Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Learning new things

So I guess I'm crafty.  I mean, that's what people tell me.  Really, though?  I need to make things for my sanity.  It doesn't matter what I'm making, and I don't need to be the best at what I'm attempting, but I really do NEED to make things.  I discovered this after Toast was born.  I was so busy trying to manage two kids (one almost two year old and an infant, both having the mobility and verbal skills of an infant), I barely had time to shower.  Even if I had wanted to make something...if I had one iota of time to myself?  The craft room was packed up in tubs to make room for Toast...so there was nothing to make.   I almost lost my mind.  Sure, I was an olympic-sized pool of hormones at the time, but I'm sure that had nothing to do with it, right? 

If we ever have another child, and that child moves into my craft room (like Toast did), I think I will just take over the dining room.  I'll install shelves on one wall, drawers underneath, and  big gate to keep the rest of the family out.  Especially Toast....if not watched closely he will plunder all the craft supplies and run rampant with them.  I'll find him playing pirate with a bone folder and a metal ruler.  The gate idea will probably not work too well considering the staircase from the upstairs leads into the dining room, and the staircase downstairs to the family room leads off from the dining room.  I'll have to keep working on this one.

I don't really think I'm a knitter, or a scrapbooker (although those are the two crafts I do the most of), or an embroiderer (which I also enjoy).  I'm a crafter.  I like to look at something and say "I can do that!"  My husband, I think, has learned to fear those words.  "I can do that" usually means hours of planning, talking about things he might not be interested in but should be supportive of (because he loves me, and I cook for him); sometimes this explanation is followed by some tense moments when I find out that I cannot, in fact, DO THAT...swearing usually ensues.  The project gets buried in a box until I'm ready to look at it again or throw it away.

Taking all of this into consideration, I'm sure it was no small feat for him to agree to my Christmas gift: a sewing machine.  Between the staggering supply of craft materials already in my possession, and the sheer number of projects I have on my to-do list, chaos can only ensue from adding another interest to the mix.  But, brave man that he is, he soldiered on.

It is with some self-deprecating humor that I present to you my first sewing projects.















This marvelous piece of work is supposed to be a potholder.  See the fabric strips?  Those were a lovely and well-constructed log cabin quilt block that I made.  It really turned out nicely.  Then I had to go and try to quilt it.  I left the feeder feet for the machine on and everything went downhill from there.  Then I didn't have any seam binding and tried to make my own.  Let's overlook the flaws and gaze upon the color selection, remember the way the initial block turned out.  Yes, let's dwell on the positive.  I think I'm going to give this to my mom, because it's a piece only a mother could love.
























This is better.  This tote bag is loosely based on a tutorial I found on Sew, Mama, Sew, which is a lovely sewing blog.  The bag is a little more well constructed than the pot holder....the pocket is a little off center, but we'll ignore that and instead bask in the lovelyness.  I'll find out how it works when I take it on a trip in a week and a half....if it's not as sturdy as I think it is, I'll surely find out when the bottom rips and dumps my things all over the terminal floor at Metro Airport.

Because that's the only way it will happen.  You and I both know it.

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