2008 February

A Completed Project For The Man

Posted by Nikki on February 21, 2008 Leave a Comment

About three months ago (probably longer, I’m trying to make myself look good) Aaron decided that we needed to do something to keep the doggy dirt off of our gigantor couch. The solution: for me to make some sort of cover for the bottom of the couch where the dogs like to lay. So I made and eyeball measurement (and was off by less than 6 inches..yes, I’m magical), and decided we needed 5 feet of 45 inch wide fabric. I forgot to include the fact that home decorator fabric is 54 inches wide and therefore I needed less than 5 feet. I believe I stated this fact in the store and my husband told me I was wrong. If anyone needs about 12 feet of burnt orange heavy weight home decorator fabric, I know where you can get a great deal!

I am actually quite pleased with the way the sienna color looks against all of the beige in the room. I finally managed to complete these today. Aaron will be so pleased.

Filed Under: Sewing For Home | Tagged:

Easiest Pants EVER

Posted by Nikki on February 21, 2008 1 Comment

I’m not kidding, Amy Butler makes the easiest, straight-forward patterns I have ever seen. I love wide leg pants. I find nothing more comfortable. In fact, the only reason I bought the In Stitches book is because there was a pattern for wide leg lounge pants in them. You’ll have to draft the pattern yourself based on her template, and they have a 29 inch inseam. There’s your warning. I ended up cutting 5 inches off and putting a 2 inch hem in them. Yes, I do have short legs, thanks for noticing.

Overall, these pants took about 2 and a half hours to complete. About a half hour was spent completing my own alteration to the pattern. The pattern calls for a draw string. I chose to put in an elastic wasitband instead. Both are pregnancy friendly, and I prefer elastic. I also chose to omit the trim embellishment at the bottom, although I reserve the right to change my mind about that decision later.

Yes, when they say wide leg they mean WIDE leg. STOP! HAMMER TIME! but oh so comfy.

Filed Under: Clothes, Sewing For Me | Tagged:

Maternity Clothes? Who Needs ‘Em!

Posted by Nikki on February 21, 2008 Leave a Comment

No seriously, who needs those? Oh wait……

So, in light of my ever decreasing wardrobe I decided that needed a new skirt. My initial idea was to put a jersey knit band on top of the waist of a skirt. I used my Sew What! Skirts book to make the fitted waist A-Line skirt. Failure to plan ahead…..

This is where my lack of patience and skill comes back to bite me and I just start hacking things up. I should have added an extra inch of ease to the waist and hips, instead I ended up cutting off the top because it was going to be too tight. Then when I added my jersey knit waist, it was a little too big. I’ve got about 4 and a half months to grow into it I suppose, and it is cute. Better too big than too small.

Filed Under: Clothes, Sewing For Me | Tagged:

Don’t Talk To Strangers

Posted by Nikki on February 10, 2008 3 Comments

Yesterday my mom invited me to tag along with her to the fabric store. Because I put a LOT of effort into procrastinating, I chose to go out rather than stay home and study like a good girl would (NOTE: I’m blogging, I’m still not studying). This turned into a whole day event because you can never go to just one fabric store, OH NO! You must go to THREE. Ok, so one was totally my suggestion, because again, I need to procrastinate.

So, we get to the store I had suggested and I am looking at some sock monkey fabric and this random woman comes up and screams in my ear, “THEY HAVE SOCK MONKEY FABRIC!”. You know those V-8 commericals where they slap people in the head? I had a mental image of something similar, although I would’ve slapped her with a bolt of fabric. So I left the aisle and went up to the clearance section. When I came back down this random woman goes, “Did you see her shirt?!” I was wearing a t-shirt with an appliqued flower on it, and this woman goes “can I see your shirt?”. Because I’m not a total jerk, I said yes. Apparently she needed to braille it out, because the next thing I know she has her hand on my chest touching said flower. Yo, chief, look with your eyes not with your hands on my boobs. She started telling me some story about craft camp, and I ended up walking away. I was too creeped out.

Lesson of the day: Don’t talk to strangers. Especially not when you are out with your mom and she wanders away so she can stand in another aisle and point and laugh at you. Also, strangers might molest you in the fabric store next to the nursery prints and that’s 37 kinds of wrong.

Filed Under: Nonsense, Procrastination | Tagged:

The Nappy Bag…It’s HUGE!

Posted by Nikki on February 10, 2008 Leave a Comment

This is the Amy Butler Nappy Bag. I saw this pattern and immediately loved it. Here are the pros: this bag is nice and big, simple to make, and is not just a diaper bag. Cons: It would be a terrible diaper bag, and the inside pockets don’t make much sense, also the pattern doesn’t call for any sort of closure to the bag so you have to choose your own adventure on that one. However, it’s a great tote bag and could be useful if you didn’t have to carry a lot of small items that might fall out. For those wanting to make their own diaper bag, might I suggest the Amy Butler Weekender Bag or the Favorite Things Annie’s Tote?

Oh, here’s the finished product:

I have several projects cut out right now, just trying to decide what to start on next! My husband will tell me to finish the couch cover I started first and worry about my wide leg pants later. This is because all of his clothes still fit….

Filed Under: Sewing For Babies and Children | Tagged:

Baby’s First Blanket

Posted by Nikki on February 10, 2008 1 Comment

Since I love hippos, and I am pregnant I decided to make a baby blanket out of some great fleece fabric I found. It’s a fairly simple project, it takes longer to pin the blanket binding on than it does to actually sew it. By the way, we are decorating with hippos, so it will work well.

Filed Under: Sewing For Babies and Children | Tagged:

Which Of These Things Doesn’t Belong

Posted by Nikki on February 3, 2008 Leave a Comment

“New Orleans defensive end Charles Grant was stabbed in the neck, and a pregnant woman was shot and killed early Sunday in an altercation at a nightclub in southwest Georgia.”

Ok, I would expect to find an offseason football player in a night club. Heck, in Cincinnati you would expect to find them in a night club 12 hours before game time! However, what on earth was a pregnant lady doing at a night club?! Keep this one in mind kids, stay in school and don’t go to night clubs when you’re pregnant. They’re full of smoke and people with guns..and knives.

In other news, how ’bout them Giants?! Lawrence Tynes is somewhere thanking the heavens that it didn’t come down to a game winning field goal. Tom Brady is somewhere CRYING.

Filed Under: Nonsense, Procrastination, Sports | Tagged:

NFL Week 19: Super Bowl Sunday

Posted by Nikki on February 3, 2008 1 Comment

Let’s hold hands and shed a tear, this is the last installment of my predictions. And in the unlikeliest of scenarios, I’m going against my fake husband, Eli. I know! I’m shocked too! I never thought I’d see the Giants in the Super Bowl this year. Now here it is, and tomorrow we might be seeing Plaxico CRYING. I’m talking like T.O. crying. That’s my team, dawg.

Speaking of Plaxico, he ran his mouth, which prompted all sorts of drama, not to mention F bombs from Tom Coughlin. Meanwhile, back in his crib, Tom Brady was crying and taking it personally. And suddenly Randy Moss believed himself to be the least mouthy, most unselfish player in all of football? What is going on here? I’ll tell you what’s going on, sadly the Patriots are going to win..probably by 7. I’m guessing something like 28-21.

Oh, and don’t think this means you won’t have to hear about the ’72 Dolphins anymore. You will. And it will be just as lame as every other time you had to hear about them. As if there is some new news about the ’72 Dolphins? Guess what, after 36 years they STILL went undefeated. Dumb.

Filed Under: Sports | Tagged: