I did a bit of sewing when I was much younger but haven't touched this craft since grade school. Setting up the machine took about 5 hours, prepping the fabric another day or so, buying all the little accessories was one too many trips to the dollar store and Walmart! Once I started, I realized that this new hobby was pretty random. Unlike my other creative outlets, I have ZERO natural talent for sewing. No natural ability plus no skills is a surefire combo for lots of eye rolling, chubbyhawking*, and good fun in the crazy room. Honestly, I am really enjoying this. A lesson in patience, humility and manual dexterity, all rolled into one.
If you want to try, here are the source tutorials that inspired my projects. Left to right, top to bottom:
Stuffed heart from Design Sponge. I made mine smaller but that was a mistake. The curves are killer hard. Instead of a topstitch, a ladder (or invisible) stitch will look more seamless.
The lampshade. I didn't follow the tutorial. Instead I wrapped the fabric around the lamp and "measured" it that way. Maybe because the fabric I used was more stretchy, but the lazy method worked just fine. Or if you want to be even more lazy/smart, just use hemming tape to close the gap.
What I really wanted to try was this freezer paper stencil technique, but I couldn't find that stuff at supermarkets or Michael's, and I already had my heart set on making this apron as a gift. So I printed the design, held it up to the window and traced it onto the fabric. Then I "painted" it with fabric paint. It took a long time, but I'm not sure if cutting out a stencil would've been any faster. This was fun and made me want to try painting!
Next up is the change pad cover . I thought the result was so-so, but I don't know if it's the tutorial (probably not) or if it was because of my poor sewing skills (if I'm being honest). The curve of the change pad is not accounted for, because the pattern is constructing a straight box cover. There were other ones I found online but since this was the first project I tackled, I choose the easiest tutorial. Whenever I look at this I'm reminded of a giant eraser.
Two tutorials in the last photo. First, the fitted crib sheet. After I made this I kept wondering why I decided to make bedsheets?! Oh well, it was good practice and got me to understand some basic concepts. The bed skirt, is a quick video tutorial. After I made this, I thought of an even faster version. How about I just lay two pieces of fabric under the mattress? Now THAT would be no-sew. I should've done that since my fabric is actually a flannel bedsheet. Cutting such a large piece of clothe took forever. Another project when I ask now why did I do this??
*Chubbyhawking is this weird noise I make when I'm frustrated. Imagine someone simultaneously exhaling, imitating a hawk and a pirate. (>_<)
