You would think that after 5 years of sewing colorguard flags, twice a year now that I would be more careful when sewing them.
I can't tell you how many times just tonight alone that I have had to rip some out because there was an additional layer underneath. This stuff is so slick that it goes where IT wants to go and by the time I realize it, it's time to rip.
Think I'm gonna go walk to dog for a few minutes to try to get him accustomed to his new home. Do they make such a thing as doggie depression meds????
Yes, they do, and it's very similar to those used by/for humans.
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Also, like humans, other kinds of therapy are usually used in conjunction. There was a big problem with depression in dogs used after 9/11; eventually, volunteers hid themselves in the rubble to be found alive to ease the dogs' stress at finding only bodies or remains for weeks on end.
Now a different problem is showing up with dogs used in Iraq & Afghanistan:
I've only made flags once (also for a Georgia high school band). At about 1:30 in the morning, attired in my muumuu, working on the third- from-the-last flag, I managed to sew through my finger -- nail and all! Imagine trying to put on a bra under a muumuu with one hand :)) Off to emergency where after a little while they not only x-rayed the digit and removed the broken needle, but gave me the hemostat! This is also doggie related: Next day when I went to the pharmacy to have the painpill prescription filled, there was no record of me in their files--only one for Brandle, my greyhound, who was on phenobarbital at the time.... rusty
Well Rusty mine is for a Missouri high school. It's the one that my daughter graduated from in 09 and she is now an assistant colorguard coach. I have 73 of these suckers to make and I hate the fact that they got the fabric to me pretty late. They should have already been done by now but they couldn't decide on colors.
Ouch on the finger. I have never done that one before came close on a couple of occasions.
My job with the band's flag corps was: fixin' the boots. Every pair of those knee-high boots arrived shaped like round pipes. I had to sneak in just above the ankle and shape the seam so they would stay put instead of bagging and sagging. That's when we learned that a Pfaff can sew anything. It was a ridiculous challenge but those sweet girls were so happy to have boots that fit. Polly
"Kathyl"
Did they hire your daughter just so they would have you to make the flags again? Just kidding. But they really hate to lose seamstress volunteers! KJ
Kathyl ~ no she was a member of the group for 4 years and they lost one of their instructors at the end of last year. They hired my daughter to be involved with the dance movement part of it since she was a dancer for 15 years. I once again volunteered for this. One of these days it will come to end. I may gripe and complain about it now BUT.....all good things must come to an end.
Polly~ all of our girls/guys wear dance shoes. No boots here.
I had the opportunity yesterday to watch and somewhat work with what can only be described as a master sewist. DH and I fly hot air balloons and when he landed the other night the balloon rocked into a very large, very dead tree limb. Balloon got ripped and had to go for repair. They are made from rip-stop nylon - about the same you are probably using for your flags - slippery as goose doodoo. This man does the most precise french felled seams without marking, without using any implements for holding the fabric pieces together and does it all while wrestling with roughly 800 yards of fabric! As I was watching him sewing the new sections into place I was thinking about asking him if he ever managed to sew the under layer to the top by mistake but thought I'd wait until all the repairs were made so as to not jinx the job! Well, I guess thinking it was all that was needed for it to happen! Since it was then reality, I asked how often he had that problem and he admitted it did happen once in a while. I have never seen such precise, exacting sewing done before. And even he cut the first set of repair pieces the wrong width forgetting the correct seam allowance measurement but not before sewing the first panel into place. I got to do the frogging - not easy with that fabric, twin seams and really heavy thread - not easy.
So don't be too hard on yourself. And I don't mean to imply you are not a master sewist, but this man does this day in and day out and has for decades and is recognized as one of the best in field and still has issues!
And I'm sure the pup will adjust soon. Ours have never seemed to mind being in different places as long as they were with us so I can't offer much help on that score.
Thanks Kim. I can't even imagine trying to wrestle 800 yards of this cotton picking fabric. I'd go completely bonkers.
I am by no way a master sewist but I do enjoy making these flags for the girls. The looks on their faces is priceless when they are all said and done and to me that's enough.
I'm still worried about the dog though. He is really missing my daughter and her cat. She decided that since she is almost 20 that she didn't need to make the move with us and that is a decision that we've all had to live with. We moved here in April and I just brought the dog down a couple of weeks ago as were making trips back and forth for awhile and it was just easy to leave him there.
But after all of the flags are done and on their way, we are planning on getting a kitten or two so hopefully that will make him feel at home again.
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