Burn, Baby, Burn

So...anyone else shamelessly crushing on Jeffrey Donovan these hot July days?

You know the face...he looks familiar. Maybe he wasn't as cute in the last thing or didn't strike you as anything special. (Hint: Hitch. Among others.)

But man oh man, kick a guy when he's down, give him unlimited supply of SuperSpy Smarts and a tight t-shirt and I'm good to go!

Yum.

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like...

Halloween.

Gotcha. You thought I was gonna say Christmas, huh?

Well, in that strange and wonderful land called eBay, Halloween is selling big bang right now. I'm just giving the people what they ask for. This little set was photographed in that other strange and wonderful land known as my back yard. Pretty, ain't it?


Colonel Shepperd supervised the photoshoot:


Remember when he was just an itty bitty little guy???


I go back to school in 5 days. Am very sad.

I'm IT

That panty-sewing whirlwind Debbie has tagged me...here are the rules!

Answer the questions, add photos if you want (or steal Debbie's) and tag 5 other sewing bloggers. Ah hem...

1. What kind of seam ripper do you use?

I use this pointy ended blue seam ripper thingie that I can never find when I need it. Like now, when it needs its picture taken.



2. What do you use to snip threads at the sewing machine?

Uh, sometimes these teeny embroidery scissors when they're not vacationing incognito with Mr. Seam Ripper. Or just my regular old shears.



3. What do you use to cut out patterns/fabric?

I, unlike most of my sewing compadres, have just one (yes, one. Go ahead and start pitying me now.) pair of shears that I cut with. I HAVE a rotary cutter. I just don't know exactly where it is. Or how old the blade is. Here's my pretty pair of Mundial shears:


4. Do you stash zippers?

Are you kidding me? Don't you sign a contract when you purchase your sewing machine?




5. Which takes up more space in your stash — knits or wovens?

Wovens. I have a fierce love of quilting cottons. The bigger the pattern (the bigger my a$$) the better. Here's just the pretties in the cabinet. The rest are hiding.



6. Are you wearing anything today that you made?

Uh, not at the moment. Not even panties.


7. Does anyone else in your family currently sew?

My sister kidnapped my Babylock Ellure a year ago. They're still on the lam.


8. What is the last $$ sewing-related (non-fabric) item you bought?

Have to be the 'nina. Ebay vendor bushvideo (who specializes not in video, but in Bernina Sewing refurbished machines. Now after that big plug, can I have a discount?) Or maybe it was my Juki serger...which I slobber over all the time. The kids are embarrassed equally by both so it doesn't really matter.

9. Cutting out, pressing, hemming. Which one do you like the LEAST?

Next to my Juki, I have a love affair with steam. So ironing's my FAVE. I'd have to say cutting out is my least fave. I'm sure if I had tons of cutting implements like all you Blade Junkies (snort, great new sewing group name!) then I'd enjoy that part more. (Debbie, if you don't eyeball, how ARE you supposed to hem then? :P )

10. Do you have any non-chain garment fabric stores in your local area?

Sager Creek Quilts is close enough to visit now and then! Hi Cliff & Pam!

And since I've been traveling, I don't know who's done this and who hasn't. So I get free rein to tag whoever I want! So there!

I tag Shannon, Shannon (haha, couldn't resist), Lisa, Lisa (HAHAHAHA I'm really cracking myself up now) and spreading the love to a blogger I enjoy but don't know very well...Dena.

laters!

a.

Goodies...

Just a little shameless self-promotion!

The littlest fashionista....a halter & capri set:

A Halloween Hair Flower...


A gorgeous plummy Fall Hair Flower...



These 3 plus a few more yummy things can be found HERE.

Happy Weekend!

a.

The Big Easy

Glimpses of my week in New Orleans!

Me & Cheryl on the mighty Mississippi...

The gorgeous French Quarter...


Dozens of interesting side streets to explore...


Lively Bourbon St...


Block after block of Katrina devastation...many neighborhoods are still ghost towns, with homes abandoned...



The yello X on the house below denotes the water level when the rescue crews came by...


and the promise of brighter tomorrow, some of Harry Connick Jr's Musician's Row houses:


The historic Garden District with its beautiful old homes...


and spooking ourselves on Friday the 13th in Lafayette Cemetery...


All in all a fun week! (Oh, and I learned stuff too, being as I was at a convention.) I sure am glad to be home though.

Stop! FBI!

Or a reasonable 10 & 12 y/o facsimile thereof...


Oh, those lazy, crazy days of summer. We downloaded the blank FBI badge off an X-Files fansite, LOL!! I added the kids picture, printed, cut out & laminated them...

and they've been out of my hair ever since.

Now maybe I can get something done around here. :o)

Edit: Wow, this post gets a LOT of traffic from Google Images. I've updated the pic to remove faces.

