I just wanted to take a moment to tell all of you "Thank you" for being so wonderful recently when my little world fell apart with the loss of our dear Pekingese 'fur baby' last month.  We continue to grieve for her, but life goes on, as it always does.  When I mentioned to you here that I hoped you'd not stop ordering, because I needed to stay busy, many of you wrote with messages of comfort and the orders poured in at a time when keeping busy was the best medicine possible for me.

Today, I w...
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Our aging Pekingese fur-baby that we've loved for about 13 1/2 years, passed away on Thursday.  It was my husband and my 36th wedding anniversary, another anniversary we'll never forget...  We'd so hoped she'd recover from her latest health issues, as she'd suddenly taken a turn for the worse early in the week.  She had then improved after an injection Tuesday, but it only gave her another full day with us on Wednesday.  At least it was a good day.  We were then up trying to comfort our littl...
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I've been looking long and hard for a dependable future supplier of the fabric I need when making microbead breast forms for those of you who order from me here, as I've had problems finding someone with the right weight of fabric lately, and... guess what... I'VE FOUND THE PERFECT ONE!  So excited, just got the perfect sample and made my first larger order, can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Whew.

Those of you who don't sew, may not get how great this is, but it is a really difficult to fi...
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For those of you who are like me, you may not have kept up with the latest changes at the post office.  I just today shipped a pair of microbead breast forms to someone in Canada, where it's usually hardly any higher than shipping within the United States, and the price for First Class Mail International had jumped to more than THREE TIMES the price it was only a few weeks ago when I'd shipped a pair!  Oh...my....goodness!  Since I barely make expenses as it is to make the forms and ship them...
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A website reader just suggested a YouTube video called "The Scar Project".  There's several, but the one by David Jay is something I'd suggest for anyone who has been, or is about to go through breast cancer surgery.  It will give you an idea of what typical scars look like, whether reconstruction is done or not... and some of the women had lumpectomy or partial mastectomy. 

I'm appreciative of the brave breast cancer survivors who allowed their photos to be put on the video  It's very inform...
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Well, despite feeling great and being really healthy, I STILL caught the cold virus that seems to never go away this year, lol... Am over it but still feeling a little off my game.  Instead of designing new things, have spent most of this month de-cluttering my home.

Like most of you, I find a new year to be a good place to start fresh.  With so many wonderful organizational tips on the internet, it's hard to go organize and not just READ about it, lol... but things are really taking shape ag...
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What if I told you that you could lose weight and improve over a dozen aspects of your health by making ONE change this year??  AND, it won’t cost you a thing, not a cent more than you normally spend, and quite possibly, you’ll spend LESS?  I’ve debated for a long time whether to put this tip here, because normally I don’t try to dispense health advice.  I SEW.  It’s what I do.  However, this one thing has made such a drastic change in my own life for the better, in only a few mon...

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About a week ago, I had a really bad fall while going into a pharmacy.  As you can imagine, I haven't felt just the best since then, so I've not updated the story about my frustration with the new bra and forms, but I will in just a moment.  To first answer your question about the 'trip', lol... because that's what everyone asks...I'm fine, ended up alright.  I fell forward, eyeglasses came halfway off and twisted upward before my face arrived at the concrete, so a screw cover tore the skin u...
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Bet you thought I had all the answers after over 5 years of dealing with mastectomy, right?  Nope, still studying, still inventing, and once everything finally works, things change and I have to start over.  Though, for the last few years, I had it down pat with my bra size and style, form size, etc... UNTIL deciding that I'm finally ready to go back to the larger bust size I had before mastectomy.  Easy, right?  Not so much.

Right after the bilateral mastectomy surgery, I chose to be a smalle...
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It took me years to decide to invest in the sewing and embroidery machine I told you about recently here, on the 'Can you believe it's almost summer?' post.  It's the one I bought on Amazon with my yard sale money, and paid significantly more than I just now saw it on sale for.  If anyone is even THINKING about wanting an embroidery machine that also sews really great, go check it out on Amazon.  I just now saw it for $339 with FREE SHIPPING... I've seen this same machine at Walmart in our to...
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Have you ever had one of those "Lucille Ball in the Chocolate Factory" type days when you just feel overwhelmed?  Well, I felt too stupid for words after my episode in the sewing room today, lol... but it's better to tell you about it than for it to happen to you, so here goes:

Microbeads are kind of pricey, so I don't waste them on things like...oh...making pillows for myself.  I have a really old favorite squishy little microbead filled pillow that's sized just right, and another one that's ...
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Recently, I acquired some larger size test bras with full intentions of drafting the patterns for properly sized microbead forms right away... unfortunately, I put them in a box not properly labeled, and...well... it just slipped my mind to make the patterns.  Someone recently asked about those sizes, so I've finally drafted the patterns to fit.  There are now completed microbead forms available on the "Items For Sale" page in the newest sizes of 3XL and 4XL, and the pattern changes will soon...
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Well, I can...it's HOT already in our area!  We've already been mowing for a long while and our central air has been on for a couple of months.  Since it's still mostly me that does the lawn care at our house, I've not had a lot of time to update the website.  I do process orders and answer emails daily, just haven't added anything new to the site for awhile. 

