children – Teresa Coates

3 October 2012

Giving a Little Gift of Love {guest post}

I want to thank Teresa for the opportunity to sew for the orphans of Tam Ky, Vietnam. I’m Mary Striegel and when I’m not working as a chemist for the National Park Service, I’m teaching 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grade girls to sew. The girls are part of the Girls in Action mission group of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Alexandria, Louisiana. The Girls in Action, or GA’s as they are called, are learning to open their hearts and make a difference in the lives of others through God’s love.

GA’s stitching up diapers with the help of Jessica Guidry.

I’ve been teaching girls to sew for almost 10 years. When I read about Teresa’s Sewing for Orphans project, I thought that this might be the perfect project for our girls. The five young ladies are bright and enthusiastic about learning and this was a way for me to teach them about Vietnam and the needs of the children there. They jumped at the chance to make diapers for the babies.

Emily Mackey concentrates on the sew width.

This is Mary Katherine Hickman first time sewing and she loves it!

The GA’s weren’t alone in their desire to help. This summer I had the chance to teach some women of church to sew. When they learned about the project they wanted to do their share. The Sewing for Orphan’s project was infectious…I placed a call for seamstresses and soon had a group of nine members ranging in age from 7 to 70 ready to sew.

Linda McKee sewing for the orphans — Linda McKee was handy with boys shorts (and the seam ripper!).

We met on Saturday morning and shared laughter and joy while making pillowcase and popover dresses. Some of the sewists had never used a serger, but they whipped out more diapers. Others fashioned boys shorts out of men’s tee shirts. By the end of our sewing session, we had completed 16 dresses, 9 pairs of shorts and 22 diapers!!!

More importantly we gave a bit of love from our hearts to the children of the Tam Ky Orphanages. Thank you, Teresa for the chance to show we care.

And really, I cannot thank you and your crew enough, Mary. It has been so amazing to me to have so many people join me in my efforts to do something special for the orphans in Tam Ky. Thank you, again!

20 August 2012

How to Make: Popover’s bias straps and hem

So we got the Oliver + S Popover Sundress side seams finished and added the yoke, now we get to finish it off.

Now time to do the bias straps. You can do them with self-fabric or be justifiably lazy and use 1/2″ double-old bias tape. I bought a bias tape maker not too long ago and will be trying that out on the next dress. For this one, I just followed the directions.

Fold the bias strap in half lengthwise, then in half again, on one side only.

I followed their directions, but also added a step. The stretch of the bias and the stretch of the underarm curve made for some frustration for me. I had to re-do it on one side and decided to just stay-stitch to avoid the double stretch.

Continue reading “How to Make: Popover’s bias straps and hem”

20 August 2012

How to: Make Popover’s bias straps and hem

So we got the Oliver + S Popover Sundress side seams finished and added the yoke, now we get to finish it off.

Fold the bias strap in half lengthwise, then in half again, on one side only.

Continue reading “How to: Make Popover’s bias straps and hem”

19 August 2012

How to Make: Start the Popover Sundress

finished Popover dress I wanted to find a quick and easy pattern for the orphans’ dresses, so when I found this one from Oliver+S, I thought it might just be the one. I’ve used their new Straight Stitch Society patterns [did I really not take any photos?!] and really love the way they put them together and explain the construction. I figured same people, different name–it’ll be good.

I was right, the Popover Sundress pattern is quick to assemble, the instructions are easy to follow along and it’ll sell you on their patterns.

The pattern is a downloadable which means you are going to have to tape it together to get the full-size pieces. Normally, I hate this and refuse to do it. For the sake of this project, including being able to share it all with you, I did it. I pulled out the clear tape, lined up the grids and taped it together. Just because I did it this once, don’t be expecting me to do it much more. I’ll take tissue paper patterns any day.

Anyway, you end up with three pieces: dress, yoke and ties. They also give you a matching pattern for a doll dress, which I may have to do with my scraps. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Continue reading “How to Make: Start the Popover Sundress”

19 August 2012

How to: Start the Popover Sundress

I was right, the Popover Sundress pattern is quick to assemble, the instructions are easy to follow along and it’ll sell you on their patterns.

Anyway, you end up with three pieces: dress, yoke and ties. They also give you a matching pattern for a doll dress, which I may have to do with my scraps. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Continue reading “How to: Start the Popover Sundress”

20 December 2011

I love a good swap

I joined up with Victoria Wolfe‘s 15 Minutes Play swap this month, my first in so many years that I can’t really remember the last time I swapped fabrics with a stranger.

We set up swap partners in the first week of December and I’ve been gathering bits and pieces here and there. My swapper said she likes smaller pieces and batiks, so she’ll be getting some that I’ve acquired, but never seem to find a proper use for. Plus some fun new fabrics I got just for her. So while, I’ve been gathering, she was super quick and -surprise!- I found a box of fat quarters sitting on my doorstep a few days ago.

I love these bright colors and can imagine making all manner of things for my little nieces. I especially love the blue-green floral. Not sure what I want to do with it, but it will be something just for me.

Thank you, Ellen!

And just for fun, here’s a shot of the box o’ fabric as it landed on the table in my sewing studio. What a mess!

