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Announcing The Canada Day 2016 Blog Hop

~ Michelle ~ 26 Comments

This week I’m participating in a fun blog hop – just in time for Canada Day! For our hop, we’re featuring Canadian pattern designers. How Canadian is that, eh? I’ll be trying a new pattern and new-for-me company. Our blog hop starts today over on Happy Okapi and there is a list of wonderful deals in the post – all to celebrate Canada’s birthday. See below for the complete blog schedule.

Canada Day 2016 Blog Hop Schedule

Be sure to visit each of these brilliant blogs this week for more on our
outstanding Canadian designers and suppliers:

And, of course, to enter our giveaway for some sweet-like-maple-syrup prizes.

June 24: The Tour Starts HERE at Happy Okapi

June 25: Celine guest posts on Happy Okapi; Marsha @ Seam of my Pants

June 26: Fiona @ Tangled Blossoms Designs; Carla @ Half Dozen Daily

June 27: Sherry @ Thread Riding Hood; Reece @ Happy Okapi

June 28: Nicky guest posts on Seam of my Pants

June 29: Daniela @ On the Cutting Floor; Reece @ Happy Okapi

June 30: Michelle @ Michelle’s Creations

Canada Day–July 1: Ula @ Lulu & Celeste

July 2: Marsha @ Seam of my Pants

July 3: Keshia @ Sand Dollar Design Studio

July 4: Wrap Up @ Happy Okapi

July 6: Giveaway winners announced

And The Winner Is…

~ Michelle

The really exciting news here is there wasn’t just one winner. There were five winners. Five!

We had fun with our Trivia Question. Did you catch that in our tour? The brand that used the advertising slogan, “Only in Canada, you say? Pity!” is Red Rose Tea.

Now for our winners:

  • The winner of Prize Pack A is Jayne B. from Canada, who correctly answered the trivia question.
  • The winner of Prize Pack B is Di S. from the UK, who correctly answered the trivia question
  • The winner of Prize Pack C is Karen P. from Canada, who correctly answered the trivia question
  • The winner of Prize Pack D is Beverley P. of Australia, who followed Janelle on Instagram
  • Craftsy Rowan 3/4 Tote Kit*: Winner will be chosen and notified by Craftsy directly.
Congratulations to all of our winners! I hope everyone enjoyed our tour and our reviews of the bag-making Craftsy classes, and took advantage of the sales on each of our blogs.
Happy creating!

A Trip to Bra Makers Supply

~ Michelle ~ 24 Comments

We all have plans and we all have schedules. Mine changed suddenly last week, and my husband and I found ourselves flying to Ontario, Canada with only a day and a half notice. I knew right away though, there was no way I was going to be within hours of Bra Makers Supply and not go there. I started to make plans right away.

So here’s a little post about my trip to Bra Makers Supply. I was so excited to go, and to meet everyone. However, I arrived the same morning everyone was leaving for the Bra Makers Cruise. That was a small wrench in my plans, but I did get to meet Beverly and some of the staff. It all worked out great.

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Beverly is as wonderful as you think she is, and so is the store! Due to our schedule, my DH had to rush me a little to get me out of the store. I arrived with a list in hand, and wanted to take my time and enjoy the whole process of being there, looking at everything, selecting what I wanted, taking photos all along the way. Our schedule demanded otherwise.

I did buy all the things on my list, but I didn’t take anywhere near as many photos as I wanted.

There were shelves that went almost to the ceiling. Everything is wonderfully organized; truly a bra-maker’s delight. Along one wall there were plastic baskets of rings, and sliders, and wires, oh my! Along the opposite wall were more shelves with laces, elastics, simply everything we need.

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Just imagine shelves of laces!

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Next to these were the Stretch Laces. I really could have spent a lot more time there. Well, my money would have run out eventually.

Below are just a snippet of the elastics. Right in the middle of the lower shelf that’s showing in the photo – the new Grey and to the right of it, the new Black Cherry. Oh so pretty! I heard they are going to be part of complete Finding Kits in those colors. Yay!

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It was so fun, but DH was keeping me to my schedule. So a few quick photos, and it was time to seriously shop and hit the road again.

I bought everything I need for my Spring/Summer bra and panty wardrobe. That will be another post.

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Oh, just look at that wonderful stash and me not at home with my sewing machine.

After we went to Bra Makers Supply, we made another quick stop: the location of the original Tim Horton’s restaurant. This may be the original site, but a new building has been put up.

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This location is part restaurant – you can buy your coffee and whatever else Tim’s offers – but it’s also a museum. It was really a fun walk-through. Here are a few photos from the upstairs.

Does anyone remember these prices?

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Here are the original donuts that were offered. I don’t remember any of these.

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I thought this was a cute sign, so took a photo of this too. I have no desire whatsoever to be a Donut Maker, but a Bra-Maker. Yes, please!

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This poster was great. I love how it tied the donuts to hockey. For all the non-Canadians reading, Tim Horton was a Canadian hockey player, who after that career, opened this chain of famously popular coffee shops, that are still very popular today.

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My hubby is a Timmies fan, so this part of our stop in Hamilton was a highlight for him. With me not shopping, I had a little more opportunity to take  few photos.

