Cajun Corner – Vol. 7, No. 5 – April 13, 2015

Cajun Corner – Vol. 7, No. 5 – April 13, 2015

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.  

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.my-catalogs.com/cajunstitchery

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

Ever since I was a young girl in Girl Scouts I've been interested, perhaps concerned is a better word, about the environment.  With that in mind, Earth Day is April 22nd.  One of my cousins posted a very moving video on FaceBook about how everyone should plant a tree on Earth Day.  We are looking into getting a fig tree to plant and join the movement.

That video got me thinking about the environment and wondering if I'm doing all I can to help.  There really are so many things individuals can do or not do to help the environment.  We have a garden and a compost pile.  I'm still driving my little 1995 Geo Metro. Insofar as Cajun Stitchery is concerned, I try to purchase 100% cotton, made in the USA fabric.  Sometimes I can and sometimes I cannot but I sure do work hard searching and trying.  

It dawned on me that rather than throwing away scraps of fabric, which is nearly impossible for me to do anyway, I should make stuff with it.  I do that anyway.  That's nothing new.  As I pondered this, I decided to make stuff from our old clothes, specifically our jeans.  At first I was making some cute dog bones that I saw on the internet.  The dogs love them and they are made out of jeans.  The shape is not perfect yet.  One actually looks more like a wrench than a bone.

Now I'm making plastic bag holder/dispensers. Years ago I made a plastic bag holder/dispenser for our home out of the leg of a pair of jeans.  It really has stood up to time, even when my husband pulls and tugs at it.  It is behind the washer hanging on a hook and you really have to reach for it.  In addition, you simply wash it like you would, well, jeans.

For Easter, I made these adorable fabric carrots from scraps of fabric and stuffed them with small pieces of scrap fabric.

There is a new category in our Etsy Store called "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle."  The intent is to sell items reusing/recycling scrap fabric, clothes and whatever else seems applicable.  Your positive comments are always welcome.

If you don't already know and would like to know how to make the plastic bag holder, here are the instructions:

I've found about 13" tall is a good size for us.  Cut off a leg from a pair of jeans.  Give yourself a good 15" or so because of the hems.  Cut off the bottom hem on the jeans.  It's just too bulky.  Sometimes, if the legs flair, I'll simply make them straight by cutting the sides straight (finish the raw edges and seams each side).

Serge or otherwise finish the raw edges at the top and bottom.   If the jean legs flair, simply make them straight by cutting the sides straight (finish the raw edges and seams each side).

If you are going to monogram or embroider anything, now is the time.  Just make sure the embroidery is centered the way you want.  

Turn the finished edges at top and bottom inside about an inch.  Sew the hems leaving enough room to thread elastic through.  Also, leave an opening to insert the elastic.  

Next, insert the elastic.  I thread the thin elastic through, tie it off, and then cut the elastic.  Usually the bottom is pretty tight to allow only one plastic bag out at a time.  The top needs to be tight but loose enough to stuff the plastic bags into it.

The final step is that I cut about a foot or two of that heavy felled seam that runs the side of the jeans.  Just cut it and make a long strip.  Double it up and tack it onto the side of the bag, or wherever you want the strap.

Voila - Finished

If you don't understand any of these instructions, please do not hesitate to contact/comment and I'll be glad to try to help you out.

Peggy Henshall, Owner

Cajun Stitchery

Cajun Corner - Vol. 5, No.1

Cajun Corner – Vol. 5, No. 1 – January 6, 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. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frasmes=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

Happy 2013!!!!

George ended up spending the week in Atlanta with his sister and dad.  They buried Mom on Friday.  George says it was a very nice military funeral.  They folded and presented the flag to Dad, played Taps, and the Navy officers escorted Dad. 

It was a difficult week.  The New Year holiday made it a bit difficult getting the funeral plans finalized, but in the end they did what had to be done.  On top of everything else, George’s birthday was Wednesday, the day they received Mom’s ashes.  George and his sister left Atlanta yesterday morning.

