My New Sewing Machine

A few weeks ago I received a new (new to me) sewing machine. My 4-H leader was given several old sewing machines that still are in great working condition. She gave them to my sewing leader to find good homes for them. She asked if anyone would be interested in taking one. We said yes and went over to choose the one that worked best for us. It is a Singer Stylist 522, (which, if you research it, it is very old). It worked out good for us because my mom has a Singer that we use for all our projects. Both machines use the same bobbin and they are very similar. I am very thankful for the new machine.

Lily's Online Auction

A friend of my mom's is adopting a little from Eastern Europe that has Down Syndome. Her name is Lily. It is the same on the button on the bottom of the left hand side that says "Bringing Lily Home". They are having an online on Lily's blog. I have donated a baby swadling blanket, and a kitchen set that includes a sun hat, a pot holder, two dish scrubbies and two dish cloths. The starts today, on Tuesday, Dec. 8th, and will end on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at 11:59 CST. There are lots of great items on there, so be sure to check it out.

Christmas Dish Cloths

I recently bought a huge skein of cotton Christmas yarn, (red, green, and white). I have 6 (all of them are sold) dish cloths made out of it and am still making more. I would like to sell them all before Christmas, so I don't have to store them untill the 2010-11 holiday season. They are approximately 8 1/2 by 9 1/2, and are $2.50 ea. or 3 for $6.00. If you would like to order one or more, please email me. They would make great hostess gifts or stocking stuffers. Below are pictures of the two styles you can chose from.

Style #1

Style #2

Craft Sale this Morning

The craft sale this morning went great! There was a great turnout and I really had fun. Thank you to all the customers and everyone who made it possible. I sold most of my dish cloths, so I will have to make more and stock up.

Craft Sale this Saturday

This Saturday I am going to be selling my things at a craft sale in my town. It will be on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Village Hall (under the library) in my town. Things I will have there will include dish cloths (some are Christmas), dish scrubbies, everyday cloth napkins, sun hats, a yellow scarf, and other things. Thanks Andy, for sharing your table with me! Andy will have her hand made soaps there. I hope you can come. Please email me if you have any questions.

Knitting or Crocheting

Many people have asked me what the difference between knitting and crocheting is, so I will try to explain it to you. In knitting you use two needles that are pointed, kind of like two pencils. In crocheting you use one hook, and crochet is pulling loops through each other. I have also been asked what is easier. I think crocheting is easier, but knitting is not as hard as I thought it would be. One of my friends, Brianna knits and crochets and she thinks knitting is easier. I think this link explains the difference pretty well.

Selling My Dish Cloths at a New Location

Two ladies in my church are opening up a store near my house for about a month. They are going to let me sell my dish cloths there and maybe some other items of mine. If you live locally by me, please email me for more information. Some of the other items besides dish cloths that I made that might be there are dish scrubbies, little "sun hats" for the top of glass pan lids, reusable cloth napkins, and a yellow scarf. The two ladies will be selling their artwork and other crafts.

All my dish cloths ready to go to the store

Pictures of my Work

One of my mom's friend asked me to post pictures of my work. These are all the different dish cloths that I've made so far this fall. I've made duplicates of many of them. The fish is my favorite!

The pattern for this fish dish cloth can be found here.

The rest of the patterns I made up myself and/or edited from a different pattern.

Thanks for looking!

Blocking Dish Cloths

On Saturday I started blocking all my dish cloths. I could only fit 15 on the board at once, plus if I kept going I would have run out of pins. On Sunday I took the 15 dish cloths off the board and put eight more on. Monday morning the dish cloths were dry so I took them off the board. Several people have asked me how to block so I am going to explain it in my first post.

Me blocking a dish cloth

How to Block Dish Cloths

Step 1: Find a medium sized tub or container, and fill it with cold water and a little bit of soap if your dish cloth smells.

Step 2: Put a finished dish cloth into the water and soak completly.

Step 3: Take dish cloth out of water and sqeeze it, do not wring it to remove most of the water. Lay flat on a towel, and roll towel up tightly to remove excess water. (Dish cloth should still be damp.)

Step 4: Lay out on a sewing cut-out board (cardboard) and stretch to right size. Put sewing pins (pins with bigger heads work better) in all four corners making sure it's square.

Step 5: Chose a side to start with, and put a pin in the middle of that side. Put one pin in the middle of each of those sections. Put a pin in the middle of each of thoses sections. (9 pins on each side.)

Step 6: Repeat Step 5 on all side adding more pins if needed. Make sure you are stretching it as you're going to make sure the sides are even and straight.

Step 7: Start a fan, so it is blowing on dish cloth. (This will prevent cardboard from getting to damp.) If wanted, block other dish clothes. Clean up. Leave cardboard with dish cloth out to dry overnight with fan blowing on it.

Step 8: (When dry) Pull out pins and fold dish cloth neatly.

Blocking dish clothes is very easy, it just takes a while when you have to block 15! Use this same method for other projects, just add the necessary amount of pins.