ONE NEW THING WEEK 17!

This week I decided to tackle (and complete) this adorable little top for my friend's baby girl! I downloaded the pattern which was a reasonable $6.00 - far less than commercial patterns bought at the fabric store which I believe are around $15.00!  Yikes - seems like a lot to me! Growing up, my mom made most of my clothes - and they were beautiful! I can still remember her making me stand on a dining room chair while she held up pattern pieces against me and making alterations and holding my breath I wouldn't get poked by a pin. She kept her sewing machine in my bedroom and I remember her sewing away at the machine at nighttime while I was trying to sleep. It was a Singer slant needle in a beautiful walnut table. I think my dad must have bought it for her and I'm sure at the time it was quite the machine.  As I got older, I sewed a few things, mostly for home ec.  I never really had great results and kind of gave up trying to sew things for myself.  I wasn't really interested in having my mom teach me how to sew and now it's too late...

 

A while ago I decided to give garment sewing another go!  I've taken a few classes but mostly just have a pile of few unfinished projects that I'm not really happy with.  And then I thought perhaps if I tried some smaller projects I might gain some experience. When I found the pattern for the little blouse I thought it would be a perfect project to start with.  Here's the finished product...

 

 

I'm really pleased with how this turned out!  The pattern was pretty good...if I didn't have any quilting or sewing experience I think might have had some trouble!  The instructions were pretty clear for the most part but there were a few areas that could have used a little more explanation!  Making this little blouse has given me the confidence to go ahead with some bigger projects!

 

In quilting news, nothing new to show you this week.  I seem to have fallen into that dangerous trap of spending lots of time in my sewing room but not finishing anything. I have too many projects on the go (which is so easy to do) and too many ideas in my head.  I need to get back to focusing on one thing at a time and getting it completed. On the other hand...it's just too much fun starting new things!