Sewey McSew Pants

That's my new name (my real nickname is Prudence McPrude...). Anyway, look at what I did yesterday!!

My pillow took an hour (and a half) of private instruction at Bobbins Nest (which I love). It was a great scene of my instructor looking horrified at how little I know about anything sewing related- and yes, she knew I was a beginner. She was shocked that I didn't do any sewing projects growing up...

I did not realize that I was making a bed pillow case; my other one was a 12x12 pillowcase. Anywho, I went with the Valentine's Day fabric because a) it was on sale, and b) I didn't really want or need to make a pillow, but figured I could always pull this out in February. Or perhaps we will call it the "love pillow" and pull it out when anyone in our family is sick to feel special (sorta like a mix between the vomit bowl and the "You Are Special Today" plate).

Today I will fix the dog bed. Our youngest pup, Gerdy, destroys anything with an eye ball, button, or zipper, as documented here. Her bed is 2 weeks old and she already demolished the zipper beyond repair and ate part of the stuffing (she's 15 pounds), which makes for some "interesting" digestion situations... So, I will one-up my crazy dog by sewing the entire bed closed therefore negating the need for a zipper and hopefully, her need to destroy it.

My instructor thought it would be good for me to start with bibs and burp cloths (so if you have a baby, you can expect a beautiful piece of artwork to randomly appear in your mailbox- feel free to donate). I also got an Amy Coe pattern for a bag and some of her fabric (you should see how $$ her fabric is... I think I need to shift careers). As for my plan to make window treatments for my house, she thinks that's a bit ambitious. I will do it just to spite her. I am hoping to check out some good beginner's sewing books from the library- any suggestions??

I also need some new fabric for my bibs/burp cloths... looks like I get to go shopping this weekend!!

If I Only Had a Brain

I have tried some new recipes in the past week and none of them have been good. I have somehow messed-up recipes that are labeled "easy" and get 5/5 stars. So it's definitely me, which is cool. I've already been adjusting my dinners; the whole "pregnancy brain" phenomenon has taken serious root and I can't really handle anything more than a main dish and maybe a side dish. Most of our dinners are one-pot meals because I simply can't keep it together enough to do more than that. I've been thinking I need to break out the crock-pot and put that to good use, too.

Another wonderful mess-up of mine is the sewing machine. I purchased it 18 months ago (along with a box full of "supplies"), took a beginners class, made my pillow and completed 1.5 projects at home. And then we started IVF and anything "extra" fell off a cliff. So, I haven't even looked at my machine in over a year.

Flash forward to now: I'm pregnant with our son; I'm nesting in our new home; and, I see these adorable bibs and burp cloths that I suddenly must make for myself. I locate my long-abandoned sewing machine and realize I cannot remember how to turn it on, much less thread the darn thing to save my life. So, I signed up for beginners class numero dos where I will make yet another pillow. The only problem is that I spend all of my free time thinking about car seats and strollers, leaving little brain space for dates/times. Yes- I wrote down the wrong day for my class, completely missing it. Luckily, the little studio (which is adorable) took pity on me and is having me come in tomorrow for an hour private lesson. They will teach me how to turn on the machine, thread it, and yes- make a pillow.

Here's to hoping I can pull it together just enough to get all my supplies in the car and to the studio by 4pm tomorrow...

My Pillow

Yesterday was my first sewing class, and I successfully completed my pillow!! Aren't you so proud of me!?!? I have enough yardage to make a second pillow, so I'm going to undertake that in a day or so. But, of course, I have to purchase all of the cutting supplies, which means another trip to JoAnn's :)

Like a child holding up a finger painting...

The pillow in all of it's glory!

Now that I have the pillow (and soon-to-be two pillows) I have no idea what to do with them... I wish we had our sofa!! I'm planning on taking a basic quilting class in January, so until then:

1. I'm going to practice threading/re-threading my machine on a (somewhat) regular basis.

2. I'm going to practice threading the bobbin on a (somewhat) regular basis.

3. I'm going to practice sewing a straight line on a (somewhat) regular basis.

If you know of any basic, beginner projects that would be good for me, please let me know!! If I can't find anything else, I'll be making 14"x14" pillows for months-on-end and everyone will be getting one for Christmas :)

My Love/Hate Relationship With Martha

I hate Martha Stewart, and I love her.


Whenever I make a recipe from her book, it requires either:

a) some weird ingredient that I cannot find in the surrounding 50 miles;

b) some weird technique that require me watching online videos for 20 minutes just to sort-of understand it; and/or

c) a new, funky piece of equipment that I will never, ever use again.



But, does any of this stop me?? Not really- I still want to do it all. I start looking around her site and 2 hours later I'm trying to figure out how to dry corn-husks ,or I'm convinced that I too can make a leaf-lattice pie crust. Regardless, she is getting more accessible... and I'm getting more realistic. I've set up my online profile at her site and have more projects/recipes than I know what to do with. But, here's just a taste of what's my Martha List:


Recipes:

Tex-Mex Chicken Stew

Chicken with Ginger

Gingerbread Snowflakes



Crafts:

Sewing on Paper

Monogrammed Boxes



I also get her daily emails about cookies, organizing, crafts, etc (thanks, Lara!) and even though I won't do even 10% of them, it's a great inspiration to do something creative. Even her emails look cute...

My First Sewing Machine

It came in the mail yesterday (yea for sales on Amazon.com) and while I have no idea how to plug it in (much less use it), I am so, so excited to finally learn how to sew! I am taking a Beginner's Machine class in a few weeks where I will make a 14"x14" pillow.



After about 45 minutes in JoAnn's Fabrics, I finally picked this snowflake print for my pillow.

I was shocked at how much sewing boxes were (only $30, but still... that seems like a lot for a box...), so I'm just using an extra box we had at home. I don't have a lot of supplies, so it works well for now! Not only do I have all of these supplies, but I actually know what they're called!! And, in just a few weeks, I'll actually know how to use them :)