Doll Sleeping Bag Sewing Tutorial

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Hunter stayed home from school today after a middle-of-the-night onset of a stomach bug. I was sorry for her to feel so bad, especially since the nighttime episode involved a very difficult hair-washing. But when the morning came, and she had slept 3 hours later than normal, and her stomach was feeling better, I think she and I both agreed that the nighttime upset was worth a day at home together.

After a movie, some crackers, and a morning of attempted work and chores, we finally ended up in the bonus room, which I am trying to dub the Creative Studio, on a Hunter-and-Will-style camp-out. Since Will has joined the Cub Scouts and has already had his first camp-out, sleeping bags are all the excitement in our house right now. Hunter grabbed her sleeping bag, and I came dragging her comforter to set up camp in the open space between the boxes, the ironing board, and the childrens’ library, which desperately needs shelving. I had full intention of napping on that fluffy pink comforter while Hunter did whatever you do when you pretend to camp out. She did not have that same intention.

Five minutes after I got nice and comfortable and nearly to snoozeland, she realized we were within arms distance of my sewing corner. And there was her brand new Janome Sew Mini sewing machine she got for her 6th birthday, perfectly boxed up and sitting amidst the boxes of fabric and craft supplies. And guess who didn’t bring a sleeping bag? The teddy bear. Before I knew it, Hunter had plopped the Janome box right in front of me and was picking tape off the box in preparation for making the sleeping bag she determined we would sew.

As I lay there, half awake, I kept making up excuses of why there was no way we could create a sleeping bag for her teddy bear right then and there, with no planning and no prep, and no idea how to use the new sewing machine. She wasn’t buying it. She knows we will attempt to make anything in our house, and the more complicated the better.

So out came the manual, which I, in my nerdiness, read cover to cover while she unwrapped the foot pedal and AC adapter. (I did, fortunately, get to read in the comfort of my camp-out palette.) The whole time I was thinking, am I really doing this? I can’t even think straight right now, much less think of how to concoct a sleeping bag zipper. And with a machine I’ve never used. I tried to convince her to think of something easier. Maybe something that didn’t need a pattern or a plan. Or something we already had a pattern for. Nope. The afternoon project was definitely going to be a sleeping bag.

We finally agreed on some striped flannel I had just 1/2 a yard of and some light pink flannel to line it. After a quick inspection of her sleeping bag, I determined that this really was quite a simple project. We folded the fabric over her teddy bear to get some dimensions, and then I just started cutting away. I found some quilt batting in my closet too, so it ended up being fluffy like a real sleeping bag, even though Hunter thought it needed to be flat.

I did the prep work, and Hunter did most of the sewing on the new Sew Mini. My new (old) Singer sewing machine table from Bill’s grandmother’s house turned out to be too high for Hunter to work at, so we moved her Mini down to an end table, which was the perfect height for her little self. I was extremely pleased with the Sew Mini, and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to teach a child to sew or just wanting to learn themselves without a huge investment in a machine. It really sews beautifully, and it was fast and easy to learn. The simplicity does mean it lacks a few things that I’ve grown accustomed to on my Bernina Virtuosa, but the Sew Mini truly is a great little machine. I can already see Hunter putting the miles on it.

I’m going to write the sleeping bag up like a tutorial, though a quick and un-photographed one, because it truly was so super quick and easy to make, that nearly any novice seamstress should be able to make one in under an hour. I’m sure there are dozens of tutorials or patterns out there for this very thing, and there are a couple of things I would do differently if I wanted to take more time, but for a quick, one-hour little girl project, this is what I came up with.

P.S. That Singer sewing machine table?  It still has the original sewing machine in it.  Talk about Heir. Loom.  I’ve thought of shabby-chic-ing the table, but I just don’t know.  It’s decidedly full of character and deliciously brown and musty.

Doll Sleeping Bag Tutorial

Material

• 1/2 yard each of 2 coordinating fabrics
• 1/2 yard of quilt batting

Cutting Measurements

• 2 15″ x 22″ Rectangles of fabric, cut with the 15″ side going with the grain
• 1 15″ x 22″ Rectangle of quilt batting

Notions and Tools I Used

22″ Coordinating Zipper, Coordinating Thread, Scissors, Iron and Ironing Board, Seam-ripper, Straight Pins, Tape Measure, Fabric marking pen

Notes

This tutorial assumes a 1/2″ seam allowance, unless otherwise specified.  All seams should be back-stitched at beginning and end, and corners and curves should be cut.  The size could be completely varied; we made this for a teddy bear, and a small 12″ doll fit it perfectly.  It would need to be slightly larger for an American Girl doll or a standard 18″ doll.  This is such an easy project to custom fit.

