What can I say?

This blog is my happy place and when I'm not happy I have a hard time being here.

Right now life is like walking down a tree lined path,
with the fungus of unhappiness lurking just around the corner in the shadows.
And if I'm not careful, it will wrap me in its gossamer strands.
I'm on the lookout for happy days again and hope to be back soon.

Thankful Thursday

I nearly forgot, again.

I'm thankful that this week is nearly over. The last couple of weeks have been a real doozy and I'm ready for it to be done. I'm ready to settle down into a hum-drum kind of time for a change.

NSM - Project #10

I finally found a little bit of time to sew. It took me two days to do this bag, but only because I'm slow.

Look at this fabric. I found a remnant at WM and had to buy it. I had a leather purse like this once upon a time.
Here's my new bag. It's a big one. Perfect for shop hopping or taking along a project to work on while away from home.This has three outside pockets and two inside pockets (one with a zipper). I used Kwik Sew 3545 for my pattern. I added the two inside pockets and chose not to contrast the handles.

This fabric wouldn't slide under my presser foot so I ended up using a little bit of embroidery stabilizer and sewed through it. It tore right off and worked great to get the foot to slide.

NSM - Project Big Fat Zero

Life got in the way and I haven't sewn in days it seems.

Since I haven't done anything go see what these lovely ladies have been sewing.
Sandra
Sweetiepie
Laura
Sue

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful I remembered on Thursday and not Friday this week.

We received almost 2 inches of rain today and for that I am most thankful. We need the rain any time we can get it.

NSM - Project #9

Here's another skirt. It's the same Kwik Sew pattern used for project number #4. I had zero problems hemming this time. Maybe now I know what I'm doing.

A close-up of the fabric.This fabric was purchased at the thrift store a while back just like the other. Sometimes you can find some really interesting stuff.

NSM - Project # 7 and 8

Project #7 is flannel ice bag covers for my mom.
Project #8 is three card tricks blocks. I had thought about doing the baby quilt in this pattern, but I did enough to know it's not happening. This project is as done as it's going to get at this point.

Both projects were made with materials on hand. The flannel was left over from making sleep pants for kids and blocks were made from remnants and a huge piece of fabric from a thrift store in Cordell.

NSM - Project # 5 and 6

I was rudely attacked by some kind of mutant stomach bug and ended up not sewing for a couple of days. I'm back and ready to sew.

I failed to mention on project #4 that the fabric used was a thrift store purchase. I love my thrift store.

This is a swimsuit cover-up. Nothing fancy and it actually looks better on me than IMBZ. It hits me right above my chubby little knees. I made this out of a terry cloth chaise lounge cover from the thrift store. Terry cloth isn't my favorite fabric to work with by a long shot. A trick-or-treat bag made from a remnant. I intended to put reflective tape on it, but somehow I've lost my package and didn't feel like running to the store. I have another one cut out and ready to sew, but I pooped out and didn't get it done.
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that's sewing along with me and let you know I'm trying to visit your blogs. If I've missed you, don't hesitate to let me know.

NSM - Project #4

In case you can't tell, and I know you can't, it's a skirt. I used Kwik Sew 2805 for the pattern. It was super easy to make and I was able to do it in about 30 minutes. However, I got hung up on the hemming and didn't finish it yesterday.

For the record, I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a needle than hand-hem anything. I hate it.

I decided last night to use the blind-hem on my sewing machine. Yeah right. I'm sure some people could figure it out with no problem, but not I. Evidently I have a rather steep learning curve sometimes.

Once I figured it out it went really fast and I even had time to iron the skirt before taking a picture. The hem is even and doesn't have that hangey-downey place in real life. It's pinned to the hanger and is wonky.

There you go. I wasted one of my two-day blocks futzing with a hem. How sad.

I sewed

Honest, I did. I'm not done though. This is going to be one of those two day projects, but only because I got a really late start.

So, tomorrow you can see project #4.

NSM - Project #3

How about a couple of grocery bags?
The inside is almost as pretty as the outside.
I used the tutorial found here and here.I opted to leave off the pocket. The bag on the right is minus the gusset at the bottom. I didn't want to mess with it and the bag turned out fine. The fabric is left-over from aprons.

NSM - Project #2

A plethora of pillows. The two on the far right were made a couple of weeks ago. The remaining four were made today.

I saw a pillow made from an old dresser scarf at a garage sale and fell instantly in love, but not $5 worth. The idea was planted and here we are.

I picked up some old feed sack material for a ridiculously low price at the newer thrift store a while back and used that for the pillow. I dug in my stash of worn out dresser scarves found some that complimented the fabric in color.

The dresser scarves I used had holes in the center and generally weren't usable. I thought this was a cute way to showcase old handwork and be able to enjoy it.

NSM - Project #1

Here's my first project. A portable blind bag. DH tore the original (made from nylon) on a tree branch last Fall and asked me to help him out. This is made from a remnant of green denim and I scavenged the straps, safety label, and drawstring from the original.

Using the original as a pattern, I drew around it and added 1/2 inch. All of the edges were serged and seams were double sewn.

Rather than try to thread the drawnstring through denim, I chose to sew the channel with the string in place. It was a little awkward, but it worked. The safety label was slipped under the channel seam and sewn in.

I used the strap placement on the original to help with placement on the new one. The straps are sewn down with a straight stitch and then six rows of zig-zag on each end to really hold them down.

If he tears this one up, I want to see the tree.