serging

Rob surprised me at Christmas by buying me a serger! It's a Brother 1034D, which gets incredible reviews and is very reasonably priced (especially for a beginner like me). I've been wanting to learn to sew clothes for the kids for a long time, especially using knits. So I'm really, really excited to figure everything out.

Today I tackled what I've heard to be one of the trickiest things about sergers-- threading the machine. It went more smoothly than I thought! Gutterman thread was on sale at JoAnns last week so I picked up some turquoise cones along with basic white and grey. I thought it would be more inspiring to start with a fun color as I'm learning. And it's silly, but it really is more fun.

Since I'm not quite sure what to sew yet, I've just been testing things out on scraps. But then I decided to try the rolled edge hem first and make some cloth napkins.



I'm still sort of in shock that it was so easy! One thing I haven't figured out-- is there a way to do needle down and turn corners with this stitch? I ended up doing each side separately, then putting a dab of fray check on each corner where I had to cut the thread chain.

Now what to do next? I'm not sure I'm ready for clothes quite yet (although this 90-minute shirt from Dana of MADE seems doable, and I wouldn't risk much recycling a t-shirt). For those of you who have a serger, do you have advice for a beginner project?

weekend sewing

Thanks to a quiet weekend at home, I was able to tackle two items on my to do list!

First up, some bee blocks for Krista. She's kicking off the first month of the Free Bee and has requested blocks similar in feel to these wooden trees (but without the stems). She only wanted one block, but I couldn't stop myself and did two. It was fun to sew up something so low stress.

Next, I completed my partner's bag for the Potholder Pass 10 swap!

My partner likes patchwork  and modern fabrics. I used a grey Robert Kaufman Carolina Chambray for the main part of the bag, a Suzuko Koseki kitchen print for the panels, and a scrappy log cabin for the pockets.

It's lined with one of my favorite white and orange florals. I hope she likes it!

Ah, to be sewing again. It feels so good.

back in the saddle

Thank you all for the sweet congratulations. I was a bit premature in saying I was starting to feel better. Shortly after I wrote my last post, I started feeling even worse! But I turned a corner late last week and my nausea is gone. What a relief!

It was just in time too, as I was way past deadline on a to-be-published project. It ended up with me designing and sewing a twin size quilt, start to finish, in just 5 days. I think that means I've gotten my sewing mojo back! One more deadline to go and I'll start making things that I can share in this space again. I just can't wait.

what I've been working on this Christmas

Forgive me for not posting in ages, and not keeping the promise that I would at least try to do some recap posts about all of the great things that I've received or experienced over the last couple of months. A little something has had me a bit under the weather:

Baby #4 is set to arrive next summer. I remembered all too well from my past pregnancies how much "morning" sickness sucks, but I still wasn't prepared for the way it totally took me out of commission this go round. I haven't sewn a thing in weeks. I haven't even gone into my sewing room. There have been days where I've barely made it off the couch. Luckily I'm starting to see the light at the end of the first trimester tunnel, and feeling a bit better. Which is a good thing, because it's been hard keeping up with this birthday boy:

At two years old, Cooper is a smart and funny little guy. His great loves right now are Star Wars (he pretends to be Luke Skywalker and use a vacuum attachment for a lightsaber- pew pew!), Cookie Monster, Coldplay, spatulas, books, and ice cream. He counts to 13 (skipping numbers 4 and 11) and talks non-stop. It will be fun to see how he changes over the next year.

Merry Christmas! I hope all is well with your families and that you have a safe and beautiful remainder of the holiday season.

a super swap experience

I feel like I'll be doing catch up around these parts over the next couple of weeks. I've had so many great things to share, but I've been too worn out to do much posting. So bear with me!

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After I pretty much freaked out in jealousy about this Krista's paperpieced pouch, Suzanne contacted me about doing a private swap. I'm back to swearing off large group swaps, but the idea of a private swap with her was totally exciting. Suzanne does beautiful work, and in return she wanted a version of Cooper's mini bike quilt (something I really enjoyed making).

This is the beauty I received, stuffed with fun goodies:

As if the paper-pieced perfection on the front wasn't enough, look what she stitched on the back:

Since I'm someone who pretty much stinks at embroidery, to get a peice of personalized loveliness like this is a dream come true. It so happens that this pouch is made to hold an embroidery hoop too. I can look at this for inspiration as I try to get better with my own projects.

In return, I sent her this little quilt for her bedroom. This design never gets old for me.

Suzanne and I are now both in the Pastiche Bee together, and I can't wait to get to know her better over the next year of making blocks. This experience is yet another testament to how great it is getting to know other crafters through flickr and blogging.

cyber monday (and tuesday!) sale

Phew! I've finally listed all of my leftover craft show merchandise here in my etsy shop!

I've got Echino scarves:

Eye pillows:

Pouches:

and a few other goodies.

Use the coupon code HOLIDAY10 to get 10% off anything in the shop! Since I'm a bit late to Cyber Monday, I'm extending my deal through this Wednesday, November 30.

pouch factory no more

This past weekend I took part in my first craft fair, at the Holiday Arts & Crafts Emporium. I won't lie-- I've been cutting and sewing like a crazy woman for the past month to prepare for it. The past week I've woken up with a start at 4 a.m. every morning, no alarm needed, and then I'd head down to my sewing room for a few hours before everyone else would wake up. It feels good to be done with that. Although it was also pretty nice to have that time to myself.

I shared a double booth with 6 other etsy sellers. We received a grant for part of the booth costs from etsy, hence the "etsy.com" booth name.

My table:

Lots and lots of pouches:

Key fobs:

And some iPad cozies (Made from a tutorial here at One Shabby Chick. Thank you Amber!):

I learned a lot from the experience. It wasn't a big money-maker by any means, and I don't think I had the right kind of audience for my goods. But I did have quite a few really great people come in and say that they loved what I make. I might give the whole holiday craft fair another go next year, but at a different venue.

I've got lots and lots of stock now for my etsy shop! I'll be listing items over the next few days and offering a coupon code for blog readers. I'll make sure to keep you posted.