How to sew a button quickly

My husband lost a button today.  I know a lot of people hate sewing on buttons, here is a quick and easy way to do it.  Please excuse the phone photos.  And yes, I do have a pillow on my lap, I have found it makes a comfortable table since my surgery.

I start off by folding my thread in half and threading it through the needle at the folded edge,

I tie my knot by wrapping the thread around my finger;

And then rolling it and pulling it tight.

This gives me a four strand threaded needle.

I only need to thread it twice on each side of the button since my strand is already strong.

After sewing the button on I need to tie the button off.  I thread the needle under the thread on the pants and pull through.

I make a loop and pull my needle through that loop.

I do that twice to make sure the button is secure.

All done!  It took me a lot longer to write this post then it did to sew on the button!  LOL

I was curious how many staples were in my incision.  I lost count but, it was more then 30 staples!

Have a great day ya'll!

Missy

What I've been up to

I was very busy last week!  I finished a friend's dress, cleaned my house and baked and decorated a cake!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/65133648/jolly-penguin-applique-pdf-pattern-for

I love penguins, I've been collecting them since I was 16 when my best friend gave me a stuffed penguin she had when I moved away.  When I saw that one of the blogs I follow, Quilt Doodle Doodles had a penguin mug rug, I just had to share!  She also has a penguin applique I think would be perfect for my postage stamp quilt, I just have to wait until payday to get it!  It is only $2 though.
Since my husband has been fussing about my coasters and using my pot holders as coasters, I think these mug rugs would be a perfect Christmas present to him!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/115447900/penguin-mug-mat-pdf-pattern

Have you ever had a dress, or any craft or sewing thing, that just gave you fits?  I made a dress for my friend Ebbye, and I cannot tell you how many times I had to seam rip that thing!  It took me forever to make!  

Here is a picture of Ebbye wearing the dress, the wind was blowing so her hair was blowing everywhere, it is Texas after all!

I had to seam reap the elastic twice!  The elastic is sewn right on to the underside of the waist.  The first elastic was hard to keep sewing in a straight line and the waist was still to big,( it turned out the elastic I used was shot) so that is the last time I buy elastic from a yard sale!  The second time, it was still two inches too big and the ruffles at the waist was sticking out(it looked like she was ready to fly) and I had sewn some of the material wonky, but I did figure out an easier way to keep the needle going straight while I stretched the elastic.  I used my walking foot!

 On my third attempt, I ironed down my ruffles again and sewed a top stitch just under the seam line and safety pinned the ruffles down, it worked a lot better this time!

I also had to seam rip the hem and accidently reversed the middle and bottom tiers and I don't remember what else!

She wants another dress just like this, yuck!  LOL

I hop these tips help!

Have a merry Christmas!

Missy

New Skirt (UFO)

I finished one of my UFO's!  http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/12/ufo-2012-list.html I was supposed to have it done a long time ago, I actually finished it in April.  I have been going out of town like every two weeks and have not had a chance to blog about it!

I got the pattern from the book Sew Serendipity by Kay Whitt.

http://www.sewserendipity.com/product_info.php?products_id=145
I made the tunic dress out of it last year.  You can see it here:  http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/06/sew-serendipity-tunic-dress.html
It is very easy to understand her directions.  My favorite is the pockets!

 I did a fussy cut on the pockets.  A fussy cut is where you cut the material for a certain pattern to be "showcased".

I did mess up on the sizing, I made it too tight, so I added a blue strip to make it bigger.

Always pin your skirt on before you sew it in case you made a mistake like I did.  It still was not big enough, so I added more.  Then I added too much and had to take some off.  My problem is that my waist is smaller than my hips and backside.

It's still too big, so I am going to try adding some pleats, I think that will be cute and look better than me messing with it more.
I did a pretty good job on the zipper though!

Kay was on "Sewing With Nancy" and shared some great tips!
Here is part one:  http://video.wpt2.org/video/1700991445/
Here is part two:  http://video.wpt2.org/video/1701022470/
I did make the skirt longer, and she gives you directions on how to modify her patterns.
I love this book, I would recommend that you buy one!  I have another pattern, the Betty June dress, that is waiting to be made.
Have fun sewing!
Missy

Laundry Tip

I just wanted to jump in and give ya'll a great laundry tip!  I was babysitting a kitten (the orange cat) about a month older than my Pippi (the calico)who is 8 months old.  When Mac wasn't trying to climb my tree, Mac and Pippi had been playing pretty rough this week and Friday night Pippi got him across his eye.  Scared us half to death because his eye was just full of blood!  He was calmer than my husband and I - LOL.
I grabbed a towel and poured some collodial silver on it and held it over his eye to stop the bleeding while my husband held him.  He meowed so pitifully at me!  Turns out it was just his eyelid she got (did I mention there was something bloody hanging from his eye?)  He's fine now and at home, I have since trimmed all of my cats nails, just in case.
Well, Saturday I found blood spots on a white curtain - right before we were leaving to go to church for our New Year's Eve service.  I grabbed peroxide and poured it on the spot, rinsed it off and poured more peroxide on it and then left.  When I got home I grabbed it to throw in the wash before the stain could set in more, but all of the blood was gone! So the next time you have blood just pour peroxide on it!
Wanna know how to easily trim your cat's paws?  I don't declaw my cats anymore because did you know that they amputate the entire toe and some cats have trouble walking afterward?  My vet told me just to use regular nail clippers, that they work better than the fancy ones for cats.  Hold your cats paws often to get them used to you holding their paws.  When they are asleep (Pippi is so hyper, that is the only time she is still enough), gently get a paw and extend the claw out, only clip the tip, making sure you do not go up too far and get the quick.  They are usually too impatient for me to do the front and back paws at the same time, so it is usually a two day process.
I hope these tips help,
Happy New Year!
Missy