Blog - Remember When Studio

The Gift of Sewing

6/12/2020

My father gave me a sewing machine for Christmas my freshman year because my major in college was Home Economics. I remember thinking, "Why would he give me this, I don't even sew!" Who knew it would be one of the greatest gifts I ever got.

So I understand when people wonder why you would teach a kid to sew. Sewing has served me well, into many ways to count.

Of course, it is helpful to know the basics:

sewing a button
hemming
repairing a seam

Note- It is a source of pride that several of my now grown nephews have their own sewing machines and mend the clothing in their families.

Top 5 Reasons to Teach Kids to Sew

#1 - Empowerment

Luke and Trish with their finished Aunt Camp projects, a husband and bean bag chair.

Taking a flat piece of fabric and making it into something you can use is very empowering. Tip: When sewing with kids, help them choose projects they don't have to wear, and where straight and accurate seams are not critical.

#2 Creativity

quilt made from children's drawings

This is a quilt that my nieces and nephews made for their Mom. They each drew a picture, and then I helped them translate that to the fabric. It is such a great snapshot in time.

#3 Solutions

appliquéd quilt with silhouettes of artists.

I taught at Donegal Middle School and often made quilt wall hangings. This served two functions.

Celebrating special events like this quilt for our annual Arts Da (UA DAY)
Decorating the hallways with sound-absorbing fabric while providing some cushioning for middle schools who literally bounce off the walls.

Mom's 1950s sewing machine beside my electronic sewing machine with masks piled between

During the 2020 pandemic quarantine, Mom and I made 1009 facemasks to donate to people and organizations in need. This gave us a great purpose that helped others while filling our days.

#4 Celebrating

wedding invitation with a ring bearer pillow made using the design from the invitation

Click on image to read more

I used Jed and Kate's invitation to create a ring bearer pillow to be used in their wedding. The white hearts on the left of the orange hearts represent Jed's family. Kate's family is on the right. The fabric is an old linen napkin from Jed's Grandma.

#5 Honoring

Bearloom made from grandparents and parents coats

Click on image to read more.

This was my first Bearloom. The fabrics come from my Mother's lambswool coat, Dad's Christmas blazer, Grandma's blue overcoat, and Grandpa's deerskin. One was made for each of my 5 siblings, and Mom and Dad.

I often think back of unwrapping that first machine and thank Papa for having such foresight. For me, sewing has been a remarkable tool to create endless solutions and close connections with people I love.

Remember When. . . we honored Anne?

5/29/2020

High School swim team picture

1977, CCHS Swim Team, Anne 1st row far right

Coaches standing with athletes at State Championships

CCHS Track & Field State Champs Anne back row, 3rd from left

When my niece Kate asked if she could hire me to make a t-shirt quilt for Anne, my answer, of course, was, "No, but we could make one together!"
Anne:

was my high school swim coach;
was my Lebanon nephews' and niece's teacher and track coach;
is my sister, Lee's, good friend;
is like a second mom to Kate.

Design

Memory quilt made from t-shirts with designs arranged by creating rays emerging from a center circle.

found on Pinterest "T-shirt quilt by Quiltmama"

Kate chose this quilt as our inspiration, a great choice because it allowed us to use over 30 shirts.
She also selected the perfect fabrics that would speak to Anne's love of purple.

T-shirts laid out in the quilt design.

Five of us, (Kate, her husband/my nephew Jed, Mom/GMa, Lee, and I) laid out the design, and Kate marked the position of each one.

Construction

Paper triangle pattern layer between two t-shirt ray panels.

Kate, Jed, their nieces Addy, Kaley, and I applied stabilizer and sewed the shirts together. This was the girls' first time using a sewing machine. They loved it, despite announcing how much they hated to sew when we started. WIN!
Once the shirts were together, I cut them into the rays and added a 2" strip boarder to each.
Next, I drafted a pattern to fill the space between each ray.

Assembled quilt top with a cat laying in the middle of it.

