265: Sewing!

Can you believe there are only 100 days left in the year? Where did 2010 go? I guess I did a lot of things in 2010...like graduate, for one. And I also took a sewing class (Home Ec link in the sidebar) ^.^

So far, I love the class. It's technically over but I'm only about a third of the way through the projects. Luckily for me, they plan on keeping the blog up for a year, and the instructors will be around for an extra month to answer questions. Having written instructions is of course different than going in to a studio and taking a physical class, but I think the girls over at Home Ec did a great job laying out step by step instructions and pictures. I can mostly follow everything (the hardest time I had was with the hemming the jeans...go figure). So let's look at some projects! The first project had two different techniques to make napkins.

Zig-zag stitch napkin

Ric-rac border napkin

I like polka-dots...Surprisingly, the ric-rac one was easier to sew than the zig-zag one. I have a whole bunch of fat quarters so I might be making more of these in the future.

The next project was a drawstring bag.

My sewing was kind of iffy here. I completely changed the dimensions of the bag because I thought something smaller would work fine and I wanted to use up some fat quarters.

Project three was a market/tote bag. This is one of my favorites. I love the fabric and I was so proud of my sewing.

Look at that baller x-joint

And those professional looking straps

At first I had sewn the straps on wrong, like two different straps on one side....silly me. But that was easily fixed with a seam ripper and some patience. I've used this bag so much already. And I still have more of the pretty fabric!

I skipped the fourth project (bunting) because it uses different colored smaller fabrics. I figure I would wait until the end to see what I would have leftover. So the next project I completed was a supplies roll-up. This project took a lot longer and my tension was off in my bobbin so the stitches are all messed up in the lining. I was a little lazy and didn't want to redo it, so I just left it as is. I don't plan on giving this to anyone anyway...The fabric pattern is kind of fun, though, right? The project actually called for an oilcloth outside, but I had this zebra print on hand already, and it was thicker than your average cotton, so I used it instead. I also made the roll-up bigger than called for because I wanted to use it for knitting needles.

Outside - rolled

Outside - unrolled

Inside - empty

The next project I completed was an ironing board cover. This was so simple! And so quick! I bought this lovely fabric from Joann and I ended up having a lot leftover (even with cutting way too much fabric out), so that's exciting. I needed the ironing clips badly because of all the extra fabric. Surprisingly the elastic was pretty easy to sew on. And "finishing" the edges with a zig-zag stitch wasn't too bad either, although it gives it a more rugged look.

See? Pretty fabric...

I'm working on pot holders right now, which are much needed. I only have one which doubles as an oven mitt. All I have left to do is finish the seam and find matching thread to quilt them. And instead of making one, I made 4, because there was enough fabric in the fat quarters to do that...I love fat quarters.