Stash of fabric

Well, some time ago, I went fabric shopping as I love to do and I found some lovely shades of stretch knit. I don't know what I will make with them just yet, however I do have some ideas floating around in my head. I would love to make things to wear right now, but the weather is getting just a bit too cool here in the Bahamas. We still experience sunny days but the nights are a bit nippy.

I will sew a dress using this one!

I made a blouse with this one and I have to post the pictures!

I will make a blouse with this one too!

I made a lovely cowl necked cap-sleeve blouse with this one!

Im very excited about using the unsewn fabrics and creating wonderful clothing for myself!

Happy sewing!

I'm Hurt!

Well, time is just whizzing my rather fast that I haven't had the time to do all the things I had set out to do! I love to sew, and it's great therapy for me; however, when I'm unable to sew, its frustrating!

My camera went bad and I have not had the time to put it in the shop for repairs. Additionally, I havent had the chance to purchase a new one. This has really taken a toll on me as I love to post pictures of things I discuss. I have been on a sewing break and it is hurting me!! I went to the fabric store on the weekend and I purchased knitting needles and yarn! I'm taking it "old school!" I have not held a knitting needle in my hand since high school. I am presently making a baby blue scarf and I'm making steady progress on it. I hope to be finished within a week the most.

Additionally, I have my church fair coming up this weekend and I'm very excited about that! I will be attending with my sons. The fair is a time for the church family to come together and spend time having fun with each other. This should be great.

Well I will keep you posted on all that is taking place and hopefully before long, I should have some pictures to show of what I'm doing as I go along!

Happy Sewing!

Missing in action

So I have been missing in action from my blog for the past few weeks and it's not by choice. I mentioned that my camera went on the blitz and I haven't had the time to get it repaired or to purchase a new one. I had borrowed my cousin Shelly's own but of course, I had to return it immediately as she is just as obsessed as me with taking pictures. In fact, I still have several shots on her camera that I took of some more fabric I bought.

Halloween is coming up this weekend and my sons want me to make costumes for them. This should be quite interesting and I'm up for the challenge! I will do my best to get some sewing in this weekend and also to post some pictures!

Happy Sewing!

Pink cowl neck blouse

After being so successful in making my orange shade cowl neck blouse, I decided to try my hand at making another one. I know some people do not like to make too many of the same design however, when something is comfortable and it works for me, I stick with it. I have a light pink cowl neck blouse in the pipelines right now. I have already hemmed the neckline and the arm holes and the only thing I have left to do is to hem it. I started to hem it however, the thread tension has to be adjusted so I started to rip out the hem and I will try my best to complete it tonight, if I have time. Below are the pictures of my work in progress.

Front view

Back view

Thats all for now folks so stay tuned and happy sewing!

What I've been up to.

So I havent posted anything for just a little over a week and a great deal of thing have occured in my life. Well my local fabric store, Home Fabrics had a 50% off sale all just about all of their fabrics and it was phenomenal! I went there on two occasions and bought fabric as well as a friend bought some more fabric for me. I was so excited about this as I got some really nice pieces. In fact, I went to the fabric store again yesterday when I got off from work but the sale had ended on Saturday. I didnt mind as I only needed a half yard of the jersey fabric in two different shades of pink [dark pink below] and that cost me $6.00 then I also bought two small spools of matching thread which was $1.00; so altogether, I spent $7.00. Not bad and I will have two blouses as a product of this purchase.

                                                        Dark pink jersey with thread

Light green

Orange blend

Purple multi

The other three fabrics shown were purchased by a male friend of mine. He said he liked them for me so he bought them. I was very appreciative of this kind gesture on his part. I will make great use of them.

In other news, I have been busy sewing up a lil frenzy and loving it! On Monday of this week, I wore a salmon sheath dress with no sleeves that I made. Below is what I wore yesterday, made by me!

Rosette proudly made by me!

