Category Archives: Sewing

Embroidering

Holly Doyne Posted on by 2

Probably I should have spent more time today studying than I did. But I had signed up for a software class (embroidery) a couple of weeks ago. First I had purchased the software. Ravelry is dangerous. People give you all sorts of good ideas, many of which wind up being money out of the pocket. In this case, it was an excellent idea. Several days later I received a class list from Dublin Sewing Center. My new software had a class listed for today.

There is always a challenge, teaching a class on software. First you have to hope that everyone in the class understands how to do the basics on the computer they brought. Sadly, if you have 15 people, there are going to be some in the group who don’t. In this case we had about five. This included some with challenges involving inserting, opening and copying files from a flash drive.

The class was still worth it. There were a lot of things I probably could have figured out on my own (if I had thought about them, or read the manual rather than just looking a few things up).

Since I have been home –

dish towel

t-shirt

and flour sack towel

The flour sack dish towels are easy, the t-shirt is black and I will replace the photo when I have a picture in daylight.

but it is 2030 and time to get ready for the morning….

Close your eyes

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Don’t watch. Seriously, you don’t want to see this.

Cal was at Stanford today for the second of their two games. The first, Thursday, was at Haas Pavilion with Cal pulling out a win on Asha Thomas’ buzzer beating last basket. Today the favor was returned in spades. No clue what was going on, but baskets were missed, passes easily intercepted, literally a dozen opportunities lost. Stanford had its act together. It wasn’t pretty.

Then there was the heartbreaker of the Blackhawks beating the Wild 4-3 in overtime (Hockey, for those who don’t recognize the teams).

Otherwise, I spent a small amount of time on homework, but mostly worked on various embroidery projects. All told, six items completed. The cutest –

x two. reversed colors

were a pair of flour sack towels. The purple is called Orchid – that orange? Allegedly it is Devil Red.

She likes unicorns

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Besides schematics on a lot of flour sack towels, I have been trying various designs on terry towels. It was a while ago, but there was Felix and Felicia (bib and towels). I messed around with a couple of other patterns and dumped them on Daughter #2 who always has a need for towels. Two dogs, one a golden retriever who loves water and mud.

And then I have a friend in Alabama. She wound up there secondary to job, family, and retirement from military fun and frolic.

Her daughter loves unicorns especially those from My Little Pony. I remember My Little Pony. That set/series/whatever has been around since my daughters were young. Until I looked, I had no idea that there was more than one unicorn involved. I just remembers a white unicorn which made sense. I mean really, who isn’t familiar with Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn? The movie by that name post dates the book. I will always vote book over movie. In this case, both book cover and animated movie had white as the color of the unicorn’s coat.

So I took one large unicorn design – mostly head, horn and a couple of flowers added for accent and fought my way through the design. Not the best, but it went out in the mail. Then I tried a different design on a hand towel. I still have a couple more patterns that I might want to try.

for the love of unicorns

and it is always fun to send things when they aren’t expected.

Q Cafe

Holly Doyne Posted on by 1

on an apron

UC Hastings College of Law has two buildings on McAllister in San Francisco. They lie across an intersection from each other. In the Admin building, besides offices, the second floor boasts a cafeteria called the Law Cafe which is open from 0700 and provides basic food options for students, faculty, and staff. Across the street is the classroom building. On the first floor, which in the US is the entry level, there is a small coffee stand which features coffees, various snack items and a cooler of yogurt, sandwiches, beverages, and wraps. There is some relation between the cafe and Peet’s Coffee. Q Cafe is staffed by trainers and trainees, the later of which seem to be making a transition from jobless/homeless to having a simply employment skill which can gain them a job and get them back on their feet.

Over this academic year, I have taken the opportunity at quiet times to speak with various workers. All seem to maintain a sense of humor and the student body seems to reciprocate. Coffee being such an essential portion of a student’s daily diet. Along with the other schematics I found, there was this one of a complex espresso machine. Adding it to an apron front just seemed like a natural idea. Besides, I have a couple of apron blanks.

