Emergency Sewing (long post)

My daughter calls me on Christmas Day and asks what I'm doing.  I tell her that I'm trying to get everything ready for Christmas Dinner.  We have dinner at 6:30 - 7:00pm so that everyone can visit with their families.  Makes it quiet for hubby and I in the morning.
Well it seems that my niece's sewing machine decided to die.  She still had presents to finish for Saturday.  I told my daughter to let me know if she wanted to borrow my singer(back up machine).  I didn't hear another word about it. 
Yesterday my daughter calls and asks what I'm doing and I tell her that I'm sitting on the couch with hubby and Kira.  We are trying to spend as much time with her as we can.  She wants to know if I can help my niece sew some dresses together.  I'm game.  What does she need done?  My niece calls and she is in tears.  She can't figure out a pattern to turn a mans dress shirt into a dress.  She is trying to follow a written pattern with measurements for a smaller child and enlarge it to fit her girls and her nieces using her father's shirts.  I tell her to bring them to me and I will figure it out.  It is now 4pm on Friday.  She stops and shows me what she is trying to accomplish.   It shouldn't take long I tell her not knowing that she needed a total of 3 dresses.  She is still in tears as it has taken her over 8 hours to make one and she still isn't done.  I check the web site and draw up a pattern from the instructions.  I send her home to finish the one she has been working on. 
I cut out the first one and get it sewn.  I have my granddaughter try it on as she is the same size as I'm making.  I make some changes to the pattern and call my niece.  My daughter sends her some pictures.  She is happy with it and asks me to make 2 more.  Not a problem.  I get busy and cut the first one out, sit and sew it up.  I go to do the next one and discover the back of the shirt that she wanted me to use is missing.  Now what do I do?  I call her and she says to use the other shirt and let her know how I make out.  This shirt is rayon and I haven't sewn with it in years.  I give it a go anyways.  I cut it all out and put it away until this morning.  It sewed up like a dream.  I did make sure that I put a ball point needle in to make my life easier.    Here are the finished dresses.  I really think that they are night shirts and not dresses.  

 

Sorry I've been MIA

I have tried to write this post many times and I sit and cry every time I try.  This time I will post it so that if I'm missing for a while, you know why.

Our beloved German Shepherd, Kira has not been herself lately.  So, I've been busy running her to the vet at least once a week.  They have run many test and done a slew of blood work.  We finally have an answer and one I was not prepared for.  Kira has cancer.  We go on Monday and see how far it has spread thru her system. 
I have had two different Reiki practitioners tell me that it won't be that long.  She currently has good days and bad days.  Today is one of her good days. 
I had always figured that I would lose Loki (whom my blog is named for) first.  He is a 12 year old black lab - rottweiler mix.  He is gray on his muzzle and he is starting to slow down a bit.  Kira had been acting like a puppy up until the beginning of the month.  She is 8 years old and just a happy go lucky dog while Loki is serious.  Deedle is the youngster of the group and Kira's playmate.  He is 4 years old and he too is a black lab - rottweiler mix.  He is my Houdini and goof.  He loves to figure out how to get out of the fence.  We tell him he is a goof because he brings us all sorts of things that he feels should be in bed with us or in the house.  I don't need branches, rocks or other animals leavings in the house. 
I'm sad to see her like this and I will miss her when she goes.  I'm trying to figure out a way to pay tribute to our Kira.  I just feel that her life is being taken away from her all to soon.  I feel the same for people that have to deal with this too.  One of my best friends just lost her husband to cancer in Oct.  They had been married 13 months.  Not enough time together in my book.

Should be interesting

My daughter called me and asked what I was doing.  I told her that I was looking for the sizes for wheelchair lap robes so that I can come up with a pattern for quilt guild.  She then asks if I could do some sewing for her.  I'm game, what do you need?  She does Reiki and needs some new covers for her table.  I ask what size and she goes silent.  Okay... what size is the table.  She sends me to the website and I find her table and the dimensions.  It will need 2-1/4 yards to make a cover and then I need to add elastic to hold it in place.  I start checking the website and they are getting anywhere from $30 to $60 per cover.  I figure I can make one for about $10 - $15.  In the future she wants organic cotton for her covers.  So you know who is checking the web for organic cotton.  I'm just going to get some regular cotton for now and get a few made for her and after the first of the year, I'll get some organic cotton and make up a few more.  I may just pull some fabrics from the stash and make a few.  That should hold her until her business takes off.  She bought 2 covers when she started out and she has only been doing this for a few weeks.  I hope that she can turn this into a full time business.  I enjoy the perks of sewing for her as she is giving me free Reiki and it helps to relax me and I find I'm more productive and creative.