Sometimes, and this is one of those times, I need to look at fabric for a day or so before I decide if the fabric will work for what I want to make. What I want to make is bras. I just finished one made from cream super simplex with brown accents and cream colored lace. I’d take a photo, but there’s no way to arrange the bra so you could see all of it and I’m not about to model it. You’ll have to use your imagination. The bra fabric and lace came from Bra Builders https://www.brabuilders.com. I had asked for a spool of matching thread. They sent brown thread. So my cream colored bra has brown top stitching. If I were to do this again, and I might because there’s fabric and lace left over, I’d use cream colored thread.
I made free standing lace on my embroidery machine. I’ve checked to make sure the lace will fit on the top of the bra cup. Now, I just need the perfect fabric, and I’m not in the mood for white.
I like the fabric, but I don’t know if I like it with the lace. There’s stabilizer around the lace because I haven’t washed it off yet. It is easier to sew down the lace if I don’t wash out the water soluble stabilizer. The first time I wash the bra, the stabilizer will be gone.
I’m leaning towards this one. The fabric is more green than it shows in the photo.
It’s been 26 years since I last endured holiday hell. Used to be I’d go into a deep depression the third week of November and the depression would last until January 1. Holidays featured screaming, fighting, crying, bad food and that was just the first hour. It went downhill from there.
Two weeks ago, every story in my writing class featured being home for the holidays. I was shocked to discover the stories triggered a depressive response. A few days later, I needed to push a walker around. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my spine. This feels like strained muscles. Oddly, taking a double dose of antidepressant relieved much of the pain. I’ve got an appointment with a massage therapist later this week.
I’ve been working on some art.
I’ve been making free standing lace ornaments featuring a nativity scene.
I tried using metallic thread for this. It a frustrating process.
These and other ornaments are in my store, Deb Thuman Art which you can find here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com
I’ve been working on the quilt for my painting class. Because I can’t find stock images that would be suitable for quilting, I’m working on making my own images. It’s slow going.
I learned to sew 60 years ago. All that experience isn’t always an advantage. Back then, a sewing machine needle lasted months and months through project after project and garment after garment. Now, needles get changed after every project. Or that’s when they are supposed to be changed.
Sixty years ago, there weren’t many choices in sewing machine needles. You could buy needles for light weight fabric, needles for mid-weight fabric, and needles for heavy weight fabric. There weren’t ball point needles because there weren’t knit fabrics available to the home sewer. We were sewers, not sewists. I still hate the word sewist. It reminds me of a John Wayne movie, The Shootist.
Embroidery needles were for hand embroidery because machine embroidery wasn’t available for the home sewer.
Now, sewing machine needles come in lots of sizes for lots of different uses. It’s hard to keep up. I was having problems with my new embroidery machine. I had ordered some embroidery thread from Superior Threads. I was surprised to see they recommended a size 90/14 embroidery needle. I thought size 90/14 was just for heavy fabrics and I was embroidering on fabric I thought needed a size 70/10 needle. And so I bought some size 90/14 embroidery needles from Superior Threads. I had hit a sale and got free shipping. No telling how much the additional thread storage boxes, which I haven’t purchased yet, are going to cost me.
I inserted the size 90/14 needle into the embroidery machine, and magically stitch problems disappeared.
When compared to my embroidery machine, my iPhone 15 is brick that dials numbers and holds photos. Today’s machines, sewing and embroidery, are so complex that any tiny mistake in threading results in me trying to rip out embroidery stitches. I was taught that there are three things you can do to solve something like 90 % of your sewing problems. Clean the machine, change the needle, rethread the machine. It’s still a good way to solve sewing problems.
Most of the time. Sort of.
I keep the manual next to the machine. That’s how I discovered that I’m supposed to put my finger on the bobbin and hold the bobbin down while I thread the bobbin thread through the track that leads to the thread cutter. That solved a whole lot of stitch problems. I’ve never had a machine that required me to hold down the bobbin while threading the bobbin thread through wherever it has to go.
But now the embroidery thread is being carried to the back of the fabric indicating the tension is too low. I had lowered the tension to help with I forgot what, but it did work for a while. Now, I had to raise the thread tension to neutral. I had slowed the stitch speed to solve some problem I was having. But once I started threading the bobbin properly, I could increase the stitch speed.
I had some dye failures. One resulted in a brown tee shirt with more freckles than a room filled with red haired kindergarten kids. Jim suggested I consider it a tee shirt to wear while working out at the gym. Okay, but it needs embroidery. Everything I own needs embroidery these days. And so I got out some of my new embroidery patterns and played around.
Not the best choice of thread colors for this one. Two of the colors are too similar to be used in the same pattern and one of the variegated threads isn’t working with this pattern. Fortunately, this is a gym shirt.
I thought these might work for a quilt that needs quilting. Probably not. The quilt has lots of ferns, and I don’t think fancy leaves would be an addition.
