1.04.2010

craftacular

hello 2010, let's see if i remember how to type.
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jesse's big christmas present to me was a new sewing machine. apparently i had showed enough dedication and/or prowess with my projects on ol' sewie that he deemed me worthy of a machine with a user's manual. we asked the specialists at the store to recommend a model that was cheap enough that jesse wouldn't harvest my organs to recoup the expense if i gave up and quit within a few months, but also not just a turd with a needle attached. i give you the singer 2932, aka "new sewie" (saving the creativity for the crafts). they were sold out that day so we pre-ordered it at Joann's about 3 weeks before christmas and were told it'd be in in a week. it came in on december 30.
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white lightening...hmm maybe that's a better name.
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this little shipping snafu led to the hilarious scene on christmas morning wherein my entire bounty of presents from jesse consisted of a twilight poster (he suggested i post it at work...i gave it to our neighbor) and a pack of nerds rope (which i cant stand. love nerds, hate the rope, which he ate in front of me). he was utterly pitiful and felt so bad even though i was totally fine waiting for my big gift (minus a few guilt-inducing jokes here and there while he opened his stack from me).
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this was compounded by the fact that my brother gave me the EXACT same gift that had been jesse's planned main xmas morning event for me two days before christmas at the vincent family get together. this is shocking since my brother had basically two sentences from me to go on in choosing the present and jesse knows my every thought (seriously, i have no filter) and they got me the exact same book. but they both get full marks even though tripp struck first.
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this book is AWESOME! its full of east projects for little hippie babies

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but my first project on the new machine was lifted from a reference from one of my favorite blogs, finding my feet. she did this little pincushion (WAY better than me) from a free online tutorial by creativity-maven heather bailey. i got much too ambitious and quilted my own fabric instead of just using 3 whole pieces.

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it's way easier to stick pins in this one that is filled with polyester batting than the old (my first patchblasting project ever) that was jam-packed with cotton balls. the tutorial is here.

on thursday i got down to business making things for judah out of my book. first up was a little giraffe (which i have named alex) pal. it could have been a rattle but i didn't have a bell to stick in it. i messed up rounding the nose out so he looks a bit like a bearded goat, but judah seems to not mind. granted the christmas stocking i made was for him, but seeing him get actual joy and use, albeit 23 seconds worth, out of something i MADE from scratch was pretty cool. i felt so oregon-trail.

pretty much a labor-intensive, hand made drool sponge
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my next project was more intimidating: an article of clothing. it's much easier to get beat up for wearing a lame outfit than it is for just having a wonky bearded giraffe on the mean streets of preschool. if you send your baby into someone's care with a funny looking toy they may just assume that its a treasured family heirloom crafted by an ancestor using only a bone needle and their own hair. however if you send your kid off in some shirt that only has one armhole people start asking questions about parental fitness.
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i went with a fleece hat. once again i got ambitious and decided to make mine two-tone instead of monochrome like the book suggested. apparently i took complete leave of my senses and decided that the lady who literally wrote the book didn't know that right way to make a hat and that i would try it my own way. i have a warm cozy pile of tattered sweat and tear-soaked fleece scraps to show for this moment of insanity. i went back, tail between my legs, and followed her instructions from the beginning and am now the proud owner of a baby who owns a hat that is freaking perfect-looking, if a little large for right now.
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it looks a bit like a medieval helmet in shape, but he rocks it...when it's not falling in his face.

4 comments:

  1. I'm so proud! You're a super mom!

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  2. I LOVE YOU :) The Giraffe turned out awesome!!
    Kisses from Germany!

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  3. You used a jelly roll to make the pin cushion!! I just finished a lap quilt (my first EVER) out of the same material :)

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