Like The Blue Suede Shoes?

Some things, you just don’t repeat, but some are really cute and bear being overheard and shared … at least that’s my story and I’m stickin to it today. lol

A little back story here, Deb is going Cruising … AGAIN !!!   AND, she’s already said she’ll be going again in December – SMH SMH SMH – What am I now?  chopped Cruise Harley Hotel and Bag Maker?   LOL – I mean, she did just abscond with 10 of my latest bags AND she left the dog?  What’s with that?

 

So, we have this sisters/mother private Messenger chat group, right?

Well, I caught this convo going on yesterday afternoon after Deb had arrived In Galveston.

shhh …. read, but don’t repeat, because we’re almost like … kissing and telling …. ALMOST … NOT QUITE!!!!

 

SAT 3:33 P.M.

SP:  Arrived in Galveston. No Wi-Fi for ipad. Wont stay connected.

Sorry bout that, chief.

 

GP:   Hooray, you arrived safely. Don’t fret about the Wi-Fi, check in when you can. We don’t want to become a chore. Concentrate on the “good times”

 

SP: clip_image0021

 

GP:   Check in tomorrow?

SP:

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GP:

Hope you and Dale enjoy a relaxing evening.

 

SP:   Yez. We do tboard until 10:00am.

Xinner with friends from Kehmah. They come over when we are in Galveston.

I HATE THIS CELL PHONE KEYBOARD!!!!!!!!.

Offuntil later. I have 10 bags i think. May be 8 tjough. Lol

Though

 

GP:   Have fun. Will catch up with you later.

 

SP:   will count them soon and pick one for tonight and tomorrow

SP:  Bye.

GP:  Bye

SP:  L8er

Time Passes ……………………4:47pm

 

…….

Ready to go to dinner. Outside pockets.

Inside zipper pocket.

GP:  Nice bag

Such a clean purse. LOL

SP:  Lenty of room left over. Think i can get my ipad in as well as my phone.

Lol. Suede

Very soft.

GP:  Purse is NO good if iPad doesn’t fit.

Love suede too!

SP:  Lol.

GP:  Enjoy dinner and the company.

SP: Need messenger bag for that. Lol no garage

Lol. Ignore last.

GP:  Thank you iPad…huh!

SP:  Dumb phone. Lol.

Later

Ipad win t connect here.

………….and they moved on to their respective as you were’ing from there —

Here’s the front and back of that bag ..

 