I’ll be so glad to have some extra time in January to get the place back in order and seriously hoping that the injuries from my November accident have healed to the point that I can be active for more than a half hour at a time. Until then, it’s a bit of chaos down there.

7 August 20117 August 2011

And then there were two.

My family trio became a duo last week when my son moved out of his bedroom and into my sister’s house–1009 miles away.

I’d been expecting him to go, he was going to bring her kids home after their summer vacation with family. He would accompany them on the flight, stay for a few weeks and come back home. But life never quite happens like I expect and wham,bam Stuart suddenly had a job at my sister’s dental office.

If he wanted it.

He has spent much of the summer looking for a job with no luck beyond the small landscaping gig he’s had for years now, but suddenly there was a nearly-full-time position just waiting for him. In southern California.

He accepted, said his goodbyes to family and friends, then boarded a plane with his ten- and five-year-old cousins bound for LAX.

His room sat empty for two days, waiting. Maybe he’d change his mind. Maybe the job wouldn’t actually exist. Maybe we could still be a trio.

A week later, he’s getting settled in his new room and his sister has taken over his old room. Her computer is on his desk. Her sheets are on his bed. Her toys and books are on his shelves. And maybe in another week or two it won’t seem like they are his desk, his bed, his shelves, his room. Maybe it will feel like they are really hers.

Perhaps in a few weeks we will have morphed into a dynamic duo, instead of feeling like a tripod with missing leg. I feel this imperative to bond tightly now or we will simply fall apart. So I’m spending more time with her, talking more, being together more.

Together, just the two of us.

30 July 20117 August 2011

The Best Day Ever.

This is my five-year-old nephew’s favorite line this week.

Kids at Washington Park — Cousins hamming it up at Washington Park

The first time Alex said it was last Friday as we left the Oregon Zoo. We’d spent four and a half hours roaming though the zoo, ogling the fruit bats as they devoured broccoli and bananas, meditated on the giraffe’s less-than-graceful gait, rumbled along the train tracks to and from Washington Park, and visited every wildcat, monkey, bird and insect cage we could. With all the cousins living far apart, it’s rare that they all get together. But my youngest sister had left her two here with family and we took full advantage of it, enjoying the zoo, the train, the park and a picnic lunch.

Alex wasn’t far off the mark–I might not argue for it being the best day, but it was, at the least, a very good day.

The next day we propped the tent on the back porch and watched old Spiderman cartoons on Netflix and had grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. When he snuggled up to me long past dark, he told me again: “Today was the best day ever.”

“Better than the zoo?”

“That was the best day, too.”

It didn’t really matter what we did to him, as long as we were all together, it was a great day, a best day.

The simplicity is childlike and, I’m prone to think, slightly childish. How can every day be the best day? I know it can’t really be the best, but maybe there’s something I can take from his sweet declaration. These months of unemployment and lack of income have taken its toll on me and on my readiness to experience any real joy in the day to day drudgery. I am more prone to say it was the worst day ever, on those days when I get notice that my petition my was denied, that someone else got the position, that unemployment insurance doesn’t cover people like me.

The struggle continues but I’m going to try to remember what Alex said. I put his picture on my computer desktop, a big grin bending his face, his eyes into a happiness that is almost palpable. I put it there to remind me that it isn’t so much about what I have or don’t have or what exactly I’m doing, but it matters that I have family and love.

25 April 2011

Can anything be too cute? How about this?

I came across something that actually made me yearn just a little for my daughter to be 7 or 8 again. Luckily, I came to my senses and remembered that I have several nieces that age! Phew. But really how can you resist the absolutely adorableness of this bustle backpack?

I have a fondness for bustles, evidenced by my now-vintage wedding dress. They’re especially delightful on a little girl. Me Sew Crazy has more pics and even offers a tutorial to make it yourself. I think I will be making one for some niece or another since it’s just too cute to not make.

6 January 2011

Celebrating Solstice

Every year the kids’ school spends the week before Winter Break in a flurry of activities that culminate in what is simply known by the school community as Solstice. Each grade presents a song or a poem or a dance; something to celebrate the lengthening of days and return of the sun. It’s a proud moment for parents at every grade.

This year was even more so… Audrey played in her marimba band to start off the show and I got a front row seat reserved just for the “parent of the Moon.” Stuart had said, three years ago, that when he was a senior and had the chance, he would be the Moon. And this year there seemed to be no question about it. No tryouts. No requests. He was the Moon, the antagonist of the story.

Moon_Minions — Stuart as the Moon with his minions.

P1020039 — The high schoolers getting ready for the Solstice celebration.

P1020355 — The power animals hanging in the Commons.

Each child and most staff members take part in creating a power animal, from kindergarten through high school. No sketching or scissors allowed. You simply tear your animal out of a folded sheet of construction paper. Inside, everyone writes a goal, hope or dream for the coming year then staples their animal onto the string. The scraps, left from creating the animal are used to write down the bad thoughts, habits and experiences you want to get rid of. Class by class these scraps are compiled into paper bags and on the day of the Solstice celebration, they are burned on the bonfire. A final farewell.

Mine was an octopus, but it never got on a string–the joy of being part of Special Ed and not a classroom. Instead it’s tacked to the wall by my desk. Inside I wrote: Don’t be afraid to accept new opportunities.