April Sewing Project// Arrow Tail Quilt

This month's project made me say a lot of bad words.

 I used this resource as guidance, but quickly struck out into my own territory when I realized that somehow-- despite using a template-- some of my cut pieces weren't the same size. *&%$.

I realized this after sewing some of them together. Double @!#$%.

I did my best to follow the instructions and try to make the rows as even as possible. Even still, this quilt leans like a cool kid.

While I was working on the binding I broke a needle off inside the bobbin carriage. It spun around inside a few times and ended up doing something funny to my machine because the replacement needles (yes, needles.) all scraped the sides of the entry and jammed the machine all over again. $#!*&. It's still broken. I haven't had the patience to get around to fixing it yet.

I haven't wanted to get a sewing project the ^%$@ over with yet this year. This one lay on my bedroom floor for almost an entire month. By the end I didn't care how it looked. I just wanted it over with. It turned out okay. A good first try, I'd say.

I love these pictures though. The rough memories of this project are already smoothing themselves over in my mind. Like, was it really that bad? 

I could totally do another one of those...maybe. 

I just have to fix my machine first. 

-Madelyn

March Sewing// here
February Sewing// here
January Sewing// here

Growing: My Garden

This space may not look like much, but it's the place where one of my long-time dreams will come to fruition (literally: hah!) this summer.

That overgrown row with the abandoned cages is the space where my mama and I will be growing a vegetable garden this summer! I've always wanted to grow a vegetable garden but never had the sunlight or space to make that dream a reality. This time last year, I began researching community gardens in my hometown, but as a college student splitting my time between two cities, it wasn't practical to rent a space last summer. I tucked the dream away for the season, admiring other's gardens on instagram and frequenting the farmers market every Saturday morning to get my fill of fresh-from-the-dirt, good food. 

My new years' resolution motivated me to pursue this idea again. Just this weekend, I rented a plot in a community garden within biking distance of my parents' house (where I'll be living this summer after graduation). I am so excited!!! 

I've got big dreams for this weedy space and I'll be putting those cages to good use. 

But the first thing on my to-do list is to till. 

Here's to the warmer days to come (I'll be spending them in the garden!),

-Madelyn

Growing: The Pile of Things I Made

I did laundry the other day (when the cover was off our couch) and while I was folding I made a specific pile for the articles of clothing I made, mended, or altered. It's small but growing. I did not expect my new years resolution to have an effect so quickly, but my confidence behind the sewing machine, pins in hand (or-- let's be honest-- between teeth), has grown exponentially in the past month.

When I'm behind my machine, I get lost in the rhythm of making. It's addictive. Once I start, I can't stop. My intention was to do projects in small, manageable chunks but I inevitably end up staying up late or pushing other things on my list to the side in order to get just a little bit more done on my project. The events that used to slow me down... don't anymore.

Bobbin empty? No problem. Unthreaded needle? Piece of cake. These are things that once intimidated me about sewing-- not the actually sewing but the machine troubleshooting and maintenance. It doesn't scare or hinder me as much as it did at the beginning of the year (43 days ago...weird). I'm loving this project and am so excited to see where this goes.

Hope you're having fun with your resolution!! 

-Madelyn 

February Sewing// Cloth Napkins

Good morning!

In January, I shared with you that my new year's resolution for 2015-- in conjunction with my one little word for the year, grow-- was to increase my sewing skills by sewing one new thing a month. This month, I went with a relatively simple project in order to showcase a brilliant fabric I bought over the summer from 1canoe2. I only had a half yard to work with and had major anxiety about what to make with it. I called on good ol' instagram for suggestions: an apron? pillows? some friends suggested.

I pulled out my fabric scissors, fully intending to cut square pockets for a yellow apron, but I couldn't do it. It didn't feel right. So I stashed it away again and waited.

Smile and Wave has a sweet post that inspired me to turn this fun fabric into cloth napkins. I've wanted to make a move towards using more environmentally friendly paper products in my kitchen and this gave me just the nudge I needed, as well as practice in creating good-looking hems.

