We arrived home from Hawaii at the beginning of February and it took about a week to get back on schedule. But we are now back on schedule and thriving!
My newest adventure has been sewing. I received a wonderful sewing machine for Christmas from my husband...believe it or not, it was on my list. I have never touched a sewing machine before. I grew up with my mother sewing; she would make all of our Halloween costumes, home decor items and other fun stuff. She did amazing projects. But I never learned how to sew or anything about sewing machines. In fact, once I received my Christmas gift, I was a bit stuck as to what to do with it. I was really excited to learn, but I needed SUPER basic instruction, so I bought the book "Sewing for Dummies" and figured I would start there. I took my new book over to Black Butte and tried to read as much as I could, but I did not have my machine with me to physically play with it, so it was pretty dry reading. Plus at this point in time, I was actually afraid to even turn on the machine for the fear I would break it.
Right before we left for Hawaii, my friend Dawn Marie took me to JoAnn's Fabrics and showed me everything that I was going to need for a sewing kit. She was so patient and took me aisle by aisle and we picked out great sewing accessories. The best part was they were having a 50% off all notions (stuff you need for sewing), so I saved a bunch of money. We also bought fabric for my first sewing project...a pillow case - or rather two pillow cases - one for Tommy and one for Morgan. Then we came back to my house and Dawn Marie took me through my machine, step-by-step and I learned all about how to wind bobbins and how to thread my machine. Then she taught me how to do the first pillowcase. I did Tommy's pillowcase first...if you can't tell it has a "Go Ducks" theme.
 |
| Tommy, Dawn Marie and my sewing machine displaying the first sewing project! |
Then Dawn Marie left and I was left to my own devices on Morgan's pillowcase. I never did get a good picture of it, but here is Morgan lounging on the finished product. She liked it!
 |
| Morgan with the pillowcase I did solo. |
Before we left for Hawaii, some of the ladies from Tommy's preschool and I had set-up a sewing date. We wanted to get together and work on projects as well as (for me) get help on projects - since I had no idea how to sew from a pattern. The Thursday night before our sewing date, we met at JoAnn's so the ladies could help me find fabric and purchase all that I needed for my PJ projects. They also bought stuff for their projects, but I was so thankful they were there with me because I had no idea what I was doing.
Then we had our sewing date. It was awesome! Joy, Amy, Jana and Dawn Marie all came over and we had a great time. Joy made a whale, Amy made napkins, Jana and Dawn Marie helped me with my pajama pants for Tommy and I sewed from my first pattern. I learned how to line up the pattern pieces, cut out the pieces, follow the pattern instructions and sew Tommy's pajama pants.
 |
| Tommy's unhemmed pajama pants. |
 |
| Yes they are a little large! |
Then this past Sunday I worked on Morgan's pajama top. Thanks to Grandma Jan who came up to visit us for the day, I was able to put it all together and finish it. It was so fun! I even did button holes and buttons with the sewing machine! It was awesome.
So all in all, not that you cannot tell, I love my new hobby. It is so fun and I feel such a feeling of accomplishment when I finish a project. So thank you so much to my husband who bought me the lovely sewing machine and thank you to Dawn Marie who has guided me through the entire process.
Cheers to a new hobby and I can't wait for my next project (hopefully a dress for Miss Morgan:))!
