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Awww Eileen!
Lucky you....we expect great things from that girl of yours!
Dilu:P
Actually Rita....I do have a pattern...and I can size up or down for whatever size you want....and then I do believe I can figure out how to scan it in and e-mail it....hmmmmm this is a little scarry-too much technology....
So what size do y0u want-?
Dilu
wow! Great idea's....And Kelly's right-who wants to be hampered by the sizes of available discs?
Dilu
I just wish the balance-the-check-book part of my brain was functioning as well as the learning-new-fun-things part.
We pay mom's bills cuz she's not quite competent anymore. But we keep very little in that particular account because she has a tendency to use her Visa and that can be scarry! A week ago I wrote out the $4000.00 yikes!!!! check for her assisted living, but forgot to transfer the money into the account that pays her bills....
ooops:rolleyes:
Fortunetly Mr. Understatement discovered it and got the transfer made just in the nick of time! Thank goodness for online banking!:)
Thank goodness for Mr. Understatement...all he said, to his credit, was, 'well no harm done'. gotta love that guy!
Dilu
Thanks Eileen for the web site....I'll check it out.
Winney, wonky bonkers Winney, this is in response to Sue Ann's wonderful new bear-He is double jointed and has the most beautiful toes....And she was wondering if the toes and joints made enough of a difference-most of us thought they did....find the post honey cuz those little fat toes are to die for! And they made me feel like learning the procedure.
Interesting dream.....stretch out on the couch and tell me about all the horrible things that mom did to you.....:lol::lol::lol:
Freud had some good ideas, but...not everything is mom's fault....poor mom ;);)
Dillydallydilu
Rita,
Is this the same Hamish Mcbeth that is the copper and solves wonderfully fun mysteries? I didn't know you had dvd's. If it the same I've read the books and love them.
HANG in there.....the following is from a nursing perspective....things your doctors and nurses should tell you but are usually too busy to:
It is very very normal to be depressed after a major surgery-some of it is because of the anesthesia and some of it is because the body has gone through trauma and is using its resources for internal healing-but the depression can leave one feeling odd and out of sorts.
There is usually a euphoria the first day home, and sometimes it lasts a week, but then there is this let down...and the energy goes and the mind and body go too....nothing to worry about, perfectly normal, and again it is the body conserving resourses for the healing....
Bowel surgery is unique-the bowels don't like being messed around with and can take quite a while to get back to normal....petulant little things they can be....one of the best things you can do for your healing process is to walk. Oh I know you won't feel like it, but if you do a little more every single day you truly will speed up your healing process-soooo as soon as your surgeon tells you to start be sure you do and don't skip a day. try to do it several times a day- in the long run you will be happier even though you wont like it in the begining.
Another thing they don't tell you is that it really does take a year....a YEAR.... for the body to completly heal-----that is a long time and just when you think you should be all better you have a set back and feel like you just took 16 steps backward.....if you know ahead of time that this is normal and that you are doing the right things then it will help you from feeling too blue when you do have problems and feel like you are going backward instead of forward.
The other super important thing to remember is to drink lots and lots of water....oh no, not tea ( you can have that too and juice and whatever....) but plain old fashioned water will help you flush your kidneys and get the nasty anesthsia out of your system and also the healing process will produce a lot of debris...dead cells and such that you want to get flushed out. We have these wonderful cells in our white blood system called, here in the states, Killer T cells.....their primary function in life is to gobble up the debris in the blood and carry it to the kidneys and liver where we can get rid of it the process is called "phagocytosis"....probaby called the same in Scotland because it is Latin. Pathophysiology really is kind of fun....and plain old fashioned water assists the water in moving that stuff out of us. It is also quite nice for helping maintain a nice complexion and not having quite so many wrinkles....but that's another story
Well, there's Nurse Dilu's premise on post surgical healing....in a nut shell....drink water, walk and rest.....and don't do anything more strenous than sewing on a bearykin nose!
Do you have home health in Scotland? Is this something you can have, will the insurrance pay? If so, you might want to have it, for no other reason than you will have a nurse who can encourage you and check your progress and assure you that you are normal. And answer those pesky little questions we all have but when we see the doctor he/she is in and out so fast we forget to ask...
It is soo sad that people have surgery, get kicked out of the hospital the next day or so, and no one tells them what to expect and they are left to their own devices, and if no one can encourage them with facts then they think there is something wrong with them..
When really everything is going the expected way and had they known they would have felt better about themsleves and their progress!
The gollies and cats and I are thinking of you and sending really great wishes and prayers!
