Production Line!

Well, things are finally slowing down now that all my gifts are wrapped and under the tree!!  WooHoo!!!  That stress is over with for another year.  It was Dec. 13, 2013 that I had all gifts wrapped and under the tree and this year I did it again!  Everything wrapped on Dec. 13, 2014!
So on to my next project, which was making Kalee booties!

These are some flannel type booties I made for Mandy several, several years ago.  Kalee wears them when she's had a bath and I want her feet to stay clean on our walks.

You can see the rubber pads I sewed on are started to wear out.  But, hey, they serve the purpose and are really great on the drive to Florida...especially, at gas stations and fast food parking lots!  You would be amazed at the dirt a dog can get on their feet!  Well, Kalee can't use hand sanitizer now can she!

So, I got out some of my Tyvek fabric (yep, the same fabric I paint and burn for my art quilts!) and started to drawn a pattern to make Tyvek booties!

This is my cardboard pattern and the pattern drawn out on the Tyvek fabric.  I purchased this fabric (actually 2 yards) a few years ago from Joggles.com.  The fabric comes in 8 1/2 x 11" sheets, which is nice, but I buy the yardage which is 60" wide.

In the past, I've bought Nooby's booties for dogs either at Pet Smart or online.  They usually run $8-10 for two pairs.  Well, I think for my Tyvek fabric @ $9 a yard , I sure get a lot more than two sets of booties!

So this was my production line today!

And FYI....I do have a Teflon foot for my Bernina, which is a life saver for sewing on Tyvek and other 'stickie' fabric!

This is what the booties looks like sewn up, once it's turned inside out.

I ended up making 3 sets and took Kalee for her walk wearing them today!

The cloth booties I made (red ones in 1st pic) have Velcro to tighten when Kalee wears them.

The store bought Tyvek booties have elastic to wrap around them but I find they tend to stretch out easily.

So I thought, why not just rubber bands!  And the rubber bands from the veggies (e.g. asparagus!) work great!
You can see how much dirt Kalee would have had on her feet today if she didn't have on her 'mom's booties'!  And none of them fell off on our walk either!  Which does happen from time to time with the store bought just because of the elastic stretching out.

Now I can pack up my sewing machine and supplies!  This morning I took a few minutes to pack my paints/dyes/stencils and books!  Of course, Lynn K's book, Intentional Printing, was packed first!!  Since I'll be dropping my machine off the 1st day we arrive in Florida (see my issue here) and I'll have to be working on something so screen printing and playing is on the agenda!

I had better finish this post and get busy!  Lion's play @ 4 and I want to have sewing items all packed.  I am planning on Amber and Nick spending the night this Saturday so I want to have this packing all finished.  Should be a relaxing week for me, FINALLY!   How about you?  Stress getting to you or is wine helping?