Ok, so maybe...just maybe it's a sickness

My sewing machine collecting habit, uh obsession. Can I tell you I just love sewing machines? I really do. Just this week 2 followed me home. One more almost did, but I had to resist and had a pang of regret later. My latest acquisitions are a Singer 401 in a cute Victorian looking cabinet and a little brownie Viking 6430 with all the original accessories. I could have sang when I saw the viking. It's so perfect, but goodness is it heavy as sin! I must take pictures...wait, I always say that, but this time I really will.

Privacy and the Internet

Blogging...hmmm, it's therapeutic to say the least...but should you put it all out there? I'm not sure. I keep seeing these commercials warning against the info that you share online. I've heard stories of employers that have fired folks for what they've written on MySpace or Youtube. Hmm...have I said anything that I will later regret? Written something that I would have a problem saying to someone's face. I don't think so. And yet...yet, I know that I censor myself to some degree because there is no privacy online. I could make this a private by invitation only blog, but what would be the point of that? I guess it's just important to remember that it's truly a global society. My dh asked what the deal was w/blogging and I had to think...what is the deal with blogging. I don't know. I like it. I like sharing the quirky things that happen in my life, the love I have for sewing and other crafts. It's makes the world seem just a bit smaller, maybe.

I'm growing!

I'm a person that always reads the directions for stuff. I wouldn't dream of trying to operate something first without at least looking at them. I'm the same with my sewing, even if I know how to make something I always feel like I need to read the direction first just in case they have a neat tip for me ya know? Anyways, I've grown! I really have. I have struggled with this dress from the farbenmix called "the cara". It's such a cute versatile dress, but it has got to have the worst instructions ever put to paper. I kept struggling because I wanted to follow them, but finally...finally I looked at the dress and said, I'm going to do it like this, the way it makes sense to me. And you know what? It worked. I'm not quite done, but as soon as I am I'll post a picture of the dress that broke the habit!

Frenchy bag from thrifted fabric

I really like the Amy Butler patterns. They come together so easily and make cute trendy bags. I got all the fabric at the Dorcas thrift store so the total cost aside from the cost of the pattern which I got through a co-op was about $1. WooHoo. I do think next time I will use peltex or something stiffer at the top portion...I don't like that it sags a bit. Otherwise it's cute,cute, cute!

Trying to get more technical

This is a test. I'm trying to learn how to post hyperlinks. Thanks to Samantha who I know from this site I've finally entered into the 21st century.

Disappointment...determination

I have desperately wanted to take a sewing class to improve my sewing skills and challenge myself. It never seems to work with my schedule. I did take a quilting class a year and half ago...loved it, but I haven't managed to take anything else. I thought I had found the perfect solution, a local seamstress was planning to teach a class at an area center. Great, Awesome, Couldn't wait...I show up and I'm the only student...well, needless to say, the class has been rescheduled to next month. Problem, A. will be taking his computer class, which he claims will bring us fortune and good things, yea right! Anyway, I was hugely...hugely disappointed. But after a small pity party I have decided to forge ahead. I have tons of books, a great area library, the internet and several friends that sew.
So, I'm going to tackle different types of seams (flatfelled, flatlocked, welted, hongkong), I'm going to improve my zippers, improve my buttonholes, improve my finished product, attempt drafting, make a coat, make those slipcovers. I'm going to step outside my comfort zone and try new things. I was disappointed, but now I'm determined to do all the things I want to do and know I can. It's a good feeling.
I'm also going to use all the fun tools I have like my coverstitcher and embroidery machine. I even got out my CS and worked on 2 UFO's last night. I think this week I will complete the UFO undies I have cut out. That's another thing...I'm going to try to sew a bit each day. It's about practice and improving...I remember Stephen King writing that he wrote a bit each day to improve and that he could see a big difference from his early work to his later work. That's true...practice does make perfect...or at least practice brings improvement.