 

~~~ the end ~~~ (as I say in the group )

So, in the mean time….

Live Every Moment, Love Beyond Words, Laugh Everyday,

~Jennifer

4TxSisters at Etsy

Thinking Outside the Box for Border Prints

Growing up our home was filled with seamstresses: a grandmother who should have been a fashion designer, a mother who was so good her own daughters were afraid to compete, and all three of my older sisters were (and are) talented seamstresses in their own rights.

As for me, a discussion of fabric types, prints, patterns, measuring and so forth was like listening to the adults on a Charlie Brown special: just a lot of “Wa-wah, wa-wah”.

So, as we began to pull our businesses together last fall, we moved fabrics and other supplies from one home to another, based on what each of us felt we needed for the projects we had in mind. Honestly, I felt like a traveling salesman traveling from one home to another to deliver bags to one sister and pick up bags for another.

In one of my acquisitions, I received several fabrics I was told were “border prints”.  These were not what I thought a border print should look like, but again, what do I know about it? When I think of a border print, I envision a very well defined border with horizontal lines and designs within those lines (like many southwest prints).

Border prints are generally found along the selvage and often on both selvages, but can also be on just one, depending upon the design. Border prints are often found in geometric designs (again, think southwestern prints), or florals.

*

In the above photo, you can clearly see the top and bottom borders, and that they run along the selvage. That’s easy enough to see them as border prints.

However, the ones I received were more along the lines of falling or cascading designs, like you’d see in home decor for curtains or bedskirts.

I could not imagine sewing curtains or bedding out of these, let alone anything else, but there was a lot of both, so I packed them away for the future. Then one day, it occurred to me these border prints offered a complete set of coordinating fabrics for my hen and chick sets.

These are perfect for sectioning into various parts and creating coordinating fabrics for small critters. It saves time in hunting coordinating fabrics, because you already know the sections will go together.

I love that I was able to create something fun and unique with a little outside the box thinking.

Be sure to check out our Etsy store for these hen and chick sets, as well as the many other items we offer.

Love,

Shari

 

Visit our Etsy Shop https://4texassisters.com
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The Toddler’s Velveteen & Lace Dress Gets an Upcycle

1st sister, Pat discovered this cute little toddler dress and evidently it just screamed “send me to Jennifer, send me to Jennifer.” So, she did.

In the box that she sent were probably at least half a dozen shirts she sent for making my man’s shirt aprons, a slinky, shiny blouse which I loved, and this little dress. The dress screamed the loudest … and it said “Me, Me, do something with me first.”

2nd sister, Deb, happened to be visiting at the time and when I waved it at her and said, “this would make a cute bag, but it’s gonna be bigger than I have been making lately.”

She replied matter of factly, “Ok, so, cut it in half.”

I whipped around to look at Deb and said “EH?  In half?”

So, I looked at it and said — “hmm”… folded it in half and was totally sold on the idea.

Some cutting, splicing, finding and making of a lining with a pocket (gotta have pockets somewhere – lol )…… Presto-change- a cute little toddler dress now becomes two near identical small bags.

(The lining with the inner pocket that you really can’t see)

They are over on Etsy at the time of this writing, but I cant say they are one of a kind … lol

………….  Because …

There are TWO of them…   TWINS !!!

And they are just too precious even if I must say so myself.

But here’s what my mother and sisters had to say  on Etsy:   (See the bags on Etsy)

 

Lacy and frilly, fun loving and sassy purse for that precious one in your life. Bound to bring plenty of oohs and ahhs her way. Whether Young or old, she will feel like a princess with this bag on her shoulder. Easter, Spring , but also weddings, parties and anytime events.  It’s jewelry on your young lady’s shoulder.

Have two special young ladies in your life, or even twins?  Well, you’re in luck because there are two of these precious purses available.  This listing is only for ONE bag, but a second is also available for purchase at this time.

……….

Very definitely this is a “statement bag”….. anyone carrying this bag is saying, “I feel beautiful, feminine, and significant!”  Buy one and share the other with your daughter, granddaughter, best friend, sister, sorority sister, etc. The bags are two-of -a-kind only and will demonstrate the uniqueness of the women who carry them.”

Mother and the sisters all write great ad copy, don’t they? Wish they would do it for everything I make, but they’ve all balked at that suggestion in the past…..

Just made a video on these adorable bags, check it out

So, in the mean time….

Live Every Moment, Love Beyond Words, Laugh Everyday, ~

Jennifer

4TxSisters at Etsy

Who Is More Bow Dazzling?

If you’ve read many of our posts, you probably know by now that even though we take our arts seriously, sometimes we just go wonky funny.

So here’s the back story… Shari bought this pair of interestingly colored pants….

And, of course, she shared it with us in the Sisters/Mother FB chat group.

