Why I've been missing in action. . . large Etsy order!

I have been busy lately. I've been doing a lot of sewing actually - A LOT!

I was contacted by a customer on ETSY a few months ago asking if I could fill a special order for the company she works for. When she said 210 of the reusable insulated lunch bags I make, I had to step back and calculate if I would even have enough hours in my day to get the project done.

With an amazing husband who helped watch our 2 year old while I sewed, I was able to finish the project with time to spare!

Here's just a few of the pictures we took along the way. (You can see my pregnant belly in the picture directly below).
Lots of cutting, lots of stacking, and lots of counting. My husbands desk was mostly out of commission during this time.

This is only half!

Yeah! The project is done and my life can get back to normal.

Would I do it again if asked? Of course! It was fun and it turned into a whole family affair.

Here's the link to my ETSY shop if you didn't catch the link above! I'll be working on restocking it next. :)

Another Toddler Towel

(someone wasn't cooperating so I could get a decent picture)

My best friend growing up recently had her first baby. Because toddler towels are such a hit at our house, I decided I would make one for her new little girl. My son has two of them and could use a few more. These towels are my favorite for baths and swimming. The "towel hat" is the best part for keeping their wet heads warm. You may remember the towels from THIS Post .

Here's a few shots of the new towel:

Sewing Machine Tip

(An online picture of my exact machine)

Clean and Oil your machine often.

Today I heard a little squeak in my sewing machine. I knew it needed to be oiled and cleaned out so, instead of sewing much further, I stopped and cleaned/oiled my machine.

This was not as easy as my above comment sounded. I have NEVER cleaned or oiled my machine. I've opened the bobbin space and dusted it out before, and even cleaned lint from area's that I could see, but I had never actually used a screw driver to take apart my machine for intense cleaning.

I found my manual and followed the instructions on how to open the machine. There were only directions for the oiling the bobbin and not the main compartment of the machine. Luckily there were some obvious holes for oil on the top half. The other places I made an educated guess. I oiled parts that moved connecting to other parts.

There was also a lot of packed lint under the feed dog. Wow. I thought my earlier cleanings did something - I guess not. After oiling and cleaning I closed up the machine.

Now my machine has been though a lot. By a lot I mean it started out as my Mom's machine and each of my 7 sisters and I sewed and learned to sew on this machine. It's had many miles of thread put through it. It's old and been around for decades! I have a Bernina 802. I love it! I don't know how often my Mom oiled and cleaned it, but I know I have never done it since I've owned it - and that's been close to 9 or 10 years.

Already I can tell a diference. The small squeak is gone and I can tell my machine glides much smoother.

Pillow cases

I was reading THIS Etsy Page today and thought this would be fun to be a part of. So easy and what an awesome service project. What do you do say? Can you help out as well? I'm sure we all have some fabric in our closets just dieing to be sewn on.


Here's another LINK talked about in the Etsy page for more information. Let's get sewing!! (Image taken from link above).

Will Summer ever end?

My sister just left this morning after visiting for a week with her son. We loved having her here! I'm going to miss her.

I keep telling myself when summer ends I'll get to work and start these many projects I have sitting in my sewing closet. Summer seems to not want to leave. I've really enjoyed all our vacations, visitors, and activities, but there doesn't seem to be an end in the near future. I have a few weeks before anything else major is going on, so I'm getting to work. I'm headed to Jo-Ann Fabric right now to pick up some piping for my newest project :) Hopefully I'll be posting about it in a day or two.