Seven - No EIGHT Yellow Birdies on an Apron!

EXTRA! EXTRA!  READ ALL ABOUT IT! 

Receiving my incoming tax returns + Presidents Day Sale at JoAnn = 28 new Simplicity patterns and 1 completed apron!

What can I say?  Patterns are part of my sewing addiction, but buying them isn't always cheap.  The regular price for patterns can be anywhere from $15 to $30+, so Mom and I have devised an ingenius plan... Whenever we happen to be at JoAnn, if it's not too crowded and we aren't in a hurry, we look at patterns. The last time we did this, we wrote down the numbers for the patterns we wanted, and decided to wait until there was a sale. Sure enough! 

Our patience was rewarded! 

The Presidents Day sale had Simplicity patterns 5 for $5, limit 10!  Between the two of us, and more than one trip, we got 28 new patterns. According to our receipts, we saved about $425 on those patterns alone!  Totally ridiculous, right?!  I have to confess something... Of those 28 patterns, 11 of them were for aprons! 

Aprons, really?!  Yes... I am a bit transfixed by them at this point in time. I have good reasons, I swear!  (At least, they sound good to my all-too-often non-sensical brain.) I usually don't have to worry about if they'll fit or not, as most of them come with adjustable straps in the back (a HUGE benefit to a woman that's working on losing weight). They're a great way to showcase newly found favorite fabrics - such as this one. (I ADORE the occasional little yellow bird that peppers this fantastic home dec fabric I found at JoAnn, ALSO on sale - SCORE!!) Finally, the variety of aprons out there really helps me to learn new techniques, without having to commit to a seemingly-impossible headache-in-the-making.

This apron was a breeze to put together!  I made it, start to finish, this past Saturday. I even did a couple things that the pattern didn't call for, to put my own touch on it. I flat felled the seams along the shoulder and side (see previous post - see!  SHE CAN BE TAUGHT!) and I embellished the pockets with a few buttons (again, part of the JoAnn sale!). My plan is to make several new aprons that I can use interchangeably in association with my calling at church.  I'm the Primary Chorister, and the kids, especially those in Nursey, get a kick out of finding out what I have hiding in the pockets of my apron.  I wore this apron, my latest creation, during Primary yesterday. My favorite part?  One of the little girls was so entranced by the new apron, that she came up and asked to count all the birdies on it. According to Erika, there were seven. I had a trick up my sleeve, err, in my pocket, though!  One of the birds is on the fabric behind one of the sewn-on pockets, so there are actually

eight little birdies on the apron.

Green Birdies on a Sling??

Okay... So one of my FOREMOST goals with this whole sewing adventure is to learn the techniques and processes that I need to be able to see something and recreate it, without a pattern or some wise sewing guru (ie, Mom) standing over my shoulder - telling me how it's done.

Don't get me wrong...

Without the help and wisdom of those that have gone before me, I would be a ship lost at sea. I fully intend to gather as much light and knowledge as I can along the way.

Enter the baby sling!!! Chrissy (an awesomely-fantastic friend of mine) showed me this cute baby sling she found online. She asked if I thought I might be able to make something like it. I glanced at it, and with bravado that I was unaware that I possessed, I instantly said, "Why, of course I can make this!  It would be mere child's play!!!" Well... I most likely didn't use those exact words, but I was pretty darn confident. There was this nagging problem, though. I had two little hurdles to overcome... 1 - I'd never completed a flat felled seam before. 2 - I didn't have a pattern for the measurements of the sling.

Ultimately, this was the perfect project for facing both of those challenges. After years of off-and-on piece-quilting, I'm a whiz with a rotary cutter. I measured twice, cut the fabric once. I did a little mental figuring here and there. Chrissy said that she wished her original sling was a little smaller, so I took that in account as well (I'm good like that).  The sling is pretty much a glorified tube, or a modified pillow case that's open on both ends, however you want to look at it. So the pattern portion of the events was a total non-issue. Now, the flat felled seams intimidated me, I'll admit it.

For those that don't know the difference between a "flat felled seam" and a regular seam, let me give you an example... Grab a pair of your favorite jeans. That seam that runs from the bottom of the zipper in the front, down and around and back up between your two back pockets?  It has two parallel lines of thread?  That's a flat felled seam. It's meant to be more durable than a regular seam, like that one that runs down the side of your jeans. Mom did a great job of explaining how to sew it in simple, uncomplicated terms, as to not set off my internal panic alarms (which were totally poised and ready to go).

The end result:  The seams weren't perfectly straight or even, I'm still working on that, but... If I do say so myself, the baby sling turned out cute and, my favorite part, absolutely functional!!!  I even made one improvement on the original. I added an interior flanel lining (that's the striped fabric you see) to the bottom two-thirds.
Lessons learned: How to flat fell a seam, and a little more confidence in my ability to make something from scratch. I gave it to Chrissy, as a belated birthday present, and as thanks for giving me the challenge in the first place.
YEAH FOR CONQUERING SOME FEARS!!!