The other side of the purse

Gift Bag by neefer.

Were you wondering if I was going to share the other side of the purse? I've been so busy. Chungita has been sick with a tummy bug. We celebrated my birthday this weekend. I'm 40, today. Anyway, I celebrated on Saturday with DH, Chungita, and Pulgito. They gave me an espresso machine which I LOVELOVELOVE. On Sunday, we got all dressed up and drove into Oakland to meet my family at Kincaid's. Kincaid's used to be my favotire restaurant, and this time it was okay, but not great, kinda salty. The last time, it was just awful, but I had totally forgotten that. Right when the soup and salad arrived, Chungita threw up on DH. He had managed to get her away from the table, so she threw up on the floor and on him. So we ended up leaving early. I remind myself that it was to experience things like this that I had children. I didn't get any sewing done this weekend.

I started this side of the bag with the same burnout panne as on the other side. On this side, in addition to the unstable stretchy panne problems, I had problems with a polyester silky fabric. I didn't have trouble with it on the other side. I think the difference is that on the other side, it was an interior fabric; that is, it was sewn down on all 4 sides. On this side, it was at the edge. I had terrible problems with it bagging. I don't know if I stretched it or what. Note to self: interface this sort of fabric before using for crazy patch.

I used decorative stitches on the seams. On one seam, I sewed down a wide velvet ribbon. It looks like another bit of the patchwork. On top of everything I couched yarns and threads. I used to really like this look, but I think I'm ready to move on to something new.

Gift Bag

Gift Bag Side 1
By Neefer.

Things are so busy that I haven't touched my sewing. My cutting table is covered with boxes that came in the mail for xmas gifts. I had a few seconds before the kids came home, so I snapped a couple of pix of the bag for you-all.

The recipient of this bag suggested green, navy, and black as her preferred colors. She's the second person to request green, and I'm starting to run out of green scraps (time to shop!). So I used blues beyond navy. The center patch is a polyester stretch burnout panne from Joann's last year (see t-shirt to the left). I don't usually use knit fabrics for crazy patch. They are too unstable to support the embellishment process even when backed with muslin. If I could remember things for more than 2 seconds, I would have interfaced this fabric before using it. Alas, I did not. On this side, it didn't matter so much because there isn't much embellishment on the panne.

I really like the way the tulle appliques came out. I used a decorative stitch along one side the attach them. If I do this again, I must remember to embellish the seams BEFORE doing the applique. You can hardly tell, even in person and upon close examination, but the seam embellishments go over the appliques.

13 Things about me

THREE NAMES I GO BY:
1. Jennifer
2. Jen
3. Mommy

THREE SCREEN NAMES I HAVE HAD:
1. Neefer
2. Oaktree
3. Jennifer in California

THREE THINGS I LIKE ABOUT ME:
1. I'm a good mother.
2. I'm smart.
3. I'm creative.

THREE THINGS YOU HATE/DISLIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. I'm fat.
2. I'm disorganized.
3. I fritter away the time.

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE ME:
1. Fire
2. The idea that my children might suffer anything.
3. Spiders

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1. I'm Mexican. Pancho Villa hung a cousin of mine.
2. I'm Scottish, MacCourtie is the name, but I don't know the clan.
3. I'm western European: German, French, & English.

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. Decaf Cappucino.
2. Hugging my kids.
3. Talking to my husband.

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. Sandra Betzina full pull-on pants in purple polyester charmuese.
2. A bra that is too big.
3. Silver earrings from San Diego's Old Town.

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS:
1. Jefferson Starship
2. Journey
3. Boston
Is my age showing?

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS AT PRESENT:
1.
2.
3.
Hm....

THREE NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS:
1. Princess seam full bust alteration.
2. The new swimming pool in town.
3. My very own laptop.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP (love is a given):
1. Someone to talk to.
2. Someone to lean on.
3. Someone who needs me.

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE:
1. I have naturally curly hair.
2. I was arrested for a felony.
3. I drive a convertible.

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1. Little butts.
2. Tall.
3. Dark hair.

THREE THINGS YOU JUST CAN'T DO:
1. Lose weight.
2. Keep my sewing area clean.
3. Stop procastinating.

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
1. Sewing.
2. Gardening.
3. Neopets.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1. Eat a donut.
2. Finish my xmas shopping.
3. Take a nap.

THREE RETIREMENT LOCATIONS:
1. Half Moon Bay, California
2. Portland, Maine
3. Alameda, California

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. Disneyland
2. New Zealand
3. Italy

THREE KIDS NAMES:
1. Isabel
2. Tony
3. Annette

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. See the northern lights.
2. See my children grow up happy.
3. Lose weight.

