Moving Day!

Ok! It's been decided! My blog has moved over to Wordpress! You can find me at anestinthemaking.wordpress.com so please update your reader with my new site and/or re-follow the new blog! In a few weeks, I will be deleting this blog, so the only way to view my old posts (and of course my exciting new ones) is to make the switch with me! Can't wait to see you there!

Moving

I think I may be moving to WordPress. I've been having a lot of trouble with Blogger lately. My plan is to mess around with Word Press for a while, see what I know. If I like it, I'll switch for good. Don't worry! I'll let y'all know if/when any changes are coming!

Thanks so much for your patience!

Simple Apron! I love her!

HELP! I save pictures facing the right direction, and when I upload them to Blogger, they're either upside down or turned 90 degrees! Any ideas what's going on?! This is driving me crazy!!!!

I wanted to take a second to show you the pretty apron I made this past weekend! I love her! I think I should name her... would that be too weird?

I haven't been sewing a lot lately. Can I be completely honest here? I haven't been sewing because I *have* to watch 6 seasons of Grey's Anatomy this month. I *have* to, becasue I haev a free trial to hulu + and if I don't finish it by the 28th of this month, I'll have to pay to watch it. Dave Ramsey says no. So... I am watching a lot of TV on my computer. And not doing a lot of sewing. This past Sunday, I decided that needed to change. I miss sewing. (And yes, I know that if I want to sew I can. It's just that I really want to catch up on Grey's and really don't want to pay for it. So, it's a choice that I made... and any complaints are really just kidding because if my biggest problem is that I have to chose between sewing and watching TV any given night, my life is pretty good.)

After church we ran by JoAnn's to use the last of my gift card. Since I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to make, I picked up some bias tape in black and white. I figured one of those colors should match some fabric that I have, and that would give me a starting off point.

I found this pattern for a simple apron. I think I had found the original pattern a while back, but then I lost it. When I saw it on another blog, I decided it was time to make one! (I wish I could remember who it was who recently made one of these, if it was you - and you talked about how great it was for wiping snotty noses - let me know and I'll link to you too!) In the stash of fabric I got from my Grandma there was this country checker print with farm animals. I thought it was super cute but not at all my decor style. Perfect for my first apron attempt!

All in all, the pattern is pretty simple and straight forward. I will warn you that, for a newbie sewer <cross out> sewist (seriously y'all, what is the word?!), taking a few weeks off of sewing kills you. What is a straight line? How do you sew it? How do you pin bias tape again? How do you fold fabric over 1/4 inch and press? It was like I'd never made anything before! I mean, I'm no professional, but I do have a couple shirts, skirts and a bag I love and managed to make! If you were to look closely at my bias tape, you would think a 5 year old sewed it on. But it holds, it is machine washable, and the thread and trim are both black so you can't tell anyway. so there!

My apron looks great (although how can you tell with this upside down picture? *sigh*)! It's a little dark in these pictures - no natural light when you sew after bedtime - but I really like the colors. The pattern is great too because it hides anything I wipe on it. I'm not a messy cook, so I don't really *need* a full-cover-everything apron. This one is just perfect for me to wipe my hands on as I move around the kitchen.

A big thanks to Prudent Baby for the patternt!

Oh! And go MAVS!

I'll be linking up here:

Exciting Things

No... I don't have a big post for y'all today... I made an apron last night! I used a tutorial I found online and I LOVE it! I'll show you later this week. The other exciting thing going on in my life is a work weight-loss program that starts next week. We are doing the 10,000 step [a day] challenge! I got my pedometer today and I am so excited! I think it's because I'm so competative. It's not a competition... in fact NOBODY is competing with me. But I feel like I must make a huge number so that I win. Even if I don't know anyone else's number! Is that strange? *lol* Well either way I'm excited! 189 steps since 3:45 this afternoon (12 minutes ago)!

Where'd You Go?

I miss you so! Seems like it's been forever...

Oh wait... I got lost in a Fort Minor moment.

Anyway, I'm here! I'm busy but I'm here. There hasn't been much sewing going on in my world lately. I've been working more on getting my life "on track" - whatever that means. I felt for a while like I was pulled in so many directions. I guess I fell like that a lot. There's so much I WANT to do. But right now I'm confusing on what I need to do.

I'm going to work. Eating. Sleeping. Spending time with my family. And reading the bible for 30 minutes each night before going to bed (at a REASONABLE hour).

