Sewing Lessons

I have been super busy sewing, but not so busy posting. It's time to catch up! Last fall I started teaching my friend Sylvia to sew. We were planning a mission trip to Uganda and would teaching the women, so Sylvia needed to become confident in her sewing skills as well. She is a great learning and picked things up quickly. I think we started off by making some simple bags and then moved on to skirts, dresses, and tops. These were all clothes we needed for our trip.
Now she's a sewing maniac like I am, and we have lots of fun working on our sewing projects.

This summer, her daughter Gabby, who is an athlete, tore her meniscus during one of her workouts. She had to have surgery and stay off her leg for awhile. She expressed an interest in wanting to learn to sew and wanted to make a Kimono type cover-up/ jacket. I remembered that there was a cute Kimono pattern in Seamwork magazine, and when I showed it to her, she loved it.
You might notice that she is using my grand daughter's Janome "Hello Kitty" sewing machine, and she loves it!






 She ordered some fabric online, so as we were waiting for that to come in, I taught her how to make an apron. She really adapted quickly and did a great job on her apron.
Look at what a good job she did on all of that double fold bias trim!

Next, we made a trip to JoAnns and she found some black lazar-cut lace that she liked and a floral print. I'm telling you, this girl is the Kimono expert! She eliminated the ties and shortened the length. Super cute!

Gabby's going back to school next week, but thank goodness I still have Sylvia as a sewing buddy!

Minimalist Wardrobe or Wardrobe simplified - Concepts

found on pinstripeandpearls.com

If you go on Pinterest and search "minimalist wardrobe", you will get hundreds of results.  Now that I am no longer a slave to the clock (aka retired), my lifestyle is different, and my wardrobe needs have changed.  But, working or not, minimalism is a reality that many of us are beginning to embrace.  Less is more (I'm trying to learn)  Granted, I'm not ready to whittle down to the bare minimum in clothes, 2 pairs of shoes, and go live in a "tiny house", but I find all of those things inspiring.
I live in a relatively big house, stay active, and love to travel.  This means that I want to keep things as simple as possible.  This means that I need to get rid of A LOT of STUFF!  I've noticed that I have certain favorite things that I wear over and over again.  I also have a few things that I want to grab, but never seem to have in my closet.  Of course, it is summer, and clothing needs will be different in the winter.  We basically only have 2 seasons here: summer, and a fallish-winter.
So first, the things I wear all the time (this summer)

1. capri jeans
2. beige denim shorts
3. *black hand-sewn cotton jersey skirt
4. *black and white yoga skirt
5. white knit short sleeved top
6. chambray long sleeved shirt
7. *orange 3/4 sleeve "Now" shirt
8. *red linen dress
9. *black rayon simple dress
10. *floral linen simple dress
11. *linen gauchos/coulottes

Then there are things I always seem to reach for, but either don't have, or don't have enough of:

1. white sleeveless top
2. black sleeveless top
3. lightweight jacket
4. another comfortable dress (my red linen one has about bit the dust.)

Of course in the winter, there will be more long sleeves, pants, and sweaters.  And, you're going to have "special" clothes, like special occassion, work-out, gardening/cleaning/painting clothes, etc

What I'm looking for is to build a CORE wardrobe.  Something so that I'll always have something ready to wear.  Of course it's fun to sew lots of colorful things and use prints, but those aren't the clothes I wear most often.  Also, this will make it much easier for packing for trips.

I'm formulating a sew-along, so keep watching!

found on buzzfeed.com

Would You Like to Help?

In less than 6 weeks I will be taking off to Uganda again.  For anyone new to my blog, this will be my fourth year going into the slums and villages of Uganda to teach women to sew.  I am excited about the new opportunities God will give me this year to encourage these incredibly strong women.  Several of you have asked, "How can I help?"

