The (not so) Secret Confessions of a Stitch Chick

Confession Day!

It is time to confess, I have been feeling very guilty about my blog of late. I have had grand visions of showing a fab sewing project I whipped up each day, having thousands of readers and being discovered by Martha before I am a grandmother. Instead I am sewing everyday, writing even more and have hardly any pictures I can show! At the moment I am finishing up projects for a book proposal, finishing revisions on the book Sweatshirt Remix release date May 09 and finishing up my next column for Creative Homearts plus all the life stuff. Not any busier than anyone else and I am sewing lots just can't show it. I will have some fun things coming up for the holidays I will be able to show. I can keep giving tips for sewing up savings though!

1001 SAVVY Ways to SAVE with SEWING!
3. Got a new sewing project in mind and thinking of new fabric before heading out to buy any check the linen closet for sheets, tablecloths, pillow cases you no longer use. They have interesting patterns and textures AND can be sewn up into some great projects. Sheets are also ideal for making an inexpensive duvet cover by sewing two together or backing a quilt. Two napkins make a pillow, just applique over any spots.

SO, sew, sew I am back to work with a clear well almost clear conscience!  Debra---I really am a Stitch Chick, a writing chick, a Mom chick and----!

 

 

Share, Sew & Save with Girlfriends!

A very smart girlfriendDebba Haupert has written a letter to Oprah outlining all the benefits of friendship beyond the obvious. Friends help us live longer and more importantly make us want to live longer. We laugh and cry together understanding from a place within our hearts and souls. We need to not lose touch with our girlfriends but find ways in the busyness of life to come together more often.

So my next tips from 1001 Savvy Ways to Save with Sewing TM
2. Get together with some girlfriends for a fun filled evening full of friendship, food and fashion. Have everyone bring some finger foods and a bag of clothes they no longer wear. Arrange all the clothes in the center and let the fun begin. Everyone pick out things they like and try them on. Not everyone has to sew, set up a machine(s) and tools. Alter clothes on the spot so they go home with their swapped treasures ready to wear. Assign a couple friends to take out seams, cut off hems, remove buttons etc.

• Dresses can become blouses. Coats into jackets. Sweaters into vests. (Often cutting a garment at an upper seam as in empire waist style preserves the hem line and gives more room by moving up the bottom of the garment.)
• Switch buttons from one garment to another for a more polished look.
• Mix up fabric pieces with applique techniques and/or embellish with fabric paints, markers and glitters.

3. For girlfriends who do sew have everyone bring food of course! scrap fabrics and sewing tools. Sew up an evening of fun and friendship and create some quick and easy scrappy patch quilts to donate to a woman's shelter. Fleecy scarves and mittens are always needed for children.

To girlfriends and sewing! ---Debra---A Stitch Chick!

 

Sew up Some Penny Pinching Style!

We are living in serious times and saving money is uppermost on everyone's mind. Obviously since the only stock that went up was Campbells' soup. Since this is not a cooking blog I won't go into 1001 Creative ways to Cook with Campbells but what I do know about is 1001 Savvy Ways to Save with Sewing.

1001 Savvy Ways to Save with Sewing TM

1. Raid your closet. This means take an evening or a day and take everything out of your closet. Put back everything that fits well and you love. Now for the rest. Yes you can donate and use it as a tax write off. You also can easily restyle some of those items that are out of date,too loose or have been mysteriously shrunk by the closet fairy.

• The piece is totally not you anymore. You can still remove the buttons, any trim and cut up for another project.
• A skirt that is too tight or wrong length. Open up side seam and insert a complimentary strip of fabric or trim down the side. Add some buttons for detail. If it is too short add a border to make longer.
• Use same border fabric to create cuffs on a shirt that has too short sleeves or worn cuffs.

Now for, (as my creative guru Margot Potter calls it) Shameless Self Promotion! In my book SWEATSHIRTS: Figure, Fit, Fashion, (look for the exciting sequel Spring 2009), there are nineteen designs which can be created from a sweatshirt. So if your closet coughs up some old sweats they would be perfect for restyling into a vest or tunic. Here is my daughter wearing a jacket created with a black sweatshirt with some fabric, ribbons and trim.  Debra...Inspiring the JOY of creativity---1 Stitch at a Time!

 

What a Weekend!

