Monday Message

"Today, I emphasize a most basic principle: home production and storage. Have you ever paused to realize what would happen to your community or nation if transportation were paralyzed or if we had a war or depression? How would you and your neighbors obtain food? How long would the corner grocery store—or supermarket—sustain the needs of the community?" (President Ezra Taft Benson)

I think that as we see so many devastating things on TV happening around the world, we all see how long it takes to get help. Really, we need to get our storage in so we can help not only ourselves but those around us.

With prices rising and wages not rising, it is time to be actively getting in our storage and learning how we can be frugal and building our skills. They all go together, each are important.

I was in a Salvation Army store while waiting for the fabric store to open. I was going to look through sale patterns for a blouse that I want to make, or something close that I can switch it to what I wanted. I looked through that tub of patterns hoping to find something and wouldn’t have to go to the other store to search for it. I did not find that blouse but found many good patterns in my size. They were 19 cents! Most had not been used. 

So this week another set of patterns were on sale. Since I had no luck last week finding the pattern I wanted, I thought I would look at the patterns that were on sale. I found one that was very close and would work….$1.99 on sale. It wasn’t all that long ago that they were a dollar on sale. I wandered around to look at fabric, I wasn’t going to buy any I just wanted to see what there was and oh my goodness the prices were sooooo high! I got the pattern and left.

I noticed the non-sale price was $19.99. Incredible. Does anyone ever pay that price I wonder??? Add the price of the fabric I saw and we are easily talking forty dollars and after that you still have to sew it...wow. It makes me glad that I saved my patterns over the years and picked up patterns and fabric at yard sales and was blessed to be thought of by kind people downsizing. A BIG thank you to them!

It makes me think that a lot of people won’t learn the sewing skills that are needed. That is why I suggest refashioning your clothes. Take something you like and carefully take it apart. Draw around on paper and then you will have the pattern. Sew it back together. Now if you know how to sew, you can draw each piece without taking it apart. Go to yard sales and look for things to refashion or big pieces that can be used for fabric. Always be on the look out for fabric and notions.

I know I have mentioned this before but worth doing again... with the patterns I found at the Salvation Army, I needed to put them into my system, which is…

I take out the contents of the pattern package and put it in a brown envelope. I put the number in the top right corner of the envelope and if it's simplicity or another kind (now I am working on my patterns for me or grown up section, I have a children’s binder too). 

Then I put the pattern envelope into a page protector.

I then file the brown envelope with the pattern inside in order of the numbers in the right hand upper corner.

Then I put the page protector with the pattern envelope inside it into a binder. This way I can flip through and decide what I want to make. For me this works well. It is a bit of work but it pays off if you keep it up.

You may have a better way but this has worked for me. Feel free to share your ways, we all learn from each other! If I were to donate, I would pull out the brown envelope and stick it in its page protector.

I plan to further my sewing skills.

I suggest that you mothers with kids still at home get together and form clothing swaps to bless each other.

Also, find free patterns on the internet.

Also, get working on those mending skills - this helps so much!

https://sewdifferent.co.uk/2-hour-top/ - here is a free pattern. Now I need more length so I could draw a line a couple of inches under the arms straight across and cut a piece of paper and add length where needed and then just tape on the paper.

To the cut line on each side….. You could also insert that fabric and yet another version you can make the back longer.  So make your pattern what you want.

https://sewdifferent.co.uk/how-to-make-your-own-bias-binding/ and learn to make the bias trim.

http://www.awilson.co.uk/cherry-blossom-dress-without-a-pattern/ - good one to learn on.

http://thestitchingscientist.com/2015/05/how-to-make-a-simple-bag-in-5-minutes.html I plan to make this bag for gifts using fabric I have.

On to knitting...

http://tincanknits.com/pattern-SC-flaxlight.html - this is a great pattern for those who know how to knit. 

This brings me to a project I am working on (pictured at the top). I have three binders so far. One is called "do it yourself." This will be recipes that are like an enchilada sauce recipe that I tried and liked a couple weeks ago. That will go in along with my taco seasoning mix and other things that I can do myself like BBQ sauce. So they are all together and I will save money making them myself.

Then I will make one binder that I will put the knitting swatches in that I learn.

The last binder I will do the same with sewing. In this blog post I have the bias binding site that I linked above, so I will make a swatch of that technique and put it in the binder for reference.

I know it sounds like busy work and yes, it kind of is, but I will be building three useful binders. You could add anything like crochet or whatever you are working on.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=knitting+technique&view=detail&mid=5316AD7F0D1C4AE3D9CB5316AD7F0D1C4AE3D9CB&FORM=VIRE so do a little knitted swatch and put in the binder.

I feel that the time is now and not to put off until later to get things in and learned.

Keep putting in storage and supplies and learn skills to become more frugal. Make a binder on frugal ideas.