D and sign

I can’t wait to get home and start sewing. Happy creating!

Types of Bra Patterns

~ Michelle

I’ve just posted over on So Sew Easy’s blog today on Types of Bra Patterns.

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This is the third post in a series I’m doing for So Sew Easy on bra-making. The articles are starting out at the very beginning of what you need to do all the way up to jumping right in and start making bras yourself. This one deals with the different types of patterns out there. Not all patterns will work for all women, just as not every bra will fit every woman.

Here’s the link to take a look:

Types of Bra Patterns.

Happy creating!

Long Line Watson and Some Bling

~ Michelle

I had such hopes my Watson was going to be perfect this time. The good news is my hopes aren’t completely dashed. My Watson isn’t perfect, but it’s not that far off.

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Here it was beginning to take shape. I’d made two changes. The last time I’d made it, I made the largest size, but it was a bit small in the cup, so on this one I graded the cup up and then put some gathering stitches along the seam line and aligned those gathers at the bottom of the cup where it crosses the cup seam. Those little gathers are hardly noticeable and then I didn’t have to change the cradle at all.

The other change I made was to ‘beef’ it up a bit. I lined the cups with power net. It does offer a fair amount more support than the last one.

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I have no idea why the front looks off-center like that with the foam cups in, but it doesn’t look like that without them. However, it does look a lot more deflated.

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There, all deflated with wrinkles and puckers. However, the center front isn’t off. It now looks fine.

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Here in the side view, you can see it gapes open a bit where the cup meets the cradle. It does that when it’s on me too, so I may need to shorten the underarm length on the pattern there. However, the more exciting part of this photo, which I don’t know that you can see there is really is more support to the cups with the power net added. It does give them more of a firm shape.

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I didn’t do anything different on the back. In fact, I was a bit lazy. I often do the elastic along the band separate from the straps, but they’re all one this time. I also used band elastic again. I have it on hand, so used what I had. Especially as this bra was still a test.

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On this side of the bra you can see where I put a pin. I didn’t have any sewing pins with me in my bedroom, so just used a safety-pin to know how much I’ll want to remove from the pattern. That’s an three-quarters of an inch fold there, so a fair bit to remove from the pattern, but I also have to remove from my Pin-Up Girls patterns there too.

So, will I make the Watson again? Well, if I do, I won’t use the power net for the cup next time. I may try a mesh instead as it’s a bit lighter, or I’ll double up on the Lycra. The single layer of Lycra just isn’t supportive enough for my size. An inside power bar is another option I’ve thought about to add more support to the Watson.

Lastly, a dear friend had her 50th birthday this week. She wears a Medical Alert bracelet but only has the one bracelet. I asked her if she’d like a second bracelet that can inter-change with her ID tag. She loved that idea – something with bling she said. Out came the Swarovski crystals and some lovely small hematite beads. She was so happy to get some more bling. What girl doesn’t love some bling?

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Happy creating!

Merry Christmas!

~ Michelle

Well, that probably seems a little odd seeing as it’s not December. And I’m sure a lot of people thought it was odd. But we did just have Christmas!

My Mum came for a visit, and I haven’t seen her for seven years. I decided I would surprise her and we’d have Christmas. We bought gifts, wrapped them, put the tree up, and bought everything for Christmas dinner. And boy, was my Mum was surprised! And delighted!

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My Mum loves Christmas, so she loved it all. She loves getting gifts and giving them too. As soon as she saw the gifts, that was it, we were going shopping. There was no way she was going to receive gifts and not give them.

We all had such a good time. I think the fun of surprising my Mum made the whole event so much more fun than usual. Everyone had such joy.

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Here she is opening her first gift. Doesn’t she look happy? She was just like a kid!

We had such a fun-filled week. My dear hubby surprised both my Mum and me with an over-night trip to the mountains. We hit Canmore, Banff, and Lake Louise. All in a day. But it was great! One amazing thing about our over-night trip was we stayed at the same resort my hubby and I had stayed at for our anniversary – and we were put in the same room! It really was great.

Then when we got back and my Mum saw the cardigan that I’d made. The McCall’s 6844. She loved it. ‘You can make me one of those, can’t you?’ You know how Mums have a way of asking that’s really telling you – that’s what I was hearing there. She was telling me to make her one. So I showed her a couple of knit options from my stash and she choice this one.

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I wish this picture showed the sparkle that’s part of the material. It’s lovely. I was kind of wishing my Mum had picked the other knit I offered. But she loved this. What’s a daughter to do?

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And here it is all done. I think it is such a lovely pattern. It comes together so easily and it fit my Mum perfectly. I did shorten the sleeves again. I never thought I had short arms at all, but I had to shorten the pattern for myself and for Mum. Other than that, the pattern was good as it was.

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The peplum on this cardigan is so flattering on all shapes. I’m curvy and it ‘hides’ a bit on me; but my Mum is really straight and it gives her more of a fuller looking shape.

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And the back. I really love this cardigan. The shaping is so lovely. When my Mum tried it on, she loved it. My oldest dear son said he really liked it too – just like early Christmas at our house – this cardigan is a hit!