My co-worker Ms. Cleola Mackey also wore clothing made by her. She made a gorgeous wrap dress with a ruffled neckline to work. I couldnt resist taking her picture and posting it to my blog. She is an amazing seamstress and a great inspiration to me! Below are pics of her in the dress [I will be at that level real soon with her help of course!]

Front view

Ruffled detailing at the neck

Side profile

Back view

I have another dress that I started that I have yet to complete. I need to hurry up with that as I would like to wear that to work sometime next week. I also have three skirts that I was working on and I need to finish them up. My cousin joked at me yesterday saying she knows I wont purchase too much clothing anymore as she knows I will try to make everything I want. For me, sewing gives me a liberating feeling. I feel free! There is so much I want to create and sew but I must take it one day one step at a time until I get to that point!

Ms. Mackey just loaned me a pattern for a jacket! I dont know if I will cut it out tonight but I am up for the challenge. This accomplishment will be a great one for me! Until then...happy sewing!



Weekend Review

Well, I had a most productive weekend and I accomplished much sewing! I was excited about this!

Bright and early on Saturday morning, my sons and I went to my cousin Dimples' house. She loves to cook and bake and she is excellent at this. Well, Dimples does catering in her spare time and she had two baby showers to cater for on Saturday. We hit the road and did some shopping for the items to prepare then we came home and began with the menu. For the first baby shower, they ordered more finger type foods. They had conch fitters, cheese spread, tuna salad, cupcakes and sliced cake, vegetable platter and dip, chicken wings and meatballs. We only did two huge bowls of tri color pasta with veggies for the second shower.

After we got all cleaned up from the catering, we hit the road to visit my good friend Norma so we could decide the best type material for our dresses for the Red Ribbon Ball.  The Ball is being held on Saturday, 20th November, 2010 in one of the Ballrooms of Atlantis. One of the committee members informed me that they have an exciting evening planned and it should be a night to remember.  I have finally selected the style that I want and I will be going to the fabric store this coming weekend to purchase my material and notions.

My darling cousin Dimples has dubbed me "The Traveling Seamstress." The reason for this is due to the fact that when I go to her house if I have any sewing to do, I take my machine with me. Her children [all of whom are adults] are aware of this so whenever I come around, they always need something mended. Yesterday I made a fully lined straight skirt with back split for myself. Even though I took my measurements, I still cut it slightly bigger and now I have to alter it so it can fit me properly. All my cousins said that I did a wonderful job with it.

When I finished the skirt, I made a pair of shorts for my baby niece, Da'Shanti. They are mint green and it is out of the left over fabric from the sheath dress that I had made for myself. My lil cousin Tenneil is a student at the School of Tourism and Hospitality Studies at The College of the Bahamas doing her Associates Degree in Culinary Arts. Well she brought her chef pants to be hemmed. Next in line was her big brother, Raynaldo. He is a Defence Force Officer with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force. He also plays on their softball team. Well, he came with his pants for me to put a green stripe down the side of each leg. By this time, it was 10pm and I was very tired. I was only able to complete one side and I told him I will complete the other side before Friday as this is when his next game is. I felt proud knowing that I was able to help my family through something that I love doing...Sewing!

Floating in a whirlwind

Have your ever had the feeling that you were spinning in many directions and not getting anywhere? That is how I feel most days. I am new to the sewing world and I am very excited about it! I know that I must creep before I walk but sometimes, I want to just get up and run. Reading has always been a hobby of mine and over the years, I have read lots of novels and fashion magazines. I usually keep all of my magazines for reference purposes.

When I open a magazine and see all of the beautiful clothing [simple styles] and I look at the prices, I usually say to myself, "I can make that!" Then I would tell myself that it would cost a lot less to purchase the cloth and sew the garments. This fueled me to stack up so much more magazines and the thing is, fashion is revolving. Pieces that were worn 30 years ago are coming back now! I am getting better and I am paying close attention to details. I guess you can say that I am more confident in my sewing.

