It Was All Going So Smoothly…

I did another sewing project!  This time, my mom had given me some of her old pants that she could no longer fit into (again, we won’t say WHY).  I will make aprons out of a few, but I thought I might try making a pair of cute Capri's with one of them.  As you can see here, my mom is slightly shorter than me…   and all of her pants are PETITS!

So, I got busy making more fabric strips just like the ones I used for the apron and cutting off the ends of the pant legs.  I attached fabric strips to the pant legs and sewed them on.  Easy!!!  As I was pinning the fabric to the pants, I thought, “This is going too smoothly.”  Then, when I sewed both cuffs without having to rip out any stitches, I thought , “This is going too smoothly!” When I held up the final product, I giggled with delight and thought, “that went so smoothly!!!”

Then I tried them on.

It turns out that even though I tried on one pair of the many jeans she gave me, and they were the same brand, style, and size as the ones I just worked on, they didn’t actually fit the same.  So, now I have a pair of ADROABLE pants that I love but can’t wear.  I was so sad!

So I did what I had to do…I cut up another pair of pants and did the same thing over again with a pair of pants. I made sure to try them on immediately before sewing. 

Of course, the second time around was not as smooth sailing.  I had to re-pin both cuffs, and there were one or two seam ripping moments, but nothing too drastic.

If you are a proficient sewer, you can get this project done in a half hour I bet.  It was super fast, super easy (both times), and super cute!

(I’m not sure why my head is chopped off, but I don’t have the time to tinker with it right now)

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I really love them!  I love my fabric (remnant from JoAnn’s), and I love that I have a dozen or so (that may be a slight exaggeration) teal tops that will match the pants perfectly!

My First Project

I’ve been absent from the blogosphere.  Sorry ‘bout that.  No excuses.  I’m just stating the obvious.

While I was gone, I attempted my first ‘real’ sewing project.  I say “real” because, in my opinion, cloth napkins should be considered practice and not a real project.

I found this project over at A Girl and a Glue Gun.  I’m not sure how I found it, but it looked like it was easy enough for a beginner to try, and I’ve been looking for an easy apron pattern.  Thanks to my friend Beth, I now have an actual pattern for 6 different styles of aprons.  I’ve not attempted those yet.  Baby steps to sewing projects!

Here is my first real project…..

I had some old jeans that I can’t wear anymore.  We won’t discuss WHY I can’t wear them!!  And I picked out some cute fabric from the store.

Cut off a pant leg, NOT like this, and then cut it up the middle so you can open it up.

Cut a crescent-like shape out of the pants (not sure which end works best here). 

 

Now you have something that looks like it could become an apron very easily!

Next, pin the strips of fabric along all the edges, using SAFETY PINS, since you may not own any straight pins. 

    

Spend 2-3 hours sewing, removing stitches, sewing, untangling the bobbin, sewing, removing stitches, and sewing until you the strips of fabric don’t fall off the denim. I watched some Hulu TV while I sewed into the night.

This is what my final product looks like from afar. 

Not bad….

Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

This is what I’m most proud of.  The square 'reinforcements’.  My sewing savvy friend Beth told me about this, and I think it looks great.

At first glance, that pocket looks good.  But at closer inspection, you see that I sewed so far inside the pocket, that the edges all stick up.  I didn’t know if my machine would sew through the edge of the pocket or not.  I didn’t want to mess with the ‘oops, I broke the needle’ scenario at midnight last night.

Now for my edges and corners.  HUH???  How do you finish these things???  This is the part I have to learn about yet.  I’m not sure how to make my edges and corners look finished. 

This was my first one.  Oh, it’s so bad!

I would say, overall this project was fun, and I like the end result.  I have a lot of learning to do, but at least now I know what questions to ask.  I’ll be having sewing parties* at my place this summer – bring your machine and let’s make something!!

    

*ok, so I’m not REALLY scheduling any sewing parties, but if you’re close by and like to help struggling beginners learn how to sew, come on over! I’ll provide the entertainment (my 1 year old) and you provide the knowledge.

Homestead Blessings Giveaway

For a long time now, my husband and I have been talking about selling our home and moving into the country.  Not just to get away from the city, but to start living a self-sustaining life.  Rick would like to grow his own food, raise livestock, and make everything he needs to survive.

For the past year and a half (since Jack was born), I have been learning how to cook from scratch.  I rarely buy a box mix or use anything that is a ready-made product.  I love the sense of pride I feel when I serve my family food that I made. 

Just recently, I’ve started s-l-o-w-l-y entering into the world of sewing.  I’d love to make actual clothing someday, but for now, I’m sticking with cloth napkins and patches for my jeans.  

I saw this giveaway on a blog I was just recently introduced to, and I thought I’d share it with my readers who may be interested in homestead living.  It’s a set of 10 DVDs called Homestead Blessings, and it is a curriculum for teaching women how to keep a home.  To borrow words from their website, they encourage the building and strengthening of God-honoring family life.

Go on over to this website and enter for your chance to win these DVDs.  If you win, invite me over to watch them with you!!!

30 Days!

Well folks, I made it to 30 days!!!  If you have no clue what I’m talking about, let me share with you.  I accepted a Challenge from my friend to exercise for 30 days.  We were to exercise for 5 days straight, take two days off, and continue that for a total of 30 days of exercise.  That took us about a month and a half (6 weeks). 

During the challenge, I mostly walked.  I walked around our neighborhood, I walked at the park, and I Walked Away the Pounds on days I couldn’t get out of the house.  Rick and Jack joined me for two weeks walking in the park.  I loved that!  Rick would push the stroller, while I got busy walking.  We are up to walking 3 miles a day!

 (this isn’t me!)

Last week, I noticed a change in my walking.  I walk pretty fast to keep my heart rate up, and after a while, I was having trouble keeping up with Rick – he always pushed me to walk a little bit faster.  All of a sudden, I started to speed walk.  My stride changed, my hips swayed differently, and my arms were bent like a runner’s.  I found that I could not only keep up with Rick, but I could go even faster with no extra effort.  It was amazing!  I felt like I could walk more than 3 miles.

This week it rained every day! So, I stayed in every evening to Walk Away the Pounds.  Rick tried to watch Jack while I walked in my living room, but sometimes Jack just wanted me to hold him.  At one point, I did a knee raise right into his little cheek!  It was then that I decided to put him in the baby carrier and walk with him on my back.  That lasted for a little while, but thankfully, he asked to get down not too long into the walk.  That did add a little more intensity to my workout though.

(This is me!)

I’m pretty proud of myself for sticking with this challenge for 6 weeks.  I don’t see any difference in my body or the way my clothes fit right now, but I’m planning to give it another 4 months to really evaluate how it’s working for me.  I figure that after 20 or so weeks, I should see some difference in the way my clothes fit!  I can tell a difference in my stamina though.  I don’t get winded as easily, and I feel like I can walk farther than I did when I first started.  I don’t get winded walking up the stairs either!

I’m not sure what the next 30 day challenge will be, though, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be about food. Heather said something about giving up sugar.  I stopped reading her blog right after I read that.  No, just kidding.  I don’t think I’m going to go so extreme yet.  For now, I’m going to add more plants to my diet.  I need to eat more fruits and veggies.  I’m not sure how that will translate into a 30 day challenge, but we’ll figure something out. 

I can’t wait to report back in 4 months on my weight loss and how my clothes will be fitting better. I better stick with this!