Sew Much Fun

When school let out I had an uncontrollable urge to be crafty.  This translated in large part into a sewing frenzy which hasn't entirely abated.  I try to take advantage of the urge to sew and whip out as many projects on my to do list as possible before the urge passes, because once it dies down, nothing can induce me to sew, even if I happen to stop mid project.  Ask my daughter, I still have a half sewn apron from the last go round.

Here are few things I have been working on in the last few weeks:

Aprons

These started a couple years ago when I saw a super cute apron on someone else's blog and thought "I can SOO make that."  So I did, then I made a dozen more!  I gave them to my family and friends and kids and a lot of them to the graduating senior girls from church--sort of a "Congratulations on graduating and growing up--good luck cooking for yourself.  But hey, look cute while you do it!"

Plus they are reversible.

Here are a few I have made:

Head Bands


I first made a couple of these for a friend of Hannah's for her birthday.  Along with a fun rosette necklace that I have yet to make more of.

These are pretty easy and super cute.

 The flower is actually made of satin ribbon and is a pin, so it can be removed and pinned other places--like on a sweater. . .OR a . . .

Purse

I decided that in my old age carrying a purse is quite handy.  It holds LOTS of stuff.

I like being able have lots of stuff and still have my hands free.  But mostly, I like being able to take my camera (and an extra lens or two) with me without looking like a tourist.

So I whipped up this little number one day and I LOVE it.  I even gave it a magnet snap and interior pockets.  I may make another. . .


This next one was really out of necessity, though I have been wanting to make one for while.  Every Sunday when my kids drag out their coloring books and crayons in church and the inevitable CRASH of the spilled crayon bin makes me cringe I think, "I really should make that. . . ."

Crayon Roll

It is super easy and so neat and quiet in the car and at church and anywhere we go.  Plus it tucks into my purse or church bag real slick.  Plus I made one for each girl so no fighting!

I still have loads of things to sew on my list.  Like the chair covers I started last October! I got ONE done.

Unfortunately, this chair has seven siblings I must cover.

But it sure is cute with the pillow I bought off Etsy:

Add to that a bench cushion for a friend, a skirt for my daughter, some curtains for my daughter, and a new cover for a foot stool for my other daughter. . .  the list goes on.  I hope the urge to sew lasts as long as the list--I have a feeling it won't, particularly since the list keeps growing!

I shouldn't ask (for the sake of keeping my list short), but :

What have you sewn lately? Or at least, what have you wanted to sew lately?

Forward Thinking Sedum

I have always been under the impression that sedum was a lover of heat and dry locations.

They are acclaimed for their drought tolerance. . .

I took that to mean that they would not do well in very wet weather. . .

I live in wet and cloudy Washington.

So when I made these hypertufa pots last year and planted sedum in them I thought they might drown over the winter.

Last month we got 200% of our average rainfall for the month.

Apparently these plants are storing up for the future.

Sidetracked. . . As Usual

Necessity is the mother of invention. . . or rather, of construction in our case.  At least that's what I call it when a washing machine goes out and it spurs a laundry room makeover.  A deadline helps to.  Of course, that deadline has passed, as has the over zealous gusto with which we started the project.

"We have three days to make over the room before the new washer and dryer get here." got us really going on the project. . . then reality set in and we made sure the floor was done so the washer and dryer would have something to sit on.  Here is where the dilemma of the walls (and the sink/cabinets/shelf) brought this project to a screeching halt.  In typical fashion, we abandoned the project midstream.  Or at least set it aside, missing baseboards and all, while we figured out what to do with it and got on with life.

And by got on with life, I mean we jumped ship onto another project, of course.  I am having flashbacks of working on the garden, deciding the west side yard needed done, which is tied to the east lane gate area project (trust me on that one) so we worked on that area for, oh about an hour, before changing gears and focusing on the tree house for the entire weekend.

Clearly we have issues.

And one of them happened to be an overflowing non-functional under-the-stairs-closet-catchall-black-whole-where-winter-coats-go-in-but-don't-come-out. . . among other things (a couple sewing machines, a couple tubs of fabric, several jackets and backpacks--oh, and the vacuum. . . and carpet cleaner).  I bet you didn't realize a four by four space could hold so much.  My argument was that it really could be holding so much more--if we did something about making the space a little more vertical.  I was thrilled to find my daughter's coat we all took for lost last December.  Though it is less urgent now that it is June. . . or at least it would be if the weather would remember that it IS June.

And since we dove into this project with very little forethought, I have no actual before picture.  So just picture this room without the partially installed shelving and with the aforementioned crap stacked half way up and making a fairly successful attempt to spew out into the hallway. . . or don't, because that probably says something about me as a person.

We installed four 12" shelves, painted the room the same color as the hallway, and the shelves white.

We attempted to move the hooks off the door and onto the wall inside the closet, but of course we only succeeded in making several holes I will now have to repair.

In the meantime, we ran to The Container Store and stocked up on divided organizable storage totes that would fit our shelves and I began sorting.  I started with the sewing stuff, but will likely add some other craft supplies which are currently in my office.

I may need more space. . .

But in the end it looks so much neater. . . and I actually know what is in there.

Plus, as a bonus, I no longer have to shove the door hard and fast to keep the vacuum from bursting back out from lack of floor space.

Now the question is, will our next project be the rest of the laundry room?