Random Snapshots

wishing I had time for...

...photo editing:  I have many photos to share that have accumulated over the past 3 months.  Editing takes time.  Time that I do not have right now!  So for now I'll share my daily mugshot of the day taken on my iPhone. (Disregard the fact that my makeup looks so dark in relation to my neck.  I think that's an optical illusion -- I hope!?  In addition, I should really learn to love lipstick - geez, you learn a lot by taking selfies all the time.)

You can view more of these here if you're so inclined -- Daily Mugshow.

...learning to sew:  I should have learned to sew before I moved away from a family full of seamstresses!  But, now I'm left to learn on my own.  With You Tube and the amount of instructional books out there I think I should be able to learn some stuff!  I would like to make a few skirts for summer and I hear that is pretty easy.  Advancing to dresses would really be the thing I'm most interested in.  I love a dress that fits well!  I can sew the basic stuff -- pillowcases, napkins, simple bags and I even made curtains.  I need to bone up on the basic rules and terminology more.  I've heard great reviews on these three books -- any other recommendations?

...learning to stitch: I've done embroidery here and there.  (I think I can say that about almost every craft out there!  Thanks Mom for allowing me to grow up in a crafty home!) Mostly when I was younger and I never really advanced beyond the basic stitches.  It's coming back into style though as a modern craft much like knitting and sewing.  More variety of patterns are available too.  When I have some time to set aside I'm going to start with this kit.  Click the picture to take you to the kit's link.  Sublime Stiching has some VERY cool patterns that I can't wait to try!!

Other things I'd like to have more time for right now -- finishing up some knitting UFOs (I have enough to last for a while!), knitting socks and sweaters, cleaning my house (haha!), running, Pilates and reading.  Not too much to ask, right!?

7 weeks and 3 days until I'm done with school.  Not that I'm counting.  :)

That means that there are only 6 weeks and 4 days until Sock Summit 2009 -- more on that later.  

Happy Friday!

Sewing goodness...

I forgot to mention that I signed up for NaBloPoMo for November which means I am trying to make 1 post each day in November.  Well, I already blew it yesterday (HA!), but I'm here again today and maybe I'll finish off the month.  I'm going home for a week for Thanksgiving which will make it difficult, but in the same respect it will give me a lot of blog content - hmmm...

Last month I sewed up a tote for my cousin Denise's birthday (which sadly was in September - it's the thought that counts!).  I made it from a pattern in Bend the Rules Sewing and used Heather Baily Freshprint fabrics.  I'm not a master sewer or anything, but I think it turned out nice and I love the fabrics together.

It was definitely a learning experience with the pleats - they were easier than I thought they'd be when all was said and done.  The only major problem I ran into was accidentaly sewing the handles on the inside!  HAHA.  I turned it inside out and the handles disappeared.  Of course I stayed up half the night getting those things right because I just can't leave things until tomorrow.  :) 

I hope Denise is getting a lot of use out of it and toting around some good knitting projects.  :)

 

Hello Monday

Hello to Monday. 

As usual I wasn't ready for the weekend to end last night and certainly still wasn't ready this morning!  I did have a nice weekend though for the most part. 

We had a friend over on Friday night just to hang out.  Talking, wine, beer, laughing, etc.  It was fun.  And the wine helped me sleep straight through the night which was much-needed.

Saturday morning I woke up sick.  I've been having issues with sinus congestion and headaches lately.  Actually I have problems with that stuff pretty much all year round, but last week it was worse than normal.  It's ok though because it gave me the perfect excuse to nap and watch TV in bed for a good part of the afternoon.  Even Adam came up and napped - he NEVER naps. 

I spent Sunday doing a lot of homework which puts me a little ahead for the week.  You can't beat that!  We also scored a great deal on a futon for the spare room so that my Mom doesn't have to sleep on an air mattress during her October visit.  :)  She'll be here for a week and air mattresses get pretty old after the first few days.  I'm in the process of converting my closet to my workspace for paper crafting with a unit from the Container Store.  More on that later.  I also got some good knitting time in on Sunday. 

Last weekend I was finally able to sit down and spend a little time sewing.  A month ago I bought a new sewing book with really cute, basic, easy patterns and I've been dying to try something ever since.  On Saturday we ended up near Joann's so after a few minutes of picking out fabrics I came home with this:

A few yards of fabric, some scissors and a cutting mat.  I was really happy to get the scisscors for 40% since I didn't have a nice pair of "fabric-only" scissors.  The mat was on sale as well and it makes it a lot easier to cut.  My previous method was cutting on the floor and using a tape measure to measure.  HA - I know...that's pretty ghetto.  I am sure my Mom and my Aunt (master sewers!) are reading this and shaking their heads.  :)

After a few hours of cutting and sewing I ended up with a cute purse:

It's full of uneven, crooked stitching and mistakes, but I like it and I learned something.  I've used it a couple of times already and my only complaint is that it's not stiff enough.  I wish I would have put some type of stiff fabric in between the outside and the lining.  Maybe interfacing - I'm not sure.  The good news is that it only takes a small amount of fabric and time so I'll probably make a few more in the future. 

And the book, if you're interested, is :: Bend the rules sewing by Amy Karol

I really like every single pattern from the book.  They're all do-able in my opinion too...even if you're not a seamstress...and I'm not.  I'm going to make the cute little stuffed turtle toys next.  And maybe when my Mom comes in October I'll be ready to put her to work giving me an advanced sewing lesson.  :)

That's it for today - until next time...have a great week!