Of course I do. It is part of my bad habit to want to be stocked on those items which I might need. When the kids were young I had a shelf in my closet that housed various items which could, on no notice, becomes presents for an event that they remembered on the way out the door. So why wouldn’t I have supplies on hand? Because I might never use them? Ok, I will grant you that. I have yarn, fiber, fabric, patterns that I probably will never use.

But anyway, I will drop off the apron in the morning.

Microscope as schematic

Holly Doyne Posted on by 1

flour sack towels

Everyone can always use dishtowels, right? I mean seriously. No matter how inventive dish-washer manufactures are, there are simply a number of items that don’t fit. Much less that favorite coffee mug or tea cup that is just right in your hand. Or various kitchen items that have been handed down in the family and are just too fragile to trust to modern standards of time and temperature. And, speaking of temperature – not all (or I really think most) plastics are truly dish-washer safe.

Growing up in the 1950s – we didn’t have a dishwasher. In fact, we didn’t have one in the 1960s either. Nor in the 1970s when I lived in various apartments during University, Med School or Residency. I washed dishes, I air dried dishes and occasionally used a dish towel if I needed a particular item NOW.

As I think back, I am not sure when a dishwasher became a standard appliance in my kitchen. Perhaps the 1990s? Thinking back that many living places and decades puts a strain on my memory. But there are some realities, even if you live in a location with enough resources to have one in your kitchen. If there are not several people in your household, you may run out of dishes before it is reasonable to run the dishwasher since you probably don’t use all that many items every day. It really isn’t particularly sanitary to leave items unwashed for days and days. It uses more water to rise/prewash dishes followed by a dishwasher cycle than it would to just wash the dishes in the first place.

All of these thoughts lead me to dishtowels. Everyone needs a few. Flour sack dishtowels, bought in bulk, are inexpensive and provide a wonderful blank canvas on which to test out machine embroidery. If it doesn’t look great – hey, it is a dishtowel. If it does? Hey, presto! I have just created a nice present.

Which leads me to the photo which started this particular discussion. If I am going to practice machine embroidery, the item should reflect the interests of the victim recipient, right? College guy is headed out for spring quarter. He is a science/engineering type. Since I haven’t found a schematic of a laser yet, he will have to settle for the microscope.

Avoiding assignments

Holly Doyne Posted on by 2

in spite of all my good intentions, I am heading to bed without completing an assignment due at 1420 tomorrow. On the surface, it seems to be an incredibly simple thing: take a list and turn it into an outline/table of contents. What turns out to be tricky is deciding what goes where, and why.

No problem – I can just take my favorite Army regulation and use that as a pattern – right? Except that civilian lawyers, especially those who have worked for various international organizations and NGOs just don’t think the same way as those of us who are steeped in the tradition of admin regulations.

And, as it turns out, the military is one of those exceptions to the APA (Administrative Procedures Act, 1946) so some of the standards which all of those who are US law school trained just don’t apply. One of the other students in this 8 person seminar has spent time related to military regulation drafting, he understands my point of view. But, being a law student, his attitudes are probably a bit more flexible than mine.

The upshot is that I knit four more rows on my Wild Swan – starting from here –

End of Chart F

Unlike a number of those in the KAL, I am not going to run out of beads. I have lots and lots of beads. Some of them are the wrong size or color, but I have the 250 that I will need to finish the shawl.

Yarn? That is another question. I think I have enough for maybe two more rows + the bind-off. The problem is that there are eight rows plus the bind off. I thought this might happen, so contacted Fierce Fibers two weeks ago and have a bit more on order in the darkest color. But it isn’t here yet…..

And then there was the embroidery tonight. Got through the pattern in spite repeated thread breakage (but no needle challenges) and bobbin snarls only to find that the last two colors shifted themselves right from where they belonged by about a cm. It is obvious. Really, really obvious since those two colors complete a frame around the main pattern. I am just glad it happened on a napkin. Not that expensive, I can try it again. But first – I need to figure out if it is the embroidery, the machine or me. Not inclined to repeat the same mistake.

