How I began sewing

It was my spring break. I was a Junior in college and the small town I was in didn't have a whole lot of shopping choices. I was looking for a dress that would be fun, but a bit old fashioned looking. I didn't really have an occasion I needed it for, I just felt like looking pretty. I go through that once in a while. It's a girl thing.

After visiting the few stores in town and not finding quite what I was looking for, I thought "If only I could just make what I want." Mostly out of curiousity, I stopped by the local fabric store to see what would be involved.

I looked through the patterns and found one that looked about right. (Butterick 3022) It also said "easy" on it, which was reassuring. I found some fabric I liked- I think it was meant to make Hawaiian shirts with. The lady who worked there had been eyeing me with interest, and I told her what I was up to. She fixed me up with thread and a zipper and looked at me like I was nuts when I said I didn't have a sewing machine and was planning on doing it all by hand.

My roommate got home that evening to find me with pattern pieces cut up and spread out over our living room floor. It took a few days, but I got everything cut and sewn together. The written directions were hard to understand because they used technical sewing terms I didn't have any experience with (I still don't use the directions) so I mainly looked at the pictures. I had to take the pieces apart a few times because I put them together the wrong way. I had no idea how to hem or finish edges, so I made up my own ways. And I adjusted the fit a bit, but all in all I was surprised how nicely it turned out.

This was years ago, but I still have that dress. I've restiched some seams now that I have a machine, just so the thing doesn't fall apart in public. I'm using the pattern to make a new dress this week.

Everyone should try making their own clothes sometime. If I can figure it out, anyone can.

Baby Quilt

There's something I really like about chopping up fabric into lots of little pieces and sewing them together again into something pretty. I made quilts for my babies when they were born, and they sleep with them and drag them out of their beds to watch TV and snuggle with.

This is my most recent quilt. I made it for a friend having a baby girl. Her nursery colors are pink and teal, so I made this to match.

The pattern is a Double Irish Chain. I saw a picture of one in a book a while ago and copied it. I like it because it's all square pieces- triangles are tricky. It's a good one to assembly-line together on the sewing machine.

I'm not great at the actual "quilting" part, I like the "piecing" part better. To hold the layers together, I just make little stitches every block or so. So maybe this would more accutately be called a blanket that I pieced together. Whatever you call it, it was fun to make and it's a lot better than my earlier attempts.

I love that you can buy blanket binding- I made my own the first few times. What a pain! Anyway, here it is. You can click on the picture for a closer view of all the flaws.

I think this is funny, but maybe it's the kind of humor you only get from Catholic School.

Is it spring yet?

Aah, memories. My fuscias were so pretty last summer. Now they're just skeletons. I'm not posting current pictures of my dead looking gardens because that's just embarassing.

My least favorite time of year is right now- when everything looks dead. My normally immaculate (in the summer, at least) lawn was soggy and covered in moss, until my husband put moss killer on it. So now it's basically mud with a bit of green once in a while. My garden is barren. Anything I haven't cut back is dead looking. Even the winter plants are looking pretty scraggly and sad. That's just how it is at the end of winter in Western Washington. I don't have "seasonal depression" like some people around here get from lack of life and sunshine. But I am looking forward to spring and everything coming alive and green again.

So I was at the store today and passed a rack of summer bulbs. I was drawn to it and the pretty flower pictures. I ended up going a bit crazy in the garden section, buying bulbs, seeds, and plants- primroses, azaelas and winter heather with flowers on it! Now I have a lot of work to do to get it all in the ground.

Welcome Fellow 10's!

Thanks for coming by. It's good to have you here. It's fun to know that there are so many other people who enjoy TBTL as much as me. It makes me feel like I'm part of a little club, without ever leaving my house. (I don't get out very often.)

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you should go here. And then listen to the show. It keeps me entertained when my babies are in bed and my husband is at work. There's nothing good on TV anymore. And after a long hard day of doing nothing, it's good to sit around and relax and listen.

Rawr!

My Roomba is Branching Out

When I play "tea party" with the babies, we have pretend tea and cookies so we don't make a mess. When I was in Hawaii last week (I know I'm spoiled) one of the grandmas let them have a "real" tea party in the playroom. There are cookie crumbs everywhere and now they think my tea parties are real lame. (I don't blame them. Real cookies are much cooler than pretend ones. And that's what grandmas do. I'm sure it's payback for something I did when I was a kid.)

So, anyway, the playroom downstairs needed to be vacuumed. I picked up the toys and prepared to get out the real vacuum like normal, and got a flash of inspiration.

I brought the roomba downstairs for a field trip. Usually, the roomba lives upstairs and cleans my kitchen and living area, and my bedroom when he's really bored. But I was feeling extra lazy today and the thought of pushing the vacuum around tuckered me out. (I think it's vacation recovery. Poor me. Ha!)

I turned him on and we watched him go. The kids are still a bit wary of him so they stayed on the couch with one eye on him and one eye on Big Bird on TV. It would have been much quicker to have just done it myself with the big vacuum. But this was great. He even cleaned under the couch, which I would skip with the big vacuum. That should help with dust, right? (I'm trying to justify my laziness.)

I sat around and did nothing, and the roomba did my housework. Now I have him vacuuming the rest of the downstairs while I play on the computer and the kids take a nap. Now I think he'll make the trip downstairs a few times a week. This is better than a pet. He earns his keep.

I wish they had one that cleans toilets and folds laundry.
He still doesn't have a name and I'm OK with that. Until I find the perfect name for my little robot cleaning slave he's just "the robot".

This makes me want to drink Guiness.