Sometimes I sew slow, sometimes I sew quick

After all the complications the two taggy blankets gave me, the four burp cloths I made in about 30 minutes ended up being rather complication-free, thank goodness!  They are so cute and so easy to make, which equals fun and happy sewing!  Yay!  The only additional complication has been finding more of the cute animal flannel I used to make the taggy blankets, which meant the one burp cloth I made out of that flannel had to have the animals laying in the opposite direction of what you (or at least I) would assume.  Sideways.  But I think that's pretty minor - the more major problem with being out of that fabric is I can't attempt a third taggy blanket or make anything else out of that fabric.  So thankfully I was able to find a different fabric that coordinates with the animal flannel and chocolate bumpy fabric and is also very cute.  So, so far I have one taggy blanket with one side animal flannel and the other side chocolate bumpy; and four burp cloths: one animal flannel, one chocolate bumpy, one light blue bumpy, and one polka dot.  I am also planning to make two bibs and a sock monkey.  Here are the burp cloths:

I plan to tell Mama Lindsey that all my baby shower gifts will improve by the time she has her second baby!  At least that's the plan...

There could be several titles for this post...

...One down, three to go...
...Two down, hopefully just one more to go (on this project)...
...Practice makes perfect (I hope!)...
...This sure is harder than it looks...

So I woke up this morning so excited to start sewing and start creating adorable baby shower gifts!  I assembled my supplies:

and started sewing.  I was planning to have the taggy blanket done to write this post so I could say one project completed and three more to go (burp cloths, bibs, and sock monkey), but then it was like I was on Candid Camera!  First, the needle in my machine broke, but luckily I had new ones in that aforementioned kit, so I just replaced it and kept on sewing.  I was able to sew all the way around the blanket without any more issues, but then I turned it right side out to discover one of the tags was 1/2 way falling out.  I decided to just finish sewing and then go back to that tag, rip out the seam, and resew that part, which ended up being fine.  But in the meantime I also discovered I had sewn one of my pins into the blanket...on the inside!  Not that a pin in a project isn't bad enough, but inside a baby blanket I'm pretty sure it's completely unacceptable!  So I removed the pin without too much trouble, but it left an imperfect spot in the blanket.  And I am not a fan of imperfect spots!  So between that spot and the spot from where I had to resew the lose ribbon, I decided to try another blanket because I was sure I could make it absolutely perfect.  And I was right...until I went to iron the 99% completed second blanket and burned a hole through one side of the fabric!  I had to laugh, it was such a comedy of errors!  Obviously I do not have a knack for sewing!  And I can only hope that practice will make me better.  So, I ended up cutting the top strip off the blanket and resewing ribbon tags on that side so it looks pretty good, but four of the tabs are not equally spaced and therefore this blanket is also not perfect,

so I will probably try one more blanket and give her whichever is the best!  In other words, two blankets down, hopefully just one more to go...  Wow - this sure is harder than it looks! 

PS - In addition to improving my sewing skills, I am fully aware that I also need to improve my photography skills...that is on my long list of things to do!

PPS - Look what else was on my camera when I uploaded these sewing photos:

I think I need to upload my photos a little more often!  Aren't they sew cute?!?!

1st project ready to be sewn!

So I haven't actually sewn anything today, but I did go to Joann's and get all my supplies (those that I didn't already own in my fancy sewing kit:

- thanks Mom!) and even set it all up, including my machine:

(which was given to me by a friend a few years ago and has been sewn on a few times by my mom), so that first thing tomorrow morning I can sew my taggy blanket right up!  I am really excited about how cute I hope it will turn out!  I love the fabrics and ribbons and I hope Mama Lindsey and her baby boy do, too!  I will post pics of everything tomorrow.  Wish me luck!

1st post

I've taken 2 sewing classes (not including home ec in junior high) and I have an intense desire to be crafty (amongst other things I'm sure I will post about on this blog), plus a baby shower just 2 weeks away...think I can combine those classes, desire, and impending shower and make some cute baby items:

                                  taggy blanket

burp cloth

pocket bib

sock monkey

for my cousin-in-law's future son???  That's why I started this blog...to encourage (aka force!) me to follow through with my crafty desires and actually BE crafty!  Stay tuned...