And, oh, gee – it is too late to finish that outline. Or wire diagram. Or whatever the H it is.

Morning?

Machine Embroidery

Holly Doyne Posted on by 1

We will skip that portion of the day which has to do with adding coolant to the car, finding the line at Acme Bakery more than 2 blocks long and quick stops at both Safeway’s Community Market (nee Andronico’s) for a few items and Peet’s for some much needed coffee.

Months ago I accumulated a variety of clothing and other blanks on which I was going to experiment. Adding embellishments and otherwise embarrassing the recipients with my largess. Because, of course, it would be what I wanted to make.

Then I peeked around the door into my studio space and observed chaos. There was no way that I was going to be able to get anything accomplished unless I spent some serious time cleaning up and organizing.

2 hours later, 3 bags of trash and some sorting done, I was ready to start. But for one small issue. My sewing machine informed me that there was a firmware update. Oh, joy. Restart the machine and watch as it downloads, and downloads, and downloads.

But wait! I can still play while it is doing its thing. As I found out, most of the designs on the machine were too large to place on small bibs, so I had to go with bagels and bunnies). For the piece de la resistance, I was going to do a unicorn (see yesterday) for Dani. It is not a small file, nor a few stitches. Rather than place it on a shirt that would not be wanted or appreciated, I took one of the hand towels and decided that would make a good test run.

One long list (26 color changes and an insane amount of converting from Madera threads to the Isacord colors that I have), 39k worth of stitches and it was finished. Good thing that I did the test. She was fine with the towel but didn’t want a shirt or sweatshirt. Not even if I changed the pinks to purples.

But I had a fine time testing out everything.

Now I just have to clean up the mess…. again!

Quilts and a side of As

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Ok, you have managed to avoid having to listen to me discussing baseball for, oh let us say at least a day. So first I will mention that the As are doing fine – in spite of a couple of the relief pitchers. Essentially they rock. A goodly number of my fellow Right Field Die Hards are in Anaheim this weekend expressly for the purpose of watching the As walk all over the Angels. Well? 2 out of 3 ain’t bad as the old country song goes.

Otherwise, I have put a bit of time into quilts that different daughters were making for friends babies.

To be clear – my daughters are not having children, but have several friends that are doing same.

The Eldest finished all but the machine quilting and just wasn’t up to it at the moment so

top

and I took it over to her today.

Meanwhile, the quilt and bibs that Daughter #2 sent off in the mail have arrived –

the model, quilt, bib towel

and just to make sure

One game, three loads of laundry

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Not sure which is of the higher positivity – managing to arrive at the stadium and slide into our seats less than five minutes before the opening pitch – or doing three loads of laundry after we got home.

The As won.

Now that is out of the way… no wait. We had a rep from Foxx News-Detroit in the stands with us for about four innings. Apparently some Tigers fan got upset yesterday and Tweeted (!) about the drum noise. Unlike some of those who use social media without checking their facts, this particular individual, suit and all, decided to stop in. End result? He seemed to have a good time and asked questions about the group origin, rationale behind the various beats and the general upbeat nature of the group. Decided that one reply on the previous day “they can’t be controlled but can be contained” was probably correct.

Then there was laundry.

But the most fun (ack) of the day was finishing the machine quilting for a project of the Eldest.

at least I don’t have to do the binding….

Thread

Holly Doyne Posted on by 2

Isacord – 40w poly. 423 colors

Let me take you back in history: a long, long time ago when I lived in Germany I bought a Pffaf sewing machine and brought it back with me the first time I lived in the DC area circa 1984. Carmen and her husband picked us up at the airport (me, Shana, a ton of luggage which included the sewing machine) and dropped us off at our new but empty house in Kensington. There was a small embroidery attachment and I had great dreams about “doing stuff.”

Over the years I added machines which included increased machine embroidery capability but never quite got the hang of it. I did accumulate a bit of thread (Sulky, Isacord, Maderia, plus a couple of other brands) which meant that I never quite had the colors or combinations that I needed and continued to add thread one spool at a time.