I have a co-worker, Ms. C. V. Mackey, she is an amazing seamstress! She choses the most beautiful fabrics and she makes excellent pieces. I always tell her that If I had half the talent that she has, I would make everything! I told her that it is a shame that she purchases clothing knowing that she can make them. Her work is phenomenal! I told her that my mom would have been impressed with her work as she finishes her work neatly. Here is a picture of Ms. Mackey in a suit that she made.

                                                    Ms. Mackey in the red suit she made.

Ms. Mackey did a wonderful job with the suit. The jacket is fully lined. The skirt is a simple straight skirt however, she did not line it as the material is a bit thick. It looks like something that came straight from the rack of a clothing store. It is my aspiration to one day [soon] be just as great!

Now I will go back to all these wonderful ideas floating around in my head. All the lovely designs I would love to see on my body! All the beautiful lush fabrics to choose from! I will now go back to torturing myself with thoughts of sewing items at a level I am not quite at as yet. Such is life!

Whats been happening...

It has been about a week since I was here last and quite a bit has happened in my life.


Last week was rather difficult for me to function and I had trouble staying focused. I also had a terrible case of “writer’s block.” I took things easy and I am happy to say that I am much better today than I was last week.

It sure is amazing how time flies by rather quickly and for as much as we plan to do things, so many little things envelope our lives that we get side tracked from the things we intended to do. Since I bought my new sewing machine, I told myself that I would sew an item each week. This I have found has been rather difficult for me since school started. I usually get home from the Office around 6pm then I have to check/do homework with my sons then I have to fix dinner then I make sure they bathe and dress for bed then they have to read to me before they go to sleep. We are usually done with all of this around 9pm and I normally go to sleep when they do. I sometimes set out to get some sewing time in when they go to sleep but that doesn’t work for me.
I went on vacation just before school opened and I got a bit of sewing done. Last week, I wore two items that I made. I wore a mint green sheath dress that my dear friend Norma helped me with then I wore on Friday past, a purple pair of linen pants with a belt. I felt so excited to be dressed in something I created! Unfortunately, I was unable to take any pictures as the camera is still down and I haven’t had a chance to purchase another one as yet. I will however, take some pictures using the Nintendo DSi as soon as I charge it fully. I love to read stories but it helps to see pictures as this makes all the difference.
Also, I have had an opportunity to check out other people’s blogs. All that I have encountered so far have been fascinating and awe-inspiring. My creative juices are definitely flowing. I have another sheath dress that I started but I have to insert the zipper and hem it and it will be complete. I will definitely take a picture of myself in that. Also, I have another project that I am working on. I had this lovely pink blouse that I absolutely loved. One day, I got ink on it and I couldn’t get it out! That sucked! So I decided to deconstruct that blouse so that I can reconstruct another like it. I am almost done with that project and I am quite proud of the progress that I’m making.
As a budding seamstress, I think the highlight for me will come when I sew my first jacket. I haven’t done so as yet but I’m nearing that point. Stay tuned as there is lots more to come!

September 14

Today is the 8th anniversary since my mother's passing. She died as a result of ovarian cancer. She was a wonderful woman, extraordinary and most definately, one of a kind. She loved life and she lived life to the fullest. She was one to care for the sick, the hungry, the needy and the broken hearted. She sacrificed her all so that her family could have. She is irreplacable in every way. I miss her dearly and I love her and I know she is in a better place.

It feels like yesterday that mommy left us. Sometimes I hear her laughter, I see her smile in the sunshine, I feel her embrace on the wind and I know that it is well. My heart gets heavy but God knew best and I know that He would not put more on me that I was able to bear. She never got the opportunity to see my baby as she died before he was born. He is 7 years of age and I am only able to tell him about her and the wonderful memories we shared. My eldest son who is almost 10 had an opportunity to spend time with her and she loved him dearly. He was her pride and joy. He kept her company during the day while everyone was out to work or school. I still have the sweater that she crocheted for him. It is just as beautiful today as it was 10 years ago when she first made it. All the love, time and attention that went into making it for him, she was so proud!

