Saturday, January 30, 2010

A Rare Day



Snow days are so rare here that when one comes along I seem to take advantage of every minute. All the white causes some bizarre energy. As much as I love snow, I have to disagree with Matt when he suggest we move to a place where you have to shovel your car out a pile of snow to go to work. We cherish the snow better around these parts anyway. This has been the first day where I don't feel puzzled at where the time has gone. I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast, threaded my sewing machine all by myself, sewed a wallet, took a walk outside with Matt, and made a chocolate cake with a homemade marshmallow topping. Today I tackled things have been too scared to do in the past. Snow is sort of magical that way.
I love that Matt and I are both learning something together. No Matt hasn't picked up sewing, but as I hunch over my machine cursing, Matt is plucking his banjo. I was worried when we got these grand Christmas presents that we were being over ambitious and would ultimately neglect them. I am happy to say we've both made progress and have learned a great deal.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Sew Annoying




I like clothes a lot. I spend a lot of money on clothes, too much actually. The problem is that I buy things liking them about as much as I like a peanut and butter sandwich. I place it in the closet and pull it out reluctantly. I came to the realization I am not defenseless against the sad trends of current affordable clothing. I could learn to sew! I could create personalized, to my taste, works of art!

It's an exhilarating thought, but after completing my first project, an apron for my mother-in-law, my dreams of owning a one of a kind wardrobe withered.

I've taken the advice from some pro-sewers. Practice, practice, and read, read, read. Sew-U Build by Wendy and Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol are the two books that are helping me gain valuable knowledge. I really like both of their styles and my next projects will be from each of these books. From Sew-U I'm going to attempt an "easy" a-line skirt, and from Bend the Rules a wallet. Though both are labeled as "Beginner/Easy" I'm not going to get my hopes up.

My mom found a box of old patterns and gave them to me. Question: Why do people stop creating the older they get?