So that's why there haven't been any projects lately. I'm off work tomorrow and Friday, but I'm not sure I'll make anything. If I do, you'll be the first to hear about it. But I may just relax and enjoy my son and enjoy my life.

Life is good, you know that? I think sometimes we just need to sit back and enjoy it.

I've Been Featured!

Y'all will never believe what happened to me this weekend!! I got an e-mail from Jane over at The Borrowed Abode, and an invite to do a guest post! That's right folks, I've been featured! Oh my goodness I'm so excited!

Head on over and visit Jane and give her some love for me!

Second Skirt Tutorial

  I made another skirt! I made another skirt! I made another skirt! Hey hey hey!

Ok but seriously y'all! I LOVE this skirt! Isn't it darling?! And it was soooooo easy!

Firt thing I did was measure from where I want the skirt to sit on my hips, to where I want the bottom of the skirt to be. Did I mention that Heidi Klum volunteered to be my model for this? No? Oh well she did - sorta! And if anyone actually knows her will you thank her for being my model?

{original picture credit}

And I got distracted again! Ok, first measurement (A) is for the elastic. Measurement (B) is for the width of the skirt at the bottom. I made this a little wider than the widest part of my hips. * Make sure not to measure around your legs and use that exact measurement, this may be obvious but your hips are bigger and if you ever want to be able to pull this skirt up in the ladie's room and/or walk you're going to want to have it at least as wide as your hips! Measurement (C) is the distance between (A) and (B). I added an inch to each measurement for seam allowance and sew-the-elastic-into-a-loop space.

Next, I made my pattern. I guess I'd call it a pattern. I didn't actually draw it to scale. Here is a picture:

Yep! Sticky note! But writing it out helped me make sure I got everything right. This is basically what the sketch looks like.

Next I laid out my fabric. I use a seersucker for this. I found it in my big box of fabric from the Benevolance Center. It was super cute, but since I'd never seen seersucker before, I thought it might have been a tablecloth. A quick conversation with one of the Fashion Retail Merchandising professors at work confirmed that it is called "seersucker."  Of course, I had already made the skirt and was wearing it at the time. How funny would it have been if she was like "Kristi, that's a tablecloth!"

Anyway, I folded the fabric over because I wasn't sure how see-through the skirt would be. So you can brag that the skirt is lined if you'd like, but really, you just folded it over and got to cross "hem skirt" off of your to-do list. The fabric I cut ended up being a huge rectangle. I thought about bringing it in a little bit at the top, but I figured the elastic would work just as well. It ended up having a great (small) gather at the top so I'm really happy with how it turned out. If your (B) is much higher than your (A) though, you may want to taper your pattern in a little bit.

Anyway, I cut out my fabric and ironed it so that there would bea  good crease for the bottom of the skirt. Next, I turned it inside out and hemmed the top with a small seam allowance (1/4 or 1/8 maybe?). This made me one long tube of fabric. I flipped it back, right-side-out and ironed again (I had a hard time making the bottom crease stay). Next, I sewed a straight-stitch line an inch lower than my top seam. This is where the elastic will be threaded in, so do that now.

Finally, I sewed up the back to make it a skirt. I don't have a fancy measurement for this. I pretty much sewed the elastic into a loop, put the skirt on, safety pinned it where I liked it, and then stitched it shut. The top was a little tricky. Any experienecs seemstress will tell me I did this in the wrong order, but I'm honestly not sure how I could've done it correctly. I guess some trial-and-error is in my future.

To close the top where the elastic is, I simply folded the fabric under until the edges met and it looked "clean." Then I stitched over it about a thousand times back and forth to hold it in place. Again, not correct or fancy, but at the end of the day it looks fine.

So there you have it folks, my first attempt at elastic and second attempt at a skirt. I wore it to work the next day and got a lot of compliments. I threw it in the wash that night (because I got salsa on it at work) and it survived no problem! Don't laugh but this was a serious concern of mine! I grabbed it this morning and put it on to run errands AND I'm wearing it right now! Yes, I love it that much! I see more fun/simple spring skirts in my future!

Thanks for reading! And as always, if you make a skirt like mine, e-mail me and let me know! I'd love to see it! anestinthemaking {at} gmail {dot} com

And in case you haven't smiled yet today...

*linky linky*
Get Your Craft On

Interesting Use for a Snack Bag

Hello again!

So the other week I took my purse to work with me and it was great! Except... where exactly do I put my unmentionables? Yes, it was my lovely time-of-the-month, and I had no place to put the necessities so that they were not falling out of my purse every other second.

