What to Sew Now?

We established some time ago that most of my sewing is impractical.  Meaning that I love to sew party dresses, gowns, suits and historical reproductions that I have very little call to wear.  My off-duty day-to-day wardrobe consists mostly of jeans and t shirts and fleeces.  Even at work, I don't need business casual - I'm a nurse - I wear scrubs.

So, I will probably next make some scrub tops to satisfy my utilitarian needs, but for sewing satisfaction, I'll go to my box of Adorna's patterns and to Gertie's book for a couple of projects as well.  Even if there's not much call to wear what I make, at least I can share it with you, my sewing sisters!

Upload Issue Resolved - PICTURES!

Well, this certainly drove me batty for a few days!  I wanted to show you some pictures from my new camera, and I just could not get them to upload... problem resolved.  I'm really impressed with the difference between this new camera and your average pointy and shoot, which is what I had been using.  General shots around the sewing room seem clearer.

But the closeups blow me away!  Some random beads in a container,

and you can see the grain of the fabric of the curtains in my sewing room,

and suddenly the detail of the netting used on my wedding dress is easy to discern!

I do love my new camera, and I can't wait to take pictures of my next project to share with you!  As always, thanks for stopping by!

Best Laid Plans

 

So, I had a blog post all planned for yesterday.  Instead I spent the day doing the technology shuffle.  A while back my printer died... 3 days after the warranty expired.  I lived without one for a while, but the printer was also the SD card reader for transferring pictures for this blog (among other things).  So, I finally decided I needed a new printer and so I purchased an HP 6520.  It's a nice little home printer...HOWEVER, the card reader reads photos only to the printer for printing!  So now I need to buy a card reader... especially in order to actually do the post intended which is about my new camera.  I love technology, but it can also be very frustrating.

 

I received my dream camera from my husband as a holiday gift!  I’ve been coveting a DSLR for years, but of course never had the money to splurge on such a thing for myself.  The Nikon D 3200 is an awesome camera! I’m still learning about the camera and all of its features, but this should improve the photography on this site by 1000%!

First, I am now able to put the camera on a tripod and take timed pictures, so I can actually model my creations more easily without the need for a photographer.  I feel as though this has been a problem on the blog for a while.  I’ve wanted to post actual pictures of me wearing the clothes I create, but the stars just never seemed to align with a willing photographer when I needed one.

The camera offers fully manual modes, partially manual, and completely automatic modes.  I haven’t used an SLR in years, so I’ll need some practice time before those manual modes make sense again!  Another nice feature is that images can be shot at 24 megapixels, so there’s plenty of data for editing shots.

All in all, I’m very excited about this gift.  I’m already having fun playing with it, and I hope the blog reaps the benefits as well.

All that being said, there's something wrong with the Blogger interface today... I can't upload any of the pictures I wanted to show you!  The gremlins are after me bigtime!  So, hopefully Blogger will be back to normal soon and I can show you some photos from the new camera!

It's Been a While

Okay, it’s been a long while. I’ve been adjusting to being a member of the workforce once more. Let’s just say the work/life balance has been more than a little off. I haven’t sewn anything in at least as long as I’ve been away. In 2013, I hope to do the following:

1. Sew or restyle at least one item per month.
2. Blog at least weekly.
3. Remember to use these favorite activities as a form of self-care and self-love to replenish myself for work.

I hope you’re all still out there and have not given up on me altogether! The prospects for 2013 are sew exciting!

I Must Apologize

...again for my lengthy absence from this blog.  I recently became (once again) a member of the drone class and got a job!  I am very happy about this, but it is kicking my butt! I never expected to be this tired after working a regular day.  Back in the day I was a do it all mom.  I worked fulltime, raised kids, kept house and was very active in several kid and community activities. 

I admit, I'm a bit older now, and my undesired hiatus from employment kind of got me a little spoiled.  After all, I could sew as often as I wanted, and then bore you all with the details!

Anyway, I'm looking for your advice and tips... how do you "do it all"? How do you remain gainfully employed and still have time to sew and blog?  I really do want to know!

My Memories Giveaway Winner

Hi everyone! The winner of the  My Memories Suite™ scrapbooking software is ..... Jennifer! Jennifer, please contact me so that I can pass along the details of how to collect your prize! Happy scrapbooking!

Fall Housecleaning (of the Sewing Room)

It's true. It seems as though I've only just cleaned out the sewing room, but, after all the turmoil created in there by the crafting and sewing for the wedding, it really, seriously needs it again. I have to get this done prior to beginning any new serious sewing or crafting projects!

This means I'm remiss in my duties to you, my readers, and to the other blog I write for, Sew Mantra. But, I can't really get my juices flowing in this mess!

I need to go out and purchase a few more storage bins today. OK, maybe not like the ones in the pic, but something that works! It's imperative to be able to walk across the floor and be able to set up my ironing board.  I covet those cool systems from Martha Stewart! But actually, I'd take anything that made me feel less like I was on an episode of Hoarders or Clean House!

There's SO MUCH I want to do... Adorna's patterns are calling, and so are the patterns which came with Gertie's book, not to mention a few upcycles that I'm dying to do.  If I can get this done today, then I can be clear to make a few nice things later in the week, so hang in there with me!  And if you have any organizing suggestions, please feel free to let me know.

Meantime, entries for the  My Memories Suite™ scrapbooking software close at midnight tonight, and the winner will be selected tomorrow, September 25th!  Keep your fingers crossed, as this is great software, with great potential for a lot more than just scrapbooks!