Living Uffda!

Sweet mother of pearl. Another draft post from last year! I’m really on a roll here. This is a post from a project that I made BACK IN AUGUST OF LAST YEAR.

Uffda. That was a long time ago. I waited to blog about it because I made this pillow case set specifically for Dave’s mom Mary for Christmas. My plan was to blog after the holidays, but I’d been going buckwild with blog posts then and got a little burned out… and then I forgot. Oy!

Anyway, this is the project that really launched me into sewing for real. I’d created a few things here and there, but mostly my earlier projects looked liked something a 4th grader would make…

SIDE NOTE to Nicole Hittle: DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT look inside that doily pillow cover…. It ain’t pretty in there!

But I digress… This particular project really inspired all of my future sewing projects because I made these pillow cases in a class that I took through PCC at Sewing Studio NW. It was a 4-week long class that focused on the basics (learning how to use your machine, how to CLEAN your machine (very important!) and some sewing basics, which included zippers (the main reason I signed up).

This class really helped me get familiar with my machine and get comfortable (and more confident) with sewing in general. I also blame this class for me finally killing my Brother machine. But hey, I’m on to green pastures with my super sweet Janome and I still have my mother’s machine here with me in Portland. Even if the latter is destined to be an enormous paper weight (with tons of sentimental value).

Without further ado! The first project that doesn’t look like a 4th grader made it!

Apologies to any 4th graders that I may have offended during the creation of this blog post!

Speaking of overdue blog posts… Let’s talk about the potholder set I made for my mom – LAST CHRISTMAS!

Geepers. This is really bad. I’m almost ashamed it has taken me this long to post about this project – heck, I’m working on THIS year’s holiday gifts – for cryin’ in a barn!

Anyway, about this time last year, I *really* started really getting into sewing. Doesn’t mean I was (or am) particularly good, but I truly enjoy it. Despite how it may look from last year’s blood loss in the photo below!

I came up with this idea to create a massive potholder for my mom, which looks a bit like a quilted place mat, because she’s always cooking something delicious. My folks tend to eat at the island counter in the kitchen, which is not heatproof, so I thought it would be fun to make something that could both protect the counter top *and* was cute. I made it a set and whipped up some matching (traditional) potholders as well.

This was my first crack at working with store bought bias tape. What you are NOT seeing in this photo are a few places where the bias tape is BARELY sewn on. Yikes! I’ve learned an awful lot about sewing bias tape in the past year and, thankfully, I’ve gotten much better at sewing it on straight AND making sure it is sewn properly on BOTH sides. I know, devil’s in the details, right?

Here are some photos from last year’s project… For anyone sensitive to blood, stop reading NOW!!!

Geesh! I knew it had been a bit since my last post, but July?! Wowza (that one was for you Jessa!). Didn’t realize it had been quite so long!

Well, I’ve been keeping busy! Mostly with sewing projects, but also some canning and whatnot. When I last posted, I was still waiting to find out about whether or not my mother’s sewing machine was fixable and, unfortunately (after 6+weeks in the shop), it was not. So I ended up trading in MY old machine (the old Brother that crapped out on me, not my mom’s Elna) for a credit towards my new Janome… WHICH I LOVE, BTW.

Most of the sewing projects I’ve been focused on are for a handful of friends who recently have had babies. I found this great project and 2-part tutorial on Juicy Bits and thought I’d take a crack at it. I had so much fun making the first one (for Greta) that I made three more! Admittedly, Greta’s probably has a LOT more goofy lines, but I did get much better by the last one… particularly at sewing on my homemade binding. BTW, I’ve also learned I love making my own binding. I know I’m kinda cheating (I’m pretty sure I’ve not been cutting on the bias), but it works for these projects and is super fun! A little time consuming, but totally worth it.

I’ve posted a photo from each of the various gifts I’ve made and *finally* delivered them all (and just in the nick of time mind you – literally DAYS before the babies were born!), so I can share them. I had a blast working on these projects and gotta say, it was a pretty fun day when I remembered a little thing called Rit Dye. Dyed the onesies, dyed my kitchen curtains… A fun and easy way to mix things up a bit!

Anyway, without further ado, here are a few photos… Enjoy!

Greta's Gift (the first one I made)

Aimee + Natalie's Gift P1

Aimee + Natalie's Gift P2

Tricia + Kendon's Gift P1

Tricia + Kendon's Gift P2

Linnea + Peter's Gift

Back in April, I had the opportunity to fly back to Minnesota for a week and spend some quality time with family. I’d also recently learned that one of my dear friends from grade school was expecting. I was very excited to hear about this and decided I’d whip up a few gifts for her.

Well, about half-way into the first gift, my old Brother machine kicked the bucket. It could have been fixed, but the cost of fixing it (if I were to bring it in to a professional) would have been more than what I paid for it 5+ years ago. To be fair, my old machine did a great job for the time I had it, but it was definitely the bottom of the barrel in terms of price and quality (i.e. it came with a whopping 1-year warranty!). I also worked it to death at the end… so, I really did get my money’s worth, but it was still frustrating! Nothing like having a machine die in the middle of a project! I may still try to fix it on my own (sourcing parts on eBay or something)… we shall see.

But, while I was home, my mom very graciously passed on her old Elna sewing machine to me.  !!!

I can’t tell you how excited and flattered I am to be the proud owner of this awesome machine. This was a gift from my mother’s parents to her for her *high school* graduation! I won’t tell you what year she graduated, to protect the innocent, but I will tell you that she spent many years tailoring with this machine and made *every* single one of my amazing Halloween costumes using this machine. This Elna has had a heck of a life thus far and I’m very much looking forward to giving it many more years of love.

It is pretty incredible to go from a flimsy plastic, digital machine to something that is essentially completely made of steel and mechanical. I love it! There is an appeal to the digital machines (i.e. TONS of stitching options and they are really user-friendly), but what I am most looking forward to is being able to count on a machine for years to come.

So today, Elna is finally getting its first tune up in a very long time. I’m looking forward to doing my own maintenance moving forward, but there are a few things that are sticking right now and I’d just like a baseline before I start monkeying myself. I truly cannot wait to get to work with this guy.

In the meantime, enjoy some sewing machine porn…