Friday, January 5, 2007
Today, we'll address some questions we've been asked recently. The first one concerns the German interfacing. You may not know that it needs to be pre-shrunk. To do this, soak the interfacing in warm water for about five minutes. Pull diagonally to square the interfacing if necessary. Then drip-dry on a towel rack or dry in the dryer on cool setting. Of course, do not iron before storing. To use the interfacing, bond the "bumpy" side to the wrong side of your garment piece with a hot iron and steam or a moist pressing cloth. Press firmly for fifteen seconds and then allow the piece to cool before removing it from the ironing board.

Another question concerns slips for heirloom dresses. Ann Albro asked if there is any rule regarding the color of a slip under a colored heirloom dress. She had made a blue dress with ecru lace and was undecided about the color of the slip. What we usually do is try all the possibilities. In this case, we would hold both blue and ecru fabric under the blue dress fabric and see which one looks better. Ann also wanted to know about the slip fabric itself. Does it need to be the same as the dress? Again, we would try all the possibilities and see what we liked best. If you have a Swiss batiste dress, you don't necessarily have to use Swiss batiste for the slip if lawn or Pima batiste look just as good. Additionally, Ann asked about finishing the armholes and neckline of the slip. We have tried most every method-shell hem, gathered lace, flat lace, bias binding. Each of them is perfectly acceptable. Strictly from the viewpoint of the baby's comfort, a bias binding is probably the best finish, but like all the others, takes some time and patience to get it to look right. Experiment with different methods to find your favorite.

We hope your new year is off to a great start. Look for a newsletter from us in the next few days with the announcement of our January special promotion. You will definitely want to start planning your Easter and spring sewing.

Sincerely,
Carol, Dana and Lynn

January 3, 2007
We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are ready to get your new year of smocking and sewing off to a fresh start with new kit ideas and some new fabrics. Check out our kit page to get some ideas for your little Sweetheart for this Valentines. Also check out the new fabrics on the Pique and Seersucker page and be watching for some new samples soon. We also received four new Liberty Prints this morning and they will be up on the printed liberty page soon.

Since Dana and Carol have both shared about themselves with you, I guess it's my turn. I was born and raised here in West Tennessee with 2 older brothers. I don't have any children of my own but they have provided me with 3 nieces and 1 nephew who have had the "honor" of wearing "Aunt Lynn's" creations. The first heirloom dress I ever smocked or made was my oldest nieces Christening Dress. She will turn 13 this June. This dress was a joint venture between my mother and I and we were pretty proud of how it turned out and it will be an heirloom for many years to come. Once I got bit by the bug there was no turning back, I love to do this type of sewing and I love all types of handwork.

Like Carol, I also have a nursing background. I was an Orthopedic Nurse for several years and used my sewing and smocking as a stress reliever. I finally decided to stop nursing and did custom sewing before coming to work with Carol last year. It has been an honor getting to work and learn from such a talented person.

The only thing I detest more than having to write about myself is having my picture taken. I am usually the one on the other side of the lens since another passion of mine is scrap booking. However, this picture isn't bad, that is if you look at the cute little girls and not me. Lacie and Brylie belong to a good friend of mine and they are usually willing to wear "Ms. Lynn's" Creations.

Until next time, happy stitching!!!
Lynn

December 19, 2006
We hope you have everything in place for a great holiday and can sit back and enjoy this week. We also know from our own experiences that many of you will be working right up to the last minute to get that special gift done... wish we could see all the lovely things you've made. Patsy Reasons shared this photo of her darling grandchildren in their Christmas finery.

Lots of plans are in the works for 2007, and you won't want to miss any of it. Our first one-day class of 2007 will be Monday, January 15. The project will be embroidery techniques used on the very popular "Belle Meade" which was featured in the May/June 2003 issue of Creative Needle. Visit our Snippets page or contact us for more information on this and our other one-day classes being offered throughout the year.

Those of you who love antique lace will be delighted to hear of the "stash" that I've discovered. I have purchased many unique pieces of French and Swiss lace and also lots of antique mother-of-pearl buttons. As soon as possible we will feature these on the website, possibly in some one-of-a-kind heirloom kits.

As promised last week, we are introducing ourselves one-by-one. You can learn a little about me by reading the "About Us" page but you may not know...

• I am a West Tennessee native, having been born in Memphis on October 30, 1950. My life since age 5 has been spent in Dyer County. The Dyersburg City Schools, Dyersburg State Community College, and the University of Tennessee at Martin (yes, also in West TN) were the source of my education.
• I am, by profession, a nurse practitioner. Most of my years in nursing were spent in public health but the last (and my most favorite) job was working in a private pediatric practice. After the children were grown and I wasn't as dependent on the nursing income, I decided to stay at home for a few years. I had always dreamed of having my own fabric store, so at age 45 I decided to give it my best shot.
• My husband has several business interests but what he likes to tell people is that he sells "empty boxes". He specializes in the sale of corrugated packaging and if you think about it, almost everything you buy was at some time shipped in a corrugated container.
• Besides sewing, my next favorite hobby is reading. I enjoy fiction and biographies most. Although my traveling has been very limited, I aspire to visit all of the states in the continental US and would love to put the presidential libraries on the agenda.
• My favorite sewing activities are taking old garments and dreaming up contemporary adaptations of them, planning garments with unusual color schemes and challenging design details, and hand embroidery.
• I would tell you about my children and grandchildren but you would get real sick of hearing about it before it was over. What can I say - I am a fool for them!
• And for a laugh on me - the person who introduced my husband to me had earlier described me to him as being a "plain Jane". Maybe I am still that way! But here we are at a wedding a couple of years ago.