This would make a great fat-quarter project!!

Instructions

1.  ROUND THE CORNERS After cutting your rectangles of fabric and batting, place the fabric right sides together, and lay on top of batting.  Cut the bottom two corners of all three layers in a rounded shape.

2. SEW TOGETHER With your fabric still right sides together, place the 3 layers on your machine with the fabric side up, and stitch around the entire outside edge, leaving a 3-4″ opening to turn.

3. TURN AND SEW CLOSED Trim the Seam Allowance, turn right side out, and press.  Edge-stitch opening closed.

4. QUILT With your fabric marking pen, draw some quilting lines on the inside of the sleeping bag in any desired pattern.  Our striped fabric came in handy with those lines, and we chose a typical comforter-type pattern of vertical lines that connect, alternating at the top and bottom.  I’m sure there’s a technical term for this.  Stitch along those lines.

5. INSERT THE ZIPPER This is the tricky part.  And the part I would do differently if this were a bigger project.  You’re going to do the zipper one side at a time–pin, sew, then pin, sew.  Place the bottom of the zipper in the center of the sleeping bag, and pin one side of it around the edge of the sleeping bag, with the sleeping bag edge on top of the zipper tape.  This is leaving the inside of the sleeping bag with an exposed zipper tape.  It’s not my usual perfection, but it’s for a doll who won’t know the difference.  Cut a few inches off the top of the zipper (with the zipper pull below where you are cutting).  Be sure to fold the end of the zipper tape down at the top edge before pinning it so your zipper doesn’t fly off.  I left 2 or 3 inches at the top of the sleeping bag zipper free.  Stitch the zipper tape to the sleeping bag with whatever sort of edge-stitch or top-stitch you want.  Repeat on the other side.  I had a regular type of zipper, so when I got to this part, I actually had to hand-stitch the end of the zipper tape.  This would be much easier with a zipper that separates completely (forgive my lack of technical terms here), but then you would have to keep putting it back together for your child.  I opted for the painful one-time hand-sewn method as opposed to the easy-to-insert zipper that creates constant requests to put the zipper back together.  If you get stuck on the zipper, I’m just sorry about it.  Google a zipper tutorial or call my mom.  She’s a zipper expert.

WARNING: If your son sees this, he’ll want one too.  For his teddy bear.  So will the neighborhood kids.  I’m just warning you.  Keep this one hidden.

Global Warming Wood Carrier Sewing Pattern

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For the first time in several years, we are using our fireplace for its intended purpose. I recently took out the pretty little candle display and turned it into a real wood-burning fireplace. We mostly did this to prepare for a possible power outage (that we thankfully did not get) with this week’s blizzard. But we were also ready to once again enjoy the warmth and atmosphere of a crackling wood fire. We have enjoyed it so much that I have considered moving my sewing machine into the living room. But that’s not quite so easy as grabbing the MacBook and plopping down in the rocker.

It has been so long since we burned real firewood, that I don’t have all the necessary arrangements for storing and carrying such elements. I quickly realized I would be vacuuming every single day if I didn’t do something about it. Bill asked me if I could whip out a carrier for the wood out of some black duck cloth and using an old car seat strap for the handle. While I was proud of his resourcefulness (he can do some serious business with a sewing machine), I did not feel inclined to sew anything with black canvas and seatbelts. So I set out on my journey to find a tutorial online for making a firewood carrier.

I found a great little tutorial from Noel Home, but read in the comments that it needed to contain something to catch the crumbs. I thought the dowel rods were a great idea, and if I had some on hand, I probably would have opted for that approach.  But since I didn’t, I designed one with just some simple handles and a crumb catcher.  I happened to have just purchased some adorable fabric with no project in mind, so I paired it with some burlap I have waiting to be fashioned into a valance for my kitchen.

