Since starting this blog, I have been using the first names of individuals and describing what they are doing. I think that it is time for a change though. Since many of my students are aware of each other, and although they have never met, there are characteristics that reflect the personality of each individual which are known by many. The fun part is there have been no duplicates! I think each of you will recognize yourself in the descriptions, and as new students come on board, then a new nic will be created. Not everyone has a nic at this point as it takes time to find something perfect that fits the individual. I hope all of you will smile and enjoy this as much as I have thus far.

So here goes….

“Pajama Girl” is a long standing student who has made probably upwards of 30 pairs of PJ bottoms. Her family fell in love with them for the simple fact that she is able to provide them with jams out of a wide variety of seasonal and other fun fabrics, plus the fact that they fit! She may also appear as “Bed of Roses” from time to time, as many times in the course of doing a given project, something might go wrong requiring a change and she literally rises from the fiasco (aka da chit..LOL) and ends up looking like she fell into a bed of roses. So much fun…

“Shoe Man” is new on the scene just this past week. He plans to refurbish Air Jordan’s among other shoes and has purchased an appropriate commercial machine for that purpose. There will be another blog entry detailing the craziness that has created.

“Potholder Girl” learned to make potholders (and created coasters all on her own) and within a very short time made well over 20 sets that she gave away to family and friends. She is also a yoga instructor and contortionist. It makes one hurt watching some of the wild positions she can put her body into. Wow!

“Magic Girl” is a pre-teen that has made amazing pillowcases and PJ bottoms for her mom before the family left for a vacation in Europe where her father was touring. I look forward to restarting her classes in the near future.

“Jersey Girl” and “Grommet Girl” are working together on beginning to re-work team jerseys into a more stylish silhouettes for women. Exciting things are afoot with that. They hope to market these and should do well.

“Pincushion Girl” is also pre-teen that was challenged to make a cube. She enlisted a bit of help from adults in her family with the end result being the most adorable pin cushion. Parental involvement with children is expected and her mom is right there as a willing and eager participant. Her little brother keeps asking when will he be old enough to start lessons too.

Not to be forgotten is “45th Floor Girl” whose interests lie in creating a line of bikini’s and great flower band arrangements for wearing in a woman’s hair. She made the sexiest apron and certainly the man in her life loved it. Shhhh, can’t tell what she did, but it was pretty foxy!

“Corset Girl” has a corset in progress. She has made a wool cape with a satin lining also. Currently she is working on a slinky fabric crop top and dressy slacks. They are nearing completion. Following which she will be completing her corset. To date, she is the only person that has attempted a corset. It’s been quite the challenge and she is doing well with it. She plans to attend design school in L.A. next year.

“Lawyer Girl” is one of those tiny people that no ready to wear fits off the rack. In addition to doing the usual projects to get her started, she has begun altering clothing items with most pleasing results.

“Gym Girl” had some issues getting the sewing machine delivery that she ordered, but is off to a good start after its eventual arrival. Although she had an existing machine, it was a very basic one that did not have a stretch stitch. Since her husband is a sports competitor, having that stitch available was a must-have for her.

“Skirt Girl” has to date made 3 skirts with significant pattern alterations both prior to cutting fabric and in fitting it during construction. One skirt had an incredibly challenging fabric as it was printed crooked. Once completed, a person would never have known the fabric was a major headache for her. She is now helping with a project with me that is underway for Opportunity Village. Her participation is greatly appreciated!

“Trouble” is yours truly and is a nic I have had for 30 + years. Currently I am coordinating a large project for Opportunity Village making cape-lets for their Great Santa Run. There are 56 cape-lets in progress at this time. With help from volunteers, all the prep work of cutting out 75 yards of red glitter fabric and 26 yards of faux fur was completed in just over 3 1/2 hours earlier this week. The floor looked like someone had thrown up fur when we were through before it was cleaned up. We make GREAT messes and are proud of it! The next step will be undertaken this next week and the cape-lets are anticipated to be completed soon. In exchange for this effort, Las Vegas Sewing Instruction will be represented by a tree (that I will decorate) and signs in the Magical Forest that Opportunity Village does every year. Dates that will be ready will be posted soon, but is to be up approximately November 1st until the first week in January. Please come out to see it and support Opportunity Village in their work with Intellectually Challenged Adults.

As people turn up, I will try to log a note with some description of them, but as you can tell, my frequency of writing entries here varies widely.

Have a great day!

Donna aka “Trouble”