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Well, I’m officially in Big Trouble. My youngest daughter, M, has been witness to the excitement and enthusiasm surrounding N’s debut into the World of Sewing, and naturally, she will not be left behind.
So I dutifully drug myself to the nearest Hobby Lobby and purchased her a $15 Kids’ Singer (hot pink, of course) and some sale bin fabric. She has announced to me her list of project goals and is more excited about learning to sew than eating or sleeping. I’ll sneak some photos at least of the cute little machine (and my ever-expanding stack of sale fabric) tomorrow and get them online for ya. But Big Trouble, with both girls wanting to sew now.
Speaking of Trouble, the cute little LYS where the Yarn That Has Stolen My Heart is having a party/sale evening tomorrow and I’m being lured in that direction. Don’t buy the yarn. Don’t buy the yarn. Don’t buy the yarn. (I’ll have to let you know how this works out…) Details about the object of my obession are here.
And then there’s Little Bit of Trouble: M has the role of a cute little ornery lion cub in an upcoming children’s play in our area. (Can you say typecasting?!) And–Surprise! Parents are responsible for the costumes. Mom to the rescue (not ME, silly…MY MOM, the costume-maker and woman-who-can-create-anything, to the rescue!). So the little trouble, is really trouble for which I have a partner in crime–team lion cub creators.
I am also knitting monkey tails for the same play. Really. Monkey tails. But seriously, once you learn to make an I-cord, you can’t really call making eight brown ones while destashing some of your old yarn trouble, can you?!
SO–I promise soon to post photos of:
1. M’s new sewing machine, hopefully with her in action
2. N’s latest sewing adventures
3. The lion cub costume WIP
4. The monkey tails
5. Hopefully nothing from the yarn store–but if I break down, I’ll confess to it all here. Seriously–I’m just going for a visit.
I’m trying (trying, mind you) to figure out the wild and wonderful world of Ravelry. What an amazing resource this is! Up until today, I’ve also never used Flickr, so this has been a technological adventure to say the least.
I do have some photos on of my projects with lots more knitting detail up on Ravelry now, for the hard-core knitters that might peek at this blog.
If you’re a Ravelry junkie, I would love feedback (especially if as a newbie I’ve breached any knitting, blogging or Ravelry etiquette unbeknownst to me!).
Thanks for all the encouragement as I jump into this incredible world of crafting! Your comments and emails have really been appreciated!
🙂
All it took is One Day of my Sewing Greatness, and N drug out her little old fashioned chain-stitch kids’ Singer machine. The excitement was palpable:
“Will you teach me now, Mom? Will you teach me now, Mom? Will you teach me now, Mom? How about now, Mom?”
“N, honey, it’s bedtime.” “It’s too early. I haven’t even brushed my teeth.” “I’m making dinner.” “We’re getting ready to walk out the door.”
Undaunted and (amazingly, still) smiling, she approached The Meanest Mom in the World again today, machine in hand. Finally, the result she was waiting for, “Sure.”
She got to know her machine by sewing stitches into rags.
N's First Sewing Lesson
And sewing, and sewing, and sewing:
A Proverbs 31 Woman in Training
Then I cut her loose and she was on her own. Left unchecked by my creatively-challenged self, she knew no bounds. She made herself an emboidered vest.
N's Vest
Of course she’s at her first day on the job, but really, how many of us grown-ups would have tried free-hand embroidery on our first day with a sewing machine? You go, girl!
The B
Ok, yes, this started out as a T-Shirt rag and first was envisioned as a vest for our dog, Belle. (Which explains the bold letter “B” on the back.) Belle was none-too-pleased with her new wardrobe, so N decided to keep her first creation for herself. I told her the B should stand for Bold and Brave (thinking to myself that I never would have dared to create something with just a rag, some thread, a machine, and an idea).
Her new career as a designer in full swing, N kept creating…
Behold, our cat, Cuddles, modeling her new vest (note the “C” emblazoned on the back):
Cuddles in her new vest
Today at our house, we discovered that kids are amazingly creative and bold when adults can keep their instruction-reading, pattern-addicted, perfectionist-laden hands and minds at a safe distance.
We also discovered that cats have more patience than dogs.
Good Kitty.
It’s definitely love.
Must Be Love
Well, maybe not all cats.
Pearl struggles to escape N's grip and her new outfit.
On that note: I hear the sewing machine running at the other end of the house. Shhh….designer at work. 🙂
Yes, I know the Ravelympics have been over for awhile now, but since I’m a long-run kind of gal, I kept going with some of my unfinished projects. (Well, actually, I kept going because of M’s sad puppy eyes and little hints–Aren’t you going to finish my skirt, Mommy?)
Here is the Finished Object, M’s cute little pink skirt:
Skirt Front
Back of Skirt
Incidentally, ignore the dates on these pics. It should not surprise any followers of this blog that I’m having frustrating camera issues, but at least they are uploading, so I’m not offically complaining about it.
Here’s the skirt detail:
The skirt is from a pattern called Skirtsicle, which I found on Ravelry. I’m really glad I sprung for the $4 and purchased the pattern, both because M found it herself and was squeaking with delight about it and also because it was easy-peasy to knit and worked up so fast.
I actually had planned to use a different colorway, but I had this stash yarn and since M is a pink girl, I thought this would be a great way to practice without Investing in More Yarn, a forbidden practice in our home. (See also: You have enough yarn! What do you need more yarn for? How are you ever going to use all this yarn?!)
Anyway, since this turned out so well, I may be acquiring some contraband cotton to make a petite little Christmas present…
I say, who cares if I didn’t get it done (or started) before the Olympics were over! M loves it so much that she’s worn it three days in a row. That sounds like an Olympic event in and of itself. Come to think of it, so does having to pry the skirtcicle off of her to wash it!
At last my photographs are up and running again. As promised in my earlier post, here is M’s very very pink market bag!
As I said, very very pink.
The sisterhood of the traveling market bags? (Yes, I know, lame. But the bags are cute!)
Big enough for a (big) buddy or two:
These bags go everywhere with us. And obviously, they stretch to fit the task at hand!
Another confession. Up until very recently, I had a secret fear. A fear of…
my sewing machine.
Years ago, I purchased it with the great intentions of learning to sew along with my older daughter N. We were excited and delighted until taking it out of the box. The thing looked like a mechanical monster. Oh heck no. Back into the box it went. Tucked deep into a little-used closet. No sewing for me. Nope. No way.
Over the years I met many great gals who loved to sew. No fear with these ladies. I occasionally would suggest that I take a lesson or two from them, but heaved a secret sigh of relief when we became too busy to get it done.
Fast forward. Labor Day 2008. My friend Kari, bless her widdle heart, tells me to stop being a wimp, grab the machine and get to her house. (She was a bit nicer than that, but you get the picture.) Faced with no other options or distractions, off we went. Machine and Me.
After figuring out the bobbin winding business and the threading thingy (Did you know all kinds of crazy things happen when you miss just one of those pesky threading steps? Of course you did.), I finally started sewing. Here’s the proof:
WOO HOO!!!
After discovering that I indeed could sew something that looked like a seam without driving the needle through my fingers or somehow breaking the machine, I felt SO ACCOMPLISHED!
But Kari wasn’t done yet. She had some extra material and helped me make this bag:
Could it be any cuter? I think not.
It’s even reversible! I’ll post a picture of it inside-outsy after I teach N to sew the big pink buttons on it. I’ll betcha Kari would even share her pattern with us if you want it!
Who knew I had it in me? 🙂
What the Craft?! 