This past Sunday, my sons found a pincushion on my brother's desk. As they are inquisitive children, they wanted to know where it came from. I had an idea but I didnt say anything, I decided to ask my brother. He said it was mommy's own and he was passing it on to me now as I had earned it. To me, this means a great deal as I have now moved to the next level. I know mommy is watching over me and she is guiding me in my new craft. Whenever I make any mistakes in my sewing, I hear her voice in my mind and in my heart telling me to make the corrections. I appreciated her in live and i do the same in death. Mommy, I will always love you, continue to take your rest, we love you but Jesus loves you best!

In loving memory of Teresita Elizabeth Johnson 20 June, 1934 - 14 September, 2002.
May your memory live on in our hearts forever!

New projects

Well, since I have been on vacation these past few days, I have been working on a few projects. I am on a quest to become an amazing seamstress. I have the passion and the drive for it and a friend commented that I have "Mother's Wits" about sewing. She said it comes naturally to me as I got it from my mom and my grandma.

A very close and dear friend of mine, Norma Ash has been helping me with my sewing. I reached out to her some time ago and she told me whenever I'm ready she will help me. Since I didn't have a sewing machine back then, I didnt bother but now that I do have one, I made the journey to her house for an invasion. She was thrilled to have me and her family were delighted about my excitement. I spent the past two days working with her and as it turns out, I am a visual person so once she explained things to me and with her assistance, I was able to interpret it on the fabric. Under Norma's guidance, I am now able to cut freehand. To me, this is a great accomplishment as many people are unable to do this! Many thanks go out to Norma for her patience and time to assist me. I am eternally grateful to her.

Here is a picture of a top I made with Norma's help. I also made a circle skirt and a sheath dress. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of the dress and the skirt however, when I take them, I will post them online!

Latest updates

Well, since my last post, things have happened so fast in my life.

First of all, i put in time to sew a few items. I have sewn shorts for my sons, pants for my nieces and myself. I have definately been on a roll. I love http://www.burdastyle.com/ as they have so many helpful hints and tips for the budding seamstress out there in the world. So any of you our there in sewing land that needs new ideas, patterns or want to view new techniques, this is the site for you. It is helping me a great deal!

Secondly, school opened yesterday for my sons. Yay!! I was so happy as I am presently on vacation and now that they are in school, I get to have some alone time. I spent some time with them last week. We went to the beach and we had lunch. It is great spending time with the little ones you love. They make life so much more meaningful!

During the summer, I had purchased pencil cases for my sons however, in their excitement, they were misplaced. I love doing things different and tapping into my creative side. A few weeks ago, my niece cut a pair of jeans and i turned them into capri pants for her. I kept the scraps as I figured, I could use them for something. Well, the opportunity arose yesterday. In stead of buying more pencil cases, I decided to make them for my sons and they turned out wonderful! I was excited and they were too. I just loving sewing.

Last week, a co-worker of mine sent for me a bag of beautiful fabrics. I have so many wonderful ideas in my head of what I can and will do with them. I was so excited I could not contain myself! She made my day when she blessed me with this gift. So as practice, I went to a local fabric store and bought some inexpensive fabric to practice with. You see, I am still a novice so i dont invest in the expensive fabrics as I would be most upset if I messed up the garment for some reason or the other. So, I buy my fabric on sale and go from there. I just want to make sure I have this thing down to a science!

I will make a special effort to post pictures of the pencil cases and of the fabric. I may have to borrow my cousins' camera as mine has mal-functioned recently. I will keep you updated as I wonder further into this amazing cycle of sewing! 