Dilu
Hi sweetie
Sending you best wishes and hopes and prayers for speedy recovery...I think you said the surgery was Wed.? Well prayers before and prayers after can only help!
We look forward to your first post when you feel up to it and letting us know how things are going.
Hang in there...The gollies will be dancing for joy when you recover!
love
Dilu
Hoooray Louise!
Best wishes on the show.....very exciting but I am sure that you will do well....and we, who can't be there, will be waiting for wonderous reports!
And of course Pictures.....demanding little bearykins aren't we?
Dilu
Way to go Eileen.
Back when I took psych nursing seriously I read a study on Alzheimer's
The psychologists studied nuns in Wisconsin-home of Judikins- and here's what they found.
The nuns who read, did crossword puzzles, tried to learn new things, did NOT get the dreaded mind stealing disease.
The little gal sisters who didn't do anything except watch tv at the end of the day did.
Hmmmmmm
The good sisters didn't have bearmaking as an alternative, but I am hoping that the key was using the part of the brain that learns new things and keeps the verbal and written skills up to par....
something to think about....while we still can! :lol::lol:
Dillydoop 
OK Lisa and Shelli
I use Web Studio 4- very user friendly and a site can be super simple but as you learn more you can upgrade....I like that aspect.....It doesn't look as 'professional' as yours Shell, but when I get to where I really know what I am doing, and have gone' about as fer as I can go" with Web Studio I will upgrade, Yours sounds pretty neat. But I haven't really plumbed the depths yet of the one I have....
My digital is a Sony Cybershot 5 mega pixel.....but as with computers this little puppy is out of date....I got it 2 years ago. But until it no longer functions appropriately I will hang on to it.
I use Paint Shop Photo Album....another very forgiving piece of software that doesn't require me to know what I am doing, because let's face it.....I seldom do!!!:lol::lol:
Isn't it great that there are so many great products out there to help us along this 21 century path.....
But we still have to turn those little arms and legs by hand :P
Dilu:D
I would love to know how you did those little toesies.....is it beyond the scope of our site here to do a basic lesson? Maybe not all your tricks but just the facts Ma'm.?
Inquiring minds and all that.......or if you would rather is there a particularly good book that delves into toes?
Dilu
Hi Kell
Gollygeewhiz.....if you know anyone with a band saw you can buy peeler cores at garden supply stores or Lowes or Home Depot.....but then you would need to know someone with a drill press so you could drill the holes for your hardware.....
It would be much easier to buy the discs wouldn't it....I hope you find us all a source....
Dilu
Yikes Johana
Teach me to just click on the e-mail specials and slide over rather than go through the home page!!!
How funny
Gotta love you guys
Wonkydo!
Oh Wanda.....
you made me laugh honey, cuz, I thought the same thing.....'how did I miss that?"
let's hope Johanna tells us it is new.....but if it isn't at least we have each other for support in our tunnel vision and lack of awareness :lol::lol::lol:
:PDilu:P
Eileen,
1. the chances are very good that you can get other feet for your machine-Toronto, being a major hub, probably has many sewing machine stores- take one of your feet in so that they can tell if it hi or lo shank or slant or whatever.....then you have a choice of many feet.
Sewing machine feet aren't expensive, US $ 4-8 -so don't hesitate to check it out because you are worried that it will cost $20-30....
If you decide not to get a new foot then try both and see what works best. I find on some fabrics an open toe is great however if I had a zipperfoot
I would align the fabric so that my sewing line is to the right of the zipper foot, that way the foot is holding more of the fabric securely for you. also if you have drawn your stitching line instead of your cutting line you will be able to see where each stitch is going and make micro-corrections as you go.
Also if you have a needle down feature try using it...it is kind of like an extra hand, and can help keep yur fabric from slipping around. Some of the lucious plush mohairs like to do that....especially the 1/4" mini bear mohair from That Other Web Site. Although it is nice fabric and doesn't fray.
Anyway don't let the machine intimidate you-you are the master of your sewing room! Says she, who only has a 12" space to stand in.....:lol::lol:
Dilu
iIWAS THE LUCKY LUCKY WINNER of a piece of work that defies logic, and words cannot convey the workwomanship, the delicacy, the beauty of this little guy....even my pictures do not do this him justice, but I hope you can get a hint:
[imghttp://cakewalkcreation.ihoststudio.com/guest_bear/IMAG000.JPG][/img]
My hunnybunny said we would get one of those glass thing-a-ma-jimmineys to keep the little guy in- where dust,dogs,cats,birds and klutz's can't cause any damage.
