I made this new bag this weekend. I present, the Lotus Bag:Let me tell you, it was QUITE a challenge for this novice sewer (what's the difference between a seamstress and a sewer? I like the word seamstress better but I feel like maybe it is only for people who make clothes?)

Anyway, I used this pattern/instructions from CraftApple. I am quite proud of myself, though. It wasn't really a tutorial, it was just measurements and very broad instructions, but I managed quite well, thankyouverymuch. I was supposed to put a little arch in the bottom seam to make the bottom a bit rounder, but I forgot to leave extra fabric so I just did it straight. I think that would have given it a better shape. I like it, but it's just a little long and awkward. I also didn't feel like buying leather straps, so I just made fabric ones.

For some reason, whenever I try to measure things out, it ALWAYS comes out wrong. I was never very good at math, and planning, thinking ahead, you know, all that stuff that is essential to sewing. I am getting better, but I usually just get frustrated that my measurements don't match up the way they are supposed to and I end up just doing it based on what looks "right." You can tell that my measurements are a little off because the diagonal lines aren't quite at the same angle.

(Yes, I was wearing my pajamas when I took this picture! And yes, those are my "booty sweats" Don't judge me. Who doesn't have at least ONE pair of tiny shorts and/or sweatpants with the words HOTT, or BABE, or SEXY LIL 'THANG, or HILTON HEAD written across the tush??)

Anyway, so that's the Lotus Bag. I think I will make more of them, and at least I have had practice now with using more than one pattern on the front and back of a bag.

I also made this, because I didn't have one!
The back.

I got the instructions from Whip-Up.

And can I just say, I am the WORST person at closing seams by hand, doing a slip stitch, I think it's called. Like, seriously, my cat Delilah could probably do it better than me. It's AWFUL, and I HATE doing it. I don't know what it is. I just can't get it to lay right. On this pincushion you can't really tell because the stuffing helped fill it out, but GOSH, I am awful at it. I learned from a YouTube video, maybe that's why? Any suggestions or helpful websites would be appreciated. I am glad that usually when I have to do it (and I avoid it to no end) it is on the inside of the lining of a bag, so it's not very visible. But if I ever have to do it in a visible spot, it won't be pretty, folks.

T-Swizzle and my weekend

Happy Monday, everyone!

Here is a little Monday laugh for you: T-Swizzle and T-Pain. Maybe I am the last person in the world to see this? I'm not the most up-to-date person in the world, but Josh showed me yesterday and I thought it was entertaining, and who doesn't like Taylor Swift??

Well, I had quite a busy weekend. On Friday our friends Ben and Lindsey came over for dinner. I made an awesome dinner, if I may say so myself :) I made this and this and it turned out great! Josh usually says he doesn't like any Asian food, and I just told him I was making "chicken on the grill," even though the recipe is called "Asian BBQ chicken." Sneaky, I know. But he really liked it! (at least that's what he said at the time). And Lindsey made this:
It was so pretty, I just had to take a picture of it! I told her I would blog about it later and she laughed :) And Josh and Ben made mojitos:
They are good buddies. They made a fire in our fire pit out back and smoked cigars (from 7-11 across the street, haha) much to Lindsey's and my dismay. Ben and Lindsey got married only a few weeks before Josh and I did last year, so it's been fun bonding over newlywed trials and tribulations :)

On Saturday, I went out with my sisters for a girls day. We went to lunch at the Tea Room and it was yummy. Then we went to JoAnn Fabrics and got some fabric for me to make Bekah some couch pillows and Rachael a shoulder bag. Love these girls:

An oldie, in the bathroom at the Continental.

We did the whole Father's day outtings with both of my dads, haha. I ate so much this weekend. Too much eating out. We went to a small Italian restaurant with my dad for lunch, then went to Outback with Josh's dad for dinner. I wrote "Dad" on the outside of Josh's dad's card... it was so weird. I actually got the willies. When do people start calling their in-laws "Mom and Dad"? It's just so weird to me. My mom always called her father-in-law "Dad," but when does that start? The day you get married? If so, I sure missed my opportunity and now it's just awkward. Awkward turtle. Or do people in my generation not even do that anymore?

