SEWING TIP OF THE WEEK

P.S. My sewing tip (this is a funny one and I'm sure will get many laughs) -- I wear hose a lot and am always disturbed when a hole appears in the toe, and only the toe, in one of my hose, making them unbearable to wear. I took one of these "hose with a hole" to my serger one day, and serged off the top of the toe of my hose, using the new Woolly Poly serger thread and a narrow three-thread stitch and a light knit setting! It worked great - no more hole in the toe and it looked amazingly like the toe of the other hose foot. Since I purchase many pairs of hose at a time by mail order I have exactly the same color, and I have also successfully replaced the whole leg - it's really easy.
Helen Maglio

Dear Friends,

My biggest news of the week is that John, Suzanne, Sarah Joy, Rebekah and Christopher arrived safely at 7pm Saturday night. As my sister and I were standing at the window at the airport, we both started crying when we saw the airplane pull around to begin unloading. It is simply fabulous to have them here for a few days before they move to Atlanta for their furlough. John begins attending world missions conferences next weekend and has two this month in Brandon, Mississippi. All of you Brandon/Jackson friends be on the lookout for him. Suzanne is feeling well after her surgery ordeal in July. Except for a little jet lag, they are doing great! Suzanne has promised to write many stories about her experiences in Africa for this newsletter after she gets settled in her home in Atlanta and gets a new e-mail address. You just won't believe some of the "new" stories she has shared with me in the few days since she has been here. We had a big family party here tonight and Joe grilled the meat outside. Joe is learning to cook, at least at the grill outside, and he is getting famous for his marinated ribs and steaks. We had 19 family members in our house tonight. Life does not get any better than that.

After the feasting we have done since they have been home, it is back to the gym tomorrow morning at 6am. By the way, there is a diet club on the message board at the web site, www.marthapullen.com. There is a group who is dieting together and they weigh once a week and report in. You might like to join our group or at least check it out for fun. I am so proud of many of you who have lost weight this year. One of our ladies, Brenda, who is one of our new Martha Pullen Viking Licensed Teachers, has lost over 50 pounds with Weight Watchers since January. She even brought her Weight Watchers book to show me.

The Pfaff Convention was fabulous. This was the 15th year for this convention and I have attended every one except the first. The brand new, unbelievable Pfaff machine, the 2140, was introduced at this convention and I promised you last week that I would tell you some of the features of this brand new machine. There is an instruction book built right into the machine. Not only does it tell you how to use the machine (in living color on the big screen on the machine) it also tells you such things as how to sew in a zipper, how to stitch a welt pocket, and how to choose stabilizers, feet and needles. There are three little helpers built into the big screen: a machine assistant, a sewing assistant and an embroidery assistant. On the multicolor touch screen you can see your designs in full color and change the color on the screen to see how the design will look before it is stitched out. There is a separate motor for your bobbin winder so you can wind more bobbins while you sew. There is a very large hoop (225mm by 140mm) plus a round hoop with a 115 by 120-mm embroidery area. You will just have to go to your Pfaff dealer to see a demonstration on this beautiful new machine.

My son, Camp Crocker, drove over from Scottsdale to join us for a couple of days at the convention. He was in the sewing business with me for seven years and he especially enjoyed seeing all of his friends from Pfaff. We had a chance to talk and talk, to go out to lunch and sit beside the pool, just watching people go by. I might add we sat in the shade. People-watching has always been one of my favorite activities, especially in Las Vegas. It was so much fun seeing him and hearing about everything the children are doing. Anna Garrin walked before she turned 10 months old and she can say da-da. The boys are enjoying school and both of them are really good students. I have really missed Camp and Charisse and the children since they moved from Huntsville to Scottsdale; however they are so happy there and that makes me happy. Camp now heads a nurse staffing company and he truly enjoys the health industry. He finished an MBA before he accepted this job in Scottsdale. I am so proud of him.

It was good to see Jenny Haskins, Sue Hausmann, Nancy Zieman, Suzanne Hinshaw and many more of the teachers. Jane Nesbitt did an outstanding job of planning this convention as always. The Pfaff convention was held for so many years at the Flamingo Hilton that it was a little unusual to be across the street at Caesar's Palace. Kathy McMakin and Patty Smith also went with me.

