You can tell from the stone that it pretty well matches the scarf. So I'm going to maintain my name from a previous year..Alexandrite Personified. The great thing about this is that I have all of the fabrics for these colors already. Since my SWAP is more casual than I would have made in the past, I may have to do some digging, but my goal is to buying nothing for this SWAP, No even thread. I still have to find all of my fabric in my storage but I do have some of it out. I'm working on the patterns now. Hopefully I will have them sketched them out this weekend so I can post.

I'm looking forward to sewing this because I really need the clothes. And it is starting 2 months earlier AND I'm getting in at the start versus in the middle. Below are rules for this years SWAP. There's always a twist as you'll see at the bottom, but this one is pretty good.

Each SWAP must consist of 11 garments, which all work together to form a basic wardrobe. All garments must be handmade. You may knit, crochet or weave if you please, but they must be your own creations.

The garments are:

4 bottoms - jeans, pants, shorts, skirts or kilts.
6 tops - t-shirts, shirts, blouses, or camisoles.
1 jacket - a tailored blazer, jeans-style jacket, sweater or shawl will do, as long as it looks right with everything else.

* A dress will qualify as a top, if it can be worn with all the bottoms (tucked in or worn as a tunic) *

* Recycled garments are fine, as long as the new item is entirely different than the original, such as old jeans made into a jacket, or a wool coat made into a skirt. Before and after pictures are required, if you do this. *

All the tops must work with all the bottoms; and the jacket must work with everything. Dressier clothes require a dressier jacket, and vice-versa. Traditional clothing such as salwar kameez qualify, too.

2009 Twist: A wardrobe which reflects a week in your REAL LIFE. If you're a stay-at-home mom who lives in jeans and tees, that's what you'll be sewing. If you're a rock star who lives in zebra stripes and pink hot pants, that's what you'll be making. The finished wardrobe should consist of the pieces you'll be grabbing to wear for the rest of the year. Whether you work in an office, or spend your days eating bon-bons, your SWAP should reflect your current lifestyle and weight.

All garments must be made between November 1/08 and April 30/09.

I've decided that all of my garments will be from my stash. I have enough stash to most likely do years and years of SWAP's. But then don't we all?? LOL

This will will mean that I need to plan my wardrobe and decide on the patterns and fabrics. However, I do reserve the right to change my mind down the road. A woman's perogative! So I will be posting photos and info about my trials and tribulations of this process so this is where you'll find most of the bring details. Later this week I'll post my storyboard as much a I can. I'll also be posting over at Stitcher's Guild but all of the minute details I'll keep here so I don't clutter their board.

I love the fact that I will be sewing again as i think I let it go for too long now.  So stayed tuned to see what I do!

I do hope that schools in the region take advantage of this and take students to see it.  This is a craft that goes back so many generations and I believe is making a major comeback.  What a great opportunity to see the early machines that started it and made today's machine possible.  It might even encourage more of the younger set to begin sewing.  I know that Project Runway has helped push the design aspect of sewing, but as anyone can see if they watch the show, that sewing is secondary to some of the designers and it shows. They really need to learn some sewing with style.

A British retailer, Argus announced in April that sewing machine sales for Brother and Singer had increased by 50%. That sound like a good sign. There is a tremendous choice of machines available today on the market for all budgets and capabilities. Now, if we can just convince the schools to bring back sewing for the younger generation.

Brother Ls 2125 Sewing Machine US $65.00

Brother 1217 Sewing Machine Mint Low Reserve US $72.00

My next door neighbor does very little sewing.  But yet she sews the most beautiful costumes for her daughter.  This is the costume from last year.  Have you every seen anything so cute?  She made a basic simple dress and then bought silk leaves from the craft store and hand-sewed everyone of them on the dress.  She even made a pair of thongs from cardboard (you can tell this is a warm climate) and still twigs and leaves on them.

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This year her daughter wants to be a black fairy.  I'm not even sure what that is, but she is making it for her.  I'll post photos when she gets it done.

