HandMade Birthday Presents by Me!

Because I like a good challenge, I decided that this year I would try to make all my friends their birthday presents.  Isn't that what most people want for their 30th birthday (most of my friends are turning 30 this year)??

So we started off with $hanzles back in February.  This was when I had a lot of motivation and decided I could make hard/awesome stuff for everyone.  So I sewed her this little pouch in NC State colors (yay WolfPack!).  It only took me a billion hours to make.  (That might be an exaggeration.   The pattern is pretty simple).  I also made her some earrings.  I thought that I'd promised to make her yellow earrings.  Turns out I was supposed to make her green ones.  Oh well, now she has some yellow ones and still no green ones.  It's the thought that counts, right?

Then it was off to Curly T and Beezus5, the late April, early May birthdays.  This was when I really got into making t-shirt scarves.  I tried really hard on Curly T's and ended up with something pretty decent.  That is me modeling it below.  It looked much better when she wore it.  She put the flower part up around her neck.

Beezus5's was made at the last minute.  Her t-shirt scarf was still shedding a little when I gave it to her.  But she couldn't be mad because I spent most of my time on her graduation present which I gave her the same week as her bday.  Again, thought that counts, right?

So far, I have been able to make all the birthday gifts.  Don't feel bad though if your birthday is later in the year and I end up making you something really terrible or giving you a gift card.  I'm not sure how long this creativity can last.

Do you like handmade gifts?

PS-The t-shirt scarf is actually pretty easy to make if you want to give someone a handmade gift. 

Craft Room Renovations Part 1-Curtain Doors

I was wandering through the fabric store one day over Christmas break when I found this fabric on sale that I really liked.  I decided I would use it to make a curtain door for my craft room closet.  I didn't really like the folding doors that were already on it because it was hard to get in and out of.  I purchased the fabric and took it home and decided I didn't like the color of the room with this fabric, so I decided to just go ahead and paint the room.  That totally makes sense, right?  That was the beginning of my craft room renovations.

So over about 5 random days I made these curtains.  Why is there a big blue strip at the bottom?  That would be because the fabric I got was too short.  Oops.  I'm still not very good at sewing (a straight line in particular) and there was a lot of trial and error with these curtains.  In the end, I think I like them.  I'm not positive.  But I think I do.  I'm still not sure about that blue on the bottom or the actual length of the curtains.
So here are some photos.  It was hard for me to figure out the lighting and angle to take pictures so these are a little weird.  The green of the room does not really look like it does in real life. 

The room is not really this shade of green.

I'm trying to organize the inside of the closet for storing all my random stuff.

So that's part 1 of the many things I have done to this room.  I know you can't wait to hear about the rest!  PS-I blame this blog for making me think I could suddenly be a DIY home decor expert.

Have you ever sewn curtains?  Or a curtain door?

My Christmas Present to Myself...The Christmas Themed Apron (used to make Christmas themed movie/party snacks)

Sewing is hard.  Well it's hard for me.  I'm not super patient.  And sewing patterns are confusing.  When I can't figure out what something means (even after googling it) sometimes I get scary and yell or curse for no reason.  I'm sorry B and Hobie.  Thanks for trying to encourage me not to quit even if I was mean to you at the time, I do appreciate it.  I baked you some cookies yesterday to make up for it.

BUT NOW I CAN CROSS OFF #5 ON MY 30 FOR 30 LIST!!!!!!!!!!

After working on it most of the day on Saturday, I completed my Christmas-themed apron.  It has some major flaws and I cannot sew in a straight line to save my soul (although my sewing teacher did give me some tips-I probably need to sign up for that 2nd class).  I definitely should have used red thread instead of black so all my flaws didn't show as much, but oh well.  It still looks pretty good from far away and most people probably won't even notice the issues it has unless they are looking for them.

So I have decided that I will pull out this apron every year at Christmas and see how much my sewing skills have improved (hopefully).  Now I have to plan my outfit for the Holiday social I'm hosting on Wednesday around this apron.  (I've got to get as much use out of it as I can before Christmas is over.)

Sewing Attempt #2-Zipper Pouch

Some people seemed pretty impressed with my bag that I made last week on my new sewing machine.  It definitely has a few issues with it and it took me foreves just so you know (I'm not quit an expert sewer).  I really think it's good that I signed up for a sewing class so I can learn how to do things the right way.  That doesn't start until November though.  So in the mean time I tried to make something easier.  I remember seeing how to make a small zipper bag on this blog awhile back and thought it would be great to try.  The zipper kind of scared me but I figured I would attempt it anyways.  Plus I accidentally bought about twice as much fabric as I needed for that first bag so I had a bunch left over.

I seriously could not figure out how to pin this correctly on the last sewing step to make it so the zipper looked perfect but I just kind of made it up as I went.  It didn't end up perfect but it's acceptable (to me).  I will do better next time.  These little bag are cool and I could use about 20 of them with all the junk I keep in my purse so I should get a lot of practice.  I'm currently using this one for coupons.

What do you think?

Anyone taken up sewing yet?

Is your purse a mess?

Sewing Machine Review and My Greatest Crafting Achievement To Date

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to review another product from CSN Stores.  This time I decided to review a sewing machine.  I have wanted to learn to sew for a long time.  I feel like not knowing how to sew is really holding me back in my crafting and making stuff (you know, the title of this blog).  So I sorted all the sewing machines available on CSN by price and bought one of the cheapest ones which was this Brother Free-Arm Sewing Machine with 10 Stitches.

So far I am loving this machine.  You should know, I don't actually really know anything about sewing so I don't have anything to compare it to.  I was able to thread the bobbin and the needle and actually get started sewing in about 45 minutes.  I think that was pretty good because I'm not the best at following directions (hence why I like cooking better than baking-less important that you follow recipes exactly in cooking).  The instructions have pictures and are pretty easy to follow.

In comparison to every other machine, this machine was cheap.  I was not expecting anything amazing, just a basic beginner sewing machine.  I think this machine is going to work for me and help me achieve my dream of one day being able to sew my own apron.  I have actually signed up for a month long sewing class.  We'll see how that goes.  Overall, I'm very pleased with my purchase.

Since I didn't really know anything about sewing, I decided to just jump in head first.  I bought this pattern I found online (it said it was a good bag for beginners).  It took me most of last week, but I finally finished my bag.  There were a few mishaps but overall I was extremely proud of myself (just don't look at the straps or top too closely).  It even has pockets.  Hopefully my sewing class will give me some tips on how to do things better and what some of these sewing words mean (I had to google a bunch while making this bag).

In other, unrelated news, the dining room table is back to craftland.

Who knows how to sew?
Who wants to know how to sew?