The Apron Lady Chronicles

I was so excited to attend the ASG conference right here in River City! One of the guest speakers was EllynAnne Geisel, who wrote the Apron Book and the Apron Chronicles. I recorded the talk and will have it available on my next podcast. Until then, here are two short videos I took of her.

I’ll be giving away one of her books, that she autographed in the next week. Stay tuned!

– nutmeg

 

material mama podcast #24

Welcome friends!

There are many ways to listen to my podcast about sewing.

Click here to listen to the podcast directly:

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Leave me a voicemail question or comment by telephone: 1-775-593-5136

Show 24 Notes

Measuring standards

ASG Conference here in Sacramento! I hope to see you, be sure to say hello!

New dress pattern, with many easy adjustments to custom fit

Click for a free printable to put by your machine:

Change your bobbin, change your needle – some little products I made up, when you purchase them you help support the show!

Great dye tutorial videos are up I have one from Sewing With Nancy on how to change the sizing of knit patterns, but I can’t get it from .tivo to a format YouTube will take.

Fabric magnet buttons, I got the idea from NotMartha:

and some button push pins:

New patterns are up from Kwik Sew! Also the new Ottobre has been posted! I love these times of year. I am planning on ordering these patterns:

3542 Tunic and Dress

3536 Dress

Two-Hour Tote Bag by Be Sew Stylish

Sew A Clean Sweep Apron!

Take a look at BurdaStyle, they’ve changed the interface a bit and new patterns are added all the time!

Kerri from Miss You Sew Much (http://www.missyousewmuch.com/ have offered a free zippered bag tutorial! Check it out!!!!!

Special thanks to Sarah from Mad Mommy Blog (one of my favorites!) for leaving me this voicemail. Check out this awesome mommy patch site she found!

Listener Ginger asks:

Hi,

I have a couple of suggestions for topics. One of the things I had down was sewing for boys but I was thinking about my 8-year-old son. What can I practically sew for him that he would actually wear? I’m thinking in the 8 to 10 year range.

Another thing is sewing motivation. I have a hard time just getting up to do it. I have a jacket cut out now that I need to mark and sew but I have a difficult time.

Any advice sisters and brothers? Send me an email or give me a call! Thanks for listening and I’ll be back on the air in a week or two.

I want to thank everyone for their wonderful support! If you’d like to participate you can:

email me materialmama at gmail dot com
Got a phone? Leave me a voicemail question or comment 1-775-593-5136
Got a Mic? Record A Two-Minute Question or comment.

How can I help support this podcast?

Would you like to see more shows? I’d love to be able to afford the webspace. You can help support this show by taking a look at my sewing advocacy items. I also have a PayPal donation link here. Or you can shop my recommended books. Thank you so much!

I also have a list of online shops you can click through and I’ll get a small percentage:

• Clotilde.com for all your sewing needs. Click here!
• AllBrands.com Singer Quantum Sewing Machines and Sergers
• Fabric.com Coupon Corner
• Free Shipping at Joann.com! ($25 order minimum) code JANFSA725

Do you have links I can put on my blog or website?

Please use these, by putting them on your favorite picture storing site and link to: http://www.materialmama.com

Nutmeg

 

Great Dye (and other) Tutorials

Here’s one from Uncommon Threads, on DIY:

Some other fun, sewing related videos.

A tour of a Fabric Store, great for newbies to sewing

Mastering Silk with Sandra Betzina

Making a Muslin

Accurate Darts

A tour of the Stitch Lounge in San Francisco. What a GREAT concept!

 

My first drafted dress pattern, free to you!

This is the first dress I made custom for my girls. I’m offering the pattern for free if you’d like to give it a spin! It’s a fairly simple A Line dress, with or without sleeves. You can use ribbing on the collar and armholes or you can serge, and fold under.

You can use these patterns as you wish, I think they are pretty self explanatory. If not, Here’s the sew along in .pdf form, and in html.

Use a knit fabric, and these fit about 3T-5.

I’m getting ready to start teaching again next week. I’m only scheduled for a 20% gig which means I teach one day a week. However there is a lot of start up time and things to get done so I can be cleared for duty by next week. I’m trying to get a new podcast out as well, hopefully this week.

