i made a halloween costume! as much as i love halloween, i haven't done anything for it the last couple of years, i just wasn't up to it, and i haven't made a complicated halloween costume in even longer. this one has LOTS of pieces (damn, peeing was a production!) i'm quite proud of myself!

i made this wig for a challenge a few years ago and i think i've worn it once since then (my friends have worn it more than i have!). i decided to make a costume to go with it, and actually get some use out of it!




i made everything except the shoes (which are from no sweat)! the hoodie, the skirt, the purse, the pinafore, the crinoline, the bloomers, and the tights. the hoodie and skirt are fleece, made out of a queen sized fleece blanket that i purchased for $20 (SO MUCH cheaper than fabric by the yard), the pinafore was made out of exactly 1 metre of fleece (i have two teensy strips left) that i purchased after searching my stash for anything purple and coming up empty handed, the crinoline is made out of a pink sheer from my stash, and purple lacey curtain fabric i found at the thrift store 2 days before i needed to wear it, the bloomers are 1 yard of flannelette that i already had, and the tights are a 4way stretch cotton/spandex blend that i bought for this purpose. the big goals of this costume were that it had to be WARM, since i was wearing it to the Parade of Lost Souls, which is an outside event, and that i really really didn't want to go all the way into vancouver to get any of the supplies! and it had to be pink and purple to match the wig.








the top of the wig, and a blurry shot of the back of the pinafore

the hoodie is based on my basic hoodie pattern, with the sleeves altered to be leg of mutton, the skirt is an almost circle skirt, made using this awesome skirt pattern calculator, the pinafore and crinoline were made up as i went along, and the tights are my basic tight pattern that i developed several years ago, but apparently i've never taken pictures of, and the purse is a pattern i made up ages ago, and i lined it in purple cotton so that the fleece wouldn't stretch.



i did the gathering on the hoodie and the skirt by hand, and then decided that it was totally ridiculous, i needed to use a ruffler foot, especially considering that i was running out of time to get the costume finished, and the crinoline would need A LOT of ruffling! i knew i had one that a coworker had passed on to me, so i hauled it out, only to discover that it was for a high shank machine. ugh. so into the crawlspace i went and found ONE high shank machine. i have 9 or 10 sewing machines, and only ONE of them is high shank. so i hauled it into the studio, cleaned it off, opened up the bobbin case.... and realized it takes some strange shaped bobbin, very low and wide, which i didn't have. argh! i sent my sister a frantic e-mail asking her to call me the next morning. at 7:15 the next morning my phone rang, yes, she had a low shank ruffler foot, it was 60 or 70 years old, an accessory for her singer featherweight, but it should work.

and huraay, it fit! i gathered up the ruffle for the pinafore, and it was great. and then i started on the crinoline. urgh. my needle kept breaking, it was making bad sounds... so i called around, and it was determined that i really should have been using an actual brother brand ruffler foot, and that continuing to use the singer foot, even if i could get the needle to stop breaking, might throw my machine out of alignment, which i definitely didn't want! so off i went to the brother dealer, and came home with less room on my visa card, and a new ruffler foot. damn, this thing is so cool!

i finished the pinafore, crinoline and tights on friday, and cut out the purse and the bloomers. saturday morning i slept in, then got up and finished the bloomers and the purse, and decided to add pockets to the pinafore to hold my camera and stuff, so did those as well. i finished the costume, including hand sewing the buttons on, by about 2:30, and i didn't even have to leave the house until 5! i was quite impressed with myself, actually.


(eyes and cheeks are facepaint, lips are l'oreal infallible in garnet - i hated the colour for everyday wear and gave it to my sister, but i borrowed it back for halloween!)

and it worked wonderfully. it was a really great night, just a little bit brisk, my face was a little cool, but the rest of me was cozy warm! if you'd like to see some the fabulous costumes i saw that night (cupcake! yip yips!), or some of the fabulous shrines, feel free to check out my blog.

thanks!


