Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Coin purses

picnikfile_qVXaJO by ey_re
picnikfile_qVXaJO, a photo by ey_re on Flickr.

Making little coin purses... after a verbal tutorial from a nice lady at a local quilt shop!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Iphone makes blogging easier.

While I did not love blogging from my iPhone, I do turn out a lot more pictures thanks to the phone!!

Anyway, during my in bed blogging post, I promised a link to the little mug rug tutorial I was using, and it was from Sew Mama Sew. It's a pretty nice little tutorial, and my little mug rug is coming along nicely. Mug rugs are great practice pieces, and are a much more manageable size.

Also, I have to tell you that I bought some fusible fleece batting. Sometimes, I do worry about my intelligence level, or at least common sense. I wish I would have taken photos of the disaster. I didn't read directions.

I placed my hot hot iron down flat onto the fabric with the fleece showing around the edges and it was smoking and smelly, and got stuck to my iron. So, in my frustration, I just flipped the piece over, then, and stuck my iron straight to the fusible fleece batting. It scorched it. Quickly!

I failed to read the whole - always place a damp cloth over your piece - part of the directions..........
Like I said, I wonder at times. How is it I learned to knit safely?

My two year old loves Goodnight Moon. Our book is falling apart. At night, we tell EVERYTHING goodnight, including the cow jumping over the moon. When I found Goodnight Moon fabric, I couldn't resist it. I had to buy it - although I'm afraid to cut it. It's too cute.




Also, thought I would share a few little views of my little sewing area. It's very humble, but it's my spot.





Totally random, but I bought these children's books in Beijing 10 years ago. I like them. Wish I could read them to my son.



A little kitty love:



Monday, December 19, 2011

Blogging from bed

Yes, I'm blogging from my bed on my iPhone. It's Monday, and I'm already exhausted.
I spent the better part of last week sick (very very sick). Then, when I felt better Sunday - I went in a run.... I made tins upon tins of peanut butter fudge, peanut butter balls, and peppermint bark. I also started a little mug rug tutorial that I got off Sew Mama Sew. I'll link to it when I'm not on the iPhone. But here is a peek:

I have more to say but iPhone blogging isn't easy. I have tales of fusible fleece disaster and our new laundry room re-do!!!!!! So - I'll blog again soon!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Sewing

I have been working hard with my sewing machine.

I am learning a lot from many great online tutorials and helpful blogs, but still have much to learn. Things I have learned that people don't always tell you...

1. Don't watch the needle. Watch your material and where you are guiding it. You'd be surprised how long this took me to learn! My stitches are much much straighter now.
2. Change your sewing machine needle - frequently.
3. Using your iron that same amount of time you use your machine, or even more, makes the project look so much better. Press, press, press. (Well, I think people do say that a lot, but it just gets ignored because you don't really want to use your iron. But you better learn to love it.)

Oddly enough, I am really taken with zippers, and I want to be able to do those well. So, I ordered a bunch of zippers.



Great etsy shop for zippers

I am getting to the point where I feel like I know my machine well enough to venture out and take a class. I really want to get to a place where I can have my Etsy shop full of items. :D

Other things I've done is a few ornaments. I love felt. Here's my sweet little owl.

Owl_Ornament

In the midst of learning to sew well, I was thinking about how helpful tutorials are. I am feeling inspired to do a few tutorials on here with knitting...... maybe soon!

Tuesday, December 06, 2011