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. 6, No. 17 – June 29, 2014

 

Cajun Corner – Vol. 6, No. 17 – June 29, 2014

 

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.

When I see any one of you, our e-newsletter subscribers, I’m usually taken aback that you know what is going on in my life and the life of Cajun Stitchery until I realize that you must be reading this e-newsletter.  This helps to keep you informed.  Our subscribers are friends, relatives, or customers.  I love hearing from you, too. Let me know what is happening in your life, business, or even if you just want to drop a line to say, “Hello.”

The garden is bountiful this year and George has worked very hard on the garden and yard; although, the weeds seem to have a hold on the yards.  Weeds are a constant battle when we are trying to get beautiful green grass.  Just as one man’s junk is another’s treasure; one man’s weeds are another’s prized store bought plants.  A friend of mine who lived in Iowa told me that asparagus grows wild in Iowa.  In Florida asparagus plants are prized.  A friend of mine from Central Florida told me once that dollar weed can be used in salads.  I would love to send her our entire dollar weed collection but the more you pull, the more it comes back.  I like to watch the P. Allen Smith gardening show on PBS.  Earlier this spring he was talking about his beautiful lantana blooming.  We struggle to control the lantana in our yard from spreading everywhere.  All of this is to say that as we struggle to control weeds in our yard, George and I will sit back in the evenings with a glass of wine and decide where these plants would be treasured.

Speaking of our garden, we have a couple of blueberry bushes.  Each year we watch as the fruit appears.  We keep an eye out as the fruit begins to ripen.  Then one day we will go out to look and all of the ripened fruit is gone.  Obviously, birds and squirrels have the same idea.  There is apparently a special variety of blueberry that grows here.  We tried planting blueberries for years to no avail until one of my friends, a master gardener, gave us the blueberry bushes that we have now.  Our newest theory is that we need to plant more blueberry bushes in a place closer to where we can see them everyday, rather than on the other side of the yard. 

On the embroidery scene, lately I have made several of our little corset bags.  Years ago when I was pretty new to embroidery and soaking up information from the embroidery sites on the internet, I ran across a site from, I believe, South Africa called The Purple Hat.  This lady had some of the cutest embroidery designs and a lot of in-the-hoop designs.  The corset bag was one of them.  I bought it.  I’ve made these little bags every once in awhile since.  There are about 5 or so pieces to the bag and it takes about an hour to make one. The problem that I have with the little corset bag is that the 5x7 size is almost large enough, but not quite, to hold my android.  The android won’t go past the waist.  So, I made a larger version, 7x10.  The 7x10 version is large enough for my android, plus a few small items.  They are really cute and have a carrying strap/ribbon.  They can also be monogrammed.  The only drawback is the closure. It is open at the top with no closure.  However, the bag is fully lined.  These bags are now listed in our Etsy shop.  Lots of people have stopped by to look at them but no buyers yet.

We did have a customer last night who purchased a black, military style cap with gold fleur de lis embroidered on it.  Frankly, I’m surprised the fleur de lis caps and visors haven’t sold better.  Where are all of my Saints fans?  It is summer and football season is right around the corner.

Another ongoing project is creating a tweed fill design.  This project is still in the works but it certainly seems that a tweed fill design can be done.

I’m always looking for new monograms to create, especially antique/vintage types.  Pinterest has been a great help in this area.  The problem with creating monograms is that I am not a designer.  I can usually take a picture and digitize it into embroidery, but with monograms you usually have one or a few letters of a particular style but not the entire alphabet.  Designing the missing letters is a real challenge.

This week I received a call from an old friend of mine who worked with me in Pensacola during my paralegal days.  It is always such a pleasant surprise to hear from old friends.  She has an upcoming baby shower to attend and wanted to know if I could monogram baby blankets.  Yes, I can.

HAVE A HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

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.

To deter spiders from staying or coming inside your house:

Add 20 or 30 drops of peppermint oil to an 8 ounce spray bottle first then fill the spray bottle with water (leave an inch of head space from the top)
Shake for at least 30 seconds before every session you use the spray bottle.

