The Untitled Title Page

… the holidays are coming up pretty soon. It’s always a little surprising, but for some reason this year it really doesn’t feel like it to me. However, I’ve started thinking about gifting, and I’ve gone on a crafting binge in preparation. Yesterday I was coming up with all sorts of ideas. It doesn’t help that Sew Mama Sew is in the third annual Handmade Holidays time. Oh dear. Too many cool ideas out there.

Here is a preview of what it’s looking like. I COULD show the completed project because it is for Morgan, but I think similar ones with be made for others so I’d best keep it hidden for now.

Of course Morgan helped me to make her own present by playing with it while I worked. Hooray for the memory capacity of babies. And I can’t yet show anything else I’ve made, so we’ll just have to wait a bit.

The crafting universe must have been pleased with my efforts in the past week to create handmade gifts because…. we found a sewing machine and bought it! Months ago we went to lots of stores and tried different machines and I got my heart set on something that was much too expensive. There are some amazing things out there. Put it this way–I just saw a machine listed on Craig’s List that advertised a free laptop for running the embroidery software. That should tell you something when the LAPTOP is the freebie. Anyway, I had no idea before starting what current sewing machines are like, having only sewn on mechanical machines. There are some very handy and amazing features. But that also means they get expensive very quickly. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something that didn’t feel perfect or that I would grow out of too soon. So it just wasn’t possible. Or reasonable. I’ve been watching ebay ever since that time, knowing that a used machine was the only way it would ever be possible. And yesterday I found The Deal. (Well, a somewhat more reasonable deal than is usually out there. It’s not exactly free.) And today we bought it. I am so SO excited!

Also, I think when Adrian gets home from work I need to kiss him a thousand times. Except that we both have cold sores. So, scratch that on the kissing. I’ll have to come up with something else for a husband who is spoiling me so ridiculously. Maybe I should make some bread… that’s always a treat.

Happily for me, I’ll get to use MY Christmas present before Christmas. Because even if Adrian tried to hide it, my adult capacity memory wouldn’t forget it. We’ll stick a big bow on top. And for my birthday, too. Hehe. My gift is that I get to make gifts. See how that works out? Maybe I’ll even finish my quilt now…

I like recording projects that I’ve finished so that I remember that I have actually completed things (it’s that whole “getting ahead in life” thing). So here are a few recent ones:

I found this fabric and at first wasn’t too sure about it, then decided I loved it and wanted to see it all the time. So I made pillow covers for the couch with it. I knew I’d have to carefully ration the scraps, since I bought the last of it at the store. I decided to make a fabric basket that could replace the wicker-y one that sits on the couch and holds Morgan’s toys. Sometimes little bits fall off, which isn’t really optimal for a basket that she plays with. So I used this tutorial from Sew Mama Sew and went from there. It was a challenge because it used different types of interfacing and fusible fleece than I’d used before. Plus, because I can never do anything simply, I altered the dimensions. Because I made it bigger the sides weren’t as strong, so I added in a layer of thin cardboard I pulled out of our recycle pile. It didn’t come out perfectly because the lining didn’t quite fit as I was hoping, but it’s good enough. I cut the fabric carefully and calculated I could make four of these (though I’d have to buy more of the Essex linen for the lining and base), so we’ll see if I ever get to that.

I might also add more layers between the lining and outer box because as you can see it’s not too stiff. But hey, it works. It holds toys. And it makes an excellent hat.

The back of the pillows are button closed because I think it’s cute and it makes the cover removable without having to deal with sewing zippers. Morgan here is demonstrating both her fascination with everything around her and her finger skills. I had a vision for what I wanted in the button itself and couldn’t seem to find quite what I was looking for at the store. Then while ordering things from this site of wood products I realized that a wooden button was exactly what I was going for. Voila!

So, um, remember how when I was pregnant I started knitting this blanket? It wound up sitting for a very very long time because I wasn’t really happy with how it was turning out (like oh so many projects…). But I finally finished it and then took another month or two to weave all the little tails in. At least it’s done. I still don’t envision her snuggling up with it because it sheds like mad and isn’t as soft as I wanted (hence the frustration with the results of my work), but at least I finished. And it can now sit in a box forever.

Okay, now this one is funnier. I started this when I was somewhere around the age of 14 or 15, I believe, which means it has been sitting around, incomplete, for over ten years. It’s another one that I wasn’t entirely happy with how it came out, and frankly I didn’t really have a use for it anyway. Well, I’ve been wanting a rug and one day that bag it sat in finally made me insane enough that I finished crocheting it and threw it on the kitchen floor, bumps and all. Adrian’s not wild about the dirty factor with a rug that is near so much food, which I understand, so this is great because it’s washable but if it falls apart and we throw it away I don’t care at all. At least it’s not sitting in my craft stuff anymore, slowly eating at my sanity. Hehehe.