This past Dec I had to change sewing machine manufactures. Pfaff is no longer made in Germany but China and all the attachments weren’t going to fit anymore. I bought a Viking (which is European made) and went for the relatively high end. It can do all sorts of things including embroider. I had a variety of stabilizers, I had the software. What I didn’t have was a thread set. When I did this for Alex

On the back of a jacket

I had to pull from five different thread lines to come up with the colors. It is not that it wasn’t appreciated –

the kids, the dog, the jacket

But I really wanted to avoid the hunt and color substitution agony that was involved.

Poly is not quite as shiny as rayon, but it is very washable and color fast which is why I bought what I did. I sorted through and found I already had about 20 colors. Even so, buying the set saved a chunk over individual spools, especially since the storage boxes were included.

FYI – Casilla managed to lose a winning game in the 9th by giving up two runs to Tampa Bay

It isn’t so much that

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

the As keep trying to lose. It is more a matter of fouling up a good thing. For example, an error by the shortstop in the first inning turned a routine out into a two base grab. Said runner later scored. And then there were the 2-3 innings including one with bases loaded that the As at bat managed to strike out, pop out or land themselves in a a double play instead of scoring a go ahead run.

Go figure – I can’t.

Meanwhile I am still playing with machine embroidery, working on a cross stitch and just finished Graphic Audio’s Mike Oberon – Hallow Point.

muffin hats

Holly Doyne Posted on by 6

I had found a couple of hat patterns, Kwik-Sew & McCalls. I think I might have mentioned that. Light weight polar fleece does really well as soft, warm and flexible. However, there were a few challenges. Most of the patterns called for multiple extra seams, double layers of fabric or a lot of fussy finishing details. Me? I am about quick and functional. And not wasting fabric, I really should mention that as well.  Using a knit fabric with give is quite a bit different than sewing with a woven fabric. The idea of making anything that might need ironing is just not compatible with being on board a ship.

After working my way through the patterns, I have wound up with the Scarf from Kwik-Sew (which of course I went looking for on their site and couldn’t find. Go figure – JoAnn’s had it) and M6521 from McCalls (along with M4116) gave me a good range of choices. Light weight sweatshirt fabric is lovely as is micro-fleece.  I’ve pretty much stayed away from patterns in order to have a wider range of use. But I couldn’t resist my owls, and a bit of what might, with a good imagination be considered a leopard variation. Since I survived several days of jungle cat decedents I felt I was entitled.

a pile o’scarves

and then the original pattern is the bottom blue one. Pleats. If you can imagine. Fold, pin, baste, sew, slit, add band.  Ok. but it is just as easy to measure, gather an edge, modify the back for a short tie area and be done in less than 15 minutes…

the muffin gal’s

So I guess this means scarves, hats and muffins for breakfast on ship.

 

Sewing with Cats

Holly Doyne Posted on by 1

You might have heard of the commentator and humorous writer David Sedaris. George thinks he is hysterically funny. I have tried reading him – the last attempt was Diabetes with Owls.   I guess I appreciated it just about as much as sewing with cats.

Let me demonstrate –

It has been years since I faced the pleasure of trying to cut out anything with helpers. The last time that it really was a challenge might have been – oh – about 22 or so years ago and the helper was a toddler, not a cat. Since then, I haven’t had to worry about pin or scissors safety. What I hadn’t counted on was the temptation of crinkling tissue paper of the pattern. I think I had a lucky escape when only the pattern was torn on the last piece I needed to cut out.

Back in Dec, I wound up making a lot of polar fleece pullovers for members of the family. I think it came to about 14 or 15 when all was said and done. Several made their way to NYC, the rest stayed local to the Bay Area. I think the only one who didn’t get one was George. Since I didn’t have any fabric that said “Cal” I didn’t think he was interested.

Piles of fabric turned into tops …

and otherwise as the Eldest is on her way to Germany, we are staying at her house for the duration. Which might just explain why I am arguing about pattern pieces, fabric and pins with two Benegal cats. It is not like either Ghost or Onyx are malicious. They are just cats.

