Sunday, July 14, 2013

Cajun Corner - Vol. 5, No. 27

 
 
 
 

Cajun Corner – Vol. 5, No. 27 – July 13, 2013

 

Bon Jour!  Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.

 

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit us at www.cajunstitchery.com, www.flickr.com/photos/cajunstitchery, and, www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

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What a week this has been. 

First, our water heater died.  That was okay because we could go next door for hot water.  We tried that and the other water heater had something wrong with it because we hadn’t used it often enough.  George spent the day learning what to do on the internet and draining and pouring peroxide and draining, etc.  It was an ordeal.  Finally we had hot water next door.  We called our handyman and he said he’d get with us sometime the first of the week.  Well, Friday George called him.  He apologized and promised to get back with us on Monday.  Wow!  Thank goodness we have the hot water from next door.  I’d hate to think what we would have done if we didn’t have next door. 

Then I found out that one of my friends had a stroke.  Another friend’s uncle passed away.  Yet another is on Hospice.  I am kind of happy this week is coming to a close because my head is swimming with all of this.

While working the other day, I found that I needed a place to put laundry.  I made a simple laundry bag big enough for my needs, about 24” wide and 36” tall.  I embroidered the word “Laundry” and added a few related designs.  Then I began putting laundry into the bag.  I started thinking that this might be a cute idea for a gift and began searching on the internet for laundry bags.  Come to find out they are hot items for students going away to college.  That makes sense.  There are laundry bags with monograms, names, school names, and all sorts of designs.  I thought about getting more input on this idea and so I asked some of my friends on Facebook.  They loved the idea.  Then the search began for cute sayings to embroider on the bag.  Finally, the next bag was embroidered with “This Home Has Endless Love and Laundry” with little red hearts around the “Love” and clothes on a line around “Laundry.”  It really turned out cute.  Then I made another plain laundry bag and timed myself.  Since then a few blank laundry bags have been made.  The one with This Home Has Endless Love and Laundry is for sale at our Etsy store.  The cost is $30 which is in the ballpark of the other embroidered laundry bags that are on the internet.  The plain laundry bag is also for sale at our Etsy store with the option of your choice of embroidery.  Lots of people have been looking at it but so far no one has purchased.  It is such a unique idea for a gift not only for a student going away to college, but also for newlyweds, or a house warming gift.  The plain laundry bags are like a blank canvas ready for the artwork.  The plain bag is $15.00, plus the cost of whatever embroidery you choose.  The embroidery can be, and should be, very large because the space is available.  A 12” tall design is definitely doable and would cover 1/3 of the bag.  The white fabric that is used is made in the USA, as is the thread, and since I made it, the whole bag is made in the USA.  If you think of any really cute sayings to embroider on these laundry bags, please let me know.  Who knows, you may see your quote embroidered on a laundry bag someday.

We completed an order this week for a young lady who rides horses and competes in barrel racing.  She and her mom came over and her design and name were embroidered on a few shirts.

Most of this week was spent digitizing a huge design that is 45 inches wide by 30-something inches tall.  It is magnificent but cannot be shared here.  Next is stitching out pieces of the design and tweaking the stitches.  It is a very exciting project.

Don’t forget the flour sack towels with the little mermaids on them.  They are $15 each.  There is one for sale in our Etsy store.  More can be made.  Get ‘em while they are hot.

We embroidered a beautiful wedding runner with the name of the bride and groom, and the wedding date.  It will go on their sweetheart table at the reception.

Usually July is the month to begin bringing out the Christmas items to sell.  It is Christmas in July.  However, I think we will wait a bit for all of the Christmas embroidery.  I just cannot get my head around the year being half over.

Poor George keeps trying to mow the lawn in between the rain.  Each time it rains he has to wait until the grass dries out before he can continue mowing.  Today he got half of one of the back yards mowed before the rain came.  Now he has to wait.  By the time he finishes mowing the lawns, he’ll have to begin again.  Such is life in Florida.  However, I am so thankful for the rain.  When we lived in Orlando the problem was drought.  There is always something, I suppose.

As I was picking up around the house next door, I ran across a couple of pieces of wood strips that we had used for hanging orders.  Instead of hanging orders on them, I screwed in some cup hooks and hung some of our hats, totes, towels, and other wares for display purposes.  Cajun Stitchery needs to start displaying our items in the house.  This has already paid off.  Customers this week were able to see samples of our embroidery and refer to them when placing their order. 

I was going to include directions for How to Make a Pillow in this issue.  The directions that I saw on the internet were all so complicated that it even confused me.  So, I decided to write my own directions.  It reminds me of my Mama and her chicken feather pillows.  I believe I have written the story before of Mama making a large body pillow out of ticking that we would fill with the feathers in all of the other pillows in the house.  Then she would make new pillows out of ticking and re-use the feathers.  As we unpack all of Mama’s belongings, we’ve found a bunch of pillows.  None of the pillows have chicken feathers, though.  You can tell that she made just about all of the pillows.  The little throw pillows that she made are stuffed with squares of foam rubber to fit the pillow.  Most of them are not stuffed tight.  I found myself taking some of them apart the other day and combining the foam into one pillow for a tighter, fuller look and realized that I am my mother.  I’m just waiting to find the pillow full of scrap fabric.  We never threw away even the smallest scrap because that would be used to stuff something.

Have a wonderful week
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HOW TO MAKE A PILLOW
 
Cut 2 pieces of fabric the same size and shape as the front of the pillow you want to make. 
 
Finish the edges of the cut fabric piece by serging the edges or applying some method of finishing edges. 
 
With right sides together, stitch ½” or 5/8” around the entire shape leaving a 3 or 4” opening.  Clip the corners and curves and fill with polyester pillow fill.  Leave the entire short side open if you plan to fill with a fitted piece of foam. 
 
Once filled, stitch the opening closed either by hand or using your sewing machine.
 
Voila!  You have just made a pillow.  Depending on the fabric used, you should be able to wash the pillow.
 
Of course, to keep the pillow clean, put it in a pillowcase and/or sham.  Preferably put the pillow in a beautifully embroidered pillowcase and/or sham.  If the pillow is a throw pillow, no additional covering is required.
 
Cajun Stitchery
(850) 261-2462
 
P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

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