The 2 Minute Infinity Scarf

Yes... it's been FOREVER... but I'm back with a fun and super quick tutorial!  Yeah!

Last week I went to Joann Fabrics with a friend who found this awesome green jersey knit fabric that she was going to use to make a dress out of.  Well, it was my favorite color green and really super soft so I couldn't pass up getting a little of it for myself too...

(Isn't that an awesome green color?)

I figured I could make a great little scarf out of this fabric and add a little color to my pretty boring (mostly black and grey) work wardrobe at the same time.

And so now you get my 2 Minute Infinity Scarf Tutorial!  :)

Yes, it seriously took me only 2 minutes (or less) to make!  I'm not kidding... it's the perfect quick sewing project and would make a great gift item to add to your list of holiday gifts to make :)

OK, so here we go...

Basically...

1. Buy some knit fabric - the longer the better (mine was 60") and have it cut to 1/8 yard (or cut it yourself, but that will probably add an extra minute to the project ;) )
2. Fold it so that the short sides are together, and pin.
3. Sew your edges together :)

That's it!
So easy, right? I could see this in lots of great colors and patterns filling up my closet :)

What are you waiting for? Go make one of your own :)
And if you do make one yourself... please link it up in the comments here, I'd love to see it!

And... Done!

OK, so I'm feeling a bit better after my long to-do list this morning.  Today I did actually get some work done around the house plus I got around to making 2 dresses!  Yup.. TWO of them!  I even got a few more rows knit on my sweater as well :)

My sister came by after stopping and picking up some fabric at JoAnn.  I took a few measurements and got started with her new dress(es).   A few days ago, my sister, Whitney (of Caught You on Camera), sent me a link to the McIntosh Knockoff Dress at Maybe Matilda... and asked me to make her one.  It's a super cute dress and honestly, really very similar to my Kate Dress that I have made for my daughters.  Same basic concept, except the McIntosh Knockoff features this really fun sash and the best part... pockets!

I was really excited to make a dress with pockets in it... I've never done it until today, and I must say I'm hooked!  I'll probably never (or rarely) ever make a skirt again without pockets.  Shoot, I might even go take a look in my closet and start figuring out which dresses and skirts I could add some pockets to.  hehe  I better slow down though for now. :)

Anyway, the tutorial was super easy to follow and really simple to do.  To be perfectly honest, if you can cut a square/rectangle and sew a straight line, then you can make this dress.    Here's how mine turned out...

This was the first one I made...

I followed the directions exactly - the measurements given in the tutorial were exactly the same as my sister's measurements - how lucky is that!? :) We measured to have the waist of the skirt fall right below her belly button.

On the second one, we made the skirt about an inch above the belly button.

This one I did a little more A-line. I didn't have a skirt to trace, so I just cut my squares a little wider then folded in half length-wise and cut a diagonal line from the top to the bottom, making sure that I left the width of the waist large enough so that I could gather the skirt still. I just did a straight hem on this skirt and it worked just fine.

The only problem we had was with the sash.  I didn't cut it long enough the first time around, so I ended up going back and having to cut it and add more.  The extra fabric is still here so I think I'm going to re-do the sash to make it look better.

Oh yeah, and the sash... this was the fun part of how it turned out for me - I had the idea that since the fabrics that Whit brought over coordinated, that we could make the sash double sided.  This way I only had to make one sash and also both prints would show when it was tied, adding a little bit more fun to the outfit. :)

These dresses would be really cute with various belts really... just to mix up the outfit a bit...

I'm going to make myself one soon hopefully!!

what to do first...?

I've got a long list of projects I'd LOVE to work on this weekend.  I'm feeling pretty crafty right now and all these projects are all over the spectrum - knitting, sewing, hair bow making, jewelry making, etc.  I really should learn to focus on just one thing at a time.  Oh well. 

Also this weekend, We've got to get some progress made on de-cluttering this house.  We decided that we will work on the final touches of getting our bedroom back in shape - so mostly just getting the last of the clothes put away somewhere.  Next, we will tackle the kitchen.  My main project in there will be to get the table and shelves cleared off of all the junk that has gathered and maybe clean out the pantry.  There's so much stuff in there that we have likely forgotten about and is probably stale by now anyway.  Time to get it out of this house!

