BIkes for sale

If you are in the San Luis Obispo area, and are in need of a bike, check out the link on my about me. My brother in law has wicked sick tight bikes for sale. The link for his blog is under my blog archives. Check em out :)

FUN

My mom and I had the best time at Beverly’s the other day. We spent at least an hour and a half looking at fabrics. My mom had a whole isle lined with the bolts of fabric she liked. She was mixing and matching colors, it was so great! She is so excited for this line of purses that I’m working on; she bought me half the fabric I needed! My mom was so encouraging, and it was great for her to be excited and give me inspiration. I just love the fact that my mom supports and encourages me in whatever I do. That is one quality I pray that I will have abundantly when I have kids!
I loved all the fabrics so much I had to post a picture!

So… I have recently discovered embroidering. And, I have to admit, I never thought it would be so much fun. My previous conceptions of embroidering were somewhat stereotyped with ugly baggy sweaters with sad looking embroidered flowers or something like that. But once again, I was quiet wrong. You don’t have to be old or frumpy to embroider. It’s great for something to do while watching a movie, hanging out with family, or if you have a few extra minutes to spare. And it’s amazing what you can do. I’m sure I’ve only just begun to see the tip of the iceberg. I am going to attempt my first quilt with some embroidered animal squares. So it should be interesting to see how that turns out. The bear is one of the few squares I’ve embroidered for the blanket. I think I’m going to make a baby/child’s blanket, you know… just so it’s not too intimidating.

This is the first tote I’ve ever made. It was pretty much an easy project. The part I found most difficult was making the straps. That was the hardest for me because the little bit of fabric I did use to make the strap was folded three times, then pinned, and then sewn. Truth be told my mother-in-law helped me a bit ☺. But other than that it was a simple project that probably took about forty-five minutes. I found the pattern for this tote of out a book my husband gave me for Christmas (Stitchen and Bitchen, or something to that effect).



This Needle Case was inspired by my mother in-law. She made one for her daughter to hold her crocheting needles. It was so much fun, and very satisfying to see the finished product.



My clutch purse was surprising a bit of a challenge. Being that I am a new sewer, I didn’t really have much experience with a decorative or embroidery stitch. My words of advice to anyone who is planning to use a decorative stitch would be: make sure you like the stitch before you start, and make sure sure sure you are sewing straight because decorative stitching will take hours to steam rip!!! I have found my most common struggle when sewing is sewing straight. Often I take my ruler and erasable marker and draw a line for myself to follow. Slow and Steady wins the race proves true in this case!
I also made three other clutch purses, all for Christmas gifts. They really are easy and fun.






I think the Messenger Bag style is my favorite. It seems to go with almost anything, and I really like the simplicity of the bag. The two purses I’ve made were also inspired by my mother in-law. I know, I’m just a copycat ☺. But hey, it was such a good idea I couldn’t help it.


I absolutely love this blanket. It is so unbelievably soft, it’s simply amazing. I had some leftover fabric from my needle case, and I just happened to notice the blanket and the fabric were perfect together. I would have liked to do a border around the blanket, but the squares worked better with the amount of fabric I had. This project was my first using a zigzag stitch. I’m really happy with the stitch because it seems sturdier than just a straight stitch as far as sewing the patches onto the blanket. It’s a bit of a messy look, which I also like.





My Bible and Planner were a take off of a photo album I saw in borders. The album had buttons plastered all over it. I really like the idea of a design with the buttons (like my bible). But I also like the random look of the planner.



My eyeglasses case was the first project I made with the sewing machine. Being that it was my first project, and I had no real instruction except a picture and pattern in a book, it was very difficult. I love the Asian style fabric that I used, the only problem was it was extremely slippery!!! In addition to that, it never occurred to me to iron anything. So, not only was the fabric slippery, it was also very puffy when I was finished. After three attempts (each time starting completely over) I finally got one I liked.



The Mosaic Tray was also a blast to make. My husband’s grandma has made a few really amazing ones, and suggested that I try it. I have made three since, but only have pictures of the first. First you find a tray you like, as well as plates. You break the plates into tiny pieces and arrange them onto the tray. I’ve seen trays with no patterns, and I’ve seen trays with designs. Both look great. You glue the pieces on with sturdy glue and let it sit over night. Next you grout the tray. Then you let it sit. When it’s done drying you clean it up, paint it, and your ready to go. I love them. I like to use mine for a magazine display. But I’m sure you could like of many uses for it.

My First Sewing Experience

My first sewing experience was in home economics—8th grade I decided to take advanced home economics because I loved cooking and it came easily to me. I didn’t want to take beginning cooking. But for some reason it never occurred to me that the second half on the semester consisted of SEWING. First semester was great, I was one of the best students in the class. But that all changed second semester. I can remember the first day of the sewing term. When we came to class there was a sewing machine at each desk. Our first project was to make a teddy bear. I had NO pervious experience with sewing. I think the only machine I had even seen had been one my grandmother had. As we were instructed to start the pattern, I was overwhelmed I didn’t even know what a bobbin was, let alone could I make a stuffed animal. Let’s just say that semester was miserable. Each class I had to bribe someone to thread my machine and help me with my projects. Our Final was going to consist of making a pair of boxer shorts. Let’s just say I passed that semester by the hair of my chiny chin chin. My shorts were hilarious. I couldn’t get the legs even, so they kept getting shorter and shorter. They got to the point where I had to leave them uneven because they could very well get any shorter. The fly was crocked and the elastic in the waistband was twisted several times. They were pathetically hilarious. That being my only experience with sewing, one could easy see why I’ve had no interest since. As some of you know I am recently married. My mother in-law is the sweetest woman in the world, as well as extremely creative. She has sewn some of the neatest things. (She has a great blog, SimpleSparrow if you wanna see it) Anyways, long story short, she really inspired me. I saw all the great projects she had made. Then my husband and I moved up to Vancouver. For those of you who have never been here, it rains like crazy. Always being an active girl, I found myself at a loss for things to do. One day my husband’s grandmother suggested getting out her old sewing machine. And well, here I am. I’ve made many a project since that day, and I must say I really do love sewing. It just takes time and practice.


most of you that know me well know that i have never been into arts and crafts. i've always been more of the sporty girl. well, here it is... I LOVE SEWING. it's so weird for me to say that. you can tease me and say that i'm domesticated now, but hey... its a blast. i'm now going to be selling some of my creations of esty.

now that i've got that off my chest i feel much better :)