I will have to tell you that the new quilt book was quite the hit of our booth. We talked to lots of dealers about adding Gift of the Month to their dealerships. Don't forget that we have a Martha Pullen/Pfaff Teacher Licensing program October 2-8, 2001 - that is in just a few weeks. We still have a few places left if you would like to become a Martha Pullen/Pfaff Licensed Teacher. This group's curriculum will be written to be taught with either the 7570 or the 2140. Martha Pullen Teacher Licensing might be just the door to open your sewing teaching career. If you would like to talk about this Pfaff licensing or other licensings, please call Kathy McMakin at 800-547-4176 ext. 108 or e-mail her at mcmakin@marthapullen.com

Joe and I are so excited about the England trip in late November. We have such a fabulous group of people going with us. This trip to England is completely filled with a waiting list. The good news is that we are planning another BIG trip - it is to Australia and New Zealand next August . Our American sewing group will join a group of Australian sewers for a three day sit and sew school underwritten by Husqvarna of Australia and Viking of America. We will plan two or three days after our sit and sew to attend the Stitches and Craft show. I had a long planning conversation with Mark Wilks, managing director of Husqvarna of Australia and Sue Hausmann, Sr. VP or Husqvarna of America. We are thrilled to be planning this trip of a lifetime. By the way, husbands are always invited (or any other family members over the age of 16) even if they don't sew. There are always activities for the other family members who don't sew. I am especially excited about our day of sewing at the Royal School of Needlework in London on our upcoming London at Christmastime trip. I am really super excited also about seeing Queen Victoria's wedding dress on display at Kensington Palace. Oh well, I am just excited about London at Christmastime.

I hope you had a wonderful Labor Day vacation; we certainly did. Once again, thank you for the great privilege of coming to visit with you in your home each week. I love writing this letter to you.

May God Bless You and Those You Love,
Martha


PASADENA, CALIFORNIA MARTHA PULLEN SCHOOL IS FILLING FAST! NOVEMBER
14-17,2001!

November 14-17, 2001, we are coming with our 20th anniversary Celebration school to CALIFORNIA at the Pasadena Convention Center! I AM SO EXCITED! I LOVE CALIFORNIA AND THIS IS OUR FIRST BIG SCHOOL OUT THERE! We have a GREAT group already signed up for the school, and we want YOU to come also. Won't you come for our first BIG Martha Pullen School on the West Coast? We have six of the world's best heirloom sewing teachers - all of whom will teach you a class. We will have a retail store in the hotel with big discounts on many items such as lace, batiste, embroidery cards, books, patterns and much, much more. We always have this type of store at our schools in Huntsville, and we are going to display everything we carry for you to enjoy! Husqvarna/Viking will have a store in the convention center with great products for you. We have nine great classes and every student will take all nine of the classes. We have lovingly called our schools, "From can until can't." This school will certainly be jam-packed with what we hope will be more fun and learning than you have ever experienced in 4 days! Please come join the fun! You will have 6 half day classes and 3 more classes on Saturday! Your half day classes will be Double Madeira Scalloped Pillowcase (Martha Pullen), Serger Nightgown (Kathy McMakin), Serger Baby Quilt (Peggy Dilbone), Lace Cathedral Windows on the bodice of a girl's dress (4-14) (Sue Pennington), Pinless Lace Ovals on the skirt of the girl's dress (Connie Palmer), and Smocking by Machine Christmas Stocking or Envelope Pillow (the choice is yours) (Deb Yedziniak). On Saturday you will have three more 2 hour classes: Two Baby Serger Bonnets: Girl and Boy, Madeira Applique/Gimpwork Tea Towel and Shark's Teeth Small Pillow.