EDIT: i was trying to figure out how much i spent on it, so i figured i'd add that here as well -
pink fleece blanket - $20
purple fleece - $9
perfect pink vintage buttons - my stash
elastic for waistbands - stash
zipper for hoodie - stash
pink sheer - stash
purple lacey curtain fabric - $3
flanelette - stash
pink 4 way stretch cotton - $11

so the total was about $43, plus taxes. and lots of thread! i had pink and purple serger thread, but i didn't have sewing thread (i'm a thread snob!). i probably spent $10 on thread, because i ran out of the pink and had to go buy more. so around $50, which was more than i was planning to spend, but there are multiple parts that i'll wear as regular wardrobe items.

and the new ruffler foot was about $50 with taxes, which was definitely an unexpected expense, but i'll  use it forever now, so i'm not really including it. i anticipate lots of ruffles in my future! 

please post your pics here!


the original swap thread.

post them when you get 'em!


the original thread is here!


updates!!


blue - sent
lime green - late with comunication
purple - received
red - CONTACT ME!
green - done!
strikethrough - feedback given!

Group 1: megan+mary, hoppy, aada, oddacity
megan+mary sends to hoppy, aada, oddacity
hoppy sends to aada, oddacity, megan+mary
aada sends to oddacity, megan+mary, hoppy
oddacity sends to megan+mary, hoppy, aada

Group 2: Goatgoddess, panthermoon, oddacity, zenchild
Goatgoddess sends to panthermoon, oddacity, zenchild
panthermoon sends to oddacity, zenchild, Goatgoddess
oddacity sends to zenchild, Goatgoddess, panthermoon
zenchild sends to Goatgoddess, panthermoon, oddacity

Group 3: Goatgoddess, qazicat, amaryllisroze, hoppy
Goatgoddess sends to qazicat, amaryllisroze, hoppy
qazicat sends to amaryllisroze, hoppy, Goatgoddess
amaryllisroze sends to hoppy, Goatgoddess, qazicat
hoppy sends to Goatgoddess, qazicat, amaryllisroze

Group 4: crafty_dame, rackycoo, qazicat, panthermoon
crafty_dame sends to rackycoo, qazicat, panthermoon
rackycoo sends to qazicat, panthermoon, crafty_dame
qazicat sends to panthermoon, crafty_dame, rackycoo
panthermoon sends to crafty_dame, rackycoo, qazicat

Group 5: crafty_dame, amaryllisroze, Twiztidblood, teddybearbones
crafty_dame sends to amaryllisroze, Twiztidblood, teddybearbones
amaryllisroze sends to Twiztidblood, teddybearbones, crafty_dame
Twiztidblood sends to teddybearbones, crafty_dame, amaryllisroze
teddybearbones sends to crafty_dame, amaryllisroze, Twiztidblood

Group 6: crafty_dame, megan+mary, Goatgoddess, whatzudoin
crafty_dame sends to megan+mary, Goatgoddess, whatzudoin
megan+mary sends to Goatgoddess, whatzudoin, crafty_dame
Goatgoddess sends to whatzudoin, crafty_dame, megan+mary
whatzudoin sends to crafty_dame, megan+mary, Goatgoddess

Swap name: Halloween ATC Swap R3 (i think?!)
Craftster member who is organizing this swap: crafty_dame
Sign-up date range: sept 24 - oct 1
Date to send item by: oct 15

Limited to a certain number of people? NO

Restricted to people who all live in the same country? NO

Age requirement? over 13, as required! if you are young enough to not drive, or you don't have a car/job, etc, please make sure you can get to the post office, and can afford to mail your cards!

