporate the new designs. What a mess! Thread cones everywhere, I mean, am I going to put them back every time? And then there are the myriad test pieces. And the stabilizer, and the errors, and more errors. The air is blue with my curses. And fabric everywhere. My office portion of the studio has been engulfed by thread, fabric, patterns, fitting CDs and coffee cups. I am convinced that like toys, my thread cones are out at night surfing the web, and using my printer, and who knows what else? Here, look, I have proof!

I am on deadline for two publications, It is now or never. Clean up organize or drown in clutter. Clutter is a dirty word for me. I grew up in a house full of clutter. I live in a minimalistic modern beach house; there is no room for clutter!

And the weather is heating up, not the scorching, breath-taking, searing, heat of summer hell in La Paz, but the balmy, spring ,heat that warms up the pool and makes it delicious to bob around sipping a cool drink while reading. If only I could bring my laptop or sewing machine into the pool. Well I can, but they wouldn't work anymore. I need pool time! I need to sew! I have to write!

Soon it will be summer hell and then we hole up with the AC cranked on arctic and read, and pursue hobbies that were ignored during the glorious days of the other three seasons. I am up before the sun, to swim naked in the blood warm water. Then I draw the heavy drapes until 10 a.m. when the shade hits the terrace, then I am holed up until the sun goes down. Maybe I will take a dip or two to stretch the muscles after hours of sewing. Very few of us venture out midday. I was amused by the messages flying back and forth on a sewing forum. All of these women from the frozen north using snow days as excuses to stay home and sew. I can't wait to tell them I am escaping the bad weather of summer and doing just the same as they did this winter.

So one chore complete: write a new post for my NEW blog!