I finished another bra. This one has free standing lace that I made on my embroidery machine. Even after washing out the stabilizer, the lace is pretty stiff.
I was having a depressive episode, so I made Brady some bandanas.
I finished sewing this one this morning but I haven’t yet photographed the finished bandana.
I made another wild moon shot by taking several shots and doing a focus merge.
This is what the moon really looked like.
I woke up in pain at 4:30 AM. The only reliable pain killer for neuropathy is art, so I went out and shot the sunrise.
Going outside has caused a major allergy attack. I’ve taken two decongestants and an antihistamine and I’m still feeling miserable. Bleah.
According to the instruction manual, I’m supposed to use my machine regularly because letting it sit for weeks on end without using it will gum up the guts. My machine gets used regularly. Even more than regularly.
I started playing around with thread and patterns just to see what I would get.
Here’s a group of Laurel Burch designs. I need to snip threads in the snakes. I love the cat. And the fish.
One of Brady’s new bandanas. Or it will be once I sew the edges. I used a Laurel Burch design.
Brady’s other new bandana that needs to get the edges sewn. I love pink flamingoes. Seeing a pink flamingo in the wild is on my bucket list.
Mood Fabrics just released a new free pattern for a sleep set. I’m not interested in the shorts, but the camisole type top is intriguing. But it needs lace. So, I bought some lace patterns. This is one of them. I think it would be nice for a neckline.
I more or less survived last week. I’m still alive – which is a major accomplishment. Last week, I wrote about my sister’s yahrzeit and my emotional fallout. Tuesday evening, I lit a candle and said kaddish.
Meanwhile, I’m seeing more and more the effects of the hate crimes and antisemitism are having on me. I’m back on anti-anxiety med. My stomach hurts. I know I need to sleep but I’m wide awake and watching the clock go from 1 AM, to 2 AM and getting more and more anxious as the hands move around the clock.
Clumping around in a boot designed to make sure I don’t aggravate an injured achilles tendon is causing me to have back, hip and leg pain. I’m cleared to go to the gym provided I avoid any machine that involves using my ankles. Except I’m too depressed to go to the gym. I hate this. I’ve had to go back to the full dose of my antidepressant. Being depressed is depressing which causes me to be more depressed. Depression – the ultimate perpetual motion machine.
I have some choices. I’ve contacted an attorney I know who handles civil rights cases. Apparently he’s not interested in my case because I never heard back. I could go to the State Police and ask them to investigate the campus police, but I doubt it would do any good. I could go to the US Department of Justice and ask for help under Title VI, but dealing with the feds means watching cobwebs grow around my case. I could go to the state attorney general although I’ve dealt with the general counsel for higher education who refused to help me. No one cases that Jewish students aren’t safe on campus. I am afraid of being physically attacked on campus. At least my handicap hangtag lets me park next to the door of the art building.
And I’m having a crisis of religion. Not faith – my faith is solid. It’s my temple that gives me pause. It’s a reform temple, and I fit into Reform Judaism. But the temple is now and has been in financial crisis for several years. The board had decided to arbitrarily raise everyone’s dues. They expect 20% of one’s gross income. Unless you earn $120K or more. Then the board expects 2%. Meanwhile, they are squeezing nickels and dimes out of people. There was a Purim celebration and members were asked to bring hamantaschen – special cookies made for Purim. Then, people were asked to pay $7 per family to get in to the celebration. Bring food then pay to eat it.
The only other temple in town is Chabad House. I like the rabbi. I loved the class I took on medical ethics. The rabbi is actively working with the university president to attempt to ensure Jewish students are safe on campus. My rabbi is doing nothing.
Unfortunately, Chabad is orthodox and I’m not. I dislike the separation of men and women under the theory that women will be a distraction to the men. That comes dangerously close to blame the victim. I dislike the limited role women have in orthodox Judaism. Their role is to have kids and have a dead-end job so the husband can spend his days in the library studying. Just one problem….women’s reproductive organs have an expiration date. So what is this woman with limited education and limited skills supposed to do after she can’t have more children?
So what am I to do? I miss going to services but I can’t tolerate the leave it alone and antisemitism will solve itself attitude the reform temple has. I fought too hard to get an education and to be an equally-paid attorney to give up and not be allowed to fully participate in an orthodox temple.
So here I sit. No temple to go to for services. Not going to the gym because I’m too depressed. Clumping around making me more depressed. Bleah.
So much has happened this week, and it’s only Wednesday.
Monday was our 52nd anniversary. I had hoped to do something special on our 50th anniversary, but we were having a pandemic and deranged passengers thought it was fun to have a brawl in mid-flight. Not the kind of excitement I was looking for. Brady is learning fast and doing well, but she’s not fully trained yet. I cannot fly with her until she’s fully trained. And so a special cruise is not going to happen for a while.
