Adventures In Sewing

I was searching and searching for a Christmas gift for my neice and nephew. My niece being 6 months old and my nephew being a little over a month old...I looked around and found this.

I figured it looked simple enough, yet it was cute at the same time. Plus, she had great instructions. I also figured with a very limited budget this would be ideal. Well for one thing it cost me more than I thought it would, and for another - it ended up being just a tad bit easier than I had anticipated. Plus I had the idea to put the first inital on the thing as well. Yeah, I've always got to one up the other person.

I decided to be smart and make one for Ailey as well, you know the trial project. That my friends was a smart move! Hers didn't turn out great, but it worked. The ones for my neice and nephew worked out much better.

Here is a pic of the completed project:



Now, because I didn't spend enough time on the teething cuddler things, I decided to try my hand at making matching stocking with the leftover material. This was mainly because Tanis wouldn't stop complaining about his missing stocking, plus I wanted matching stockings anyway.

Next year, I may try to actually do stockings that match the childrens personalities a bit more. I had no pattern to work off of. I just downloaded a pic of a stocking for size reference and off I went. And here are the stockings:


Now, some of you more talented seamstresses may be laughing right along with me and wondering why I am so proud of these items. Well, let me just say: I haven't sewn a dang thing since 8th grade in Home Ec. where we made pot holders. And in that same 8th grade class I tried cutting my finger off with the
fabric cutter. (It looks like a pizza cutter)

My mom, however, is a wonderful seamstress. She would make stuff ALL THE TIME and it wasn't rare to eat with the sewing machine pushed to the side of the table. So I spent a fair time observing her. In 12th grade I tried to make a dress with my mom's help. We didn't get far. She is a type A personality and I'm so not. Us working together just didn't work well. So the pieces sat in my closet. My mom surprised me at Seminary Graduation with the completed dress however.

Anyway, my point is - I don't sew. I only had a sewing machine because I borrowed it to sew Tanis' scout badges on and they aren't even sewn straight. So, I am quite proud of my creations - though I won't tell you how long it took, or how many times I had to rethread the stupid machine, or I won't let you look inside of the stocking or look too closely at the seams on the teething cuddlers...-