Why you should always consult Google FIRST

Over the past week I've been working hard to redo our master bedroom. Although this has been looong over due, it may have waited a few more years if I weren't so completely ridiculous.

I guess it's best to start at the beginning.

The Sunday before last, I was changing my sheets (love me some clean sheets! ) and I noticed there was some "dirt" on the mattress. I started looking around the mattress and found a bug. A. BUG. IN. MY. BED.

Then I found another. 

Now, I work in a hospital and I once saw a bed bug. Clearly this one viewing qualifies me as an expert and obviously if it was a bug and in my bed it must be a bed bug. 

I did what any reasonable and rational person would do: I flipped the hell out.

With my husband's assisted I encased the mattress in three fitted sheets and made him help drag it outside. 

The house across the street from me is currently under renovation and is empty. It just so happens there is a large construction dumpster in the driveway. So yeah, in the cover of night, sometime around midnight we carried our mattress and box springs to the dumpster across the street.

Did I ever stop to consult Google, you ask?

No. 

If I had I wouldn't have drug my bed across the street at midnight, packed up almost all of my belongings in that room into garbage bags and carried them to the deck and quarantined my bedroom.

The next morning, after tens of minutes of sleep I was still in freak out mode but when I got to work I decided to Google bed bugs and call every exterminator in the tri state area to find the first available. 

Guess what Google told me?

Not bed bugs

Guess what the exterminator told me?

Not bed bugs... And the bugs I found were most likely just tracked in from outside. Carpet beetles. Completely harmless unless you happen to be made of wool. 

I think mr. Exterminator felt poorly for my husband being married to such a crazy woman because he didn't even charge us for the inspection. There were no bugs to exterminate at all, let alone bed bugs.

OOPS. 

The moral of the story? Consult Google FIRST. Freak out second.

At least we got a new mattress set and a free bug inspection. When you get a new bed you MUST make it pretty. So, I got to work on a shoestring budget (we did just buy a fancy new mattress war after all) to try and work with what I had or could get on the cheap. 

Here's a quick snapshot of the semi finished products. I'll write another posts on the cost break down and projects for it this week...about a hundred bucks (not including the bed) for the makeover!!!

Silver Cinema Bag & Coin Purse

Recently I had the opportunity to test the latest bag pattern by Sara of Sew sweetness. As usual her patterns are so well done, the directions are clear and there are plenty of photos for those of us who are more visual learners.

This was my first time using a metal purse frame, and it didn't come without it's challenges.

I ordered my purse frames from While Baby Naps on Etsy, but my local JoAnn's had the smaller sized frame in stock. Sara recommends Gutermann glue but I decided to go with some E-6000 I had on hand.

The smaller bag was super easy to sew up, but getting it in the frame took a bit of fanagling. I used clothes pins to help hold the bag in the frame while I worked and that helped tremendously.

The bigger bag was also a very quick sew and getting the bag in the frame was a lot easier with this one.

So far the E-6000 is holding up well! 

These would make great Christmas presents and I'm planning on stocking up on the small frames to whip up some more. The small ones took seriously less than 30 mins from cutting to gluing!

Watermelons in September?

I'm not much of a gardener, in fact my thumb is pretty black. But that doesn't stop me from trying!!! Back when I started this years' garden I thought it would be fun to grow our own watermelons. 

I reluctantly purchased  three plants and crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. 

Now that October is looming, I had given up hope that the  "baby" melons that were sitting on the vines would ever result in edible full size melons.

Last night my mom was over and said that these melons were ready, I was more than skeptical and I cut one open, and was pleasantly surprised 

It was delicious!!! Maybe if I had any idea of what I was doing I would have known that these were mini melons! 

I just had to share! 

6 Sewing Mistakes I learned the hard way

                        

I've been sewing for almost 3 years now, but I still consider myself a beginner in many ways. I have so much more to learn and master. But as someone who has tried various "short cuts" and done things the wrong way (so many times), I hope I can at least save someone some time and frustration by learning from my mistakes. These will come as no surprise to those more experienced, but I hope I can save someone who is just learning a great deal of frustration. I'm 90% self taught (thank you internet), and these are some great posts I wished I had come across much earlier than I did.