Since no one was asking ME to wear them, I just moved on as I suspect, everyone else did. …. Except Shari …. because she had plans for those pants and she wasn’t telling anyone either…

The next day, she and I are private chatting about this and that, when she decides to “SHOW” me the part that she had hinted the day before might be “really SPECIAL” about those salmon pants.

So, here’s the convo:

Shari: I was just going to send you this…cuz I know you’ve been waiting…

Jen: with baited breath –

Shari:

 

 .
Jen: how precious (Frankly, what else can you say to something like THAT ????? OMG??? What on earth is THAT? – lol)
.
Shari: The bow on the salmon jeans butt. LOL

Sorry, but they are a size 3. LOL

Jen: I’m a bit jealous.. good thing I can sew- I just happen to have a bow– just have to pick out the pants — hang on, I’ll get the bow

Shari: Which means by today standards, it about a -0.

Jen: Please don’t hurt my feelings by saying it’s too much — I just soooo want to wear this when I go out shopping — maybe even the dentist office?

Shari: Ok

Jen:
 Jen:   now who’s jealous ? – lol lol
Shari: You go right ahead and wear it. Let me know what people say, because that’s a show stopper, alrighty.
Wow.

Jen: do you really mean it? You’re not just trying to save my feelings?
It is WOWSER though – not just WOW

Shari: Oh no, it’s definitely a wowser!

Jen: people be looking and pointing at me as I go through the store—
‘WOWSER, look at that bow’ !!!

Shari: You let me know how many orders you get.

Jen: Yeah, that’s about how I see it going. LOL  ……………could see me/ my butt and bow – on the cover of some fashion mag — you never know, so sorry about your tiny bow— but the color is nice

Shari: LOL – liar.
It’s ugly – bow and color. LOL

Jen: well, I MIGHT be talked into making you a bigger bow, but I’d need to cut off one of the legs of those salmon pants to do it —  hey, but you’d be hot walking through Target

Shari: If I were a size -0, I’d be right on that offer. LOL

Jen: somehow I’m getting the feeling you’re a bit relieved about that size thing right about now …

Shari: Never felt better about being a 10-12 in my life. LOL

……………

So, tell me, dear reader … Wouldn’t you really rather have MY bow on the backside of your pants than Shari’s little bitty, dinky bow?

Tell us how you feel –

So, in the mean time….

Live Every Moment, Love Beyond Words, Laugh Everyday,

~Jennifer

4TxSisters at Etsy

The Making of the Man’s Shirt Apron

Using an man’s shirt, no pattern, just an image in your head of what you want instead of a piece of fabric, putting a pattern to it, cutting it out, sewing it up and saying “here’s an apron” … well, it has its own sort of excitement for a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants seamstress.

2017-09-07 08.08.18

 

Calvn-klein-2

But besides the uniqueness of using a man’s shirt, why would I make an apron, and then make an apron for you too? Here’s why.  In my opinion there are three typical issues with aprons

#1 They bunch up my clothes

#2 They come untied

#3 The top rides low and stuff still gets on my clothes because, frankly, there’s a shorter distance between my mouth and my chest than my mouth and the top of most aprons.

So, to eliminate issue #1, the cloth of the apron bunching up as I putter around the house, I line my aprons. And I think you’ll find that once you use a lined apron, you’ll be hard pressed to wear a plain ole’ apron again.

2017-09-14 05.21.30

#2 – They come untied. I made aprons for my 3 sisters and my mother re-purposing some beautiful western fabric Shari had had me make curtains out of years ago. Next older sister, Deb, complained that she never wore hers or many other aprons because they come untied.

She likes an apron with really long ties that she can wrap around and tie in front… So…. that’s why most of my aprons have really LONG waist ties.

x-Goofy-5b

 

#3 – Aren’t all aprons made too long in the neck for most people? I always assumed everyone bought aprons and just tied, safety pinned, or clothes pinned the neck tie. With that in mind, I have to tell you I was broken hearted when my mother wanted me to have an apron I made for her back because she thought it was too pretty for her to wear.

She hadn’t safety pinned, clothes pinned or tied the neck part shorter. She’d taken a pair of scissors and whacked, yes, I said “WHACKED” that neck tie almost at the half way point and tied it to the length she wanted.

Well, once I got off the floor from shock, I realized that was an issue all of its own. Then I went to visit sister, Shari. She wears her apron almost right under her neck. She said it’s either that or a bib- lol – so then I knew… there’s a BIG issue with apron neck heights… well, at least in my family, so it was time to ‘fix that’.

And this is only a couple of ways to fix that…

2017-11-04 07.55.44

2017-11-04 08.16.43

gingham-5

And now you can, adjust away  Winking smile

Recently I have even gone back to the basics of aprons by making them with ties- which makes it TOTALLY adjustable–of course, up to the length of the ties.  lol

So, there, now you know why I’ve done some unusual things with my aprons by lining them, making the neck adjustable in most cases with buttons,(now with ties)  and then made really LONG waist ties on many of them.. I hope you will give one a try. I don’t think you will want to buy another apron off the shelf again much less give something like that to a loved one.

You can find more of my Man’s Shirt Aprons over in our 4TxSisters Etsy Shop.

 

So, in the mean time….

Live Every Moment, Love Beyond Words, Laugh Everyday,

~Jennifer

4TxSisters at Etsy