Serger class

Went to a serger class today! I attended the class at Hancock Fabrics. I had to drive 1 1/2 hours to get there. It was from 10-3. There were 10 ladies and we all learned quite a bit from our instructor. I learned how to do a narrow rolled 3 thread hem. I learned how to adjust stitch length and width and how to put an elastic casing in using my serger. We were also shown how to make our own ironing board covers with the serger. So cool! She just serged the drawstring right in and then pulled it to fit. Pretty amazing. She said that she does 80% of her sewing on her serger. If I could get to a 50% mark, I would feel pretty good. Can't wait to put some of these into practice!

New Pattern - Simplicity 7533

I cut out and started a new project this week. It is a cute, simple dress with a matching 2 button fabric belt. I couldn't find an image of this particular pattern anywhere. My envelope is missing. I have made the darts in the front and back, but have been really busy with other endeavors. We have been helping a family in our church and I have been preparing for other events. The dress is so cute, but I think it will require a little adjusting. Will take pics soon.

Read Any Good Books Lately?

With school quickly approaching, I have started reading the literature selections for my 7th grader. The moms in our co-op take turns leading literature discussions, so I have to be prepared.  In the last 2 weeks I have read My Side of the Mountain, Snow Goose, Our Town, The Lilies of the Field and I am currently reading Homeless Bird.  These are all interesting books, but so far Our Town has been the one that has spoken to me most.  I think the topics it hits on are a bit above the students who will be reading it, but it certainly made me think.  Don't we all just live life and take it for granted.  We really aren't guaranteed another breath and yet we live like we are.  I don't savor the moments enough.  To look at my children and see their beauty, both inner and outer, to hold hands with my husband more often, to watch butterflies drinking nectar from weeds I can't stand-and yet God is providing for them.  It is all amazing, this life God grants us!  Live today and really enjoy it!

Aprons, Potholders and Bags

We have a little girl at church who is turning 3 and she has a younger sister.  I decided to make aprons and potholders for them because she has a whole wall of kitchen furniture in her room.  I also made bags for them out of some upholstery samples that I brought back from the quilt retreat.  One of the ladies brought them and she was trying to get rid of them.  I think these were the 2 cutest ones for little girls.  I folded the sample in half and then used a sample to cut the handles out.  I used some ribbon and a scrapbooking slide -on letter to let them know which one was their bag.  It was pretty simple and I think it turned out pretty cute.  The pictures aren't too great-my camera is acting weird.

Adele P Margolis book

I think I saw a reference to this lady on Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing and I was rather intrigued. I went looking for books and found this one: How to Make Clothes that fit and flatter-Step by step instructions for women who like to sew. I thought-"That's me!" So I ordered the book for less than $5 and it arrived yesterday. I began reading through it while I was zipping through my dinner with my kids. (We were doing yard work for a church member last night). I read a couple of sentences out loud to my 16 year old son and he laughed. This book is antique and therefore so am I. It was written and published in 1969-the year I was born. It was a good year for cars and books and kids-Ha Ha! I have to quote her on a couple of things that I found rather interesting and depressing all at the same time.

First, "There is not a one of us who sews who does not long for some gimmick, some gadget, some sure-fire formula for success in fitting. Alas, there is none! Fitting is an art and part of an art-that of creating beautiful clothes."

Secondly, "There's no doubt about it! Slim figures are easier to dress. What figure faults they possess (and they do!) can more easily be hidden. What on earth can hide a bulge or a roll of fat except a "tent" dress or some variation of a maternity dress? Many a fitting problem would diminish with the loss of a few pounds and a little exercise." (Obviously Spanx, Assets or Flexees were not around in 1969)

And lastly, " Fair or unfair, if you wish to look fashionable today, you must strive for a slender, youthful figure even if you are no longer young. The "stylish stouts" went out of fashion a long time ago."

OUCH! That hurts! This lady is hilariously accurate on many counts and I love this book already. If I find any other nuggets of truth that step on my toes, I will surely share. I think she is right on with the exercise. I just need to think about the fact that stylishly stout is out! Now on that note, I am going to go make peach preserves--HEE HEE HEE!

