Shout out!

2 weeks ago I received my special order from Heather at barelymeasured. She made a bag for a friend of hers at irocksowhat and after she posted pics, I just HAD to have it! My schedule's been so crazy that I decided to purchase the bag from Heather, rather than try and figure out how to make it myself.

I was able to hold it for all of a minute.

(yes, I realize the pic is sideways. My cell phone won't upload it flipped properly!)

Heather also sent Rory a little treat:



HAIRCLIPS! Adorned with little green flowers. I love this idea so much! I think I'm going to steal it and make Christmas presents for Rory's friends :)


Gotta love a beautiful day outside!

Project: Printer Cover

Did you know Sept 10 is Sewing Machine Day? So is June 13. Who knew?

Anywho, I have this habit of starting new projects but never finishing. It's pretty bad... I pile them into my sewing cabinet and think to myself, "I'll finish this later, I don't need to label it." WRONG-O! I realize now that would have been so simple to just tie all the pieces together with some scrap fabric or ribbon and a little reminder note like, "Hi! I'm a tablecloth. Please don't forget to finish me!"


After such a long week, I'm excited to get to break out the sewing machine and actually FINISH a project! Or two... but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

I don't know about you, but my rooms serve multiple purposes: ie- my dining room is also my office and sewing room and opens right into my kitchen. I hate looking at my printer day in and day out, not to mention all the cat and dog hair that ends up clogging the ink cartridge (yuck!) So... why not make it pretty?

Project: Printer Cover
Level of difficulty: Easy
Time: 45 minutes


First, measure your printer. Mine is a huge thing that I love (when it works...) but I hate its size! 17 inches x 11 inches x 6 inches. Then, choose your fabric!


I opened my closet and took out a yard of Heather Bailer's Pop Garden. Isn't she gorgeous? I couldn't decide how to cut it: mat, ruler and rotary cutter? ruler, pencil and scissors? strip cutting machine? Whatever suits your fancy!

Cut your top, and add 1/4" for seam allowance! (17 1/2" x 11 1/2")
Next, cut your sides, and don't forget seam allowance! (2: 17 1/2" x 6 1/2" and 2: 11 1/2 " x 6 1/2")


Time to sew! If I was taking my time, I would have matched up the pattern on the fabric. I was just so excited to sew, I kind of forgot!


Turn under 1 (long) side of each of your 4 side pieces. Make sure that the good side faces out! This will create the finished edge. You can be all fancy and press and pin, or just freehand. A 1/4" foot is a lifesaver! Invest in one. Trust me.



Now, sew the 4 side pieces together (wrong sides together, 6 1/4" long at this point). Also, sew from the finished edge up, so that way your "hem" matches all the way around.

*If you tend to get excited and rush, like me, make sure to have a seam ripper on hand! Oops!*


Now, 1 side at a time and wrong sides together, sew it to the top piece. When you hit the edge, do a little backstitching to hold the stitch and remove from the machine. Add the next side and repeat. Do this 2 more times.

Turn right side out and voila! My husband thought I bought it :) Cute, huh?

Don't forget to trim any extra thread!!!!

I'd take a bullet for my Bernina.

Drastic, I know, but I REALLY do love my Bernina.

It's the only machine I ever vividly remember using! My very very very first machine was hand operated and I do not remember the name... but my mom bought it for me thinking my wanting to sew, like her, was just a phase. A year later, my grandparents bought me a Bernette (Bernina's little sister). I used that machine all throughout middle school and high school. When I entered college, my mom upgraded and passed down her Bernina 1000, and I loved it dearly. For Christmas my senior year of college, I was presented with a Bernette 234 serger from the 1970's. It's heavy and all metal; much more reliable than today's plastic ones in my opinion. ***Why move from machine to serger? One of my major's was drama and my thesis was in costume design. I wanted something sturdier than a sewing machine, and would save me the time of double stitching all my seams.*** Finally, my grandmother passed down her EXTRA Bernina 1130 when I mentioned that I needed to take my machine back and forth from school to home to sew costumes for our spring production. She just "happened to have an extra one" from when she and pop-pop sold the beach house. Who has extra Bernina's lying around the house?! My family :)

If I had a couple extra thousand dollars lying around, I'd buy the newest from the Aurora line. Yes, my daughter's name is Aurora, but I SWEAR I had no idea!!!

I realize this tells you nothing, really, but I hope it does confirm my love of sewing, and my obsession with Bernina's. After all, shouldn't everyone have at least 1 obsession in their life?