I’m still trying to figure out the best way to share a tutorial/pattern on my blog without having to turn it into a pdf, and to make it as quick and painless as possible.  I’ve opted for a “gallery” for this one, and the “captions” are the instructions.  The pictures are only small generated thumbnails, and if you click them, you will get the whole image.

So here it is…the tutorial.

Global Warming Wood Carrier

Material

• 1 1/3 yards Burlap or indoor/outdoor fabric
• 1/2 yard coordinating fabric

Cutting Measurements

• 2 40″ x 22.5″ pieces of main fabric
• 2 4″ x 22.5″ pieces of coordinating fabric
• 2 15″ x 2.5″ strips of each fabric, cut with the grain
• 2 crumb catcher pieces of each fabric (download printable crumb catcher template here)

Notions and Tools I Use

Coordinating Thread, Scissors, Rotary Cutter and Mat, Transparent Ruler, Iron and Ironing Board, Seam-ripper, Straight Pins, Tape Measure, Fabric marking pen

Notes

This tutorial assumes a 1/2″ seam allowance, unless otherwise specified.  All seams should be back-stitched at beginning and end, and corners and curves should be cut.  While the carrier would look best top-stitched around the crumb catcher as well, I opted to leave this step out of my project, and therefore did not include it in these instructions.

Instructions

Reversible Crayon Pouch Tutorial

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Ever need a quick and easy hand-made gift? This one is perfect for a child who loves to color. Having two crayon fanatics in my household, I have made countless bags and pouches for crayons, always looking for the perfect take-along crayon organizer. I’ve made crayon pouches out of placemats (and even sold one), I’ve made crayon pouches that hook around seatbelts (big-time flop), and I’ve made cinch-able bags to just plain stash a handful of crayons in to throw in my purse. And do you know what? That’s the best one of them all!

We always stock up on crayons at Target during the Back-to-School madness. This year we bought a gazillion boxes for 20 cents each. Pair that with a dollar store coloring book and a handmade crayon pouch, and you have less than $2 in a gift with at least a $10 value. So this Christmas I have perfected my crayon pouch to actually hold a box of 24 crayons, box included, and I’ve made it reversible to give it even more of a flair. I’ve made three of them for some children in our extended family, and Hunter even ran the gas pedal for one of them. She loves to sew!

So without further ado, here is the tutorial.

Reversible Crayon Pouch

Materials

2 – 12.5″ x 5″ Rectangles of Fabric
2 – 14″ pieces of cord or ribbon, 1/4″ to 1/2″ wide

Notions and Tools I Use

Coordinating Thread, Scissors, Ruler, Iron, Seam-ripper, Fray-check or Flame for Heat-sealing ribbon ends

Notes

This tutorial assumes a 1/4″ seam allowance, unless otherwise specified, to cut down on the amount of tedious work throughout the project.  It leaves you with very little trimming to do.

Instructions

1. Fold long edges of the first rectangle over 1/4″ and edge stitch each fold at both ends for 2″.  (This just holds the fabric down in the channel where the ribbon will run through.)
2. Fold in half crosswise, right sides together.  Measure and mark 1.25″ from the top raw edge on each side.  Sew from the fold up to your mark using a 1/4″ seam allowance or less, and back-stitching at least twice at the marked end.
3. Pull the bottom corners out making triangles, and sew across them with a 1/2″ seam allowance.
4. Repeat Steps 1-3 for the second rectangle.
5. You now have two pouches.  After trimming off threads and the triangular seam allowance, turn one pouch right side out and insert into the other pouch, making sure you have right sides together.
6. Sew across the top of each of the two sides (front and back), sewing the pouches together.
7. This leaves you with two openings where the ribbon channels will be.  Turn the pouches right side out through one of these openings, and push the inner pouch down inside of the outer pouch and iron.
8. Using a 5/8″ seam allowance, sew across the top edges of the front and then the back, creating a channel for the ribbon.
9. Now it’s time to thread the ribbons through the channel.  Insert one ribbon into the front channel, then across through the back channel.  Insert the other ribbon in the opposite direction.  Tie the ends together in a single knot, and when you pull the knots, it will cinch the bag closed.
   
   
10. Seal the ends with either fray-check or by heat.  If using a flame to heat-seal, just hold the ribbon very near, but not in a flame, and as soon as you see the ends melt over, remove from heat.  This is a very quick and easy way to seal your ribbon ends.
11. Now–insert a box of crayons, and you’re ready to wrap it up!
    