Remember the snack bag I made as a gift when I first started sewing? (If not, go look!) Well, I couldn't find the tutorial but I had a general idea of how I had done it so I took the lining fabric from my purse and got to work.

{Ta-da!}

I love her! I say her, because I doubt my tampon-holder would be male... random thought. So anyway, I L-O-V-E her! In fact, I may love my purse even more with her in it. It holds 4 and blends in nicely. You don't really notice it, but it gives a firm bottom to the purse. Maybe I'll start actually carrying them on me all the time and being prepared for once in my life - who knows!?

So that's my quick project for the week! I haven't been completely lazy though, I did make a skirt two nights ago (which is now my new favorite skirt), but it is in the washing machine at the moment. Post and pictures to come!

***Also, yes I know the picture is crooked. It's not on my computer. I've checked it 37-gazillion times. But every time I upload it *poof* This makes me sad! Any ideas?

Finally an Update!

I *FINALLY* got that picture up of my shirt I made! Go see it here!

Every Purse Needs A Wallet

 Welcome to my first original project!!! Ok, making a wallet isn't exactly original, but this is my own design. For the first time in my sewing life, I did not follow a tutorial I found on-line. Feel free to praise me. Ok done? Thanks! Now read ahead to see how I put the simple magnificent wallet together!

 

I showed y'all a few days ago the new purse I made. 

{Remember me?}

Can I mention again that I love it?! I really do! It's cute and fun and playful and so me! The only problem is that it is little and my wallet is, well, not. This has never been an issue for this huge-diaper-bag-toting momma, but cute-purse-carrying momma needs a new wallet.

 
I had some fusible interfacing leftover from making the placemat and some fabric leftover from making the purse. I had a few weeks sewing experience and a general idea of what a simple wallet might look like. And I had 30 minutes to kill, so what the hey!

I don't carry a lot with me, so I didn't need anything huge. I needed something small enough for the purse, but large enough to hold my zoo member card, my DL, my debit card, and my insurance card (in order of importance of course - yay zoo!). I also wanted to be able to hold a little bit of cash for when I don't feel like taking the entire envelope system shopping with me (Hi Dave!).

I spent a little time the other day mapping out what I would need to do. I made a sample out of paper so that I could work it out instead of trying to see it in my head. The paper was (of course) 8.5x11 inches, so that's what we're going to start with in fabric! See how I dumb things down for myself?

Supplies Needed:
9.5"x11" fabric
slightly smaller fusible interfacing (I had about an inch on each side, but this isn't necessary)
coordinating thread

The first thing I did was to iron on my fusible interfacing. Just place it in the center of your fabric, cover with a spare cloth (or fabric for your next project, whatever is lying around), and iron. I set the iron down for 10 seconds, lift up and repeat in a different spot until I have covered the whole piece. Then I iron it like normal on both sides. I'm not entirely sure this is "correct" but I can say that it works!

The next thing I did was to make my creases and press them in place. The whole wallet, when complete, will be 3" high.

 

After you get the basic shape pressed, top stitch across what will be become your pockets.

Now fold your wallet in on itself so that the pockets are on the inside and you see a solid piece of fabric. Run Stitch down the raw edges, with a 1/4" (ish) seam allowance.

Flip your wallet inside out and you now have the basic shape! Congratulations! Of course, I wouldn't put any money in the middle there... it might fall out the bottom!

The last step is to fold up the loose raw edge on the bottom. You want to fold this into the middle money pocket we created. Press in place. Now top stitch around the bottom and two sides and you're done! YAY!

I hope you enjoyed my first sewing tutorial! I apologize for the lack of pictures as I went through, but I was making it up as I went and didn't think to take any! If anyone decides to make a wallet using my tutorial, please let me know! Either leave me a comment or send me an e-mail at anestinthemaking {at} gmail {dot} com! I'd *LOVE* to see it!

Child's Out-To-Eat Placemat

Hello everyone and happy hump day! I hope y'all are all having a great week!

This evening I finally finished off my second mother's day project! Mother's day in that I bought the fabric with mother's day gift money, not actually mother related at all... but I digress.

Introducing: My first creation for my son, a placemat for when we go out to eat!

I've been itching to make something for the little man for a while now and I'm excited with how well this came out. There were a lot of lessons on the way (did you know bias tape is smaller on one side than the other? You probably did, but I did not), but I am thrilled with the end result. I can't wait until Sunday when we go out to lunch after church so it can make its debut!

