We Interrupt This Creative Moment

It is amazing to me how quickly time goes by when I'm thinking, "Gee, I haven't posted anything for awhile - I need to get to the blog!"

Been doing some sewing work for the sign shop where I'm the on-call seamstress, and have been trying to get that job done in spite of my Sewing Assistant's "help."  Yep, he's at it again.  I swear, I cannot put any fabric out to cut, sew, or alter in any way without him plunking himself into the middle of it.

Now, exactly WHERE was that seam you wanted me to rip out for you?

Oh, wait.....I see it now - BANZAI!

I can't post a picture of the finished product (fooey!), because it will belong to one of their clients who is doing a very proprietary product.   Just know that it is coming out pretty darn cool looking.  And Miriam, if you're reading this, all the cat hair will be gone before I bring it in (LOL!).  

Speaking of the sign shop, here's a picture of where I work:

Moi's Sewing Station!

The tiny looking thing in the middle of the photo?  That's the heavy-duty industrial double-chain-stitch machine I use to hem the banners for them ("them" being All-American Signs in Los Alamitos, CA).  The table is about 10 feet from the edge right in front to that window cut-out.  Why would I need a 10 foot long and 8 foot wide table, you ask?  See that banner, there?  It's about 12 feet long and made of heavy banner material.  The bigger the banner, the heavier it gets.  And I have to turn it this way and that to get to all the seams, so it's good to have something to hold all that weight.  It's harder work than the sewing I do at home, but the owners are lovely people to work for & I really enjoy the work.  The money comes in handy, too, during the 15 minutes it is actually in my hand before one or the other of the teenage boys announces that they need it for something or other. 

So somewhere along the line last night, while I was working on the >ahem< project, I got a bee in my bonnet about another project I've been dying to do for a couple of months.  I used to sew handmade shoes for an Etsy shop owner in Long Beach, but since she doesn't call me any more to sew for her (Sad Face!), I decided to buy some patterns for women's shoes and try it myself, just for fun.  Here's where I got the patterns: 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/shoeology?ga_search_query=shoeology&ga_search_type=seller_usernames  

I figured, for $15, I could make my own silliness and pay less that I would at, well, PayLess.  Remember that friend I told you about that paid me for the mending by giving me a bag full of clothes?  She unwittingly supplied the material for my first ever pair:

Hey, Kim!  You remember these pants?

And now, through the magic of sewing wizardry:

Wot da heck?  Now they look like shoe!

Okay, truth-in-advertising moment:  this is about the third incarnation.  There were several adjustments I had to make on the Shoeology patterns & instructions (and still, I have no quibble with the gal that sells them), but it was an experiment anyway so it's all good.  These make completely lined shoes that are very soft (adjustment #1 - I need to interface both the fabric AND the lining to give it a little more body).  If you sole them with suede, moccasin leather or vinyl, you end up with a pair of house shoes.  A little hard to go outside and walk across any gravel.   I'm planning to use a thicker leather sole to make a more outdoorsy type, and the folks at my local Tandy Leather Company are helping me figure that one out.  The other adjustment I need to make is the toe box - this pattern would work very well for someone with wider, thicker feet.  Alas, I have the polar opposite, and there is much too much shoe for the likes of me.  Now comes more pattern alterations and a lot of experimentation.  And tons more craft-weight interfacing.  (Can you hear that?  It's the good folks at Joanns Fabrics doing a cheer!)

Enough of the shoe magic for now.  Back to the >ahem< project.  Will post more shoe-y goodness later on.