You can change the dimensions on your fabric and make this pouch any size or shape.  It would make a really cute purse if it were made wider and given a larger bottom by using a larger seam allowance on the triangular seams, and long shoulder straps instead of shorter ribbon ties.  You can also fold the top over before cinching it closed to let your inside fabric show at the top.

Happy sewing!

WE Inspire Conference

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On March 30th, Main Street Web Development attended the first annual Women Entrepreneurs Inspire Conference in Oklahoma City.  With a goal of 400 attendees, the Oklahoma State University Riata Center for Entrepreneurship outdid themselves with an attendance of over 650 women entrepreneurs!  Talk about exciting!!  I’m here to tell you that the future of America was sitting all in one room that Tuesday.  I’ve been to lots of conferences in my various fields of study, and I’ve never been to a more motivating venue.

The conference was not full of hype and marketing hogwash that fills the typical marketing conference, however.  It was real women telling real stories of how they rose from average to extraordinary in their careers.  It was real women sitting around me living the true American dream of creating their own jobs and jobs for other people out of their sheer determination and persistence.

Listen to this line up of some of the main speakers:

• Shannon Carter, who launched Crayons to Computers, a free school supply store for teachers that is now found in 41 cities around the country
• Cordia Harrington, “The Bun Lady”, founder, CEO, and president of the Tennessee Bun Company, who supplies buns to national chains such as McDonald’s, Chili’s, and Pepperidge Farm.  She also founded several other hugely thriving companies.
• Maxine Clark, founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop® and winner of many, many prestigious awards
• Dian Stai, founder of Owen Healthcare, and perhaps my favorite speaker of all, for her bravery to take her company forward when all the odds were against her

Both of the breakout sessions I attended were led by Dr. Michael Morris, the N. Malone Mitchell Chair in Entrepreneurship at OSU and head of the new School of Entrepreneurship at OSU.  Dr. Morris taught sessions on “Guerilla Marketing: Radical Thinking is the Key” and “Types of Ventures and Types of Entrepreneurs: Knowing Where You are Going”.  Both of these sessions gave me valuable insight into my own goals and plans and how I can best go about accomplishing them.

Attending the WE Inspire conference gave me a new appreciation for networking.  I’ve always believed in networking–establishing relationships with people outside of my usual circles for our mutual benefit and future potential.  But I’ve never before realized so much potential in once place for women that I truly need to have in my life both now and in the future.  I met people like Emily Ginn, a virtual assistant, who I might need to call on for administrative work in the future; Amy Morgan, a corporate training consultant and fellow web designer, with whom I am discussing business processes with; Jami Cervantes, a health insurance representative, who gave me some very valuable advice about health insurance for small business owners; Shea Alexander, an artist, designer, and crafter who is starting her own business sewing handmade items.  And the list goes on.  When I signed up for the conference, I thought I was signing up for good conference speakers and a chance to market my product.  I had no idea I would walk away with relationships I intend to keep for the rest of my life.

My friends and fellow entrepreneurs Christa Murphy, Jenni McCadams, and Cara Perez joined me as I set up a table for the Networking Reception.  I seriously could not have done this without them.  We joked on the way there: “Main Street Web Development.  Have awning, will travel.” Bill designed and built an awning frame for the event, and I designed a pattern and sewed the canopy for it.  It was a marvelously fun project, and it really made the table look more look like a little storefront.  MSWD is not located on Main Street, but the clients we are aiming to reach are those small businesses that are typically located on Main Street in any Smalltown, U.S.A.  We want to give small businesses a chance to have great-looking websites in a price-range they can afford.  But I digress.  At our booth, we had the 24” iMac scrolling through our portfolio and theme gallery, and it garnered lots of attention from passersby, as did the FREE WEBSITE GIVEAWAY we offered for those who gave us their contact information.  Very few people turned down the opportunity to win a free website.  We even gave extra chances to win for those who did homework, like becoming a fan on Facebook, linking to our website, etc.

And that brings me to the original point of this article–the WINNER.  Join me in congratulating Mary Jane Maness, a Broker with Heartland Realty & Consulting, LLC.  Mary Jane is a delightful lady, and she does NOT have a website at all, so we are absolutely thrilled to give her the opportunity to get a free website for a whole year.  What a great way to start the spring!  Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest.

