Category Archives: Junk Drawer

Miscellaneous stuff we don’t know where to put.

The Loss Of My Mighty Zeus

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Zeus walked into my life about seven years ago. I was not excited about having a pet of any kind. I knew that I would eventually be the one that was going to take care of it. I hadn’t taken care of a dog or cat in years, and really wasn’t very thrilled about the prospect.

Flash forward to today and I can barely keep the tears in while writing this post. I loved our time together, he brought more joy to my life that I ever thought possible.  So, indulge me a bit here, and I’ll tell you about my mighty Zeus (aka Zeusy).

thecat1Zeus would usually meet me at the door when I got home from work. As kids get older you find this a great source of joy. You feel loved and needed in a very blatant, in-your-face way. Continue reading →

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A Sewing Journal!

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JournalCollage//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

A year off from blogging has given me a wonderful boost in sewing energy. In fact, I did so much sewing last year that I decided to start keeping a written Sewing Journal.

The journal consists of an inexpensive notebook and cover. The cover is one I made a few years ago. It’s fashioned after a leather Franklin Covey planner I loved that I found at a thrift store. My cover fits a 5″x7″ spiral bound notebook perfectly. Continue reading →

StyleWe.com: A Review

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Have you heard or visited the clothing site StyleWe?  Is it worth it to spend $$ here? Is it legit? Read on for a review.

StyleWe has a beautiful selection of modern fashion clothes. But, if you visit their Facebook page or SiteJabber you’ll notice a lot of negative complaints. Here’s my experience with StyleWe. Continue reading →

Cultural Approbation vs. Cultural Appreciation & MFA’s Kimono Wednesday

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I recently was asked on Instagram about the Kimono Wedensdays that the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston was holding earlier this summer. Museum attendees could try on a kimono similar to the one in Claude Monet’s La Japonaise . On the Instagram post there was a question of “is this fun or racist”. I immediately replied sounds like fun! Turns out a lot of people thought the event was “yellow face” and extremely offensive. As I explored the controversy I was kept up late night exploring my feelings about race, cultural appropriation and the Internet as a extremely unfriendly place for race discussions.

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Claude Monet’s La Japonaise

Continue reading →

Blogging and the Pursuit of Happiness – Or, Why Bother?

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 Has anyone noticed the tumble weeds blowing around Denver Sews? 

tumbleweed

Well, for those that have been wondering we’ve had a few things come up. For one Kitty, who really was the whip cracker of the group, she kept us all on task and kept us moving forward. Kitty had family and friends to tend to and I think the joy of blogging and sewing kind of ran out for the time being. For Jamie work this time of year amps up for her and Lynn had a daughter going off to Japan and family and work obligations.  But, she’s posted the first post in a long time!

As for myself, my spouse lost his job, my mother-in-law was evicted from her apartment and had to move into what is essentially our porch and, she has Alzheimer’s which makes the whole thing like a crazy real life Beckett play. Plus, I write up to 5 blog posts/newsletters a week on sewing for work. Even if I had the time the desire has just not been there. Continue reading →

Jasper Giveaway Winner

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The winner of the Jasper Sweater/Dress pattern giveaway is… (drumroll please)

Cat Drum Roll Please

Grace L.! I’ll be contacting you via email to get the pattern to you.

Thread’s Magazine January Challenge – Easy couture technique for waistbands

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This was one of my first ‘couture’ techniques and I followed the techniques in the Threads issue March 2013. It’s still one of my favorite ways to sew a waistband on skirts. I highly recommend it.

The magical effects of thinking

New pencil skirtNew pencil skirt

Since I make a lot of  skirts I’ve decided to up the ante and start adding in couture techniques or different elements to keep my skills moving forward. On this pencil skirt from Burda 8155 I used a couture waistband technique from Susan Khalje which is featured in the latest issue of Threads magazine (March 2013). The short of it is to place petersham or grosgrain and sandwich in between the fabric and lining of the waistband.  It offers much more stability in the waist area.  

For the pertersham cut out the same length as your waistband pattern piece, which is usually your waist measurement plus 4 inches. Install the lining if there is one.  Next place the petersham on the right side of fabric, above the skirt’s waistband stitching line.  Here is where I added a step.

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