Bonus Points for Not Skipping to the Next Blog!

It's incredible how much time has elapsed since my last post.  Apologies to any of you who have been lurking around the edges, hoping to see something new and exciting coming out of this quarter.  So much has happened between then and now, and for awhile it seemed like all my reasons for wanting to do a crafting/sewing blog in the first place went out the window.  I decided I needed to stop posting work from my production clients online, in order to preserve their right to get their items out to the public first, before anyone else sees the idea on my site and jumps the gun.  That left work from what I call my independent clients, but I figured people get bored with too many of the same type of posts (altering, tailoring, hemming, repairing, and repeat), so I sort of lost steam for a long time. My client base has steadily grown as well, so when I did have time to post, I was usually too tired to photograph and upload.  I've really been wanting to get back to writing and having a reason to practice my photography again, so - ready or not, here I am!

There's no way to get you caught up on so much - your eyes would be rolling back into your head around the 15th paragraph or so anyway - so what say we start fresh?

One of the things I love to do for clients is embroidery.  For years, I've been using a Viking Husqvarna Designer SE.  There are plenty of things that this machine can do that makes it worth keeping, but unfortunately, embroidery wasn't one of them.  Oh, I had high hopes in the beginning.  It seems, though, that I appear to have purchased a bit of a lemon.  Either that, or my repair gurus aren't being very truthful about other SE's coming in for the same repairs, over and over.  I have read several other blogs and reviews that mention some of the same issues I have, so I'm not going to sit here and dis Viking.  I do know that I'll never buy another one, though.  The biggest issue with the SE is that between the constant (and unpredictable) tension problem and the absolutely USELESS thread cutter (imagine a little gnome yanking your fabric through the throatplate, whacking repeatedly with a machete in the approximate area of where the thread should have been and shredding it nine ways to Sunday, all the while making horrid mechanical retching sounds), embroidering on this machine is just a nightmare.  I have ruined several onesies for my biggest production client, and it was getting embarassing to have to keep calling to ask for yet another shirt to replace the one the machine just ate.  The shirts ended up so holey, the pope was considering them for canonization.

My husband got really tired of hearing me cussing and fuming about the SE, but we both knew there was no way I was going to trade up to a Diamond because we could think of several other things we could do with that kind of money.  Like invest in another car, let's say.  I started haunting Craigslist, hoping that I could find a better quality machine - and lo and behold, my patience (or lack thereof) finally paid off - I found a gently used Brother PR620 being sold by a couple of college students.  They were majoring in marketing & branding, and had bought the machine to use for projects and embroidery orders for the marketing company one of them worked part time for.  It was in great condition and came with a boatload of extras, so my husband was good with helping with the financing.  Not keen on it, mind you - he's semi-retired now so big expenses like this one are kind of nerve-wracking at this point.  Since he is semi-retired, though, and because we have another son in college now, I really needed to pick up more work - and this machine promised results that were both higher quality and speedier than anything I'd been able to embroider before.

Also, this is the first machine I've purchased that was bigger than me.

The proof.  

So far, I haven't had a single issue with it, other than a bit of a learning curve.  It's a six-needle machine, which means that I don't have to sit and change threads for every color.  It's a SMART machine, which means that I don't usually have to babysit it, finger poised over the STOP button, waiting for that gnome to start cranking out those horrible sounds.  When it detects an issue, whether it's an incorrectly cut thread (are you listening, Viking?), a knot, missing bobbin thread, tension differences, or misalignment, it STOPS and notifies you there is a problem.  So I can actually sit at another machine, or go to my cutting table, and get other work done while it's merrily embroidering away.  My PC links up to it beautifully.  I never, ever could get my software - my VIKING software, mind you - to do the same with the SE.  I don't mind walking from one desk to the other with a flash drive, but...really?

