Hi!
My name is Kim Marquez and I am a Sewing and Crafting Instructor who just happens to be also crazy about the Internet and making webpages.
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March 1999
This March has started out pretty good! If the rain would stop, I'd be happier, but other than that, can't complain! (well, I could, but what would be the point?)
I have just made a new dress (STYLE pattern #2795) out of a teeny houndstooth check in navy and white. It reminds me of an old-fashioned waitress dress! I put navy piping on the collar, cuffs, and pocket flaps! My daughter has just made a sleeveless summer shift dress (NEW LOOK pattern #6630) out of a very light summer plaid. She had a lot of fun matching the plaids, but did an excellent job! Both real cute dresses!
I have taken on some alteration jobs (yuck!), and a sewing job making a silk straight dress for a former student of mine to wear to her daughter's wedding in England! My sewing will go abroad even if I can't!
Trying to do some sewing for myself too! I am getting ready for a trip to L.A. to see the production of 'Cabaret' with my 2 best friends and our daughters!Also, I have just started a new lady's beginner sewing class with 5 new students and am looking forward to their progress as each week passes.
I'll keep you posted!April 1999
So here I am again facing April, one of my busiest months! In April I have one of my brothers' anniversaries, one of my neices' anniversaries, and my own 24th anniversary! Not to mention the big TAX DAY, April 15th!
I will be sewing this month for another neice's wedding on May 1st. My daughter and I want new dresses for that and there will be the usual "Can you hem my pants?" at the last minute things to deal with.
I am not sure what I will make for the wedding, I am inclined to make a nice linen-look suit, and my daughter wants a dress from that style that looks like a corset on top with a tulle skirt. The wedding is in pastels so we will try to coordinate (but not match) the wedding party.
My new students all purchased NEW ELNA SEWING MACHINES! What a pleasure to teach someone on a new machine! We are all discovering the features of these machines together. It is nice that they are all the same, so I don't have to learn 3 different new machines! They ordered them from allbrands.com and received free shipping and tax for ordering 3 at once! The price was about 1/2 what the local stores were selling them for! Comparison shop and then go to this website if you are looking for a machine!
The trip to L.A. was a great success! Just a note, 'Cabaret' is not a show to take teenaged girls to. The story is great, the singing is great, the dancing is great, but some scenes are questionable, especially since they modernized it!
Other than that, we had a great time, if you are in the L.A. area, look up "Miceli's", an authentic Italian restaurant that features very talented waiters and waitresses. They have to audition to get their jobs, as they all sing in between waiting on tables! It is a fun time for all!May 1999
Well, last you heard from me I was sewing for my niece's wedding. The dress I made for my daughter came out great! When we get our pictures developed, I will post one here. I ended up--don't be shocked--BUYING a dress for myself!!!!I really never do that, and actually, I bought 3 dresses! They were all good material, and fairly well made, and best of all, on sale!!! I will have to alter one, and change the round neckline into a V, and maybe take in the other one in the waist! (Never satisfied with ready-to-wear!)
Now that the wedding is over, our thoughts turn to planning our summer activities. One big thing around our area is the annual Gypsy Tour Motorcycle Rally in our town of Hollister,Ca. It takes place over the 4th of July weekend and it is usually a good time for all!
Tomorrow they are moving a house into the empty lot next to our house! I am so excited about seeing it, as I have never seen a house moved before. Video Camera is ready! The lot has been empty for almost 10 years, since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that leveled half (slight exaggeration) this town!
My students are starting to make summer dresses, shorts, and lightweight clothing for their kids, I think everyone has gotten spring fever around here a little late! The Elna machines are working out wonderfully, and I am getting a little jealous with my old Elna, but I wouldn't trade it in for anything....perhaps it needs a sister?June 1999
Well, we have a new neighbor now! Not really, but their house is there! It was very interesting seeing that house coming down the street! There is still a lot of work to do on the house, but it is finally set on it's foundation. Now they are having all the plumbing hooked up and the cement poured around the foundation. It will be a while before they can move in. I will try to get a picture up in the next few days....I have been sewing for my daughter again, taking over a dress she started. She made this real cute sundress from Simplicity's new Grooves line: #8570 (view a or b, she actually has a length somewhere in between) The fabric she chose was too thin and shows EVERYTHING! So, I am now in the process of lining it. Good thing she had only basted the seams in most places (just to try it on) as it is a straight skirt, and you never know how they will fit.
I have also made myself a couple of cotton shirts. I altered the pattern sleeves to 3/4 length and added a turn up cuff on one. They are very cute. Pattern is: New Look #6844, and they turned out real cute! I have to admit, I did go buy another new skirt and 2 sweater tops this month, they were just too good of a price to turn down. I now own more purchased clothes than I ever have in my life!
July 1999
The last few weeks have been busy with graduations, end of school exams, new classes starting and the 3rd Annual Hollister Gypsy Tour Motorcycle Rally on July 4th weekend. The event commemorates the Original Gypsy tour 53 years ago, where bikers rode into Hollister and had a little fun and caused a little trouble. (the movie "The Wild Ones",starring Marlon Brando, is loosely based on this event)Upwards of 50,000 bikers and spectators descend on our little town of 28,000 for the event! This year's event was the biggest ever!In exchange for having my daughter visit San Diego for a week and taking her to a Jewel concert, my lifelong friend Vikki, sent her 2 daughters, Karla (15) and Devin (13), to me this month for a crash (1 week) course in sewing! We started out with making sewing samples for their own sewing binders, learning how to use the machines and how to identify fabrics. By the 4th day we were ready for a trip to the fabric store, where they picked out their own fabrics and patterns to make dresses. Karla picked out Butterick #6062 and Devin picked out Butterick #5046.
We started right away pre-washing, measuring, cutting out, and sewing! They both finished their dresses in 2 days! They did very good jobs, both of them! I also had them make matching hair scrunchies, which they loved! They were very happy with the results, and Devin even wore her dress home on the plane!
This was not an easy task for any of us! My husband sleeps days and we had to sew in the living room, which is right next to the room he sleeps in, so we had to be quiet! Also, we were going through a hot spell at the beginning of the week and a cold spell the end of the week! To top things off, my refrigerator decided to go bonkers, so we had to live out of ice coolers! Whew!
Kim
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Email: asewgirl@hotmail.com