A lot was done at Cajun Stitchery during the week.  The dogs, cats and I spent the week alone with an occasional visit from neighbors.  We were able to churn out some beautiful embroidery though and work on some creative designs.

This upcoming week already looks busy with more heirloom embroidery and a large ball cap order.

Sometime ago a friend told me to sell no more than 4 or 5 different types of things in your store.  Just have a lot of each of those things.  Etsy allows 10 categories of items in each Etsy store.  My new embroidery friend in Alaska reiterated this to me.  She has over 1,000 items in her EBay store.  They are all embroidered towels, mostly hand towels, and a few bath towels.  Her EBay store is booming and keeps her busy everyday. 

Reviewing our Etsy sales from last year it appears that the one item that sells most is handkerchiefs.  Our plan is to build up our handkerchief supply and turn our Etsy store into just handkerchiefs or handkerchiefs and another item, perhaps scarves.  That is Step 1.  Later on we may open a second Etsy store for a couple of additional categories.  The Etsy rules do allow you to have more than one store but they make a point that they do not encourage this practice because it can become confusing.   Now the question is what to do with the other items that I make. 

Yesterday was the Queen’s Brunch for our krewe.  We get together over mimosas and bloody Mary’s, eat a fabulous brunch, socialize and then our past queens retire to a private room where the envelope containing our votes and kisses are tallied for our new queen.  Only the past queens know who will be the new queen until the announcement at the King Kake Party.  We usually begin the Mardi Gras season on the island with our King Kake Party that same afternoon.  At that time we serve King Cake and then announce our new king and queen.  This year John Thomas was crowned King Nerius XXII and Peggy Henshall was crowned Queen Doris XXII.  It was simply a magical day for me.  Those girls are the very best.  I really like the tiara a lot.  I wore it until bedtime last night.  Actually I wore it to bed but it wasn’t comfortable sleeping with the thing on my head.  The tiara returned to my head this morning and I wore it all day. 

I began designing my royal logo last night and posted it on Facebook. 

We also found that the Pensacola News Journal wasted no time in publishing an article on our party before the evening was over.

Today we had a birthday meal for George at a friend’s home.  I wore the tiara.  Food was great.  Conversation was wonderful.  We had a lovely afternoon.

This Mardi Gras season is very short and very busy, but I plan on doing it all and attending it all.  Here we go…

J

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler

J

If you are not a subscriber and would like to receive Cajun Corner weekly, please email cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and let me know to put you on our email list. 

 

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Thank you Harold Wilkes for the following contribution:

 

The General went out to find that none of his G.I.s were there. One finally ran up, panting heavily.

"Sorry, sir! I can explain, you see I had a date and it ran a little late. I ran to the bus but missed it, I hailed a cab but it broke down, found a farm, bought a horse but it dropped dead, ran 10 miles, and now I'm here."

The General was very skeptical about this explanation but at least he was here so he let the G.I. go. Moments later, eight more G.I.s came up to the general panting, he asked them why they were late.

"Sorry, sir! I had a date and it ran a little late, I ran to the bus but missed it, I hailed a cab but it broke down, found a farm, bought a horse but it dropped dead, ran 10 miles, and now I'm here."

The General eyed them, feeling very skeptical but since he let the first guy go, he let them go, too. A ninth G.I. jogged up to the General, panting heavily.

"Sorry, sir! I had a date and it ran a little late, I ran to the bus but missed it, I hailed a cab but..."

"Let me guess," the General interrupted, "it broke down."

"No," said the G.I., "there were so many dead horses in the road, it took forever to get around them."

* * *

C’est tout, mes amis

Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462

cajunstitchery@yahoo.com

P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 49

 

Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 49 – December 23, 2012

 

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. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frasmes=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

The other night the dogs began barking.  They were barking the distinctive bark that means, “Someone is here.”  George was outside, so I let him deal with whatever it was.  I went outside at the tail end.  Two little girls from down the street had stopped by to give us a bag of lemons from their tree, and wish us a Merry Christmas.  Their daddy was letting them do this alone but was just a few yards behind them in the driveway.  I must say that it would take a lot to out do the sweetness from that little bag of lemons in the brown paper bag that says “Merry Christmas” written with crayons from a child’s hand.