The Dawn of a Sewing Diva

I am the daughter of a seamstress. In fact, i grew up with two seamstresses in the house with me. My mom and my grandmother. They were both excellent at their craft. They both did the most beautiful crochet work that you could ever imagine! I used to sit with my Mama [as i affectionately called her] every single day when I was a child and she would crochet and tell me stories of when she was a child. I loved these daily meetings as they were very informative, however, I am unable to crochet more than a single chain line. That is quite a shame on my part. My Mama passed away 15 years ago and along with her all of her knowledge of crochet and embroidery.

After Mama died, mommy took over the reigns and she was remarkabel. I would sit up with her during my childhood years while she sewed. She didnt do as much crocheting as Mama did, but she was just as good. When I had my first son, mommy made a sweater, hats and booties for him. They were gorgeous and now a decade later, I still have them. My second son wore them too. My mommy was excellent at doing smock on dresses and blouses. She did intricate patterns on cushins for the house. You name it and she made it! Mommy had a string of bridal gowns that she made also and she did all of her work freehand. She hardly if ever used patterns. They [Mommy and Mama] were gifted and talented.

Mommy passed away 8 years ago and things have been quiet at home. My eldest sister took all of mommy's sewing equipment and left the house bare. I didnt even have needles or thread which is a crying shame. However, she did allow me access to her machine when ever I needed to use it. So, as time went by, I had a burning desire to follow in the footsteps of my mommy and Mama. As the months went by, the desire grew stronger. I had to start sewing. I didnt know how I was going to do it but I knew I wanted to. So I went and bought a Singer 3116 sewing machine and I went to town. She is my new baby and I practice every chance I get. This is the dawn of a "Sewing Diva!"

The Last Few Days

Well the past few days went by rather quickly! After a full day out with my sons, we were so tired on Saturday that we went to bed early. I was supposed to go out and I didnt go because I was so drained. Then I was supposed to go to church on Sunday morning and I ended up oversleeping. So that did not work out for me. [God please forgive me] My darling niece Da'Shanti celebrated her first birthday yesterday so on Sunday the family got together to sing happy birthday to her! That was wonderful!

It rained most of yesterday and I worked so hard, that I didnt get a chance to go out to lunch. I was starving! I decided to finally take my new sewing machine out of the box and get started but I must have done something wrong cause my thread bunched up on me. I have to go at it again! I will not give up, I am going to keep trying.

A year ago, I transferred from my old Office to a new Office. Today I celebrated my first anniversary! Yaaaay! I went in and had a meeting with my supervisor about moving forward. Things should be much better and smoother moving forward! I really do hope so. Its just a matter of trust!

Now today is Fox Hill Day! There is going to be a celebration in the Fox Hill Community, in the Bahamas. This was when the slaves in the Fox Hill area found out that they were free. [Everyone else had been free for a week and a day] So, every second Tuesday in August, there is a celebration!

Lastly, i watched tutorials on youtube earlier this evening about beginning to sew. I will write all about that next. My journey as a seamstress!

Hitting the Road

Well today is Saturday and I woke up late! Last night was girls night out so my girlfriends and I went to the movies to watch Salt. It was off the chain. I can not wait for part 2 to come out! It was action packed and exciting from start to finish. That is a movie worth watching.

As a result of the late night, I overslept and got up after 9 this morning. This is so unlike me but after a long week and a hectic Friday at work, I deserved my rest.

It is about a month until school re-opens and I am supposed to be taking my sons shopping. This will be a challenge since I can not find the supply list. Just my luck. My sons are excited about going out today as we go out every Saturday and I didnt get a chance to spend time with both of them last week as I attended the funeral of one of my former classmates. After the funeral, I was only able to take my eldest son with me as the baby was out with my niece. This day should be fun.

Well I am going to have some breakfast now and I will report back at a later time!

Friday...Disgusted and Discouraged

Today was a crazy day! I was busy at work but it wasn't so rough. I guess it just comes with having a boss who is a perfectionist! In essence, it seems like anything that you do is not good enough for her and it can get a bit frustrating at times. I am doing my best to hang in there because I know that God has a purpose and a special plan for my life and I can not and will not let him down.