Here is my Mum modeling her new cardigan.

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She wasn’t the happiest model – she doesn’t like having her picture taken. But I told her everyone would want to see it on her. Thanks Mum!

Happy creating!

Changes in the Wind

~ Michelle

I’ve posted many photos of jewelry I’ve made recently in the classes I teach. I’ve really enjoyed taking people through the steps of making each project. I’ve also really enjoyed seeing them learn and make their own creations. However, all this is about to change, and I’m not sure I like the changes being proposed. It seems, in the classroom, I will no longer be making jewelry. Going forward I am expected to explain how to make jewelry using large photos which illustrate it. I’m not fond of this change and am thinking a change in employment will be coming soon.

Another change I experienced this past week was to lose my Lifestyle Coach. She’s no longer working with my physician, so no longer available to me. She helped me through a really rough health patch a few years ago, and I’ve been with her for 6 years. I will really miss her. As I was leaving the office and giving her a hug goodbye, she commented on the abstract poinsettia brooch I had on my coat. I took it off and gave it to her without a second thought.

I have no regrets about giving a gift to a friend, however, my coat now looked quite plain. So I pulled out my felt again, and sat and came up with a couple felt brooches to dress up my coat. I find hand-sewing to be very relaxing.

I’ll count this as part of a commitment I made to myself to make (at least) one project each month. I am on track for that with these, but it’s still early in March, so I plan to get something else sewn up. Hopefully I’ll resolve that bra alteration in my mind and get that off my desk and sewn up!

Here’s the first felt brooch I made. Quite similar to the other abstract poinsettia brooch, but this time I used some deep red with a black polka dot on it. It’s really charming felt.

red polka dot brooch

This one came off my coat for the photo shoot here.

The next one is very similar, but I changed the shape a little. I wanted it a more uniform shape.

pink zebra brooch

I LOVE this felt! It is so fun and flirty.

And the last one I changed the design again.

leopard print brooch

I had fun with all of these, and really do enjoy sitting down and doing some hand-sewing. I bought some Swarovski Hot Fix crystals and I’m going to add some bling to these.

Something helpful I’ve realized about myself while writing this blog is I really like to think things through before I decide to do anything. I don’t think I realized how much internal discussion I had with myself before making a decision. For example, I’m still contemplating the bridge on that bra alteration. I’ve even re-drawn it but am still contemplating it.  And I’m not ready to start cutting fabric on that project yet.

What’s next on my project list? Well, I do want to continue with the two sloper classes I’ve signed up for on Craftsy, and tomorrow I’m heading over to a friend’s to help her with a sloper too. Seems like slopers are next. And that bridge. I will get them done!

Happy creating!

Jewelry and a Pareo

~ Michelle

I bought a new bathing suit for an upcoming 3-day conference & hotel stay my hubby and I are going on.  He loves to hot tub, and I rarely join him, but decided I’d at least sit by the pool this time and keep him company. But sitting around in a bathing suit isn’t the most comfortable for me. I like to be a little more covered up. Maybe if I lived in the tropics I’d feel differently, but this Canadian girl likes to stay warm! A pareo wasn’t offered with the swim suit, so it was up to me to come up with something. There’s always basic black, but I only wanted to use that as a last resort. I was really wanting something that would go with the suit. Here’s what I found:

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I’m really pleased with how well these go together. Are they a perfect match? No. But there are similar elements and colors; enough so I will be wearing this on our up-coming trip – at least by the pool. The material is a knit, and I simply cut out a rectangle and did an overcast stitch around the edges. I also decided to use the material with the pattern running length-wise down my body. I’m not the tallest, and thought this would be more flattering than a wide horizontal pattern going across me.

Onto jewelry now. My classes have been filling up the last few weeks; I had five students this week in one class. That was my biggest yet. I made a few things and this time I LOVE the colors. A while back I made a blue and gold necklace, and really liked those colors together, so decided to do something in those colors.

Here’s the first piece of jewelry I made – a memory wire bracelet, and then an elastic bracelet.

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These bracelets feature dyed Imperial Jasper beads, Aqua & gold glass beads, and golden glass beads. I love it! I think I wore it every day last week. The elastic bracelet has the same beads in it.

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Then I had a Crimping class and used those same beads to make this necklace. Well, I was wearing the two items for a few days when I decided to be all matchy-matchy and made a pair of earring too! This picture is nice and close so you can see the three beads really well.

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And to really put the matchy-matchy over the top, I made a Medical ID bracelet to boot.

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So I think I’m good now with the matching Imperial Jasper. I did make one other piece of jewelry in my class this week. While waiting for my students to finish their projects, I put together an eye-glasses holder/chain.

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Completely different beads this time! Well, almost completely different. I still used Jasper, but this time undyed. And I used white, pale pink and pale grey pearls in-between.

It was a big jewelry week, but I love what I made. And am really pleased with the pareo. Still unfinished on my desk: the Prima Donna Duchess cloned bra. I have no big desire to finish it, but am determined to clean my desk off so will set a deadline for myself. Next post I will have it done!

Happy creating!