1. Pray for me and my team.  Conditions are going to be, well, uh, shall I say "challenging" this year.  We are staying where there is no plumbing, no running water, and no electricity.  (I can go without electricity, but I really like a toilet!)  Pray that we would have good health and good attitudes.
2. Pray for the women we will be working with.  There is, of course, the language barrier which makes teaching challenging.  Pray for their health and willing hearts.  Their circumstances are beyond most of our realms of imagination.
3. Financial Support.  Our trip will cost close to $3000.  Each.  My 25 year old son is going with us this year to give medical and physical therapy support.  He will also be helping with any kind of manual labor that needs to be done, and there is always plenty of that!  Since he is a starving college student, we will be covering his expenses as well.  We have raised part of our support, but are not even half way there yet.  Last year many sewing supporters gifted me with financial support in increments from $5.00 up to several hundred dollars.  Please consider sending a gift.  Every little bit helps and adds up fast.  Donations can be made in several ways.
1. Pay pal - probably the easiest.  My email address is nwinning at gmail dot com.  Donations can be sent directly to this email address through paypal.
2. Directly to International Messengers.  If you would like a tax deductible receipt, make your check to International Messengers and include a note that the donation is designated for Nancy Winningham (or Nick Sanchez, my son)
3. Mail a check to me.  Many expenses are incurred after we arrive.  Purchases like fabric, machines, and supplies are much cheaper there, but we pay cash, so the money sent to IM does not cover this.  (It does cover air fare and camp costs though)
4. Would you like to go?  You might be praying about whether or not this is something that God would want you to do in the future.  I plan on doing this for many more years, so let me know if you are interested in learning more.

I really appreciate the support, prayers, and encouragement.  It is almost like we are all going together.  Last year the women I worked with were so amazed at how so many people would come together to help me get there to be with them.  They were just in awe and very thankful.  They are so thankful to know that anyone thinks about them or even knows they exist.  It's pretty amazing.

This is our team. My son, Nick on the right.  (Kind of an old picture, but I don't have any others right now that I can find!)

Below, Karen, Bea, and me.

Uganda Bound - Again

I am so excited that I have the opportunity to go to Uganda again! For those of you who are new to my blog, last year I went to Uganda to teach women how to sew. It was awesome. Right now we are in the planning phase of another trip. We are planning on going March 27 to April 10.









Another woman from my church is going with me this year and we should be meeting two other women from back east (not sure where yet) who will be assisting us.
This is Karen and me.









Last year we went to Kampala, Busanna and Kasana, and I'm assuming we'll be going to the same areas this year. This year we will be teaching women how to sew skirts. Although there is electricity in the city of Kampala, it is very unpredictable. The villages do not have electricity, unless a generator is used for a special purpose - amazingly, all church services have loud PA systems! I think this year we will be using all treadle machines since they are more widely available there and certainly more practical. Last year we were unable to do the sewing in some of the villages due to unforseen events, and the women were disappointed. I am so glad that we will be able to go back this year and bring this opportunity to them! Many of the people (especially children) in these villages do not have any clothes at all. Last year I was the only one working with the sewing, so I am very thankful to have others with me this year.

Sewing is such a valuable skill. If you are reading my blog, chances are that you love sewing! It is so wonderful to be able to share a skill that not only do I love, but it is a skill that these women can use to provide clothing for their families and even produce income.

Time is short and I know the trip will be here before I know it. I still need to go get my shots, make up some sample skirts, and get my own things in order before we go. We will probably buy all the fabric there since they do have a "garment district" in the city of Kampala with some beautiful fabrics. The trip is going to end up costing around $4000.00, so we are in the fundraising stage right now.

If you are interested in helping the women of Uganda by supporting this ministry, I would really appreciate your support. Donations can be sent either directly to me or to International Messengers. If you mail your donation to International Messengers, please enclose a note stating that it is to support me (Nancy Winningham) so that the money will go to our mission trip. The address is:
International Messengers
PO Box 618
Clear Lake, IA 50428

If you prefer to send a check to me, please email me for my street address. My email is nwinning at gmail dot com.

I would also appreciate prayers for our ministry, that lots of women would come and that we would be able to work with them and share the love of Christ, that I would stay healthy in preparation and while on the trip, and for our safety while there.


There is still a lot of unrest in Uganda, and everywhere you go, you encounter corruption. The poverty is so extreme that I feel so insignificant while I'm there, but amazingly, the people are so grateful that we are even there.

I am so looking forward to doing this again and working with the women of Uganda. I thank you so much for all the prayers and support you can offer. For those of you who supported me last year, I can't begin to tell you what an impact you made, not only on these women, but on me as well. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Hmmm...

