Sewing Reference

This is my 100th post! I thought I would share one of my newly re-discovered passions. SEWING! As a teen I took many sewing classes paid for by my parents. I was quite good but lacked the patience sewing requires. Through the grace of God I have conquered this life-long struggle with patience and I am able to enjoy the process of creating without being completely impatient for the instant gratification of the finished product. Now for the time to do more!

I am doing a bit better, no longer walking bent over double, but I surely must have cracked my tail bone, it is still sore! I have not been on the net much lately because of all my aches, and we are having internet troubles again. I have been asked by a neighbor to teach her pre-teen daughter to sew. In researching some patterns she may be interested in, as well as a sewing reference page she could utilize, I came across this gem of a website. For any of you hobby sewers out there, or for any of you more accomplished yet rather rusty on technique, this is an awesome site. Burda is a European fashion magazine, so these patterns are en vogue, but best of all, they're FREE. I like the how tos and the sewpedia in particular. There is great information here! You do need to sign up to access the patterns, but you can peruse the site anonymously. The sign up process is quick, pain free and simple.

One really neat feature of the patterns page is you can click on 'view creations' and see photographs of what others have done with the pattern. The patterns are free for you to download and print from your computer or a copy center. There are instructions on how to do both on the website. The print at home option looks rather complicated it may be simpler and possibly cheaper (considering the cost of ink these days) to do this through the copy center. Generally you can obtain great discount coupons for copy centers if you keep your eyes peeled for them. I did try to download the copy center pattern for one design and found it to work like a charm. When I tried the print at home button for the same pattern there was some error and I couldn't download it. The second pattern I tried to download 'print-at-home' pattern for worked beautifully. I tried the tote bag and it will be printed on 12 pages of US letter sized paper. The instructions start by explaining how to attach the 12 sheets into a proper pattern. The instructions are clear, and seem easy to follow. I have no actual interest in making this bag at the moment, so I cannot say for certain the directions are as clear as they appear to be upon quick perusal. If anyone has used these patterns before, or does as a result of reading this, please let me know how well written the instructions actually are. For a fashion pattern, these free downloads are a great idea. I especially like the fact that your resulting pattern will be on sturdy paper and not on that tissue found in most commercial patterns today.

For me, the most interesting feature of the website is the 'how-to' and 'sewpedia' mentioned earlier. I hope you enjoy the site as much as I have.

Happy New Year

A Thorns update for you:

We are recovering from the pox. I think the kids enjoyed the attention, the fussing, the popsicles, and the movie marathon. We watched about a million movies on the sofa bed in front of the television. Except for the heads (pox in the hair is the pits) we seem to be over the worst of it.

I have a little per diem job in the health care industry, I fill in when no one else can/wants to work for a little spending money when Mr. Thorns is home. I get out once in a while, it is a good thing. New Year's Eve it was snowing like mad and I need to be to work by 6:45am. My sweet husband says to me as he is heading out the door to warm up my car and clean the windows, "Just wait for me I'll help you down to the car." Can you guess the rest of the story? I didn't wait! I went down on my bum and got all wet. By the end of my shift I was sore all over. Today, a week later I'm still sore and cannot sit comfortably on anything hard. It is not like I needed to fall, I had an offer of help. Why didn't I wait? When I woke up, I was surprised to see such a storm. Remember I have no television, I hadn't heard a report. I was running late because I live in the mountains and with such a storm I should have left more time. I thought I'd save a few moments and ended up with a sore butt and a bent over back! I didn't get to work until 7:15 the roads were barely passable.

We started back to our home school routine, and the kids tried to tell me, "But we have chicken pox, we are supposed to be resting."

Lastly, I'll leave you (because my sore self needs to lie flat for a while) with a description of the sandwich my 4 year old made for me yesterday, I hadn't asked for one, this was an offering of love:

Wheat bread, strawberry yogurt and cheese puffs. All of her favorite lunch treats on a sandwich! Yum yum...NOT!

I wish you all a very happy new year. I do have a few post ideas rattling around in my brain, I just need time, and a soft pillow to sit on and maybe I'll get them posted.