Sewing projects 2

I've been working on a few more sewing projects. I became obsessed with making these tote bags from pillowcases. I made 10 in total and gave them to family and friends while keeping two for myself. They are really easy to make, and don't require a lot of machine stitching. Here were the last four I remembered to take pictures of:

My mom sent me a care package several weeks ago full of fun goodies. A book about making bags was in it, and I've made most of one of the bags. I still have to hammer in the eyelets and add the straps, but here's the basic bag:

And then I followed this tutorial to make a spring/summer top. The picture is before I finished sewing on the straps. I made several adjustments in an attempt to make it more fitted, but I haven't worn it so we'll see how it actually looks.

 

I've determined online tutorials are easier to sew from than patterns. One, there are photos, and two, you can read the comments and find out what adjustments people made.

Life at 90%

I can't believe it's the 9th of March, and I'm just getting up my first post for the month. I feel like I've been running at about 90% lately. I get motivated and get about 90% of whatever I'm doing done and then lose motivation and fail to finish the last 10%. I have to admit this isn't really a new development, it just seemed more apparent this week. A few examples:

There are three blog posts that have been 90% finished for a week, but they still aren't completely finished and obviously haven't been posted.


On Saturday, I posted on Facebook about what a productive day I was having. In addition to some fun things, I cooked and did laundry. And while I completed all of the cooking, I went to bed with dishes in the sink and my kitchen in chaos. As for the laundry, I got farther than usual but here's what my drawer looked like:

On Sunday, I decided to start two sewing projects, and I got to 90% on both before stopping. Some of it was out of my control, I didn't have a good spot to hammer in eyelets since it was raining outside. But it was also because the other project got complicated, I got frustrated and gave up for the day. Now I'm afraid these projects are just going to mock me for the next few months.


So I'm pretty much resurfacing today with nothing to say. But hopefully, I'll start finishing up some of these things and have new posts this week.


Oh, one other thing, remember my visitor from a few months back? You probably thought the raccoon was gone; I knew he wasn't but had convinced myself to believe that he was. But last week I couldn't deny the racket he was making and I cried for help, i.e. emailed my landlord. Apparently, this is a smart and quick raccoon, he took the food, tripped the traps and got away with it three days in a row. I'm told they're going to try something else, in the meantime, I'm trying to ignore the scratching of claws I hear in my living room.

Sewing projects

I promised to show you the things I've made with my new sewing machine, and now that I have given out my gifts, I can show you.

The biggest thing was figuring out what to do with all these fabric books. I made two sets of reversible placemats for my mom and sister.

These were for my sister and were actually pre-sewing machine.
 

These were for my mom and were my first real project on the sewing machine.

For my sister and niece, I made a wipes holder and a diaper changing pad. See links for the directions. I also made these for a baby shower.

This weekend I completed a camera strap cover with some scraps, and I'm trying to finish another placemat project.


I've been pretty pleased with how things have turned out. I don't sew very straight, so inside-out seams are my friend, but I think I'm getting better. I've also learned you can find anything through Google and YouTube. I never would have figured out bias tape without this video (note: I did pin mine).

I'm already dreaming of making baby dresses and floor pillows. I'll let you know how it goes.

Hobbies

Apparently as I get older, I am taking on hobbies.

I've never been a hobby person. I always dread that question in any situation -- sorority rush, icebreaker games, a date, on my Facebook profile, etc. My default answer is always reading, but that always leads to the question, "What have you read lately?" And then I either can't remember or don't want to admit to the latest chick lit book I've read.

But 2010 is apparently the year for new hobbies, and I'm glad to finally have an answer to that annoying question. Cooking is the main one for the year, and I would say writing about it is a related hobby. And my newest hobby is sewing.

Due to some inspiration from the fabric book acquisition, I asked for a sewing machine for my birthday from my parents. My mom wanted me to pick it out, but I had no idea what I was even looking for. The last time I sewed was in home ec class in sixth grade (if it makes you feel better, after that year, home ec was replaced with computer class). But my mom, sister and grandmother are all very adept at sewing and knew what they were looking for.

And they picked out a pretty amazing sewing machine. 

I'm not sure I will use all the features, but when it measured my button and created a buttonhole the right size with me just pushing the pedal, I could only stand back in awe.

I feel like I can make anything with it, and it's so easy to Google and find patterns and tutorials, much like finding recipes. Over the last three weeks, I've been making things like crazy. Of course, I can't really show you anything because most of it is gifts. But I did make this bag for me:

And next on my hobby list: Photography. I bought a used DSLR camera from a friend a couple of months ago but it hasn't left my apartment yet, so I need to Google and find some tutorials on that.