Is This The Start Of It?

As most of you are not from Denver, you probably don’t recognize this lyric-title. It’s from a local band called Meese which never fails to bring to mind images of Hanna-Barbera cartoons, however unrelated they are.

“It” for this entry is referring to a sewing obsession. Because I have my very own pin cushion!

I used this basic tutorial after having seen other people’s finished products sprinkled throughout craftster. It took me damn near forever to find the tutorial, but I’m glad I did. So here’s the fabric I started with.

I found it today at Hobby Lobby when I was getting my interfacing for the practice-blouse I intended to work on tonight. I didn’t know what size I wanted mine to be and didn’t really have any idea how to make it a particular size if I did know what size I wanted the finished product to be. So I looked around my room and decided that I’d choose a suitable template and just go from there for my circles. I used a CD. =) And I love the size it wound up being, too.

Here it is sewn together. You can sort of see the opening near my palm.

And stuffed after a big meal. I originally was going to use some crochet chains I had lying around, but they didn’t stuff it enough, so I cut up an old shirt into strips and stuffed it with that.

Here’s the opening where I whipstitched it together. A slip stitch is still kind of beyond me, though one would think it would be easy, but I needed instruction for it and was impatient so I did whatever came naturally. So this edge is a little rough, but I’m okay with that.

I had to run to a craft store real quick to pick up some embroidery floss in the middle of the project. I have some in a box in storage but didn’t think I’d be using it anytime soon as I really don’t like to cross stitch, but hey! There are other uses for embroidery floss and now I have learned my lesson. I went to the HObby Lobby down on 120th and Sheridan real quick because I thought Hobby Lobby closed at 9pm, but it closes at 8pm so I was 20 minutes too late. I got back in my car and frantically searched my mind for another place that was close that would carry it and remembered that there’s a Michael’s at 93rd and Sheridan so I went down there and they close at 9pm (which I’m quite familiar with at this point) and I found a few different colors of floss and grabbed a longer sewing/embroidery needled to use for my pincushion. The total for my purchases as $4.23. I had four one-dollar bills in my pocket and a wad of other cash in my purse. I pulled out the ones in my pocket and searched for another dollar bill (opposed to a $100 or a $20) in my purse. Whilst searching, the cashier pulled $0.23 out of HER pocket and said, “I got it covered for ya.” I pulled out a fifth dollar bill and told her no, that’s okay, you don’t have to do that. She insisted, so that was cool. Her name is Nikki and I will definitely try to send good karma vibes her way.

I came back home and in the car came across the Meese song that was so popular last winter. That was fun, which is why it’s in my head.

So I got home and finished my pincushion! This side is super busy, but it’s a pincushion so I’m okay with that.

I <3 this side, though.

Now with more pins! These are the ones I had to buy at Target on Friday since I lost mine (with my pincushion). They’re kind of fancy for my tastes, but are growing on me. And yes, I always color-coordinate my pins in my pincushion, don’t you?

I didn’t get any sewing done on my practice-blouse, obviously, but that’s okay as I am very pleased with my pincushion. Also, I stopped on my way home at the library and picked up three sewing books, so I will work my way through those and hopefully the Sewing Intuition will come to me.

And, partially because mrowsera asked and partially because I’m excited to share, here are the links to the two patterns for wedding dresses I’ve bookmarked, so far. This one is clearly not intended to be a wedding dress, but I think in the long version with the right material and some detailing, and a shawl or shrug maybe, could really be a pretty one. And I could practice beforehand and have a dress style I would want to wear for other reasons. And it’s a dress I could easily wear to the reception without being uncomfortable or feeling too froofy.

This one is intended to be a wedding dress and obviously has some tweaks to the pattern that I could incorporate however I wanted. I like both versions though I lean heavily toward the one on the right because it seems more airy and less renaissance-y. Not that there’s anything wrong with the left one – it’s gorgeous too, I just think it looks heavier and more uncomfortable. I really like empire waists, though.

So, nothing fancy with 18 billion yards of lace or sequins or tulle, though those sorts of dresses do appeal to me sometimes. I like the simplicity of these dresses though, because a) I feel confident that with time I could actually make them and b) I really like the ideaof a simpler, “organic” wedding. (I have organic in quotes here because while I love the idea of having an eco-conscious wedding and will probably head in that direction, I wouldn’t need my dress to literally be organic.)

In any case, as with most crafts I try for the first time (or re-try after some time) I’ve clearly been bitten by the sewing bug. I don’t know if you remember (and new readers obviously won’t), but a long long time ago I had the idea of having each day of the week dedicated to a different craft. In theory it would enable me to work on all of them consistently and somewhat evenly. The problem was, I don’t feel like knitting every single Monday and doing pysanky every single Thursday. Crafting for me is a lot more creative art than just plugging away at a job. I need inspiration. The problem with that is that I will feed that inspiration until it gets sick and doesn’t come back to visit for months. Take my knitting vacation at the beginning of every year. I rush through the holidays and try to knit all my gifts that by December 26th I wouldn’t want to touch a pair of knitting needles with a ten foot pole. Invariably I pick them up again, usually in March or April and try to occupy myself with other crafts in the meantime. Maybe what I will develop over time are crafting seasons that just happen to match the ebb and flow of my creative inspiration.

And right now, it happens to be sewing season, so I am off to pack up my machine and awesome pincushion so that I can read peacefully in bed from Sewing for Dummies.

(As an aside, I love the “for Dummies” line of books but usually feel insulted. Couldn’t they have been nicer and called it “for the Uninitiated” or something?)

Bonus! Bento pictures from last week, because I keep forgetting. It was a short week and I was taken out to lunch once and had the potluck on Thursday so only two bentos. Any questions about what is in them, let me know. Otherwise I’ll let them speak for themselves.

Monday:

Tuesday: