Friday, December 22, 2017

More Free Patterns

Ah, remember my tote bag tutorial? link here

It was added to a site three years ago, and it's still there!

It's a site with links to free purse patterns, but that's not all!

The creator has purse and bag patterns for sale, but she also shares some of her own tutorials.

Where is it?

PursePatterns.com

Have a look, will you?

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Pattern Sales Update

I finally did it!  I have updated the pattern sale listings.

It took me a while, but I compared the photo albums with the spreadsheet and also with the actual patterns waiting to be sold.

Please check the tab above marked Patterns for Sale.

Meanwhile, I'm working on another small sewing project, which will be revealed after it's given as a gift.

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

How I Dress a Pillowcase

I show how to dress a pillow with a pillowcase and a liner that are both longer than the pillow so that the pillow will not fall out.

To remove a pillowcase, pull out whatever is tucked in, squish the air out of the pillow, grab the corners of the pillowcase, and shake out the pillow:

Place the clean pillowcase on the bed with the hem towards you, and pull apart the hem end:

Grab one corner of a liner, which is actually just another pillowcase...

... and pull the liner into the pillowcase:

Take that corner of the liner all the way into the corner of the pillowcase.  Hold both corners together with one hand ...

... and use the other hand to pull the other corner of the liner into the other corner of the pillowcase, bring your hand out, and grab hold of it:

With each hand holding two layers of corners, shake the pillowcase until both layers hang fairly straight:

Lay the cases flat with the hems towards you:

Open up the hems:

Insert the pillow into the opening:

Push the corners of the pillow into the cases while pulling on the cases, alternating sides until the pillow is all the way in:

Now that the pillow is in, grab both hems on both sides and shake the cases:

When the cases are straight, lay it all down with the hems towards you:

Raise the upper layers:

Grab both lower hems with the other hand:

Stuff the lower hems into the assembly, over the top of the pillow:

While one hand holds both layers over the pillow, the other hand grabs the upper hems ...

... and stuffs the upper hems far into the assembly.  That odd shape to the right is my chin and mouth:

Insert both arms and push out:

Pillow ready to turn over:

Pillow turned over:

Fresh, clean pillowcase!

I will let you in on a little secret. Mismatched pillowcases means it's the middle of the week.  I can explain...

We have a set of red sheets and a set of blue sheets, and we change them every two weeks. I say "we" because he usually helps; all I have to do is ask.

When we put on clean sheets, I put on pillowcases that match the sheets: blue on blue or red on red. At his request, I change his pillowcase mid-week, so I put on a different pillowcase. By seeing that one pillowcase matches the sheets, I can tell you that this picture represents the second half of the first week.

The second week of blue sheets starts with red pillowcases. In the middle of the second week, one pillowcase would be changed to the other flower pillowcase. At the end of that week, when all is mismatched, the bed is stripped and left to air for the day.  That night, we will dress the bed with red sheets.

"'Tain't what ya do, it's the way that ya do it, Mildred" Ya, look THAT up on YouTube! I take full responsibility if that song gets stuck in your head...

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Make your own Elastic Arch Support

Have you heard of this?

This has several names, including arch bandage or arch elastic. Some brands have a gel pad or other insert to be placed under the arch of the foot, so they have names like arch support, arch support bandage, elastic relief cushioned arch support or therapeutic arch support

Oh, how creative these names can be!  To be honest, there is one creative name ... "strut" plus the letter "Z" at the end.

My husband was told to wear an elastic arch support on his aching foot.  Apparently, he bought a two-pack a while back that cost about 15 dollars.  Since his work is mostly standing and walking, he left one at work, leaving one at home, to be worn most of the time.

After a while, the elastic started to fail and he was going to have to search for a new one.

Sewing wife to the rescue!

I bought a package of 2" wide knit elastic. You can be assured that I used a coupon, so it didn't cost much. It looks a lot like this:

I measured around the arch of his foot, and it was between 10 1/4 and 10 1/2 inches. Just by guess and by golly, I said, "Eh, let's try ten inches."

I cut one end of the elastic straight across, measured ten inches from end, and drew a straight line across. I then pinned it together so the end metthe line:

I set my machine to a wide and long zigzag stitch.  Thinking that if it didn't fit, I could remove the stitching, so I didn't even backstitch either end of the seam. To be sure, it was "fun" stitching in the hole:

Hah!  It fit so well, that I re-stitched it:

He liked it so much that he requested I make one bigger, in case he wanted to wear one over his socks while sleeping. So, I did, which is why I also wrote the sizes on them:

I think I made three at 10" length, and two at 10 1/4" length.

I bought more elastic for when these wear out, although some have already gone through the laundry and have been hung to dry.

Let me know if you find this useful.