A Crafty Saturday

I dipped into my craft bin and decided to "get my craft on" this weekend!

Saturday was a beautiful day considering it's November in Upstate New York. We spent lots of time outdoors with the boys, and then I took a little break to do a bit of shopping, had family game time, and then I settled in for an evening of crafts while the boys built towers.

I made a couple of different things...and as soon as I finish the embellishments on the shabby chic bulletin board I made, I'll post pictures of that. This one took me a good part of the night. I had some scrap pieces of Tanya Whelan fabric that I didn't want to waste, so I turned it into a little pouch. It's more of a decoration, but I wanted to test my pathetic sewing skills and challenge myself to a little project. It was fun!

My sweet little bag is actually pretty...not so bad for someone who nearly flunked home ec!

I first need to say that I am not an expert crafter by any stretch of the imagination. I nearly flunked home ec in 7th grade (and I was a straight A student) because I was so lousy at sewing. Miss Skinner, my teacher, thought my sewing was so atrocious that she even called my mom at home and said I needed to stay after school each day for extra help. It was awful. I received a 40% on the "name the parts of the sewing machine test." Yes, I knew where the needle was. That's about all I knew. That machine terrified me.

In 8th grade, we sewed clothes--ugly, athletic apparel made of cheap synthetic fabric. I chose a pair of turquoise shorts. In my rush to just get the project over with, I sewed the crotch (can I say that word here? I suppose...) all the way up to the waist, I had two legholes and two separate waists--completely separate and unwearable. Miss Skinner gave me the seam ripper and it took me forever to pull out all of my uneven stitches. I was so thankful that home ec (which was then called "Home & Career Skills" was done after 8th grade.

I don't sew well at all. I have made valances before--making all of the window treatments for our apartment in Savannah. They turned out really well, but I was only sewing in a straight line, plus the windows were pretty high so no one could see the stitching.

I have been pondering getting a sewing machine this Christmas. Nothing fancy--just something basic and good for someone like me who has a difficult time following instructions. I love handmade fabric handbags and would love to be able to create some of my own for my own use using some of the pretty fabrics I have found.

I took this extra scrap of fabric (part of a fat quarter), turned it inside out and sewed the sides. I then turned it again and added ribbon trim and some extra touches. I am looking forward to trying my hand at more to put my handmade gifts in this Christmas--maybe putting in my mason jar lemon curd or sauce in the bags as a little gift.

This is the side tie....I sewed one of the vintage glass pearls I received in my "junk box" from Sarah at My So Called Junky Life. The ribbon was an extra in my order from the Sugar*Sugar Shop.

This little vintage doily looks pretty on here....along with an extra little piec made with German glass glitter and a pretty flower (from the "junk box" I ordered) add such a pretty touch.