So on top of my house cleaning that has to get done, I'm wanting to do all sorts of fun stuff.  I'm being realistic knowing that it won't all get done... but I do want to at least accomplish something.  I should probably start with the netbook case that I've been working on... it's so not going well though.  I tried following the pattern, but it's not written out very well... because I'm totally missing something.  I'm going to be having to make some adjustments to not waste what I've done so far.  We'll see how that goes.

I also need to hem a skirt for a friend, and hem a pair of my own pants.

I need to make these earrings for another friend.

And I need to make some hair bows - a big sister/little sister combo.

I'd like to work on this dress that my sister asked me to make for her, but I haven't heard back from her about any plans to get together - so this probably won't happen.  I'd also like to make one for myself, so maybe I'll gather the materials for mine at least.

I had saved this pattern in my stash awhile back, and now would like to try making it for my girls.  I've got the pattern printed out... next I just need to cut and tape it together.  Then choose my fabric for the top. :)  We all know that's the tough part... ;)

I'd also like to make this skirt for myself... the pattern has been sitting around here for almost 2 years now.  I'm having trouble picking out which fabric to use as well.

Let's see what else...

I want to make some more progress on my Garter Stitch Swing Cardi.  It's kind of taking awhile because I keep laying it down to work on smaller, quicker projects.

And speaking of smaller, quicker projects.  I need to make another of these hats for a friend at work.  Also, I need to make some flowers to go on a few of the hats that I have already finished.

So you see, that's quite a long "would like to do" list and I know I won't finish it all - but maybe having this little list will help me work on things in the right order and get at least some progress made. :)

I finally sewed something!

Its been about a week or more since I've actually sewed anything... Or made anything crafty at all. I guess I just needed a break. Today I finally dug out a project that I had cut out a few weeks ago because it has to be finished this week. So I did make a bit of progress on that project... More about that later :)

I have been thinking about making myself a sleeve or case for my new iPad since before I ever bought it. I haven't wanted to take my iPad anywhere outside of the house because I don't have any sort of protective cover, screen protector or anything.

After a weeks worth of browsing online for the perfect protective case, I finally placed my order on Amazon last night... So that is on the way :)

So tonight since I had the sewing machine out... I decided to throw together a quick little iPad sleeve. I wasn't intended to be anything fancy, just something to protect against scratches and offer a little padding when I want to carry my iPad outside of the house.

Cute huh? I'll be making another one of these this week and I'll actually take photos to do a tutorial...so check back for more details.

This one is double lined/padded with felt and has a Velcro closure. It took probably about 5-10 minutes to make, and that was with making up the steps as I went along. So once you know the steps, you can probably make it in under 5 minutes. How's that for a simple project?

I've got a few more ideas to make this even a little more useful so maybe I'll include those with the tutorial.

On another note, I am sitting here watching Extreme Couponing for the first time. I've heard a lot about this show but hadn't seen it until now... All I can say is that this is CRAZY! Honestly, what do you need with 60 bottles of mustard when you don't even eat mustard? It is pretty awesome how you can work the system though to get all these things for practically nothing.

St. Patty's Day Skirt

Yeah... I'm a few weeks late posting this... I know...

I did make a cute and comfortable skirt that I wore for St. Patrick's Day this year - because it's green, of course!  :)

I found this post with this awesome skirt pattern and although I didn't exactly follow instructions exactly, my skirt turned out pretty cute.  It's got the same waistband concept as the pattern and that is what made is really comfortable.

What do you think?  

The Schoolhouse Tunic - part one

I said before that I have been wanting to make myself some new clothes... well, I am finally getting around to something that has been sitting on my project list for awhile.

The Schoolhouse Tunic from Sew Liberated...

Cute huh?  I think so too... bought this pattern sometime last year and am just now getting around to making it for myself.  That's how it usually goes though...


