Did You Ever Have One Of THOSE Projects?????

If  you remember, back in September (ish) I made a bolster type pillow for my dear daughter-in-law using a pair of her old sweat pants.  The first night in bed J discovered that the pillow was PERFECT for keeping his neck and shoulder pain free while sleeping.  He has been using it nightly and poor G has pretty much lost custody!  As expected, J asked me for a similar pillow for Christmas (with G vigorously nodding her head in agreement!).  I didn't have enough of the fabric used in G's pillow, so I purchased some camo "sweat pant" material to make one for J and probably one for my grandson as well (if time allowed...it doesn't!).

Above was my FIRST attempt at his pillow.  I had used an inset type of zipper that is sewn into a seam and then the seam is opened to reveal the zipper.  It is the only type of zipper I know how to do, LOL.  Well, I cut the fabric with my seam ripper in two different places and since it would be a visible part of the pillow I ripped out the zipper and canned the first pillow!

With the next pillow I attempted to insert the zipper differently.  Apparently I did a rotten job as the zipper pull part fell off the first time I attempted to zip the form into the pillow case.  Since I only know how to do one type of zipper, there was NO WAY I was going to be able to fix or replace the broken zipper.  Second pillow canned!  Don't worry though, I used parts of the first and second pillows for portions of the third.

Third time's the charm!  While far from perfect  it is DONE!  They say out in the quilting world that "done" is better than "perfect".  I sure hope that translates over to pillows!!  In any case, the dimensions are the same as G's pillow...so J should be happy.  At least he had BETTER be, LOL.  Considering that I whipped out G's pillow in less than 30 minutes I couldn't believe the issues I had with this one.  I will put the blame mostly on the fabric.  It was horrible to unpick (and I used white thread specifically so I could see to unpick the seam).  It took me over an hour to unpick a 16" zipper seam!!!

Anyway, my last Christmas gift is made and I have gotten back my sew-jo (amazing considering all of the troubles with this project).  I have decided to use the remainder of the fabric to MAYBE make my grandson a bolster and to make a bunch more gift bags.  Since they will only be used inside our home and almost half of our family are camo lovers I see it as a great save for this problematic fabric.  Until next time...

Toodles...

STASH SALE !!!

As it gets closer to the new year I have a strong urge to PURGE my sewing room!  I am starting with a bunch of thread that I really don't see myself using.  They are not all up on my Ebay site yet, but they will be soon!  I may be adding more items as the days go by, so keep your eyes peeled!

My Ebay site is:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/jusmom1/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

Toodles...

MAKING MY FOOTPRINT SMALLER, MORE SENSIBLE, AND MORE FRUGAL...

My goal for the future is to reduce my carbon footprint while reducing my outlay of cash.

I know you have seen my handmade Christmas bags in the past, LOL.  They are convenient, cheap (if I purchase the holiday fabric after Christmas), and waste free!  It is just SO much easier to place a gift in a bag and tie it shut; and the savings to the planet and my purse each year is substantial!

For the past several years I have used card stock tags printed from the internet.  While nice, they have become creased, crumpled and unsightly.  So, this year I decided it was time to "upgrade" my tags just as I had my bags!

I purchased a laminator from Amazon, along with a pack of 3 mil pouches.  Yes, it was money out of my pocket, but the long term benefits far out weigh the financial hit.  Oh My Goodness, I am in LOVE!  The type A, perfectionist, organizing maven hiding inside of me couldn't be any happier!!!  My brain is just swirling with ideas needing an upgrade with lamination! 

I printed out new card stock tags and with a black Sharpie added the first initial (s) or name of our family members.  I even included a few blank tags on which I can write names with a Sharpie on top of the laminate and wipe it off with an alcohol prep for reuse after the gift is opened. 

The tags came out perfectly laminated on my first try!  Easy Peasy!!

Next I cut them apart and punched holes so that the tags could be threaded onto the bag ties.  GRRR...my hole punch isn't quite long enough to center the hole.  Oh well, maybe I can ask Santa to bring me a new punch!  With AC Moore going out of business in our area, I'm sure Santa can find a good deal (wink)!  I already know I will need to make more bags after the holidays, along with more tags.  I'm itchin' for the day after Christmas sales! 

Maybe you too can work toward a more sensible, frugal option for your holiday wrapping?

Toodles....