I Made the Nice List

Since I spent several days with my daughter's family over Christmas my husband and I exchanged gifts yesterday evening after we returned home. I must have been on the nice list, because I got the only thing I asked for,a Brother 1034D serger, plus a related book.



I had looked at several sergers online, and read customer reviews before deciding which one i wanted. This machine received the highest ratings for ease of threading, reliability, and value. I am waiting on an order of thread, and then I just need lots of practice to learn to use it.

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Mending Lesson

Yesterday a coworker came my room with this wrap:

She had bought it the day before while in Asheville because she got cold and needed a jacket. She didn't realize it had this...

...a hole on the front near the pocket. She wanted to know if I could mend it. After telling her I might have some yarn that would match in my stash at home, I reconsidered my options.

Digging into my classroom wool stash, I found some black and white roving.

As I monitored my students drawing I blended it to create gray...

...adding bits until I was able to match the color of the wrap.

Using one of the classroom drop spindles I spun and plied a short length of lightweight yarn, which I threaded onto a darning needle. Duplicating the matching stitches as closely as possible, I closed the offending hole.

And here is the resulting mend. It worked out so well I had to put a pen on the wrap to locate it in my lens. This was a challenge, but I enjoyed it. And, it was good for my students to see that mending is a better option than tossing out things that have minor flaws. Little by little I am trying to teach by example...make, make do, reuse, recycle...hopefully they are learning something.

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Tidy Tiny Treasure

Preface: First, let me apologize for the quality of these photos. I am trying to master Photoshop Elements, and trust me, it is not the same as CS4. I think I am will be doing my photo editing at the desktop rather than on my laptop from now on, just so I can use CS4.

This tidy tiny little treasure was gifted to me

 by my daughter and son-in-law.

 Both Amber and David are talented craftspersons.

After I had admired a small wooden box he had made for Amber,

 they created one for me.

At a diminutive 4.5 x 2.5 x 1.25 inches it boasts

 a walnut base joined at mitered corners and an inlaid bottom with a sliding maple lid.

The entire box is finished to a fine handrubbed luster with David's own wax formula.

The lid opens to reveal a well appointed traveling sewing kit...

complete with tape measure,

 tiny stork embroidery scissors and

a handmade wool needle book crafted by Amber

 featuring vintage buttons from her collection...

 an assortment of the most commonly used needles...

and of course a handy dandy needle threader...

because everyone knows that after a certain age

 one simply cannot see eyes,

 in needles that is.

The entire thing fits neatly in a purse or totebag.

It surely came in handy during my graduate studies

when I was working on this and this.

David and Amber have an Etsy shop with a varying inventory of his hand crafted fiber tools.

 At the moment they have a nice selection of nostepinnes. He also takes custom orders.

 I have a nice collection of crochet hooks, drop spindles and a nostepinne.

You can look for a review of each of these on this site in the near future.