Penny Sanford Designs

Take Pride in Your Mending

I wish I could tell you when or where I learned to take pride in how I mended everyday textiles. I think it comes from seeing a tidy little patch on my great-great-grandmother's quilt. (No photo available at this time.)

Also, I vaguely remember reading in Gone With the Wind about the meticulous patches on fine tablecloths distinguishing the old families from the nouveau riche. Newly rich were able to buy new damask linen tablecloths after The War Between The States. Old families had to patch their finery, but they used the best sewing skills at their disposal.

Maybe one influence is the Shaker mentality of doing whatever one does as if Jesus were to come back tomorrow, and doing it well enough to last 1000 years. I love the quality of Shaker furniture and textiles.

At any rate, any time I need to patch something I use in everyday life, I try to employ a bit of whimsey or charm. If I were patching a fine textile, I would match fabric and fiber content.

How do you approach mending? 

Splish, Splash, Pinch, Dash, Sploosh!

Have you ever thought about the germs on your trusty, loyal sewing pins?



I must have seen too many episodes of "How Clean Is Your House: US" where they do lab tests to prove to people that phones, computer keyboards, counters, etc., are crawling with nasty, harmful germs.  So when I spilled my Happy Yellow sewing pins all over the floor in the sewing room recently,  my sweet hubby swept them up into a handy dust bin.

That was great. Quite helpful. And I DO appreciate his help.  But it did not take long for me to think about the OTHER stuff that broom and dust pan handle around here...in a house of four Westies and one creaky old English Shepherd.

Are you following my train of thought here? What do I do with the pins when I sew? Sewing with pins temperarily lined up between my lips or buried in the fabric of my bodice. Hmmmnnn....dirty pins in my mouth.  Germs from the floor transferred to the Happy Yellow sewing pins from the dust bin and forward to my unsuspecting lips. 

ICK! *Grimace* E coli, anyone?

So, little square Happy Yellow Tupperware container was filled with water and a small SPLISH of bleach was added. About 10 percent bleach, or one part bleach to 10 parts water....a "splish" which is different from a SPLASH. The measurment is rather like a PINCH or a DASH is to a cup of liquid.  I'm not quite sure where SPLOOSH fits in with these measurements, but when it is bath time for the Westies,  Gordon asks them if they are ready to go take a SPLOOSH.

Fuzz and thread snippets floated to the top of the Tupperware pin container, and I simply let the accumulated fluff flow away from the pins that I stirred in the disinfecting solution.  Every pin got a good soak in the Splish Bleach solution.

Is 49 years of age too old to still be playing with silly stuff? Actually this is only half of my Happy Yellow sewing pins. The ones I first disinfected are making a fun pattern on my pin cushion (sorry no handy photo, but here is a previous play session with my pin cushion).  Yes, I play with my sewing pins.




And I still play with my BFF Happy Yellow Duckie from my childhood.  This little fella must be 46 years old by now.( I wonder how old that is in Duck Years?)  Our friendship has never waivered, My Happy Yellow Duckie and me.

Even when he was accidentally sent to the attic for many years, I still loved My Happy Yellow Duckie. Even last year when Nemo came to live here on a pair of wash cloths bound with pretty quilt fabric,  I still loved My Happy Yellow Duckie the best.

Yes, I have seen all of the Toy Story movies, as well as Finding Nemo. Many times, in fact. Why do you ask?  *wink*

So BIG JUMBO Happy Yellow Tupperware Canister full of Epsom Salt awaits the next bath along with my BFF Happy Yellow Duckie and Nemo, who cannot escape the quilt binding on the wash cloths nor the anemone made of Happy Yellow sewing pins.

Uh, you might want to give your sewing pins a Splish Disinfecting. Needles too. I'm just saying...

Yellow Towel Therapy

Like generations of women before me, fabric is acanvas for  creativity. Sewing is a binder of pain. Disappointments and sadness are captured in the thread and held captive by the fabric and the thread.



These may look like pretty yellow towels to you, but to me, they represent faith in the future, hope for sunnier days ahead. The binding I've stitched by hand to these towels has been a celebration of color and design.



This summer, I've stitched on these towels mostly while listening to Unc tell his stories.  There is a kaleidoscope of emotions stitched into these bound towels that only I have seen.