Today, I get fitted for a boot that will allow me to get around without further damaging my achilles tendon giving the tendon a chance to heal. Also today, we will celebrate our anniversary by going to a restaurant for lunch. Brady will be with us. When we take her with us to a restaurant, we make sure we arrive at an off time. I need a table that’s out of the way and large enough that she can fit under the table. A table in a corner is preferable.
While my tendon heals, I’ve been having to use a walker to get around. I decided to make a bag for my walker. I used a Kwik Sew pattern and the pattern had a few mistakes. I had to redraft the pattern to make the bag 3 inches longer and 1 inch wider. I also needed to adjust the length of the straps that attach the bag to the walker. The strap length of the original pattern was too short.
This was the bag I made with the original pattern.
The new and improved bag. I made it from some upholstery fabric I found for $4.99 a yard at JoAnn’s.
I did an embroidery design on the inside of the flap. No reason why I shouldn’t have something cute to look at when I open the bag. I used proofs of my Spoonflower designs for the lining.
And the back of the bag. I didn’t realize the Star of David didn’t point straight up so I didn’t change the orientation.
My rabbi sent an email to the congregation yesterday. A credible threat had been made to our temple and our congregation. Local police and FBI are investigating. There will be security during services, but a couple rent-a-cops aren’t much of a defense against a terrorist. I’ll be attending services via zoom. I’m so tired of being afraid. I’m so tired of university presidents granting legitimacy to pro-hamas terrorists. I’m so tired of people not taking anti-Semitism seriously. I’m tried of researching military-grade body armor capable of stopping a round from an assault rifle. Unfortunately, the strongest armor is the one class that isn’t made to protect a woman’s body. I’m tired of leaving Brady home because I’m worried that I won’t be able to protect her. When my great-great-grandparents along with my 10-month-0ld great-grandmother left East Prussia, they were disguised as German Lutherans. Now I understand why they hid. I’m torn between wanting to stand up to terrorists and refuse to be bullied into hiding and not wanting to get killed.
This is down time for me. The semester has ended. No more trying to paint in the same room with the hate criminal. No more fear of being attacked while walking from my car to the art building. No more terrorist encampments. Now, it’s me time. Time to recuperate. Time to heal. Time to make art. It ain’t called art therapy for nothing.
Threads need to be clipped and it’s a bit off center. And a bit uphill. But it says what I want. Yes, I dyed the tee shirt.
I wanted to make Brady a Pride bandana. I ran out of bobbin thread, hit the wrong button and had to rip out the darker blue hand. Ripping out embroidery is horrible. It’s worse than ripping out an errantly serged seam. I’ve decided that Pride is for diversity and inclusivity and the darker blue hand represents those who have been injured at their workplace. I was all set to sew up the bandana, and discovered the markings I had made had disappeared. I was wondering how long the marks from the markers I recently bought would last. Apparently 2 days is the limit.
This is a hand-dyed tee shirt. I played around with variegated threads. There aren’t rigid categories into which we stuff people. Pick a group. Any group. Is every member the same? Nope. Diversity among the diverse.
Hand-dyed tee shirt with Laurel Burch designs. I didn’t have the exact thread colors, so I decided to wing it. I got some interesting results.
There will be more embroidery. More tee shirts. More bandanas. I went shopping at Sam’s Club and discovered I need some larger size grocery bags for shopping at Sam’s. I make our grocery bags. Some are made out of upholstery fabric. Some are made from hand-dyed muslin. I recently found some upholstery fabric that is a mystery. No idea where it’s from or when I got it. I do know I don’t want to use it for upholstery. Might be good for larger size grocery bags, though.
I need help with my online shop, Deb Thuman Art http://www.DebThumanArt.com What would make my store more attractive? What would bring more traffic to my store?
Spoonflower has changed to an interesting format. I can now proof my designs online rather than ordering proofs. I’ve been adding to my design collections. My Spoonflower shop is here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman
It’s a Babylock Meridian 2 – a stand alone embroidery machine. I have a Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.2 sewing machine which I love, so there’s no need for me to have a combination sewing and embroidery machine.
I had my first lesson yesterday. We made a gnome appliqué and attached it to a tea towel.
I had died a length of linen a gorgeous shade of green. And then discovered there isn’t enough fabric to make a pair of slacks. I’m not sure if I’m going to make shorts or a blouse out of the fabric. At the moment, I’m working on a pair of slacks made from a print of eyes. Lots and lots of eyes. Here’s looking at you, kid. .
The iris are blooming. It’s a short iris season here in the desert.
We had a smiley moon the other night. It was setting so I had to take photos fast. I was having problems with the exposure. Fortunately, I was shooting in RAW and was able to retrieve the images.
Next, I decided to take all of the shots and do a focus merge. Usually, the images line up. This was not usually.
I want to use this as the starting point for an abstract painting. I needed to print the photo, but I didn’t want to use all that black ink. So I made a negative and I’ll use that to guide my painting.
Deb's Art 