Another neighbor dropped by this week delivering Christmas goodies and a card.  We are so blessed to have such good neighbors.

Last Wednesday night was our Wednesday night girls Christmas party.  I would love to share some of the pictures from that night but don’t really want to humiliate my friends.  Needless to day, we had a wonderful time.

Cajun Stitchery made it.  We got all of our Christmas orders done and delivered.  Cajun Stitchery is closed until after Christmas.

I’m still playing with the snap and grommet presses.  My red hoodie that I’ve had longer than I really should, has a broken zipper.  George gave me the idea to replace the zipper with snaps.  I simply cut the zipper off, rather than ripping seams and re-sewing.  The snaps were then placed appropriately.  The very top snap is on backwards, but the rest are perfect and functional. 

I made another little in-the-hoop purse that I plan to list on Etsy.  The black webbing strap is embroidered with a tiny floral motif.  The only thing that I don’t like is the grommets are both next to the side seams toward the front of the purse.  The seam was too thick for the grommets to connect.  Otherwise, the purse is adorable.  It is also fully lined. 

We have received some sad news this week.  George’s mama has pneumonia.  We are praying for her health.

***MERRY CHRISTMAS***

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* * *

Found the following at http://www.christmasfacts.net/funny-christmas-facts

Funny Christmas Facts

Christmas is a great period mostly because of the revelry, the feasts, good company and best of all the time off from work. There are many things that most people will know about Christmas; these are the more conventional Christmas associations including Santa, the Nativity story, the star of Bethlehem et al. However, there are other things that only those who go in search of the bizarre may know off hand. With this in mind, here is a list of funny, yet interesting Christmas facts.

• Pig head, it's what's for dinner. The traditional Christmas dinner in England used to be a pig head prepared with a mustard sauce. Most English folk are possibly quite delighted that this isn't the case anymore.

 

• Witches and Evil spirits are the greatest broom thieves. The Norwegians once believed that witches and devious spirits were likely to steal their brooms on Christmas Eve. Who knows maybe a mischievous prankster stole a few brooms during that period and the legend stuck.

 

• “Bah Christmas”. Perhaps not the best line created by Dickens, mainly because “Bah Humbug” just has that extra something special about it. Most people would probably agree that Dickens' decision to work on the famous catchphrase was a good move indeed.

 

• There is a special act in Britain that actually makes it mandatory to go to church on Christmas day. The act that is deemed the Holy Days and Fasting Act still exists, however, not so much enforced. Additionally no vehicle of any kind is to be used to get to the Christmas service.

 

• Forego throwing out your Christmas tree and make it lunch. The Evergreen is actually edible, well most parts of it anyway. In addition, it is nutrient enriched, so if you take the advice stated previously you'd be getting a good source of Vitamin C and roughage. Don't mind that you will be eating a tree; it's just one step away from any other vegetable.

 

• Bake your bread on Christmas Eve and it will remain fresh forever. If only. There is an old wives' tale that actually suggests that bread baked on Christmas Eve is mould resistant. While it cannot be known now how many people believed this, it's pretty obvious that any believers would be converted after the appearance of mould on their bread beyond 5 days or so.

 

• Kris Kringle really lives in the North Pole. But guess what he foregoes the reindeer and drives a 1984 Ford Tempo, additionally; he delivers Pizza instead of working in a magical toy shop.

* * *

C’est tout, mes amis

Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462

cajunstitchery@yahoo.com

P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 44

 

 

Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 44 – November 18, 2012

 

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. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frasmes=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

This week we had the pleasure of entertaining our friend and embroidery technician from Central Florida.  She planned this trip to Pensacola and had four or five customers in the area needing their machines serviced.  She arrived on Wednesday afternoon and was anxious to see the new tablecloth.  Once she did; she loved it.  We all went out to eat each evening, drank wine, and talked about embroidery and crafts.  It was such a delightful time.

