Unexpected Purchase

Today I went to JoAnn's with my friend Michele to get some foam board for a project I'm trying to finish. I wondered over to the fabric section to see if anything struck my fancy as I've been searching for a print to upholster dining room chairs. I found that fabric - - and a beautiful fabric for curtains in my guest room. That room isn't decorated AT ALL and I've just been waiting to find that INSPIRATION piece -well, this fabric is it. I bought the fabric - and, of course, I needed a sewing machine to make the curtains - so I bought a sewing machine.

Meet little singer:







That pin cushion on little singer is my first project with this machine. I made it because I needed a pin cushion and it was a good way to brush up on my rusty sewing machine skills. I was happy to find that most of it came back to me from the days of sitting at the kitchen table with my mother.

Here's how I made the pin cushion:

1. Sewed two "ribbons" of fabric for the ties. Pinned them and the squares of fabric together. Front side of the fabric on the inside, ties on the inside.





This is what it looked like on the inside of that pinning job:





2. Sew around the edges leaving about 1/4-1/2 of one side open for turning and stuffing.




3. Turn, stuff, sew the open edge closed. Stick in pins!






And, my fabric ties weren't long enough (next time, Nicole, measure first!) - so I sewed some ribbon on to the ends to that it would fit around my machine.

Voila! Pin Cushion!

Here's the fabric that will soon become curtains in my guest room:

I'm going to do curtains and some throw pillows in that and look for some bedding in a solid color that coordinates. I'm hoping to achieve "feminine" without being "girly". And, I like the vintage feel. The backing is a color close to the yellow butterfly. I got some cool buttons to add to the pillows as well.

And - since I'm overloading you with pictures - how about a couple more? I just went digging in my storage shed to find my crowning achievement in sewing. I was probably 4th-6th grade when I made this. This is one of those very vivid memories from my childhood - my mom and I working on this project. It's a satin nightgown and robe set for Barbie.

Please note the attention to detail by the darts in the gown. ha

I think that's enough for this long entry. Upcoming projects that I'll hopefully be able to post about soon:

• The Blank Wall in my bedroom. The family tree is on its way here! So I'll just need to frame that and get the other stuff for the wall ready to go and that should be done.
• Curtains and pillows for the guest room plus general cleaning, organizing, and de-cluttering of that room.
• Getting dining room chairs and upholstering the seats.
• Planning a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner - which for me means I pick a few traditional favorites and hunt down some new and exciting recipes to try.