Sew Obsessed....

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was given an amazing sewing machine for my birthday. I have always enjoyed being crafty and creative but never excelled at anything in particular. I like to think I got a tiny, tiny drop of the creativity/artsy gene from my grandmother who is an extremely talented artist. I can't really draw or paint very well. I am a perfectionist, so I get frustrated easily when things don't work out EXACTLY how I envisioned them. I have truly enjoyed learning more about my camera and taking the time to explore that side of creativity. Sewing has just lighted a little spark in me that I didn't know I had. I love it. I love that I can pick out just a big block of fabric and turn it into something else. I have truly become obsessed. I put my pictures up in the last blog of the Minnie Mouse dresses I made.

Happy Birthday to Avery, who debuted one of these dresses this weekend as she turned 2!!

With matching diaper cover.

2 dresses for 2 cute girls! 

I sent those out last week and I anxiously waited for them to make their arrivals. I received 2 phone calls last week, one each from the recipients. I picked up hoping to hear the same level of excitement that I felt as I packed them up and sent them on their way. I was rewarded. Both ladies were so excited about what they had received. My heart swelled a little. I told them both how much I had just LOVED being able to create something for each of their daughters. I told them all about the way the diaper cover came together. How I was in a fit of laughter when I first cut the fabric for a size 12 month diaper cover and after sewing one seamed looked down to realize the pieces were as big as a pair of my own underwear. How at 10:30pm, when I finished the last seam on the diaper cover and looked down I realized I had in fact made a pair of little girls bikini cut undies-too small on the sides to full cover a diaper, Tom shaking his head wondering what I was doing. A few quick corrections the next day and the problem was solved.

 I laughed a little at my mom and her speedy work with my machine when she was visiting. She in turn probably laughed at how slow and meticulous I was at the machine. Jack now comes running when he hears me revving up my machine and quickly taking over a seam. He loves to have a roll in what I am making. He is a self appointed "pin holder." He likes to take the pins from me as I work and place them on the magnetic pin holder I have. Will loves playing at my feet, picking up the scraps and putting them in trucks or cars and pushing them around, trying to step on the pedal with his own little foot. His little chubby hands grabbing the edge of the table so he can pull those big round eyes up and over the edge to see what is making all the noise. I have been a sewing maniac lately. One part I love, like with the diaper cover, the first one took me 2 hours to make and the second took only 30 minutes at most. I knew what to do, what to change and it came so easily. I took on a new challenge this past week. I put the dress making on hold and tried something new. I bought some duck canvas and made a "diaper wallet."




 It is a little pouch that holds a travel wipes case and 2 diapers. I needed something for my gym bag that kept the diapers together and that I could use to tell me when I needed to add more, at a quick glance. I found a tutorial for one online and set to work to make it. It came out great! So I made four more and sent them to some of my girl friends with new babies and old babies and kids ;).




 The part I am not that great at is figuring out how much fabric I need for when I go to the store. For the diaper wallet, I forgot my piece of paper at home that told me how much I needed and I overestimated/guessed when I got to the Hobby Lobby. Needless to say, I had oodles of fabric left over. Enough, in fact, to make the total 5 diaper wallets and still have oodles left over. During an unusually long nap from Mr. Will the other day, I decided to try to put the remaining fabric to use and make a cover for one of my throw pillows. I modeled it after a typical bed sham with an over-under kind of flap. It came out great-exactly how I had envisioned and I was so proud of myself for going outside the box, coming up with the pattern on my own and figuring out how to execute it well. Later that night, I wiped another one up in about 20 minutes. My mom is probably so sick of getting text messages with pictures of my newest creation.Tom is probably getting pretty sick of THIS fabric!

 The colors match our bright red couch perfectly and give a new fresh look to the living room. A nice pop of color and floral for spring! 

I have started on a new project-but it is a big surprise. I will post pictures about it once I have put all the finishing touches together. I really am loving all the different things that I can make. I have started putting together some ideas for the look of a label. I am hoping to have some made, not necessarily because I want to sell anything I make, but just so that I can put my little stamp on the creations I do come up with. There are a bunch of great people on Etsy that will create the labels, so I am hoping to get my graphic design skills (which are none) together so I can come up with a cute logo.

On a family note, we have been having some amazing weather here. Last week was in the 90's almost everyday. Jack is slowly getting some serious tan lines!! We broke out the kiddie pool and play mat and did a lot of splishing and splashing. Jack and I had a water fight today with these sponge balls. He was laughing and squealing with delight. Some of my very favorite sounds. The AC has been blasting to keep us cool when we come in, but we try to get out each night for a walk through the neighborhood. We have gotten into a routine, and boy does our Jack like routine. No step can be missed.

Blanket in the wagon (soft and fluffy side UP, even though it is 85 degrees out).
Jammies ON.
Will and Jack face one another each with a drink of water and a small bowl with a treat in it (either Nilla wafers or teddy grahams).
Jack rides for the first half and walks runs for the second half.
It is a perfect end to the day.

Jack has had some really funny stuff come out of his mouth lately too....stuff I say-I HAVE TO WRITE DOWN. Here is what I can remember:

Jack: "Mom, are you wearing your bossy pants?"

Jack: "Mom, you are the do-er and Daddy is the watcher"-couldn't have said it better myself. HAHAHA

Jack: "Why don't you just start getting my milk ready, while my lunch is cooking."

and now my mind has gone blank......

Hope you got a little chuckle out of that...he is quite the character!!


Have a great week!