There were a few new embroidery techniques that she taught me.  One was using scrap thread in the embroidery.  It is pretty cool.  The center fill of the design needs to be changed to about a 20 point density. An outline of the design is run; then stop the machine and place enough scrap thread to cover the inside of the design.  Then you cover the thread with Solvy or Aqua Magic (any water soluble topping will do).  Next you let the fill stitch run.  Stop the machine and trim the threads outside of the outline.  Then let the machine finish the embroidery.  Once the stitching is completed, wash away the topping.  The light fill holds in the threads.  The threads are very colorful and make a unique and pretty appearance.

The other technique was a spin on the fringe technique.  We did not try this but she did digitize a sample for me which I will try out later.  Using a satin stitch, you create a small, simple design, let’s say an oval.  Digitize the oval very small.  Then digitize another oval over the first one but slightly larger than the first.  You can do this as many times as you like.  The important thing is that it is a satin stitch and there are no center stitches.  Use a different color for each round of stitches.  When you have finished stitching, take your scissors and cut straight down the middle.  The satin stitches fluff up in all of the colors that you used.

As we discussed puff embroidery, I asked how to use a hair dryer to shrink the puff that sticks out.  She explained that it is not a hair dryer but a heat gun.  It looks like a hair dryer but gets much hotter.  George bought us a heat gun and is going to try it out today on some practice puff embroidery.

She solved many of my embroidery issues and answered my questions.  When we get together, we usually create designs and techniques of our own.  It was a wonderful visit.

On Thursday, she decided to check out Clothilde and make sure she was running up to par.  Poor Clothilde blew her Z Motor.  We had a new Z Motor overnighted and installed on Friday.  That was unexpected but it could not have happened at a better time – when my technician just happened to be here.  We are up and running and purring like a kitten now.  Clothilde is a pretty fabulous and amazing machine.

Our embroidery technician departed Saturday morning.  We fully intended to attend the Wooly Booger Bawl at 3 p.m.  However, we were exhausted.  Three o’clock came and went and we just could not seem to get up and going.  Nevertheless, a hearty congratulation to our new Queen Sugah, Jayne Drees, who was apparently very surprised at her selection as Queen Sugah.

This morning George decided to make pancakes for breakfast.  I usually don’t eat breakfast at all but George makes some good pancakes.  He served me first and then, to my surprise, served the dogs pancakes.  He served himself last.  My mother would be appalled.  I was pretty amazed, myself.  Those dogs are so spoiled.

The lap scarves were finished, embroidered and mailed to the customer this week.  I haven’t heard from her since.  I asked that she let me know when they arrive.  Considering they were mailed, she may not have received them yet.  I think they turned out lovely.

This coming Thursday is Thanksgiving Day.  At 5 a.m. Thanksgiving Day, 2008, my Mama passed away, peacefully, in our living room.  Thanksgiving hasn’t been the same since.  I am thankful for so much.  In fact, it is because of Mama that Cajun Stitchery even exists.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

If you are not a subscriber and would like to receive Cajun Corner weekly, please email cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and let me know to put you on our email list. 

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* * *

Taken from http://familycrafts.about.com/od/giftstomake/tp/HomeMadeGiftIdeas.htm

Check out this website for 100 Christmas gifts to make.

* * *

Found this at:  http://frugalliving.about.com/od/clothingcare/ht/Laundry_Deterge.htm

Learn how to make your own laundry detergent, and enjoy clean clothes for less.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 10-15 minutes

Here's How:

1.               Mix together two parts Borax, two parts Washing Soda and one part grated Fels-Naptha soap to create your own laundry detergent (You can make as much or as little as you'd like).

2.               Use up to three level tablespoons per wash load.

3.               Store the rest in a lidded container, out of the reach of children and pets.

- Recipe Courtesy of James77777

Tips:

1.               Be sure to label your detergent container, so others will know what's inside. Include a list of the ingredients as an added safety measure.