Angels or princesses were popular as was the usual ghost, Dracula or other scary costumes when I was growing up.  There was always the prerequisite mask for whomever was president that year also. We saw some Disney characters,  and since there are more Disney characters to choose from now, the choice is larger.

As an adult I dressed up as an angel in disguise.  Standard angel costume but I added a couple of red satin horns on my head and a red satin devils tail hanging out the bottom  For some reason it seemed appropriate that year. Hmmm. must of been right after my divorce.

My favorite as an adult was dressing as a 90 year old lady. A friend was having a Halloween party and I told them I didn't think I could make it.  (On purpose) I went to a costume place frequented by the movie people.  I bought a fake chin, nose and ears and all of the glue and makeup to go along with it.  They even had some stuff to put on my hands to make them look old, and believe me they did!!  Then I went to Goodwill and bought an old dress, took it apart and re-did it so it would look older, bought some fiberfill and stitched it to the front, bought a very large bra so I could stuff it (droopy looking) some old shoes and then I rolled down my nylons.  I also bought a cheap gray wig and a cheap cane.  It took me 4 hours to get all of the makeup on right.  I didn't even recognize myself.  In fact, my dog wouldn't stop barking.  LOL

It really worked because I showed up late and no one recognized me.  (I parked 2 blocks away).  It was an hour before they finally figured it out and that was because I started laughing and someone recognized my laugh.  I even got carded at the store..first time in years!

It seems that in today's world the adults have as much fun as the kids. My DIL is making costumes for her and my son just to give out candy.  When she's done, I'll post a photo.  Their house is decorated as much for Halloween as it is for Christmas.

So what kind of costumes are you making this year and for whom?  Got any great stories to tell?  I've got a couple more but I'll save them for closer to Halloween. If your looking for some ideas or some costume patterns, EBay has a pretty good selection and it isn't too late to buy. Sewing with style is never out of date.

Mccalls Misses Costume Pattern 5497 US $3.50

Sca Renaissance Medieval Overdress Gown Pattern 6 12 US $4.99

Sca Renaissance Medieval Overdress Gown Pattern 14 20 US $4.99

Maquerade Party Play Themes Hats Masks Sewing Pattern US $4.99

Well, you learn something new everyday. When I first did my research on the history of the serger, I ran across a Joseph Merrow who actually was the inventor of the serger. I had heard the term merrowing in the past but until then never was really sure what it meant. I also had no idea that they still made the Merrow machine. Well, yesterday I received an email from one of the owners of Merrow, Inc., Charles Merrow.

It seems that they are launching a new Merrow web site, officially on November 1st, but you can see it today. They have some great photos of the machines which are designed primarily for the industrial market. But after looking at some of the Merrow Stitches, it sure would be nice to have one.

However, not only would I not have the room, it would sure break the budget. The quality of the stitches is unbelievable.  These machines are capable of sewing up to 9500 stitches per minute (spm) whereas the normal home serger or overlock machine sews approximately 1500 spm.  Talk about having to maintain control, WOW!

I really enjoy looking at the  various decorative and seaming stitches available on the Merrow machines. Ideas run through my mind as to what I could do with them.  Please take a look at the Merrow web site and be sure to post something in the new Merrow blog.

Maybe if I save my money I can afford on on Ebay.

Vintage Industrial Merrow A3 Dw4 Sewing Machine Table US $75.00

Vintage Industrial Singer 96 10 Sewing Machine Table US $4.99

Vintage Industrial Singer 400w1 Sewing Machine Table US $4.99

Merrow Mg 3u Serger Sewing Hem Machine Mg3u Industrial US $499.99

Merrow Machine Prestine Condition Patches M 3dw 2 US $690.00

Wow Merrow Machine Pearl Stitch Style A 2nr US $490.00

Merrow Machine Model M 30 Very Very Very Lightly Used US $50.00

Indian Motorcycle 3 Americas First Patcha Beauty US $7.95