After going back and forth a few times about what kind of fabric I wanted to use, I finally settled on some nice black/gray linen.  I found it at JoAnn's for $14.99 a yard and had a 50% off coupon - total I spent around $18 for the fabric (not too bad for the nice quality stuff I got).  I actually kept trying to decide between the fabric that I ended up with vs. a linen almost exactly like the one that was on the model for the pattern... too funny :)

I started tracing the pattern pieces on to transfer paper some time last week, in hopes that I could have stitched this up over the past weekend - which was a good plan until I got sick and spent a good bit of the weekend in bed.

Anyway, on Monday evening I cut all my pattern pieces and started pinning the first few steps of the pattern together.

I did make one little adjustment to the bodice - I added a few extra inches to the bottom of the bodice pieces.  My normal problem with tops/dresses with seams under the bust line is that they are always too short for me and end up cutting me right through the center of my bust. 
 I'm hoping that the extra inches added solves this problem and doesn't cause me any other issues with the pattern.  I don't really see why it will, but it really is my luck that it would mess something up.   I guess we'll see when it's finished :)

Tonight, I was able to get the entire bodice piece put together.

What do you think so far? (please ignore that skirt that is still pinned to my dress form - it's still waiting to be hemmed)

The next step is the sleeves and attaching them to the bodice...  I'll share step by step until I get this finished - hopefully over the weekend at the latest so that I can wear this sometime soon. :)

A First of Many - Peasant Blouse

When I found this tutorial for a child's peasant blouse at Prudent Baby I just knew that I had to make one for the girls.  If it really was as easy as it looks, then I'd make several.  I mean seriously... what a perfect addition to any little girl's wardrobe.

Well, I am happy to announce that it really was as easy as it looked.  I followed the measurements that were listed for the 18mo - 2T size because, conveniently, that was the exact size that I needed (it's always nice when you can follow the instructions exactly as written instead of having to do the math to make it a different size).  The instructions were perfect and super simple to follow.

I've been really needing some sort of project that could give me some instant gratification and this was definitely a great one for that.  It took me most of the day (between wrangling two toddlers, one of whom was sick) but could have easily been done in about an hour for those people who can sit for an hour and just work on a single project.

Of course, I made a few customizations myself though.  I did not add the waistband elastic piece from the original tutorial.  I might try it out on future versions just for some variety, but didn't feel like it for this one.  But, I did add some cute little pockets on the front.

I really like this fabric because it's almost got a vintage feel to it.  Nora actually picked it out herself when we were at the fabric store this past weekend.  It was cute and on clearance, so of course I couldn't say no.  :)

Another thing that is so awesome about this top... I really think that I could make it using 2-3 fat quarters (depending on the size).  I'll probably try that at some point and let you know how that turns out. :)

As you can see, my model wasn't really up for the job tonight - too busy watching Toy Story. :)

I like how versatile this type of top is.  You can wear it as a shirt, or as a dress.  With short sleeves, long sleeves, or even no sleeves if you wanted.  It's nice and cool when the weather is hot but can also be worn with a long sleeve shirt underneath during the colder months.  I definitely see myself making lots of these types of tops in the future - maybe even eventually one for myself!

my latest obsession: patterns

Once again, I've gotten hooked on finding new ideas of projects that I want to do.... I really have no need to ever look for another project or find new ideas, because my current "I'd like to do" list could seriously last me a lifetime.  That's part of the problem with having so may awesome resources, and ideas out there to find.

My latest obsession has been patterns.  I decided that I wanted to finally make something for myself so I started looking for ideas, which led me to the pattern books in the fabric store, and then of course I had to pick out just a few.  And of course, I can never stop at just one or two.  In the past 2 weeks I've bought probably close to 15 new patterns.  Most of them are for adult clothing (i.e. for me), but I did also get a new purse pattern, and a coat pattern for the girls (I'd like to make them coats for next winter I think).

This recent pattern obsession has been fueled a bit by some pattern sales, so at least I'm not paying full price.  Hobby Lobby has Simplicity patterns for $0.99 through Saturday, and JoAnn's has them for $1.99.

I've found lots of tops, a few dresses, skirts, even jackets and cardigans.  I'll share along the way as I actually make things.

