Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Had our anatomy ultrasound this morning and found out that we are having a girl. Sweet! Now we can really get serious about picking baby names.



(Ultrasound technician said that the three white lines that the arrow points to indicate girl parts).

I gained 9 pounds this last month, so the doctor said I should watch that. Apparently I should've only gained 3 pounds. Ouch. It's hard not to be a fatty right now.

Home Ec - Pencil Case

So the zipper . . . not the hardest thing ever, but not super easy either. I think this pencil case thing took me, like, three hours to make, which I feel like is a long time for a relatively simple project. And again, shifting fabric despite pinning. Boo.

I sewed the zipper into the middle of the case instead of towards the top. I also sewed across the four corners to give it some depth. Looks good from the outside. Inside's not so pretty, but no one sees that. I also broke a needle while sewing this - I think some parts of the case were too bulky since I used canvas on one side. Next time, I might opt for something thinner.



And also, my companion while sewing:


She has been super cuddly, and therefore cute, of late.

Home Ec - Quilted Potholder

I'm pretty happy with the end result of this quilted potholder, but again, my biggest challenge so far is keeping the fabric from shifting when I sew. I saw some other people in the Flickr group run into the same issue with theirs too, but then others still had really nice looking ones.

The edges of the potholder would've looked all wonky due to the shifting fabric if I hadn't put the binding around the edges. Sewing the binding on was actually pretty easy except for the last bit where the ends overlap. That took a bit of work to make it look not crappy. Also, next time, I probably wouldn't use a pattern where you could easily tell that the pattern doesn't line up.

Home Ec - Supplies Roll-up

I think one of the biggest challenges for me so far is getting my fabric to stay in place while I sew without it shifting or bunching, even though I pin down right where I want everything. Not sure what the solution is for that. Pin it down more?

Had some shifting with this supplies roll-up, but it turned out okay.

Home Ec - Drawstring Bag

So . . . funny thing. I made a boo-boo and sewed across the entire opening of the drawstring bag, thus making it very difficult to actually install any sort of drawstring, per the original design. But no matter, that's what improvising is for!

I decided to sew another line parallel to the first, again all around the opening. Then I made an opening between the lines, reinforced it with some hand-stitching, and used a safety pin to add the drawstring.

Also, I didn't like any of the ribbon that I had (that were the right width) for the drawstring, so I took a scrap of fabric and sewed my own. Finally, I added a bead to the drawstrings.

Home Ec - Cloth Napkins

I had what could only be called "visions of grandeur" for cloth napkins, in that I could sew a whole set! With ric rac! And they'd be super cute! But then I questioned, would I ever really use cloth napkins? Not really. They kind of gross me out. Not when I'm at restaurants using them, because then I'm not responsible for cleaning said used dirty cloth napkins. But when they're mine? Meh.

With that said, I still wanted to practice, so one of each type of napkin it is! Perhaps I will use them as glorified dish rags in the kitchen for wiping the counters and such.



I found that a quilting ruler makes cutting fabric so much easier! How did I ever cut fabric before?

Recent Craftiness

Been trying to get back on the crafty bandwagon, but I haven't been feeling it for several months. Hope this doesn't last, but I did make a few things for recent events.

Wasn't feeling a card for this last card exchange that was Christmas-themed, so I decided to make an ornament following this tutorial on Splitcoaststampers:


I was traveling the week of the exchange, so I was kind of scrambling to put these together in time. Gluing of the beads at the end of the pin turned out to be a bit tricky.

Card sent to Greg's cousin, Tamara, since they just had a new baby:


Card for a high school friend's wedding:


She actually made her own invitations:



And program:

Britney versus Gwyneth

In high school and college, I'd have never admitted that I liked Britney Spears. I was seemingly too cool for that and insisted on listening only to alternative/rock/emo/punk/etc. But I find that as I get older, I'm starting to care less about image and appearances. Maybe this is a sign that I will be an uncool mother, along with other things like wanting to dress my kids in only Wal-mart clothes (that way, Target will seem like a step up and I'll buy myself some extra time before designer clothes come into the picture - yes!).

So when Glee had its Britney episode, which was surrounded by hype, I was excited. I eagerly anticipated the Britney episode. I can't say that I was disappointed because I still enjoyed it. But it didn't have quite the luster of other Glee episodes. I was, however, pretty impressed with the Gwyneth episode. There was more substance to the guest spot. Highlights of the episode:

- The Glee mini-me's. Cute!
- The snippet of Conjunction Junction. Who needs the whole song when you hear the best part (Conjunction Junction, what's your function)?
- The cover of Cee-Lo's Forget You.
- The Singing in the Rain / Umbrella mash-up.