WOW!! What a line up of teachers and classes! These are the hottest techniques for heirloom sewing and serging and your projects are dynamite! And you get to take all the classes and make all the projects. Kits, lunches, classes and tons of fun while learning are all furnished for the total cost of only $625, the same price as our four day school here in Huntsville! Please call 800-547-4176 ext. 105 or 106 or 108 to register. Only $100 holds your place for you. The rest of your class fee will be charged out in October. We have a few places left, but space is limited! For those of you who have already registered, we are thrilled that you will be in our first BIG WEST COAST EXTRAVANGAZA! For those of you who are going to register, we are thrilled that you have decided to come. You can also e-mail louise@marthapullen.com or call her and she will send you a complete brochure. We are thrilled that this event is underwritten by Husqvarna/Viking! They will furnish a brand new machine for each person to sew on, so you don't have to bring your own sewing machines. Without Viking's underwriting help this school at the Pasadena Convention Center would not have been possible for us to do at this price. Remember, we're furnishing all of the kits, banquet meal, lunches, teachers, workshops and everything else for only $625. Oh, I almost forgot - one night I will do a workshop on "How to Turn Your Sewing into Money" for those of you interested in earning money with your sewing. We have helped many people start a sewing business and you are invited to this workshop.

HUNTSVILLE SCHOOL OF ART FASHION, FEBRUARY 2-10, 2002!

We are having a huge response to our February school here in Huntsville. Please call as soon as possible to get your place in the schools in which we still have a vacancy. Several of the schools are filled but we still have A FEW places in most of the schools. Pre-day classes for the February school begin on Sunday, February 2, and run through Wednesday, February 6, 2002. The school is February 7-10, 2002. For your first choice of classes and pre-day classes, please call as soon as possible, 800-547-4176 ext. 105 for Louise Baird (our school director) or Hilda Wright ext. 106 (assistant director). As you know, many classes fill very quickly so please call early so you will get the classes and the pre-day classes you want. Mrs. Elvin, the principal of the Royal School of Needlework in London, will be here again as well as our celebrity teachers. Please go to the web site to see the schedule and make your selections.

I WILL PRESENT A STARTING YOUR BUSINESS SEMINAR in Huntsville "How to Start a Business Seminar" - at Whitesburg Baptist Church's Women's Conference, September 20-22, 2001 in Huntsville, AL. I will be doing an hour-long seminar on both Friday and Saturday on starting your own business. If you are interested in more information about this wonderful Christian women's conference, please call 256-881-0952 (that is the church number) and they will be happy to send you a brochure. The name of the conference is 2001: A Faith Odyssey. The cost for the conference is $75 if you attend the concert with Chandra Pierce (a Christian comedienne) on Thursday night. If you only want to attend the classes on Friday and Saturday, the cost is $60. Suzanne and my sister Mary will be attending the conference and they can't wait.

INTERNET EMBROIDERY CLUB NEWS
Our new Christmas CD is ready to purchase TODAY for Internet Embroidery Club Members! Please go to the web site and purchase on our secured orderline. At this time this gorgeous Christmas CD is only available to IEC members.

For those of you in the IEC, there were two special surprises put up last MONTH: a second digitizing of the cutwork design with just outlining, and your very first antique picture to download and print out. I purchased this picture in England and the date reads 1914. It is the cutest little girl holding an umbrella with lots of antique toys surrounding her. I especially love her blue and white striped knee socks and her tremendous bows in her hair. The final "sew outs" of our Christmas CD (available only to the Internet Embroidery Club members for four months) have just arrived. They are gorgeous. Members will be informed by a special letter. This is the time to join our IEC if you have not already. Please go to http://www.marthapullen.com and sign up. If you join the IEC, this Christmas CD, which is fabulous, will be available to you for only $49 rather than the regular price of $90 beginning in January 2002 for non-IEC members. You get so many goodies just for joining, and then the whole year's worth of designs to download. You will also get special rates on our new embroidery CD's and other Martha Pullen catalog specials. You also get antique illustrations, articles about sewing and fashion, and antique articles about sewing over the last 100 years. I think you will love the IEC. Please join today for only $59 for the whole year of membership. You can also call David at 800-547-4176 ext. 113 and he will sign you up. A membership in the IEC would be a great Christmas present for those of you who have friends or family who love to sew and embroider.