I’m doing a lot of denial sewing, I’ve made like 8 of these dresses, they are super duper easy. I used some ready to wear concepts that I loved to draft these myself. You can make as many as you want, and they are wonderful to embellish! Have fun and I’ll ’see’ you soon.

Hey, if you’re reading this why don’t you give me a call on my voice mail only line at 1-775-593-5136 and let me know what you’re working on and what you’d like to hear more of on the podcast!

Here are my samples of what I’ve done with this pattern.  Click for larger views:

         

As jammies — I found if I cut it and don’t do much topstitching, they turned out as really easy nigthgowns!  Using fabric with ‘tossed’ pictures also are good for night time wear.

  

As tops — I just cut them where I wanted them to fall.  One turned into sort of a swing top, the other a more a line top.  By cutting the front bodice below the chest, it looks more RTW (ready to wear)  in my opinion.  This first one I just serged the openings and straight stitched them down.  I you had a coverstitcher these would be even faster LOL:

   

     

 

Fun in the Summer!

This is more mama centered, but I’d think anyone would have fun doing these activities.

Make your own jello type dessert! I found this recipe at Taste of Home

Make your own jello flavors!

4-6 servings
15 min 15 min prep
1 envelope knox gelatin (or 1 Tbsp.)
1 cup boiling water
1 cup cold water
3/4 cup sugar ( or10 packets of sweetener)
1 teaspoon unsweetened Kool-Aid (to taste)

Put 1 cup water on to boil.
Sprinkle gelatin into 1 cup cold water.
Mix in sugar (or sweetener) and 1 tsp Kool-aid powder.
Stir until thoroughly dissolved.
Add boiling water and stir.
Adjust amount of sugar and Kool-aid to taste.
Chill until firm.

I got some fun ice molds at Target and they were tons of fun! Quite yummy and it’s nice to know you can make your own food. Speaking of summr and making your own eats, how about making your own marshmallows to scarf down around the campfire? When I was a single mama my oldest and I would toast them in the fire place.

I found a recipe at How Stuff Works and another one at Martha Stewart

Makes 24

• Vegetable oil, for brushing
• 4 unflavored gelatin, (3 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 Teaspoons)
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions

 

 

 

1. 1. Brush a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with oil. Line with parchment, allowing a 2-inch overhang on the long sides. Brush parchment with oil; set aside.
   2. Put granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 3/4 cup water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook, without stirring, until mixture registers 238 degrees.on a candy thermometer, about 9 minutes.
   3. Meanwhile, put 3/4 cup cold water into the bowl of an electric mixer; sprinkle with gelatin. Let soften 5 minutes.
   4. Attach bowl with gelatin to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. With mixer on low speed, beat hot syrup into gelatin mixture. Gradually raise speed to high; beat until mixture is very stiff, about 12 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Pour into prepared dish, and smooth with an offset spatula. Set aside, uncovered, until firm, about 3 hours.
   5. Sift 1 cup confectioners’ sugar onto a work surface. Unmold marshmallow onto confectioners’ sugar; remove parchment. Lightly brush a sharp knife with oil, then cut marshmallow into 2-inch squares. Sift remaining 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl, and roll each marshmallow in the sugar to coat. Marshmallows can be stored in an airtight container up to 3 days.

One of my favorite go to books is the Tightwad Gazette. They have the BEST section on making muffins. I’m one of those mamas dismayed at the cost of breakfast cereals. The more children you have the faster they go. She breaks down what we eat for breakfast and what it costs. The muffins are very flexible, and I’ll ask for permission to reprint it here. Until then, check out her wonderful compendium here:

 

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Playdough. What is more fun to play with, especially when you can eat it w hen you’re done playing? Wash hands first of course! Peanut Butter Playdough has always been a favorite around here. You can find more fun art ideas for kids or yourself here.

 

Sewing…. I just finished my duct tape double, and I LOVE it! I made a perfectly fitting skirt for the beach in no time flat. I’m only sorry I didn’t do this before.

 

I finished up some summer jammies for my little girls, using a Japanese fabric “sleeping beauty” which you can find on Etsy sometimes.

 

 

I’ll be updating soon!!! I’m working on a new podcast this week, so I need to get back to work.

 

Thank you for all the kind words and support, I really really appreciate knowing someone is out there listening!