Thursday, April 08, 2010

the small adventure continues

i finished my first "gift" project...a nursing cover for a friend i taught with last year who's having a baby boy in june. i am so excited to give my projects as gifts. i look through pattern books and people instantly come to mind when i see different ones. "ooh, so and so would love this!" it makes me excited to create things for other people. i already have a lot of gift ideas i want to try out! sorry, everyone, you're my guinea pigs!

here's the nursing cover i did. pretty simple for a beginning sewing project. i did make some changes to it, like cut the strap about half of what the tutorial said and make the straps thinner to fit the D-rings i had. these nursing covers are so handy and a fun thing to have in cute patterns! maybe i need one for each day of the week...


p.s. sorry the picture's sideways. i couldn't figure out how to turn it for some reason.

i'm a person who has to have quick projects and see instant results, so for right now i'm doing super easy projects i can whip out in no time. plus, it gives me a chance to really get comfortable with my machine. i'm always looking for ways to slowly change our house into a more "earth-friendly" place by reducing the amount of trash we have (diapers being the biggest!)and so i decided that after we finish the bag of paper napkins in the cupboard..it's all cloth. we have a very efficient washer/dryer and since there are only two of us eating meals here during the week, cloth would be perfect. plus, they're super easy to make and so cute! i made the best decision to go with all porcelain white dishes when we got married, so i can mix and match any pattern or color napkins i want to, depending on my mood. my sister is getting married in a few months, and i want to make her an entire set of matching napkins and placemats. seriously, the possibilities are endless.

on my way back from visiting a dear friend in the hospital and her gorgeous new baby girl (seriously beautiful), i stopped at a local sewing shop in downtown noblesville. oh, it was awesome. the whole front of the store is sewing and quilting, and the back is knitting and crocheting. i tried the crocheting thing...eh. they had so many cute fabrics that you can't find at your local JoAnn fabrics, and tons of modern patterns and notions. they also do one-on-one sewing classes and contests and all sorts of things. while i was browsing (i had to buy something), they were doing an easter egg hunt around the store for the holiday. i found a pink egg hiding in the buttons and won...get ready...a spool of thread. haha. now, being a new sewer i was like..um, cool? but apparently it was really good thread. hey, it's free..i'm all for it. i got two yards of fabric, one to make a crib sheet for isaac and one for another nursing cover for me. i was selfish. the fabric was too cute to give away. i also found an easy pattern for really cute overalls for baby boys with giant pockets and bulky cuffs around the ankles as well as boning and D-rings for the nursing covers i was making. i plan on maybe stopping in for some of their classes and really trying to start this quilting thing. my mom has made all of us girls quilts for college, and they are the most special things ever.

speaking of my mother, i can't help but think of her every time i sit down at my sewing machine.or every time i hang the tape measure over my shoulders. or every time i cut thread. it's incredible how much i really am like her. i remember how she looked and moved at her sewing machine, and i do the same things. it's pretty cool. love you, mom:) your creative abilities will live on one way or another!

3 comments:

  1. I think that every time I sew!!! I am my mother's clone! My sister's are totally their own person, but not me. Most of my projects, I got from her.

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  2. So cool! I love the nursing cover, what a special gift!

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  3. Love you too Court! You also have to thank your Grandma Smith and Great-grandmother Smith, they taught me a lot about sewing. One summer Grandma challenged me to make an outfit a week before school started in the fall. That was definitely my most productive summer at the sewing machine.

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