Amy Currioman

I don’t know about you, but I keep almost all of the Christmas cards that I get every year.  I like to re-purpose them for use as name tags, or using them as craft supplies.  I find that I like the personalized christmas cards the best for these types of uses; they tend to be a higher quality of paper than the ones that you can buy at the local discount store for just a couple of dollars for a whole bunch of them.

When sending out cards I like to start on them early so that they are out in the mail around Thanksgiving time.  If I get them all out by then I can relax and enjoy the Holiday season without the pressure of getting the cards mailed out.  It also helps to put me in the Holiday spirit, getting them purchased and ready to mail early!

A couple of weeks ago my sister and I were going through some sexy costumes that we had come across when we were helping Miss J clear out her house.  Miss J asked for our help because she is moving into an assisted living apartment and can’t take it all with her.  She has living in a five bedroom house (she had five kids!) and had lived there for over fifty years.  Naturally she has a LOT of things!  My sister and I brought all the costumes home with us; we just couldn’t bear to part with them!

She used to be in a local Lions club that held variety shows as fundraisers for their charities.  That was way back in the ’60s.  Miss J and our mother performed in those shows, dancing and singing.  They made a lot of their own costumes back then; they were great seamstresses!  I sure wish that we had videotapes of their shows, but that was before inexpensive video cameras became available to the general public.  We have a few silent home movies of their rehearsals, but that just isn’t the same.  I’m sure that they would have had a great time if the Internet had been invented back then and they could have used it to find discount sexy costumes to buy online instead of spending so many hours sewing!

I don’t know if you belong to any of the yahoo community groups, but I belong to a couple of them, and I think they are great! A few days ago someone on my group posted that they were looking for someone to do some sewing for them. I replied that I did a lot of sewing and would be interested in helping them out. (For money, of course!) Now I’m beling deluged with emails and phone calls from other people that want me to do some sewing! They are calling me a life saver! Funny how life takes some twists and turns from time to time. I really enjoy sewing, and now it looks like I might be making a little bit of money from it!

My friend Jean was given a lot of craft supplies that she decided that she can’t use. So she brought them all over to my house! Bags and bags of fabric, trims, batting. Huge rolls of fabrics too! I don’t know when I’ll get the time to check them all out! It’s going to be interesting; there is no doubt about that! I’ll have to look at it like I’m treasure hunting! Now I’m afraid to go shopping for craft supplies, though – for fear I already have some in the mystery bags!

I went to Joann’s Fabric Saturday afternoon and found some really pretty striped fabric that was on sale for $3.00 a yard.  I simply fell in love with it and bought the entire bolt.  I know that it would make a gorgeous dress.  The issue I am having now is decidind whether to acutally follow pattern directions and cut on the grain or against the grain.  If I use the pattern the way it is intended, then the stripes will be horizontal, and I would prefer the stripes to be vertical.  You know, weight issues! 

I just don’t know if there is any repurcussions about fabric stability if I cut against the grain.  So I guess I’ll have to be doing some research on that subject before I actually cut into it!  If you have any advice on the subject, feel free to share!