sewing projects.

Since my pregnancy has finally, blissfully moved into not making me completely exhausted in the afternoons, I've been spending a few afternoons a week at the sewing machine while Bennet naps. I've been slowly but surely teaching myself to sew for about a year now, but I don't think I touched my machine for 4 months once I got pregnant. I was napping through Bennet's nap times for quite a while. I must say it feels wonderful to be on the other side of that now. I forgot how wonderful it is to have three hours to get things done while Bennet sleeps every day!

The project that motivated me to pull out the sewing machine again was this bag I made for Kara for her birthday. I used an awesome boat tote pattern from one of the blogs that I read, The Long Thread. I found this beautiful red and white canvas fabric at Wal Mart, much to my surprise. My only regret is that I didn't get a photo of the bag once I added the button to the front. My friend Cheryl has several cigar boxes full of gorgeous, old buttons that belonged to her grandmother, and she generously let me pick out a huge, pearl button to use as a closure for the bag. It really pulled everything together and made the bag even more special. Now, I'm obsessed with collecting bags of old, assorted buttons from thrift stores.

My other recent project has been this maternity skirt. I used a very helpful tutorial I found online, combined with one of my favorite online tutorials, Angry Chicken's 5-Minute Skirt, to make it. I love the fabric. It was a thrift store find last summer. It even has a stretchy, maternity band along the waistline. I'm looking forward to wearing it through the summer, even once Harper arrives!


I'm participating in a Spring Swap through another blog I read, Family of Shorts. I have a swap partner, and she and I will be exchanging boxes of "springy" gifts and treats through the mail later this month. Next up in my sewing queue are some special projects for my swap partner that I can't post yet, or I'll ruin her surprise! Stay tuned!