Sewing projects

Rick got me a sewing machine for my birthday.  I used to sew when I was younger (even have a sewing scar) and made many a 4-H project, but hadn't really sewn since high school.  I grabbed a sewing machine from my mom's house this fall (she has several) but it was pretty old and needed a little more TLC than I knew what to give.  Anyway, I asked for this sewing machine and am loving it!  It is pretty basic but has more bells and whistles than I currently need.  But I am having fun!

I decided to start small.  I didn't have many holes to patch in our clothes, so I looked for some simple projects.  I also didn't want to go and buy a bunch of fabric and get ahead of myself.  I found these ideas on Pintrest (such an addicting site).

 First up were baby leggings.  Here's where I got this idea.  They are made of adult knee socks and are very simple.  Plus, it's really fun to shop for the socks.  I have made four pairs so far but have another pair of socks waiting to be cut for St. Patrick's Day.  Natalie wore this pair for Christmas.  How cute are they?

My next project was also really simple.  I haven't had the ambition to go out and buy fabric (again, I want to ease into this hobby), but I have far too many t-shirts.  I was cleaning out my closet and getting things ready for Goodwill when I started thinking of things I could do with the fabric I had on hand.  I have a baby, I have a lot of messes: burp cloths!  Incredibly simple.  The sizes depended on the design on the shirt; I simply cut strips of fabric (one of my shirts made a cloth six pieces thick) and stitched with a zigzag.  I didn't finish the edges but did go back with the rotary cutter to make the sides a little cleaner.  They look pretty good and definitely get the job done.  Success!

My latest project is decidedly not that simple.  I looked on the Internet and Pinterest for some ideas on how to turn a t-shirt into a onesie, but I didn't really like anything I found.  So my first attempt I thought, I don't need a pattern, I can do this by tracing a onesie and just winging it.  Well, the first try didn't work out so well.  See above: the shoulders were square but the front and back didn't match up at all!  I should have thrown it away right away, but it's worth the chuckle now that I sort of have it worked out.

Here's my first real attempt.  I traced a store-bought onesie on to parchment paper (I had to fudge the shoulders a bit because I didn't want to cut it apart) and then went to work.  The end result is not terrible, but I have some definite improvements for the next time.  I need to work on the leg closures a bit: the front and the back don't match up just right and neither does the bottom.  But I'm still pretty happy with it, considering I did it all myself, pattern and all.  Next time I won't waste the time trying to incorporate the original collar (I like the stitched collar better) or trying to put a fancy finished edge around the legs--I had used the bottom of the shirt and it was more work than it was worth.  Next time I'll just fold it over and do a simple stitch.  I haven't tried it on her yet (I purposefully made a bigger size than she's in right now) but I don't see why it won't work.  Success!

After I make a few more onesies a little more successfully, my next project is going to be the bapron, another Pinterest find.  I'm having fun with my sewing machine and I'm loving the small, non-time-consuming projects.  Plus, I have multiple babies I can make things for and plenty of extra t-shirts!