I was so excited to come home yesterday and find this in the mail! It is a Kenmore 1060 zigzag sewing machine. I bought it on ebay. Cidell has raved about her sewing machine of this line, so I've been kind of keeping my eyes open for a similar model. I was surprised to see that this had been packed in a box (well, if you call putting it in a box "packing") with nothing but the vinyl carrying case. It does weigh only 15 pounds, so I was thinking this would be good for travel. When I took it out of the box, I noticed that the footpedal had been broken in transit. I think it is just cosmetic defect - nothing a little E6000 won't correct.





You can see that this came with a number of feet, a couple of bobbins, and even the instruction book. The item description stated that the book was "a little worn from normal use" Well, I think the book is more than " a little worn" as you can see in the picture. The zipper foot is also broken, but since these are low=shank feet, the one from my old sewing machine should fit it just fine.








Here's something I've never seen before. I had to look it up in the manual to see what it was. It is a blind stitch attachment and shank. I was thinking I would have to fool around with that and figure it out. I was getting very excited about this old machine.

The machine looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a while, so I started cleaning out the lint. There was a lot of lint. The light came on just fine and all the dials turned freely. then, when I went to turn the handwheel to move the needle, it wouldn't move! I tried everything I could think of, engaging the clutch, disengaging it, changing the stitch dial at the top, checking all buttons, dials, and gadgets. Nothing. I am so disappointed. I contacted the seller last night. This morning I got a reply that she had UPS package the item and that she would check to see what my options are. I think I want a full refund. The machine must have been dropped. I cannot believe that someone would stick a sewing machine in a box with no padding and send it off in the mail (UPS, or anything else)
I will keep you posted.

In the mean time, no sewing today. I have had meetings after school every day this week and then tonight DH and I went to the county fair. The fair is a big thing here. I haven't gone in a couple of years, so we decided to go this year. The home arts building was something to see. There were some of the most beautiful quilts there. They had a few fashion sewing entries, but mostly they were prom style dresses and not really anything spectacular. I guess they give prizes for table settings, scapbook pages, paper crafts and just about anything you can imagine. Some of it was interesting, some of it was like, "what?"
It was fun anyway, but it is not fun trying to navigate a blind man through a crowded place like the fair. I was glad to get out of there. But, the weather was amazingly nice this evening (only 83 degrees at 7pm) and there was a nice breeze.
Tomorrow is picture day at school. I wish I could skip it.

Taking a Break

I'm taking a little break from working on my FSG 1945 jacket. It is coming along fine, but it's hard to be motivated to work on a jacket when it's been over 100 degrees every day. Here's my progress so far. I'm ready to cut out and sew the lining. That will also help the collar to roll more nicely than it looks here on the dress form.












I don't know what has happened to my dress form, but she is having a serious posture problem. This is a vintage dress form and you adjust the measurements from a series of bars with screws and wing nuts on the inside. I have all of the proportions right, but she is leaning forward and her butt is sticking out. It's kind of hard to tell how anything will fit or hang with her standing like this. I'm not really sure how to fix her. I've tried, but this seems to be the best I can get.















There are still so many things I want to make to wear NOW. I got some linen the other day from Fabric Store and decided to put it to use. I bought McCalls 5664 a while ago and it looked like it would be a good match for the fabric. I am doing it in all white (no colored bow) so that it will go with more colors. This also is taking a little longer than I thought it would.








This time I was smart and looked at the other reviews on Pattern review. Because of what I had read, I decided to go ahead and add an inch and a half to the front to make it longer. Well, when I got to the point to try that on, I realized that it was still a couple of inches shorter in the front than it was on the sides! There are wide gussets on the sides, so I used my curved ruler and took about 3" off the side seam, curving down to the hem at the front of the gusset. I also ended up taking another inch or so off the back, because since there are no darts in the front, added length is needed there, even if you just want it to hang evenly all around.

This blouse has a placket in the front and I am pleased with how mine turned out. I think the key to making a good placket is to mark carefully. This one didn't turn out perfectly, but unless you are examining it (which you will, when I put up a picture!) it looks just fine.

I've got the collar sewn on and just need to slip stitch the inside of the collar band. Hopefully I can get the sleeves and hem done tomorrow and I will be finished! I could get it finished tonight, but DH needs me to run a few errands with him. My back is protesting anyway from too much sewing today!