Well, check back tomorrow to see the sewing projects that I did this weekend. I can't put EVERYTHING in one post!

Vacation recap

We got back from Riviera Maya safe and sound on Tuesday night. No swine flu, kidnappings, people forcing us to take drugs, etc. We had a GREAT trip! Lots of relaxing, eating, reading, eating, with some more relaxing thrown in between. We didn't do any extra "excursions," because we figured we got the trip so cheap, why turn it into something expensive? And we were happy just staying at the resort anyway. If we were there much longer I would have wanted to get out of the resort for a little while, but 5 nights was a good amount of time.

Some highlights:

1. Josh speaking Spanish... Josh continuing to speak Spanish by saying "si" to the girl in Starbucks in Wayne, PA yesterday.
2. Josh being the most prepared man in all of Mexico. Seriously people, my husband is the best person to travel with, so if you ever need a companion, just let him know. He is just ALWAYS ahead of the game. While I am immersed in my book or Martha magazine, Josh is just waiting for what we need to do next, passport and boarding pass in hand, opened to the correct page, boarding pass facing the right direction. He has every step of the traveling already planned out in his head. When he knows he will need to tip someone within the next two hours, he puts the right amount of money in his POCKET, so as not to take more than three seconds looking through his wallet for cash. The entire trip I did not have to worry about a single thing- room key, towel cards, dinner reservation ticket- he always had the proper card or document, in hand, ready to go, 5 MINUTES before we even reached our destination. This is why I want to have lots of babies with this man. (well, ok, there are other reasons too)
   
3. Topless women (sorry, no pictures). When we went to Punta Cana on our honeymoon, no one was topless, and we even stayed at a couples-only resort. This was a FAMILY resort, kids all around, and still, many many topless women. Josh didn't seem to mind. I know it's a culture thing- I am just not used to it because no one does it in the States. But... WOW, it really takes you by surprise at first! So, you know how you give people you never talk to names, based on what they look like or how they act around other people, even when you have never talked to them or met them? I do that a lot. I know you do too, so don't judge me. First, there was HOTT GIRL. Seriously, she was hott with two t's. Or is HAWT cooler? Whichever word is hotter, she was that. She sat in the very middle of the pool where there were lounge chairs, for all to see her hawtness when they walked by. I even saw her walk over to the bar and/or bathroom topless. I mean, she was HAWT/HOTT and she knew it. Then there was WATERMELON LADY. Seriously.... the girls were HUUUUUGE. I mean, she was a bigger woman, but... wow. Then there was CUTE GIRL, who got reallllly sunburned... ouch. Then there was FAKE GIRL... yeah, they HAD to be fakies. Well anyway, the funny thing is, all of these people laid in the same vicinity and they had their own club. It was like they bonded over their toplessness. Then there was Mrs. Sagsalot, who wasn't in their club, and I saw her one night at dinner. It's just weird eating my dinner, drinking my champagne, knowing that I saw this woman topless earlier in the day. Weird.
4. Every day, when we got back from the pool/beach there was a new towel figure on our bed. So cute! This was the first one. There were swans, mermaids, shells, and old ladies with hoods on (??). Not sure what that was about.
5. Pina coladas: I loooove me a pina colada. I probably had like 10 of them. All week though, there was this drink I kept seeing around that was like a pina colada, but it had this pink strawberry yummyness on top. I didn't know what it was called but I wanted it. I never figured it out. Humph.

All in all, it was a great trip. I feel very blessed to be able to go on a wonderful vacation, with the man I love! Now, I am back home and am really looking forward to getting back to sewing. Ohh, the projects I have up my sleeve! :)

I'll take a pina colada, please?

Just a note to say that my husband Josh and I will be in Riviera Maya, Mexico until next Tuesday, so don't think I have given up on blogging. I look forward to blogging all about my trip when I get back!

