 this month is actually going to cover two months which I'll talk to you about in a little bit. But first I wanted to give a little shout out to today's video sponsor that is Bimbals For You. I got one of her amazing shadow lanes. We're going to talk a lot more about this, but just wanted to go ahead and give her a quick shout out and give you guys something to look forward to later on in the video. But this month's Let's Chat video is also going to cover May's because I never posted a May Chat video. I ended up, as you guys saw from the little update that I posted, not feeling super well and so took a kind of unplanned, unwanted, but I guess necessary little sabbatical from the channel. Not really completely unplugging, but stepping back a lot for me, which is really difficult to do. And since the chat video is all about kind of what's going on on the channel, what's going on in my life, I figured this was the perfect place to kind of explain what was going on if you guys don't know. So if you've been following me for a while, you know that I have been on a health journey multiple years. I'm talking like pushing a decade worth of health journey or health issues. A lot of them went undiagnosed for a very long time. I could not find anybody who could tell me why I felt so terrible. Finally, ended up getting diagnosed with hypothyroidism and a hormonal imbalance that's kind of tied in to PMDD. So during, you know, the premenstrual cycle, it exacerbates itself even more. So I've been able to manage it pretty well for the past, I don't know, three, four years. But every once in a while, stress comes in, exhaustion comes in. I don't take care of myself the way I should regarding diet and sleep. And it rears its ugly head and it just sort of takes me down and I don't really have a choice. It comes in the form of like, just really sluggish brain fog, like staring off into the walls, like just totally, totally not in tune with anything. It becomes very difficult to do, like just even every day, like maintenance type stuff. That said, as soon as I started to feel better, I came down with a massive cold. Yay. So for the past, you might be able to hear it in my voice a little bit still. For the past, I don't know, week, I guess, I have been, it's all in my sinuses. It ended up turning into an ear infection. That's what happens when your immune system is compromised, you know, whenever your body is already fighting all the time with all these other battles, you know, something like a cold comes along and it's just like, I don't have anything left. So I am on antibiotics, which I absolutely do not like, but I understand that I have to in order to get this ear infection under control. But so that is where I am health wise, battling an ear infection, getting over a cold and kind of writing out this wave of funkiness that was bestowed on me in the past month. But I did spend, even though I wasn't on the channel a lot, I did spend a lot of time kind of reorganizing. You guys know, I love to organize. It makes me feel so calm and in control whenever I can organize my life so that I'm not looking for things. And this is not just like stuff around the apartment. This is like digital things when I'm trying to find pictures or I'm trying to find a video or I'm trying to find that one email that had the information that I needed, all of that stuff just becomes so noisy to me. So to be able to completely organize all of that, get a system in place, get some lists done, you know, all of that kind of stuff, I start to feel a lot better too. So I did spend a lot of time doing that. Spent a lot of time working on the editorial calendar for the next few months. What's going to go on the channel? I've got a ton of classes that I'm going to be teaching to our virtual or actually three or virtual this month. And one is in person. I'm doing a set of five classes at the original sewing and quilt expo in Raleigh, North Carolina. So if you're going to be there, please look up the classes that I am teaching and sign up for one. That would be awesome. I'll have links in the description box for that. But the virtual classes that I'm teaching next week, I have a sewing machine basics class. I'm going to be teaching a whole new group of people genuinely like how to use their sewing machine from turning it on to sewing their first stitch. So welcoming a whole bunch more sewists into our little group, hopefully. And then the week following that we're doing a project class, which I'm so excited about. It's a like really easy swim cover up. So like a pool cover up beach, lake, boat, you know, whatever you've got going. So that's what I have coming up class wise. And that'll take us through the summer. And then on the channel, I am going to be doing all my usual content, make it Mondays are back first impression Fridays are back. And then I'm going to be sprinkling in some tutorials, I'm going to do tutorials for three swim cover ups. They won't be obviously as in depth as sort of the classes where I'm taking you through each step and showing you how to sew it. But it will be a pretty comprehensive tutorial that if you have some knowledge in sewing, you should be able to sew up any three of the cover ups. So those are going to go live this month. Plus, I've got a lot of really cool stuff. I'm going to show you guys like the shadow lane from symbols for you. Gosh, I'm so tempted to tell you guys about it now. I plan on telling you about it later, but I guess I'll go ahead and tell you about it now. So who knows what a shadow lane is. This is something that was kind of new to me. But in the process