Spray around : The inside of window sills ( all the way around )

Around door frames ( all the way around )

Under the kitchen and bathroom sinks
In the 4 corners in a room on the ceiling

You can also place a few drops of the peppermint oil on cotton balls and place in closets, kitchen cabinets, behind couches…. any out of the way place to keep spiders from returning.

Repeat the process once a week

You can plant it near doors and windows.

Thought this was cute:

Want to freak out your neighbors?  Name your Wifi “FBI Surveillance Van 7”.

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. 6, No. 16 – June 14, 2014

 

Cajun Corner – Vol. 6, No. 16 – June 14, 2014

 

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.

My wonderful embroidery tech visited last week.  Clothilde received a real good check-up.  She had me order a few parts for upgrades which have since been received and the machine has been upgraded.  Clothilde is purring like a kitten and sports a brand new laser and bobbin guard.  While here I was able to introduce her to lemoncello.  I believe she really liked it and I have promised her a bottle on her next visit.  We were also able to take her to Tippy’s Tavern for dinner one night.

Installation of the bobbin guard was a piece of cake.  The laser was a bit more challenging.  Our tech had already returned to Orlando before the new laser arrived.  She was on speaker phone as she walked me inch-by-inch through the process of installing the laser.  We got to the point of aligning the laser when I just could not get that light to shine, as it should, on the needle hole in the needle plate.  There are only 2 screws holding the laser in place and those screws needed to be a bit loose in order to align the laser.  While trying to align, one of the screws came loose and I just could not get it back in the proper hole.  George had to help.  To make a long story short, George looked at the laser and talked to the tech and realized that I could not align the laser since I had it in backwards.  He turned the laser around, screwed the 2 screws in, and after fiddling a bit with alignment, it was done.  Leave it to me to install the laser backwards.

Yesterday, once we got off the phone with our embroidery tech and the laser was installed, I hung up the phone and put it on my cell phone stand next to my computer and went back to digitizing.  After an hour or 2 I decided to take a break and grabbed my android and went outside.  The phone was dead.  I pushed the on/off button and nothing happened.  I connected it to the charger and nothing happened.  We even changed the battery.  Again, nothing happened.  Neither of us could revive it.  This morning we drove to the AT&T store and a very nice gentleman named Josh tried to revive the phone, to no avail.  It was a new phone or nothing.  I purchased (well, we got it on our plan) a Moto X.  Apparently, this is the new and improved version of my Atrix 2.  I have played and played with this phone today.  I have read instructions and at one point called Josh for a little help which he was kind enough to assist.  As the kids today say, “This phone rocks.”  I can hook it up to my computer to charge the battery; or, plug it into the wall.  It has a voice command like my old Atrix 2 had, but this one has better response and does stuff for me.  So you think that sounds crazy?  I don’t even have to touch the phone to make a call, send a text, or even do searches on the internet.  This is just day one with this phone.  Imagine what day two will bring?  Oh yeah, the advertisement for this phone says it is the only phone assembled in the USA.  Okay, it wasn’t made here, but at least the USA got a part of the action.

We have to come up with a name for my phone.  Doris, Boudreaux, and Clothilde are taken by my embroidery machines.  It must be a Cajun name.  I am thinking about Marie.  Are there any thoughts out there on Cajun names for the Moto X?

The garden is bountiful this year and we are enjoying the fruits of George’s labor. 

I do a lot of monogram digitizing.  People want their name in “this” font.  There are a lot of monogram alphabets that I have done one or two letters, no one bought them and they are just hanging out there.  I think I’m going to complete these alphabets and offer them in my Etsy store.  Yes, I know, it is another project for my long list of projects for our Etsy store.

I did get to enjoy an evening with the girls last night.  It was delightful.  The food, of course, was fabulous.  That break from reality is always appreciated.

HAVE A HAPPY FATHERS DAY

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.

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. 6, No. 13 – May 17, 2014

Cajun Corner – Vol. 6, No. 13 – May 17, 2014

 

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.