TO CONTACT US

To contact one of our departments, choose from this list:

orders@marthapullen.com (for order questions)
subscriptions@marthapullen.com (for Sew Beautiful subscriptions)
embroidery@marthapullen.com (Internet Embroidery Club questions)
editorial@marthapullen.com (for Sew Beautiful content)
schools@marthapullen.com (for School of Art Fashion)
licensing@marthapullen.com (for teacher licensing questions)
markets@marthapullen.com (for our sewing markets)
tours@marthapullen.com (for our trips!)
sewingroom@marthapullen.com (for sewing questions)
marthap@marthapullen.com (for personal letters to Martha Pullen)

NEW CHRISTMAS SEW BEAUTIFUL MAGAZINE IS BEYOND GORGEOUS!

Please go ahead and subscribe to Sew Beautiful so you will be in on the second mailing of this most beautiful Christmas issue ever!! Your new Sew Beautiful magazines should have begun arriving. I received mine last Friday. I love this Christmas issue and it is filled with gorgeous projects, wonderful Christmas photo shoots and lots of techniques. The cover dress is modeled by my granddaughter, Morgan Ross, and features Sue Pennington's (we have the book with the pattern) dress with cathedral lace windows on the front of the lapel. There are Theressa Borelli paper dolls of Morgan Ross on artist's paper in the center of the magazine. One of the paper doll outfits is the cover dress. The dress is made of dark green silk dupioni for Christmas.

There is a fabulous photo shoot from Joy's Creative Sewing in Decatur, Alabama, featuring 27 beautiful smocked and French sewn outfits for boys and girls for the Christmas season. So many wonderful ideas!! There are three complete patterns in the magazine: a woman's nightgown sized 6-28, a pair of slippers, and a woman's cape. There are five gorgeous christening dresses with either embroidery or technique ideas. One is by Gail Doane; other artists contributed the others including one which was made from a wedding dress. Marcia Pollard has another very tailored suit featuring machine embroidery. There are two Christmas stockings, an advent calendar, an adorable Christmas appliqué for a skirt and a "no sew" holiday ornament. Wendy Schoen has a gorgeous sculpted lamb dimensional appliqué with little hand embroidered flowers around the neck and the grass underneath. Jeannie Downs Baumeister has a gorgeous embroidery design for a baby dress. There is a fun kid's Christmas embroidery project. Would you believe four gorgeous hand-smocking designs? Two by Annette Shelton and Sue Johnson are embroidered on velvet Christmas dresses. For your final Christmas sewing, there is a beautiful 18" doll dress by Janice Stewart which would be the perfect Christmas present underneath your tree with a Dress Me Martha, Mary or Joanna doll from Gotz-signed and numbered by me, of course.

SEW BEAUTIFUL CD AND NEW VIDEO OFFERS!!

We are so excited about the new Sew Beautiful subscription offer! At the time you either renew or subscribe, we are offering a CD which includes 10 machine embroidery designs of my antique collection, 5 Lindee Goodall machine embroidery designs, 21 of my antique garments photographed with details and 6 of my antique pictures ready to print out for framing or photo transfer onto fabric for an extra $4.99. If you already have some time left on your current subscription, you will need to renew at the time you order your CD. This will just extend your subscription for another year. The new video is also available for $9.99 (includes shipping) if you want to order it at the same time you renew your subscription or get a new subscription. You can choose to purchase either or both of these offers after subscribing to Sew Beautiful for $27.99 for the year's subscription. Both of the special subscription offers will be shipped in September, 2001. Please call 800-547-4176 ext. 116 or 115 to order your subscription plus the special offers. Cactus Punch has digitized all 15 of the machine embroidery designs, and three companies have underwritten this special CD making it affordable for us to offer to Sew Beautiful subscribers. Thanks to Cactus Punch, Sulky of America, and Martha Pullen Company for underwriting this CD.You can also e-mail cindy@marthapullen.com to subscribe. Be sure to include all of your details in the e-mail. E-mail us for information concerning international costs on these specials. Prices given in this paragraph are for US subscribers only. International subscribers need to e-mail cindy@marthapullen.com to get her to send international subscription and mailing prices. Remember, you must renew or get a new subscription AT THE TIME YOU ORDER YOUR SPECIAL OFFERS; CURRENT SUBSCRIBERS WILL HAVE TO RENEW TO GET THESE SPECIAL OFFERS. The price to be able to order these special offers is $27.99 plus $4.99 for the CD plus $9.99 for the video. No other special subscription price offers can be used if you order either the CD or the Video or both. You can order just the subscription alone; the subscription plus the CD; or the subscription plus the CD plus the Video.

