Sew What

Following the footsteps of my mom, aunt, Nana and others before me I have decided to try my hand at sewing. On an extremely long lunch hour the other day I stopped at JoAnn Fabrics to buy some ribbon (for another project coming soon) and as I was walking around stumbled upon a very cute pillow that I could make for Garrett. For the next hour or so I walked back and forth among the scissors, rick rack, fleece, thread,  interface webbing (what is that you say ... I didn't know either until I called my mom) and back again as I tried to fulfil my list of supplies. Items in hand I headed back to work anxious to get started on my project.

That night when I got home I cleared off some space on the dining room table and got myself set up and ready to go.

I pulled out my pattern, laid out my fleece and got to work with my scissors. First I tackled the eyeballs. Easy enough but the task of sewing on small white and black circles with a machine that I haven't used since my teenage years seemed quite daunting.... this may have been when I called my mom again.

With the eyeballs done I expelled a large sigh of relief only to realize that 6 more dots and baby rick rack would now need to be added to my largest piece of fleece. Fortunately I persevered and although it is quite obvious which dots were my first and which were my last I left my imperfections just the way they were as a reminder to myself of my work. With the body, eyes and legs completed I continued ...

... and then thread got stuck and I took apart something I couldn't fix. It didn't long for my whining to reach Brett's ears who dutifully came over and fixed what I could not.

Once the machine was back in working order and everything was pinned together I set forth and sewed it all up. Once finished I marveled at the fact that I had to pull a large pillow out of the little whole I had left open for stuffing but fortunately it worked out just fine.

Now it was time to begin stuffing. When I had been at JoAnn Fabrics I was debating between a small to medium sized bag of polyester stuffing and the jumbo bag for just a few dollars more. Having zero clue as to how much it would take to fill my pillow I bought the jumbo bag. Imagine my surprise when at the end of stuffing this little froggy it appeared as if I hadn't taken anything at all out of the bag. Oh well lots of leftovers for new projects!


Not too bad for a first timer!



Garrett and his froggy!


Now that my project is complete and my brain is ready to explode with all my new ideas I will share just how it is that I came to be a temporary custodian of said sewing machine. My Uncle Dave and Aunt Julie asked us to come over with Garrett so that they could give him birthday present. Being the brainiacs we are, we decided to bring with Brett's work shirts that need to have patches sewn on since my Aunt had said she could help. The timing was convenient since we had a doctors appointment in the afternoon so Garrett and I met Brett at the doctors and then piled into the truck and headed for a few errands and then for the Kreemer's. As we pull into the driveway I do a mental head slap ... the shirts are sitting in the trunk of my car back at the doctors office. Ok well the patches aren't getting put on this time. So we get out of the truck and enjoy a nice couple of hours visiting.

The next day as I'm telling my mom about the mistake she mentions that within a week she will be down to do my grandmother's taxes and since she will be at her house but staying at ours she will bring my aunt's sewing machine (that is stored at my grandmother's) with her so she can sew them on. So the weekend comes and she brings the sewing machine over, sews Brett's patches on and then leaves again for Alexandria with the sewing machine sitting on my dining room table. Now I ask you how can anyone resist such a thing? Well not me that is for sure and before you know it voila! the froggy is born!