We were in quarantine by the time we could sew the spacers between the rays. Luckily, Murry is always willing to lend a paw.

Delivery

How do you deliver a quilt in the middle of a global pandemic with proper social distancing? Kate in a dino suit, of course!

Kate in a blow up dino suit with Anne holding the memory quilt with 31 t-shirts worked in to a starburst pattern.

The finished quilt turned out great. Anne said, "It made my year!"

Anne with her arms around her granddaughters.

Teachers/coaches give so much to so many, often never knowing the impact they have made. Many of my high school memories include Anne, and I know that she has given herself the same way to thousands of other students. Anne has been a constant in Kate's life and helped her grow into the remarkable woman she is. It feels terrific to work as a family to give a little back to her. Now she can wrap up in all those memories with the ones she loves most.

Have a person in your life you would like to honor? Contact me so we can get started.

Ect. . .

1977 senior Falconettes in the final pose of our song.

I wanted to share this story to help people know how remarkable Anne is.

This past year I saw Anne at a service for her husband. At the meal afterward, she came and asked me to sing "your team song that you wrote." At first, I had no idea what she was talking about. Then I remembered that before each swim meet, our whole team would line up and sing a revised version of "The Minute You Walked in the Joint" complete with dance moves! That was 44 years ago and umpteen students, and she remembered it!! Amazing.

Dishing on Dishwasher Detergent

5/20/2020

I had three enviromentally friendly dishwashing detergents that didn't work so I decided to buy three more to see if I could find one that did! (I am not sponsored or connected to any of these companies. )

Here the results of my research.

The Problem

before washing

after washing

The dishes were not getting clean. This is spaghetti sauce with chesse washed with Ecos. Also the three products I had, Ecos, Nature's Promise and 7th generation consistently did not clean cinnamon off my breackfast bowls. (I use a lot of cinnamon.)

Constants

Dishwasher - Bosch - set on Pot scrubber
Rinse Agent - white vinegar

Products Tested

Seven Automatic dishwashing detergents. From left to right, a bottle of Nature's promise and Ecos, a box of drops and cover, a bag of Mrs. Myers Clean Day and a bottle of Seventh Generation.

Product

Nature's Promise

Ecos

Mrs. Myers

dropps

7th Generation

Ecover Zero

Clean Dishes
No

No

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

$/ load
15 ¢

22¢

42¢

39¢
22¢ with auto ship

9¢

19¢

Packaging

recyclable

recyclable

unrecyclable

recyclable

recyclable

some plastic

Parent Company

Ahold Delhaize Co. - Netherlands

Earth Friendly Products Co. - New Jersey

Johnson & Johnson -Wisconsin

dropps - Illinois

Unliever - London

Johnson & Johnson - Belgium

Animal Testing

Leaping Bunny Certified
Ecos, Ecover, Mrs. Myers, 7th Generation
requires that no new animal testing be used in any phase of product development by the company, its laboratories, or ingredient suppliers

PETA Cruelty-Free
dropps
a product and its ingredients weren't tested on animals.

Cruelty Free
Giant Nature's Promise
may only refer to the finished product, not any testing that may have occurred at the ingredient level.

Ingredients

All were:

plant based
No phosphates
no chlorine
no sulfates except
- droops -contains alkyl (C10-16) a sugar based compond that is biodegratable

My Choice

a box of drops on a yellow background with two lemons and two of the dishwasher pods aside of white dishes.

Image used with permission of dropps

dropps is what I will use from here on out and I am willing to pay a bit more because:

my dishes are clean
there is no waste
they are PETA Certified Crulety-Free
they off set 100% of their carbon emissions from shipping
they sell a sampler so you can try it out
they are very responsive customer questions

Although Mrs. Myers and Ecover both performed well they both had recycable issues and although they are Leaping Bunny Certified, Johnson & Johnson is not.

Homemade Option

3 drops of dish soap (I used Method dish soap and very small drops)
1 1/2 tablespoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
cost- 5¢/load
Results- Dishes got clean but a residue was left on metal surfaces.