One awesome tip I have found when it comes to buying patterns... or maybe more just picking out patterns... plan ahead.  If you know that a store has patterns on sale then that is definitely the time to buy them!  I mean, who really wants to pay $17.95 for a pattern when you can scout out the sales and get them for $0.99-$1.99 each? 

Another thing... get online and check out all the patterns and spend your time browsing through the designs at home.  I could honestly spend hours just looking through all the pattern catalogs at the stores, and of course I never actually have that much time to spend doing so.  If you browse the pattern manufacturer website and make a list of the patterns you are interested in then you can head straight to the pattern drawers at the store and save a ton of time. 

I've taken this a step further and will actually take a photo of the patterns that I like on my cell phone, that way if I am in search of a pattern then I can just flip through my phone till I find what I am looking for, and I've got all my info right away.  Or, on the chance that I do sit down and browse through the pattern catalogs, I take a photo of the page and then I have my info handy when I get to the drawers.

Oh yeah, and try not to get too stuck on a specific pattern - especially when they are on sale, the popular ones can easily sell out before you get there.  So be prepared with some alternatives.  There are so many similar patterns available that it's usually pretty easy to find another one that will work for you.

One little rant though - I am a bit disappointed by how a lot of the pattern sizes are limited.  I can find some great patterns but then end up disappointed that it isn't offered in my (larger) size.  Part of my whole reason for wanting to make clothing for myself is so that I can wear things that fit.  It's fairly easy to make things fit if you are able to make it from a larger (than accurate) size pattern and then adjust to take it in where needed, but I'm finding it quite a bit harder to make a pattern larger in the areas that I need it to be bigger to fit.

I'm thinking that maybe I need to learn how to customize pre-made patterns...

large(er) version of my buttercup bag

Remember when I made my first Buttercup Bag and I mentioned that I was going to make another one, but the enlarged version?  Well, I did... and now I'm finally getting around to sharing it with you :)

I made a few changes with this second bag that I think were definitely helpful, and made it turn out even cuter :)

First, I had recently come across this tutorial for making your own custom piping and thought it was really cool looking.  I had also been browsing through Flickr photos of the Buttercup Bag and got a bit of inspiration from other people's alterations.  Mainly, to use the piping on the bag and instead of having a single strap - to make two separate handles.

So I set out to make my own custom piping to match the lining fabric that I was using.  I didn't have enough fabric to cut my strips of fabric on the bias, but that was really not necessary for this project.  I could see where it would be necessary if we were putting the piping around lots of curved edges, but this was a pretty straight line, so it wasn't necessary.

I simply stitched the piping to the upper outer part of the bag before attaching that piece to the lower outer piece. It's really nice that if you don't get quite close enough to the edge of the piping then you can always re-stitch it to get closer.

Do you notice anything else a bit different about the photo above?

Instead of stitching the pleats in the lower outer pieces, I got a little lazy and just did a gather instead.  Honestly, I almost like the look of it better... plus it was much quicker than having to measure, press, pin and stitch all of those pleats.

For the handles, I simply measured out how long I wanted them to be, then cut strips of fabric (two of the outer fabric, two of the lining) of that width and length plus my seam allowances.  I pressed the edges of each piece and then did a top stitch all the way around to have the two pieces of fabric attached.  Oh yeah, I also used some heavyweight fusible interfacing on the outer fabric to give it a little more strength.

Once the handles were assembled, I just marked where they should be, pinned and then stitched them as I was stitching the outer and the lining together.  Simply make sure that your handles are on the right side of the outer fabric, but sandwiched between the outer and the lining (before it is turned right side out)... sorry, I forgot to get a photo of that part (I know it's a bit confusing, but maybe you get what I'm trying to say).

And here is the final product...

the outside

and the inside

Not too shabby huh?

*oh yeah, I kinda ad-libbed the pocket too - the size that the pattern called for was a little too small for what I needed.

Another difference between this finished bag and the first one I did (following the pattern exactly) was that I did not put in a magnetic closure... actually, I didn't add a closure at all.  I honestly didn't think it was necessary, especially with the double handles.

