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Aunt Norie’s sewing room

By Eleanor Mckee - | Jun 10, 2009

Help, help.

After all of these years of gardening and planting, I have a serious question: Can roses and tomatoes be unfriendly neighbors, to say the least?

My gardening efforts have shrunken to a combination of veggies and flowers, often combined.

After placing a tomato plant near a beautiful yellow rose and then seeing the tomato very soon begin to curl up and die, a second and a third tomato plant went the same way.

A fourth tomato plant is thriving well away from the rose. I’ve just got to assume but I’d sure like to know for certain. Please, if you’ve had the same experience or know the answer let me know, and thanks.

We’re all having to find new ways to cut corners to save, to stretch that dollar. Prices are up and quantities less per container, etc. I got quite a shock — even thread, the spools are smaller, the prices higher, prompting me to talk about ways to save that now precious thread. It’s so very frustrating to run out of thread with just the hem to finish, and you must have matching thread for it.

One great way to save thread is to use up those odds and ends of left-over threads that seems to pile up anyway. Use them in the inside seams where the color won’t show. We can waste an awful lot of thread in a hurry if we’re not careful, especially at the sewing machine.

Let’s suppose you’ve just sewn the dart in the right skirt back.

Stop — don’t pull away from the machine and cut the thread off, just pull about an inch or so away from the needle. Now take the other side’s dart, tuck it under the needle, sew a few stitches — two or three will do. Then reach behind the needle and cut away the first section. Go right on assembling your garment the same way with the side seams, the shoulder seams, the sleeves, the collar and cuff pieces, one right after the other. You’ll save yards and yards of thread, not to mention the times you may have had to rethread your needle.

Then if you leave the machine with a stitch or two into a small scrap, your needle will stay threaded. That’s a handy hint by itself and saves a lot of rethreading and leaves your needle with no long thread ends. Besides, you may be able to use that same color on your next project.

Love and God bless.

Enjoy your summer with the kids.