The WE Inspire Conference was a very profitable and enjoyable event, and we at Main Street Web Development look forward to next year’s event.  If you live in Oklahoma and aspire to be an entrepreneur, you definitely won’t want to miss it.

Monogrammed Dishcloths (M)

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One of my coworkers at Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital got me hooked on hand-knit dishcloths.  I used the ones she knit until they literally fell apart.  My mom has recently begun knitting cute little dishcloths with all sorts of patterns, and when she sent me a handful of them, I was instantly charmed.  And inspired.  They have the whole vintage thing going on but with absolute modern style and usefulness.

Over Christmas vacation, I borrowed some of my mom’s patterns to knit some dishcloths for myself, but being the eternal (and Southern) customizer that I am, I was aching for a dishrag with my own fancy monogram on it.  After a thorough online search, I found nothing but plain ole patterns for block letters.  Bleh!  So I searched through my font library and decided to “roll my own” pattern.  And here it is, for any of my knitting friends who happen to share the need for an M dishcloth.  This is my first ever knit pattern to write, but I’ve checked it thoroughly and knitted it through following the directions, so I’m very confident that it is correct.  Still…I make no guarantees.  Let me know if you knit it!

Monogrammed Dishcloth – M

Finished Size: 8” x 8”

Materials:
100% Cotton Medium/Worsted Weight Yarn: One ball.  (Actually, much less than one ball.)
Straight knitting needles, size 8

Gauge not necessary.

Pattern
Cast on 39 stitches.
Rows 1-7: Knit across
Row 8 and every even (wrong side) row through 54: Knit (K) 4, Purl (P) 31, K4
Rows 9, 11, 13, 15: Knit across
Row 17: K6 P4 Knit across
Row 19: K4 P2 K3 P2 K13 P7 K8
Row 21: K4 P2 K1 P1 K2 P2 K15 P1 K11
Row 23: K5 P2 K3 P2 K15 P1 K11
Row 25: K10 P2 K15 P1 K11
Row 27: K10 P2 K7 P1 K7 P1 K11
Row 29: K10 P2 K6 P3 K6 P1 K11
Row 31: K10 P2 K5 P1 K1 P3 K5 P1 K11
Row 33: K10 P2 K4 P1 K3 P3 K4 P1 K11
Row 35: K10 P2 K3 P1 K5 P3 K3 P1 K11
Row 37: K10 P2 K2 P1 K7 P3 K2 P1 K11
Row 39: K10 P2 K1 P1 K10 P2 K1 P1 K3 P3 K5
Row 41: K10 P3 K12 P3 K2 P2 K1 P2 K4
Row 43: K10 P2 K14 P2 K5 P1 K5
Row 45: K7 P8 K8 P10 K6
Rows 47, 49, 51, 53, 55-62: Knit across
Bind off all stitches in knit.

Swarovski Flip Flops

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Today I blinged my heart out.  Inspired by some VERY expensive flip flops, I decided to make my own.  I know, big surprise there.  Several days ago I searched online high and low to find out how, what, and where.  I ordered my fave brand of flip-flops–Nike–and a small assortment of Swarovski rhinestones.  Today’s rain kept the kids and their umbrellas and bikes busy enough to afford me some time to bling.  But as always…Altus hit me square in the face, right as I sat down with my supplies.

The tutorial I found online mentioned using Perfect Positioners to help pick up the rhinestones.  Using tweezers is like, not a possibility, since they would get covered in industrial-strength glue.  But I forGOT to order the positioners when I ordered the rhinestones last week.  Today I was making these flip flops come rain, sleet or hail, with or without the Perfect Positioners.  Of course I had checked Wally world earlier in the week, but they don’t carry them.  Another big surprise, right?  It’s just a cute little stick with a ball of wax on the end.  How hard could that be to make?  Well…it’s not!  Bill sat at the kitchen counter dipping some manicure sticks into my vanilla-scented candle until he had a nice big ball of wax on the end.  Perfect!  You touch the rhinestone, it picks it up, then you put it on the glue, and it lets go!  We outsmarted Altus this time.

