Sew Inspired, LLC - Sleepless Crafter

My husband and I had the same mattress for 22 years. We have had back problems and sleeping problems. He normally wakes up about five times a night and I am constantly tossing and turning. So we decided to give Sleep Number a try. The main reason we wanted the Sleep Number is because my husband is a heavy man and I am a pretty small woman, compared to him. So whenever he would get in bed, the bed would sink down where he was and it would cause me to roll towards him. For this reason, I wanted a firmer bed. But he wanted a softer bed. So we figured with the Sleep Number, we would both get what we want. We went to a local Sleep Number store on Black Friday and tried out all the beds. I am so glad that we did because each bed feels so different! I almost wish that the salesman wouldn’t have even told us which bed was what so we could just try them all and find out which one we like the best without thinking about the price or anything else. Amazingly, the bed both of us liked the best wa...

In my previous post , I compare the Fitbit Inspire 2 with the new Apple Watch Series 6 .  My purpose for wearing fitness bands was to track heartbeat and sleep.  Since the Health App that comes with an iPhone is not the greatest (pretty pitiful, actually) for tracking sleep, I downloaded several sleep apps to find the one closest to the Fitbit app.  The Fitbit app is very thorough.  It shows all the stages of sleep (REM, Light, Deep, and time awake.)  It also shows restoration (with paid Premium service) and gives a sleep score based on amount of time asleep, Deep and REM sleep, and restoration heartbeat.

 Last year I purchased the Fitbit Inspire 2  (lilac color) basically to track my sleep and heartrate.  I had been feeling exhausted (and still am) and wondered if the sleep feature would show me anything.  Also, I have had heart palpitations and so I thought it could show me something on that as well.  I thought I would see that I toss and turn and hardly sleep all night long.  I thought it would show my heart beating at 175bpm like my Homedics blood pressure monitor showed.  I was so wrong.  The Fitbit app DOES show amounts of time sleeping/awake, what my heartrate was throughout the night, and what my average bpm is throughout the night and day, BUT it only shows my heartbeat every 5 MINUTES! That does not help me when my heart palpitations only last 30 seconds.  And as far as sleep goes, there's been times when I was awake for an hour but the Fitbit app showed I was sleeping during that entire hour.  So it was not 100% accurate.

It’s a sad story, really.  My mom passed away about 5 years ago and my dad has taken it so hard that he threw out all the family photos so he wouldn’t be reminded of her.  Luckily, he found the negatives, so I’ve been digitizing them.  This article is the walk-through for digitizing negatives, and also a review of the products I used.  If you’ve read any of my past reviews, you know I am very thorough in my reviews.

Pattern Description: “The Koda Cross Body Bag (by Huff 'N Cuffs ) is the perfect size for any event. Approx. 9 1/2" H by 10" W with a front zipper pocket for your phone. A top zipper closure keeps the rest of your possessions safe and easy to access.”

I’ve seen this bird quilt on joann.com before, and really liked it.  I recently acquired the bird block fabric (Nestled in the Branches Square Blocks) from a friend, so I decided to give it a whirl. The directions are vague, and some of the dimensions are missing.  The reviews are not good—mostly because the directions are so vague.  You have to guess what size to cut the sashing.

I needed a 7.5” square ruler, but didn’t want to spend $15 on it (Walmart’s online price) and have to wait for it to ship.  Joann’s had them for sale for less than $11 but they were out of stock.  I really needed to get one for a project I was working on.  I hate having to stop in the middle of a project because I don’t have something.  Anyway, my brilliant, creative, and helpful husband said, “What about plexiglass at Home Depot?  I can cut it for you with my table saw.”  I decided to check it out.  (By the way, if you do cut it with a table saw, make sure the blade has a lot of teeth and go very slow.  Look at this video for explainations.)

I really don’t know much about fabric dye, and I’ve searched the web for answers, only to find that I needed to experiment for myself in order to find them. I purchased a bunch of polyester knit fabric for making dolls, so they are mainly fleshtones—four different colors.  I made some dolls with the fabric—one doll for each color.  One of them did not look right.  In fact, it had a “dead” look to it.  The tone was just too gray.  I have a store-bought doll that I really like the color—a really rich peachy color.  So I wanted to see if I could match it.