I've compiled a list of the 6 mistakes that I made early on that caused me the most frustration:

Mistake 1) Not using the right needle

Who knew that there was that big of a difference between a stretch needle and a denim needle?! I mean it's sharp and has a hole for thread right?! It turns out, the right needle can make or break your project. Once I learned to use a stretch needle with knits, they were so much easier to work with.

Sew Delicious has a post on choosing the right needle:

Mistake 2) Not using enough pins,  and not using the right tools to keep your fabric in place as you sew 

When I first started sewing I thought pinning was for weenies. I can totally hold the fabric as I sew, or use just a scant amount of pins, easy peasy. Well, I could hold the fabric together but not evenly and not while trying to make sure I am keeping an even hem. Also, you cannot use regular pins on satin (apparently they have special pins for use on satin...I learned this the hard way) because it can cause it to run or the holes will remain visible. When using materials like PUL or rip stop nylon, pins will also leave holes, and when using PUL for it's water resistance, holes are kind of a bad thing.

A couple great posts on pinning your fabrics:

From: Threads

The Haby Goddess

When trying to go through multiple layers, I find that I cannot pin the layers without it shifting around somewhere. This is where things like wonder clips come into play. I know people love these, but so far clothespins have worked for me just as well. Clothespins are also sold at the dollar store. I dunno about you, but I'd rather save my money for fabric.

Wonder clips

Mistake 3) Cutting your pattern pieces haphazardly

I know plenty of people cut their pattern pieces with scissors successfully. I am not one of those people. I initially scoffed at the idea of buying a rotary cutter for 14.99 when I had perfectly good scissors. (see: saving money for fabrics). But let me tell you, nothing has made a bigger difference to my sewing than using a rotary cutter and self healing mat to cut out my pieces rather than scissors. This is because I was so inaccurate when cutting with scissors. I know you aren't supposed to move the actually pattern while you cut, but I guess I'm awkward because I found this virtually impossible. Also I had to use so many pins, I felt like just the process of pinning down the pieces to the fabric was frustrating.

I now use my rotary cutter, mat, and whatever I have handy for pattern weights (I start with candles and rocks from my table centerpiece and move on to silverware if I need more...so completely bootleg but it works) and I feel that I am usually more precise in my cuts.

For those of you who aren't ready to dive into buying a cutter, mat and straight edge, Simple Simon and Company has a great article on how to properly pin and cut fabrics with scissors:

For those ready to speed up the process with a rotary cutter: 

Stitched in Color Rotary Cutter 101

Mistake 4) Not using the right stitch on your machine.

So, I used to think that the zig zag stitch was just for decoration. I  used one stitch and one stitch alone...that's all I thought was needed. When sewing knits, I was confused why my stitches kept popping out. It turns out, they aren't just for decoration. I know this may seem pretty obvious to most others, but it wasn't for me. When I learned why and when you would use stitches like: zig zag, stretch, overlock and why you should increase your stitch length when top stitching my life got a little easier.

Here's a great post about the different stitches and when to use them by Whipstitch

Mistake 4) Not trimming your seam allowances or pressing your seams

This seemed like such a time waster, I mean really, you don't see it anyways in such things like bags. Let me tell you, the difference in how crisply you can press an items with the bulk of the seams trimmed out is amazing. You get a lot more professional looking results when you take out the excess and press the seams as you go.

Here's a couple of great tutorials on how to properly press seams:

Edelweiss Patterns 5 Step Method

SergerPepper's tools for curved seams, and pattern for making the tools. 

In her book Sew Serendipity Bags, Kay Whitt suggests rolling a towel and placing in in the hard to get seams to get the pressed cleanly and it has worked very well for bag making. 

A great way to clip curves by A Fashionable Stitch

Mistake 5) Not using the correct interfacing for your project and/or not applying the interfacing according to the manufacturers instructions.

I used to think interfacing was fairly interchangeable, and that it only took a quick press of the iron to get it on properly. I thought it just needed to be somewhat attached. 

The results: sloppy looking bags, wrinkles, and difficulty wrestling way too heavy interfacing through my machine.