Spring has brought beautiful weather to our area, along with all of the plants and flowers; but this year we have encountered some surprises, too.  Early this Spring George bought a half whiskey barrel to put in the front yard.  He was going to plant a papyrus plant in the barrel, which he did.  Since he also took apart our raised garden and rebuilt it, he used some of the soil from the garden in the barrel.  The papyrus began growing happily as did several other plants that we thought were weeds.  Many of them were weeds except we recognized some Johnny Jump Ups.  So, we left those alone.  Then we recognized a tomato plant. We let that plant grow, as well.  Then a familiar looking plant began growing.  It was an eggplant plant.  I guess there were lots of seeds still in the garden soil that decided to grow.  The papyrus is very happy and getting tall.  The Johnny Jump Ups are a beautiful purple, green and gold.  The eggplant is growing but hasn’t had a flower yet.  The tomato has flowers and now is sporting some small fruit.  How about that for simply planting a papyrus in a half barrel?

Of course, the new garden has shallots, lettuce, carrots, radishes, and lots of plants.  The shallots are almost ready to harvest but the rest are still growing.   He planted pots of all kinds of peppers and more tomatoes.

The gladiolas seem to travel and we have a few gladiola patches here and there in the yard.  The gladiolas that have bloomed are a shade between red and orange, more like a deep coral.  They are beautiful. 

The roses are blooming, as are the gardenias, bottle brush and jasmine.  The yard has a wonderful fragrance.  The hydrangeas are turning a beautiful blue and the bushes are covered in these flowers.

We are enjoying sitting outside with the fragrances and colors.  It is so soothing.

It turns out that the blackberries are not blackberries at all.  They are dewberries.  They look and taste exactly like blackberries but have less seeds.  They are also bountiful this year.  The blueberries are not ripe yet but we will have a nice harvest when they do ripen.

Everyday is a joy to sit outside, especially in the mornings, with a hot cup of coffee and enjoying nature.

Sometimes I will list items on Etsy that I really never expect to sell.  Sometimes it is something funny; sometimes beautiful; and sometimes very expensive.  When it comes to really fine embroidery with lots of stitches and very time consuming, the price tends to get high.  Sometimes it is just difficult to price items.  Nevertheless, I had a beautiful white handkerchief listed.  It has a hefty lace border and is very elegant.  I listed it several months ago for $60.  I knew it would never sell but I wanted to show what we can do, as well as get people to visit the store to see what kind of hanky would cost $60.  As it turned out, a few weeks ago a gentleman made an appointment to come over and look at ladies handkerchiefs for a special occasion for his daughter.  He bought the lace handkerchief for $45.  I gave him a discount because he really liked the hanky and he was a nice guy.  Rather than take the handkerchief off of Etsy, I made another one.  It sold last week for $60.  I was pleasantly surprised, again.  Maybe there is hope for the $90 hanky that is listed on Etsy. 

Lately I’ve been working on my continuous embroidery skills.  Continuous embroidery is where you hoop a design and stitch it.  The design is too large for the hoop, so, after the first hooping, you re-hoop to stitch the continuation of the design.  I’m working on some beautiful edges.

It started when I purchased the European pillows from my friend, Pandora de Balthazar.  They needed pillowcases and I didn’t have any that fit.  So, I made a set.  Pillowcases are easy to make.  The edges of the pillowcases needed to be finished and such special pillows deserved some special pillowcases.  I used some heirloom designs and a bit of creativity and voila we had pillowcases.  They were so beautiful that I took photos and posted them on FaceBook.  Almost immediately we got an order.

Another project with the continuous embroidery is a scarf that I finished this past week.  It is just a poly blend kind of fabric but the embroidered edges and ends are gorgeous.  Again, it is done in white on white.  I figured out the cost and listed it in our Etsy Store today for $150.00.

Lots of embroidery has been created lately.  Beautiful baby bibs, pillows, and patches, but I’ll save that for another issue.  In the meantime  . . .