For now, the emotional boost of simply walking into my little butter yellow bathroom upstairs and seeing this stack of happy yellow towels is better than.....

The reason I am binding towels is because I needed to do something to save the good towels we had that were beginning to show wear on the edge. I knew that would lead to rips along the edge after continued use. Binding the edge gives the towel a whole new lease on life.

The binding was so much fun that I started doing it on my slowly-acquired new yellow towels. I'm using different favorite fabrics to give the bathroom a cozy "scrap quilt" feel. See this previous post on Jazzing up the Bathroom.

Later on, after I've finished all my yellow towels, I'll take them outside for a more creative photo session.  Same for the older towels getting a fresh lease on life.  Lots of happy stitching hours ahead of me!

A Bouquet of Rick Rack

My grandmother Ora Belle Dunn Hamer put rick rack on my clothes, the clothes she made for my four first cousins, on aprons, on my doll clothes.  One of my first embroidery lessons was putting rick rack on gingham aprons with a decorative stitch.  Rick Rack was an integral part of my formative years!

One would think that with all of that rick rack in my family's Save-Everything-Cause-There-May-Be-Another-Depression history, I would have found a HUGE stash of pieces of rick rack.  Nope.  Nada. 

I've hardly found any scraps or unopened packages of rick rack.  The quest for the booty of Grandma's rick rack stash has kept me digging around in every corner of the attic here in the farmhouse and in Grandma's attic.  I'm going through all the drawers, all the closets, etc. I've not yet given up either!




So I've been casting my eagle eyes over the Internet for some GOOD sales.  I recently found 10 yards of rick rack for $2.00 before shipping.  Out came my "egg money", and I stocked up. Not all the colors have arrived yet, but I just had to show you this beautiful array!

For less money than a bouquet of flowers from the Florist, this pretty little centerpiece is making me smile every time I look at it (which is often while I am working in my studio upstairs).  Unc is carving out some large flat spools (think flat dog bone), but while he takes his time, I've kidnapped the Cherry butter paddles he has made ahead for Christmas. 



I just love this little basket, and it seems perfect to hold my rick rack bouquet!

See that little tat of yellow rick rack on the handle? That little piece was from Grandma's sewing stuff.  Obviously I am very light on the YELLOW portion of the color wheel. Don't worry, YELLOW rick rack will soon be living at this house again!  *grin*



I'll show you very soon what I am making with this rick rack, having just as much fun with it as when I was a child watching Grandma's nimble fingers fly through fabric, threads and trims! Happy memories at her knee. I can hear the hum of her sewing machine right now.

Bob...Bob...Bobbin Along

I have no idea why the photographer of this picture called it a "Viking Santa".  This looks like a bobbin to me.  A decorative bobbin yes.  I'd like to make pretty bobbins like this for my stash of laces, maybe some trims like ric-rack.



There are more pictures I saved from various browsing sessions on the Internet. (HOW did we survive before the Internet?  Gordon and I research everything, and I'm constantly saving ideas via pictures!
 


These little character bobbins are delightful! I'd like to make them...but HOW?



Heather Bailey did a tutorial on these bobbins (above).  I probably could handle them.

This last picture of the colorful embroiidery floss wound onto plastic bobbins gave me the idea of making a string of Christmas lights with this as a guide.

Patchwork Place made some star block light strings and some thread spoostring of lights. I've bought the star block light strings, and I enjoy them year round.  Now I'd like to find the thread spool string of lights. I *think* Patchwork Place is the name of that company. If not, I'll come back and correct my blog post.

Have you seen other cute bobbins?  Please share!

So About My "Thing" With Bobbins

So a few days ago I shared my relatively new addiction for winding embroidery floss onto plastic bobbins.  Today I want to share some photos of more unique bobbins.

In my quest for the best Embroidery Floss Organization System, I ran across some very creative, organized people who had wound their trims onto larger bobbins (larger than the small embroidery floss bobbins that I am using at present).

Most of these images I found on Etsy, because they are primarily hand made.  IF you know the photographer or website from which I found one of these pictures, PLEASE tell me. I DO want to give proper attribution.



Is there a machine for the scrapbooking hobby that lets one cut out repetative shapes from thicker paper...board stock like these?



This one above was apparently printed and then cut out.  I love the whimsey of these.

One seller on Etsy had some delightful animal shaped bobbins (the next three pictures). I *think* they were cut out of some thin wood-based stock and then burnished.