Facemask Update

4/3/2020

Penn Medicine/Lancaster General Hospital is looking for facemasks and other donations. They are supplying instructions and materials to make them while supply lasts. Here is the email I recieved.

Dear Friend,
Thank you for your generous offer to make masks to help protect our community during the COVID-19 outbreak. The willingness of so many to step up and offer support to our patients and staff has been truly overwhelming.
Special mask-making fabric and instructions are now available for pickup (while supplies last) at our Donation & Materials Center at Clipper Magazine Stadium, 650 N. Prince Street, Lancaster, every day from 7am-6pm.
How to Pick Up Material and Return Masks
Enter the stadium parking lot off Prince Street and follow directional signs around the rear of the stadium to the staging area off Clay Street. Stay in your car and our team will provide you with a bag of fabric and instructions to prepare small or average-sized masks. When completed, masks should be returned to the Donation & Materials Center in a bag identified by size.
Learn about other items we are accepting at the Donation Center here.
If you have questions, please email: LGHealthCovidDonations@pennmedicine.upenn.edu. Thank you again for your generosity and support.

With appreciation,

Brian Burgess
Chief Strategy Officer

Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health
555 North Duke Street | Lancaster, PA 17604-3555

Facemasks . . . The Learning Curve

4/2/2020

a 1950's sewing machine and a computerized sewing machine side by side with masks piled in-between.

During WWII, my grandmothers did what they could to help; rolled bandages and lodged soldiers, made food basket for the needy. So when Mom and I heard there was a need to sew facemasks, we jumped at the chance to help. I am sharing what we learned, hoping it helps others who want to take up the cause.

The Bottom Line

use a pattern from the Fabric Patch in Ephrata, Washington
- they are weeks ahead of us
- have a pattern that is continually revised
- the designed nose clamp
- medical professionals wearing them in the hospital
only making masks to fill requests
trust medical professionals to know how to use them
a request was made to keep the women's pattern the same width but make the depth the same as the men's pattern, so it fits under the chin bette

Sewing Tips

The Fabric Patch's video is very detailed and clear to any person who sews. Mom is has used her machine for repairing clothing, but is not a sewer. I found some ways to simplify the process for Mom and me.

interfacing folded in layers with the pattern traced on top and pinned in the middle

Freezer paper Pattern ironed to folded fabric ready to be cut out.

two cut out pattern pieces placed right sides together and then interfacing pieces placed on each side. Above them is a pile of these each pinned together with one pin.

Pinned fabric and interfacing packets being ironed.

Singer Featherweight sewing machine sewing a 1/4

Pattern Cutting

glue or tape the pattern to cardboard so it is easy to trace
fold several layers of interfacing and trace the pattern on the top layer ( I used a colored pencil)
Pin through all layers before cutting
the freezer paper they suggest in the video is fabulous
- you iron the waxy side to the top piece and cut.
- If you don't have freezer paper, trace the pattern like the interfacing.
flipping the pattern saves materials

Interfacing

Note - according to the Fabric Patch, interfacing adds a layer of protection because it is non-woven making it harder for the virus to pass through
place wrong sides of the fabric together
position the interfacing on both sides of the fabric pieces
pin once through all layers to hold in place
iron both sides - this allows for any interfacing that is sticking out to fuse to itself and not your ironing board or iron!!
leave the pin in

sew a 1/4" seam allowance
Note: Fabric Patch says to sew the outer at 1/4" and inner at 3/8" to make it lay better. It is a good idea, but we did not find it necessary
remove pin

Our Education

researched a pattern, it's source & effectiveness. Our first choice was all cotton fabric.
reached out to medical professionals knew to see if they had a need. Siara, an RN, said, "Yes, 55, please."
read a report from the National Library of Medicine that cloth masks can do more harm than good. I shared this with Siara, and they still wanted them. We completed the masks for her and stopped sewing.
started again when we learned Joann Fabric chain was distributing mask sewing kits for free in all their stores. But our store is closed, and they do not ship the kits.
thanked Molly at fabricsandtrimming.etsy.com for the fabric they donated. She shared a video from the Fabric Patch.
my niece Carrie, needed masks for Hospice and Reading Hospital.
we got back to work.
Siara told us they use them below their N95 masks. My cousin Deb, and RN, said that would help keep the N95 clean.
sewed a 114 for Hospice and Reading Hospital, they asked for the pattern revisions stated above
sewing will continue when more supplies arrive tomorrow

The Support Staff

Annie patiently waiting to go play ball.