Today, I wanted to tell you some of what I've been doing in the sewing room when there's free time.  :^)  Are you ready?  I have FINAL...
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About three days ago, we thought hubby was having a bad reaction to a blood pressure med change, but just to be on the safe side, I called his heart specialist, who soon arranged for testing and treatment.  Turns out, hubby had another mild heart attack and had to be in the hospital a couple of days to receive more stents to open a clogged artery.  It was just a coincidence that his symptoms were on the same day as the first dose of the new med, but that probably saved his life. If we'd not b...
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Finally, it's here!  I've been making size XXS microbead breast forms for a while now and testing with various people and various styles of bras, and finally think it's about as close to an average size as it's going to get, so just tonight I've added this size to the free pattern instructions on the 'Sew Your Own Breast Forms' page of my website.  The smaller the bra size, the harder it is to fit EVERYONE, because scar tissue makes an even bigger difference in the size needed, so I took a lo...
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Do you still have to have blood tests done every 3 months?  You know how it is then, you feel as if you live in 90 day increments, and don't really worry about it much until the next tests.  For this past year, a cancer antigen test's numbers had been going up slowly and I'd ignored it until it went upward more drastically a few times.  That got my attention, especially when the oncologist changed to testing every 30 days to keep a closer eye on it. 

Around that time, I got serious about maki...
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Hello, website visitors!  Some of you may notice I've not posted to the blog in awhile.  Well, there's a story there!  First, back in June, my dear hubby had a heart attack, had stents, recovered quickly, and life thankfully moved on UNTIL.... he later had two total knee replacements, one at a time, with six weeks between them.  You have not LIVED until you've been a 24/7 nurse/wife to a large man learning to use a new knee... or two. 

At the time, it took over almost every moment of my time ...
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As promised, I've added more sizes of microbead breast forms to the pattern shown on the 'Sew Your Own Breast Forms' page of this site so that you can see how to re-draw my pattern into your own size now, saving you hours of experimenting.

If you don't sew, I've also added more sizes of completed forms on the 'Items For Sale' page.  You can buy them already made for less than buying all the materials to get started, so even my non-sewing readers can try these lightweight forms now.  If you don...
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Yeah, I know... I've been promising some of you who wrote that I'd draft more patterns soon in different sizes, and offer more sizes on the 'Items for Sale' page.  I totally get how hard this stuff is to do for those who don't sew, because I do sew, and I STILL have trouble tracking down all the right materials and finding time to create new items.  Between handling a lot more summer 'chores' and my husband's health issues, I got a bit behind with designing this month.  However, today was the...
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Almost 3 weeks ago, my husband had a heart attack.  And I was afterward reminded of a few facts that all women (and especially those living with mastectomy) should consider. 

First of all, hubby is fine now.  It was a scary couple of days when it happened, with an evening in the emergency room, an amazing cardiac team being called to the hospital in the middle of the night to save him, and a week later, a bit more outpatient surgery.  We were blessed to have the local 'rock star' of cardiac s...
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Finally made an extra pair of microbead breast forms and posted them for sale on the "Items For Sale" tab of this site.  If you don't sew and want a pair, now's the time, because I won't be making them often.  The microbeads are a mess to work with, lol... and the forms are not difficult really, but they do take several hours to make so I can't do it often.  There have been so many questions come in lately from survivors who don't sew that I thought, well, I have a day free to sew, why not?  ...
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If you've read this website, you already KNOW that I prefer breast forms filled with microbeads, since they weigh about an ounce each and are relatively pain-free, conform well, wash easily, PLUS you can make your own with my free pattern, so the cost can be relatively low.  However, I saw something interesting during a recent showing of the newest breast forms and mastectomy products and could hardly wait to try it!

The ABC company makes a 5 ounce form (prosthesis) of memory foam now, c...
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Hello everyone, I hope you have enjoyed looking through the website.  It took months to create (though it was in my head for years, you just couldn't SEE it there, lol...) and I'm only just now finally adding a blog page.  Yes, I know, I promised some of you that it would be done long ago...  Too tell the truth, it took so long to create the website that I needed a break from learning how to do website building things, and a blog looked complicated.  Who knew it would take all of about five m...
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