Kaffe & Kaziah

Well, aside from being sidelined by a migraine most of this week, I did find time to whip out this cute little set...


Note flashy Kaffe Fassett prints! There's a sash too, it's just not pictured. I dedicate this one to Shannon and her cuter than cute little outfit she made out of KF a couple weeks ago on her blog. The twirly skirt is actually cuter than it appears. Oh, just lookie for yourself:



This is a short one girls. I gotta have a brownie & lie down. Before I do tho, I wanted to direct you to the most amazing story I heard all week. If you haven't heard of Kaziah Hancock, then you need to read her story here.


And if you can look through the portraits she paints for the families of fallen soldiers without grabbing the nearest kleenex, you're made of stronger stuff than I. Nothing will drive home the true cost of this war more than scrolling down-- a long, long way down-- that gallery page of soldiers she has painted.

I missed the 4th of July on the blog...but I thank God that I'm American every day. And God bless the soldiers who protect our freedoms. Sometimes with their lives.

a.

Embroidered Ribbon Label Tutorial

In response to a bunch of questions I had about the labels & how to make them, I photo-journaled my label making this moring and thought I'd do a little tute for ya!

If you have an embroidery machine, you can make your own classy labels for a teeny tiny fraction of the price of woven labels. Just look at my snazzy new labels...


Materials:
*Tiny embroidery fonts & Designs: Mine are from Sew-N-2-U & Perfect Little Stitches.
*Satin Ribbon (make sure it's wide enough for your designs!) My ribbon is single-sided satin ribbon on a roll from Wal-Mart, in 1-1/4 inch width.
*Fusible Interfacing
*Sticky back water soluble stabilizer (Mine is a humongous roll from All Stitch.)
*Embroidery Machine & Threads

Directions:

Step 1: Cut ribbon to desired length (I started with about 30 inches). Stabilize your ribbon. It's too flimsy to withstand the embroidery designs without interfacing! I cut a strip of fusible interfacing the same width & length as my ribbon & fused with the iron.

Step 2: Sticky back water soluble stabilizer is the secret ingredient! Hoop the stabilizer with the paper side up (the sticky side).


Step 3: Using a large needle or pin, "score" a rectangle in the center of the hoop, approximately the same width as your ribbon, as below:


Step 4: Peel the scored paper away & remove. Now you're left with a little window of "sticky" stabilizer.


Step 5: Center your ribbon over this sticky window and smooth.


Step 6: Embroider your design. You will probably have to fiddle with your needle position. Most machines allow you to do this. I checked the first needle position, then moved "12 clicks" up for perfect placement.


Step 7: Trim around all sides of your embroidered ribbon, leaving a rectangular hole in your hooped stabilizer:


Step 8: Cut a new, larger than your hole, rectangle of stick back stabilizer. Flip your hoop over and apply this new piece over the hole. You can even use 2 pieces for more stability if you want.


Step 9: Now go back to Step 5 & repeat from there ! That's pretty much it!

Repeat these steps as many times as wanted! You can "patch" your hole in the stabilizer with another piece until your length of ribbon is completely embroidered.

When finished, trim your jump stitches from the front! (No need to trim back jump stitches, since they will never be exposed.)

LAST Step: Rinse water soluble stabilizer from ribbon, dry & press well with iron. Cut labels apart & enjoy!!

An Absolutely Darling Movie...

For little Lu's birthday party I took her (and 3 of her closest friends) to see this ...


I can't even begin to describe what an adorable movie this was!! Nancy is smart, and well-mannered, and still kicks a little booty in the end, when she absolutely had to. But she was very proper about it.

Her clothes, of course, were TDF! I seriously want this trench coat...


Nancy states in the movie that she makes her own clothes from her mom's old patterns. Aww!

But the most important part of the movie to me was the fact that Nancy's an honest, sweet, honorable role model for my little girl. I've read mixed reviews on the movie, and to be frank, the "not so good" reviews are definitely NOT being written by parents of little girls. And those reviewers are missing the point.

Parents who worry about the sex, violence, drug use, profanity, and worrisome behavior that perfuses the rest of the movie's out there for kids these day (anyone else terrified by "Thirteen" a couple years ago?), well, we NEED more movies like Nancy Drew.

There wasn't a person in the theatre with me Friday night who wasn't smiling when they left. And that's saying a lot. We were all entertained, we rooted for Nancy together, there was lots of laughing out loud...it was, in a word, ENJOYABLE.

I'll say it again. We need more movies like Nancy Drew. My baby girl needs more heroines like Nancy Drew. So go!! Spend your movie dollars and drive that box office up!! Let those producers and moneybackers SEE that this is a profitable market. After all, isn't the all mighty dollar who dictates what we see onscreen?

Spread the word!