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Sew Forth and Sew On: October 2007

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

There's Fabric in Anaheim CA


We went to Anaheim, Ca for a Halloween concert when I found this most wonderful fabric store, M & L Fabric. It advertised that most of the fabric sold for under $2.00 a yard. Yea, right. But, to my surprise no false advertising had occurred here. Not since the days of the $2 Fabric Store 20 years ago have I seen the likes of a store like this. When you first walk in there is a big bin of $1/yd and $2/yd fabric, nothing special, but as you check out the bolts of fabric you see wonderful pieces of fabric for wonderful prices. Pieces that sell at Wal-Mart for $3.96/yd are $1.98/yd. Yes, not all the fabric was under $2/yd. Silks, velours and denims were more, but some were under $2/yd. Some of the bolted cottons were more, but still very reasonable, $3/yd and $4/yd and some were even 60" wide. Then, there was the flat fold section, rows and rows of flat fold cottons only $1.68/yd for solid colors and $1.98/yd for prints. And, not to forget the notion wall with most items marked 20% off retail. After wondering in awe for several hours, I mentioned that there were no knits in the store. My husband, who is a real sport about this, asked a clerk, and she said the stretchy material was in the back room. I repeat the back room. So, off to the back room we went with rows and rows for flat fold knits, and sweatshirt fleeces for $1.68/yd for solid colors and $1.98/yd for prints. Much to my husbands surprise, we left with only 9 yards for fabric that day (less than$16), but this fabric store's location is permanently imprint in my memory cells, to be retrieved at a moment's notice if we are anywhere near Anaheim, CA.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Unprinted Newspaper

Pictured is a valuable tool I use often in my sewing. It is a roll of unprinted newspaper. Growing up my mother always had a roll around the house. In sewing, it is very handy for tracing a pattern, modifying a pattern or creating your own pattern. I use to use plastic weather sheeting for tracing patterns. The plastic sheeting did work, but had a tendency to slide around. So, one day I talked my husband into stopping at the local newspaper to see how much a roll would cost. The lady at the front desk gave me this roll. She said at the end of a printing, what was left on the roll is thrown out and a new roll put on for the next printing. It is taller and bigger than any roll I remember. I have enough paper to last for the rest of my life, or at least that is what my husband says. It lives in the garage though for two reasons. It has a little black resin on the ends of the roll. The resin has never caused me any mess in the house with the pieces I have brought in. Second reason, I can't lift the roll. So, when I am ready to trace or create a pattern, I make a small trip to the garage with my paper scissors and cut off what I need. By the way, this roll of paper was extremely valuable when we moved. I wrapped all the knick-knacks and dishes in the paper before packing. Because it is unprinted, it did not leave all the black marks like printed newspaper does.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Baby Girl Gifts


Here are some pictures of the sleepers I made to give as gifts for baby girls.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Baby Boy Gifts

I have had many great ideas suggested to me for possible baby gifts. I am excited to get creative with many of the ideas that I received. As the conversation continued at work regarding baby gifts, the mother with the second boy on the way said, "Oh, I can't wait to see what you're going to embroidery for the baby.'" So, with that in mind, I figured a couple of new sleepers especially made for this new little boy would be good. One suggestion for a baby gift was a shopping cart cover. Great idea. I can embroidery something fun on that. Another suggestion was a baby file box instead of a book. Can't really embroidery on the box, but can gets really creative with stickers and crafts. I just love it when my mind finally gets rolling with ideas. We all agreed at work that the gifts for the two mothers would be different where one already has a child and for the other it is the first child. So, keep an eye out for baby girl items to be posted soon. Now for the next quandary, is terry cloth too heavy for the baby in the AZ heat? I keep telling myself no because we all live in AC homes. I can always find something to worry about.