And Laure, Mr. Understatment here was really impressed....he kept turning it around and around- "Where's the stitches?" he said....
I have to tell you people, this little guy is jointed, and not string jointed either!....and his stitches are very nearly invisible....I have to ask Laure if she used silk thread. In applique silk thread is nearly invisible....
Laure, my dear friend, you give me inspiration to work towards-and if I live to be 100 I do not believe I will ever achieve what you have already achieved!
I am so unbelievably glad to have been the recipient! I feel very lucky indeed!!
Dilu
Shelli- who forges paths of her own that many of us can only dream of traveling- the lemming.....:lol::lol::lol::lol:
Shelli
If you're a lemming I'm Twiggy!
Wonky dily
Hi Clare
I come at bearing and gollying from a different perspective than you-I was making my own clothing in JR.HI....and some things in 6th grade. I have studied so many different types of sewing....The machine is an extension of me....it never occured to me that I couldn't do it on the machine....
Sometimes thats best....if you don't know you 'can't' do it you just go ahead and do it...:)
When I am not so wonkered I'll post a little mini lesson with pictures....cuz it is sew easy.:D:D
My work horse is an old PFAFF 7550-it does everything, never gives me a lick of trouble, and I don't like wasting time learning new machines-the learning curve and all-when I would rather be 'doing something'
For machine embroidery I use a 7575-(I design my own embroidery designs....oddly enough the first ones were teddies.....maybe I'll post a picture of a quilt with the teddies on it......
My hunnybunny wanted to get me a new Pfaff a few years ago the 21 something-or-other....but I said I'd rather have fabric than spend that much money on a machine.....
Now I do bearing.....boy did I get my wish----the money we can spend on supplies!
Yikes :lol::lol::lol:
Dilu
Well Sue Ann
You may not like this answer but the second thing to jump out in the picture
was the toes../(the first being the Sue Ann face to die for)
So I vote for toes, and you did a such a wonderful job on them---really great...As for the double joints-well he is just soooo cute in all those positions and he wouldn't be quite AS cute without the fun positions....so Hmmmmm
Yep, sorry honey, but I gotta vote for double joints too.....
But you know better than the rest of us if you think you can recoup your time costs....
But, yes, I think the toes and the joints really make a big differance in him.....
Sorry......
It looks like an awful lot of work. But when you look at him.....welllll
What do you think?
That's the problem with being an artist....always trying to do better, innovative, cuter, different, improving.....
So Madame Artiste......
JUST TOOK ANOTHER LOOK- he really is too cute!
Dazed dillylu
PS
Shelli
I use the machine for the smallest-my smallest bear is 2"...sometimes though they get so small that they loose definition....maybe its me
anyway I'm not a big hand sewer either except on the small 4" and under bears I do hand sew the gusset
Bye....
Dilu
Shelli
That's not how I do it.....I draw the sewing line then cut the pieces out in ovals....then sew. When I trim the excess fabric away and if the fabric is the type to fray then I use fray check...
Edinburgh has mini bear plush type fabric that doesn't fray no matter how much I manipulate it...
but allot of the fabric will fray, especially manipulating tiny little arms and legs so then I fraycheck
If this doesn't make sense I'll post pictures.....later.....today I gota date...
Dilu
Since a lot of folks wont read the post where you mentioned a neat trick you have, I am reposting ....
Winney we allllll want to know your neat bow trick....And we want pictures :D:D
Maybe you can't do it today, but maybe you can in the coming week?
Marie said she was interested, I figure at least 20% of the lurkers are interested and I'm interested....
So ok the rest of you! Let her know if you are interested too....
Dilu:P:P
Hi
you gotta try it- there is nothing quite like your first mink bear, unless it's selling your first golliwoggins.
A site I like is Gabriella's Furs. Sandra is the owner and Gabriella is her beautiful dog.
Sandra is knowledgeable fair and honest. Also very fast!
I have a beautiful fox sleeve that was sewn on the diagonal and it screams for a rather large fat tummy....so now I need to find the rest of the fur to put it together.
Dive in and go for it-post a picture and have a great time
Dilu-yikes, still being serious :P
PS Shelli- don't forget a $300 coat will probably make 4-6 bears depending on the size.....so when you compare mohair with real fur, I think it's very comparable-
What do you think Judi?
PPS I haven't tried Judi's aligator clips, but I have used the large paperclips-they held the fur away from the needle really well-
Judi told me about the aligator clips ages ago and I still haven't gotten to Walmart....
I gotta get out of this furfactory!