This is a simple, economical project. I've enjoyed using these a lot lately; it's nice to see the fabric out on display during dinner. They add a bit of homey flair to a simple meal (cough, leftover Mellow pizza, cough). I've been setting aside swaths of leftover fabric from projects to turn into more napkins.

Side note: I need to come up with a good system for storing clean napkins/storing dirty napkins before I can wash them. I'm thinking baskets? What works for you?

 

I'm hoping I might be ready to tackle a dress again next month! Cross your fingers for me.

Happy Sewing. :)

-Madelyn 

P.S. Along this journey already, I've found some really talented and inspirational seamstresses and bloggers including Ivy Arch (who I mentioned last month), Tilly and the Buttons, and Red Red Completely Red. Check 'em out.

January Sewing// Grandma Pants/ Teacher Scrubs

Hello again!

On the first, I shared my one little word resolution for the new year: grow. In the post, I mentioned that one thing I liked about this way of making resolutions is that it's broad but I can make specific (and more traditional goals) that go along with it. This is the first of these specific goals: to sew one new thing a month. I want to grow my sewing skills this year.

My aunt is an incredibly talented and creative seamstress. I am forever inspired by the blogger Ivy Arch's dressmaking adventures. I showed my aunt a dress she made and my aunt created something similar based on some of her pictures and links. I admire these ladies immensely and I want to make this year the year that I make a concentrated effort to grow my skills in this area.

I completed my first sewing project of 2015 just yesterday: these pants! They're a tad bit on the so-ugly-they're-cute side, somewhere between grandma pants and teacher scrubs, but on cloudy January days like today the bright (obnoxious?) yellow makes me smile.

This was my first time reading and completing a project entirely independently. In the past I've had help from my aunt or my mom reading the pattern and they've gone back and checked my pins before I sewed (even still my seam ripper and I became close friends).

I epically screwed up a dress pattern about two weeks ago by missing a step cutting the pattern and not realizing it until much later. My confidence was a tad shaken when I started this project, but I think it helped me slow down and check myself when I was cutting and pinning. While I was working, I kept thinking about this quote by John Green:

"I hate the idea that, when it comes to books and learning, 

hard is often seen as the opposite of fun. 

It's strange to me that we should be so quick to give up 

on a book or a math problem when we are so will to grapple, 

for centuries if necessary, 

with a single level of angry birds." 

Noah will sit on the couch and grapple with a math problem for hours, muttering to himself and scribbling on sheets of paper. He was doing precisely this while I sewed: considering a research question that he'll be presenting on at a conference in San Antonio soon. I admire his energy and quiet persistence...and the fact that he was enjoying himself. When I felt myself growing frustrated after reading a direction for the third time and rechecking my pins before I sewed, I looked over to his work area in the corner. He'd be sitting there, thinking, and having a blast. Challenge is good, I would think, hard is fun.

The whole process only took me about four hours (!!!) and I am looking forward to making more of these in the future. I'm thinking maybe a rayon or lighter, more moveable fabric? How hard (fun!) is that to sew with?

 Happy January! 

-Madelyn 

One Little Word 2015

Happy 2015! I love new years because I look at it as an opportunity to refine my energy and refocus on things that matter to me in a new season. Two years ago, I read 52 books (a book a week) in 2013. Last year, my resolution was to "make more." This translated to developing a lot more content for my blog (you can read more about that here). 

Ali Edwards' concept of One Little Word really appealed to my yogic sensibilities: a mantra to define my new year. I flirted with this concept with my "make more" resolution last year. 

                                                         This year, my word is grow. 

What I like about this way of making resolution is that it's painted with a broad brush but I can create "mini-resolutions" that are more specific, traditional goal setting. As I look towards what I want in five or ten years, I see a lot of ideas and things I want to accomplish in my future that require skills I don't have yet: projects related to my sewing, gardening, my financial independence, and the life I want to create. This year, I want to grow into those skills and those ideas. 

grow: v. /'grō/ to become better or improved in some way: to become more developed, mature, etc. 

Tomorrow, I'll be posting the details one of my more structured, defined projects that fall under my one little word resolution. Stay tuned! 

Love, 

Madelyn