I have hardware, now I need software…

I’ve embroidered a couple of shirts now for the glitter glue princess – so far she’s gotten a vintage minnie/mickey and an alice – now I want to get to work on some that she’s been asking for…

Here’s the dilemma.  I still have PE Design 3 – Brother has since upgraded enough that they are at PE Design 7.  My software won’t utilize the entire embroidery area of the machine.  For me to upgrade that way, I need to buy a card box, which for me seems like a totally redundant act.  Why would I then bother with the USB hub then?  Also, the local dealer wants around $1200 for the package – I would have to buy PED5 and then the upgrade to PED7 (does anyone else think this is insane?).  Apparently somewhere between versions 4 and 5, they changed something on how the box talks to the software, so I can’t even utilize my existing box with new software.  *Sigh*

Long story short, I’m looking at other digitizing options.  I’ve downloaded the newest Embird 30 day trial.  I’m looking around, and it looks to be the most popular option out there.  My worry right now is the learning curve – I was pretty good at PED3, but it appears I have a lot of catching up to do… At least the price is better – about half – but I’m not knowledgeable yet enough to know if the cost reflects capability.

If anyone truly loves (or hates) any digitizing software that might be compatible with my new machine, I’d love to hear your opinion.

It’s here! It’s here!…. My Innovis 4000D is here!

But….

It isn’t exactly what was listed in the ebay posting… You see, I was expecting something a bit different in color….

You see, it was white in the listing…. I don’t know if I’m complaining, but this thing looks a bit, um, “pimped out” with all the gold trim. The guy had obviously not taken it out of the box to look at it…

I got it set up and it does sew out nicely, but runs TOTALLY different than my old machine (this thing will thread your needle if you ask it nicely) .

Here is it’s very first stitchout

(The bubbling is from the fact I didn’t put stabilizer under the design!)

The auction was supposed to include a big case of thread, which hasn’t arrived, so I’m not going to approve the item through escrow yet. Just sent an email to the guy, commenting on the color – we shall see what he says about that!

They have gone to the dance…

The daddy daughter dance, that is…

*Sniff* The glitter glue princess got her first corsage…

She got all gussied up, and her hair curled a bit…

 Posed with her dad before the fun….

And ran off to have some fun with her dad and eat cake!

Running girl, running pants

Well, it looks like the cabo halter is not meant to be. Late Sunday night, Glitter Glue Princess says she needs more running pants for Girls on the Run (self esteem program where 3rd to 5th grade girls run a 5K). I say o.k., like every sewing mama would and whip up some.

Made her a pair of KS3498 , with the v-waist in a lovely red cotton lycra from Sewzannes. It had just the right amount of body for these. So….. I did my standard waist adjustments to a bigger size, assuming the length would be fine…. I was….soooo wrong. When she tried them on before hemming, they were JUST the right length – absolutely no allowance to hem. I kept suggesting we make them cropped, but NO that would not do. I laid them on a chair intending to sew the hem tonight with a bit of stabilized ruffle.

When I went to pick her up after practice, she was wearing them! I was a bit gobsmacked – I said “but those are not hemmed!”, Princess says “Yeah, I just trimmed the threads and they are fine!”. She was so proud to have fixed them up, but…. It is so against my policy in sewing to leave them undone. I think my sewing ethics are being challenged, but then again, I’m happy that she loves them. I’m torn as to whether or not they should be hemmed now. I realize that unfinished hems are fashionable now, but…. either you will understand this internal debate or you won’t.

Here are action shots – she is in perpetual motion now that the snow is gone, note the perfect length of the hem…

Profound Statement for Today

Glitter Glue Princess: “Mom, when the cats die, I want to get a hedgehog as a pet.”

(long pause)

Me: “Ummm, what do hedgehogs eat?”

Glitter Glue Princess: “Idunno. Let’s google it!”

For the record, we didn’t “google it”, and I quickly changed the subject.

Stuff Submissions…

Last year, The Princess and I submitted a pic of Chaos to Stuff on my Cat.

Well, Dottie finally allowed me to photograph her – TWICE! You see, S saved Dot from the great outdoors about 7 years ago – he bribed her into the house, and she never looked back. The poor thing came to us partly feral, dirty, infested, and….. pregnant. After we took care of all of that, she still decided that I was the one who was the most evil. It has taken a few years, but finally my presence doesn’t cause severe hissing fits. With much coaxing from her beloved kidlet, I was able to get these for submission…

Love the monster paw footage, especially when it is not scratching yours truly….

Yay!

I won an auction for a Brother Innovis 4000D – woohoo! Disney designs! Big sewing area!  Self trimming threads!

Now I just have to figure out this whole escrow thing with the seller – NEVER buy anything with a big pricetag without it.  The seller agreed to the escrow before the auction ended – let’s see if he responds to my email this evening or not.

Anyone interested in an old Brother 8200?

Playing and planning

I am so sick of snow, it is terrible – I actually had to snow blow today! I think all the counties are out of money here to plow the roads, based on how the roads were on my drive home. It is not right to be sliding on the road in April…

What I am playing with right now. Reminds me of warmth, and green, not sludge and gray.

What I just finished listening to in the car today, borrowed from the library.

Been pondering tie dye, which will not be happening till it is warm enough to work in the front yard. I want to dye a few baby outfits for some folks at work that I’ve been holding on to. I also think I need some funky, funky shirts for work, since they do not seem to mind my LWI fire and fog shirts I enjoy making. I’m inspired by these – any thoughts anyone? Here are a few of my oldies that make me smile…

On the sewing front, I’ve stalled a bit. I’m pondering a cabo halter to brighten my desire for summer out of this fabric… I just worry about lining up those dots to all the wrong places….. On second thought, maybe this should be a skirt instead… Along the lines of sewing, I’m watching a top of the line embroidery machine on Ebay that I’m secretly desiring to win – new and 60% off – even got the seller to agree to escrow before I bid. *sigh* Now I just have to wait…

While we were away…

The glitter glue princess’s shirts from threadless arrived!

She got I’m a Noun, which she wore for the first day after spring break, and the This is the Oldest I’ve Ever Been shirt for the day after. They looked a wee bit small for a size 10 – glad I bought big, but my worry is that she’ll outgrow them faster than I anticipated.

Come Join the Circus!

The day after we got back from Disney, S and I went to a concert in Ann Arbor – Gandolf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams. Kris and Kim were there – Kris runs the soundboard. Very, very good show – the crowd was less sedate than when we saw them in Muskegon. Everyone needs to join the circus…