The Imaginative Seamstress

Ever since I saw cover stitching, I've wanted to do it. Even the cover of my serger manual shows cover stitching. **But I can't figure out how to do it with that machine. I suspect you need a completely different plate to sew on. Which means you'd have to convert from serging, to cover stitching, and back again..whenever you needed to! I'd definitely rather have separate machines! What I can't believe is that my manual doesn't tell you how to do it! Grr!** Anyway, this story has to do with an actual cover stitch machine.  I'd seen them online and researched them a little. I figured I'd get one someday and it would probably cost $300.00 used. I was basing that theory off of what a used serger might cost. Fast forward months, maybe over a year... I was sitting in  my parent's dining room, visiting with my mother, and my Grandparents who are from out of state, when my eye caught sight of something that was sitting in an open box, in the corner of the ...

Its been too long since I've posted anything! Not that I didn't have things to post, I've just been super busy! I had more stuff ordered in November than I did in June or July! November didn't top April or May, but was still my busiest November yet. Of course I had my shop closed down in the Fall/Winter these past 2 years. In 2012 I closed so I could sew for my sister's wedding, and in 2013 I was so burnt out by the multitude of orders that hit in the Spring that I needed a physical and mental break, so I closed, went on vacation, and prepared for the new baby coming. That was the rest of 2013. I opened for orders again this Spring and haven't closed yet. So these November and December orders are just about coming to an end for me. Shipping out the rest of *before Christmas orders* today. Then I can focus on Christmas sewing for me. Yay!   I'm working on this for my little Sister in Law It will look like this when finished:  ...

My dad once told me that the devil was in the details... I was like 'huh?' What it means is, its the details that will get you. You've got to pay attention to detail to do a good job! It takes time and practice to get details perfect. I'm always working on getting my finishes to look sharp and professional. I took these photos of my most recent order. The sleeves are a bit longer than normal, due to customer's request :-) I love my porch for taking photos!

A friend of mine is getting married just after Christmas. I hear the colors are going to be lovely. Ice blue! Sounds dreamy! I had heard that the couple was not going to register for gifts, so I called the Bride's sister to ask some questions. I wanted to know what colors they wanted in the house so I could make her a little something. Blue and Yellow, I was told. This is what I came up with... Pot holders and a cute baking dish :-)

Tuesday got off to a late start for me. I had company at noon, and didn't start my list of sewing things until late afternoon. But once I got going...I just didn't stop! I knew I would need coffee to accomplish my sewing tasks, so I took on 2 before I got into things... and had a 3rd before the night was through! I think this was the first thing I did. Cut out knit outfits for my girlies. No pattern, just free handed, going by existing garments. Like my Mama taught me! :-) From there I went to my mending/alterations pile and knocked out quite a few. Mostly my daughter's things. Pants need darts in the waist. A buttonhole on the shirt had come undone. Threads had popped in one place on the polka dotted panties. She took a pair of scissors to the hem of the pink shorts, so I had to cut and re-hem them. Now they're good for wearing under dresses I suppose. And in he bottom corner is a skirt for me (hopefully) I'll have to find a steel blue top to go ...

Upcoming I will be pattern designing. Or rather, the design is already established and I will be making the PDF patterns for it. What I'm doing now is finding people who will be interested in testing patterns. Read on to get all the details. We're going to start   with this style  --->  In girls first, and then in women's, and after that, very possibly women's plus size and girl's plus size too. That depends on interest, though I think there will be requests for those. I've already had a few people ask for it in women's plus size.  Now just when is all this to happen? Take a deep breath and be patient :-) Its coming. I wanted to put this forum out ahead of my 'call for testers' which will be coming when I have patterns ready for testing. The reason I am putting this forum out now is that I am afraid that I might be limited on the number of people who want to test swimwear. A lot of people find swimwear too difficult to tackle, or just...

Now this is something I'm working on getting the style right... Its a girl's scrunch top and bottoms. I'd been using one method for getting the scrunch in the sides of the suit, and then I went to make this suit and changed the way I was going about that. The result was a better look and more/better scrunching.. but then my length was off and this top turned out a bit shorter than I wanted. So, its still a work in progress, but its coming :-) The skirt also needs some re-designing for sure... This one is a little blurry, but one of the only full body shots I took. The skirt droops too much at the center front and back...  Side view... this is where you can tell its not quite as long as I'd like it to be... All in all, its absolutely adorable!  Cute headband with bow!

This pretty rose fabric has been waiting for this Summer when I made matching suits for my little girls :-) I knew Miriam was chunkier than Jubilee had been so I was sure to make it a little larger. It may have been slightly too loose but it was still adorable!   I also found a method for adding ruffles to the bottom :-)

Earlier this morning I posted about shrinking a favorite dress.. I had also posted in a sewing group on Facebook. Its called 'Sewing It Up - Sewing for Beginners'. I'm not a beginner by any means. I had applied to this group while I was waiting to be approved to some other group...and they were taking a while. I didn't expect to stay in the group, I was simply curious and wanted to take a look around. I haven't spent a lot of time there really.. But I tell you that I didn't expect to learn things from a group that was labeled "for Beginners" Its truly not just for beginners. Everyone helps each other out and its fun learning from each other! I know sometimes FB groups can take up time but lately they've saved me so much work its incredible. A guy in one group told me how to get the dumb pop ups off my computer, and I had a add-free computer in 20 minutes! Totally awesome!  Back to posting in the 'Sewing It Up' group... This was the turn ou...

Sad news... Last night I washed my barn dance dress and I guess it was the first time I had done that. When I pulled it out of the dryer I could tell it had shrunk! That was stupid. I should have either washed the fabric before I made the dress or air dried it last night. It had been 2 years since I made it and I guess I just didn't remember if I'd washed it or not :-( Now I'll have to make another before next year :-( I loved that fabric! Maybe I could find a similar one? I did get to wear it to 2 barn dances, and one thanksgiving, so at least I hadn't *just* made it. That would really stink. So now I'm in *what to do* mode.   2012 I wouldn't mind a teal blue/turquoise with brown dress.. but that probably wouldn't go well with whatever Josh is wearing..unless its like a solid brown? Or maybe it'd be fine. Or maybe I shouldn't worry about it and go with whatever I think would make a cute dress?   2012  2014  I've had thi...

One of my blog followers asked for a few more pictures from my brother's recent wedding. I only have a few. They were taken by my husband, Josh. He was mostly the video person so he didn't take many photos :-)  Bride and Flower Girls  My funny Jubilee was such a ham for the camera that day :-)  Wedding Party  My Dad (best man) holding my cousin's daughter, and my daughter (2nd cousins)  Hubby and I with the Bride and Groom.  And again, my curly headed, Jubilee :-) As time has gone on, my family has become more and more amazing at pulling-off a wedding. Everything keeps getting better. The planning, the decor, the loveliness!!! Even photography gets better with all its new trends, ever updating and becoming more awesome. Unfortunately, that's all the photos I have. Hope you enjoy!