Mail Call

I'm still in a slight sewing funk so not much has been happening in the sewing room besides mending, cleaning, and sorting. But the mailbox hasn't noticed. Friday, the latest Threads arrived and yesterday was a bonanza of Stitches, Burda WOF and Ottobre Woman.

This issue of Threads is one of the best in a while IMO. The articles are more in-depth and not just 2-pagers with lots of white space. I loved the two costuming articles even though costuming is not one of my true interests. And how cool to find out that the Cirque de Soleil's production offices are nearly local to me. There's also a jeans article from Sandra Betzina which, of course, caught my eye. It was interesting to read how her process differs from mine (construction order, mainly). And I like anything Kenneth King writes so another welcome article there.

Australian Stitches, on the other hand, seems to be going in the other direction. I'm sad about that because I've really enjoyed not just another sewing magazine but one with an international flavor. Aussie girls … I know you're a few issues ahead of this one, can I hope for better things to come?

Both the Ottobre and Burda magazines have patterns I'm putting on my (neverending) list. Pattern Review is running a fitted blouse contest this month so maybe I'll pick something from one of these and actually get it made before the deadline. Or maybe it will be another pattern. But I really do need and want to make some summer blouses and I'm hoping to get my act together this week and make some progress.

While I'm waiting for the magic spark, I do have 3 more pairs of boxers for DS cut out and I'll work on those this afternoon. I traced the no-sideseam pattern so I could add sideseams. That took all of 10 minutes, and now the big scraps from the first round of boxers have been used efficiently and are not going back to the stash closet.

Oh, before I forget again, I'll answer some comments:

"May I ask what brand of bread machine you use and if you would recommend it/buy it again?" I have a Black & Decker, but it's at least 8 years old. I know it must've been updated since then so I don't know how the quality compares these days. But I'd definitely buy my same machine again, if I could.

"You'd think I'd know what you mean by "cook the chicken", but I'm wondering if you saute/fry it? bake it? nuke it?" I just stir-fry it with a bit of cooking spray in the frypan.

"Can you tell me where you got the midget sunflower seeds?" They were part of the "Artisan" mix from King Arthur flour.

"What program do you use to outline your work on the computer? I have such a hard time with Adobe Photoshop Elements." I'm a Corel girl (I used to do tech support work for Corel way back when) and I use CorelDraw and Photo-Paint. I also use Illustrator and Photoshop, but not as much and not for quickie things like those outlines.

(Re the purse accessories I made for my mom)"Did you use in the hoop embroidery techniques or just make them from scratch?" Just from scratch and no pattern. I used a tape measure to measure around a pair of sunglasses and a tissue pack.

(Re the Burda wrap top) "I look at those wrap tops and think, "yeah right!" But that one looks really great on you! I might have missed it but what fabric did you use and from what source?" Thanks, and the fabric came from Melody at Fashionista Fabrics.

If I missed your question, I apologize. Please feel free to ask again. :-)