Abby

My weekend

Hi! I am trying to think of something special to do on Mondays- like a funny video or how-to or something- you know, to give Mondays a little lift (not that it matters to me, since Mondays are pretty much just like any other day for me!) So today, the special treat is this link:

Our Best Bites

I don't really know how I came across it, but seriously, these recipes are so good. Most of them are very easy, and you don't have to go all over the world to find the ingredients, which is important to me. I hate buying something I will only ever use once in a recipe.

I made the Spicy Honey Chicken, Spicy Honey Chicken salad with the leftovers, cupcake frosting, grilled potatoes, and creamy pesto pasta so far- YUM! Everything was so good.

Ok, now for my weekend update:

On Friday, I made these:

I actually didn't try them so I don't know what they taste like, but they look yummy! I used the cupcake frosting recipe from Our Best Bites. I did have a taste of that while I was making it and it was sooo yummy and creamy.

Then, Rachael and Austin (sister and boyfriend) came over and we watched He's Just Not That Into You. Did anyone else see that yet? I never read the book, but I didn't like the movie very much. A lot of it is about how girls just talk and talk and get these things into their heads about how much a guy likes them, and they read into these "signals" (which aren't really signals), and inside the girl's head the guy is in love with her, but the guy is actually thinking "when can I end this?" This all seems very true. So, this is what happens in the movie and it's funny and ridiculous, but then everyone is happy at the end and it doesn't seem like anyone learned any lessons! (sorry if I ruined the ending for you).

On Saturday, I had a recital for some of my students: (hence the cupcakes)

Me with five of my students.

They did a great job! I always get nervous before my student recitals because I just want them to do well (and all of their parents and grandparents are in the room). Don't they just all look so cute? I love it. I also make them introduce themselves and their piece before playing, for a few reasons:

1. because it is good for them to practice speaking in public and projecting their voice
   
2. I had to do it, so they should too.
   
3. It is just so darn cute! (is that mean??) "Hi, my name is so and so, and I will be playing such and such." but in a 5 year old's voice. I love it.

It was a very nice recital, very short, with yummy treats afterward.

After the recital, Josh and I went to the mall to get a few new things for our vacation! We decided this past Friday to go to Cancun for a few days! We are very excited/I am a little nervous. You know, just about the kidnappings, drug cartels, and swine flu.... that's all. So, if you don't hear from me by next Wednesday, please come to Mexico and rescue us. Gracias. No, but seriously, they say it is safe, and we will be at a big resort..... sooo, yeah.

So anyway, we (and by "we" I mean mostly "I") bought a few new clothing items for our trip. Then we went to our friends Ben and Lindsey's house for dinner. Fun day!

On Sunday, I made this:

A sunglasses case!

I noticed that I had a huge scratch on my sunglasses, so I need to get another pair before we leave for our trip. I always just buy the cheapos. But I wanted to make a case because that sounded easy and so that my new pair wouldn't get scratched in my purse. Here is the lining:
You can see that I kind of messed up the top stitch. I should have had it on a bigger stitch. It got a little crooked. However, in my defense, it was really hard getting it under the machine because I put some kind of felt in there to make it soft and give the sunglasses more protection. So it was a bit "fiddly" under the machine. I learned that word from a blog I read and I just love that word. It gets stuck in my head. Does that ever happen to you? Just one word getting stuck in your head?

Anyway, last night we went to Rachael's softball game. Good job, Rach!

I think she was embarrassed that I was taking pictures. I snuck this one on the right!

Josh was embarrassed too. Come on people, I am a blogger now! :)

Have a good Monday! Make something yummy for dinner!

Epic Fail

I made another bag yesterday.

FAIL. It's so bad. I hate it. I hate even more that I spent 3 hours on the blasted thing. It was the first time I ever worked with a different fabric other than cotton, and I think that had something to do with it. I actually don't know what the fabric is. I got it on clearance, cute pattern, but I forgot to look at what it was. It's soft and wrinkly, but supposed to be that way. I thought it would be nice for a comfy bag. And it would be, if only it was sewn correctly!

