10 Things I've Learned from Moms

In honor of Mother's Day, here are 10 wonderful things I've learned from the Moms in my life:

10. Sit on your hands at a cattle auction. -Grandma E.

9. Anything boiled long enough can be made a soup. (Think a dare and a turtle, according to family lore.) -Ma

8. Hurray for coupons! -Ashley P.

7. A college diploma is an even bigger achievement after 10+ years, 2 boys, full-time jobs, and a hubby.-my MIL

6. You can never use too much Velveeta. -Nita

5. Chinese checkers are fun (and they aren't actually played with checkers.) -Grandma E.

4. If you can survive 8 hours once a month with 2 boys hooked to IVs in the hospital, you can survive just about anything. -Jane

3. "What could you use that for?" -Mom

2. "Show them the biggest diamond first!" -Nita

and, my favorite

1. Jesus loves me and He died to save me from my sins. -My mom in the laundry room 25 years ago helping me to understand God's plan for my Salvation.

Happy Mother's Day

Book Review: Sew U

Sew U: The Built by Wendy Guide to Making Your Own Wardrobe
by Wendy Mullin with Eviana Hartman
Published in 2006
ISBN: 0-8212-5740-4

Some Chapter Headings:
Getting In Gear

Chop, Chop

Skirts

Shirts

Pants

I liked:

• That the book is very easy to read.
• The wonderful inspiration for "designing your own" based on a pattern.
• The notions and supplies chapter because she points out that you don't have to have much to get started and encourages you to wait until you know what you need before investing.
• The "Anatomy Lesson" defining and describing pattern pieces.
• Page 82 that has an excellent explanation of thread tension and why it is so important.
• The Project Ticket Form

My dislikes:

• The section on measuring yourself is not detailed and only includes instructions for measuring bust, waist, and hip. In my experience, using only these 3 measurements leads to ill-fitting garments and loads of frustration.
• I found the A-line skirt pattern to be almost a pencil skirt.

Conclusion:

While this book isn't as thorough as other "Complete Guides..." it certainly has its place. I personally picked up the book because the look of it appealed to me. And, the book is actually quite detailed for the beginner, describing and explaining techniques that more intermediate and advanced sewers would take for granted: stay-stitching, stitching direction, finishing seams, topstitching, understitching, and even sewing on a button!

Another feature that appealed to me: the book includes 3 patterns. While only the skirt has worked for me, the shirt and pants provide new options and can be a jump-start for a new sewer. That said, the limited measuring instructions and virtually no fitting information are potential roadblocks in sewing your own wardrobe.

Would I buy it for myself? I do own this book and I've made the skirt several times and in several ways.

Would I buy it for a beginner sewer? I whole-heartily recommend this book to a tween, teen, or even 30-something beginner--as long as they have a fitting resource (like a very, very good friend) handy.

Together Again

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. And I have such fun things to share--the cool finds Mom picked up for me at an antique shop, some fun books I found at the library the other day and, of course, more pics of my kids! But, I thought you'd like to know what I've been up to this past week:


I was part of the planning team for our class reunion!

I graduated from the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts. For those that don't know, LSMSA is a residential, public, magnet high school. We took all the regular high school classes plus things like Latin, Fiction, Chem II, Pascal (the computer language), Shakespeare, World Religions, Deferential Calculus, Prob and Stat. Girls lived in Caddo and the guys in Proudhomme, we all ate in cafeteria, we hung out in the annex and later the SAC, and we all had classes in the "High School Building". We were expected to achieve high goals and our creativity was nurtured in the process. I can't begin to describe the relationships that I formed with people in high school, much less the relationships I have with them today. Suffice it to say, I can meet a fellow "Giftie" and immediately find a kindred spirit. edited 5/4/09 to add: check out this link for a recent news story about the school.

My Senior Year, 5 girls lived in Suite G. Adrienne was our junior, but the other 4 of us were brilliantly arrogant and typically stupid 18 year-olds ready to tackle the world our way. We were learning to walk (both figuratively and literally) into adulthood and had a really tough time trying to do it all on our own!

Today: We have 25+ years of college/grad school between us, numerous post grad degrees, a Pharm. D. and a J. D. More importantly, we are 4 happy mommies with 7 children between us and we finally had the chance to sit down all together--the first time in 15 years!

Some of our favorite guys from high school were there too, and one who wasn't called just to say hi! (His wife had a baby earlier yesterday morning! Congrats Rusty and Sarah!)

It was a blast!