Thursday, October 15, 2009

and sew I learn

The first time I ever tried sewing without my mom there to supervise, I broke the needle on the machine.
I think I was trying to make a blanket for my barbie house. I don't know what I did wrong, but the needle snapped in half.
I felt awful, not because I was afraid of my mom being mad, but because I was worried that sewing machine needles were really expensive or something and I didn't want my mom to have to pay for that.
I wasn't always the most "normal" child in the world...

Anyway, I got my own sewing machine this summer. The first time it was used was when my mom was here and she made my beautiful curtains and couch pillows.
I decided to be adventurous and try once more to sew all on my own. It's been quite a while since my last ill-fated attempt.

My friend Allison and I went to pick out fabric to make autumn placemats. The lady at the cutting table at Hancock fabrics asked what I was making.
"Placemats."
"Oh, I love to make those. They are such a nice project--instant gratification."
"I hope so."
"Yeah," she continued, "I'm always doing so many huge projects, sometimes I make placemats just so I can finish something fast."
I smiled and didn't tell her that this was my big project.

And although it took me nearly four hours to cut them out, I'm really happy with the finished product:
I'd love to take credit for the fancy stitching, but my machine has a lot of cool stitches and I didn't have to do much more than adjust the tension to get that pretty vine border.
Kent came home from work yesterday and saw the vine stitching and he thought I had done it all by myself, by moving the material back and forth through the machine or something.
I should have just let him think that. I still have a couple more to finish sewing, but I haven't broken a needle or anything else yet!
Maybe next time I'll try something even more daring, like a pillowcase.

8 comments:

marilyn said...

Love that stitch! You did a great job. I love placemats. Not everyone in my family agrees with me on that one. Congratulations for venturing out.

Lis said...

Thats really cool becca!!! I love it! and I love all your fall decor too! great job! I love your style!

Emily said...

way to go! When I first got my machine I got on a pillow kick... holiday decorative ones and I made a hundred at least :) I gave them away as gifts, it was fun! your post reminded me how fun it is to create new things... I may just have to break out my sewing machine! I found that it is addictive... even though I have a sewing machine I still take all my mending to my mom... she is an amazing seamstress... must run in the family!!:)

heidi said...

these are darling, way to go

Shannon b said...

they look great, and I love the stitching! I've never made placemats before, and considering we use them for every meal I really should give it a try!

Lisa Brown said...

That makes me want to make placemats :). How big do you make them? How do you get them to be that way with the finished edge? Is it folding and pinning?

Teresa said...

They look great, well done...glad you are enjoying the sewing machine =)

Mike and Alli said...

I love how we both started out by telling of our past, tragic experiences with sewing machines! We make a good team... equally terrified! They look brilliant and I love the stitching. Good job!