Looking at this picture, I really should have matched up the design, see how the lines don't match up? Fail #1.

I will show my amateur-ness here, but there is some kind of "stretch" stitch on my machine. I read the manual and it showed how to use it, but not what it was for. Is it for stretchy materials? Or does it stretch out the material? I will have to do some more research.

But because the fabric is stretchy and wrinkly, there are all these unintentional pleats. Fail #2. It didn't lay right when I went to do the top stitch.

And then, the straps didn't end up being the same size, so I really messed it up when I was trying to sew them together. Fail #3.

So I thought of a new use for this bag.

She loved it! I carried her around for about 5 minutes while I made myself breakfast. At least we know the darn thing can hold 7 pounds!

Oh well. Live and learn. I need a lesson before I try any stretchy material again. I do like how the ribbon turned out though. That was my own little addition, not in the pattern.

On a brighter note, I organized the corner. I have this corner in my room that drives Josh crazy. I stash all my junk there that I use on a semi-daily basis. Usually it was filled with my school stuff, but since I am not in school anymore, my ever-growing pile of fabric and other sewing accessories has succumbed it. It went from this:

(Yes, I stored all my fabric in its original Joann's plastic bag.)

To this!


An organized junk corner! I wrapped all of my "stash" (as the crafters say) around some scrap cardboard pieces. And wa-lah! A somewhat better more organized pile (that will probably be a mess by this weekend).

I got that cute box from my friend Becca, who is an amazing scrapbooker and crafter. I will link to her sometime when I find her site. I put my ribbons, thread, and other accessories in it! Thanks, Becca! (I know it's supposed to be a photo box, but I didn't have any other place for my sewing things, and I wanted a cute box, not a cardboard one :)

Happy Monday

Yep, it's Monday. Today I woke up at 7:30am (gasp). Yes, I set my alarm and got up early (gasp). I've decided I need to start being a normal human being after 3 weeks of pure laziness (gasp). Ok that's enough. (But speaking of lazy, I like this blog/site: www.lazygirldesigns.com. They have lots of sewing shortcut tips and cute bag patterns) Anyhoo, It's been a great 3 weeks, and I really needed it to debrief from my crazy semester/year of being in school and being a wife all at the same time. It's tough folks, it really is. I wouldn't recommend it. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love being married and I love my hubbypants, but if I had to do it all over again... I'd probably just drop out of school. KIDDING Seriously though, if I had to do it all over again, I would do it all over again because it's been a great year but very crazy!

Ok, I'm rambling. Anyway, I've turned over a new leaf and I am going to set my alarm every night and get up at a decent hour like a normal human being. I am going to fit more than one activity in my day. I am going to practice every day like I tell my students to do! And I am going to make more of these:

Are you ready? I know, seriously, the suspense has been killing you all weekend. I unveil to you, my baby-sized project: These adorable baby booties!
















These have velcro ribbon straps, but I think I like these next ones even better.




























These were actually my first sewing project (besides the dress). I thought they would be easy, but they really are not. Making bags is so much easier. Just the fact that they are tiny alone makes it hard to work with. And then to get them to look the same, sewing around the curve at the top, making sure you sew each layer... etc. They are a challenge, but it was good for me to start with these because I learned so much that making bags is a cinch! Well, ok, not really. I bought the pattern on Etsy from Precious Patterns. It was a good tutorial and they have such cute things! My booties need some work (my own booty could use some work too, but that's for another time). And I also need to work on a pattern that can be used for baby boys. But they are super fun to make because they are just so darn cute!



PS- Does ANYONE (Yes, I am talking to you 3 readers) know a better way to upload pictures on blogspot? Why do they keep going to the top? I have to drag them all the way through my blog and it's so annoying. It might just cause me to move my site to a better host. (Is that the right word?)