Kwik Sew 3222

I didn't get any sewing done, but I took some time to photograph Kwik Sew 3222. It looks terrible on Buttina. Since Buttina is a Duct Tape Double of me, it should look the same, but I think it's flattering on me.

Just as Catty as the Next Person

In the style class that I'm taking from My Sewing Classes*, Heather Claus asked us to

"Pick one to three women or men whose style (or lack) really stand out to you. Examine what they look like, and determine what their looks communicate to you."

And there is one woman that stands out in my memory from this weekend. I didn't read my e-mail over the weekend, so I will have to rely on my memory. Anyway, we went to a party, and there was a woman there that I've only seen dressed in her professional attire. Well, she was dressed very differently that night. And I'm ashamed to say that the first thought that popped into my head was "Well, you certainly are a floozy, aren't you?" I suppose the difference between me and women who get off on dissing about how others are dressed is that I'm ashamed of my reaction and I absolutely hate that I thought that. She should be able to dress how ever she wants with no one judging her for it. She should be able to express her sexuality in whatever manner she wants, and she should be able to be a blatent about it (or not) as she chooses. People were dressed in a wide variety of fomalities for this party. Some of the little girls were wearing "black tie" formals, and some of the adults were dressed very casually. I'm in favor of allowing people to dress as casually or as formally as they desire. I think that people's style should dictate how they dress, not the function. I know I'm out of step with others on this, but I really do think if a person is a casual person, they should dress that way. Or if someone is formal, they should be able to wear heels and hose to a little league game.

*This class is still a BIG disappointment. I haven't learned anything. Maybe I wasn't as clueless about my own style and how to dress as others who signed up for this class.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Is that a catchy name for a clothing line or what? I don't like their clothes, but I love their opening statement:

"because we are all forces to be reckoned with. because we all have the power to destroy the images and ideas of what we are supposed to be.. and the power to create our own definitions of ourselves.. for ourselves.. by ourselves because our clothing is the loudest statement we make on a daily basis.. and with a widespread change of attitude.. we can begin to change the way things are.

it is the goal of weapons of mass destruction to empower the people wearing our clothes.. to be the strongest, most creative and passionate people they can be at any hour of the day. to stop living in fear of what could happen and start living with the consciousness of who we are and what we are capable of.

with well crafted, handmade, original designs we figure.. why use weapons when you can be the weapon?"

Like the Art Work

I just love Tania's stuff:

No Sewing

We finally finished decorating the tree. My kids love to move the ornaments around. I have this one that is a xmas troll with a hook in his head. Chungita just loves it. Maybe she'll get one in her stocking.

Does anyone else have a love-hate relationship with Martha? My feelings are a mix of: Martha is the anti-christ, and I want to be Martha. Or maybe I want to be the anti-christ of domesticity? Anyway ...

I read in some home decorating magazine, probably not by Martha, that "designers" get that opulent look on xmas trees by wrapping the lights around the individual branches instead of in big loops around the tree. This is the second year that I've done that, and I really like the result. It takes a lot more lights, and it's a lot more work. And it's easier to do on an artificial tree that is built up layer by layer from the bottom. You wrap each layer before adding the next. The first time I did it, I assembled the tree first. I was 8 months pregnant, too, so that may be why I remember it being so much harder.

Gift Bag

I started a gift bag for my mom's list gift exchange. We do one every December and every May. I'm using the pattern from Cindy Taylor Oates' Easy to Make Totes With Zippers, specifically the tote that is sitting on the chair in the picture to the left. I'm sure mine won't look that much like the one on the cover because I'm crazy piecing and embellishing, but the structural design will be the same.

I decided to use larger pieces of fabric this year for two reasons: first off, it's quicker, and secondly, it's less busy looking. That second one may seem like a contradiction for a crazy patch design. I'm not going to do any machine embroidery, either. I am using the decorative stitches on my Bernina 180 to accent the seam lines, but I'm using a the same color thread on all the seams. One one side, I further embellished the pattern with navy tulle that had silver stars printed on it. I cut the tulle into sicle moon shapes and cascaded them down one side. The inspiration for this comes from Bonnie Lyn McCaffery's Fantasy Fabric. I like the way it looks so much that I"m not going to further embellish this side.

I haven't decided what I'm going to do on the other side. I'm going to stick with the one color decorative stitch on the seams, and then what? I don't want to do machine embroidery; no real reason, just don't want to. I don't want to bother with bobbin work. I do want to do couched threads, so that may be it.