Swap Organizer himself/herself meets these conditions:
- Has fully read the Swap Info Guide: YES
- Has successfully completed two swaps as a participant: YES
- Is not organizing more than three swaps right now: YES
- Will recruit a co-organizer or give all details to a Swap Moderator if this swap has more than 25 participants: YES

Swap Organizer will check each participant to make sure they meet these conditions:
- Has been a member for at least one month: YES
- Has posted at least 15 times: YES
- Has completed one swap successfully before signing up for multiple swaps at a time: YES
- Is not currently signed up for more than five swaps: YES
- Does not have any negative feedback: YES
- Participant has agreed that he/she is at least 13 years old: YES

Details of swap:

In this swap, there will be 4 people per group. You will be making 3 ATCs, 1 for each partner in your group, and you'll receive 3 ATCs in exchange. If you'd like, you can join more than one group and make and receive more than three cards (newbies will be restricted to just one group, unfortunately). You must be willing to ship to an address outside your own country. Since ATCs are small, this shouldn't be a large financial strain on anyone, and it will allow more variety in partners. You also must agree to post pictures in the gallery, because that's the fun part! If you are participating in multiple groups, I can't guarantee that you won't have any duplicate partners (it depends how many people want to make 6 or 9 atcs, but i'll try!), but you'll get more halloween goodness regardless!

PLEASE PLEASE, don't sign up if you don't think you can send on time! We really really want everyone to receive before halloween!

Guidelines for this swap!
- ATCs should be sent in protective/bubble envelopes if required. If you send them in regular envelopes, think about putting them in a baggie first or adding some packing tape to the envelope. Please try to prevent postal damage!
- DCs are not required due to the size of the packages. However, if your ATC is not received within 2 weeks of sending, you will need to resend, unless you got a DC.
- you MUST be willing to post pictures in the gallery (if you don't have the ability to do that, that's fine as long as you communicate) failure to post pics will be reflected in your feedback.
- communication is key! poor or mediocre communication will be reflected in swap feedback. this includes not PMing me and your partners when you send and when you receive (posting in the swap threads does NOT count as communication).   

 

ALSO: i'm currently organizing another ATC swap, so please put "Halloween ATCs" or something like it in the subject line of all PMs to help me keep them straight! Thank you!



QUESTIONNAIRE TO ANSWER:
Name of swap: Halloween ATC Swap
Craftster username:
Email address:
Your real name:
Mailing address including the country:
(please type it out line by line the way it should be addressed - we don't always know how the mail works in other countries!)
I am willing to ship to an address outside my own country as required for this swap (YES/NO)
I am at least 13 years old: (YES/NO)
I have a camera or a scanner OR I do not have a camera or a scanner, so my partner needs to do that for me:
I promise to post pictures/scans in the gallery of the cards i receive if able: (YES/NO)
How many cards would you like to make? (3, 6, 9)
What are your favorite Halloween images?  (ie, spiders, bats, pumpkins, etc)
What kind of halloween stuff do you like? (ie, kiddish, scary, gothy, etc)
Favourite halloween colours?
Do you have a preference for vintage/modern, etc images?
Anything your partners need to know? (allergies, etc)


IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE, REMEMBER TO SEND YOUR INFO TO ORGANIZER VIA PRIVATE MESSAGE AND NOT TO REPLY WITH IT HERE.


Also remember to read the Swap Info Guide to find out how to ship your item and other details about participating in a swap.

AFTER PEOPLE HAVE SIGNED UP AND BEEN APPROVED, LIST THE PARTICIPANTS HERE AND WHO IS SENDING TO WHOM:

1. crafty_dame
2. amaryllisroze
3. qazicat
4. goatgoddess
5. rackycoo
6. megan+mary
7. hoppy
8. zenchild
9. panthermoon
10. TwiztidBlood
11. aada
12. teddybearbones
13. whatzudoin
14. oddacity


PARTNERS!!

Group 1: megan+mary, hoppy, aada, oddacity
Group 2: Goatgoddess, panthermoon, oddacity, zenchild
Group 3: Goatgoddess, qazicat, amaryllisroze, hoppy
Group 4: crafty_dame, rackycoo, qazicat, panthermoon
Group 5: crafty_dame, amaryllisroze, Twiztidblood, teddybearbones
Group 6: crafty_dame, megan+mary, Goatgoddess, whatzudoin


updates moved to the gallery thread!


