my new hobby

I posted a while back that I was learning to sew with Steve's mom when they were here at the beginning of August. We successfully completed Anya's knotted flannel comforter for her bed and then I was on my own as Kathy left for Honduras. But, Kathy, you would be so proud of me! I am a sewing machine! Pardon the pun.

One major project I've been working on, I can't tell you about because it is a surprise, but I'll tell you about all the rest for now.

I went shopping at the local thrift stores looking for fabric/sheets/cloth napkins/anything that I could beautify and inexpensively try out to practice my sewing skills, but that I might actually use. I found a couple things with potential and here's what I did.

First, I got these two already made pillow covers for regular bed-sized pillows. I wanted to see if I could modify them to fit square pillows. I figured out how to make the changes and they don't look half bad. The original sewing job wasn't perfect, so that left me room to not be perfect either. Of course, I spent way more on the pillow forms to stuff inside than I did on the $1 pillow cases, but it was a fun project. Here's the final product.



Next I wanted to make a cover for this large pillow I have had for a long time sitting in my basement. It was a gift from my dear little sister a long time ago. Check out the pillow case she puffy painted by hand and ironed on this darling little picture of a girl getting a heart in the mail. I'm assuming it's supposed to give the message, "Love Always." Well, Hilary, I hope you don't mind that the pillow needed a new face. :-) I know that you will always love me and I think I have other reminders of that without the puffy paint. The pillow case is stained in the photo because I had to dig it out of the trash to take a photo for the blog.





Here's my improvement. I wanted something fun and playful and I found this twin bed sheet that I turned into a pillow cover. The pink and brown combo looks like something Hilary would have picked out, too, so I still have a reminder of you on top of your original gift. Anya and Evan both love it. They just flop down on the pillow and rest there.



I like sewing for many reasons. I like it because it gives me a hobby and I get to use my logical, mathematical brain in a way that feels good. I feel like there is an endless amount of possibilities for me to make. However, I like doing things that I am confident doing. And for that reason, I see myself mostly sewing things that are rectangular with straight lines. I felt the same way about knitting, but with knitting the rectangle limitation is a lot more restrictive - afghans, washcloths, etc. With sewing, I feel a lot more possibility.

So, what did I do? I enrolled in a sewing class at JoAnn Fabrics. Yes, that's right. I'm so domestic. I took a one night basic sewing class that was a joke. The teacher wasn't good and I was thankful that I knew a little about sewing already because otherwise I would have been totally overwhelmed and lost. Then I started a two night class to make a tote bag. We have our second class tonight, so I will hopefully have a finished product to show you after I'm done. This class was a huge step up from the basic class because we actually had to read and cut out a pattern. (And I mean like a real pattern with the tissue paper.) I did not really enjoy that part of it, but it was okay. Luckily, there are only two students in this class and the teacher is really patient and figured out that we did not learn anything in the basic class, so she's teaching us stuff along the way.

I have been talking to friends that sew to figure out what kinds of things they make and how they do them. One friend told me she was planning on making a skirt for her daughter that was basically just a rectangle with elastic at the top. I thought, hey, I could do that! But while she was just going to "make it up," I thought I needed a little more guidance. So, I went online and found this pattern. It took me a little bit to figure it out, but this pattern was just directions with pictures, so I was able to follow it pretty well. And amazingly enough, it worked! Here's the final product I finished last night.



Anya helped pick out the fabric and ribbon to go on the bottom. And she picked out her tights and shirt, of course!



I admit, I am extremely proud of myself for making this skirt. She wore it to playgroup today and everyone thought it was so cute. I do occasionally look at it and think, "is that really cute, or do I just want it to be cute because I made it myself?" Well, I'm not 100% convinced of the answer to that question, but I definitely think it is cute enough to try again. And it really was so fun to make. I loved doing it.

Well, that's all I've made for now, but I'm sure you'll be seeing more creations in the future. Thank you, Kathy, for teaching me how to sew and inspiring me to not give up. And thanks to everyone who has inspired me with what you've made and encouraged me to give it a try myself. If anybody has an idea of something to make (especially if it involves straight cuts and sewing in a straight line), I'm interested to hear about it! Or if you are little and want a skirt, I'll make you one!