I used 2 fabrics from the Circus by L'Miss collection. The pocket fabric came from the remnants bin. The inspiration and tutorial came from Gwenny Penny. Thank you so much Gwen!

I love that it rolls up for easy transportation, and the adorable pocket for utensils!

I'm also thinking about making one for a friend of ours. We are planning to invite them to dinner, and I would like to make a placemat for their daughter!

***Linking up to:***

HoH
Delightful Order

I Made A Purse!

The evolution of my blog stalking went something like this:

February 2010: Little man is born and I spend hours every day nursing him and reading about Susan's amazing journey from giving birth to running a marathon in 1 year. Her blog was recommended to me by a fellow runner on babyfit.com.

October 2010: I am introduced to the world of couponing. I find Hip 2 Save, The Grocery Game (not a blog, but a lifesaver for me), and possibly most importantly Thrifty Decor Chick. That was my jumping off point! For half a year I hopped around the world of decorating on a budget, meal planning, home organization, and crafting. I didn't have the means to do anything (thank you Dave Ramsey for giving me self control), and so I bookmarked. I have page upon page of projects that I would love to try! Some involved sewing, some paitning, some building, some crafting... but they were all things that spoke to me.

April 2011: I discover sewing blogs. Oh-em-gee! My love! Where have you been all my life?! I also borrowed my sewing machine from a friend this month.

May 2011: Oh wait, that's today.

So back in October, or near after, I came across Jaime's gem of a tutorial for her bias tape bag.  I bookmarked it, along with everything else, and went on my way.



Flash forward to this past weekend! For mother's day, I received gift cards to spend at fabric stores and I was in heaven! This is my first time to have more than $5 to spend on fabric at any given time. A quick browse through my saved projects and I knew what I was making...

{Jaime's bag!}

A Beginner's Bias Tap Bag! 

I can not recommend this tutorial enough. The purse it makes is great, and I have gotten so many compliments on it. It was easy enough for me to make, but challenging enough that I felt accomplished (that doesn't necessarily mean it was really challenging... hehe).

{My bag!}

Anyway, I knocked this out Sunday evening. It took a few hours, and I was able to take it to work Monday morning!

I wish I could tell you what fabrics I useds, but I only purchased 1/4 yards of each and when I looked, there's no fabric information on the sides. Both were purchased at Hancock's Fabrics.

I'm going to link this one up a few different places since I'm so darn proud of it! I hope y'all will all go visit Jaime and try out her great tutorial!

{Another of Jaime's bags!}

*LINKY LINKY*

Get Your Craft On

The Girl Creative

One Project At A Time

Pity Party

May 1-8: Clothes and Accessories!

 Completed This Week (May 1-8):

Bookmarks for mother's day gifts

purple shirt 

yoga skirt

black shirt

 purse <post is coming>

Mom Run 5k!

 Painted Lamp {Does anyone know how to make a cute before-after pic using picnik.com?}

 Current Projects:

Travel Placemat for the little one
 - I've purchased my fabric, so I just need to get started.
  * Circus by M’Liss Big Top Acts on Blue Cotton Fabric

  * Circus by M'Liss Elephant Stripes on Cotton Fabric

Spring Top (tie-top tank) - The top itself is done, but it's held together with giftwrapping ribbon because it's all I had at the time. I need to get out and purchase some purple ribbon. I forgot to take the shirt with me when I hit the fabric stores yesterday, so I'll have to remember to take it along to color match.

Future Projects:

 I'm not sure what's next for me. Obviously finishing up what I've been working on. Then I guess I'll hit the bookmarks or blog-browse until something else catches my fancy. One thing I'm a little tempted by is a runner for our kitchen table. The only caveats are that the table is a hot mess, it's covered in paper and boxes and what-have-you, and I've never had a decorated tablescape before. Still, I'm thinking I *could* do it. No fabric or color choices yet, but it's an idea.



Other Goals:

  *Run more regularly! I was so close to placing in my age group (29 seconds) in this last 5k. I think there's no reason I couldn't speed it up! I want to run more consistently and really push myself.
  *Cook all the veggies we got from the co-op this month. We got a ton of summer squash and zucchini and some bell pepper. I need to cook like crazy this week to keep it all from spoiling!

Mother's Day Recap!

Happy Mother's Day Everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend!

