Elephant Love

I finally took pictures of my little girl ribbon blanket. I made it quite a few days ago, but apparently I was mad at it and thus didn’t want to look at it long enough to take pictures. It was officially nicknamed the project from hell. It started out with lots of sewing machine problems (I learned some tricks about my machine now that will hopefully eliminate some of this in the future) and then because I was getting frustrated I wasn’t thinking clearly and just started making mistakes. I was to the point of just ripping the whole thing apart and starting from scratch (that is the perfectionist in me) but I didn’t and in the end you can’t tell that anything went wrong. I was thoroughly looking forward to sewing that day for the sole purpose of relieving some stress, and we’ll just suffice it to say that definitely didn’t happen. All is well that ends well though. I am taking it to show a lady today who inquired about it and I am hoping to either sell it, or get her to order another one in a fabric she likes better. Maybe she’ll even want two, one for her little girl and one for her little boy when he gets older. Haha, here’s to hoping!

So, as I said before my hand-me-down sewing machine has been sitting in a cabinet for several years and hasn’t been oiled, cleaned or generally maintained at all in this time period. I thought, ok instead of buying a new machine I will just take this one in and get it all tuned up in an effort to save some money for now. Well apparently I was naïve. Tuning it up costs $100. Sooooooo not sure how I’m going to handle that one yet. I know it would eliminate some of the problems I am having and make sewing slightly more pleasurable, not to mention it needs to be done so as not to damage the machine, but my wallet certainly wouldn’t be happy, and she is mad at me enough already the way it is with all the wonderfully fun but expensive shopping trips I have taken lately. And while we’re talking about shopping trips, Corynn and I went to Hobby Lobby for the first time lately. We both always read a bunch of the other wonderful craft blogs out there, and Hobby Lobby is spoken of as if it is the holy grail of craft/fabric stores, so we have been dying to try it out. We heard there is a new one that is being built pretty close to us and right across the street from our Joann’s. With building excitement we decided to we couldn’t wait to find out about it and found another one in Mesa to go to. So that is what we did. And I spent too much money…again. And poor Jakey was not happy about us being out most of the day and past his bed time, sorry Jake! But it’s all in the name of fun right? I will definitely be going back to HobLob and can’t wait till the new one is open. Rumor has it it should be opening in October. I can’t wait.

Well back to my currently-in-progress project, an apron for my mom.

Monkey Boy

So here are my first two projects:

First was a baby blanket.

I completely fell in love with the purple fabric, and the minky not only matched perfectly but was on sale as well, and I am all about sales and coupons. Frankly I don't think the pictures do it justice. In person it really does match and the fabric looks prettier, I promise. The blanket is about 35x35 and I guess it’s just ok. We are all our own worst critic right? It’s nothing special and not that well done, but then again it was the very first time I sat at my machine in at least 15 years or so. I’ve actually thought about ripping it apart now and making something different out of it. We’ll see. At the very least I think I will go back and get some more of the purple print this week since it is now also on sale. Hmm, what to make with it…

My second project actually turned out better than I imagined and I have to say I’m actually pretty proud of it. I was telling one of the moms I nanny for about my newest sewing endeavors and she immediately asked me if I could make one of those tag/ribbon blankets. Well what do you know it was already next on my list of things to make. I was so excited to make one for the little man. He has a favorite elephant stuffed animal (Ella) and when he needs to comfort himself or fall asleep at night he rubs and/or sucks on the tag. Needless to say the tag is completely threadbare at this point and hardly serves its purpose anymore so this mini blankie is going to be just perfect for him. Now, I tend to over think and over analyze things better than anyone out there (and most of the time that’s not really a good thing) and this project was no exception. We call the little man “Monkey Boy” as he can climb anything and has done so since he was merely a few months old. He has incredible strength and absolutely no fear. So of course I had to get some cute monkey themed fabric and even some monkey ribbons thanks to the awesome ribbon store Corynn introduced me to. Thanks Corynn! It took me a very long time and lots of scrutinizing to pick everything out, but in the end I think it turned out great.

So here is the finished project (with red minky on the back):

Do you think this means he approves?

Now to get up at 4:30am to turn on the washer (so as not to wake up anyone else in the house at this hour) so I will have some fabric to work with tomorrow.

Bitten by the craft bug

Craving Creativity: because I never feel creative and I always want to be.

I have officially been bitten by the craft bug. I guess it really started a couple years ago. I had a friend who was always posting pictures of things she had sewn for her house, her daughter, her cats...she was creative. Then another friend started posting pictures and talking about projects she was working on. Such cute things, why didn’t I think of that? Well when she made a blog to showcase her creations I think it put me over the edge. I want to do that! And so seemingly overnight I have become an obsessive web surfer in search of ideas, tutorials, fabric, everything I can get my hands on. (In doing so I’ve also discovered an obsession for owls that I never knew existed). The possibilities are endless! There are so many things I want to make! But sadly I don’t have the pocketbook to make them all RIGHT NOW like I really want. Coupons are my friends.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know how boring this blog is going to be. I don’t know how often I will end up updating. All I know is right now I feel inspired. I feel like a whole new world has been opened to me and I’m excited! I am thinking (hoping really) that I would like to turn this into something big. I would love to learn to sew beautiful quilts like my great-grandmother. I would love for this to be a serious hobby, and dare I say something I could possibly even make money off of? One day…sometime in the far away future I think. But baby steps, one should always start with baby steps right?

I’m starting small I guess, with unoriginal sewing projects that everyone seems to make. Anyone who knows me knows my love for children, and I guess it is for that reason that I am drawn to the baby items right now, even though I currently have no use for them myself. Luckily I know lots of moms, maybe they will want some of my things. I’m telling myself that I’m starting simple while I draw from my memory bank the sewing lessons my grandma taught me oh so many years ago on her lovely circa 1963 Bernina machine that has been sitting in my house untouched for…oh about 15 years now. I’m going for simple projects for now, although I have been pleasantly surprised at how well I have picked up on that machine as I envisioned it being much worse.

Ok well enough rambling for now. Welcome to my new blog. I hope I don’t bore you to tears. I will post pictures of my first couple projects as soon as I go to Joann’s for the millionth time this week and put the finishing touches on them.