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 TRAVELING SALESMAN
HAD NO IDEA WHAT HE STARTED
by Dorothy Howell
Growing up in rural Virginia in the 1960s traveling salesmen were common. My family lived on 100 acres of mostly wooded land in a newly built brick ranch style house (one of the few in the area with indoor plumbing) that my parents felt was too good a deal to turn down. The closest town was about a forty-minute drive away on gravel roads that wound through the hills. The area was beautiful. Leaves turned to golden shades of red and yellow in autumn, lazy snowflakes fell in winter, and bursts of 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 the rounds through our rural neighborhood. They, too, stopped by bearing samples and an order pad, and demonstrated their products hoping to make a sale.
I recall a vacuum cleaner salesman who, honestly, I thought would never leave as he showed off the dozens of attachments that were included with the vacuum—so many, in fact, they came with their own storage cabinet. The salesman actually pulled back the sheet on my parents’ bed and vacuumed the mattress, much to my mother’s chagrin, then whipped out a brush and vacuumed my sister’s head. Really.
The salesman who unwittingly had the biggest effect on my family was the one who arrived hoping to sell a sewing machine. Prospects didn’t look good. My mother was a city girl, not exactly instep with the other women in our neighborhood who cooked on wood stoves, canned vegetables, and baked biscuits from scratch. She’d never sewn anything in her life, nor was she crafty or creative. For some reason, which neither my sister nor I can recall, my parents purchased a sewing machine from that salesman.
I don’t remember the brand of the machine, only that it was pink. My mother 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 great opportunity to have more clothes. She commandeered the sewing machine, hauled it downstairs to our basement “rec room,” and taught herself to sew.
I tried my hand at sewing, too, and found that I liked it. While my sister made dresses, skirts, and shorts for herself—all beautifully sewn—I made doll clothes, all of questionable design and quality.
That was the extent of my sewing for many years until I had a young daughter and lots of time on my hands. I picked up that old pink sewing machine, long abandoned, and began making clothes for my daughter. Eventually, I pushed myself to make pants and shorts for myself, all quite simple. As my daughter got older, I graduated to making Halloween costumes for her.
While my sister went on to make elaborate outfits, lingerie, outerwear, and even business suits for her husband, I abandoned sewing all together. A new baby, a full-time job, and a budding writing career didn’t allow enough time to continue to sew.
That changed a few years ago when I reconnected with a writer friend, June Kolf, whom I hadn’t seen in a while. Over lunch she told me she was making 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,I knew I had to get involved. I bought the cheapest sewing machine I could find (just in case), June walked me through how to make a pillowcase dress, and I dove in.
June and I had a marvelous time with this project. We took road trips to thrift stores and sewing centers to find gently used pillowcases and sewing notions. Friends and family got involved and supported our project with donations. We even had “fashion shows” to share the dresses we’d made.
I’ve been sewing pillowcase dresses for about seven years now. I donate them to a nonprofit that takes them to African villages and distributes them to the girls there. So far, I’ve made over a thousand dresses.
When I was trying to come up with an idea 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 falls apart in Los Angeles, retreats to the quaint touristy town of Hideaway Grove and gets involved with thissame charity project—while she hunts for a murderer. Like me, Abbey’s sewing skills aren’t the best but we’re both having fun with it.
Abbey’s adventures in Hideaway Grove continue in the newest book in the series Hanging By A Thread, where she’s solving a murder—and still trying to improve her sewing skills!
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SEWING PILLOWCASE DRESSES:
Constructing a pillowcase dress requires only a pillowcase, notions, a sewing machine, and basic sewing skills.
You’ll
need:
a gently used pillowcase
double-fold bias tape
elastic
notions
embellishments (optional) lace, rickrack
Cut off
the sewn end of the pillowcase.
Fold pillowcase in half and cut arm holes.
Cut through all thickness. Cut 4
inches down and 2 inches in.
Fold down the top about 3/8”. Stitch to
make 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 armholes
leaving extra at the top to tie the dress at the shoulder.
TIPS
FOR SEWING PILLOWCASE DRESSES:
A good place to find gently used pillowcases is a thrift store. Shop on one of their discount days for lower
prices.
Put out the word to friends and family.
Check out yard and estate sales.
Watch for sales at fabric stores. Hobby Lobby frequently offers a discount on all sewing notions. Joann Fabric has weekly coupons.
A cotton or cotton blend pillowcase works best, in a color or pattern suitable for girls.
Extra wide double-fold bias tape is easiest to work with.
Have
fun!
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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