I sewed!

I sewed poorly...but I sewed. The fact that I even found the time to sew anything at all is a huge triumph for me. I wanted to get the girls cute, personalized Christmas stockings, but the ones I was looking at on Etsy were going to cost $70-$80 and I just didn't feel like spending that much. Actually, I was going to spend that much, but I woke up at 4:30 am one morning, and I felt my neglected sewing machine calling to me from the corner of the room, "You should be ashamed of yourself....stockings can't be that hard to make....come on, you should do this yourself...you have no reason to buy stockings when I'm sitting here not being used...." Strangely, my sewing machine/conscience's voice sounds exactly like my cousin Becky's voice.

So I did it. Courtney accompanied me to Jo Ann when she was out for a weekend visit and helped me pick out material. I chose flannel for the stockings and minky for the cuffs. Then, I printed a pattern from the Internet and perused a couple of tutorials. Here's the finished result:

They look fine to the uncritical eye, but I made a few mistakes and I couldn't quite get the heel rounded out enough on Blake's. I did cut notches on the inside seam to try to round it out better, but it just didn't quite work for some reason. I also messed up sewing the cuff onto Blake's and got the seam out the outside- twice. The second time I was just sick of it, so I just left it that way! And told myself, I'll make better ones next year- these are just the practice ones. :) I didn't feel they were embroidery-worthy so I just made handwritten name tags for them (I can't get these pictures to upload straight on here).

So, we'll see if I actually redo these for next year, but at least I busted out the sewing machine and got a little practice. And, as you can see, they served their purpose just fine. :)

Sewing project: Comfy pants

We like comfy pants a lot in the Borich household. Every time Bennett & I go out to run an errand or meet a friend for lunch, we always come home and put on our comfy pants right away. I'm not sure when we started calling them that, but Bennett caught on and now she talks about her "comfy pants" all the time. Sometimes when I put jeans on her, she starts to whine a little and says, "But I want comfy pants!" What can I say. She's not even two yet and she already knows a supreme truth about life- it's just more comfortable when you're wearing sweats.

I recently went to visit my cousin (who is like my sister) in Atlanta for a week. She is an expert seamstress so I always want her to help me with something or teach me something when we're together (which is not often enough). This time she helped me make some comfy pants for Bennett. It was my first time using a pattern and I was very intimidated. The left-brained side of sewing is very frustrating for me- using a pattern, measuring, pressing the hem just right, etc. I really have to push myself to get through that part and not give up. It's a challenge for me but it makes me feel so good when I can conquer it. After her tutorial, I was off and running and I've made Bennett four or five pairs of pants. Here are a few of them:

I also made a couple pairs for Bennett's little cousin, Gretta, including a matching pair for both girls for Christmas. Look how cute these two are:

So I've had a lot of fun and I'm much more confident now in my ability to use a pattern and make (simple) clothing items. I already have my next project lined up, so I'll be anxious to share it when I'm finished!

Fabric scrap pillow

So, I didn't think I'd have another sewing project finished so soon, but I had leftover fabric from Bennett's drawstring bag (below) so I decided to attempt making her a little pillow to match it. The only new thing I bought for it was the crown applique, which I got at Jo-Ann's (I know it's just Jo-Ann, but I can't help saying Jo-Ann's) for about $1.75 with coupon. Here's a pic:

I made a beginner's mistake by leaving the open part at the corner when I turned the pillow inside out to stuff it. I started stitching it by hand and knew I would have to come up with another solution because my hand stitching is terrible. So I decided to close it up with fabric glue- I figured that I had been glued together instead of stitched after a couple of my surgeries, so why not this pillow too? It turned out great. Fabri-Tac is awesome! I'm excited for my next project, though I don't know yet what it will be!

Bennett's got a brand new bag

So, if you read my little "about me," you'll see that I call myself a novice seamstress. That might be an overstatement. The extent of what I've sewn is a curtain (under the strict supervision of my cousin, who is also my sewing inspiration), a pillowcase (under the supervision of the teacher at Jo-Ann Fabrics), and a very sad and lopsided-looking pin cushion.

I've really wanted to learn how to sew for a long time now. It always seemed like fun to me and I've always hated buying things that I could make cuter and cheaper myself- if I only knew how. So I asked for a sewing machine this past Christmas, and my in-laws got it for me. I set up a small sewing area for myself in our loft and invested in a few nice tools, like Gingher scissors and a rotary cutter and mat. I went to the library and got a couple books with ideas, then went and bought some fabric and materials. And that is basically as far as I've gotten...until this week.

I just don't have time for sewing; at least, I don't make time. But I know I'm never going to get any better if I don't practice. Right now, I'm still in that "I'm terrible at this and I can't measure anything right or cut anything straight and I think I just sewed this together wrong and I hate this" phase. But completing something, even if it's imperfect, is such a good feeling. I don't really miss going to school, but I miss learning new things and getting better at them. Teaching myself to sew is a challenge, and I need more challenges like that in my life.

To be honest, the only reason I worked on sewing this week was because I had the material to make a project out of a book from the library, and I renewed it so many times I can't renew it anymore, and I'm racking up fines and I didn't want to return it without making the dumb project. I've had this book for months, and when I finally sat down to do it, it took me less than an hour to complete and I actually had fun. And, it helps me with another item on my 30 in my 30s list, which is to complete at least 100 sewing projects. 1 down, 99 to go. Here are a few pics of Bennett's new fleece bag (and yes, this was a project out of a book called Kids Can Do It). You have to start somewhere, right?