The pictures following are probably are cut f rom a dense paper-based board, heavier than "card stock". If you know, please let me know. 

 


 






Then these next pictures of creative bobbins appear to be a stained wood?




There are more creative bobbin ideas to share with you, but this is a nice place for a bookmark. I'll share the other ideas next time.  If you have an idea for some pretty bobbins for storing one's laces, trims, floss, ribbon, etc...please share!

Color Therapy

Sometime this year, I decided it was TIME to get all the embroidery floss in order.  We have embroidery floss from at least three generations scattered ALL over this complex of farmhouse, Grandma's house, studio.  (To my knowledge there are no stashes of embroidery floss in any of the barns! LOL)



Apparently I started around May or maybe April. (Thank goodness for easy digital pictures to provide something of a "diary" of one's life!)


 
The organization system I chose was plastic bobbins and those little organizing boxes. Our previous system of lots of dividers in a big drawer no longer worked.  I found some bargains on eBay and started winding.  Sewing friends warned me that it would take forever and that I would be so tired of winding embroidery floss onto bobbins.



Surprise!  I love it!  No, I ADORE it!  I want to buy more embroidery floss JUST so that I can wind it onto bobbins.  When I take a break from floss bobbin winding and then return to it, I'm immediately downright OBSESSIVE about it!



Playing with the beautiful colors is  SUCH therapy.  Also, it is a somewhat mindless little task that I can do while listening to Unc or watching football with Gordon. 



The beautiful Happy Yellow Tupperware Mixing Bowl was a gift from Facebook friend, Jeanne H. in Alabama! It is my OFFICIAL Embroidery Floss Winding Station!  You can imagine my mood when I was winding all the many shades of yellow in my yellow bowl!



The "You" mentioned in the above picture is reference to the Facebook friends who shared their opinion on which floss organization system they liked the best.  As always, I receive some spot-on advice from my Facebook friends! (Thank you!)



The larger bobbin was purchased in the 80's, and I've not found it since.  Actually the smaller bobbin works just great, and I love the little rings to hold the little bobbins together when working on a specific project.

My floss winding took a break while I waited on more boxes and more plastic bobbins to arrive. I've started back and have to limit my time with it just to prolong the pleasure.  I even bought more floss...twice so far this year...under the guise of NEEDING those colors. 



This latest picture was taken in the upstairs guest bedroom turned into a sewing room this year. I need to blog that journey as well as share what I've been making that is using up embroidery floss FAST!

I've not shared how many boxes I have filled with bobbins of embroidery floss. I'd like to turn that into a guessing game with prizes.  Plus, I still have more floss to wind onto bobbins.  *Happy Grin*

Bath Time for Westies

Well, *fiddlesticks*!

I was trying to get in a post before midnight, and I just managed to erase half of my post. Fresh start:

We give the five Westies baths in the bathtub every couple of days and sometimes every day. Westies easily develop allergies to food or items in their surrounding. The stress our rescued Westies have endured in previous years leave them very succeptible to skin issues.



A bath with Epsom Salts not only kills any fleas, it lets their skin soak up Magnesium, soothes their little arthritic joints and dries up skin issues. Yes, Westie skin can dry with too many baths, but Epsom Salt leaves dog skin and human skin soft and moisturized. I don't know the chemistry of Epsom Sal+ Water = soft moisturized skin, but it works.

For these family baths, we've worked out a system.

I get in the tub (the Epsom Salt soaks are good for humans too) and wash the Westies in the tub with me. Gordon's role is to find, catch and bring the dog to me. They love their bath time, and they are SO playful when they are first out of the tub, but they also like to play Hide and Seek from Gordon before the bath.



These are a few shots of Lillibeth and Maisy getting their bath. From their expressions you would think I was torturing these babies. Not. Maisy Mae enjoys her bath so much that she tucks up her hind legs, props her chin on my tummy and floats in the soothing water. NO, there is not a picture of that!!!



This is a close up of the tatoo in Lillibeth's ear from the puppy mill. Charlotte has one too. All of the puppies we rescued from that blankety-blank puppy mill in 2007  had tatoos in their ears. They did not have names, only numbers.




