Itching to Stitch

I worked on some sewing projects over the weekend. Among them was sewing a new wallet for my husband. I'm so proud of the new wallet! I made this wallet tutorial detailing the correct procedure for reproducing this wallet. It took me longer to put the tutorial together than it did for me to sew the thing, even though I ripped out most of my stitches after noticing a vital mistake. Now I'll be able to follow my own directions for a new one when he needs it. I was thinking of making some wallets, purses, totes, etc. to sell at the farmer's market in the spring. We'll see if I manage.

Learning to sew has been interesting and fun. Its been really nice to see that this is a skill for which I seem to have a knack. I like trying to figure out how to make things according to my mental picture of them. Sometimes I can find the patterns that are very close to the end product I'm imagining. Usually though, I have to either alter a regular pattern or create my own.

Last winter my kids picked out purple leopard skin fabric to make into a dog coat. This was important because our dog is the color of dirty snow and blends in a bit too well.

This year for Christmas, I made my niece and nephew on my husband's side each a custom stocking. Both were inspired by stockings I've seen on the web. However, I forgot to take pictures of them. Luckily, my sister-in-law snapped some photos for me. Here they are, Ballerina Stocking and Monster Stocking:


Now Lolly wants a monster stocking. I should have known. She can use the sewing machine but it's usually put away so it doesn't occur to her that she could use it if she asked. (Out of site, out of mind, I guess.) But get out the machine and her eyes light up, a maniacal grin spreads across her face and the fabric scraps pull themselves deeper into their storage bins. She has 50million little projects milling around in her head. I'm almost afraid of setting her loose on the world with the capacity to sew.