I've been carrying this bag around ever since I finished it, and I just love it!  It's still a little on the small side for me (I'm more of a big purse kinda girl), but it holds my essentials and is comfortable to carry.

I'll probably try to make another one sometime this year, but try enlarging the pattern even more.  I'd also like to try adding in a zipper closure maybe.

As I promised... (even though I'm super slow)

I know, I'm a few days late on the photos that I had been promising... it's been crazy around here, so that's really my own excuse (it's valid though).  I finally got a chance to sit down with my camera and computer and get these photos downloaded - I can't believe it's been about a month since I have downloaded photos!  That is so not like me at all... I'm going to be better!

I've got quite a few projects that I had done and haven't shared yet, so stay tuned for those in the next few days.

As you can see, it still needs to be hemmed.  I'm getting there - but just not in much of a rush because I already know that it doesn't quite fit me either... so it will have to hang out in the closet until I drop a size or two. 

This skirt was really pretty easy to make.  The only difficulties I had was when I tried to add a lining to it.  See, I didn't start out planning on needing a lining but after making the first few stitches I realized that the skirt fabric was a bit see through.  It's not exactly work appropriate to have a semi-see through skirt, you know?  Well, I obviously didn't have any lining fabric with me at home so I had to plan another trip to JoAnns. 

In the mean time, I kept sewing along on the skirt.  I should have stopped when I got to the zipper part - but it was one of the first few steps and I was really wanting to get it put together.  In hindsight, I need to not put the zipper in until I have the lining ready.  It looks pretty rough on the inside...

Actually, next time I just need to pay more attention to my fabric choice and not get anything that needs a lining. :)

Oh yeah, if you are wondering... the pattern I used was from Simplicity's New Look collection, #6843

Like I said, it was really simple to follow... not a lot of steps either (it's one of those 1 hour patterns).  My only complaint is that the pattern only comes in one set of sizes... and it doesn't go up to my correct size (sadly, I guessed my measurements incorrectly).  I think I am going to do some reading about how to adjust a pattern and then maybe try this one again.

Does anyone know of any good resources for learning how to adjust a pattern for your own measurements?  Please leave any suggestions in the comments :)

Speaking of comments... I just love them!  Thanks to everyone who has left comments for me in the past... keep them coming!   I know I've been a little boring lately, but there really will be more fun stuff coming soon!

Another dress and a trip to JoAnns (again)

Yeah! It's Saturday! :) I was so ready for the weekend to finally get here.

Anyway, I woke up early by the fault of a snoring husband and started thinking about what the plan was for the day, what I'd be able to get done, what we already had planned, etc. I remembered that the girls had been invited to a birthday party and their Aunt was brave enough to take them - both of them alone and without having naps. (that part of the day worked out surprisingly well at least)...

So yeah, I was thinking about what cute outfit I could dress the girls in and got the bright idea to make a new Kate dress for SQ to wear. I had it all cut out and ready to start stitching by the time anyone else woke up.

Cute huh?

I've had that flower print fabric for years now, and never could figure out what to really make with it. It turned out to be the perfect compliment to that awesome yellow shirt that the girls had gotten too tall for. :)

So, after getting everyone ready and going over to Mom's house... I sent the girls off to the birthday party and Mom and I ventured in to town to go to the new JoAnn Fabrics.  I've been a few times since they opened about 2-ish weeks ago and am so excited about their selection of fabrics.  I've been trying to avoid the place this week because it's their official Grand Opening - which means lines to the very back of the store (seriously, we waited in line for an hour today), but Friday I picked up a few new patterns for some new work clothes for myself.  Hobby Lobby doesn't really carry much in the lines of suiting fabric so that meant I would be making the trip to JoAnns. 

I did find some awesome fabrics!  A black-ish kind of print with a red lining fabric (for fun) to use to make a new dress, a brown stripe for a pencil skirt and a really pretty large flowered cotton print for an A-line skirt.  I'm excited to finally make something for myself.  More about these projects later!