My weekend was an absolute blast! Saturday morning we got up early to go run the Mom Run 5k. I hadn't been feeling 100% (vertigo on Thursday and Friday) and so I didn't want to push myself too hard. I decided to push the little man in his stroller so that Derek could go for a good time.
The course itself was pretty boring. It was an out-and-back, but at least the road did curve. The worst part of the run was not the course itself, but a little interference by a construction crew. A little less than a mile in, there was a helecopter moving beams on a 4-5 story building right next to the course. When I got to it, it moved directly over the road. At this point I was running next to

another lady with a stroller. When we hit the wind coming off of the helecopter we both pretty much stopped. We were running as hard as we could, but we were not making any progress! You could tell how hard we were running, because when we hit

the edge of air stream, we both took off at a full sprint. I'm sure it was hilarious to see us go from 0-50 when we hit that point. We just looked at each other, laughed, and kept going. I did not run the whole course. It has been about a year since I pushed the stroller on a run, and on top of that I hadn't been feeling that great. Honestly, I don't remember the last time I ran 3 miles without having to stop. I did manage to run over half of it, and ran/walked the rest. I was pretty proud of myself. Even my walk was faster though! I knocked 5 minutes off of my time from last year! Derek won his age group though! Ok, there were only 2 of them, but still he won!

{Derek picking up his award for winning his age group!}

After the race we went out to visit my mom. She left for Florida Sunday morning, so we had our Mother's day festivities a little early. Her gift this year was a bookmark I made. She was pretty impressed, and I'm hoping it's not just because she's my mom!

This is the bookmark I made for her. My mom is a very vibrant, exciting person. I chose the orange flower because the color just reminded me of how bright she is all the time. The flower is done in leopard print because it's fun, just like my mom! And my *favorite* part is the button! It says "Grand Slam" on it! Ok, I did take it from one of Derek's shirts (I love that they always give you an extra), but my mom is the biggest baseball fan and I just found it so fitting!

  

Sunday morning I awoke to breakfast in bed. All 3 of us piled onto our small bed and ate french toast. Little dude thought this was HILARIOUS! He loves it when we have picnics. They gave me a sweet card (which my little man colored) and a special "allowance" to spend at "the fabric store of my choice."

After church we went to lunch with my in-laws. Derek's mom was excited to receive a bookmark from me as well! And she gave me a giftcard to Joanns! This is the bookmark I made for my mother-in-law. She is more traditional than my mom, and I liked the "cottage" look to this fabric. I can picture her curled up in an arm chair with a good book and this bookmark. It fits the vibe of the scene in my head (does that make me weird or artisitc?).

So after church we headed to the fabric stores. First we hit up Joann's. I got some bias tape for the purse I was making (I knew I wanted black), and a little sewing kit. It has pins, a pin cushion, a tape measure, and scissors (all of which I didn't have). It also came with some more needles and a thimble. The next stop was,

my personal favorite, Hancock's! It felt so weird to *not* be shopping the clearance rack! Don't get me wrong, I definitely looked, but they didn't have anything that jumped out at me. Since I was using gift money, I took the plunge and bought what I wanted! Pretty fabric for my purse {tutorial here} and for the travel place-mat {tutorial here} I'm making! I also got some fusible interfacing (and got to learn what it was), and some bias tape for the placemat.

When we got home sleepy face wouldn't nap, so we hung out and played in the living  room all day. I did get to get my coupons clipped (so I can go shop at lunch on Monday) and my purse pattern cut out. After dinner I got to put together my purse!

All in all it was a great weekend! Very relaxing and fun! I hope everyone else had a magical weekend as well!

*The bookmarks I made used the tutorial here*

A Second Shirt and a Competition!

 

 
Guess what I did today! I made another shirt! This time I used the loevely Tie Top Tank tutorial from Nancy at Belle Epoque! It turned out a little big on me, so I took some of the same ribbon I used for the top, and used it as a belt. I love how it turned out! It's super comfy and very light for spring!

I've been reading a lot about The Spring Top Sewalong (direct link in button below) over at Made By Rae. I just uploaded my picture so we'll see how it goes! I'm super excited about getting involved! I doubt I'll win, seeing as this is only the 2nd shirt I've ever made, but I am just happy to have something I think is worthy of being thrown in the mix! So let me take a second to selfishly endorse myself... VOTE FOR ME! Ok, now that's over with, I hope everyone has a great weekend and a happy Mother's Day!

***I'm linking up here:***