This old deep cast iron bath tub with its butter yellow tile in the bathroom upstairs has become a Happy Place for me. These pictures, taken at night with the strong overhead light have such a vintage feel.  They bring back memories of my childhood, playing with the plastic tug boats and yellow duckie. Somewhere we still have those bathtub toys.  The yellow duck has a place of pride atop the towel cabinet.

More to share about the fabric binding on the wash cloth...in another post, hopefully tomorrow! If you are already my friend on Facebook, then you are ahead of my blog postings.

Happy Bath Bubbles!

Do you know what your Tupperware is doing??

Rememer the commercials, "It's midnight. Do you know where your children are?"  Or something to that effect.

If you've read any of this blog or followed me on Facebook, you have gleaned that I have a small fondness (obsessive passion) for Yellow Tupperware. Here's a recent photo of the Tupperware that is within arm's reach of me right now in the Sewing Room.



Trust me, it does not begin to show the scope of my addiction to Happy Yellow Tupperware.

The big salad bowl on the left was a gift from Facebook Friend Jeanne in Alabama. Think of it as Friendship Tupperware-ing like Friendship Gardening.  She sends me her piece of Happy Yellow Tupperware and I send her something I made.  This large piece is perfect for my floss bobbin winding project. Details on that new obsession in another post.



The Lettuce Crisper is wonderful to hold the washcloths I am binding plus the pre-cut binding for washcloths and towels plus the thread I am using.  Yep, I shared this photo yesterday. I also realized after I posted yesterday that I had covered the topic of binding wash cloths earlier on the blog...like just a bit over a month ago. GEE, I'm slipping.



The little rectangle lunch box holds my Free Hand Embroidered Felt Dog Project. They are for sale in my Etsy store. These sales are like "egg money" or "mad money" or money for a "pout present". More on this little endeavor in a later post.   Fifteen percent of the gross goes to Westie Rescue (or Scottie Rescue, or Cairn Rescue or Yorkie Rescue, etc.)

Ok, that's enough blogging fun for today. Dinner is ready and the Westies are stalking me. Picture the Australian Game Hunter in Jurassic Park when the Velociraptors finally trick him and catch and eat him. That's a good image of what the Westies are doing to me right now. We only feed them twice a day. Poor things.  LOL

Binding Towels

This is a quick blog post because I am DETERMINED to blog SOMETHING before midnight!

(See the towel in the mending basket behind the hyacinths?)

To help our towels last longer, I have been binding the edges just as one would bind a quilt.  This has added years of life to some towels that would otherwise end up in the rag bag. By binding new towels and washcloths before we ever use them, I hope to make them last many, many more years.

To bind towels, I cut a strip of fabric 3.5 inches wide for a large towel, and three inches wide for a washcloth or hand towel. Then double it and stitch as you would make the binding of a quilt. The result is a double layer of quilt fabric over the edge that has begun to ravel.



So far, I have only cut across the width of the fabric, but one could cut a long length-wise piece if one wanted to bind a towel without any piecing of binding. 



The wash cloths are fun to do especially. It takes about an hour of all hand sewing to add a pretty fabric border. One could cut that time drastically by using a sewing machine. I love the warm "home spun" look the stack of bound wash cloths give to the bathroom.

Right now, my washcloth binding "operation" is housed in a Happy Yellow Tupperware lettuce crisper. It's perfect, and it makes me smile when I look at it on the bedside table.  LOL

The Happy  Yellow large towels made from 100 percent American Grown cotton are just beautiful. This is one of them underneath the tall pincushion (that Unc and I made).

I've also thought about making binding out of some left over blocks for a very pieced look. These 12 inch  x 12 inch scraps of a large towel are bound with left over binding. The patchwork look of these salvaged washcloth-sized towels is delightful to use and just look at if you are a fabric lover like me.

I've been plodding away at this for about a year, at least, and I still have lots of binding to do. "in my spare time" or when I want a project that does not require any thinking.

Recently I bought four large towels made from 100 percent AMERICAN grown cotton. They are wonderful and I will be blogging specifically about them.



These last three yellow washcloths are Ralph Lauren that I found on eBay as a bargain. The  yellow washcloths in the lettuce crisper are much thinner....but they are good for scrubbing behind ears and such.

Ok, let me upload this and I will have actually gotten a blog post posted before midnight! YEAH! I DO want to get back into the habit of blogging more. It's just always after midnight before the house is quiet and then I think, "I'll wait until I've had some sleep before I blog."