~ COZY MYSTERY FEATURE HANGING BY A THREAD ~
🧵✂ 🪡👗📖🧵✂ 🪡👗📖🧵 About Hanging by a Thread
The latest novel in a new crafting cozy series in the genre-leading Kensington Cozy Mystery program focusing on the members of a Sewing Studio.
Some of the independent shops in this sleepy town are barely hanging on financially—and that includes Sarah’s Sweets, Abbey’s aunt’s bakery. The shop’s advantage—aside from the deliciousness of its products—is the fact that it’s the only bakery in the area. But it looks like that’s about to change. The second wife of a wealthy businessman wants her own bakery—and money is no object.
When murder unravels the plans for the competing shop, Aunt Sarah is an immediate suspect—and Hideaway Grove’s merchants are on pins and needles about a big upcoming women’s conference, fearing the organization will cancel their booking because of the crime. Abbey’s doing her best to stay optimistic and stitch some custom tote bags for the attendees, but she’s also concerned with patching up Aunt Sarah’s good reputation. And when it comes to sorting through the possible motives of the victim’s family members and associates, she’s got a few tricks up her sleeve . . .
A LATE-NIGHT TRAVELINGSALESMAN
HAD NO IDEA WHAT HE STARTED
by Dorothy Howell
Growing up in rural Virginia in the 1960straveling salesmen were common. Myfamily lived on 100 acres of mostly wooded land in a newly built brick ranchstyle house (one of the few in the area with indoor plumbing) that my parentsfelt was too good a deal to turn down. Theclosest town was about a forty-minute drive away on gravel roads that woundthrough the hills. The area wasbeautiful. Leaves turned to goldenshades of red and yellow in autumn, lazy snowflakes fell in winter, and burstsof color announced the spring and summer seasons.
Drop-in visitors were common. Since phoning ahead was seldom done (“long distance”phone calls were expensive), friends, family, and neighbors just showed up. We stopped what we were doing, welcomed them,and spent hours visiting and catching up.
Traveling salesmen routinely made therounds through our rural neighborhood. They,too, stopped by bearing samples and an order pad, and demonstrated theirproducts hoping to make a sale.
Irecall a vacuum cleaner salesman who, honestly, I thought would never leave ashe showed off the dozens of attachments that were included with the vacuum—somany, in fact, they came with their own storage cabinet. The salesman actually pulled back the sheeton my parents’ bed and vacuumed the mattress, much to my mother’s chagrin, thenwhipped out a brush and vacuumed my sister’s head. Really.
The salesman who unwittingly had thebiggest effect on my family was the one who arrived hoping to sell a sewingmachine. Prospects didn’t lookgood. My mother was a city girl, notexactly instep with the other women in our neighborhood who cooked on woodstoves, canned vegetables, and baked biscuits from scratch. She’d never sewn anything in her life, norwas she crafty or creative. For somereason, which neither my sister nor I can recall, my parents purchased a sewingmachine from that salesman.
I don’t remember the brand of themachine, only that it was pink. Mymother somehow figured out how to sew an outfit (skirt and vest) for each ofus,plus one costume for a school play, and she was done.
My older sister, however, saw a greatopportunity to have more clothes. Shecommandeered the sewing machine, hauled it downstairs to our basement “rec room,”and taught herself to sew.
I tried my hand at sewing, too, andfound that I liked it. While my sistermade dresses, skirts, and shorts for herself—all beautifully sewn—I made dollclothes, all of questionable design and quality.
Thatwas the extent of my sewing for many years until I had a young daughter andlots of time on my hands. I picked upthat old pink sewing machine, long abandoned, and began making clothes for mydaughter. Eventually, I pushed myself tomake pants and shorts for myself, all quite simple. As my daughter got older, I graduated tomaking Halloween costumes for her.
While my sister went on to makeelaborate outfits, lingerie, outerwear, and even business suits for herhusband, I abandoned sewing all together. A new baby, a full-time job, and a budding writing career didn’t allow enoughtime to continue to sew.
That changed a few years ago when Ireconnected with a writer friend, June Kolf, whom I hadn’t seen in awhile. Over lunch she told me she wasmaking pillowcase dresses for girls in Africa. A light bulb went off over my head. I suddenly remembered how much I’d enjoyed sewing. This was such a worthwhile charity project,Iknew I had to get involved. I bought thecheapest sewing machine I could find (just in case), June walked me through howto make a pillowcase dress, and I dove in.
June and I had a marvelous time withthis project. We took road trips tothrift stores and sewing centers to find gently used pillowcases and sewingnotions. Friends and family got involvedand supported our project with donations. We even had “fashion shows” to share the dresses we’d made.
I’ve been sewing pillowcase dresses forabout seven years now. I donate them toa nonprofit that takes them to African villages and distributes them to thegirls there. So far, I’ve made over athousand dresses.
When I was trying to come up with anidea for another mystery series, this charity project seemed like a natural fit,and the Sewing Studio mystery series was born. In the launch book, Seams Like Murder, Abbey Chandler, whose life fallsapart in Los Angeles, retreats to the quaint touristy town of Hideaway Groveand gets involved with thissame charity project—while she hunts for amurderer. Like me, Abbey’s sewing skillsaren’t the best but we’re both having fun with it.
Abbey’s adventures in Hideaway Grovecontinue in the newest book in the series Hanging By A Thread, where she’ssolving a murder—and still trying to improve her sewing skills!
INSTRUCTIONSFOR SEWING PILLOWCASE DRESSES:
Author Dorothy Howell --Two Pillowcase Dresses
Constructinga pillowcase dress requires only a pillowcase, notions, a sewing machine, andbasic sewing skills.
You’llneed:
a gently used pillowcase
double-fold bias tape
elastic
notions
embellishments (optional) lace, rickrack
Cut offthe sewn end of the pillowcase.
Fold pillowcase in half and cut arm holes. Cut through all thickness. Cut 4inches down and 2 inches in.
Fold down the top about 3/8”. Stitch tomake a casing. Slide 6 inches of ¼”elastic through the casing to cause it to gather. Repeat on the back.
Cut two 38” lengths of double-fold bias tape for the armholes. Fold each in half and stitch along armholesleaving extra at the top to tie the dress at the shoulder.
TIPSFOR SEWING PILLOWCASE DRESSES:
A good place to find gently used pillowcases is a thrift store. Shop on one of their discount days for lowerprices.
Put outthe word to friends and family.
Checkout yard and estate sales.
Watchfor sales at fabric stores. Hobby Lobby frequentlyoffers a discount on all sewing notions. Joann Fabric has weekly coupons.
Acotton or cotton blend pillowcase works best, in a color or pattern suitablefor girls.
Extrawide double-fold bias tape is easiest to work with.
Havefun!
About Dorothy Howell
USA Today Bestselling author Dorothy Howell is the author of 49 novels. Her books have been translated into a dozen languages and sold worldwide. She writes the Sewing Studio mystery series, the Haley Randolph mystery series, and the Hollis Brannigan and Dana Mackenzie mystery series. Dorothy also writes historical romance novels under the pen name Judith Stacy. Dorothy lives in Los Angeles.
Web site: DorothyHowellNovels.com.
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