sewing - for fun (!)

July 31, 2008 at 11:04 am | Posted in chatty, house crafty, I love to make things..., own it love it, vintage crafty | 16 Comments

Yesterday I sewed something for fun (instead of a deadline) for the first time in at least six months. Things have been so crazy lately, and my old craft room-turned-Pearl’s room has been endlessly in progress with piles of stuff (hers and mine) all over the sewing table. I’ve had my one and only nursery project halfway done for months and haven’t touched it since she came home from the hospital. But! This week first my Aunt Susan and now my mom have been visiting and I’ve had a chance to get things organized and yes, actually make something for the house.

We started moving my craft stuff upstairs to the cute little bedroom, which I’m so excited about. With all the new space to iron and cut tempting me, I set up my sewing machine again and stitched up a quick muslin swaddling blanket for a friend’s baby. And then I got out the cushions project I abandoned in April and actually finished it. Yay!

I found this rocking chair for $12 at the Goodwill in Centralia, Washington, when I was a few months along. I really liked it but sitting in it for more than a few minutes was kind of unforgiving — I wanted to make a soft cushion-y liner so it could be a cozy place to hang out with the baby. Months passed and finally, between work projects, I measured it and made some quick newspaper patterns for tie-on pillows for the back and seat. I picked out a vintage sheet (the duplicate of one that was on my bed when I was little) and got some ribbon and some sheets of thick foam at JoAnn on sale. I even cut the foam to size using the patterns so it was ready to go. And then I ran out of time and packed it away.

So yesterday afternoon, I finally set everything out and cut and pressed the fabric, stitched it and placed the ribbons at the corners, stuffed it with two layers of foam and some batting in between, and sewed up the open sides… and it’s done! I tied it right on to the chair and it’s so comfortable and cozy. I wish it hadn’t taken me three months of Pearl to actually finish it, it would have been sweet to rock her in it the very first day she was home, but it’s lovely to finally have it done.

If anyone wants a (rough) tutorial I can post more detail on how I did it — just let me know!

In other news, Detour Cafe is now officially my favorite walk-to in our neighborhood. I ordered my huevos rancheros without cilantro last week (it tastes like soap to me, unfortunately) and here’s how I knew they didn’t forget:

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