So I finished my first handmade purse for DD this past weekend.  It took a bit longer than it should have, but still it was pretty much a weekend project and I am quite certain that the next one will go even faster.

I picked up the latest edition of Quilts and More to feed my latest passion and one of the first projects listed was this adorable purse.  I checked with DD to make sure she would even want one, and she assured me that any purse would be fine with her, but one in her favorite colors would be most appreciated.

I had so much fun picking out the fabric, ric-rac and webbing for the shoulder strap that I was in JoAnn’s for hours.  In the end I probably spent about $15 on this, but I have enough fabric, webbing and thread left over to make several more purses.  I will have to use different decorations, but then that is half the fun anyway.

My next purse project will be a bit bigger and will have a matching fabric strap.  If I had made a fabric strap on this purse I could have also saved money.  I also could have used some leftover fabric and saved more, or even used some old clothes and saved more. . .the options are endless. . .

Since getting my little sewing machine a couple of months ago I have been completely addicted to sewing!  I have been searching patterns and fabric until my eyes have gone buggy, and I have even managed to finish a few more projects around the house that I am quite excited about as well.  I am getting my pictures and links together so I can show you what I have been working on, but I am so easily distracted now it is hardly funny.

I have been jumping all around the internet the past two days playing this fun little game and in the meantime I have been introduced to a number of quilt shops that I plan to visit regularly and found a whole other world of things I can do with my sewing machine.  I think I owe my dad a quilt from way back when, he may finally get paid back!  Check this little contest out and definitely check out some of these fabric/quilt shops.  Who knew this would all be so much fun?!

I have been on vacation, here is what I got to see:

I think that Colorado has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Between the vallies, the mountains and the rock I just can’t imagine more beauty in one place.  We got to go rock climbing and look out over the mountains and I am just so amazed!

I also got to spend time with some amazing people, here they are:

I just love this group of people!

I love my new sewing machine.  My projects have a LOOONNNGGG way to go before they are a thing of beauty, but I sure am having fun decorating and planning outfits to sew.

My latest project was to recover a piano bench cushion that my mother-in-law made a long time ago to match her decor.  My pad is not nearly as neat and crisp as hers was, but then again, it is better looking than I expected and now matches my own curtains.  You will also see in this little picture a view of my new little sewing machine. . .oh what a joy it is!

I finished my first outfit!  Ok, so I couldn’t possibly wear it out in public, that is ok, I finished my first hand sewn outfit and I really like it.  I hope that next year I will look back and laugh at my silly attempts because I will have graduated to more challenging projects, but for now I am quite happy to have simply finished something other than curtains.

I used the Butterick B3314 pattern (on sale today no less) and found it pretty easy to follow.   Although I will admit to having quite a bit of trouble with the shorts, until I looked around online and found this helpful little tutorial.  I just couldn’t see quite how to attach those legs and do the crotch seam.  But once I navigated that hurdle, the shorts were quite easy to finish.

The shirt, well, I took one of my favorite shirts, added about an inch, and traced around it.  I then sewed it up, without pinning it.  Yes, my greatest challenge in sewing will be taking the time to pin and measure and do things right.  So naturally, my stitches were a bit crooked and I had trouble in a few spots with my thread, so I added the ribbon that you see around the arms and neck…and walla…problem solved.  I do like this sewing thing!

Only one remaining question.  I will have to ask around and see how other people address the cutting of the paper though, because now that I have cut the pattern for shorts, I can no longer use it to make pants unless I tape the paper back together.  I guess I can do that, but knowing me, I will never end up with a straight leg again and will no doubt end up with very strange looking pajama long pants.

Ok, I am posting this to push myself to actually work on this project tonight.

As a reward for a very difficult week I

went out last night and purchased the materials for new PJs.  Below is a picture of the soon to be jammies. . .I hope to post a finished product tomorrow or Monday.  They are a birthday present to myself, and I am quickly running out of time!

I finally took the plunge and bought a sewing machine.  I hemmed and hawed about it a bit because I just wasn’t SURE I would use it.  I was gathering patters, and material for projects, but I was so afraid that I would buy it and then I would find out I don’t like to sew and would just let it sit and collect dust.  But I decided last Friday that three months of wanting qualified as  thinking it over enough and so I went to Target and got the little Singer Esteem II.

I have to admit that I had to call in a friend who sews to help me figure out how to get the bottom thread to come up and meet my needle, but once I got that figured out, I was ready to sew, but where to start?  I decided that the material I had begged my mother to cut up for me while she was here 3 months ago was as good a place as any to start, and here they are!

Not perfect, I know, but really not too terrible either.   My original plan had been to just put a simple once inch seam all the way around and hang them clip hooks, but my DH didn’t think that looked very good and is pretty partial to these ones that stick up on top.  Lucky for him I was feeling up to the challenge and so while he was the engineer, I was the worker.  We make a pretty good team, right?!

I think my next project will be a simple full length apron, since I have looking at thos too for about a year now.  Or maybe it will be a new summer shirt for myself.  I offered to make something for DD, but she informed me that she will NOT be wearing any homemade items because they all look so “cheesy.”  I can’t wait to use one of my new patterns and some fun fabric to prove her wrong.  Or maybe I will prove her right and love my unique design anyway.  Either way, I can’t do worse than the crap they are peddling in the stores now days.  One wash and most of that stuff is useless.  I am quite anxious to try my hand at making something more unique and lasting.  I did alright with my curtains, maybe I will fashion something out of curtains next.  Watch out Julie Andrews!

I got an update from one of my favorite sites, requesting entries into The Terrific Transformations Contest and I thought, well, I may as well enter since I have been wanting to blog about this for a while now anyway.   I have been working on many transformations in my life, as I am really trying to better myself and start living a bit more.  As I think about transformations, my most important one, the one that got me started on determining who I am and how I am going to live my life was my transformation into a biker babe.

I have been riding motorcycles with my husband for about 8 years, but I always used to be just a little scared of getting on the bike.  Then one day I started thinking that I needed to face that fear head on and asked my husband to teach me to ride.  Luckly, he is a good sport and he did take me to the parking lot and with much patience taught me to ride.  I was still scared though and while I got my permit, I still wasn’t confident enough to go get my license.

A year later a friend challenged me to really face my fear and just get on with it.  I decided that it was time, and I signed up for classes and went and got my license.  And while I did really well in the class and did get my license, I was still pretty intimidated by my bike.  It took another year, daily riding, and the realization that some of the toughest things in life to do are more worthwile than words can say.  I now ride daily, and I can’t imagine my life without my motorcycle.  It is a huge part of who I am, and I can’t stop smiling once I get on, because I did it!  I faced down a big fear, and found that those things in life that are hard, are the best!

How about you?  What fear have you faced, conquered and then embraced?

Hee hee, this is my mom and her siblings singing to their youngest sister on the celebration of her 50th birthday!  They harmonize pretty darn well, dont they?!  What a weekend we had!

I’ll admit it, I am addicted to aprons now. I LOVE them. I like looking at them, shopping for them, and even creating easy ones myself. Since sewing my own a few weeks back, I can’t look at a bandana anymore without seeing it stitched up as an adorable apron. I wonder if this is a sickness, and from where did I catch it?

Over at Grosgrain they are giving away an apron! It is one from the Boojiboo etsy shop, and WOW does she ever have some fantanstic aprons for sale!  I like hers almost as much as I LOVE the pattern on the Pretty Ditty Apron site.  So many aprons. . .so little time!