Commenting for Wordpress users and Open ID restored

... hopefully!

Dear readers, thank you for letting me know that you were having problems commenting on my posts with Wordpress or Open ID. I have installed a widget that will allow you to post comments with Open ID - thanks, Tejaswini Dhavale, for a tip.  In addition, I enabled commenting for anyone. That means, however, that there may be more spam posted on the blog, so I had to switch to comment moderation.

Thanks to everyone for participating!
Marina

UPDATE on how to enable Wordpress/ Open ID comments:

There are two ways you can enable Wordpress comments again.  First one is by allowing comments to Anyone in your comment settings section, like on the form below. However, I would recommend to activate comment moderation if you want to avoid spam.

The one that I used is a widget by DISQUS.com. The DISQUS widget will disable your Blogger comments and will replace the original Blogger comment form with a disqus template. But no worries, they are all there - you will be able to see them on your Blogger dashboard. So, if you install disqus, make sure you import your existing comments through your disqus dashboard, otherwise you won't be able to view them. They will reappear on your blog within couple of hours, once the import has been completed. I must say, this is somewhat annoying, but at the end disqus comment form has somewhat more social template that gives you more options for interaction with and among the commenters. I hope this helps!

Your most dreaded sewing steps...

It was so interesting to read about your most dreaded step in sewing that I had to combine your comments in one post! So, find out what are the most dreaded sewing steps among the readers of this blog:

1. Laying out & Cutting

• I dread the most the laying out, pinning and cutting. If all the pieces were cut out for me and all I had to do was just sew, that would be great. (Sew Tell)
• I actually like the cutting of the pattern pieces (as long as there are not too many) but I DREAD wrestling with my fabric to get the selvedges lined up properly without any twisting of fabric...really dread it, teeth gnashing experience.... (Meri)
• I absolutely despise cutting and it always takes so long.....This 'lil gadget would really speed things along for me. I'm always double checking my measurements for the seam allowance so I end up having to cut the fabric at least two times! Always cutting off the excess that I left "just in case" my bazillion measurements were wrong... (Tara)
• I sew extensively and almost daily and cutting takes most of the time so i am quite excited and love to win this. (Creative Mama)
• I dread the cutting out process the most so this would always come in handy. (Jali)
• cutting out the pattern is my most dreaded event (Joyce in NC)

2. Buttonholes

• I think my most dreaded sewing step is machine buttonholes simply because I feel I can't control them. If the machine decides to do one of them smaller/ different/ bigger than the other it will. Unpicking buttonholes is not fun. (Suzy)
• The worst thing ever?? (Machine) Buttnholes. No matter how many time I do practice ones and even if I get all those PERFECT - I will end up having to redo 9 out of 10 buttonholes on the garnment. I have countless of shirts waiting to be finished... all I need to make are those #@!§$&%€ buttonholes!!! I want a 'clip-in/strap-on-buttonhole-maker'... did you read that Hollie??!! Please!!! (DaneMum)
• My most dreaded chore is button holes. My machine can't be bothered to make them all the same or even to complete them a lot of the time. Maybe one day I'll learn to do hand stitched button holes. (BeccaA)

3. Marking Fabric

• Most dreaded step for me is marking fabric after it's cut. There is no easy way and it's SO time consuming! (Forrest Nicole)
• hmm... probably marking my cut pieces, especially on something like tweed... takes forever! (Emory)

4. Tracing Patterns

• I hate tracing patterns and pressing. If those were not an issue, I'd have a lot more clothes made, lol!  (Shayla Sharp)
• 
  

  Oh that gadget looks extra fab to someone who makes their own patterns! I wouldn't have to sit there with a ruler tracing around the pattern! Now that is a step I dread...(Candace Clay)

  
  

5. Hemming

• I dread hemming. Not the actual hemming, but deciding how long an item should be and marking it. (goodworks1)

6. Hemming and Grading Trims

• And I hate a number of things but there's a tie between hemming and, strangely, grading/trimming seams. I'm always SURE it's going to make the garment fall apart in my hands, LOL! (lakaribane)

7. Adding seam allowances

• one of the most frustrating sewing steps is adding seam allowance to a pattern (that) doesn't have any :) (Stephanie)

8. Ironing

• I dread the ironing! (Jody Lee Keeler Pierce)

9. Fitting and Muslins

• My most dreaded sewing task is probably the most important one, the fittings and muslins to get a proper fit. (Helen)

10. Understitching

• My most dreaded sewing step is understitching. I botch it up at least once almost every time! (Paula Gardner)

11. Agonizing over Perfect Pattern (I can so sympathize with this one!)

• Dreaded.....I wracked my brain for a bit, and I think at this point I can honestly say there is NOTHING about sewing (so far!) that I dread. There were a few things that were scary until I dove into them, and now I'm finding that anything brand new is just another exciting challenge to try. Hopefully I've learned enough patience at this stage of my life to treat formerly boring tasks as more of a zen-like exercise in patience now. Yup, even thread tracing and and seam ripping.... And now that I've said that out loud, I've no doubt that some new dreaded task will rise up to bit me in the butt lol! :D Oh oh wait! I know! I DO have dread! It's agonizing over the perfect pattern for a fabulous & pricey & irreplaceable cut of fabric, and then second-guessing my decision as I finally cut into it.  (Jilly Be)

Thanks to Hollie for the great giveaway that triggered these comments, and check out her website to learn more about her Seam Allowance Guide:

To check out the winner of the giveaway, go to this post