recent projects

I have always wanted to learn to sew. I took home ec in junior high and made some pillows and an apron, but I haven't done much since then at all. A couple years ago, Thomas and Emily got me a sewing machine for my birthday and I intended to start using it right away. But then less than a week later I found out I was pregnant, and that combined with school kind of pushed the whole learning-to-sew project to the side. Then Jamie came along and spent most of his first year napping horribly, meaning I had little time to myself. Finally, though, when Jamie went down to one nap this past summer, he started consistently napping well, and I have found myself with some me-time each day. Hooray! Obviously I use that time to clean and prep food for dinner and read (and update the blog, like I am right now), and I have also found time to start teaching myself to sew.

I already posted pictures of a couple projects I've worked on in the last few months:

Jamie's Jedi Halloween costume

Jamie's Christmas stocking

I also made Jamie a fleece sleepsack. His room is the coldest in the apartment, and it is very tricky to keep blankets on him. He already had a Halo sleepsack, but it is very thin and and wasn't going to do much to keep him warm. I found a fleece one online, but it cost about $25, not including shipping. I made this one for about $8. I had no pattern, I just traced around the sleepsack he already had. It was my first time sewing in a zipper and it was particularly tricky, as I was putting in an upside-down separating zipper in a garment that wasn't going to separate the whole way. It is far from perfect, but it works!

I made several Christmas gifts as well. Using this tutorial, I made quilted rag letters for Jamie, his cousins, and some friends. 

Pinterest gave me lots of good ideas (probably too many) for gifts I could make myself. That's where I stumbled upon these monogrammed ornaments. I made sets of them for several families. These particular ones were for my brother Hyrum's family.

 

For most of Thomas's professors and friends, I made treats (almond poppyseed bread, pretzel turtles, homemade marshmallows . . . YUM), but one lady was pregnant and had gestational diabetes, so instead I made her a few burp cloths. Again I found the tutorial on Pinterest. The only hard thing about these was trying to find general neutral fabric. I made them out of flannel. So easy and so soft and snuggly! Too bad they'll soon smell of sour milk :)

 

I made several gifts for Thomas's sister Emily, but for some reason I only took a picture of this ear warmer (yes I think I may be addicted to Pinterest).

I also made her a going away present as she heads off to Korea (in just a couple weeks!!). This is a travel organizer with pockets for passport, boarding pass, etc. The zippers were a little tricky. I really love how it turned out, especially the contrasting fabric as the pocket lining.

 

And finally (for those of you who made it all the way to the end), I just recently designed and made these file pocket holder things to hold art supplies next to Jamie's little table. I used some interfacing to make them a bit sturdier. I'm very pleased with how they turned out!