The weekend was filled with drama, weather and family. I am learning much about American politics as the election looms closer. Our own election is in a couple weeks. Campaigning is very short in Canada. What is most disturbing is the need for each side to demean the other in very harsh ads. I want to hear about what each one will do if elected not how awful the other side is. So much negative energy! With the debate and financial crisis the Senate took the opportunity to push through their version of OW (Orphan Works) bill this weekend. This will change the copyright laws and affect the livelihood of artists, designers, illustrators, musicians and anyone in a creative field. The fight is on to stop the Senate's version of the bill to go any further. There are many groups actively involved in stopping this from happening. Many artists and designers I know have been tirelessly working on this and emails were flying this weekend to contact all state reps. It is sad to find out so many bills like this one are hot lined through without being even read or looked at. To read more http://www.owoh.org

Living on the Atlantic coast we do not experience much in the way of hurricanes but this weekend we caught the tail end of Ike with unusually warm tropical air, deluge of wind and rain. Hopefully it ends without any serious damage. I put all the outdoor furniture away and hope my new house does not spring any leaks!

Last night like most Sundays both my daughters were here for dinner along with my youngest 's boyfriend. She made the main course and dessert. It was delicious and I should have taken a picture. Her boyfriend helped her, my oldest did the salad and I acted as assistant to the chef! My kitche is small but we all had our counter space to work on. Some bits of cheese and flour ended up on the floor and the sink was piled precariously with dirty dishes but overall went really well. Lots of fun so a lovely end to the weelend.

 

Celebrate Girlfriends!

My good friend Debba Haupert of Girlfriendology reminded me of how important girlfriends are. Yesterday was National Women's Friendship Day and Debba has written a wonderful post on the gift of girlfriends. One of my favorite photos of girlfriends is appropriate for this post. We are celebrating and holding the Girlfriendology flower, the bold and beautiful Gerbera Daisy!

                                         Girlfriendology? 
                                         What’s that?!

Guest blog by Debba Haupert, Girlfriendology.com

Allison, Dana, Jill, Katie, Lisa, Amy, Holly, Terri … just some of the many reasons I started Girlfriendology. My friends mean the world to me. They’re my chosen family, my confidants and advisors, they make me laugh and sometimes cry, and they stand by me, like I do them, through thick and thin.

But where did it really start? (I get asked that a lot!) Maybe it was moving around so much when I was growing up. I always missed my girlfriends when we moved and wanted to stay behind to be with them. Perhaps it was college and my roommates and friends with whom I bonded, grew and learned life with.

But the specific point at which I recognized that I actually needed my friends wasn’t quite so fun. My college girlfriend Dana found out she had cancer. Then another friend, Allison got the same diagnosis. Fortunately both are fighters and strong survivors, but when that news first hit me – it hit me hard. It made me want to spend time with my other girlfriends – to learn from each of them how to care for my girlfriends who were facing fears I can’t comprehend. It caused me to appreciate all of them even more. And it actually made me stop to consider why my friends became so important to me.

So, I started blogging about it. I called it “Girlfriendology” and I wasn’t sure where it would lead, if anywhere. In doing some research, I came across a book titled: The Tending Instinct, by Shelley E. Taylor. She shares amazing findings that show that we actually need our girlfriends. These social ties actually help us be healthier, happier and less-stressed. Men and women are wired differently – we know that. This book shared what those differences are. One enlightening example - men deal with stress with a ‘fight or flight’ response. Women respond to stress with a need to ‘tend and befriend’ – we want to take care of our young/children and to be with our friends.

Through the discovery process, leaning on my girlfriends was exactly what I needed to do to survive. Along the way, starting Girlfriendology gave me a way of acknowledging my girlfriend gratitude and hopefully inspiring other women to recognize that too. Girlfriendology became the online community for women based on female friendship. It created a home for inspiration, appreciation and celebration of girlfriends. And, as it grows, women everywhere tell me amazing stories about their best friends and how their friendships are so special.

Do you have girlfriends that you appreciate? Have you told them lately? Any special women in your life who have gone out of their way for you and you would do anything for them? Celebrate these friendships on National Women’s Friendship Day (Sept. 21) or for that matter, any and every day of the year. Then stop by Girlfriendology.com and share your stories. Who’s inspired you? Tell them! In the process, you’ll inspire others, and then they’ll be better friends. We really can make the world a better place, one friendship at a time.

Thanks Allison, Dana, Terri, Amy, Anne and all the other wonderful women who have inspired me to start Girlfriendology and to cheer me on every day with your support and friendship.

