I made something that isn't beady

This past weekend I made something that was not beady and it wasn't crochet.  I sewed something.  I know,  crazy right?  If you have been following this blog for a while, you know that sewing is not my forte.  I keep trying and I keep failing.  Okay, I don't fail, but I pass by the skin of my teeth.  I mean I did manage to make the throw pillows for our couch.  And they all have zippers and piping, so I guess I'm not a total failure.

I also have been able to make fabric napkins with my serger.  Now I don't know if I would call this a great sewing project.  All I did was cut out a square and serge and edge.  But they are cute and now we don't waste paper napkins, so they fulfilled their job requirements.

I guess my major frustration comes from the fact that my mom is an amazing seamstress.  I see her make amazing things, and then I struggle to make pillows (oh yeah, those pillows took me hours to make).  I mean look at this Halloween costume my mom made for me.

   
Yes, my mom made me that.  From scratch.  Buy hey, I made decorated the hat and made the jewelry.  Before anyone says anything, I'm 22 in that picture and this was my first collage apartment.  Oh how time has flown.

My mom also made J this wonderful "fur" blanket a few years ago for Christmas.  He loved it, I loved it, the cats loved it, and Yoda loves it (you can tell because of all the pet hair on it).  It was a big hit.  It still is a big hit.  But I sort of commandeered it and made it my own.  Hey, I get cold and this is the warmest, most wonderful blanket we own.

So feeling bad about never letting J use the blanket my mom made specifically for him, I decided it was time J got his own blanket.  So armed with my 60% off coupon, we headed to JoAnn's this past weekend.  We bought 2 yards of the "fur" and 2 yards of anti-pill fleece.

Then I sat down and started working on it.  This was supposed to be an easy project, I mean all it is is sewing two pieces of fabric together.  Well like everything, it wasn't as easy as I had expected.

First off, I don't have the room to do a project this large.  Two yards of "fur" and fleece is a lot of fabric to maneuver.  Second, I own the cheapest sewing machine you can buy, so I have problems with missed stitches and broken tread a lot.  So that was frustrating.  And third, the "fur" stuff is not the easiest stuff to work with.  My machine wouldn't advance the fabric on it's own, so I had to pull it through.  And since my machine weighs half a pound, it kept moving on me.

But after an hour of so of struggling with everything and Yoda jumping on and attacking the fabric helping me, I made a blanket.  It's not as pretty as my mom's.  I still have to work on keeping my stitches straight, but overall it's not bad.

And the best part, J loves it.  He cuddled under it the other night while playing video games.  Now we both have toasty warm blankets for the winter.  And with practice, I'm getting a little better at sewing.  :-)