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

If you have never had this, you need to try it. It sounds a little strange, but it is amazing-atleast in my book! Although it has quite a few steps, it isn't a hard recipe. Not too expensive either. So here you go:

1/2 to 3/4 cup butter (I only use 1/2 and it is still very good)

3 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 1/2 cups CRUSHED pretzels ( the small pieces are easier to eat)

1 6oz pkg strawberry gelatin

2 cups boiling water

1 16 oz container of frozen sliced strawberries-thawed or 3 cups fresh strawberries sliced

1 8oz pkg cream cheese

1 cup white sugar

1 8oz frozen whipped topping thawed

Cream butter with brown sugar. Beat your pretzels up and relieve the stresses of the day on them. Mix pretzels with butter mixture. Pat this down in the bottom of 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. This candies the pretzels. Sweet & salty-what a lovely combo. Let this cool.

In a medium bowl dissolve your gelatin in boiling water. If you are in a hurry to get this together, I use 1 1/2 cups boiling water to dissolve and then stir in 1 cup of ice to chill more quickly. This will need to chill until it is partially thickened.

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and white sugar until smooth. Then fold in your whipped cream. Spread this over pretzel base. Make sure it goes all the way to the edge so your gelatin doesn't run down into your pretzels.

Remove gelatin from fridge and add strawberries. Pour mixture over cream cheese layer and cover. Put in fridge and chill until firm.

In my house we truly believe this is a salad because salad is good for you and you can eat it almost anytime without feeling bad about it. It is NOT dessert, because desserts are only supposed to be eaten after dinner. Enjoy!

Peaches!

I went to the peach orchard yesterday and brought home a whole bushel to put up.  I am freezing some for peach cobblers over the fall and winter.  I will make preserves and I am hoping to find a good recipe for peach butter-YUM!  Will be busy with these today and tomorrow I'm sure.  I am starting a Precept Bible study this afternoon, so I don't want to miss that.  I love that God gives us all this amazing fresh food that is good for us and tastes good too!

And the Winners Are!

The children's pattern goes to Jana.

The vest pattern goes to Alexis P.

The romper pattern goes to BConky.

The doll pattern goes to Laura.

Thanks for participating and I will send these out as soon as you contact me at andrea@joyindeed.com with your address.

Hope to have some more giveaway items on here soon.  Keep checking back.

New clothes!

Here is Katy in her new dress. She wore a light pink shirt under it and bright yellow wedges that matched the daisy centers. The wedges are her sister's. We all wear the same size shoe-oh boy! I also made a red polka dot knit skirt from Built by Wendy for me to wear on the 4th. I paired it with a nautical navy Chaps shirt from Kohls and red sandals and navy blue on my nails. I did everything with the serger except run the gathering stitches. I used small elastic at the waist and serged it right in. Have I said that I love that serger? I am taking an all day class towards the end of July, so I hope to learn how to use it better. By the way, I am making strawberry pretzel salad in the pic. Will post the recipe soon. It is amazing. I took it to our picnic. Hope you had a great 4th!

Simplicity Dress Finished

I cut this pattern out the other day and sewed it together in a couple of hours this afternoon.  I serged all my pieces and then sewed it up on my machine.  I love having finished edges inside these garments.  That Hobbylock is fast and makes everything look really nice.  This pattern called for a bodice lining, but after reading a post on Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing, I decided to leave that off.  It isn't see through and it is a summer dress.  Less layers mean she will be cooler in it.  I just turned down the top and attached the straps with topstitching all the way around the top of the dress.  It looks pretty good.  I still really don't like zippers, but I am getting better with each one I do.  I didn't have a light pink or white 9 inch zipper, so I went with ecru.  Note to self: don't use ecru with light pink.  Thankfully it went in pretty well, so you don't really see it.  This has to be one of the easiest patterns I have ever made. It actually fit her perfectly without any adjustments.  I did make the straps shorter, but that was it.  Hopefully I will get some pics of her tomorrow because she plans to wear it to church.

Pattern Giveaway!

My first giveaway and I thought since it is almost July 4th I would give away atleast 4 patterns. So here they are for 4 people to win. #1 is a toddler size 2 pattern (complete),#2 is a romper-bust 34-(complete) -so in right now- ,#3 is an all size vest pattern (complete), #4 is a 23"doll/clothes pattern (complete). All of the pattern envelopes are a bit tattered, but all of the pattern pieces are there. You will need to leave a comment that includes which numbers you want to win and your email address. If you have any questions about the patterns, please post them in the comments. I will choose winners on Tuesday, July 6th because of the holiday. I will post the winners and you will have until Friday, July 9th to claim your pattern and send me your address. I have many more patterns that I am going through and will eventually post as giveaways, so keep checking back or watch Sew Retro for the post. Have a great 4th!