First time I was actually able to introduce the Brother to my laptop was just this past week, when I had a rush job (not quite an overnight job, but only just) for a local high school's sports banquet.  (Friends from FVHS, if you're reading this, I make my apologies now.  It was for Edison.  Don't hate me - they were desperate, and willing to pay cash.)  With dozens of blankets needing every athlete's initials, and only a day and a half to get this done from digitizing to final finishing, I didn't have time to keep popping back and forth between the laptop and the machine with the flash drive.  Too many files loaded onto the flash drive, and it takes too long to sort through them on the onboard  touch screen.  Link the PC to the Brother, though, and BAM - all the files were transferred over to the Brother in mere seconds, and they were all there to use one after the other.  Sorted, alphabetized, and ready to rumble.

Word.  

Heavy fleece blankets.

The Brother is a champ.  I've never been so excited to turn a machine on before.  It has a narrow center arm (the "bed"), which keeps me from having to sit and hold a onesie inside-out, stretched beyond capacity, hoping that I'm not going to get my fingers caught in the needle of the flatbed unit on the SE while trying to maneuver the fabric so IT doesn't get caught and sewn over.  Now I can just hoop the onesie and slip it over the center arm.  No more jockeying for position.  It stitches fleece, heavy beach towels, thin cotton knits, heavy canvas aprons, hats, tote bags, jackets, you name it, all with the greatest of ease.  (That's a seamstress joke.)  I've nicknamed it The Beast.  Actually, it could be Beauty (or Belle) as well, it does such lovely things.  

Felt patches for the scooter repair/custom build shop where my son works.

Aprons, both heavy duty...
(Note: I did NOT do the Steelers logo.  It was already on the apron.)

...and a lighter weight.
And yes, I know. Those photography skills.  I'm working on 'em.

A onesie and a matching Minky blanket.  Like Buttah!

Heavy duty beach blanket, a keepsake for a client taking her daughter, her daughter's best friend, and her god-daughter to the Bahamas.  Unfortunately, they were not able to fit me into a carry-on, even though I asked pretty-please.  (Rats.)

CAPS!  I CAN DO CAPS NOW!  (And hats, too.)

Suffice to say, this is hands-down one of the BEST investments I've ever made in terms of becoming more professional with my sewing services.  

Unless you count the coverstitch machine I just bought a couple of months ago...but that's a story for another day.  

And for those of you who follow the Sewing Assistant's progress, he's still here, fat and sassy. 

Not very good at Selfies, though.

 I've been taking in so much more work now, though, he's had to hire an Assistant's Assistant.  He's still in training.

Didn't need much, really.  As soon as he was able to jump, he was up and on all of my clients' garments...

...and in every open bag he can find.
Meet Perry.  Affectionately known as Pee-Wee.
The Sewing Assistant's Assistant.

'Tis The Season To Be Crafty.....

.....Fa La La La Laaaaa,  La, La, La, LA!

Skidding in just under the wire, here.  And there are still some presents waiting to be made, but the recipients will have to be okay with a temporary I.O.U., as I have officially run out of time.  Not because tomorrow is Christmas Day, but because I leave at o'dark thirty the day AFTER Christmas for a long overdue visit with my parents in Tennessee.

But here are some of the gifts I managed to finish before I had to stop and pick up some groceries and bake a pumpkin pie for my son, who just had his wisdom teeth pulled on Friday and is still pretty sore, swollen, & miserable.  At least he could nom his way through most of the two pieces he cut for himself (yay!) - made it totally worth baking up this afternoon.  Also picked up a lot of stuff for him to eat/drink while I'm gone, like Carnation instant breakfast drinks, yogurt, jello, ginger ale (the pain pills were making him pretty queasy, too), oyster crackers, cottage cheese, etc.  Bless the people at my local Smart & Final - they were all making suggestions because I was literally out of ideas and worried that after I left, he wouldn't be eating much.  One gal suggested buying Cocoa Puffs and Kix, and telling him to let them dissolve a bit in his mouth before chewing them.  Strangely enough, it worked.

Also, kudos to his cousin's wife, who baked him a cheesecake for my husband to bring back home to him today.  I bet that'll be breakfast tomorrow.....    :)

By the way, if you are son #1's girlfriend, you can stop reading right here.  You don't get to peek at your presents early.  You still have to wait for Santa, muah-ha-ha-ha!

