Sewing Treats


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Whoa – it’s August.  How can it be that we’re in the last hey-days of summer already?  Personally, it’s felt like a weird summer to me with the weather – it was such a cool spring, and then it got hot all of a sudden, but not the kind of hot where you crave the beach (at least in my opinion).  There’s been some perks though: cool nights for sleeping with the windows open a lot, beautiful morning temps for running outside before work, low/no humidity.  I’m just worried with my beach vacation to Maine in two weeks that the weather won’t be not enough up north for swimming in the ocean!

Maine is my second summer vacation, I went to visit my family in PA two weeks ago with Chris.  It was so nice – (almost) 100% unplugged from work, hanging out with my family, just decompressing.  That doesn’t mean I didn’t do anything sewing related, though!  My mom and I went to a quilt show in Hershey, PA one afternoon, where I unexpectedly found some great sewing goodies, like the above vintage sewing pattern decorated with buttons.  I thought it would look cute in a frame on the wall over my sewing area.

The mother-load of the day was this:


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HIGH QUALITY THREAD, DUDES!!

This is 100% lint free poly-wrapped polyester thread from Superior Threads.  My mom told me about how some of her quilting friends raved about the quality of Superior Threads, so I was curious to see if they had any thread suitable for garment sewing.  I squealed when the vendor showed me thread that’s good for sergers and garment sewing.  I’m not going to lie – this stuff is not cheap.  However, when you consider the money invested in a serger and how much you use it (I use it a ton!!), it’s a shame to gunk it up with cheapy, linty thread from Joann Fabrics.  At 6,000 yds per spool, this seemed well-worth the money, and it’s been wonderful to sew with.  It’s a bit heavier weight than the Toldi Lock I used to use, but the stitches look more professional and smooth.  Can you tell from above photo that I stocked up??  You can learn more about Omni thread and see the colors available here.


Going along with the whole theme of lint-free serging and sewing, I finally bought a micro vacuum attachment kit to suck up all the dust bunnies from my Bernina and Babylock.  It’s one of those things where I don’t know whyyyyy I waited so long to buy one.

Here’s the before vacuuming photos of my Babylock (no scolding!):


Evil lint monsters!  You escape my lint brush every time!


Begone, lint!!  You will torment the insides of my serger no more!

Have you treated yourself to any sewing treats lately?

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Christmas Wish List

Tis the season for gift giving and merriment!  I’m just about done figuring out the gifts for everyone on my list (still have one more to make!) but I’ve been thinking about all of the amazing sewing patterns and goodies out there that caught my attention this year and that I’d love to have.  There’s been some hint dropping and nudging, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Santa puts at least one of this under the tree this year.  A sewist/knitter can dream, right?

The Anise pattern by Colette is totally adorable and knowing how awesome the instructions for Colette patterns are, I feel pretty comfortable tackling this pattern as my first sewn jacket.

Papercut Patterns is one of my new favorite indie pattern companies – I’m actually waiting for a pattern to arrive in the mail as I write this.  The Undercover Hood looks like such a comfy garment, I think I’d make it out of a navy and grey striped knit.

I’m really digging the new Briar pattern by Megan Nielsen!  It’s a slouchy style top but looks like it would be something that’s cute as well as comfy…are you seeing a trend here in my sewing pattern wish list items?  I love that you can buy this pattern in a kit – plus it comes with this awesome “I Make Fashion” tote bag (want that, too!).

This awesome mug caught my eye as it made the rounds on Pinterest.  I need another mug like a hole in the head but come on, this mug is perfect!  It’s almost required for my sewing studio.

I noticed a void in my sewing scissors collection – applique scissors.  I don’t do applique, (not yet at least), but these nifty little scissors would be handy for grading seams.

I really haven’t had much success using chalk to mark my fabric and use marking pencils instead, but these chalk pens seem pretty rad.  Plus look at all the pretty colors!

I’ve been hard-core knitting for ten years now and I still don’t own this book, which pretty much is a requirement to own for all serious knitters.  How is it possible that I don’t have it?  That needs to change.

There’s never such a thing as too many project bags when it comes to knitting.  I love the sling style of this bag and the design.

I think I shrieked out loud when I learned that such a thing as Nancy Drew fabric panels exist!  I’m such a Nancy Drew fan and read so many of them when I was in elementary school – I even had a phase where I used to carry around binoculars and pretend to be a detective/spy.  I don’t even know what I’d make with this, maybe some kind of tote bag or Kindle case, but this fabric is way too awesome to miss out on.

Lastly, no wish list would be complete without a gift card to Mood – the mecca of fabric stores.  I’m so glad they have an online store since I only get my Mood fix twice a year when I either visit my sister or go to New York for work.

What’s on your wishlist this year?  Have you been naughty or nice?

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