It was a full day, but a good one :)  Tomorrow, I'm hoping to make my pencil skirt so that I can wear it to work this week. :)

Autism Awareness Bow Tie

I got a message from a friend of mine last week asking for some help with a project.  Annie teaches Autistic children, and has been making some flower pins for her fellow teachers using the Autism puzzle print fabric.

There was one issue though, the school's Principal is a man... and well, she didn't think that he'd be very willing to wear a flower pin.  He does wear bow ties though!

This is where I come in... Annie asked if I could help her make a bow tie for her Principal.  That sounded like fun, and pretty easy so I told her I was in.

So, before she came over I wanted to be prepared and have the pattern and supplies ready.  It's kind of hard to find a free bow tie pattern.  The first one I found didn't really work too well when I tried to print it, so I looked some more and found a post on Greg's Blog.  The instructions show how he used a bow tie that he already had to trace a pattern.  After a few requests, he drew up the pattern to share with the rest of us.  You can find his pattern in the comments on his post.

Anyway, here it is... don't laugh at the photo (this was the best we could do with tying the bow tie - it definitely takes practice)

Cute huh? It will look even better on her Principal (who does wear bow ties, so we figure he actually knows how to tie them correctly).

Have you ever made a bow tie?  Do you know anyone who would wear one?  This was definitely a super simple project and was quite quick to finish.  I could totally see making up a whole stash of these in an afternoon.

Next, I'd love to try to make some already tied ones with an elastic adjustable piece for younger boys.  They'd make great gifts for friends to use for holidays or other special occasions.

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My New Dress Form!

Guess what I found at my front door when I got home?

My new dress form!!!  It's a birthday gift and I can't wait to put it together and make something!  I think my first order of business will be to alter a few shirts that I already have that have never fit quite right. 

This will open up so many opportunities for making things for myself, rather than taking the easy way out and just making things for the kids. :)

I'll let you know how it goes :)

Experiments with patchwork...

I got this book (I Love Patchwork: 21 Irresistible Zakka Projects to Sew) for Christmas and decided that I was going to start off with the little patchwork bag project.

Photo from book

Cute huh?  I had run across this post and The Crafter's Apprentice and that gave me a little extra push to go ahead and have this be my first project (there were quite a few really cute ones that I was trying to decide between).

Anyway... here is how mine turned out...

Not bad, huh? Well... it was a struggle.

This is my first ever patchwork project... so my blocks don't line up exactly. I partially blame this on the fabric (it wasn't the easiest to work with). Oh well. It takes practice.

One thing that I have found invaluable for piecing pieces of fabric together (quilting, anything patchwork, anything with a 1/4 seam) is my new 1/4" quilting foot. Wow this thing was so helpful!

There are a few things about the book though...

I noticed that the illustration in the book where it shows you how to lay out your squares is backwards. It shows a solid linen square where the patterned fabric is supposed to be. I started laying out my squares according to the book and got confused when I didn't have the right number.

They obviously got it right when they made theirs for the book (it's correct in their finished photo) so It's just lazy for them to not have it right in the illustration.

This is how it should be

Anyway, so I got started piecing and ironing and had all the pieces assembled. Now to attach everything together. This is where the zipper comes in.

well, I started reading the entire rest of the instructions to figure out how everything goes together. I did not like how they had written the instructions to attach the lining though. I really didn't want to hand stitch the entire lining to the bag (and have to be careful enough to not let my stitches go all the way through. Too much hassle!

So, I made a few adjustments - this caused me to make some changes on how the zipper was inserted.

I started by laying my outer piece right side up and the zipper face down on it and stitching it with my zipper foot. This has the same effect as the instructions in the book (which said to press the edge down 1/4" and then stitch with the outer piece on top of the zipper - which would cause the stitch to show on the outside) but mine does not show the stitches on the outside.

(oh yeah, sorry for the difference in quality of the photos here... I just grabbed whichever camera was closest to me)

See?

I did follow instructions for the next steps - but they were a bit confusing. Here is how I did it...

Here you have to reinforce the zipper ends, I slid the tube of fabric around my machine and stitched back and forth a few times at the ends of the zipper. Be careful and go slow - you could easily break your needle if you hit the wrong part of the zipper.

