YOU?!? SEWING?!?

In May I casually informed Paul that I'd need him to watch the boys Monday nights during the month of June.  He said, "Sure, how come?" and I said, "I signed up for a beginner's sewing class."  Paul didn't quite pass out in shock on the floor, but instead he said, "YOU?!?  SEWING?!?"

Okay, so maybe I'm not so inclined with these sorts of things.  Perhaps he was remembering one of my very first blog posts, (click here to read), a sewing attempt that was almost a complete bust, and even resulted in breaking out the hard liquor.  At any rate, Paul agreed to watch the boys so I could attempt a sewing class.

I warned the teacher the first night that sewing gave me a temper.  She just laughed and told a story about someone that threw her material across the room in a rage.  The teacher then sent her home for the night.  I knew right then that I'd better be on my best behavior!

For my first assignment, I had to pick out something with a zipper, that used material that wasn't slippery, and a pattern that said "EASY".  So I picked out a purse.  I swear, sewing patterns are written in a foreign language.  Because I read that thing a hundred times and I still couldn't understand it.  And this was just the part about cutting out the pattern!

I never would've succeeded without significant intervention from my mom and the teacher.  The pockets were a nightmare, I didn't know what a gusset was, and HELLO they should not make patterns that don't fit the exact size of the zippers you can buy.  Duh!  Oh, and thank goodness for a seam ripper, as I ripped out five seams. 

For my next project I wanted something easier.  I didn't want to go through all that mess again.  So I decided to make a teepee for the boys.  This pattern was so easy - I could understand it and although it was monotonous doing the same thing for each piece, it wasn't difficult.

This time, I only had to remove one seam (sewed it on the wrong side) and I had to redo the PVC pipes because I originally drilled the holes in the short ones instead of the long pieces.  But it turned out well, and is nice because it stashes under a bed.

I don't want to press my luck or anything with this, but I'm tempted to buy some fabric paints and let the boys do hand prints along the sides of their teepee.

I had my fun, I learned some great stuff from my teacher (most importantly, how to read a pattern) and maybe I'll even break out my sewing machine before the dust is 3 inches deep again.  We'll see.  I do want to make some eco-friendly reusable sandwich packs before the school year starts back up...

Check out my giveaway for Toddler Toes from Loveable Labels HERE!