Not so smart, however, was my failure to calculate the number of rhinestones I was using on the first flip flop, especially since I had a limited number and was a little short of the number recommended by the tutorial.  I ran about 40 crystals short, and went on a quick jaunt to Wal-mart, hoping…just HOPING…they would have one little pack of crystals.  No such luck.  So I’ll have to place another order online and wait for them to come in before I can actually finish these shoes.  But I don’t mind, because they are really, really sassy.

So my little entrepreneurial mind is thinking, “I should go into business!!” As if I have time for that.  But I could sell DIY kits…

So It’s Not an iPhone

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I am a total Apple fan. I made the Big Switch a couple of years ago when I qualified (for a very short period of time) for a massive education discount off of new Apple computers and Adobe Creative Suite 3. I had drooled over iMacs and Macbooks for months, and shortly after becoming a teacher, it hit me one day that I could actually maybe afford one with the discount. Long story short, I did. One of each, in fact, before my teaching contract ended. Holding the box itself to the first one was like love at first sight. Have you ever felt the packaging from Apple? Pure heaven.

So when the iPhone first came out, I immediately went online to reserve my own. Then they asked that dreaded question: my Zip code. Now I’ve never been one to get too hung up on Zip codes, but let me tell you. I got hung up on them that day. See, Altus only has one Zip code. I think it’s the only one Apple doesn’t know about. 3G service for all mankind? 4G even? Not here, folks. Out here in our neck of the woods, er, um, plains, we’re lucky to get cellular service at all. In fact, the very first time we drove through here, I was actually surprised to find a cell phone store on the corner of downtown. And if you’ve seen our coverage maps, you’d be surprised too.

While all the world has ranted and raved and synced and played and generally become addicted to the iPhone, us folks out here in no man’s land have been stuck beating our chests and using smoke signals. The time finally came that I needed to upgrade my cell phone, and despite my valiant attempts to fool the Apple Zip Code iPhone checker-outer system, I realized I would have to actually go down to that cellular store on the corner and pick out something they have to offer here in Altus. For a freelance web designer like myself to waltz into a cell phone store and walk out with anything but an iPhone is sheer humiliation. I could practically write an app for the iPhone, for gosh sakes.

For the past little while I’ve been accustomed to using a Blackberry, which was a hand-me-up from my little sis several years ago. It’s so ancient by now that I’ve actually been embarrassed to pull it out in public. Yes, I do have a vain streak. I figured I would just upgrade to a new Curve or Pearl or whatnot. And then I saw something curious. An iPhone-looking thing that you can touch and surf and qwerty-type and everything. It was practically glowing at me in the case. Now, I had to swallow my pride to even consider the {gasp!} LG version of a touch phone. But let’s face it. There’s no iPhone within miles of here. It’s either go for the gusto and enjoy the substandard toucheroo, or stick with the everybody’s-got-one Blackberry. I went with the LG Tritan, because once I started touching and swiping and typing, I couldn’t keep my hands off of it. It’s soooo…Appleish. Now that my brain has been doing Mac logic for the past couple of years, the Tritan seems to follow that same intuition, rather than the typical PC vibes I get from the Blackberry.

So it’s not an iPhone. And I’m not pretending that it is. Well, most of the time I’m not. Unless I’m in the doctor’s office and the drug reps might not realize that Altus doesn’t do iPhones. But when I’m out there surfing the net or catching up on my blog feeds, I’m painfully aware that my phone did not come from the Apple store. Yeah, it’s got a few 3rd party apps to purchase, but really. What’s the point?

I usually name my Mac hardware, because I like it in the sort of way that some people like their cats and dogs. If you own a Mac, you know what I mean. It’s like part of the family. I’ll refrain from sharing all of my Mac device names here, but as I held my new Tritan, I thought, this thing needs a name. I like it, and it needs a name. All my favorite electronic devices have names. But after I thought for a moment, I sort of felt like a traitor trying to name something that wasn’t Apple. Crazy, I know, but I did. I thought that. So I didn’t name it. It’s just my phone. Sometimes I think I’m funny when I call it my aPhone. You know, A for Altus? But that’s really not funny. I like my phone. I like to touch it. But it’s just a phone. A data phone, yes, that browses and emails and navigates, but it’s just a phone.

