A Surprise...!

So I love to sew.  I don't think that's a secret.  I started really sewing again about a year ago when I decided to make Miss Niece her favorite princess's dress for Christmas.  She loved it (and still does according to my sister, in fact Little Niece loves it too).  I loved seeing her face light up because of something I had made- even if she didn't know I had made it.  I was hooked.  I needed to make more.  So I started sewing for Miss Niece and Little Niece, and it was always on my mind: what could I make them next that they would always want to wear more than anything else?  I ended up sewing their Easter dresses, Halloween costumes, Thanksgiving outfits and Christmas dresses plus a few little outfits here and there (and my older sis loved the clothes too, bonus!).  With each outfit, I feel my skills improved, I slowed down more so less mistakes had to be ripped out and learned SO much.  It's even gotten to the point where Miss Niece will ask me to sew her anything she wants and Little Niece is starting to follow suit.

Now I have a nephew!  I don't think I've properly introduced him.  Here's The Neph:

He's a cute little squish-able,  huggable, squeezable thing.  I kinda adore him.  And I started sewing for him as well, which meant two firsts- sewing boy clothes and sewing baby clothes.  I've only made him two outfits so far (Thanksgiving and Christmas) but the pants that I made him, my little sister LOVES.  She's mentioned how she wished she had a sewing machine so she could make him lots and lots of pants like the ones I made and possibly learn to make him other clothes.  Well, I thought about getting her one when Target had a machine on sale for like $60/70, but a coyote had just given it's life to destroy my car at the time, so I had no extra moolah if I wanted my car back (a must for working and making moolah).  I've been keeping my eye out for one I could afford since then, but no such luck.  Until this week...

Introducing, for the very first time (besides a quick stint on Craigslist), Matilda!

She's a hip older lady with plenty of kick.  She was playing difficult at first, but with a thorough cleaning job (and a free downloaded user's manual) she's rearing and ready to sew.  In fact, I had to take her for a test ride.  I really like her and I mean I REALLY like her.  I actually wanna keep her, but I feel my other two sewing machines would be jealous (and that might be a little gluttonous of me).  Besides that, she's a surprise.  When I brought Mattie home I told my sister I had a surprise for her, and then proceeded to allow her to play twenty questions without giving her a straight answer.  Yeah, she loves me!  So, SHHHHH!  She still doesn't know.

As I was pondering what to make for Mattie's and my test drive, I decided she needed some hip old lady clothes to accompany her to her new home, so a sewing machine cover it was.  It couldn't be too girly cause tho my sister is definitely a girl, she likes subtle girliness, not over-the-top ruffles and bows or anything like that.  

My version of dressing Mattie- throwing the cover on...

Mattie made me fix and straighten it out...

She likes it, can you tell?  My sister takes care of her things very well, but I wanted to make sure that this could take care of itself, so all edges are finished (for no fraying).  There's a pocket for throwing things in quickly and pulling it back out later (cause who actually puts things away only to get them back out- not me!).  I split the bottom for the cords, so no bent or squished up cords for Mattie.  And check out this corner, I was so happy/impressed with how it makes it look like a little box on top:

A boxy top- that is SO old lady

Happy and free cords

All seams are french seams- absolutely NO raw edges (that took some time to do!)

I'm driving to my sisters house today and can't wait for her and Mattie to get acquainted with one another.  If she ends up not liking Mattie, I'll DEFINITELY offer one of my other (newer) machines and continue to bond with Mattie myself.  Ha!  I only wish...  At least we have these memories together, and maybe my sis will let me use her whenever I visit (which would also mean no more lugging a sewing machine around- two pluses).  

Anyone have a kickin' old lady sewing machine they wanna give away?  I'll give her a good name, home and clothes, promise.  Until next time, sweet Matilda!