On to the gifts:  first up, a shop apron commissioned by my neighbor for her husband, for their upcoming holiday anniversary.  (Who gets married on New Year's Eve?  I guess it would make it completely inexcusable if he ever forgot their anniversary, though....crafty thinking.)

Shop apron to replace a well-worn  one.
This one was made drafting a pattern from the old one, so it is
almost the same - with the exception of a larger pocket up top
to accommodate the custom embroidery.  

Mr. Fix It courtesy of Embroidery Library dot com.  :)

Parachute cord for the ties & neckstrap, leather ones being unavailable in my area.
A distinct improvement over the shoelaces that were on the last one, LOL!
When you work with this stuff, you have to burn/melt the ends or it will
fray like mad.  A chance to let out my inner pyromaniac, hee hee hee.....

Trying to make my (female) dress form look more butch.
(Hey, I don't have a male form.  Had to run with what I had.  Does
this make her transgender?  A cross-dresser?) 

Son #1's girlfriend - if you are still reading, you are going to be in big trouble tomorrow.  I'll be able to tell.

On to the next project: a custom hat made for son #2's girlfriend.  He picked out and paid for the yarn, I did the labor.

Unpaid model.  Goes by the name of Flappy.  He's usually
very cooperative, but for some reason he kept trying to drop the hat.

Yarn from Lion Brand Yarns (Tweed Stripes in Athena ).  Very chameleon-y in
nature, as every time I shot a photo it seemed to change colorways.
Now it's pink/purple.  Hit the link.  You'll be amazed at what it really looks like.

Now it's blue/purple.  The yarn is actually quite dark, and has dark charcoal grey in it.
 Flappy was getting a bit peevish at this point, so I had to stop.
There is a scarf in progress to match this hat (about a half hour away
from being finished) - pattern was on the Tweed Stripes label and was
super fast to make up.  Only not fast enough to suit Flappy, and he
refused to model an unfinished product.
I'll have to post a photo after I get back from TN,
as the pattern isn't available online.

Son #1's girlfriend - if you've made it this far, you blew it.  You were warned.  (LOL)

Next up:  Super Secret Cozy Kitten Pillow for son #1's girlfriend.

This was a free pattern offered by Amy Butler (Birdy the Cat Pillow).
Was actually meant to be made from her fabulous printed cottons,
but I wanted it to look like the Sewing Assistant (somewhat) so I made
it up in soft, squooshy fleece/fur.
(Squooshy is an acceptable design term.)
Son #1 figured it would be difficult to see the face unless we used
something contrasting, thus the white.

She's totally into anime type characters, so I customized the face quite a bit.
Much larger, glistening eyes.  Pink cat-shaped nose.  Somewhat pensive moue.
Doesn't he look like he needs a hug?

Not to be outdone, my son wanted to make his girlfriend something himself.  (Cue scary music and note the drastic shift in theme.)

Custom "blood" spattered shoes.  

He freehanded the logo.  And the blood.   And drove to about three
stores looking for the right length of blood-red laces.

LOVE the spattering on the toes.   He repaired the paint pen afterwards.

She is going to be the envy of her classmates.
Those that watch the show, anyway.  

Guess who helped with the shoe project?  I think he was miffed
that Flappy got to model the crocheted hat, and not him.

Not last or least, something for the church for the Christmas season:  the 27 purificators, all finished, pressed, and ready to go.

Embroidery design, again from Embroidery Library.  This is the only design
I have ever purchased or downloaded from their site that gave me grief.  Usually
 I can count on their designs to stitch out perfectly - I think maybe this one just
had too many thread stops and trims in the same spot.  Looks great from the front
but every single one made a rat's nest on the back.
Yay for super sharp Ginger scissors.
And good reading glasses.

Stacks after pressing, on their way to be delivered for Christmas Eve
and Christmas Day masses.  

And that ain't all - but you'll have to wait for more photos until I get back from Tennessee (unless I can post from my folks' place - his wi-fi is always acting up, though).  

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year - cheers from the Sewing Assistant!

