A Beautiful Find for Under $10

I was at my local Michael's store the other day and came across this beautiful find. An Amy Butler Lotus Tea Box Scrapbooking Tool Caddy. I do not own anything Amy Butler nor do I have any of their gorgeous fabrics. I immediately fell in love with this and the clearance price of $9.99. The caddy is well made and well padded. It has a large interior opening of 6-1/2" x 12" x 6-1/2". There are 8 external pockets. Three on each long side and one large on each narrow side. It didn't take me long to realize that there is no way I could sew one of these for under $10. Even my home dec tote bags cost more to make and that's not including the labor.

Amy Butler Lotus Tea Box Scrapbooking Tool Caddy

So, this caddy came home with me. Don't you just love the fabric and colors?

I'm not a scrapbook person as I've drawn a limit to the number of hobbies I can master at one time. I can see many other uses for this. One use is to hold my current sewing project(s) and associated notions in one place.

Another use, to store and carry my yarns and large knitting projects. I can temporarily store my circular needles in the outside pockets along with a tape measure, small scissors, and other notions. Here, I've tossed in several skeins and cakes of yarn:

My caddy filled with yarn

Right now, this caddy looks beautiful on my cutting table. I love a beautiful find. :)

Double Post Day - My June BWOF Arrived

Wow! Two posts in one day! I must be in a chatty mood. :)

I came home to find my June BWOF sitting on the table. I couldn't contain my excitement and immediately went to the page with all the line drawings. Looks like a very nice issue. I even love some of the accessories.

June BWOF

Here's what I would love to sew:

#102 - knit top

#116 - ruffled dress

This long skirt caught my eye.

#124 - long skirt

I saw a pattern for a knitted fish bag. How cool is that? I do love it when BWOF includes a knitting pattern.

As I was scanning the mag from front to back, I couldn't help but notice the previews for the upcoming July mag. I have a feeling that's going to be a pretty good issue.

Unfortunately, I won't have time to do any tracing or sewing this long weekend as I have to work. Sew, I'll be thinking of you sewing gals and catching up on your sewing blogs. I wonder which one of you will be the first to tackle the #102 - knit top?

My Other Hobby

Some of you may wonder why I'm not posting frequently on my sewing activities. Well, it's because I'm also doing a lot of knitting. Both hobbies are my fave at the moment and both are competing for my attention. I thought I'd share a picture of my latest creation.

This is my lace cardigan. I'm knitting the backside. I got up early this morning to knit the "hold my breath" armhole area. I had to do bind offs and decreases while maintaining the lace pattern. It's coming along nicely.

Back side of my Hey Teach lace cardigan

Some Progress

I ended up putting in a lot of computer time today doing some research. Only two pairs of RTW pants got hemmed this morning. That's quite a bit of progress for me. I used my reliable "thing-a-ma-jig" to sew over the humps of the thick seams.

Hemming my jeans on my SM

The most time consuming process for me is to measure the hem, turn up the hem, press, tuck in the raw edges, and pin. Sewing the hem is the easy part.

Used a dark thread to hem my jeans

Finished hem on my twill jeans

I've got the following fabrics queued for tote bags (main bag fabric on the right and the lining on the left of each picture):

Blue and gold print fabric

Pink, rose, & brown fabric

Gold print fabric

Now, I'm ready to go sit on my porch and enjoy the fantastic weather we are having and get some knitting done.

Hemming Before Doing Some Sewing

This morning I was gathering my yarns for my next knitting projects when, lo and behold, I came across my pile of RTW pants that need to be hemmed. Lets say these pants have been sitting around in my sewing room for awhile. Moved from one pile to the next and getting my fingers poked by pins. I finally tackled two of the four. I cut the hems and now they are queued for my SM tomorrow morning. Hopefully, I'll have all four pants hemmed by lunch-time tomorrow.

Also in the sewing queue are two more tote bags that I cut out this afternoon. I enjoy carrying my knitting projects in these tote bags. Yes, I'm proud of my home dec fabric finds and enjoy showing folks my latest creations.

I've been going through my pattern stash looking for some t-shirts to sew. I'm hoping my tracing mojo will come back soon, so I can trace a bunch of patterns at one time. In the meantime, I'll pull out a few TNT patterns and see what I can get started with. You know, try to keep the sewing mojo going.

I've also hemmed another RTW t-shirt using my CS machine. After changing the threads, it stitched out beautifully on the first try. I finally got the hang of threading this baby. My next challenge is to use my binder attachment and practice sew bindings around the neckline.

I have a question for my fellow sewists. When you hem your t-shirts, do you use a narrow double cover stitch or do you use a wide cover stitch? Just curious to hear what you prefer.

Now, I'm off to do a knitting swatch for my Hey Teach lace cardigan. I'm itching to knit a more difficult garment and I think this will be a perfect one to keep my interest.

Sewing For Others

I have a special post to share with you. Many of you can relate to this and others, I hope you can learn from my experience and insight.


