Just Checking In

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! I am mostly trying to recover from a busy December and getting back on track with my sewing! Whenever I take a step back from sewing, it usually makes me feel very odd, and it also feels somewhat awkward getting back into it. So I thought I would try to straighten up my sewing area today for some hardcore sewing tonight. It’s always more pleasant sewing when you’re not pushing endless papers and doodads to the side and away from the machine. 😉

A quick reminder that there are only a few days left to sign up for the Bag of the Month Club at the reduced price of $35 for your 6-month subscription; after December is over, the subscriptions go back to the regular price of $40. Head on over to read more information about the club, meet the designers, and sign up!

So I’ve missed posting about a few things recently. I was on two podcasts, one for Modern Sewciety, which is an awesome up-and-coming podcast, and another for Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski. I like listening to podcasts because sometimes I’m working on something on my computer and am not able to play a video (as I do while I’m sewing), so it’s nice to still be able to listen to something. I’d encourage you to check out both podcasts; there are also some really informative podcasts on While She Naps that I really enjoy too, and of course Pat Sloan’s shows.

Also, a couple months ago, I posted this blog post asking for scraps in certain colorways for a scrappy bag pattern. I received 56 envelopes, and since I will be working on the bag pattern now, I opened up all the envelopes this morning. I received scraps from near and far, including France, Israel, and Australia! It was pretty cool, and thank you for sending your scraps in! I snapped a photo of the assortment of scraps that I received, below.

I got a few Christmas presents for myself to enhance my sewing studio a bit…I purchased this Janome Dress Form from Sew Vac Direct. They have a lot of dress forms at that site, so I searched around for a bit and found one close to my size (although most are slightly adjustable). I also bought an amateur lighting set-up with a frame, backdrops, and umbrella lights, after seeing that Elizabeth from Don’t Call Me Betsy had gotten one for Christmas in order to hold up her quilts in order to photograph them (although I think she just got the frame, as I’m assuming she’ll be taking those photos outdoors). I thought I might try to take some of my garment and bag photos indoors and see how they turn out, as it’s especially harrowing taken a photo of a sleeveless top outside in the snow. :-/

Also, voting is going on right now (through December 31st) for the Sew Sweetness Bag Contest over on Sew Mama Sew! Vote for your favorite finalists!!

Anyway, just a few random things that I wanted to mention! Hope you are having a great and stress-free day!