GALLERY!!

lately i've been thinking about crafting something more political than usual, more like i used to do before i got overwhelmed with swaps! (if you want to read more of my rambling about politics, it's on my blog!)

the amazing and inspirational kittykill works at Portland Women's Crisis line, who recently put on their annual Safety In Numbers gala and auction to end domestic and sexual violence, and i was determined to make something more than my typical cool but un-inspirational stuff to donate.

i really wanted to make something specific to violence against women, but all the ideas i had were distinctly canadian (like the cfs no means no campaign, or a memorial of December 6th, 1989 Montreal Massacre). since people in the US probably didn't grow up with the distinctive purple and black stickers (no means no campaign), or with 14 red roses on december 6th (memorial of the 14 women murdered), they probably wouldn't know what the hell the piece was about! so i decided to go with a more general issue that affects so many folks, body image and fat positivity.

and now that i've rambled for sooooo long, i'll actually show you what i made!

unfortunately, it photographed TERRIBLY. i ask myself regularly "amy, why do you work so much with a material that absolutely refuses to photograph nicely? " and then i think "because it's vinyl, and i adore my vinyl-y goodness, and that's really all the answer i need! "

so i will show you the blurriest picture first, because it actually shows the image the best!

the bag is made of vintage deadstock vinyl that's textured (hence the worse pictures than usual!), with an image of a fat woman reclining in a bikini freehand machine embroidered on the front in this awesome variegated thread that alwaysinmyroom sent me.(her boobs on are the right, and her thighs are on the left. hopefully you can see it!) the backside has the word "gorgeous" embroidered the same way as the image on the front. the bag has 21" straps, so that anyone can carry it (i hope! it's still MUCH better than purchased totes that don't fit around your arm!), and is lined with teal blue cotton fabric. the inside has two pockets, both made of vinyl. the larger one is zippered (vintage deadstock metal zipper) with the word "fat" freehand machine embroidered on it. the second pocket is smaller, sewn to hold pens. one portion of the pocket is larger, so it would fit a sharpie or something like that.

front





inside



side


back



detail
all the topstitching was done with the same variegated thread used for the embroidery



oh, and i ordered a full set of Figure 8 zines to be included with it, and had them sent to kittykill's house.

i love it. i was sad to mail it away! i hope it inspires you!

first off, i don't really know what to call these! they're freehand in that i didn't use any embroidery designs, but i did base them on drawings, so they aren't really freehand! is there a word i don't know, or can i just call them freehand?

for those that aren't familiar with artist trading cards (ATCs), they're 2.5"x3.5" cards that are traded. they can be made of different materials, but paper is the most common material. i like to mix mine up a bit, so i've done some other fabric ones as well. you can see some of my others ones here, though i haven't updated that thread in a while! 

when the JKL round of the alphabet atc swap came around, i'd just received the brother SE-350, and was totally immersed in sewing and embroidering, so i decided to make embroidered cards. one of the things i love about this machine is the zigzag stitches- i've always been so jealous of other fabric atcs with tidy zigzagged edges! my old machine was a brother XR-65, and no amount of adjusting seemed to get my zigzags close enough, i'd have to go over the stitching twice or even three times to get a real satin type stitch.

i did the usual google image search for the words i'd chosen, and then used photoshop to size the images to the 2.5"x3.5" dimensions of the atcs. i printed out the images and traced them onto the dissolving stabilizer, then basted the dissolving stuff onto white cotton and the tear away stabilizer.

J is for jar


K is for key

i probably shouldn't have done the key first (the most complicated one, with the most curves and stitch size changes!), but oh well, i still liked it!

