Bumbleride Indie Natural, what?

The Baby Guy is having a giveaway for a Bumbleride Indie Natrual stroller! You can find the contest here @ Baby Guy Gear Guide

Good luck to me & good luck to you, if you enter!

So here's the thing...

I had grand plans for National Craft Month - grand plans! Alas, it's been 3ish months & nary a post. My deepest and most sincere apologies.

The thing is, I'm approaching the end of my Master's Degree and this semester snuck up on me right around March. Thus, crafts, and blogging about crafts, had to sit on the sidelines. I was able to crochet a teeny tiny bit for my cousin's birthday (a post I will be uploading soon).

Hopefully I'll be able to become a bit more consistent with crafts & posting now that the summer is here. Sadly, I still have a thesis to write, so it won't be a full-time job quite yet.... Oh & I should probably find a full-time job, so that will probably take up a bit of time as well, but I promise promise promise I'll find time for you.

March is National Craft Month!

What should I make?

Sewing Machine Cover, take 1.

This week's challenge was to either make a car cozy or a piece of baby clothing. Seeing as I have ZERO children, I really have no use for a cozy to carry my hot wheels in, nor do I need baby clothes. I really debated about whether or not I wanted to even participate this week, but then I decided I could make a previous week's unchosen option.

I had been debating a sewing machine cover since moving my machine to the kitchen table, and I happened to have some fabric (from pillow cases that went awry) that would otherwise go to waste (and that I really wanted to use in one way or another). The idea in my head seemed easy enough, though the actual execution was much harder than I thought.

Looking at it now, I think I could have done a better job. Not a single corner is sewn the same - mainly because I had no clue what I was doing. Also, by the time I finished I didn't want to iron anymore, so it is definitely in need of an ironing, which will make it more crisp. I tried really hard to make sure the sides were all the same, and yet I still managed to make it just wonky enough to make it look like I have no clue what I'm doing.


I'm thinking there might have been an easier way, and I'm debating if I want to try it out. I would definitely prefer a cover that was a little more put together, but I'm not sure if I want to tackle another cover (it was a bit stressful getting it all put together). I also feel like it needs to be lined inside and I had no clue had to do it this time around. Maybe I'll redo the outside & then use my first one as the lining for the new one... hmmmm

Weekly Sew-a-long Challenge. Week 3.

This week our challenge was to make something "Picture Perfect". That is, make something camera or picture related. I've been wanting to purchase a really cute case for my camera, so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to make one. All of the tutorials I found required bias tape for the finished piece. Sadly, I'm not prepared to make my own bias tape, and I was unwilling to go purchase any (I'm pretty much over buying anything I can make myself). So, this left me with 2 options: find another tutorial or make something up myself.

After debating this issue all week long I decided to just do it. I used the ugliest fabric I had to practice with, and figured if it turned out, I could always re-make it with a cuter fabric. I'm not sure I love it, so I haven't re-made it. I think I'll mess around with some more fabric before I settle on my final camera case, but for the sake of this last week's challenge, it's completed.

To make it, all I did was take 2 pieces of fabric (one about 1 inch longer top-to-bottom than the other piece) and a piece of leftover felt (to measure, I just wrapped it around my camera & made sure I had ample seam allowances) and sandwiched them together.

To start, I took the piece that was a bit longer and placed it wrong side up. I folded down the top about 1/2 an inch & then ironed it, then I folded it down another 1/2 inch & ironed it again. This basically created a double hem at the top of the fabric. I then slid the felt and the other piece of fabric (wrong side down) between the bottom fabric & the hem, so that when sewn, the hem would encase the felt & fabric. I then sewed a basic straight stitch across the top. The top fabric (the one with the hem showing) became my "inside" fabric, and the longer piece which created my hem would be the "outer" fabric.

Here is where I made my mistake. A buttonhole should be made at this time. I didn't and had to rip my almost-finished case apart to do this. Pick a spot where you'd like a strap hole. Set your machine up to make a buttonhole, & then place your fabric inside piece up & make a buttonhole. I practiced this a few times on a scrap of fabric to make sure the hole I was making was exactly the size I wanted it to be. I wasn't using a button, so I had to adjust my buttonhole foot a couple times before I had the perfect size. I also had to play around with my stitch length and width before I had a good stitch. I 100% recommend you do the same before attempting this on your case. Carefully use a seam ripper or snips to cut your buttonhole (make sure you don't cut your stitches).

I then folded the fabric sandwich in half lengthwise, so that the hem was visible on the outside. I lined up my sides & bottom and pinned them. I slid my camera in between the fabric a few times just to make sure the fit was correct (I wanted to make sure the fit was snug, so that my camera would not slip out of the case willy-nilly). Then I sewed around the edge and bottom, making sure to backstitch at the beginning and end. I trimmed my excess threads and seam allowances, then I turned it right-side out (the hem should not be visible from the outside), slid my camera in, and basked in it's "glory".

It's not exactly what I'm looking for in a camera case, but it works as a simple soft cover to keep your camera from getting scratched up if you throw it in your purse or bag.

Also, in case you noticed my fail of a camera strap, that is what happens when you are attempting to take pictures of a project "in action" and get your camera strap a little too close to the hot iron. It completely melted the outside strap, thus leaving me with the task of having to clean melted goo off my iron. My camera strap is now really ugly too! Maybe I'll make a new cover for it :)

Time flies...

It really does! I feel like I haven't had the time to do anything crafty, so I don't have anything to post about! Then, when I do find time, I screw it all up & it is an absolute waste! Take last Monday, for example: I spent all day attempting to make something I was unable to find a tutorial for. I had an idea in my head & felt I could execute it decently. After spending the entire day working on it I had to scrap it all because it just never came together like it should have.

Fast forward to last night and my decision to finally tackle the last of my throw pillow covers. I had made one ages ago and just never got around to finishing the rest up. I've had the fabric for the rest just sitting around and decided I would finally finish them. I spent Sunday night measuring and cutting fabric, and then yesterday I finished piecing them together and getting them sewed up. A few hours and a good amount of fabric later I went to slip my pillows into their covers and they didn't fit! Somehow I managed to make the covers a few inches too small!

I'm quite upset and I'm not even sure if it's because of the wasted fabric! I am upset about the fabric, don't get me wrong. I love this fabric & had specifically purchased it to make throw pillow covers, and now I don't think I have enough to get more pillows out of (and I don't think I'll be able to find it for a decent price anywhere, because I bought it ages ago). I am more upset, however, about the waste of time it all was! I could have spent that time making something else and actually having something to show for my time.

Le Sigh.

I love when my hands are covered in paint.

I wasn't able to get much done today, as I was busy getting job applications together and in the mail (I need a job. Desperately.) However, I was able to slap a few coats of paint on some $2 frames I picked up at Target on clearance. It's not much, but I feel like at least I used a little crafty energy today.

I have an idea of where I'm going to hang these three, but I'm not 100% positive what I'm going to frame with them. I'm thinking I might want to throw some of my favorite fabric in them, rather than pictures. I hope I'm able to translate the idea I have in my head into something decent to hang on my wall.

Another apology for the picture. This time it's because the green & yellow frames are wet from their latest coat of paint, so I couldn't move them. I'll make sure to take a better picture once they're done.