Mitering Corners on Altar Linens

Ah.  Just completed serving on a jury here in Orange County.  Not the best of times, to be sure - but it could have been a whole lot worse.  It did take up a whole lot more time than I was expecting, though.  Just as I was getting called up for duty, my client had an order that needed to be finished up for that weekend - she is expecting her second child any day now, and didn't want to take any more orders after December 5th.  So I was working after going through the jury selection process, staying up until 11 pm to finish.  On the days off from jury, I cranked out what was left of the orders and delivered them to the client on Sunday, right before having to get up on Monday morning and head back to court.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree......

I was recently in a car accident, and my car was in the shop for more than 10 days getting repaired.  I also (ahem) got a traffic ticket about two weeks before that as well (if you are my insurance agent, can you please pretend you didn't see this post?  I opted for Traffic School so the ticket would remain "invisible".....whatever that means according to the new California laws), so we had to pay for that, plus the repair deductible.

In the middle of all of this, my firstborn turned 21 years old.  And it's edging toward Christmas, and I didn't have any decorations up or cards ready to send out.

Sigh.  It never rains, but it pours.  

The Sewing Assistant was happy I was home when the trial was over, though - he really did not understand why I kept leaving the house and staying away until dinner time for so many days.  He ended up snuggling all day with the throw blanket I have on the couch throughout my absence.

If I sits here in her lap, then Mom can't go anywheres.  It's da law.

Client's order done & delivered?  Check.  Deductible paid and car repaired?  Check.  Ticket paid?  Check.  Traffic School scheduled?  Ummm....you'll have to tune in later for that one.  21 year old celebrated?  Check.  Jury duty completed?  Check.  Final band potluck attended?  Check.  Rehearsals underway for the spring percussion competition season? Check and check.  Laundry caught up?  Check.  Christmas tree up?  Check.  Sewing Assistant mollified?  Check.  For now, anyway.

I do have some hemming/mending orders here at the house that I'll get started on after tomorrow, but I needed to do something a little more meditative to alleviate the pressure I've been feeling lately.  I have been sitting on an order for the church that I've been trying to get to in between client orders - and I'm totally NOT telling you how long it's been sitting here waiting to be taken care of.  They are incredibly patient - or maybe just a little forgetful - no one has mentioned it for awhile.  Since I don't have any orders coming in from my steady client until after the start of the New Year, I decided that the church project would be the perfect thing to do to set my head back on straight.  

The Catholic church uses small cloths during the Mass, for cleaning out the ceborium and the chalices used during communion.  This particular cloth is known as a purificator (purificatorium or more anciently emunctorium).  When not being used, it is draped over the chalice like this:

                                

I belong to a very busy church which holds about 8-10 Masses each weekend - so when you add in the two daily Masses they have every other day of the week, you can see that they go through a lot of altar linens.  These linens get washed frequently, and eventually they start showing a fair amount of wear and tear.  The head of our Altar Guild knew that I do sewing & embroidery, and so I was asked if I could produce a quantity of purificators & some finger towels with an updated look to replace a stack of the older ones.

I had to take the Liturgical Coordinator with me when I went to Joanns to get the fabric - we have a pastor who is a bit on the finicky side and we knew he would want high quality, absorbent, high thread count fabric.  100% linen is the ultimate choice - only at Joanns linen runs around $20 to $25 a yard, which was well out of the budget.  The head of the Altar Guild had chosen some fabric (and unfortunately had pre-cut it as well) that was far too thin and not white enough.  I had picked up some white Kona cotton at Joanns to show the Coordinator, but even though it was thicker and white enough, it wasn't sturdy enough.  While shopping, the Coordinator and I finally settled on some cotton blend fabric that has the look & feel of linen without being quite as coarse, and with a coupon I think we brought the entire 3.5 yards in under about $30.  Not too bad when you consider a set of three of these purificators (cotton) can run about $18 from some supply companies.  The pure linen ones cost about that much apiece!  And that's before embroidery!

So today I decided that this would be my meditative project to clear my head and to do something for others.  It's kind of like a prayer shawl - I can pray while I'm are making them.  The purificators don't get blessed before use like some of the other types of altar linens, so this is typically the only prayer (if any) that would be said over these.

After washing and drying the fabric we chose, I cut them out to match the size of the existing purificators (finished size about 12" x 14" - but the size of these can vary quite a bit by manufacturer):

Stack!