DRESS ME BABY DOLLS!! SHIPPING LATE OCTOBER!! ORDER NOW FOR LOWEST NUMBERS
POSSIBLE!!

I am so excited about my grandchildren's arrival in the United States! Three of the Dress Me Baby Dolls are named for my three grandchildren who arrived Saturday night - Sarah, Rebekah and Alex. (Alex can be either a boy or a girl doll. My grandson's name is Christopher Alexander. Alex is also named for my little nephew, the late Al Jackson. The Dress Me Gotz baby dolls are ready TO ORDER! Delivery will begin mid to late October, 2001, but many people like to get their orders in so they will get the lowest possible number. I personally sign each doll and each doll is numbered. We have four baby dolls - Sarah, Alex, Sydney and Rebekah. Please go to the web site http://www.marthapullen.com to get more information on the dolls and to order. Or call 800-547-4176 ext. 117 or 119. Your credit card will not be charged until the week the dolls are being shipped. Each doll will come with a "play with" day gown and pantaloons plus a wonderful book of baby doll patterns so you can make gorgeous clothing for your doll. The dolls are 21" and 16" tall. They are gorgeous and so much fun to play with! The dress me baby dolls pattern book has so many adorable patterns. There are many day gowns - smocked and French sewn. There are boy outfits as well as girl outfits. I figure that the Alex and Sydney dolls can be either a boy or a girl depending on which you want it to be. There is a gorgeous doll day gown which has a Madeira appliqué border on the bottom and the most spectacular doll christening gown with curved puffing on the skirt. Actually many of the doll clothes from this book could be adapted to baby clothes if you want to. The smaller size doll clothes can also be used to make preemie clothing for babies. I think you will really like the doll clothes pattern book coming with the baby dolls.

DRESS ME MARTHA, MARY AND JOANNA DOLLS!!

Don't forget that the Dress Me Martha, Mary and Joanna dolls are almost gone. Please order yours if you have not already. I don't want you to be disappointed when they are gone. They will not be re-ordered. The cost of these dolls is $79 plus $8 shipping. You can see all of the dolls by going to http://www.marthapullen.com. Mary, Martha and Joanna also come with a "play with" doll dress and a book of beautiful doll patterns ready for you to sew her some really beautiful clothing.

SEW BEAUTIFUL TALENT SEARCH-ENTRIEES ARRIVE BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 15 AND
OCTOBER 1, 2001!!!

I am so excited about our Sew Beautiful Talent Search and I hope you are planning to enter. There will be inexperienced seamstresses entering along with the very experienced. Anyone can enter and we encourage all of you to give it a try. There are so many categories from which to choose: 18" doll clothing to children's and baby's clothing. By the way, you have plenty of time to sew before mailing in your entries. The entries must arrive in Huntsville between September 15 and October 1, 2001. Many of you who enter the contest will have your garments featured in Sew Beautiful, and we can't wait to see your creativity. Please go to http://www.marthapullen.com and print out all of the entry forms and rules for the contest.

SCRIPTURE OF THE WEEK


Psalm 138 1-2
1 I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; before the "gods" I will
sing your praise.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for
your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your
name and your word.

For the blessing of having John and Suzanne and the children home, I praise the Lord. For protecting them through the recent health problems and for his miracles of healing for Christopher and Suzanne I praise the Lord. I can't wait until Suzanne gets settled and writes more stories about their Africa experiences for you, our faithful prayer partners and friends. I am sure I can convince John to write more essays for the Inspirations Portion of the Web Site.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Joe's two favorite foods are turnip greens and peanut butter. When I found this recipe I thought I would share it with you. Sounds great. Kind of like a home made Reese's Peanut Butter cup, eh? Suzanne told me that she also uses almond bark coating instead of chocolate bark coating for these delicious snacks.

Ritz Peanut Butter Treats

Ritz Crackers
Peanut Butter
Chocolate Bark Coating

Spread peanut butter on one Ritz cracker and top with another. Melt chocolate bark coating and dip each cracker sandwich or spoon chocolate over cracker, covering sandwich. Dry on waxed paper or aluminum foil.

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