I've been enjoying Spring for the first time in eons and have been out and about all hours of the day, I've noticed I have been running into folks who want me to sew for them.

I was recently at Hancock's checking out their home dec clearance table when a lady approached me about sewing. It was a casual conversation about sewing, what sewing machine I used and then showing a sewn garment that I happened to be wearing. This really nice lady wanted to know if I sewed for others. Well...no I don't. Why not? Well...I enjoy sewing for myself. Period. Not other explanations. I offered to teach her how to sew. There was no interest. We kindly parted ways.

As most of you know, I'm passionate about my sewing. It's a stress reliever. It's a pleasant and rewarding hobby. I enjoy sewing for myself and for my DH. I also enjoy sewing gifts for others. There's no pressure to sew. I am not a perfectionist, but will practice until I get things right. I guess that's why I'm also a good instructor. I have patience. Breathe in, breathe out. Take a 20 minute break and come back. Eat some chocolate. :)

I believe when you add "outside forces" that interfere, adds stress, or even tries to control what's not necessary...that's when the pleasant hobby takes the form of unpleasant work.

I know my mother has a lot to do with this insight. She used to do alterations for family, friends, and customers. She used to bitch and complain about every single sewing projects/tasks. I remember telling her...you can say "no" and move on. She's one of those types who cannot say "no". Then it eats her up. She also sees the cup half empty.

Well, I'm happy to say...I'm not like my mother in that aspect. I don't put myself in stressful predicaments and when I know a sewing project "reeks of trouble", I steer clear away. I'm not a glutton for punishment. Besides, I enjoy being happy and I don't need anymore white hairs.

I sew for pleasure. I sew with beautiful fabrics. I'm blessed to have wonderful sewing tools and a God-given talent. I don't give myself unnecessary deadlines. Nor do I put pressure for absolute perfection.

Given my own economic situation, will I sew for others in the future? Yes, more than likely. I'm in the midst of "dreaming up" ideas/projects that I think will be FUN. That's the key. Make sewing a fun hobby/business and remain happy.

I have a passion for sewing.

Summer Buttericks & Sewing Updates

Three new Butterick patterns caught my eye. This beautiful pleated knit top:

Butterick 5354

And this unlined jacket/top pattern:

Butterick 5360

One more cute top:

Butterick 5356


Does anyone know of any upcoming Butterick pattern sales?


I finally finished my denim herringbone top. The buttonholes and buttons were the last tasks. I only had to sew one test buttonhole and knew the real ones would be fine. After wearing this top at work, I decided I don't care for the slight flare at the sides. So, I will gradually take in about 1/2" at the sides from the lower bust down.

Denim top with the slightly flared side


I found time to practice and play with my CS machine. Since I got my triple stitch down and settings documented, I went ahead and rethreaded for a narrow double left stitch and removed my right needle. As you can see, my test results were not too pretty.

Double stitch disaster


After playing with the tensions, it finally dawned on me that it was a threading issue. So, I rethreaded the machine and my stitches came out perfect. There's a valuable lesson that I learned...hold the thread taut when I pass each thread through its tension disc. Also, when I pass the looper thread through the tension disc, it makes a click sound. I realize that was my main threading problem. Before I thread each needle, I release the foot (drop down) so the tension discs are enabled. This allows me to thread through the guides (above the needles) and the needles better.

Here's the results of my rethreading:

Rethreaded and stitching fine


I finally hemmed my RTW t-shirt after stitching in the round. I used Debbie's technique for pulling the threads to the front of the garment, clipping the front threads and then pulling the garment towards the back and clipping the looper thread. This caused my upper threads to get pulled towards the bottom of the garment and locks the stitches. A valuable technique that can be found on the right sidebar of my blog under My Favorite Sewing Sites. I did manage to do a test run with a knit fabric and it stitched out beautifully. I've been enjoying my time with my cover stitch machine.

Narrow cover stitched hem

On the bling front, I've been making my own stitch markers for my knitting projects. Here I've made some for my friend, Sabine:

My knitting stitch markers

Another Butterick 5223...in the works

I'm back to sewing garments. I'm working on my TNT Butterick pleated top pattern. I am using a lightweight denim that has a herringbone pattern in the fabric. I have altered the pattern in the back by removing the middle pleat, thus removing about 3 inches all together. The top should be more slender fitting, especially from the side profile. I'm hoping I won't have to take in the sides as well. I will make that call later.

My favorite Butterick pattern with the pleats in the front & back

Here is how I set in the sleeve into the garment. Instead of basting two rows in the sleeve cap, I just ease the sleeve in with my fingers matching notches and seams. I do end up with a lot more pins, but it's easier for me to sew in the sleeve this way.

Pinning & easing in the sleeves by hand

Here's the result of my work. I still need to finish the sleeve/armhole seam (e.g. serging) and give it a good pressing.

Close up of sewn in sleeves

I'm off to the fabric store in search of buttons. Will be back with more pictures later and hopefully a finished garment (and loose threads removed).

Happy Sewing!