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Homestretch stitching for 2016 Shower Caddie project

12 Jul

Less than 5 of 72 shower caddies to complete for the ladies at Wheeler Mission for Women and Children.  The shower caddies will be functional gift bags filled with personal care products this Christmas.

We had a jump start this year with a donation of outdoor fabric in the form of new (rejected) cushion covers.  The cushion cover seams were ripped and the fabric cut and sewn into 15 of the 72 caddies.  The caddies are cylindrical bags with four external flared pockets.  The bottom has three button-hole slits for the occasions water needs to drain.  The handles are top stitched.  Each caddie is made from one third yard of 54″outdoor fabric purchased from fabricguru.com.Showercaddie_encore_IMG_20160409_094804363 copyIMG_20160421_144050693_HDR copy

 

 

IMG_20160707_082125230 copyIMG_20160707_082224829 copyIMG_20160628_182235187 copyIMG_20160707_082051404 copy 2IMG_20160706_092620698 copy

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From Houzz: “Futuro”

24 May

Awesome story!  Not only a flash back to visions of our future, but also dedication to claim and restore that vision.

 

 

ET..."Turn on your heart light"

ET…”Time to phone home!”

To add a personal story:  Yes, I have had this figurine of ET (for Extra Terrestrial) since the early 80s….saving him for grins and to illustrate my blog 😉  He was the star of the 1982 Block Buster Movie by the same name.  “Phone home” is the most memorable line of the script.

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Shower Caddie Encore

12 Apr

Back by popular demand…shower caddies as functional gift bags for the women at Wheeler Mission for Women and Children.  Our adhoc group of benefactors delivered 72 overstuffed caddies for Christmas last year.

We have a “green light” and a jump start for 2016.  A friend of a friend saved LLBean outdoor seat cushion covers from the REJECT bin.  The Plan:  Recycle as shower caddies.  Enough fabric for 13 of the 72.

Outdoor seat cushion covers undergoing "ripping" or deconstruction.

Outdoor seat cushion covers undergoing “ripping” or deconstruction.

I asked our group leader (who also has Master Black Belt Six Sigma certification), if there was VOC (voice of customer) feedback to incorporate this year.  Her suggestion…”leave off the button holes”.  Yes, I put button holes in the caddies last year to drain water that might accumulate in the bottom.

Six equally spaced button holes on a radius is a little time consuming.

Six equally spaced button holes on a radius is a little time consuming.

I did that without DRBTR!  (Design Review Based upon Test Results).  Do shower caddies without slots hold water?  YES.  Is that a problem?  Maybe.  Search for a suitable mesh fabric bottom was unsuccessful.

Mock up for test

Mock up for test:  Fill with one cup of water.

  1. No slots:            Drains      3.42-3.70 minutes          Over twenty times as slow
  2. One slot:            Drains        .60-.70 minutes            Four times as slow
  3. Two slots:          Drains        .28-.38 minutes            Twice as slow
  4. Three slots:   Drains      .15-.18 minutes         Baseline

The winner is a three slot design for the few occasions when water may accumulate it is a reasonable feature to have.  I will use parallel slots to save the time preparing the radial layout.

Here we go AGAIN!

 

 

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No fooling…that’s a LOT of love

1 Apr
Shipping 80 liners and 320 flannel pads to Days for Girls International

Shipping 80 liners and 320 flannel pads to Days for Girls International

Enough to complete 40 kits!  Liners have wings with snaps, reinforced pockets and PUL (polyurethane laminate) middle.  Flannel pads are reversible, tri-fold with top-stitching.  The design intent is for three years use.

My favorite color/pattern combos

My favorite color/pattern combos from this shipment

Back side of liners

Back side of liners

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volunteers provide their materials (often).  For me, the joy of sewing comes from playing with the colors and patterns…..the bolder and brighter the better.

It's awesome how many gazillion graphic designs there are for butterflies.

It’s awesome how many gazillion graphic designs there are for butterflies.

http://www.daysforgirls.org

 

 

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I spy butterflies!

7 Mar

Guidelines for proper selection of fabric for Days for Girls International Kits:

Some prints are offensive or illegal in some communities.

Prints with people, animals, faces and figures cannot be sent to Muslim communities.

NO camouflage fabrics as these are illegal in many countries.

Fabrics with food, bugs, reptiles, guns, knives, culture-specific themes as well as girly-glam should be avoided.

Bugs, reptiles and animals are predators in some areas; fabrics including these are uncomfortable for the girls to wear and use.

