Making Gifts for Friends

My dear friend Monsio just added adorable twins to her family. Luli, Fiona and I went to visit Monsio, Tony, Toni Sahai, Michael, Laila and Lathan yesterday and shower them with love and gifts. I took the opportunity to learn more about my sewing machine and branch out with a few more projects. For the twins I made matching boy/girl bibs and burp cloth/lovey's. I used chenille for the burpy/lovey and let Monsio decide whether or not she'll use for burping or for something the twins can attach to. I used the Bend the Rules pattern for the bib, my first time adding snaps! But I designed the burpy/lovey myself. I'm pretty happy with how each came out.

For Toni Sahai I made her a smock/apron that she can wear while helping her Mommy make yummy Liberian food (so good!). I again made this from the Bend the Rules book, the same as the ones I made for my girls. I like the way this one came out better, mainly because of the pockets. This fabric really reminded me of Toni Sahai also, it's bright and cheery just like her.

With my limited knowledge of boys and boy stuff I was a wee bit stumped on what to make for Michael, so I decided on making the turtle from Bend the Rules. It was my first time making a stuffed animal and frankly it was tough! I had to cut up the body once and re-do it. It almost sent me to the loony bin! In the end I was pretty happy with the outcome and I learned a lot from that project.

To sweeten the deal and bring something for the very busy momma! I made her, her favorite cake...the pumpkin cake (it is one of my best). I didn't photo it but frankly tis the season for this cake and it'll get made again and again! I also made a yummy breakfast apple bread using the apples from our apple picking trip. We had a lovely visit with lots of baby holding and swing set playing! I can't wait to see those babies (and big kids of course) again soon! But wouldn't you know I forgot my camera that day! GRRR!

Hot Off the Sewing Machine

I just finished these smocks for the girls, literally just finished. I made them from the Bend the Rules book again. They took me 3 days to make, but would have been less if I didn't need to order the manual for my machine half way through. Now I have the manual and I can get all my questions answered. The smocks were my first time working with bias tape, I found it intimidating before I started but it was rather easy to do and adds a nice finish to the smock. Luli wanted to help, her dialog went like this "Mommy I wish I could help you, but I really can't. I'm just a little girl and I can't do sewing on the machine." HA! She set up her own pretend sewing area (my sewing area is in the playroom so I can be with them). She set her play ironing board as her table, and her play chop sticks as her scissors. Very creative! Anyway, I'm really please with how they came out, again I'm a novice so there are a few errors, but overall I'm happy. The book says the girls can wear them as a dress and frankly I think a cute pair of leggings and a long sleeve shirt would look rather cute with it. I have this other floral fabric that I'm tempted to make some with...maybe for a friend. After all how many smocks do you need!?

Susie's Bachellorette Party and Wedding

My cousin Susie and I grew up together, we're the same age and attended k-12 together. On September 6th she got married and we were lucky to join in the celebrations. Thursday prior to the wedding was the bachelorette party. Clearly I am not out late these days of my life, but we were out till 3:30am! It was a lot of fun and seeing some old faces was a good time also. We started out having a dinner party at one of the bridesmaid's houses, we also went k-12 together. Then a limo picked us all up and we headed to Saratoga for some bar hopping. The track finished the week prior so the bar scene was a wee bit empty, but we had a great time anyway. I also took the opportunity to add to my sewing creations and made a cute corduroy clutch to match my outfit for the evening. I made it on my mom's machine which is all computerized, I made her put the pedal on it, but I'm definitely partial to my 1976 machine! I forgot my lil' camera for the party but I did take a pic of my purse...It matches because I wore chocolate pants and a turquoise top. I made a few errors in it, but overall I'm happy with it. I made it from the Bend the Rules book again. The only thing I'd really change is to make it longer/wider, but it fit my wallet and cell phone fine.

Oh right...back to the wedding, Susie and Brendan got married at Echo Lake Lodge, which was really beautiful. Unfortunately it rained so we didn't get to enjoy the grounds as much as we'd like but the ceremony and reception were a lot of fun. I caught up with all my cousins (well almost all, there are a lot). I hadn't seen my cousin Megan in a long time and it was great to play wingman with her. Susie and Brendan are a very loving couple. It was beautiful to watch Brendan's face during the ceremony, he couldn't stop looking at Susie and he obviously adores her. She deserves so much happiness, I wish them all the best!

The day after the wedding my cousin Matt (Susie's brother), his wife Julie and their baby Mattie came over to visit and play with the girls. Mattie is 18 mths old and this was the first time we'd met her, so we had to take the opportunity to get these gals together. They were very cute.

My First Sewing Project

My friend Molly has inspired me to get my sewing machine working more often than the necessary taking in of Luli's pants. She suggested a helpful book Bend The Rules Sewing, By Amy Karol. I have really enjoyed the book because it's rather easy to follow for beginners and has really cute projects. At first I wanted to do one of the kid projects but then I thought, I'd really like to make something for myself first. While it's not going to be sold in stores, I'm pretty darn proud of it for my first project. I went with the "charming handbag," I did 'bend' the rules a wee bit by using a pink thread on my brown lining, I thought it would add an element of fun. I really like it, but you can see my stitch veering here and there a couple times. Oh well! Like I said I'm really proud of it and can't wait to start using it.