More Sewing… More Bags!

So…I’m not very proficient yet, still working on sewing straight lines rather than jagged edges. But I’m learning, and I LOVE IT. I really love the process of taking raw fabric and making something, and I like taking a pattern/idea and making something of my own out of it.

I’m feeling very home-maker-y. I didn’t even take home-ec in high school, so this is all new to me. But in the last year, I’ve learned to bake yeast breads, taught myself to knit (about to start that up again, now that it’s cooling off!), and learned to sew. Three things I’ve wanted to do for ages and now I can!! I love that.

My mom tried to teach me to sew when I was younger. But I never could get past the difficulty of working with her old Kenmore machine. It has lasted FOREVER and made many a Halloween costume, not to mention colorful (and matching) outfits for my sister and I. But it was impossible to thread, and I never could figure out the bobbins. The Bobbins! I remember being so frustrated. Mom had to completely get it set up for me, and then when it messed up, she had to come figure it out for me. I gave up rather quickly.

I’m sure that older machines are much more reliable, since they have metal parts and will last far longer. But this new machine is a dream – so easy to use. Even the BOBBINS. :) That’s when I knew I would succeed at this – a couple of times the machine has gotten all messed up, and I was able to figure it out and fix it myself. Victory!!

Here are a couple more projects I worked on over the weekend.

This is for Alyssa (my niece in TX), whose 7th birthday is at the end of the month. I used this tutorial (for the bag itself – the monogram and the flower I figured out on my own), and think it came out GREAT. I think she’ll love it, don’t you?

I forgot to make the pocket on the inside (which has to be done before you sew the pieces together – duh.), so I used the extra material and made her a little matching drawstring pencil case.

It will go in the mail tomorrow, can’t wait to see what she thinks. This was really my first project – and I didn’t want my first project to be a gift (in case I messed it up, which I did…) So I bought a whole yard of this fabric and made a bag for myself as well. I talked about that in this post… Once I saw how cute the flower looked on Alyssa’s bag, I decided mine needed a little something too (but couldn’t do a monogram even if I’d wanted to – and I probably wouldn’t monogram my own anyway – because I made the bag last month.)

(This fabric is from Hobby Lobby too…I love it!)

So I’ve made a shirt for Tobin (and for my nephew Logan), and a bag for Alyssa (and for me :D) – Luke was beginning to wonder if I’d ever make anything for him…

I modified the same instructions I used for the bags above… in retrospect I probably should have found instructions for a messenger bag rather than just trying to figure it out on my own… but L is really happy with it. He decided to use it for his Awana books, which helps me out too (because now he’ll always know where they are, rather than having to search all over the house right as it’s time to leave…)

The APRON!

So it’s going to look like I’ve been sewing up a storm…but I actually finished this apron forever ago, just after I mentioned it here, a month ago today. But I hadn’t taken a picture of it yet… and my sweet mom (who was very excited to get me a sewing machine for my birthday, and has been super encouraging and helpful as I’ve begun this “teach myself to sew from the internet” adventure) has been dying to see it.
So here it is! The fabric is from Hobby Lobby, and the pattern was McCalls.  I think it came out super cute – what do you think, mom? :)

Not bad considering I’m still working on sewing in straight lines!


I had to do self-timer photos, since the reason that it’s taken me a month to get these up is that I always forget when Matt or Luke are here to take the picture.

Tobin thought it was pretty exciting (the self-timer…he’s not a giant fan of having his picture taken at the moment.) He wanted in on the deal:

And then he wanted Dudley in there too, but was really disappointed that Dudley wouldn’t look at the camera. No way was D going to pose for the camera with it sitting on the deck railing…

   

More sewing projects coming soon!

So Long Summer!

I’ve had many thoughts and no time to blog them. But today I uploaded the pictures from my camera (so I could finally put up a picture of the apron I sewed for my mom – who bought me both the pattern for the apron and the machine I sewed it on, and who is patiently waiting to see it.)

And I found these, which I’d never shared…taken on 8/25…enjoying some last bits of summer. (Not that we’re not having some pretty summery weather still – but there’s no guarantee how long that will last.)

While Luke was at school, Tobin wanted a snack. Both boys love Trix yogurt (it’s actually the only yogurt Luke will eat…and only one particular flavor. Tobin is equal opportunity – haven’t found a yogurt he doesn’t love.) Over the summer, they started packaging little plastic handles with the Trix yogurt – so you can freeze them and make yogurt pops. The boys loved that idea, although I quickly learned that it was hazardous to their clothing.

And so: Here’s my younger child eating frozen yogurt in the back yard, wearing only his underwear and socks. :)

(Guess I could also have titled this post “Pics for the future: Rehearsal Dinner Slideshow edition”. :D)