2.               Borax sells under the name 20 Mule Team, and can be found on the laundry aisle. You should be able to find Washing Soda and Fels-Naptha soap there too.

3.               Having trouble locating Fels-Naptha soap on the laundry aisle? Check to see if it's in with the bar soap.

4.               If the grocery store or discount store that you shop at doesn't stock these ingredients, try an international grocery store.

5.               Zote, Ivory or castile soap can be used in place of Fels-Naptha.

What You Need

·                        Borax

·                        Washing Soda

·                        Fels Naptha Soap

 

C’est tout, mes amis

Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462

cajunstitchery@yahoo.com

P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 37

Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 37 – September 30, 2012

 

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. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frasmes=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

Cajun Stitchery is now on Flickr.com.  I am starting to load pictures of embroidery on there.  There are only a few now but should be more as time goes by.  It is at www.flickr.com/photos/cajunstitchery.

Headboard embroidery has been finished and delivered. 

The headboard made me realize that we need a new tablecloth but this one is going to be covered in embroidery.  Our kitchen table, made by George, is octagonal.  The last tablecloth that I made for my kitchen table was at the direction of my mother.  She did not want the ends of the tablecloth to drape.  She wanted me to put elastic on the ends of the tablecloth so we wouldn’t accidentally pull on the tablecloth and knock things over.  Well, she had a good point and I made it as she instructed.  Alas, it is now old and worn.  The kitchen curtains were made earlier than the tablecloth.  They were my first attempt at roman shades and turned out very nice.  Of course, everything, curtains, tablecloth, and even the napkins were from the same fabric.  I’m just ready for new décor throughout the house.  This will be a good start.

The tablecloth fabric is natural colored muslin.  Muslin used to be the cheapest fabric out there and was used to make mock ups of patterns.  Now muslin is apparently one of the “in” fabrics because it is certainly no longer the cheap fabric it used to be.

Designing the embroidery to go on the tablecloth has been time consuming.  We have so many stock designs that it is hard to choose.  I finally decided to use several of the designs in my favorite color – red.  I needed some sort of a design plan.  It turned out that one of my digitizing programs is able to do this to scale.   Now that’s a very nice feature.  I am able to place the individual stock designs into the program and see how it would look on the tablecloth, more or less.  This is an ongoing project.

Some of our friends came over and got the sago palms.  It worked out really nice since a couple of them came over, brought the food, cooked dinner, and afterward we all enjoyed several glasses of wine and delightful conversation.

We’ve been eating and sharing bell peppers from the garden lately.  This is truly a bell pepper kind of year.  We have one tiny eggplant plant that decided to start producing.  Right now we have the beginnings of an eggplant on the plant.

We are still watching the tomatoes and hoping for nice big fruit this fall.

I was thinking the other day about the internet being world wide.  George and I, both, are on Facebook and have acquired many friends that we know only through Facebook.  Several of those friends are from other countries.  A popular pastime on Facebook is animals and there are lots and lots of posts about how people consider their dogs and cats as family members.  We do, too.  I wonder what people in other countries who eat dog meat think of our attention to our pets?

Have a wonderful week.

If you are not a subscriber and would like to receive Cajun Corner weekly, please email cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and let me know to put you on our email list. 

 

No time to read Cajun Corner?  Visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com and click the Odiogo button to hear the computer read the blog.

===============================================================

 

The oldest known existing embroidery is the Bayeux tapestry; it is believed to have been produced in approximately 1066.  It is nearly 70 metres (230 ft) long, and depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England concerning William, Duke of Normandy and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England, and culminating in the Battle of Hastings.  It is not actually a tapestry but rather, embroidery.  The tapestry is now exhibited at Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Bayeux, Normandy, France.

The entire 230ft embroidery/tapestry can be seen at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry

 

C’est tout, mes amis

 

Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462

cajunstitchery@yahoo.com

 

P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.