Sew Sweetness has 2 great posts about interfacing:

Interfacing 101

And one specific to bag making:

There's also a great video from Fashion Sewing Blog about garment interfacing

Mistake 6) Not prepping your fabrics appropriately

It seems that not pre-washing your fabrics is an offense so horrific that you deserve to be put in stocks and stoned. But....

Sometimes I break this cardinal rule. 

I always, always pre-wash if its something I plan on laundering on a regular basis, like a garment. However, I rarely pre-wash fabrics I'll be using for bags or accessories. Even if I do throw these in the wash (which I have) any shrinkage hasn't been noticeable. 

However, I have learned that IS imperative to press your fabric before cutting. I used to skip this step, and wondered why sometimes I would have pieces that drastically differed from what the pattern indicated. I'm dense sometimes and didn't realize that all those wrinkles that I thought I smoothed out were making a huge difference!!

Tilly and the Buttons has a good post about prepping here:

There are so, so many more mistakes I've made but I found these 6 as the most common ones, and the ones that caused me the most headaches as I learned. I hope I can help someone from the same frustrations!!

Happy Hump Day!

Fall already?

After one last hot week, it seems the weather here is starting to make way for fall. It's even been chilly enough in the mornings to necessitate a sweater on the way to work. 

Although I'm not ready to say goodbye to summer, I do love fall. The chilly mornings, the crunch of leaves under my feet and the musty smell of fire pits. I live having to wear a jacket in the morning, only to shed it in the afternoon warmth.

 I love curling up under a blanket on ths couch and working with yarn. So, as if by habit I found myself pulling out a knitting project I started much earlier this year. 

I only had started knitting last year,and it's still not as fluid for me as crocheting. It is however, just as relaxing. 

I love you S'more!

I made a lapin noir bag several weeks ago and it has since become my favorite bag ever. It can hold a crazy amount of stuff (a modern Mary Poppins bag) and there are so many pockets to keep everything organized. I seriously adore this bag pattern, as pretty much every pattern by Sara of Sew Sweetness.

It was just a matter of time until I made another.

As I was getting ready to place a fabric order, a co-worker asked if I could make a bag for his wife's upcoming b-day and together we picked out some fabric. Normally, I don't go for the novelty type fabrics, but I was totally smitten by these fabrics from the S'more love line. Of course I took my opportunity to make another lapin noir.

This was the result :

Look at all these pockets!!!

As a fold over bag, I made sure I got the "I love you s'more" on the cell phone pocket :)

I hope she loves it as much as I love mine! 

Goodbye Summer & Hello New Fabric

I have no idea how it is already September. It's been an absolutely lovely summer around here, with mild temps and I am sad to see it go. I do wish we had more pool time but I'll gladly forgo the pool for milder temps. As we say goodbye to cookouts, zoo trips, and days in the garden, we are trying to wring out the last little bits of summer. It's a particularly bittersweet few weeks for me, as my little one begins preschool which means he's officially a "Big Boy". I long for the days of snuggles before bed, peaceful naps and baby giggles.

As we start prepping for this big transition, I find myself with renewed energy and a desire to tackle some home projects. It just so happens that I just placed a huge fabric order that arrived earlier this week. I always find myself swooning when I get new fabric, (I know, total dork). With some fresh fabric, I have loads of what I want it to "be" floating around in my head. I always wonder what they will end up as, I rarely order fabric with a specific project in mind.

One thing I do think is on my list, before I get to those home projects, is a gym bag. I feel like too often I use the excuse of not having my workout gear handy when I leave work. If I had a cute new bag to load up with my gym clothes and shoes, I would have one less excuse to skip the gym.


I have been going back and forth with which patten would best suit me. I do love SewSweetness bags, and  I've been eying the Aeroplane bag (love the size and the length of the zipper).

The Supertote by Noodlehead has also piqued my interest, as it has the perfect sized compartments (it even has a spot for your shoes!!!).

 




Lastly I bought the most recent issue of Stitch magazine , specifically for the bag on the cover...but it does have a similar feel to the Aeroplane bag.

 



 I don't think I could go wrong with any of them really, but I am so utterly indecisive!