I first decided a little over a year ago that I wanted a sewing machine and I wanted to learn to sew. However, that was not a good time to be taking up such a habit. I was living in a teeny tiny apartment that was stuffed to the gills. There was no room for a sewing machine not to mention all of the fabric, thread and patterns that would then accompany it.
Well, as you know we moved this May. And my birthday is in June. So my amazing mother sent me a sewing machine for my birthday.
How cool is that?
And while she was down visiting me she gave me a few quick lessons. Mainly how to make a bobbin, thread the needle, go forward and backward and how to change which stitch the machine is making. And while that is all very important stuff to know it doesn’t necessarily fall into the fun category.
I decided it was time to buy a pattern and real fabric and see what happens. So last Friday I drove to my trust Joann’s (where McCall’s patterns were on sale for 99 cents) and got busy. I bought 3 apron patterns, 3 window treatment patterns, a Christmas stocking/tree skirt pattern, a Halloween witch’s hat pattern, a skirt pattern, a pajama pattern, straight pins, a seam ripper, thread and fabric to make an apron. I settled on item C from this pattern:
I selected a black and white zebra print for the body and solid purple for the accents.
Saturday night I washed all of the fabric and got busy cutting everything out.
Then Sunday was the hard/fun part. Time to actually sew. I had a lot of fun and while it took me HOURS to complete it did NOT take me as long as I thought it would. My first project it far from perfect but I am ridiculously proud of it. I made something!
See that cheesy grin? I warned you I was ridiculously, embarrassingly proud of myself.
So here’s the final product:
Overall I’m quite pleased, even though there are a few booboos and things I would change.
- The pockets: I think it would have looked cuter to make the pockets out of the purple rather than the zebra as instructed.
- I didn’t get the neck straps attached in the exact right place. So I had to improvise an additional fold at the top of the bib line.
- My bow at the neckline is as crooked as all get out, no matter how many times I tie the darn thing.
- I did not attach the bib to the apron correctly. I still don’t know how I was supposed to do that, but I’m still working/pondering. I’ll eventually figure it out.
- I don’t think I’m quite as big as I thought I was. I cut this pattern at a size large and I think it might have looked better if I cut it to be a medium.
- Next time I will not do all of the steps in the order recommended. I must have switched between purple and black thread half a dozen times. It was a bit ridiculous.
Next up is a Halloween witches hat. It involves round circle shapes. Wish me luck!
