How to Sew a Button Hole

Here's my latest

My YouTube Channel

It has been way too long since I last blogged. I am not at all sure what that's about. But I'm back and I have something to share with you: My own YouTube channel.


I officially have ONE video which I uploaded last night. It's very crude but it works. Enjoy:

12 Days Later

My big news is that I'm teaching a virtual class at etsy on November 28th! I will show the etsy world how to make those little stockings you saw in my last post and that I have here below in this post. I'm a bit terrified as I'm not good in front of the camera but as I told Mary at etsy, I'll get over it in about a minute, I think (I hope).

So right now I'm busy making plans for the workshop. We're doing it in a cooking show fashion so I have to have the same stocking finished at different stages. It's a whole lot of fun, actually. Tune in and make a stocking with me!

I Found Something to Blog About

I am making Christmas stockings!! OK, I have only made two. But they are so much fun. I drew the pattern on stapled-together pieces of paper (just to make them uniform in size -- you don't really need a pattern) and started cutting and sewing and am having a blast. See what you think.

No zipping required

A local sewing store closed recently. My daughter and I snatched up all the shorter-length zippers we could find. I'm planning to use them some how but haven't figured out in what way. Last night I crocheted while watching TV and am thinking of making some granny-square sachets. No zippers involved in that project though.

Olive, the Kitty Kitty Cat

I've plastered the forums (I call in plastering, for others it's an occasional post) with photos of our new kitty, Olive. And I have even posted once about her here on my blog. But you'll have to suffer through another Olive post. She's the cutest cat I'VE ever had. And I've had a lot of cats (sorry to Timmy, Furry Mittens, Tiger Lily, Snowball, Mel, Larry, Purr, et al). Now before you all freak out that I'm some bad cat owner, first of all, I'm old-ish (46) and second of all, I grew up on a farm where lots of cats is the norm. Now, back to Olive: she was born in the backyard of a "Cat Woman" who lives next door to a friend of my daughter's. As soon as I saw the litter, I said "I want one of those kittens." I've never been one to actually "buy" a cat or dog. There are so many that need to be taken in from the harsh conditions in which they are living. Olive was incredibly frightened, infested with worms and had conjunctivitis when we brought her home (we got her on a Sunday and I took her to the vet on Monday) in late-September. She and Ginger, our 7 year old "Brooklyn Brown Dog" (a new "mutt breed" which we made up), are sort of figuring each other out. Ginger is actually very eager to be Olive's friend. As is typical of my experience with cats and dogs, the cat will decide when she's good and ready whether or not Ginger is an acceptable pal for her.

An Ordinary Ride

I often take the Q train into Manhattan. I love the Q train. It's fast, makes few stops and it goes over the Manhattan Bridge. I can make quick phone calls if need be. I can be above ground for a few minutes instead of in the tunnels of the NYC subway system. But what I love most about the Q train is the view I get while going over the Manhattan Bridge -- see it there -- lower Manhattan, Brooklyn Bridge, and although you can't see it in the photo, the Statue of Liberty is also visible. Of course, what's missing from the view are the twin towers. It's a gaping hole in the skyline still.