We may have one more blog the end of this week but we will wish you a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year and talk to you again after the first of the year.

December 14, 2006
The elves are still hard at work around here. We received some more new Zecca Products yesterday including eyeglass holder necklace and a different snip tipz that is just a little bit more decorative. These will be up on the Zecca page very soon.

A question from Sarah Minton this morning asked, "what is a “Zinger” that Gail uses to clip her scissors to the June Taylor Cut and Press Board?" The “Zinger” is what we call the Scissors/ID Tag Holder and it attaches to your scissors and has a clip on the back that clips to the top of the board to keep your scissors handy as you work. This item can be found in Notions on the Zecca page.

As promised earlier this week Carol and I will be sharing about ourselves soon as Dana did earlier this week, but today we thought we would introduce you to someone you may hear a lot about here since he is so adorable and full of mischief. This is Squirt and I think he rules the roost at the Harris home. The adorable little girl holding squirt is Taylor, one of Carol’s grandchildren, who helped name Squirt after a Disney character. Can anyone guess which Disney character it was?

December 11, 2006
Typically, Monday is a very busy day around here. We try to get caught up with all the Internet orders that came in over the weekend. Today we are also unpacking a button shipment. We received an expanded range of colors, shapes and sizes of plastic buttons. Soon you'll be able to view them on the button page. We're also putting together some kits to put up on the website. Watch the kit page for some cuter than cute kits, many of which are one of a kind.

As promised last week, we will tell you a little something about ourselves so that you will have a face to put with our southern drawls when you call. Later on, we will post our baby pictures and see if you can guess who is who.

My name is Dana Branch. I have been working part-time at Carol Harris Company for seven years. My favorite type of handwork is smocking, especially picture smocking. Since my children are practically grown, this is a perfect outlet for my creativity. I truly enjoy helping you choose a project, and I'm happy to guide you over any rough spots you may encounter in completing that project. On a personal note, I have been married to my husband Ronnie, a computer engineer with Hewlett Packard, for 24 years. We have two children, Ronnie and Carrie Beth. Ronnie is 18 and has just completed basic training. He will serve in the Army Reserve while attending college to study computer drafting. Carrie Beth is 16 and a junior in high school. She is a football cheerleader and wants to study nursing in college. I was a stay-at-home mom when my children were small, and before that I worked as a paralegal, but this is my dream job.

Later on in the week you'll hear from Carol and Lynn.

December 8, 2006
It's a cold day here in Dyersburg today, and finishing up Christmas sewing is on everyone's mind. My youngest granddaughter Baleigh has her choice of dresses. You can see them at the top of our home page. Baleigh is three and has two older brothers.

Speaking of the website, if you've noticed that it has a fresh new look, lots of the credit goes to photographer, Kori Burkhead. She is a local girl who has begun a business doing what she loves. Kori is very creative, and we're tickled to be working with her. She also does the photography for our ads in Creative Needle. You can view more of her work on her website, www.koriburkhead.com. We also want to thank our webmaster, Lisa Jones, and our graphic designer Lisa Malone. We'd be lost without their help on the website and with our ads.

Irons and pressing have been the subject of several conversations around here lately. An iron is such an important sewing tool, and I have discovered a new one. The Reliable iron is my new hands-down favorite. It has a steam generator built right in. We haven't stocked them yet because they are quite pricey (around $200.00), and we are not sure about the long-term performance, but I was sold on it enough to buy each of my children one for Christmas. If you'd like us to special order one for you, just call or e-mail us.

Next week, we plan to write a little bit about ourselves so that you can get to know us better. We have lots more to tell you, and we're enjoying keeping in touch with you. If there's a subject you want us to address in this blog, let us know. We always enjoy hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Carol

December 5, 2006

Right now we are busy making plans for 2007, and we welcome your comments and suggestions. Also, please send us your sewing questions, and we will try to answer them in this forum. We will occasionally post photos of your favorite sewing projects as we have room. Cissie Wellons sent a great photo of her finished collar from Julia's class over a green velveteen dress, and even though you can't see the details of the outfits, Kelli Fox's kids are just adorable. Sarah Minton has been so kind to share photos of her many projects, but we want to show you our favorite, and it also includes Sarah.

As you might have seen in our newsletter, we have lots of great new items-we especially love the needle threaders, the Zecca items, the Ewseful pincushions and the lap-sized June Tailor board. We've had some questions about how Gail Doane used this board. She simply had her scissors on a "zinger" which was clipped to the board. It gave us all kinds of ideas about what else we want to keep at hand when we sit down to sew. You'll want to make out your Christmas list and leave it in a prominent place.

Our November kit sale was a huge success, so be on the lookout for some new kits. We're already thinking Spring.

For the first time ever we will be offering some of our store samples for sale. We are constantly asked if these garments are for sale, and now we can say "Yes".

We value your business, so please keep in touch with us.

Posted by your friends at Carol Harris Company.