In my previous reviews for the Singer 9960 Quantum Stylist (click here for review) and Singer Futura XL-400 , (click here for review) I was really excited about the automatic thread cutter that the 9960 has, and was wishing that the Futura had it, too.  Well, I got my wish.  Most everything that the Quantum Stylist has that I love, the new Futura XL-580 has.  So I was quick to purchase it and sell my other machines.  I needed to clear out things in my bedroom/craft room/sewing room anyway.  I figured since one sewing machine takes up less room than two and since the XL-580 has the previously mentioned features, that I might as well have one machine rather than two.  Oh how I was wrong! If you’re looking for an embroidery machine, this one will do, but if you’re looking for a great overall sewing machine, the Quantum Stylist takes the cake.

I LOVE taking pictures of the moon.  I wish I could take pictures of each planet.  I recently purchased a new camera and lenses and decided to try them out to see how well they take photos of the moon. First, some information on each lens. Vivitar 500mm f/8.0 Telephoto Lens (T Mount) (White)

I love macro photography, so when I bought my new Canon 70D Camera, it came with a Closeup Filter Set .  Here’s some pictures, using my Kit Lens , at about 4 feet away at focal length 55mm, f/5.6.

Using a Canon 75-300 III Telephoto Zoom Lens , I took some pictures to try out the Telephoto and Wide Angle Lenses that go on the ends of regular camera lenses. I have 13E Pro Telephoto Lens, Xit Wide Angle Lens , and Vivitar Telephoto and Wide Angle Lenses .

Pattern Description: Misses Easy Waist Cincher Corsets Pattern Sizing: 6-14. I used size 12 and 10. Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?  Pretty Much. There were some slight differences since I did it a little differently. Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes. The hardest part was making sure I matched the right pieces together.  It is definitely recommended to mark each piece of fabric with not only the marks on the pattern but also the numbers and which direction (up or down) they go.

Pattern Review Outerwear Contest Pattern Description: Girls’ Top, Skirt, Cropped Pants, Jacket and Purse.  I made View B: the Vest. Pattern Sizing: 8-16.  My daughter wears size 10-12 in RTW and I used size 12 for the pattern.  It fit her perfectly. Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?   Pretty much, although I used a different fabric than what they used for the photo on the envelope. Were the instructions easy to follow?   Yes, very easy to follow.

For round 3, we were all given the same pattern to use—a dress with a weird bodice—the Colette Rue pattern.  Modifications to the pattern are allowed but it still has to be recognizable as the pattern.  We were given digital files to download.  I took one of the files to Staples to have it printed using their engineering prints.  It was sized way too small.  The sleeve fit on an 8.5x11” paper—a doll-size sleeve.  After being at Staples for over an hour trying to download the other files to see if they would print properly, it cost a small fortune.  I have never spent more than $10 on a pattern.  To print 3 pages, it cost over $21.  Since the pattern had two different versions, it was spread out over 5 pages.  Also, the pages had patterns for the lining, which I am not going to do.  So basically it cost over $21 to get one page worth of patterns. Ok, done with my ranting . . . for now. First off, I chose version 2, with the straighte...

Pattern or style, and how it fits the criteria: I used Simplicity 3956 View A , an empire-waist cross-over top with sleeves and skirt cut on the bias. Fabric used - material and yardage: Polyester Georgette - 2 yards. Lining (not sure what it's made of) - 1 yard

2016 Sewing Bee Round 1 - Shorts or Capris

My daughter found some overalls at a thrift store that she just absolutely loves.  They are slightly too small for her and the cheapest I’ve found them is at Walmart for $17.  I thought, “I can make you some for way less than that!”  So I found this pattern (the only overalls pattern I could find) and happened to enter Sewing For Children Contest . Pattern Description: Children’s overalls. 3 Styles—short, medium, long legs, and 3 different bib pocket styles. Pattern Sizing: My daughter is 9 years old and is a little big for her size.  She wears between size 10 and 12.  The pattern has sizes 6-11.  I used size 11.

I am a member of Pattern Review and pop in once in a while to see what contests they have going.  They happen to be having a Vintage Pattern contest, so I ran to my stash of patterns and found one that had been my mom’s years ago.  It is from 1975—Simplicity 6908—Size 5 for children’s halter top, knit shirt, shorts and skorts (or pantskirt as the pattern calls it).  Unfortunately my kids are too big for size 5, but I have a niece who is 3 years old.  I figured it would be too large for her, but I went ahead and tried it anyway.  I was thrilled when she tried the outfits on and they fit.  I made three outfits for her— view 1, 2, and 3 (with a bow as in view 5 ). View 1 and 2 were so easy!  View 3 of the shirt, using stretch knit fabric was such a pain!  I hate working with knits and this pattern reminded me why.  The rickrack around the neckline and sleeves was being difficult, so I gave up after ripping it out several times, and just pu...