Sew, sew

You don't have to know me too well to know I don't sew.  

There was a time, when I was very young, that I had an interest in sewing.  I made beds and pillows for my Barbies.  I tried making them clothes.  All of this was by hand and not with a machine.  My interest in sewing ended abruptly when I was in fifth grade the night before the 4-H fair.  

My mom, who was our 4-H leader, and I decided a good project would be to take apart an "Amish" quilt square I had made for my Indiana history segment.  (We are originally from there.)  

The stress of doing the project the night before, trying to "tighten" up my poor stitches, getting the gol durn thread through the eye of the needle (to this day that makes me antsy; I will not be cross stitching any time soon.) all lead to a massive melt down where I stormed away from the project.  I never looked back on sewing again.

In recent years, a desire to wear some original clothing and not look like a department store clone made me wish I wanted to sew.  Not enough to do anything about it, though.  

When I was pregnant, I think the nesting urge really reared sewing's head inside me.  I wanted a multi-tiered ruffled crib skirt, but the prices for those things on Etsy are appalling!  Come on...$300+ for a crib skirt?  Can't I make my own?  While that story is one within itself, the answer was yes, I could; and I partially did (with the help of two other girls who know what they're doing).  

 I also made Rosie's name on a banner for above her bed.  I was quite pleased with myself.  To have someone on Etsy do personalized banners is, again, ridiculously priced.  

We are also renovating our 1920 home, as many know, and we need curtains and pillows.  My mom made our dining room curtains, but I feel this is something I should be able to work on after Rosie goes to bed and we're watching The Voice.  

What has really pushed the sewing urge over the edge is the Boden Kids catalog.  Their clothing is sooooo cute, and sooooo overpriced for a child!  I can NOT justify $35 for a romper my daughter will be out of in three months.  She would have to wear it nearly every day for me to feel like I got my money's worth.

Boden's kids clothes are pretty simple, actually.  It's the material and the patterns and how they pair things that makes their stuff so crazy cute.  I flip through their catalog and think, "How difficult can that be to make?!"

Take these shirts on the left that I love!  They're so simple looking, yet, $34?!

So, here I find myself, roughly 25 years after walking away from sewing, about to sign up for a sewing class with a new sewing machine waiting to be used!  

I can't wait!  I hope it goes smoothly and that I like it.  I have visions of Rosie being the cutest dressed toddler on the playground due to her mama's handy work.  

The alternative is she'll look like a ragamuffin.  In which case, I'll start seriously perusing Boden's clearance page.