Butterflies are OK. 
Rev May 23, 2015

Nine beautiful butterfly designs on flannel!  Enough fabric to supply liners for 40 kits in next shipment.  🙂

 

daysforgirls.org

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Impossible Pie

23 Feb
Impossible Broccoli Pie

Impossible Broccoli Pie

Impossible Bacon and Swiss Pie

Impossible Bacon and Swiss Pie

Here in lies recipes for 5 Impossible Pies (circa 1980)

Here in lies recipes for 5 Impossible Pies (circa 1980)

The big idea is to have a crustless pie.  The five recipes include Bacon, Turkey, Vegetable, Seafood and Pumpkin.  When it is time to pitch-in a dish at church, I usually take two.  The baking time and temperatures are the same.  Bonus:  No extra clean up.

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Gallery

Sew while the garden is dormant

27 Jan
His and Hers
First three bags with mats
Yoga mat bag Project
Fabric samples in 20 different colors and patterns
Two boxes, twenty each

40 yoga mat bags!  with phone pocket, drawstring and shoulder strap.

Inspired by the bold colors of the yoga mats, this project took on a life of its own.  The colors and bold patterns of the fabrics are delightful.  Now many months since the start, 40 yoga mats with bags are ready for delivery to Sheltering Wings.  I even have a few left in my stash for yoga enthusiasts who I have not met yet. 🙂

img_20160127_070550640.jpg

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Many More Colors

19 Jan

Many more colors…

30 liners
30 more liners
20 liners
Each liner has PUL (polyurethane laminate) middle covered with colorful cotton fabrics (both sides). One side has two pockets. Snaps are added to wings as part of the kit assembly process.

These 80 liners plus 320 reversible tri-fold flannel pads (featured in last week’s post) provide the labor intensive items for 40 kits distributed by Days for Girls International.

http://www.daysforgirls.org

The maroon/chartreuse plaid and graphic bird fabrics were not so cute as separate remnants….I love these fabrics together as liners.

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Many colors

12 Jan

Many kits of many colors….I remember a song…about Many Colors….a “Coat of Many Colors” recorded in 1971 by Dolly Parton.

And oh I couldn’t understand it, for I felt I was rich
And I told them of the love my momma sewed in every stitch
And I told ’em all the story momma told me while she sewed
And how my coat of many colors was worth more than all their clothes

Reversible, tri-fold flannel pads. Enough for 8 pads to go into 24 kits.

Reversible, tri-fold flannel pads. Enough for 8 pads to go into 24 kits.

The song concludes with Dolly Parton singing the moral of her story:

But they didn’t understand it, and I tried to make them see
One is only poor, only if they choose to be
Now I know we had no money, but I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors my momma made for me

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_Many_Colors_(song)

Volunteers for Days for Girls International are like mothers to girls all around the world needing dignity every day of the month by making menstrual hygiene kits with bold, bright colors.

These kits are made with love by thousands of volunteers around the world or by local women filling the need for their own community. Quality matters because women and girls depend on this product, and kits have to endure frequent washing in harsh conditions.

Q: Does it really matter how they look?
A: Yes, because she not only will count on it, she will often have it with her. No, it doesn’t have to be beautiful to be functional, but she notices and appreciates when the kit is beautiful and that helps break shame and stigma.
​

From: Days for Girls International  http://www.daysforgirls.org/#!whats-in-a-kit/c623

As I pack my finished liners (made with PUL, pockets, wings and snaps) with 8 reversible, tri-fold, topstitched flannel pads…my goal is to have 12 different color and/or patterned fabrics bundled for each kit…three different fabrics used making each liner, eight different fabrics for the pads plus the twelfth fabric for the bag the kit is packed in.

Dolly Parton said and sang it best…that is RICH!

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Channeling grandmothers

29 Dec

What happens when three TV remotes (and only one fully functional) are combined with three rocking chairs, dining table and chairs, two ottomans plus one TV? …CHAOS!

First things first.  All the remotes are restored and fully functional.

img_20151228_112120443.jpg

 

The next part channels grandmothers talents to make “holsters” to hold the remotes between uses.

We found three worn finger tip towels.  I cut them down the middle to get proportions to match and hemmed cut edges.  The short sides are sewn together.  Fold over half to make pocket and sew sides.  Sew two sets of antique snaps (if I had been home I would have used Velcro) to be able to secure “holster” over arm of chair.

Ladies and gentlemen, this project was much easier than explaining TV remote controls to my grandmothers.  May they rest in peace, not knowing.

 

 

 

 

 

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