Adrian did a good job explaining the whole air conditioner situation. My question is: did the owners think there was air conditioning? I am absolutely positive it was in the Craig’s List ad, and I actually even remember talking about it. Now, on the control panel thingy you CAN select “cool”, which one would assume means air conditioning, but there is no unit outside. I even walked around the house to double check just to make sure (I couldn’t remember seeing one, once it occurred to me, but that is one of those things that just gets absorbed into the background normally). As far as I know, you can’t actually have air conditioning without one of those big things outside. Anyway, kind of a bummer, since the AC and the gas stove were two of the big reasons we chose this house. I’m sure we’ll survive, it’s just kind of annoying to be sweating inside your own home… even with the fans going. I was really wondering what was wrong with the AC for it to be so ineffective after running it all day long. Hahaha.

Since I got so many comments from helpful people on the sewing machine deal, here’s a quick update on that, too: I’m going to wait a little while. I’ve realized that in order to make a big enough step up from what I already have, it would be a lot of money. Sewing machines are expensive! It seems silly to buy something that’s just a little nicer or a little heartier than my machine, because if I’m going to spend a good amount of money it might as well be really worth it. So then the question is should get a machine that is about where I’m at now, or one that I would grow into? My ideas are always a little bigger than the realm of possibility (Adrian and I definitely have that in common, though his are about vacations we could take and things like that and mine are about things I’m capable of doing… and in this particular case what my machine can help me do). So do I reach up high enough that it would be capable of everything I envision myself wanting to do? You know, I don’t do a lot of quilting now (I did try… but it was puckered on the back after I tried to quilt it and not so good and I got frustrated… perhaps my own fault for thinking it was a good idea to jump into the world of quilting with one that could fit a full bed?), but I would like to. So do I need a machine big enough for that? Etc. I don’t want to spend tons of money on something that I think I’d then want something else after a little while, even if that little while is five years.

Also, in all my reading and research about machines I’ve realized that mine is actually pretty good, relatively speaking. The things that people complain about in reviews it either doesn’t do at all or only slightly. So for a lower-end machine, it really does do what it needs to do. Also, I figured out that tension issue–not why it’s happening but at least I can feel it while I’m threading the machine now so I can fix it immediately, rather than doing test stitches every time I sew. So that has removed a lot of my headache. Of course, then last weekend we went to this quilt shop and I tried out some of the machines there and they were SO smooth and quiet. It was pretty crazy. I’ll leave it at that before I sound nutso and completely bore anyone who doesn’t sew.

So. That means I’m trying to figure out how to earn some extra money specifically for a sewing machine so that I don’t feel SO wasteful or insane in wanting a really crazy nice one. Well, I still do, but I feel like if I can also prove that I’ll really use it, then it’s more justified. We’ll see how that turns out. Maybe in a few years I’ll get there… by which time, of course, I’ll perhaps have another kiddo and have even less time for my own creative endeavors.

I think I’ve outgrown my sewing machine. My parents bought it for me when I was in college (I think–or was it in high school, Mom?), and I’m very grateful to have it, but I just can’t quite do all the things on it that I want to. I will be honest and admit that half of that is probably my lack of skill. It’s like the idea that if you’re a good enough cook your cookware and equipment doesn’t matter. Regardless, I get these big ideas and I can’t really accomplish it all.

I always have a backlog of projects, but there is a certain one that has been sitting around for months and months… which is embarrassing because they are supposed to be gifts. Going through thick layers is one of the issues I’m facing with my machine, so even when I get it all working right (it has had an issue with tension and threading since day 1) I sometimes have problems. A couple weeks ago I sat down to work on it again, but the tension was all off. I rethreaded it and retested it about five times and it finally worked. Yay! So then I sewed a few stitches… and broke the needle. It took me a few days to even look at it again.

Well, I finally got at least one thing finished, which only opened the floodgate of things I’ve been wanting to make in my head. It also made me admit to myself, finally, that I think I probably should be thinking about getting another sewing machine. My two partially-finished quilts have been cast aside because I was so frustrated with how they were coming out. Again, that is partially due my lack of skill, but partially due to the machine, too. It wasn’t meant to quilt, and certainly not to do free motion terribly well. So the ideas I have in my mind simply can’t come out right. So the top pieced together nicely, because it’s a great machine for that sort of thing, but as soon as you start doing layers (which I can barely even fit between the base and the pressure foot sometimes) it’s not so smooth.

Enough whining. I’m writing this to ask if anyone has thoughts on sewing machines. I asked Erin about it and she wrote a great post about finding her machine, so I’m just wondering if anyone else has some advice for me. The trouble is that sewing machines get so expensive very quickly. Plus I don’t want a lot of extra embroidery stuff because that simply isn’t my style. But I want it to be nice enough that I can do what I want and it’ll last well. I guess mostly this question goes to Lesley, since I’m not sure if anyone else who ever reads our blog sews much. I guess I could have just asked her directly. But just in case I can happen upon someone else who likes to sew, it’s worth asking publicly. What do you use? Do you like it? Etc.

I probably won’t be getting a new machine any time soon, incidentally, because I do HAVE one that works well. I don’t mean to come off as ungrateful for it. But… it’s tempting to think about. Hehe. Wouldn’t it be fun to have a serger, too? Oh my, the possibilities are endless.