And you get this...

Now you will stitch up the sides. I kept the zipper closed while I was stitching the first side to make sure that it was lined up correctly.

When you flatten your bag so you can sew it, fold the zipper part in half - so that you can stitch right up near the edge, but don't stitch all the way through the zipper this time.

Now, open your zipper (at least enough to get your hand through) and then stitch up the other side the same way.

Turn it right side out to admire your work!

OK, really... you aren't done quite yet.

I followed the instructions for stitching the bottom corners of the bag - except I kind of measured wrong and took it in 1 1/2" instead of the written 1". Oh well. It was too late to change it when I noticed this. It just makes for a smaller bag on the bottom.

Now, you need to attach the lining.

I stitched up the lining as instructed and slid it over my outer piece (you'll have to turn the outside piece inside out again).

When I went to iron down the 1/4" seam allowance at the top (so that there is a clean edge) I noticed that my fabric wasn't quite tall enough to do so. I know that I measured my piece correctly... so there is another flaw in the written instructions.

This is where my trusty Heat-N-Bond tape came to the rescue!

I simply ironed on the tape where I needed the fabric to stick to...

Then took off the paper and ironed my lining down to it (being sure to turn the edges under at least a little bit).

Not bad, huh? Now, since this tape is so strong I guess I could have just left it like that. But, it really did need the top stitching - and it's always usually much better looking that way.

So I took my zipper foot and attached it to my machine again and did a top stitch around the top edge of my bag.  Going around or near the zipper ends was tricky though.

On the end where the zipper pull was (when it's unzipped) I even broke my needle and jammed up my machine for a little bit.  Not cool.

I decided that since I couldn't easily get to that one little bit of area to finish the top stitch, that it could just stay open there.  The Heat-N-Bond tape is holding the lining to the bag, so it's not technically needed at least.

I think that if there were some tabbed ends on the zipper part, like I have done before using this tutorial, then that might have helped a good bit on the zipper troubles.

So, it's done... far from perfect but it's OK.  It will either be used by me... or maybe I'll give it to the girls to play with so I'm not really concerned about it being "just right"... Lessons learned at least.  If I try this bag again I've definitely got some ideas on how to adjust it to make it better.

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It's like Christmas all over again!

... No seriously... I came home from work today to a whole pile of boxes that came in the mail today!!

What did I get you wonder???

Well, first... our new iPhone 4's came in!

Yep, I even still have the plastic covering on... yeah, it's annoying but it's at least partially protected until my case comes in (expected later this week).

Also... my new sewing machine!

Yeah! I just had a basic Kenmore machine (not sure which model) before. It got the job done. Really, not a bad machine at all. But there were a few things that I discovered that I wanted that it just didn't do.

With a little bit of research and a personal recommendation from my friend Cyndie, I decided on the Brother CS-6000i.  It was super easy to set up.  The instructions were pretty easy to follow and I had my bobbin wound and machine threaded (with the automatic threader) fairly quickly.  I've only done a few test stitches but so far so good!

My favorite thing about this machine so far? (OK, maybe 2 things)... it's SUPER quiet, and I can actually do the automatic ruffle trick (where you tighten your tension all the way, and use your longest stitch to make it ruffle without pulling threads manually) - which I could never get to work on my old machine.  Whoo hoo!  This will probably be one of the biggest time savers for me because... well, I tend to do projects where I need to ruffle some stuff :)

What's next you wonder?  My new bedding... that's right!

Isn't it beautiful? It's the Amy Butler Bucharest Constanta Comforter, Smart Bed Skirt, and Sham Set. It's going to look so good in our room once we get it all put together, and some walls painted, and the headboard covered (more about that later...).  I just got the comforter, bed skirt, shams, and a set of the charcoal colored sheets.  I'm looking forward to making some bright colored throw pillows to add a bit of color to the room :)

See what I told ya?  It's definitely like Christmas around here - except for us big kids this time... hehe

OK, that's it for now... I'm off to go play with my new toys! 

Don't forget!  You can still register for my giveaway until midnight on Friday!