of researching it, I think the concept is so, so, so cool. So the shadow lane dates back to like the 17th century, where people wore them kind of like as jewelry, but they also had a function as well. A lot of times they were like worn on the belt buckle, and they held things like keys or pencils or watches or just things that you needed to have nearby. And then as time went on, they became a little less fashionable and a little more utilitarian. And that's kind of where the sewing industry kind of picked it up a little bit. They are now worn around the neck, as you can see mine is, so that you can use it while you are sitting, which is what we are doing a lot of the times whenever we're sewing. We are sitting down. So a shadow lane, this one is super beautiful, right? Again, symbols for you, Jan, the owner is a silversmith. So all the stuff that you were going to see on her site are all handmade, genuinely kind of one of a kind kind of things. And super, super beautiful and just kind of like artwork in and of themselves. This one is stunning with this beautiful kind of flower and then these like leaves coming off of it. And then from there, this is where you have all of your tools that hang off of that kind of, you know, pretty emblem type part. So for the purposes of this video, I asked Jan to send me the mega dog of shadow lanes. And this is the one it has 10 different tools all hanging from your neck, all at hands reach. Okay, so we're going to start from one end and go to the other. This one here, as you can see, has a little butterfly on the end. And it's basically just a little vial that holds needles. So you can keep your hand sewing needles in here and have them nearby at all times. Then moving over, we have the trusty needle threader. Can you guys see the needle threader? And then of course, it comes with a little like lid to make sure that it doesn't that the needle threader does not get damaged while it's hanging from your neck. And then this one has this really pretty, this really pretty kind of design on it. Like ladybugs and leaves. And then we can keep moving across and we've got some thread. How cool is that to keep your hand sewing thread nearby at all times? We've got one to hold your thimble. This is an open end thimble. Be sure to check out the video that I did on different thimble types. If you want to learn a little bit more about the thimble types, you've got this open nail thimble. And then the thimble ones come with these like little beads that hang down. So it becomes like really decorative. You've got thread snips. How nice is that to have nearby? You've got a pen cushion. How cute is the pen cushion? It's like a little cone pen cushion. And you've got a little magnifying glass so that you can see your stitches really closely if you would like. So it's obviously not all shadow lanes are created equal, depending on your needs, depending on what you are sewing, how you want to use them, you know, what kind of tools you want to have, like really close by at all times. That's how you would design your shadow lanes. So this one might be overkill for some people, but for others, they really like to have all of these things hanging nearby. So because Jan does hers by hand, you can really customize your shadow lane to be whatever it is that you need. I think obviously for garment sewing, the thread snips are really imperative. I think that the pen cushion is really great. And then of course, to have the thread and your thimble kind of all right there so that whenever you do go to do your hand sewing, you just throw this on sit at the sofa and you have all your tools right there, right there with you. So check out thimbles for you. I will have a link in the description box. So that is what has been going on with the channel. Despite the fact that I have been under the weather, what does that term even mean? Despite the fact that I haven't felt my best. I have still been able to do some really fun things, including even some shopping. So a couple of girlfriends and I were talking a few months ago about how they like, I think they're both from Ohio, I don't know, they're neither one of them are from the Carolinas. And even though I am from Charlotte, I have not really explored a lot of North Carolina at all. So we said, you know, we should look into some of these like cities and towns that are nearby and go explore them for the day, take a little day trip. So we decided to check out Greensboro, North Carolina first. We took the Amtrak train to get there. How cool was that? It was my very first time on an Amtrak and it was great. It was what was it? So 90 minutes there and back $60 round trip and no one had to drive. No one had to worry about traffic or directions or how we're going to get there or any of that kind of stuff. So it was a really nice way for all three of us to kind of chill and relax on our way up there. We did have a delay on the way back, which got us home later than we wanted. But I don't know how common that is for, you know, such a local train situation. Anyways, and then we went to Greensboro. We did the Science Museum. We walked all up and down downtown. We went to the Greensboro Historic Museum, which honestly, you hear about like a town or a city's own history museum and you think what kind of artifacts do they possibly have? But they had some really, really interesting, I mean, Greensboro has just kind of a fascinating history in and of itself. Denim production was like their main main thing for decades, which I had no idea about. So they had a lot of information about denim mills and, you know, all of