Slow Sewing Mojo

My sewing mojo has been very low lately. I finally figured out what was holding me back.

I have a UFO (unfinished object) which has been taking up space for several months. It's KwikSew 2675, which is a pull-over, U-neck, darted, short-sleeved top. I cut it out in 2007, and finally started to assemble it at the beginning of February. What was holding me back was the sense that it was not going to fit me.

Today I stitched the shoulder seams, attached the sleeves, and sewed the side seams. When I put it on, I knew that my intuition was correct. The shoulders are too wide and the bust darts are too high.

I went to my sewing room to find what size I had traced and cut. To my surprise, I had cut the shoulders in the smallest size (for KwikSew, that's Extra-Small), and pivoted out for the chest and hips. Furthermore, the pattern calls for 1/4" seams, and I stitched it with 5/8" seams. That tells me that most KwikSew patterns will not fit my small shoulders.

Then I remembered that 2000 I had made a jacket with KwikSew 2089, and it fits me fine. I also traced and cut that pattern starting with size XS through the neck and shoulders.

Since this current project doesn't fit, I am so "over it" and will donate it to a local thrift store. I have another project cut out that I expect to fit. More news on that later.

How to make a yummy fruit smoothie

We have a VitaMix blender. We did lots of research and found a good price. This blender makes it very easy to make a fruit smoothie. Here's what we put in it:

A banana, blueberries, two apples, some raspberries, about an inch of ginger, and at least one cup of green tea.

Here are the pictures:

Awesome meal!

Tuesday, after I visited the dentist for a cleaning, I arrived home to an awesome meal. Take a look:

Sewing Without A Clue

I had a grandiose project planned a few years ago. I was going to to a SWAP, which can be a big deal to those who sew. Click HERE for an explanation of SWAP, which means Sewing With A Plan.

Let's just say I'm not done ...

Here are pictures of my SWAP:

Sewing With A Plan

Messy Room as Inspiration

My sewing room is so messy that when I saw BeanGirl's so-called messy room, I knew I could do better without even trying. As it turns out, my sewing room is so messy, that it can only get better. What better inspiration than to show how messy it is now, and show it cleaned up later.

Click on the picture to see the photo album:

Sewing Room 2010

About Sweeteners

One company is changing the name of its sweetener. I guess they think we're stupid ... ? Click HERE to read about it.

One major aspect of our "Real Food" diet is avoidance of chemicals and man-made ingredients. We do not use "food" containing ingredients with chemical roots, and that includes sweeteners.

Instead of sweeteners, we use dates and other fruits, and stevia. We use stevia leaves when we make our tea. We have a stevia plant growing in our front garden, but one plant is not enough for us. We buy dried stevia leaves by the pound (to supplement our meager supply) from San Francisco Herb Co. at a reasonable price.

We also order packets of stevia extract from iherb. Each packet, which is the size of other sweetener packets, is up to four servings of sweetness. It's not a sweetener, though - it's just an herb that happens to be sweet.

When you order from iherb, save $5.00 on your first order with this discount code: WIL394

From Misc