And Sew it Begins

Last Friday evening my very generous Uncle Richard took me fabric shopping at Mood for my sewing challenge (learn to sew, design your own outfit, make it, and take a self portrait in it).

Mood Fabrics is always a bit overwhelming. Combine that with my tendency to be crippled by indecision and there was a chance I would walk out empty handed. But alas, I found two fabrics that inspired me:

The striped fabric, which has a nice tooth to it, is going to become a pair of tailored shorts. The minty teal fabric, which is light and airy, has a future as a beautifully draped top.

I can see the outfit very clearly in my mind, but making it a reality is going to take a few practice runs and probably a lot of yelling at the sewing machine.

Or maybe I'll just linger outside the Fashion Institute on 27th with some cookies and a wad of cash.

I Am a Sewing Machine

The first part of challenge no. 28 is to learn how to sew. My grandmother, the sewing guru that she is, was kind enough to give me one of her smaller machines, this Project Runway edition by Brother:

My first sewing project had to be a simple one. I found a tutorial (here) that seemed to be within my realm of capabilities. Then I skipped on over to Mood Fabrics and happened upon exactly what I was looking for. A classic wool fabric with an interesting chevron pattern.

But the first hurdle I had to get over was threading the machine. On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 represents simple things like "breathing" and 10 represents difficult things like "juggling poisonous snakes while climbing Mt. Everest naked," threading my sewing machine was about a 9.5. It took me way longer than it should have, but I did it. I threaded the s**t out of that machine.

Then the sewing began. I sewed like a champ. I made a beautiful throw for my mom's birthday gift, and I couldn't have been prouder of myself. You would have thought I solved the country's debt problem.

My mom sent me these pictures of the throw after it arrived. Please note that the very first thing she did was give it to the dogs.

 Pooh modeling the throw.

Look at those edges! I did that!