Cat sitting on an interfacing cardboard bolt.

Murry is in charge of quality control.

Ironing station on the kitchen table with a cat near by overlooking a beautiful backyard.

A great view and good company is a plus!

Remember When. . . Mom reined us in at dinner?

3/4/2020

Table runner with a set of four horse heads lined up side by side and a quote embroidered in the semi circle on each end.

Have you ever found a handwritten note of someone who has passed? For me, it creates a connection. I am sure this was the same for Whitney when she discovered her mother's (Annie) note tucked in with some beautiful fabric printed with horses. The calculations spoke of her mother's plan to make curtains for her kitchen and her love of horses. As much as she loved horses, she loved her family more. Whitney shared how her mom always said she treasured family meals together, so table runners seemed the perfect way to keep her at the center of those gatherings.

Whitney felt that adding this quote her mother had given her would make it perfect and adding her signature was a must. Clearly she was right since Joanna, one of Annie's girls wrote, “It is the most special gift I have ever received. I love that the ‘Love “Annie’ is in her handwriting- I recognized it instantly."

Whitney and I collaborated on the Story Starter, which kept in the pocket on the back.

The result was four table runners, one for each of Annie's girls. She will live in their hearts forever and, now they can always have her at their table as well.

There was quite a bit of fabric leftover, so I helped Whitney think through some projects that she could do with it for the grand and great-grandchildren.

Want to bring a loved one to your table or back into your home. Contact me so we can talk about it.

Why I love to shop locally

2/28/2020

Community. It is important to me that shopping locally helps the environment and the local economy, but I also care about local business people and love that they care about me.

Lynn at Rainbow Vison Stained Glass is a fantastic example.

She is sincerely interested in my current project and remembers my past projects better than I do!
She knows her stock AND my taste, so she is always a fantastic help.
She is a great teacher, and enthusiastically supports people learning the craft because it is her passion.
She goes out of her way to help, and I consider her a friend.

Other local business I highly recommend:
Amy Holland Pottery in Litiz PA- Fabulous pottery teacher and beautiful pottery
B&G Lumber in Elizabethtown PA - Custom cut lumber and project support
Hostetter's Hardware, Mount Joy PA - Knowledgeable, friendly people in every department
The Flower Wagon in Lititz PA - Healthy, affordable plants, and family owned

Remember When. . . she gave childhood memories for Christmas?

2/21/2020

An off white boiled wool german cape with green trim.

5 pillows and 15 ornaments made from the cape.

Meg and four siblings spent three years in Germany because of her father's US Air Force assignment. In those years, her mother, MomMom, established traditions that lasted through the years and are honored by three generations. Meg brought me two of the children's capes that the girls wore and asked me to make pillows for each of sisters and brother. She also wanted to include a cardinal to represent her mother.

An off white boiled wool hood with 3 embossed metal buttons, a tab that buttoned and the net and a roll of green trim.

Along with the capes were two hoods, three metal buttons, and two of the fabric pieces that formed the neck closure. I removed the trim from the edges of the garments to make it easier to incorporate in the design.

Repairs

a small moth whole in the fabric

a square of wool placed over the hole on the back side of the fabric.

pouncing a felting needle in the fabric

the finished felted fabric

There were two moth holes that I fixed by felting them with extra fabric, adding to the longevity of the finished heirloom.

A metal button's shank being straightedges in a vice.

A metal button top being straightened in a vise

The repaired buttons with the button that was in good condition.