The final approved embroidery, on a sample piece.  It's about 3/4 inch high.

I was able to cut about 27 cloths from the 3.5 yard length of fabric.  I did a little research on the interwebz, and came up with a hybrid way to miter the corners of the cloths so they would look nice & sharp & even.  This process can be used to hem cloth napkins for the home as well:

I started by pressing a scant 1/4" on each side.  I made the mistake on the first
one of pressing and sliding the iron - this can make the corners skew out, which
you don't want.  On the corners especially, just press with the iron and then lift
to move the iron across the cloth so the fabric doesn't warp.

Fold another 1/4" and press again.  Follow the same procedure as above (don't slide the iron).
Here you can see the resulting square (made of 4 smaller squares) in the corner. 

Carefully cut the square in half diagonally, leaving the one small square intact.

Fold the trimmed corner in towards the center at the innermost corner of the smaller square.
If you do this right, you should be able to match up the lines created by the pressed double folds.
(The corner lifted up a bit, which is why it doesn't look like it matches - but it does.)
Press this in place. 

Now fold the first 1/4" hems in toward the center again along the pressed lines.

And then fold the second 1/4" hems along the pressed lines.   Press the corner to secure the new
fold lines in the corners.  If you skip this step, by the time you get the cloth to
your machine the corner will have popped back out again, like bad origami.

Begin your stitching in the middle of a side - it's a lot easier to start and stop
there than it is to start in a corner - they have a tendency to get stuffed into
your machine's throat plate.  Stitch close to the inner foldline.

The fabric stays folded pretty nicely, which will allow you to stitch to the corner
and pivot, then stitch down the next side.

Stitch until you meet up with your starting point, then backstitch a couple of stitches
to secure, and cut your thread ends.  

Tomorrow:  finishing the hems of all 27 cloths, then on to the embroidery!

So Many Blog Post Ideas, So Little Time

It's Halloween already.  I've been so swamped with sewing & embroidery orders I haven't been able to do much else.  Before I go nuts trying to decorate the house for the trick-or-treaters, I thought I would try my hand at something I've been dying to do for awhile:  face painting.

Note:  It's hard to paint your own face without your bifocals on.  (Just sayin'.)

Outside.  And no, even though it's Halloween, those are NOT those stupid "orbs"
everyone's always talking about.  I really need to clean my lens.

The other photo shows the colors better, but this one shows
the design much more clearly.
And yes, my camera really likes to focus.  On itself.

Other things happening on the home front:

I got to work on at least one Halloween costume this year.  A friend of mine wanted to be a Smurfette, but wanted to be comfortable while working the typical 9 to 5 in a cubicle.  So we dyed a white shirt and some leggings that pretty aqua Smurf blue color, only the leggings were too high in synthetic content and wouldn't take the dye as well as the cotton shirt did.  So Phase Two included running out to the local fabric store, buying some inexpensive flat-fold jersey (that neither of us could help "petting" repeatedly - it was that soft) and a pattern for leggings.  The leggings made up in about an hour, start to finish.  I may just have to go buy that pattern for myself.  (Wonder how long leggings will stay in style this time around?)  Anyway, my friend now has an awesome custom dyed t-shirt, some really comfy leggings, and a Halloween costume that she can use again.

And I think she makes a really cute Smurfette, don't you?

Other creative stuffs:

Guess who finally finished his mom's custom-decorated slip-ons from Payless?
These.  Are.  AWESOME.
And I'm the only one with a pair so far (hee hee hee).

Embroidery jobs that flew through here lately:

Note to future customers:  when you tell your students that they need to
purchase a white polo top to have custom embroidered, you might want
to mention that they should select a shirt WITHOUT an existing logo.
That C and crest weren't part of my custom design.
Should have taken a picture of the cuter one, though - the Falcon
looked like it was about to capture the Tommy Hilfiger flag logo.

For a band mom.
Whose three kids in the program all have interesting nicknames.

And last (but not least), here is the Sewing Assistant doing his best to look like a scary Halloween kitteh:

Happy Halloween!