Now I have to wonder what they are going to happen when I pull out the knitting and join George watching “Driving Miss Daisy.”

Resolutions

Holly Doyne Posted on by 20

What did I say? Nothing major on the table this year. No “must read so many books or finish x many hats or ……” I’m not even committing myself to having the garage organized by the end of the year.

When I told Cat the following:

My only real resolution this year is to enjoy each day. And to accomplish a little bit, whether it is cross-stitch, knitting, reading or just running errands for someone else. Not boxes emptied, not countries visited or miles flown.

She replied with

That’s not a resolution – that is plain good ordinary common sense….something most people lack.

Now, I am not going to claim practicality, or common sense most days. But given an opportunity to re-home items? I’m all over it.

So there I was at Stone Mountain and Daughter going through the apron patterns (I have daughters who like aprons) and the sale patterns when I over head a conversation across the table from me. It had to do with whether or not a particular fabric looked “galaxy enough” to make a corset cover. I looked up and asked what to me was the obvious question. “Cosplay? Convention? Costuming, Just because?” Turns out the answer was Star Trek Conventions. Full on corsets, as in traditional or adapted to modern?  Mostly modern.

Humm – would she like a corset kit? I had purchased one several years ago then decided I wanted nothing to do with back lacing (traditional Renaissance) corsets. It needed a home.

End result is that the young woman plus her mom and mom’s friend stopped by the house after making their rounds in Berkeley. By this time, I had unearthed the four original Star Trek Uniform patterns I had on hand plus a number of books on fashion, costume and pattern design. All of them went off to Oakley in the hands of people that will appreciate them. I don’t have to feel guilty about attempting to sell them at a used book store or messing around with eBay.

Now, if the Northern California Handweaver’s Guild comes through for me with takers on some of the weaving equipment…..

Life is good.

Only seven more rows, but it feels like I am making progress…..

2 Jan 2017 – only about 2k left to go on the stitches.

Normal? Over rated I’m sure

Holly Doyne Posted on by 13

Today I have no clue as to what is going on in the world outside my little slice here in the East Bay. Christian is alive, well and probably exhausted with days more till Augsburg has gotten through its bomb removal. My friend and colleague Janet from my first tour in Germany (1981-84) spent three years stationed in Augsburg. Knows exactly the area involved. Berlin is still recovering from the truck into the Christmas Market this past weekend. I am sure that there is plenty more out there equally unhappy, unpleasant.

Oh, yes, someone or other driving an 18 wheeler managed to block a goodly portion of one of the local freeways. Seems to happen all too frequently, especially during rush hours.

I spent my normal day with my Eldest (car drop off for service) followed by a nice breakfast at Saul’s Deli. We ran a couple of errands. I managed to get two more Yukon Pullovers cut out and serged. All that is left is thread trimming and adding loop and button. I have a pile of remnants to turn into napkins and placements. I also have this lovely huge bale of batting which is going to be used in bags, placemats and table toppers.

Friends came over for dinner; Dani fixed some veggies, salad and made a great brownie cheesecake.

In other words – a totally and completely normal day. I’m running a bit tired but otherwise doing well. Thanks for all the well wishes. Not sure what my new normal is going to be.

Great Copy

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

So here I am, back from Europe instead of on the Navigator of the Seas. I have time on my hands and a real need to keep busy. Digging through my pattern stash, I find Great Copy #830 – The New York Style Pullover.

Great Copy #830

Humm – comes in XS to XXL. Ok that about covers the world. And only six pieces (including the pocket). Its all fleece. No lining, no interfacing, nothing fancy. And off I go to JoAnns to find that there is a great sale on Polar Fleece of all kinds.

On the spot I decide that just about everyone needs one. Well, the ones with a sense of humor anyway. I find hedgehogs for me, a blue for Shana, the obvious for Maus and Dani picks something quiet for herself. Since this is oversized, I can essentially whip off four the same. Less than $18.00 later (oh, I just love discount coupons and sales I had enough fabric for five tops) and headed back out the door and home to have fun!