L is for lightbulb


i stitched around them, varying the zigzag width for the curves (apparently i should have practiced first!).


you can see the wash away stabilizer basted on here (using some of my scraps!)

i decided at the last minute that the jar looked awfully empty in the middle, so i added the J by cutting another piece of dissolving stabilizer, tracing the j onto it, and carefully holding the piece in place until the stitching secured it.


here's the back after i'd removed the basting that held the tear away stabilizer to the white cotton broadcloth and the dissolving stabilizer to them both.

i hope you like them!

i wanted to make a present for Leah in appreciation of everything she's done for alwaysinmyroom and i with the master crafters brother campaign, but it had to be quick, because i wanted to mail it to her when i mailed all the stuff i made.

i was wracking my brain trying to figure out what i thought she'd like, what would fit in with her house, based on the little bit of it i saw in a magazine article ages ago, when i realized that non-traditional flower colours would totally fit with leah's love of kitsch!

did i mention that i decided to make these the night before i had to mail the package? oops!

so i drove around to multiple stores trying to find solid coloured tea towels that weren't white, and finally found this awesome green ones. score! i hustled home and preshrank them, and started going through my patterns while i was waiting for them to dry. i found the perfect roses on the Lace II memory card.

so i ironed the towels, marked the centre, and got to embroidering!



i used a tear away stabilizer on the backside, and a dissolving stabilizer on the front, since the towels had a bit of a waffle weave.

the next morning i trimmed around the dissolving stabilizer and then threw it in with a load of laundry, thinking it would dissolve easily in the washer while i went to my dr's appointment. when i got back, i tossed the load in the dryer without even checking the stabilizer. oops! when i pulled them out of the dryer to iron, right before i had to go mail the package, the stabilizer had dried into hard clumps around the embroidery!

so i gave up on the idea of mailing them along with everything else, and plopped them in a sink full of water, hoping that they were salvageable. when i got back from the post office, the stabilizer had dissolved, thank goodness! i threw them in the wash again (good thing i had laundry to do anyway!), and by the time they came out of the dryer, they were perfect. crisis averted!

i learned my lesson though! from now on i'm going to dissolve the majority of the stabilizer in the sink before i put the items in the washer!   

after all that, i had to send them USPS anyway, but at least they turned out cute!


i love how the blue thread pops on the green!

okay, so maybe these aren't actually a completed project.... but they're completed designs, so i'm posting them here anyway, cause i'm super excited, and i don't want to wait until i've used them on stuff to post!

a few weeks ago i got the PE Design Lite. i had to order it, and then wait impatiently for it to arrive (patience is not my strong suit!) i was just going to buy the PED Basic so that i could download patterns, but it's been discontinued in canada, and the woman at my brother dealer totally convinced me that the PE Design Lite was worth it to be able to make my own simple designs. she was so right!

after playing around a bit, i used it to digitize Sublime Stitching patterns for machine embroidery, and while some of the results weren't as good as i'd hoped (i don't know if it's me or what, i'm obviously still learning ), some of them turned out awesome! i was having some problems with the software, because i'm basically a computer idiot, but a friend gave me some tips on how to adjust the images in photoshop (i found the "stroke" option, and my paint bucket isn't hiding anymore! wahoo!), so i'm getting a lot better results. my first ones were MUCH worse than these!

from the black apple pattern set
outline only

(i obviously forgot to trim that thread before i scanned it!)
coloured in

(there's entirely too much space between the outline and the colour, they should be butting up against each other. i don't know how to fix that. and i messed up and set the shirt and the hair to embroider in fill stitch, which i don't like as much as satin stitch, especially for the hair, because i think it looks like he has a buzz cut!)

outline only

coloured in

(i don't feel like the colour is consistent - like it's not filled in enough. i don't know. i think there's a way to adjust that, i just haven't figured it out yet!)

from the forest friends pattern set
outline only hedgie

(i did this one before i figured out how to change the stroke size in photoshop, and i think the outline is a bit too narrow. he'd pop a lot more if the lines were a bit thicker i think)

outline only deer

deer with some colouring

(crappy scan, i'm sorry! the scanner hates the khaki brown i used. but the colour matches up with the outlines really good in this one!)

