Hurdles to jump

I realize that besides my questionable history with craft projects, there are a number of obstacles I'll have to overcome if I'm actually going to learn to sew and keep on sewing.

First of all, I don't really have a place in my house where I can set up a sewing area, which could seriously affect my day-to-day motivation. If I could leave my sewing machine set up on a table and have my current projects available and ready to be sewn, I'm sure I would be much more likely to work on them when I have time. But if I have to drag everything out and set it all up every time I want to sew a few seams, I wonder how often I'll actually do it. I haven't yet discussed this with my husband, Don, but I know exactly what he'll say: "We'll put it in the office!" That is his answer anytime I say, "But we have nowhere to put that!" Our 16' x 5' office already houses three large desks, a computer, two printers, a bookcase, four guitar cases, and lots of assorted junk, with barely enough room to access the storage room and bulkhead on either end of the skinny basement room. Don has finally admitted that our 5-drawer filing cabinet just won't fit.

Space issues aside, I also have a very active toddler. Taylor is 19 months old and, of course, gets into everything. She still takes a nice long afternoon nap, which is probably when I would have to do a lot of my sewing. I suppose this new hobby will end up being just one more distraction from my housework, which, I must admit, makes me want to start sewing immediately...mwa ha ha.

I also have a baby girl due at the beginning of June. My goal is to really get familiar with my new sewing machine and complete some basic projects before the baby arrives. I'm sure that sewing, along with the rest of life, will be put on hold for a while once I'm juggling an infant and a toddler. But if I can get back into the swing of things, it would be nice to already know what I'm doing so that my little bits of free time can be used for actual sewing, instead of manual-reading and pattern-interpreting.

I have been trying to get a few small projects cut and pinned so that when my sewing machine arrives, I'll hopefully be motivated to actually sew them together. My hope is that finishing some easy projects will keep me interested, and maybe I'll take a stab at something more challenging. We shall see...

In other crafting news, my mother (who is staying with us while Don is out of town) and I finally tackled the painting of the wooden letters for Taylor's bedroom wall. My mom bought the letters when Taylor was first born, and we never painted them or hung them in the nursery, so now we're painting them to match her new Backyardigans bedroom. We painted the first coat during Taylor's nap today, with the intention of doing the second coat after we got her to bed. But we're both too tired, so we'll just do it tomorrow. Really, we will! I guess "procraftination" runs in the family.

Can a crafting failure learn to sew?

A few weeks ago, I developed the intense desire to learn how to sew. I'm not exactly sure why, but it could have something to do with the fact that I am five months pregnant with my second daughter. I have heard about women who pick up random, short-lived hobbies during their pregnancies, and maybe this is mine. I hope not, because I really do want to learn to sew proficiently. I decided to start this blog to chronicle my adventures in sewing--perhaps not the most riveting of topics, but maybe some of you will be inspired to learn along with me. Or perhaps, if I stick with it and post about my projects, you might see a pattern you'd like to try yourself. Or maybe, as my husband suggested, I will lose interest in a matter of weeks and change the title of my blog to "Sew Long!"

I wish I could say his prediction is off-target, but I have a terrible track record when it comes to craft projects of all kinds. I visited the graveyard of unfinished craft projects in my closet, and I found these:



In the picture are a piece of a knitted scarf (running out of yarn was clearly not my problem), a half-finished cross-stitch pattern, a partially painted wooden train that was supposed to be for my 4-year-old cousin Ian (sorry, Ian), and 16 wooden blocks in a wooden box. I had big plans to make those blocks into a six-sided puzzle by decoupaging pictures from children's books or old calendars. I really think I would have done it, but after purchasing the blocks, I realized that they were not perfect cubes, which meant that the puzzle wouldn't be smooth on all sides. But really, I would have done it. I swear.

Elsewhere in my home, if I looked in the right places, I know I would find many more partially completed cross-stitch projects, a poorly-stained chalkboard/bulletin board combo, and a half-woven fringed baby blanket intended for my cousin Bradley, who is now 18 years old. I also have several empty scrapbooks and a drawer full of various scrapbooking notions. I'm good at planning craft projects, but my execution leaves much to be desired.

In truth, this is not my first attempt at sewing. I did take sewing lessons when I was about 12 years old, and I made a denim drawstring bag and a few pieces of clothing. I have a particularly frightening memory of a backyard fashion show for the students to display their work, in which I modeled a sweet pair of culottes. That's right. Culottes. To illustrate just how long it has been since I've undertaken a sewing project, check out the goodies I found in my old sewing box:


What was I thinking when I bought fabric markers and giant buttons in three alarmingly fluorescent colors? And what is with the freaky troll doll head cut out of stretchy fabric? I fear that my plan was for some sort of neon button-covered mess of a t-shirt, and for once, I am relieved that one of my projects bit the dust.

So I used a sewing machine in class 15 years ago, and I have very occasionally used my mother's machine for quick fixes, but I still consider myself a beginner. I found a few throw pillow patterns that I wanted to try, and they looked easy enough, but then I read the instructions. Bias-cut edges? Interfacing? FLANGE??? What have I gotten myself into?