So if you don't know me real well, or.... even if you do... you probably don't know that I can't sew, but would LOVE to learn how. In my sewing career I have made a handful of pillow cases & a few attempts at curtains.
Ooooooh- impressive. (or not!) Well now that I'm a homemaker, I have a little more time to experiment. This weekend I sewed Rowen's blanket- just a duvet- to cover a really fantastic down crib comforter that someone gave us. I want to finish the crib-skirt before pictures of that project will be posted.. But here's my first clothing project that I've been working on, and just finished this afternoon!
A jean skirt! Before you're too impressed, realize that I didn't make the whole skirt, I just turned a pair of maternity jeans into a skirt. I got a few pairs of maternity jeans as hand-me-downs with the intention to hem them to fit eventually. Well, now that the weather is hot & no longer suitable for jeans- I decided to turn this little pair into a skirt. (Hey, thanks
Kristy!!)
Following a conglomeration of ideas from the
internet, here's what I did:
Step 1: chop off the legs around the knees, just make sure it's a few inches longer than what you'll want the skirt to be.
Step 2: the seam-ripper is your friend. Mine however, has decided to run away with my mom's seam rippers so I had to resort to scissors. I don't
recommend this method. Pull out the seams up the insides of both legs,
all the way up the back to about two inches from the "yolk"
and in the front up to the zipper. (or in the case of maternity pants, where the zipper would be.
you should end up with something like this!
Step 3: get rid of all that yucky old thread! I found that a piece of inside-out packing tape was helpful. Like lint removal!
weeeee......
Step 4: iron it all flat, then tuck it in a little bit and iron it again. Try not to do this in 95 degree weather, the iron is hot.
Step 5: don't poke yourself with the pins. I mean, pin the two legs together in front and back to make a skirt.
Step 6: use a jeans needle and jeans thread to sew the seams you just pinned. Don't forget to take a picture. (oops)
Step 7: Try on your raggedy skirt, and cut it one inch longer than you'd like it to be. It's helpful to measure all the way around, which I did, but
mine's still a little crooked. Oh well :) Then cut out notches where the seams are, about 1/4" deep, like so:
This makes the seams not too thick to sew through as you roll them up twice.
Fold up the hem 1/4" and iron it flat. Then fold it up again another 1/4" and iron it flat, pinning along the way to keep it in place. Again, it's hot. Don't try this in the middle of July at noon.
Step 8: Sew around the hem- hooray we're almost done!
Step 9: Put it on and take silly pictures of yourself in the mirror for all your friends to see on your blog.
When you see me wearing this in person, do me a favor and don't look too close :)
This is all that's left- it turned out pretty good! The bottom was a little more crispy that I'd like, and it could have used some more interesting flavors, but not bad for a first try. Tonight I'm making lentil soup for dinner so I thought a hearty, rustic white bread would be fantastic. I didn't have any bread flour, but my cookbook said I could just use all purpose flour and the crumb would not have the same chew but it would work. So, again, I gave it a whirl. Of course, as everything was in the works, I ran out of flour entirely. Not being much of a baker, there's only so much that fits in my little canister and I used it all up between yesterday and today! If only I remembered that i had whole wheat flour in the fridge- I *just* remembered that right now. What an idiot!! I decided to go ahead and finish the loaf as best I could with it being a little sticky. (see here, the dough is supposed to be tight and smooth.) I figured it would be okay.
The finished product: kinda flat and way too brown. 
Disappointed novice baker: 
So I thought it would be an opportunity to share with you all this super nifty trick we learned not too long ago.
Sparklingly beautiful pans!
Yay for craftiness! Sold in baby & maternity boutiques all around, this is my attempt at a knock off of the "hooter hider" or "bebe au lait" nursing cover. (Grandma Norma suggested I call mine the "Boob Blanket" haha) They hang around your neck so you don't have to hope it stays draped over your shoulder, and the neck pouches out so you can see your little one nurse. :) These babies are so nifty- I mean, I have yet to use one because obviously I've never nursed before- but they seem like such a great idea! So I have to give credit where credit is due. However worthy of credit, I simply cannot give them the CASH for such a simple piece! These cost around $35 - and I spent - well, way less than that. It was fabric I already had, so go figure. Maybe 10 bucks if I had bought the fabric for it? Maybe? The only things I had to buy were some boning, and a couple D rings which was like 2 or 3 dollars. (and of course I bought twice what I needed, so I can easily make a second one later!) I didn't have the camera when I whipped it up, so no tutorial today, but let me know if you're interested and I can tell you my secrets! ;) Or if you want me to make one for you, I'll do it on the cheap!
The measurements I found online were 4"x8" so I just went to town and cut up the whole thing in nice long strips, and then into rectangles. Easy peasy!
and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. 
Okay, I have a lot of favorite children's books- but these two are stories about little boys so I couldn't resist :) I also threw in a little cow jumping over the moon, although the rest of his buddies from "hey diddle diddle" are no where to be seen. 
out of some fabric that Matt and I picked out together at JoAnns. The fabric came "quilted" looking, little squares of white fuzzy, green, blue & green striped, & green plaid all sewn together. So that part I didn't do :) (cheater!) But I did put together the duvet (someone gave us a fantastic down comforter from pottery barn kids!) 
and cut out little "things that go" shapes (car, airplane, sailboat) 
and sewed them onto a crib skirt that the same couple had given us. (It previously had circles on it, which didn't match the room, so I took them off with my handy-dandy seam ripper to make it just a plain cream colored skirt.)
It's really hard to see them in the picture, guess I should have taken a picture before putting it on the bed :) But Matt had the camera and was gone for the weekend! :-P You can click on the image to enlarge it if you want to see :)
5. dig it into the soil a bit
This makes the seams not too thick to sew through as you roll them up twice.
When you see me wearing this in person, do me a favor and don't look too close :)