from the sexy librarians pattern set
glasses

typewriter

(look at all that white space between the colour and the border! argh! and i cut one of the pink satin stitched threads while trimming the black threads! whoops! i'm going to go back and edit the pattern so that the keys of the typewriter are sewn first, then i can stop and cut all those threads BEFORE the body of the typewriter is embroidered!)

from the vital organs set

(i love love love this one!)


and this one's not from a sublime stitching pattern, it was a freebie i downloaded online. it's designed to be embroidered with a much heavier thread, so it doesn't cover as well, but i like the design. i don't know anything at all about embroidering with wool, like this design called for, it's something else to look into!



i'm having fun! i need to find the rest of my sublime stitching patterns (there's a reason why these are all newer designs, that's all i could find!). just as a note - these are not for re-sale or anything like that, and they're based on sublime stitching patterns i purchased. from what i can see on the sublime stitching website, it's A-OK to do this! i've been trying to use clipart as well, but scanning the images seems to work better. any tips or tricks or feedback would be much appreciated! thanks!

Post 'em when you get 'em!


we can't see what MNO words y'all came up with!!




signup thread!

[Sponsored Content]

Sponsored Content
* To see the overview of this Master Crafters campaign click here.
* To read more about the Brother SE-350 Embroidery and Sewing machine at Brother's website click here.

I've been sewing for 17 or 18 years, if you count the barbie clothes I started out making, and in that time, I've sewn pretty much everything.  I skipped multiple grades of sewing in high school.  My 4H group couldn't figure out what to do with me when I was recreating vintage gowns with French seams while everyone else was making aprons and potholders!  I've done costumes for community theatre and costumes for burlesque (much less fabric than theatre! ).  I had a line of clothing in a local store for several years.  I've made household items.  I've made lots of different types of clothing, lots of bags and purses.  I did some quilting while working in a quilt shop.  I've done a lot of applique with vinyl.  I've made a few attempts at making stuffies, and I've worked with pretty much every kind of fabric that you can think of, but I've never done any real machine embroidery.

So I was REALLY, REALLY excited when I found out I was getting the Brother SE-350!  I started looking up embroidery patterns online, and going to the Brother dealers in my area to check out the machines (the SE-350 isn't available in Canada, but supplies and stuff that work with it are!) and the memory cards, reading up about it, even buying supplies because I was too impatient to wait!

On the day that alwaysinmyroom received her machine, I got a FedEx "we missed you" slip, and it was soooo disappointing!


The slip said that they'd return before 2pm the next day, but the next day I was going to champagne brunch wedding reception, and I was so worried that I'd miss them.  I got up super early and called FedEx to ask if they did Saturday delivery (not in my area) or if they'd be delivering on the Monday (nope, it was a holiday here) . I explained how excited I was, but that I had to go to this wedding reception, and asked if they knew when it would arrive.  I told them the absolute latest time I could leave for the reception (without being INCREDIBLY late).  They were so helpful! The woman called the delivery guy for me and checked, and then called back to say he'd make it, etc.  He arrived at the last possible minute before I had to leave, but I still had to take a picture!  I was so excited!


I opened the box long enough to grab the manual to read at stoplights and went to the wedding reception.  When I got there, I told the bride that this was proof of how much I loved her - that I left my new sewing machine sitting at home to come!  She, being a quilter herself, was flabbergasted!  "You didn't even take it out of the box? My god!"   

But rest assured that I did as soon as possible and look at all the goodies I found!!


The SE-350 comes with 8 different feet (buttonhole, overcasting, monogramming, zipper, zizag, blind stitch, button fitting and embroidery), some bobbins and needles, a seam ripper, little scissors, spool caps and an extra spool pin, spool net, foot controller (obviously!), several different screw drivers, a pen for the LCD screen, a 4"x4" embroidery hoop, and more!


