Belated Wedding Gift....

I made this apron this morning for a friend of mine who recently got married. It was a beautiful wedding with a light-yellow theme and that is where I got the idea from.

I also got a few other yellow themed items: a dish scrubber & latex gloves, measuring cups and sponges, and a lemon shaped timer. Too cute. The (kind of) new Mrs. should expect her gift by the end of this week!

The pattern is self-made, but I used this as inspiration. Recognize the fabric?

Feeling a bit adventurous

In the days before school started back, I had an entire week to enjoy doing absolutely nothing. I read a lot of books, I tried some new recipes, and I even cleaned. But wouldn't you believe it---I still got bored. So, one day while I was perusing my favorite blogs, I came upon this. Pretty, right? Well, I decided to try it myself. I went directly to JoAnn's fabrics and came away spending about $60, because not only did I need fabric and hardware, I decided that a rotary cutter was necessary, too. Here is the final product:


I am pretty satisfied with my results. Andrew actually thought I had bought it!

Some tips for anyone thinking to try it themselves:

1. Make sure your fabric is facing the right direction (see upside-down fruit in picture)
2. You will need more interfacing that you think... it isn't sold folded like regular fabric. Trust me. I argued with the lady at JoAnn's.
3. Do not let your iron directly touch the interfacing fabric. Most crafters probably already knew that, but it's something I learned in the process. Thankfully, the hole I burned is in between to pieces of fabric, so no one need ever see it!

That's about it! Good luck!

Getting Inspired

A friend of mine from high school started a blog called That's FAMtastic, and I started to follow it several months back. The thing is, Elizabeth had a bunch of other blogs she was following with little buttons for each on the side. And one day, I clicked on them. After that, I couldn't get enough! I started seeing all of these amazing ideas that I just HAD to try. The problem was that I didn't know what I was doing. So, here is my first adventure in sewing after the haphazard quilt. I chose the pattern because it seemed easy. It is a sewing machine cover!! I have my own that I made, but it is kinda ugly because I made it from an old sheet. However, I recently made one for my mom that looks like this.

Don't you just love the little bow at the bottom? I still haven't sent it to her yet, but I think she will like it. For any beginning seamstresses out there, I definitely recommend this for an early project!!

Let's Get it Started

Here is what started my crafting adventures.... I had several sorority t-shirts after leaving college. I mean, a LOT. And it felt sort of silly trying to be a "grown up" and still identifying myself by my sorority. So, I asked for a sewing machine for Christmas, and this is the first product that came from it.


It used just about every Alpha Sig shirt I had... starting from my own bid night shirt seen here
<-------------

• 

Up till the one from bid night my senior year: --->





And here is the final product:
It is very warm, too. :)

The hardest parts:

• I didn't know what I was doing and none of the shirts were cut to the exact same size
• My sewing machine kept eating the t-shirt material
• I decided to hand-quilt the thing.... which explains why that still isn't done
• I sewed the edges shut before quilting it. According to Granny, that just ain't how it's done.

But I still love it. It makes me smile every time I see it and I get to remember what was going on in my life when I was getting all of those stinkin' t-shirts. I guess this counts as filling my days with satisfying activity, eh, Alpha Sigs? I miss you girls!