Crafting Creativity

Growing up with four kids in one family causes a mother to get creative.  When a mother gets creative, she inspires her kids to be creative as well, if only to spare her household budget the tiniest bit.  We had a very crafty (in a good way) mom, sewing clothes for the dress code at school (before uniforms), teaching us how to make our own birthday gifts for friends' parties, pulling out odds and ends when we were bored and running all over the place...  I'm pretty sure she's the reason we kids have a artsy/creative streak.  My older sister knits things that would make my hands cramp for weeks (I await each Christmas eagerly for whatever she's made me, it's always so cute!).  My brother is incredibly talented at drawing, pottery, sculpting, painting, you name it, he's good at it!  My little sister has the best dance moves and can (literally) shake her hips anyway she wants; she also can dabble in just about anything she wants, cooking, sewing, music, etc...  I love to cook and see (and taste) art in food.  I'm finding more and more a love for sewing and making my own patterns.  Then there's these little wooden boxes you can get at any craft store and I have such fun painting them all kinds of different ways!  So today, I'm sharing some of my creative-doings!  I enjoyed making all of these and I have alot more currently in progress or waiting to be started.  FYI, I had cute "Titles" for each photo collage, but I'm not very technologically... adept.  In other words, I've no idea why they're not there!

See? Painted boxes!  I've made so many, starting from when my mom gave me one to paint for a gift for a friend when I was 12.  Since that one turned out so well, I  remember I wanted to make a box for the next three or four friends' birthdays.  The blue "lacy" one with the fabric lining is my most recent.  I made it for my ASL (American Sign Language) teacher last semester.  I really liked the class and adored the teacher, I can't wait to learn from her again!  On the inside of the lid I'd painted, "The Beautiful Song of ASL".  The yellow and blue striped one I made just for fun, no other reason.  Ramen Girl ended up liking it so much I gave it to her.  The pink one was for a girl in the youth group I used to help teach.  I have more already finished in my closet, I just don't know what to do with them...  Anyone want a painted box?

Hi, I'm Nicole, and I'm a food addict...  I love to cook.  I LOVE to bake.  I love Love LOVE to eat!  One of the great things about being a vegetarian is I eat very often (veggies don't keep you full terribly long), so I get to have wonderful food all day long.  The awesome thing about cooking is there aren't really any rules.  As for baking, as long as you understand the food science and what ratios are needed, recipes can be altered or discarded completely!  Excuse me for a second, I think this has made me hungry...

My mom taught me how to sew when I was younger, but I could never read a pattern well enough to actually make clothes.  Most of my sewing was patchwork pillows and other small things I could make without a pattern.  Having adorable nieces has made me want to actually make them something besides pillows, so I tried my hand at clothes without a pattern.  Actually, I made my own patterns.  I may dislike math, but I seem to enjoy working with measurements and figuring out how the pieces should fit together like a puzzle.  I'm not technical with my sewing at all, but I have alot of fun!  My older niece seems to be living in that purple dress, I never thought it would be that popular!  I couldn't find a laptop bag I liked, so I made my own.  Those pants are the first I've ever made and were intended for my younger niece, but I think they might be just a tad to small for her so I'm making another pair slightly bigger.  So now I have a pair of pants that I'll never wear...  I'm thinking I have a friend somewhere that has a daughter that these would fit!  I admit, I used a pattern for the blue dress, and I still have to sew the zipper (currently pinned in), but I added some details I wanted and changed a few things to make it more "me"!  Sigh, can't I just sew instead of doing homework?

I could have included this apron with the other pictures, but then you all would've been denied my cute older niece!  While sewing this apron, I discovered I LOVE the look of ruffles more than I thought I did (which was already a substantial "like").  Miss Niece loves pink and girly stuff, so she had fun in this little number, particularly since she got to make cookies while wearing it.  She was so cute!  She rolled out and cut those cookies on her own and frosted them in a myriad of colors her Aunt Buggy helped her mix. 

If I had time to do any of this alot more often, I don't think I'd have room in my apartment for Ramen Girl and The Ginger, but you know I'd be incredibly happy!!!  Next on the to-do list: finish the coordinated pink outfits for Miss Niece and Little Niece, make a long sleeved dress out of this delicious red wool recently acquired, work on the Nieces Easter dresses, sew The Ginger a black skirt for her performances, and more!!!!  Let the fun begin...