Memorial Day weekend, in the USA, is the unofficial start of summer picnics and barbeques.  We will be opening the pool even if the water is too cold to think about swimming in yet.  Opening the pool is a job and it's always accompanied with lots of beverages and food.  Being prepared for the work party allows me to participate in the fun parts of opening the swimming pool for the season.

I'll spend the end of the week  making salads and digging out the insulating fabric dishes so I know they will stay food-safe when I set them out for everyone.  And probably the most important thing I can do ... which helps us afford the swimming pool is to have a pile of all different kinds of can wraps or insulators ready for anyone who is here to help.  Those can insulators keep everyone knowing which can is theirs and stops a bunch of cans that have one sip out of them from being thrown away because no one is sure who's can it is.  They work for juice boxes too so the kids know which drink is theirs.

• Free Sewing Projects for Summer Fun and Picnics

I'm sure some people are already visiting the beach but we haven't opened our swimming pool yet. We've been teased with a  couple of warm days but we also had a hard freeze so we are waiting for a while to hit the beach or open the swimming pool.  I love a day at the beach... relaxing and chilling out is my idea of a perfect day.  Securing things like your keys and the loose change for the concession stand is always an issue but this new sewing project to sew a securely closing beach towel or beach blanket pocket solves that issue. Keeping things out of sight is half the battle.  I'm not sure I would trust walking off and leaving electronics but if you would with them stashed in the out of sight beach towel pocket, be sure to keep plastic bags at hand to keep the electronics dry!

• Sew a Secure Pocket on Your Beach Towel or Blanket
• Free Sewing Patterns for Beach and Summer Fun - Clothes, Bags and More

Have you ever stopped to think about exactly what makes a seam and how a seam comes together. Seams are a basic element of almost all sewing projects and we can improve our sewing skills by analyzing the elements that make up our sewing project... especially if you are teaching others to sew.

There are basics to all seams and there are specialty seams that have special purposes.  Learning all of these variations and knowing what options are available as you sew, makes the project go together easier than punting your way through it and ends in a project you can be proud of.

• Anatomy of a Seam - Learn How to Sew a Seam
• Everything You Need to Sew a Perfect Seam
• Choosing a Seam Finish When Sewing a Seam

I did something this weekend that I hadn't done in years... The weather was predicted to be rainy so there was no sense in planning gardening activities.  So I chose to spend the weekend in my sewing room!   I actually picked out a couple patterns and spent the weekend sewing clothes for myself. Since loosing weight, I need clothes so it seemed like a perfect way to spend my rainy days...and it felt GREAT!  I used up most of an old bolt of Wal-Mart dollar a yard fabric. I have finished  one wearable semi-dressy blouse and I have a dress that is almost finished ... but now that I read the end of the direction, I do not like the way the zipper is the last thing to be done and raw edges are at the neckline... I should have read through all of the directions first so I could have changed the construction method.  Now that I am familiar with the "new" patterns, I can play with a couple of fitting issues.

Now I'm curious! How long has it been since you used a commercial pattern? Please take the poll and sound off on the forum about your experiences.  If I know where we run into issues, I can work on solving the issues so we can all get back to sewing garments that we want!