that that went down there. So they did have a lot of really cool information that I thought was interesting, even though I'm not like super big into history. Of course, anytime anything comes up about sewing or fabric, I'm like, well, I just want to eat it all up. So I love learning about denim production and sort of, you know, its place in Greensboro. That was really awesome. As we were walking downtown, we were stopping in the shops as we went, stumbled upon this place called Vintage Chavogue. And I just thought it was going to be like a vintage clothing store, which it was. But she had like an upstairs part with like, I mean, dozens of vintage sewing patterns. And I was like, I've hit the motherload. Like what, what is this? So they were all priced at, I think $13, no matter what it was. And then they were buy two, get one free. So you got three, four, 24 bucks. Not bad. So I picked up this and climb vintage pattern. I think this one was from the mid 60s. I think all of them. Yeah, this is 1967. It comes with this elastic waist skirt that has belt carriers, this cool belt. I mean, I'm sorry, this cool jacket. Look at the back of the jacket. It has that little like Western detail. And then it also has a little like lightweight woven top that you can't see from the front, but incline. Then how cute is this buttery one? I kind of love like this little swoopy detail here. Super interesting. I don't think I could find the date on this one. And then I also got this little jumpsuit romper situation. So I thought that was really cute as well. This one's also from the, yeah, this is from 1969. So I guess I have a thing for late 60s fashion. I guess that would be my thing. So I was super excited to find those. I also went to Goodwill a couple of times and was able to get some sheets and stuff for projects for Muslims. I didn't really find anything like, you know, super special, but I did feel like I was able to get some cool stuff. I didn't really do a lot from Joanne just like basic notions. I needed to get, you know, how like you're sewing and then you're like, Oh my gosh, I don't have any universal size 80 needles. It's like one of the things you just count on having at all times. So I needed to run up there for a couple of those types of things. That was really it. I really feel like some of you guys are looking down on me with these vintage patterns though, which was really cool. All right, so now we are going to do the rapid fire, which is what I'm watching, what I'm reading, something new I'm trying and what I'm obsessed with. I love whenever you guys answer these in the description box. So please feel free to chime in with your rapid fire, what I am watching. So obviously when you're not feeling well, you start watching a lot of television. I decided I would watch all the episodes of Friends, like all of them starting the very beginning. I might have mentioned this before. I can't remember. It took me the better part of the two months to watch all 10 seasons. But I was really glad I did. I don't know. Anytime like some show is like super, super, super popular in its time. I don't know. I just have like this like, was it really that good or was it not? And so for me, Friends came out in 95. In 95, I was like 14. And then in 2000, I went to college. And then Friends wrapped up in 2005. So I remember watching parts of it pretty religiously, but then toward the middle, but then toward the end, I don't remember watching any of it. I remember watching the finale, none of that. So I was like, was it just not that good? And I just didn't like it. I couldn't remember. But going back and watching it also helps that I'm not 14 anymore. And I can kind of relate to the jokes a little bit. I found it to be hilarious. I laughed, I think almost at some point laughed out loud during every episode. So that is like a huge, huge win. And it was fun to watch the fashion and, you know, all of that kind of stuff. So I had a good time watching through that. Dan and I started watching Yellowstone, which apparently I am just like the last one to find out about Yellowstone, despite the fact that I've asked you guys every single month, what should I be watching? Nobody I don't think has recommended Yellowstone. So we are at the very beginning of season two, I think. And apparently, I don't know, things get crazy. Everyone's like, I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about it. So we will see, we will see. But so we've been watching that as well. What I'm reading, I did finish Clara and the Sun. I thought that it was, I just kept waiting for something to like, I don't know, for the climax, I just kept waiting for something to like kick in. And it never really did. It was very much just like this. I appreciated the writing. I appreciated like, the story as basic as it was. But I don't know, that's gonna be something that I like remember, you know, years on the road, someone's asking for recommendation, I don't think I'm gonna suggest Clara and the Sun. But it's another book that I was able to read, another adventure I was able to go on. So that is good. So after that one, I decided I wanted something just really trashy for the summer. So I'm reading Unfaithful, which is, oh, it's a little bit like Girl on the Train meets Gone Girl, kinda. There's kind of a lot to unpack there. I don't want to give too, too much away, but there's a woman at the center of it. Seems like her world is crashing in at every turn, despite her desperate attempts to keep it all together. Her husband's cheating, something crazy is going on, it were, you know, all that kind of stuff. So I