It was remarkable there were any buttons at all since they detached from the capes. Two of the buttons were severely bent, so I carefully straightened the top of one and the shank of the other using my faithful vice.

The Pillows

three rectangular pillows with a pocket, button, cardinal embroidery and bottom trim. The back of the pillow is mostly red lining fabric with a bit of boiled wool, a button hole with button and some trim.

Three of the pillows incorporated a pocket from the cape which aligned perfectly for the use of a metal button and held the Story Starter booklet, which I create for each piece. The neck tabs were attached to two of these pillows. The trim at the bottom of the piece mimicked the cape. The back of each heirloom came from the original lining.

a football shaped pillow with trim around the edge. In the center is red cardinal embroidered. The edge is one inch deep and back is red fabric with the ear cover of the hood sewn on as a pocket.

The front and back of the collar came together to form a lovely oval that framed the cardinal well. The earpiece of the hood created the pocket on the back.

The Ornaments

8 larger ornaments shipped like a Church window. Each has a cardinal embroidered and some trim. Below are 7 smaller ornaments of various shapes each with a pocket with a child's name embroidered.

Meg's kids grew up knowing me as "jeangerdes" and are dear to me. I have met their cousins and most of their nieces and nephews, so of course, with Meg's permission, I made ornaments for each. I knew MomMom would look down and be pleased. I put the child's name on the back of the ornament for the third generation. Each one has a pocket to hold the story of this special ornament.

Do you have cherished items that are holding stories that need to be shared? Contact me so we can start stitching them together.

Remember When. . . everyone was welcome?

2/10/2020

quilt with a column of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Each column is separated by a thin strip of white. about 1/5 of the way down from the top the columns are broken with a row of white that has a large blue welcome flanked by two crosses.

Recently I was asked to make a rainbow welcome quilt for the Akron Zion Luthern Church. Of course, I was thrilled to help support a mission of making everyone feel safe and incluced.

The Rainbow

Pieces of fabric, one each in colors of the rainbow, folded and placed in order.

strips of colored fabric being sewn together with a thinner strip of white being sewing between each color.

The fabric was torn into strips and sewn together to form the rainbow. Once completed, a section of the rainbow was cut to insert the "Welcome" piece.

The Welcome

deep yellow cross bordered in black and blue letters being ironed down to white fabric using fusable webbing.

Blue welcome letters being machine appliquéd (sewn) to the white background fabric.

Fusing the crosses and letters to background fabric first, made it much easier to appliqué.

The black boarder of the cross being machine appliquéd (sewn) to the white background fabric.

Quilting

Top squared of the quilt with their quilting design. Red with a dove, Orange with trinity symbol, and yellow with a flame.

dove - trinity - flame

3 of the top color squares with their quilting design. Green with a heart, blue with a chalice and loaf of bread and purple with a cross.

heart - chalice & bread - cross

My clients provided a quilting design for each column of the rainbow.

A close up of the top of the quilt that sows the quilting detail and the welcoming section of the quilt.

The background of the welcome was quilted all over (stippled) to provide interest and dimension.

The Result

The quilt hanging so it can be seen from the front door of the Church.

The quilt is now a warm welcome to all who enter this Church and their Facebook page! I hope that soon there will be a day when people wonder why this was necessary.

I love that my talents serve others. Usually, I collaborate with clients on very personal projects which are meaningful to them and their loved ones. This project was unique because the quilt sends a message of love to the community.

Feel free to contact me to get started on a project that is meaningful to you!

Remember When. . . a coach was honored?

2/5/2020

Embroidered orange words arranged parallel and perpendicular to form a circle on a blue background.

What a coach wants most is to know if they made a difference. This patch was made up of words or phrases from former players and the coaching staff to honor 40 years of coaching. They were pieced together to form a design and then embroidered to create a meaningful keepsake that would make a great pillow, bag, or quilt. Have an outstanding teacher, coach, or scout leader you would like to honor? Contact me so we can get started.