Debba Haupert created GIRLFRIENDOLOGY – the online community for women based on female friendship. Inspiring semi-weekly podcasts, videos, blogs, contests, reviews and more can be found at www.girlfriendology.com. Join in the appreciation and celebration of the wonderful women whose friendships make us healthier, happier, less stressed, live longer and even feel prettier.  Thanks girlfriends!

A Mum Moment

On the weekend I had the opportunity to write an article post for a new Mom website MOMbotv. com http://tinyurl.com/5ow37a under posts. The title Love Lessons: An Adoptive Mom's Story. It is our story of the reunion of my oldest daughter with her birth mom and then later her birth dad. The gift of my daughters is one I cherish everyday and think of the women who made my most precious gifts possible. Just as we love more than one child without loving the other(s) any less and so I know my daughter does not love me less. She has added the love of her birth mom to her life. My sharing her joy and the love that surrounds her has been a lesson in Love and Life.  Debra---A Mum

A Day in the Life...

Lately most of my work consists of designs to be published later so I am unable to show any pics so I am "sewing" behind the scenes so to speak! Since becoming part of Twitter and getting Tweet peeks into many of my designer friends and other new friends lives, most of whom are women I see them juggling daily stuff, kids, chores etc between designing careers, writing books and building social web empires. How do we/they do it all? What I see behind the daily details is a passion that drives each one to want to share their unique gifts and talents with the world. The younger ones are not willing to wait to "make it" with the on line world they are making it now and we can watch it happen. I was in my forties before I even ventured beyond the borders of my small village in eastern Canada, a single Mom with young children I suffered guilt on each trip with one always sick or disliking the sitter or ...but I knew part of me was meant to go there. Now ten years later is it easier, no, now I have my Mom to care for who doesn't like me being away and my sixteen year old still misses me. Arrangements have to be made, something breaks down or unravels usually because Mom isn't home but is it worth it? Yes, Yes and Yes because I have something to give and share which is beyond my being a Mom, a daughter, a HOME maker as important as those are and a life I love but there are moments I create and live that life too where it is just me and my work. WE are Women of Substance and lead lives which celebrate and challenge us everyday to be all of who we are!----Debra-----Inspiring the JOY of Creativity---1 Stitch at a Time!

At a Loss for Words

I have neglected my blog for a week, guilty but really felt nothing to say and it has been busy in an exhausting way. My daughter fell down the stairs bruising her back but thankfully it is getting better. My Mom is declining quickly and trying to handle it in the best way. Been reading an excellent book When a Family Member Has Dementia Steps to Becoming a Resilient Caregiver by Susan M. McCurry. I would highly recommend it full of explanation, insight, creative techniques and lessons in acceptance of what is. Been working on deadlines, revisions in between cooking, caring just all the usual stuff we all do. Nothing clever or memorable just life. Bright spots my daughters and a movie night to Mama Mia, came out with two wishes was a singing single Mom instead of just a single Mom and had Pierce Brosnan dropping on one knee, okay three wishes living by the incredible water paradise!

Debra---A Stitch Chick & everything else I need to be!

Sassin' up the Kitchen!

I sewed up another tea towel apron, sassy and smart in black and white with a punch of yellow. My daughter models it in our kitchen. We should all look good cooking, what easier way than with an apron. These wash easily, instructions are simple found under free patterns category. Sewing something simple is fun because it allows you to play with pattern and color. Each combination creates a totally new look. This is a great way to use up fabric scraps. Now I wonder if I can talk her into cooking hmmm.

New issue of Creative Homearts is available. My column Make it Green features fun yarn from SWTC, this soy based yarn is soft and available in beautiful colors. Knit up a pair of Peppermint Twist Tofutsies socks for the holidays! Very creative friend Roxi Phillips project is featured on the cover.

Here's to creativity! Debra

In my Fabric Garden!

I love having a vegetable garden this year, fresh tomato and cucumber salad yesterday yum! Unfortunately something is chewing my beans and peas. I have seen evidence of slimy slugs and wonder if they are the culprits. Remedies of getting them drunk in beer and off to a happy demise is a possible solution but then I go into my sewing studio...The walls are covered with fabrics, illustrations from our Wiggles fabric line featuring Snugs the Slug. How can I possibly drown his brothers and sisters so I will have to come up with another solution! Help, slug whisperer needed to entice them to chew on the weeds instead! ------Debra A Stitch Chick!----sometimes it isn't SEW easy being GREEN!