My first attempt sewing from a pattern

When I went to the fabric store last month I picked up 5 simplicity patterns. They were having a 5 for 5$ sale and I thought that perhaps I would be able to understand a pattern now that I've learned a bit more about sewing.

This is from Simplicity 3573, and its a nightgown!

I thought I'd try something free-flowing because I've heard that it takes a while to learn your size. This would only require a size estimate, so I wouldn't have to worry. 

I made it out of an old sheet that I bought from a thrift store for 1$. It has a bias tape top:

and cute ruffled sleeves with elastic in the bottom.

My sister just had a baby two months ago (and she's a darling) so I made this nightgown for her. She's nursing and needs things that are easy to nurse in!  

All in all, the pattern was simple and easy to use. I was unsure about a few of the words they used in the steps, but google helped me out. I am surprised to say that I am no longer afraid of patterns and will be giving a few more a try later on!

I made two mistakes. I didn't line up the top piece and the bottom exactly! I also put one of the sleeves on upside down and had to re-do it....

Here is a picture of the the back:

I'm very pleased at my first attempt! Now to sew another tote...

Scarfs

My friend Katie sent me some scarf pictures from a well-known internet store and asked if I could make scarfs. I've never tried to make a scarf, but this evening I sat down and decided to do just that. I don't know if these are any good, but I at least know the just of it now. I have a few more ideas for scarfs too!

First I made this one: (please ignore mess)

Then I made another scarf with the same material and tried to add ruffles:

After that I attempted a sheer scarf. I now hate sheer materiel. If you can't tell, the spots are green not black!

So Katie, do you like any? I have a few more ideas that I might get around to trying this week!

Tote for Gwen

I made this blue tote for my friend Gwen. She is a very talented artist as a Japanese major and a good friend of mine! She also knits really cute things...

I hope you like the tote, Gwen!

Valentine's Day

Valentines day post! This is something handmade I made for my valentine..I wanted to post this in favor of the holiday =)

I decided to make something for my special someone this valentine's day. (Since he has all the nick-knacks he needs, seriously) So, I saw this really cute tutorial from the blog I am Mama Hear me Roar . I decided to do the same, with pictures of myself since I don't have any childern.

What she did was arrange her husbands favorite candy in tins using pictures of herself and her kids. The pictures displayed a theme, like salty and sweet and spicy.

So I took pictures of myself (or used ones I already had) of myself looking hot, salty, and sweet. Then I put the pictures on old jars and filled it with candy. For salty I used salted nuts and m&ms, and pretzels, for sweet I used skittles and a white chocolate chip hershey bar and for hot I used cinnamon gum and hot tamales.

Here are the pictures I used:

I won't put hot on here. Suffice to say I was wearing a red dress =).

I hope he likes the gift, if I ever get to give it to him!

Grad School

My application to grad school has been taking up most of my time recently. I have to write three essays (well, one is only a compilation of old essays) I really hope I am accepted and am very nervous/scared!

Such as, I haven't been doing much artistically. I have been:

1) Doing Yoga (its amazing)
2) Reading a lot
3) Hanging with Alan
4) Wishing I wasn't at work
5) Writing a lot of essays

But I did make this sign for my room, to remind me of what I need to do every day:

I also attempted to make a hat. And failed...sort of. I think I will need to study hats more when I have more time...and patience.