I’ve sewed everyday for the last two weeks…or pretty close to that. I’m definitely still no expert, but I think I’ve at least progressed from newbie to intro intermediate. I’ve double stitched and edge stitched and gathered and pleated and elastic-ed and hemmed and eased and ripped and ripped and ripped and then done it all over again. I am very thankful for all the instruction and advice my mom has given me and for the ripping out she helped with when my eyes started to cross.

Needlework | Clothing | Shirt: Completed

This blouse (I don’t really like the word “blouse,” but this seems to be more of one than a shirt) is from another pattern Anya picked out last fall. I liked how the pattern says “EASY” on the front in big letters. I’d like to say, though, that the shirt was not EASY. I said this to my mom who replied, “Well, it is easy. It doesn’t have any buttons or zippers, so it is kind of easy.” I feel more accurate advertising would call this pattern EASIER.

Needlework | Clothing | Dress: Almost Completed – Needs Buttons

We went to the fabric store. A few times. One time, we were supposed to just be going to get something specific like a half yard of fabric to finish the back of a quilt or a spool of thread or a button. Then we remembered the sale bin. And saw the patterns on sale. And Ooo! Look! Pretty! This one time, we found fish bowl fabric, and it was on clearance and how can you resist fabric with fish IN BOWLS? You can’t. Did I mention patterns were on sale? Had to find a pattern for the fish bowl fabric. The pattern I found happened to be one already in my mom’s stash. (Don’t worry; I found a few more to get for other projects.) This dress was nice and moved pretty quickly until I got to the buttons on top. My mom recommended I use my machine at home that does buttons automatically, unlike her machine. And then I couldn’t find the right sized buttons, too. So, it’s not quite done. While I was admiring it, those darn fish started to misbehave. On the skirt, the fish are upside down. Oops.

Needlework | Clothing | Misc: Completed

When Sewing Boot Camp started, I hadn’t planned on doing the Misc, but when I saw this pattern (ON SALE!), I was inspired. I found some nifty clearance fabric and whipped out this baby in a few hours. When the kid went to bed this evening, this leotard was in pieces, and now it’s all ready for her. It’s probably big, but I still think she’ll enjoy it. With the bow it will be really nifty with her hot pink Tooth Fairy twirly skirt.

Needlework | Quilting | Pieced Quilt: In Progress

All that’s left is the binding. Will I finish it tomorrow, the last day of my trip? Unsure. Unlikely.

The fair is September 22. Have I mentioned that yet? It’s getting close, and I’m getting a bit nervous. I’m still working hard and have finished two more pieces. I don’t have the numbers, but here ya go anyhow:

Needlework | Clothing | Skirt: Completed

I don’t know if I’ve ever completed a clothing sewing project. (Unless that Michael Jacksony glove I made out of swimsuit material in elementary school counts. Does it?) I’ve started several but didn’t finish them. When I went looking for patterns for the fair, I tried to find something simple. Want to know of a pattern this is not simple? McCall’s M5841. Looking back, I wonder why I thought it was simple. It has a bunch of pieces. It’s gathered. Why would I think that’s simple? I suppose it doesn’t have any zippers or buttons. I also suppose back then when I bought the pattern, I didn’t realize how gathering and bunches of pieces can be cRaZy.

I tried starting this a while ago. I got all the pieces of the tiers sewed together and the top part cut out and sewed. Then one night I started trying to put it all together, and I don’t remember what happened….it’s sort of fuzzy, but the next thing I remember I was stuffing the pattern, directions, and fabric into my sewing box in a very angry and crumply way. I remember Andy stared at me and blinked and was sort of in shock or afraid or something because I was cRaZy.

Everything stayed in the box until my current visit to my Mom’s house. Thank goodness for Mom, who gave me some great tips and support and distracted the kid. In no time…or a few days perhaps…it was done. HUZZAH! (Alas, my model was in need of a nap at the time of the big reveal and only very reluctantly wore the skirt for ten point two seconds while I snapped this very cranky photo of her.)

Woodcraft | Woodburning: Completed

After I put the squiggles inside the heart, I wished I hadn’t. Oh well. I do think I will do more wood burning because it is fun to burn stuff in a nice, controlled way. I used some of my birthday money to buy a little kit, and it’s pretty nice. I do wish there was a good way to change the points without having to wait for them to cool down. Or perhaps a way to better tell if the point is cool before actually grabbing it. (Ow.)

Up next? A small quilt, a shirt, and a dress (made using fishbowl fabric!).