Keeping it real

Have you ever noticed that bloggers tend only to share pictures of their home when it looks it's best?  I don't doubt for one second that those pics do not show the reality. Creative people tend to not make time to keep things clean.  They are too busy being creative!  So, in what does my home look like on a daily basis, when I am deeply involved with a project? Here's a tour:

My daughter's desk is where I usually do some of my sewing. Hm, how am I going to get anything done on that?  I have three choices.  Organize it neatly, toss it into a box for her, ignore it and find somewhere else to work. Hm....decisions.

I have three cats.  They hang out with me while I sew, create, draw, read, play on the computer, or just hang out in the family room/craft room.  This one wants some butter.  I am not going to show you the family room. It is currently piled high with fabric at one end and legos at the other. There is a couch, a drum set, and three cats in the middle.

 

We take our shoes off when we come in.  We need a shoe rack! LOL

I framed some of my daughter's art but have not hung it up yet. Books are supposed to be in those baskets, under the mantle, but people don't follow my program around here!!!

 

I inherited my grandmother's lovely mahogany dining room set but my kids prefer to use the buffet as a landing pad for all their stuff. That wee box in front? That is hubby's flies (for fly fishing). Why are they there?  The neck brace is for me. I have had vertigo off and on and need it when I am dizzy, to keep from turning my neck to the left.  My girls are 5 and 9 so I thought it was time to take the electrical outlet covers off. They don't need child proofing anymore. But what to do with them, other than stash them on the buffet? 

 

 

I love my youngest daughter's room, which I lovingly decorated for her a couple of years ago.  I ordered those flowers from Etsy, custom designed by me, and painted them myself.  And then she stuck her art on the walls and is now using a boot box as additional doll bedding.  So much for decorating!  Oh well, it is cute.  

 

This is a closeup photo of my kitchen floor, which is white vinyl. Who puts white vinyl flooring in a kitchen?  Well, the retired folks who used to own our house. They had no pets or kids so I guess they did not mind it.  But, as you can see, it needs a good scrubbing and there are constantly black hairballs floating around.  My husband says it is functional enough and doesn't need replacing. We need a new fridge first.  Sigh.

Here is the owner of the fur that falls off and becomes hair balls.  Boon is an American labradoodle, which just means fancy mutt. He sheds.

 

He likes to back talk to me!  He is complaining right now.  He wants to go for a walk.  

 

And what is keeping me occupied so much that I am ignoring all of the above?  Why thank you for asking! I am designing my own patterns.  I am very excited about it. There is one piece above. That is part of a top. I am also designing a dress and a bag.  

I will keep you posted on their progress!!

 

Teaching a child to use a sewing machine

 What could be better than teaching your child your own hobby, especially when she shows an interest in it.  My daughters are currently 5 and 9 years old and definitely have an interest in sewing. Part of this comes from me making them so much clothing and also from them watching me sew several days a week.  My oldest has been sewing by hand for about a year and now it is time to teach her to use a machine. We have been waiting for a desk upon which to put my old sewing machine. Call me selfish, but, at 46 years of age, I have never had as nice a gift as my Janome MD5200, which was my Christmas present last year. I kinda want to keep it to myself, at least until she gets to be better at sewing.  So, for now, she is using my old Singer machine. It is not a great machine but it is definitely good enough for a 9 year old!

 So, how do you teach a child to use a sewing machine? I hemmed and hawed about this for the week that I was sick and decided that she needed to have some basic stitching lessons first and then a basic rectangular project to begin.

First off, I drew geometrical shapes on squares of muslin and had her sew along those lines.   If you click and enlarge, you can see she did pretty well!

 

  

 Next up, she hand sewn a rectangle of muslin into a pillow and wanted to make a standard-style pillow case for it.  I did the cutting and ironing and she sewed it up.  

So cute!

 

Here is the in finished product.

She was very proud of herself!

These are her reading glasses, if you are family.  You may not have seen a pic of her in them yet!  She can wear them for sewing, too. 

Next weekend, new project!!