only have like a little bit of it left. And I'm either gonna find out if the woman is legit crazy. And is the reason why all this is happening, or if there's some other reason that all this is happening to her. And she's really just an innocent victim. So I'm eager to see how that wraps up. The, my latest obsession, and this is whenever I was going to talk to you about the shadow lane, because I have a newfound love and appreciation for hand sewing buttons. I have made a couple of button downs. As you guys know, we did the dress for the sew along back in May. I made a button down top here that you guys will see on a Make It Monday here shortly. All have tons of buttons, and I've been sewing them on my hand, and I am so much happier with the results. I don't, I just never really liked the button hole feature on my, the button hole feature is fine. But the button feature on my machine, I just, I don't know, it always kind of would come undone. The buttons would come undone every now and again. It never really felt like it was really sewing the buttons on. Anyways, so, but doing them by hand just seemed so daunting. But ever since I got the thimble fitted for thimbles for you, from thimbles for you, my thimble experience has been a lot better because it fits and it's not slipping around or falling off and doesn't hurt and all that kind of stuff. So that's been really nice. And now that I have this shadow lane as well, you know, literally you could sit down in front of the television, in front of Friends or Yellowstone or whatever it is that you're watching, and you have all your tools right here. So it's not like you're looking for things, you know, I have a puppy now. So she's ready to grab anything and run off. I mean, she loves a seam ripper. So now that I have all that stuff that I need just kind of hanging from my neck, it's, it's pretty mindless. And I can just watch TV, sew on buttons and before you know it, they're, they're all done and they look better and they're more secure and just a thousand times better than, than what I'm able to do on my sewing machine. So that's kind of my new obsessions, you know, doing things by hand. I don't necessarily, I mean, yes, it takes longer, but if you factor in the time that I had to redo getting the buttons sewn on after they would come off, then no, it's definitely a time saver, especially whenever you're just like getting something else at the same time, whether that's a zoom call or watching program or whatever it is. What I am trying, I haven't really been trying anything new other than just to keep everything, you know, good. But I had heard from a follower about making your own sea salt pouches and how you can heat them up in the microwave and then place them on your body to help, you know, bring out any toxins and just help your body heal in a little bit of a natural way. So I've been trying that. I am on antibiotics, so I kind of feel like anything that I am doing, the antibiotics is just messing with anyways. So, but whenever I come off of those fully and start the rehabilitation of my gut and all of that kind of stuff, I'll be sure to keep you guys posted on whether or not this little salt therapy is all it's cracked up to be. I got Himalayan sea salt because it has extra properties in it, but apparently regular old sea salt works well too. It just has to be free from any additives, which surprisingly is a little bit hard to find at your regular grocery stores, but you can find them. I found mine at like a natural food store. It was like a very hokey pokey place. So that is The Rocket Fire. Let me know, like I said, what your answers are to what you've been watching and reading and obsessed with and something new you're trying. The last thing I cover in the last chat video is what to expect in the following month. So as we go into July, I talked a little bit about classes. I talked a little bit about the tutorial. We also have Sew Together 21, which for this month is a hat. I have not formally announced it on Instagram yet, but the voting is done and we have a hat chosen. It's the Hot Patterns Hat. I just wanted to do something different. I wanted to push us out of our comfort zone, but I also wanted to have a quick project that was timely for July. And so I just thought that a hat would be a fun kind of different thing to try. Good news is the Hot Patterns Hat is free. Of course, it doesn't take much fabric at all. Mostly what it takes is like interfacing and stuff to hold it up. So you'll get a lot of experience and learning more about interfacing by making a hat for sure. Other than that, that's all we have got. We will be talking more about the third quarter Sew Along. I think I'm going to do it in September, simply because I just already have all those classes in early August. So we will be over on Patreon. The Hemsiders and I will be voting on which type of garment we want to make and then they will be voting on which pattern of the garment we want to make. And again, since it's in September, I don't know if we're going to go with a lightweight coat or if we're going to go with maybe some pants. I don't know. I don't know what we're going to choose from yet, but that'll be happening in the next month. So if you're a Hemsider, be on the lookout for that. If you're not one, head on over there and join so you can be more active and participate in different areas of what kind of ends up happening here on the channel. But that is going to do it for me today. I am going to go take care of some of this congestion that has built up. And I will see you all very soon. Thanks so much for watching. Bye.