Howevah…this just-a-phone has the cutest dang cover anywhere!! I searched the internet far and wide for knitting patterns for iPhone cozies, and I couldn’t find what I wanted. So I made up my own. I made two, actually, and hated the first one, which was a sock. It was cool, and I learned a new knitting skill–magic cast on–, but I couldn’t use the phone in the sock, nor get it out in a hurry. The new and improved version is a SLIPPER instead–a hot pink slipper with a cute little black bow at the top. Now that’s one sexy aPhone. It sort of takes the sting out.

Me and My Sewing Machine

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When I first started sewing, oh, about 3 or 4 projects ago, my sewing machine and I had to get a few things worked out.  First of all, it’s actually Bill’s sewing machine.  It’s some foreign job called a Bernina.  He says it’s really high end and is “top-of-the-line”, but I wasn’t so sure at first.  It sure did have a way of matting up my threads.  In the beginning I spent a lot of time fussing at the thing, throwing my hands up, my project down, and hollering for Bill to come see what was wrong with it.  He always swore that that machine was in perfect condition and that there was no way it could mess my project up if I was doing it correctly.  I begged to differ.

Over time, I’ve finally gotten things smoothed out with Mr. Bernina, and we’ve come to understand each other a little better.  It took some give and take, but we’re finally sewing together smoothly.  Here are a few of the things I’ve agreed to do.

1. Use cheap thread from the fabric store.  The “high-end” stuff the Bernina store sells (an hour away) does not suit his taste.
2. Always put the foot down before pressing the pedal.
3. Make sure the bobbin has thread on it, spins clockwise, and “clicks” upon insertion.

Sheesh!  For what this thing cost, you’d think it could handle all that by itself and maybe brew a cup of coffee.  But no.  I have to baby him.  It’s just like having another child in the house.

Travel Crayon Pouches

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If someone asks me if I sew, I can’t really answer “yes”.  But I do, on occasion, do a random sewing project. The latest project to have taken over my kitchen is a bunch of travel crayon pouches.  When I happened upon one at a local boutique, I immediately knew I couldn’t make it another week without trying it out myself.  If I were not there to buy two birthday gifts, I probably would have just bought that one.  But there was only pink, and not a good “boy” one.  The rest is history.  Less than a week later, I have two of my own hand-crafted crayon pouches, with several more cut and/or halfway sewn together.

Of course this project had the same small-town-inflicted lack of materials as all of my other projects, but I made up for it with a side-trip to Tuesday Morning on our way to Duncan for a bed and breakfast getaway this week.  While there to get bed sheets, I found some cheap scrapbooking trims and ribbons that had a yard of the PERFECT green color of ric-rac to match the French toille leftover from Hunter’s baby bedding.  That’s the fabric I made her pouch from, and Will’s I made from scraps left over from his toddler diaper bag I made several years ago.  I knew I was saving these scraps for something good!  And I have a ton more left.

Bill helped me engineer the pattern, since he’s the real project brain of the two of us, and he helped me figure out how to fix my screw-up halfway through, just like every other project I undertake.  I’m tellin’ ya, if it weren’t for Bill, our house would be slap full of screwed up projects.  I just have the knack for them.  On the first one, I probably did as much seam-ripping as I did sewing, but it turned out so cute I don’t care.  It was well-worth the effort.  I used a little crayon apron my mom made for me when I was little to gauge the size of the crayon pockets.  I made them a good bit smaller than she did, because I don’t want the crayons to fall out if you dump it upside down.  (An apron has the benefit of gravity when it’s in use.) I gave it a good shake-test to make sure that when we’re on the plane in July I won’t be chasing crayons down the aisle.

The little travel pouches turned out so well, I’m thinking of making a bunch of them and putting them with coloring books for cute children’s birthday gifts.  It will solve the problem of never knowing what to get.  I’ve also got my eye on some oriental floral fabric for a knitting needle carrier, and I’m thinking up more possibilities for fabric-covered organizational tools.  I really enjoy sewing, as long as I don’t have to navigate some crazy pattern.  I’d rather create my own and mess it up a few times than have to spread out fifty billion pieces of marked up tissue paper, trying to figure out which part goes up.  Bill thinks I should make some of these little things and sell them.  I don’t know if I’ll find the time for that, but a year’s worth of hand-crafted birthday gifts already made would really suit my fancy.