HAVE A GREAT MEMORIAL DAY

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.

 

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. 6, No. 11 – April 27, 2014

 

Cajun Corner – Vol. 6, No. 11 – April 27, 2014

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.

As mentioned last week, I did embroider our tee shirts with the Pledge of Allegiance.  They turned out so good that I took pictures and posted on our Cajun Stitchery Facebook page.  Not long after posting one lady commented and purchased a tee shirt with the embroidery. Another friend has purchased one, too.  However, as the first lady and I were commenting back and forth, another person decided to comment. That comment was not very nice and basically said I was wrong to use the Pledge of Allegiance for monetary gain.  I didn’t feel the post deserved a comment.  Not long after that someone else posted a very lengthy post regarding the controversy of the Pledge of Allegiance.  I deleted both comments.  A little while later, another person commented that she was pleasantly surprised that no one had posted controversial comments.  Nevertheless, that post received over 1,000 hits.  More than I have ever had for a post on Facebook.

We went to a friend’s home for Easter.  Since George and I ALWAYS color Easter eggs and hide them at her house, she asked that we please refrain from doing this.  Instead, one of her guests was bringing her two little boys and would we please hide the eggs for the children.  We were delighted to do so, of course.  Well, not without a little bit of good ole Cajun fun.  We did color the Easter Eggs.  We did hide them for the little boys.  We did tell our friend that there were 22 eggs – 2 dozen shy 2 eggs that broke.  We did actually only have 20 eggs.  Hahahahahaha!!!!  I wonder if she is still searching for those other 2 eggs.

George has been very busy in the garden and caring for the lawn and plants.  The place is looking very nice right now.  One of our front yard plants is a papyrus.  The papyrus decided to take over the yard.  George dug all of the papyrus up but put one in a half whiskey barrel.  The papyrus looks very nice and we feel good because it won’t take over the yard and yet we still have a specimen to admire.  Funny thing is that as the papyrus has recovered from transplanting and winter, the soil is producing a few surprises of its own.  Johnny Jump Ups are jumping up in the pot along with a few other plants from our yard, including a tomato plant.  Our yard is always entertaining.

Even though the handkerchiefs have been a success in our Etsy store, one of the most popular handkerchiefs has been taken off.  It is the scallop edged hanky that has the thick scallop.  It just never looked right to me.  Oh yes, it is beautiful but as the designer there is something wrong with it.  One thing was that on each scallop there was a stitch or two in the middle that looked bad.  My wonderful embroidery tech taught me how to get rid of those stitches.  The issue is now resolved.  The next issue is unevenness of the threads when detached from the hoop.  I’ve been working on that today.  The outcome is that there will be a few more handkerchief designs available in our Etsy store in the near future.

With all of that said about handkerchiefs, we completed an order this week for three white with lavender stitching handkerchiefs that say, “No Ugly Crying.”  Yes, it is for a wedding.  Our customer is in Canada.  They turned out beautiful.

A gentleman called me this week wanting some patches.  “Do you make patches?” he asked.  Yes, we make patches.  It turned out that he is a truck driver who changed companies or opened his own company and needed some patches to put over the embroidered logos on his pants and shirts. His lovely wife came to the studio and showed me his shirt and approved the patch design.  They are done.  Before she left, I asked her how they found me.  She said that they live in Ensley (a small area just north of Pensacola) and they called every embroiderer they could find but no one made patches.  I suspect no one made small order patches.  Apparently embroiderers have a minimum number of patches required before they will take the order.  Luckily for this couple, they found Cajun Stitchery who will accept small order patches.  It is a shame that more embroiderers don’t take small orders.  There is a demand for “In Memory of” type patches.  As in this case, rather than tossing out good clothes, a nice patch can cover the older emblem.  In fact, any design can be made into a patch.  It is only a matter of putting the square, circle, or geometric shape outside the design. 

Since I was already working on patches, I designed a patch for a friend of mine who works protecting the sea turtles.  The patch has not been stitched out yet, but she loves the design.

HAVE A GREAT 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.

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.