[Nicole]

No chooks were harmed in the making of the collar.

[Lightning McStitch]

I’m waiting for the complete Little Things To Sew tutorial compendium. (drums fingers)…. 🙂

Seriously though I’m too lazy to even scribble a note on the pattern to remind myself for next time, so I appreciate the work that goes into documenting a whole garment.

But that book has tripped me up a couple of times… It would be a great service…. What else have you got to do….. 😉

[with love Heidi]

As soon as I heard plucked chickens I thought yum roast dinner!

[needlewoman]

Thank you Heidi, I did mean the plucked chicken comment to be a joke; maybe it was the way I typed it. I had this lovely picture of N in the hen run selecting feathers for her collar, chicken by chicken. You can tell that I’m a city girl who has had very few close encounters with poultry (other than on a plate, and when I was small, that was only at Christmas).

LOL, Lightning abt you waiting for N to get on with tuting the book; while my skills are not as comprehensive; I get similar requests from friends. For non-sewists, if you sew a bit, they think you can sew anything! Flattering but terrifying.

[Sarvi]

So true. After messing up my dad’s cycling jacket I vowed no more repairs or requests. If you really want to feel scared, try sewing for one of your sewing pals, though. You want so badly for it all to be perfect, because they’ll really know if it’s not! And if your sewing pal is Nicole and you’ve seen her work up close … haha. I imagine you can hear my knees knocking from Australia 🙂

[needlewoman]

Oh yes, Sarvi!! I’ve been there too. It’s also terrible when you ‘fess up’ that what they would like to sew is too hard/beyond your skills, and have the feeling that the non-sewist thinks you are just being mean. You feel so guilty, and so silly for feeling so. What did you do to your father’s jacket? Or is it still too painful to discuss?

[Sarvi]

Ha, it was so awful. He wanted me to add a pocket to his cycling jacket. He gave me an old one so I could cut off the sleeve to use for the pocket of the new one. Can you guess what happened?

[Maggie]

I got suckered into taking in a bridesmaid dress a couple months ago. My friend didn’t understand at all what she was asking. There was no time to bring it anywhere, so I did it. In the end it looked fine, but never again!

I wish I had sewing friends to share with, but I don’t. My friends think I am Alexander McQueen when I make a lazy days skirt.

[Sarvi]

“My friends think I am Alexander McQueen when I make a lazy days skirt. ” HA! I know exactly what you mean! I don’t usually actually laugh out loud, but this time I did. So funny!

[Mama_Knowles]

I would love to take sewing lessons from Nicole! Oh those perfect polo shirts!

[Nicole]

Sarvi,you are as sweet as your sewing is beautiful.

Sharon,it is practice and good photography. I loathe sewing polo’s. Now an O+S polo…..

[needlewoman]

Oh no, Sarvi, you didn’t, did you? really? I made a christening frock/petticoat and bonnet per a friend’s pleading request from moire taffeta/cotton/lace. Took me three weeks, and I had to draft the pattern from a graph. AUGHH as Charlie Brown would say. Even if I do say so myself, it looked fantastic; however, on the day, as it was February, the kid ended up only wearing the petticoat because it was too hot! However, 20 something years later, another related little boy wore the whole kit – but I still haven’t seen the photos, and he’s started school now. The experience taught me a lot, and not just about heirloom sewing!!

[Sarvi]

I have to chime in again — most days I feel I am pretty handy with instructions. I make Japanese patterns without fear, and instructions that commonly give people hives I take in stride. But then there are days like today (right now, and also about 1am) when something in my brain is just not working and the simplest, and I mean simplest! things I keep reading and re-reading. When I am staring at an illustration and just cannot understand what I’m looking at no matter how much I try to concentrate. On days like today, Nicole pulls me through.

Some days I really do need to see a photo of what ‘right sides together’ means and what to pin where because my eyes are just swimming. And unfortunately, sometimes that strikes at a really weird hour when nobody else is awake. I’m trying to not only make my first Fairy Tale dress, but also to do it differently than the original instructions to account for the particulars of my project — and the wonderful 5 & Counting blog has already come to my rescue multiple times. Not all bloggers are running a business, some just do it out of generosity to share what they’ve learned. I am very appreciative and wanted to say THANKS!

[Todd Gibson]

And a countless number of the rest of us have a big “thanks” to say to Nicole as well for all she does for the community here.

So thanks Nicole!

[Nicole]

Thank you so very much, you have caused a few happy tears to flow.

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