This machine has so many cool features that even my old Brother, which is only 2 or 3 years old, didn't have, like the LCD touch screen, the automatic thread cutter, soooooo many built in stitches and embroidery designs, 10 different buttonhole stitches, an instructional cd, a needle threader, super easy bobbin winding and threading, a stop/start button...  It doesn't come with a USB cable for internet connection like the Brother Innov-ís 900D does (for downloading patterns off the net -- the Brother website has some very cool ones available!), but the PED Basic software allows you to do that, and doesn't cost much more than one embroidery card would, so that's not a big deal at all.  That's going to be my September purchase! 

As soon as I could, I cleared off my sewing table, putting my old Brother machine in the corner of the studio along with my serger, and started it up!

The machine comes with a super informative manual, as well as a quick reference guide, but in addition to those great resources that I've kept next to me for the past few weeks, the machine also has a "help" button for the LCD screen. (See the little button with a question mark in the right corner?  That's it!)


You touch the screen for which aspects of running the machine you need help with, and little "videos" show you how to do it!








Stitch length and width (and needle position, for straight stitching) is so easy to adjust.  You just touch the screen!


To choose your stitch designs, you just go through the screens until you find the one you want, and you're set!  The machine sets it up! (No cabs, or moving dials! So cool!)  The only thing you have to do is change the presser foot, and the machine even tells you which one you need!






When you're winding the bobbin, it tells you! (I found this really amusing for some reason!)


Another REALLY cool thing it does, that I forgot to take a picture of, is that it TELLS you when your bobbin is about to run out!  That is so PERFECT for me.  I hate it when that happens, but I never think to check before starting a new seam!

It also has an automatic needle threader, which is very cool.  I have to admit, that at first I thought it was mainly for people with um, "not so young eyes" , but really, it's awesome!  It's especially handy when you're embroidering because you need to change thread colours quite a bit, and the embroidery thread is silkier than regular thread, making it hard to get through the eye of the needle.  But it's very handy when you're just doing regular sewing as well.  I may forgot how to thread a needle on my own!






And my absolute FAVOURITE function of the machine for basic sewing -- the stop/start button.  See that glowing button?  That's it!


The stop/start button means you don't have to use the foot controller.  It's all done by pressing the button.  This is really really good for anyone with mobility or accessibility issues, and I'm sure it's handy for everyone else as well!  I have a chronic health condition, and there are lots of times I can't sew because my legs are so sore, or the stopping/starting with the foot controller is making my legs cramp, or my lower back ache.  With this campaign, I totally did way more than I should have (So many ideas! Not enough time or energy!), and the stop/start button saved me!  It let me do SO MUCH more sewing than I would have been able to without it.  It takes a bit of getting used to, but it's definitely worth getting used to!

Brother also sent me a package of goodies that was super exciting!  Mine got held up at the border over the holiday weekend, so I received the box 4 days later than the machine.  That was fine.  It just gave me an excuse to buy some memory cards of my own from the Brother dealer so that I'd have something to play with in the meantime! (You know you're a Craftster when....)

They sent us each lots of toys to play with though -- rolls of tear away and wash away stabilizers, a big thread pack, a 5"x7" hoop, and 5 embroidery cards, so much stuff!

The embroidery cards were the Home Decor card, the Australian Flowers card, the Butterfly card, Large Floral Patterns, and the Scrapbooking card. Each card has so many designs, there are a couple of cards I haven't even had a chance to use yet!

It's going to feel very weird to NOT sew tomorrow, alwaysinmyroom and I have both been sewing like crazy since we received the machines, and thinking of nothing but!  On Saturday morning my mom woke me up and asked me where the box of latex gloves were that my dad uses for fixing cars, and I told her that i'd embroidered them!   There's pretty much no way you could stop me from embroidering more things now that I've started.  I have a huge list of future projects already, and so do all the members of my family (they knew better than to ask me for favours while I was working on this stuff!) but first, I'm going to sleep for a day or two! 

This has been an awesome experience, and I have to say Thank You So Much to Leah, Craftster and Brother for giving alwaysinmyroom and I this opportunity.  We've had so much fun, and we'll both be continuing to have fun, because we still have so many ideas!!  We've been feeding off each other, sharing ideas, and I'm sure that will continue as well!