My Genius Pin Cushion!

I've been a busy little sewing bee lately!  Now that I've found the hang of it, I'm really enjoying it and I'm trying more and more projects.
One thing that has been bugging me is trying to find a place for straight pins as I pull them out while I'm sewing on the machine.  And slightly less irritating is trying to pull a pin out of the tangle of pins in the little box they come in without poking myself!
Well, a pincushion wasn't quite what I was looking for.  I wanted a magnetic contraption of some sort (because I'm also tired of spilling pins and picking them out of the carpet).
So, on one of my many trips to the many craft store in my area, I looked at the various pin holding devices.  The cute little magnetic piece of plastic was $15.  Seriously?  No thanks.
Yesterday I was in another of the many craft stores and I decided i would make my own.  I went to the magnet section and found that one package of magnets that would be strong enough to hold a bunch of pins was $7.99.  I now that $8 isn't that much in the grand scheme of things, but I wasn't interested in paying that much for magnets.
Suddenly, the heavens opened...
and the angels sang...
and a bright light shone down from above.

Ok

That didn't actually happen, but I did find this little thing.

This little magnetic eraser is meant for cleaning a dry erase board, but genius struck and I decided to give it a shot!  Besides, it was only $1.49!!!

Guess what!  It is perfect!  The pink part is kind of grippy, so it stays where I put it on my sewing table.  The magnet is strong enough to hold several pins at one time.  I can even carry it around with me without losing pins.

The eraser part of it is soft and self-healing (so far) so I can poke the pins into if I want.

I'm very very proud of this little find!!!

Give a Hoot - New Project

Hey y'all!
I've been MIA for a little while - traveling, getting a daughter off to college, taking care of a friend's cutie pie kids.  Writing has taken a back-burner to those things, as it should have.
But I have been busy working on a few things that I want to share; my favorite of which I want to share today!
If you know me, you know my heart lives in the mountains of Honduras at Mission Lazarus.  Our family travels there about 3 times a year and I fall more and more in love every time.  I hope to share more about our trip in July with you in a future post.  For now, I want to share an opportunity for you to help me support ML.
It's called....(drumroll, please)...

Here's how it works:

• Think of Toms or Bobs - Buy one, Give one
• I'm making one of a kind owls in all sorts of textures and patterns.
• You buy an owl (small, medium, or large) and I make a coordinating small owl toy to give to a child in Honduras.  (get it?!?!  GIVE a HOOT!!!)
• The owl for the child will be delivered by me on my next trip that involves food and clothing distribution.
• I'm really excited about having a sewing circle at church with women and girls.  We can teach the children to sew and maybe a little more than that too!  They will help me stuff and close the owls that will be delivered.  The children at church love to be part of the Honduras mission too!

My first Owl was for my daughter, a freshman in college.  I had scraps leftover from making pillows for her bed and knew I wanted to make an accent pillow with it.  That's how the owl was born!

Here is part of the clutch?/flock?/whatever a group of owls is called.  Each one has a name - and you get to name the donated owl!

And here is my etsy page, where my little friends will soon appear!  Don't forget, every owl you buy means a cute little Honduran kid gets a new toy!!!

Disney DIY Shirts

I've seen a few ideas for using buttons to make a Mickey Mouse Silhouette, but no tutorials.  It isn't rocket science, but it is tedious and nerve-wracking!
I decided I wanted to sew them on rather than glue them because I like the look.

Materials: 30-40 buttons of preferred color and size, Mickey Mouse silhouette cut-out, disappearing ink fabric marker, needle, thread of preferred color choice.

How-to:
First, I printed and cut out a Mickey Silhouette on freezer paper.  You can iron freezer paper onto the shirt and peel it off later, but that isn't necessary.

I just laid the silhouette on the center of the shirt and traced around it with the disappearing ink maker.  the ink disappears quickly, so don't do this step until you're ready to start sewing.
Start sewing buttons!  Just be careful to line them up on that maker line the best you can.  Try not to pull the thread too tightly or you'll get some puckering.

Easy-peasy and super cute!

Hemming Jeans

I hemmed my own jeans!!!

While this is a mundane and simple task for many, it was a small victory for me.  My mother has always been a wonderful seamstress.  She made most of my clothes as a small child and a few things as I got older.  I'll never forget her staying up late the night before 4th grade picture day to sew my vest that I HAD to wear for my picture.  (If you didn't have a vest, you weren't cool.)  Thanks, Mom!

My mother has been on hospice care for over a year now.  She can't get out of the house very much, so I like to think of special things we can do together at her house.  It is hard to think about, but every time I'm with her I want it to be a special memory.

One of the things she has tried to do with me before is to teach me to sew on her sewing machine.  As a pre-teen/early teen I didn't see the importance of this.  Why learn to sew?  We can BUY clothes at the store!

Now that I understand that it's more about the shared experience and the passing down of a skill, I want to learn from my mommy while I still can.

Recently, I lost enough weight to buy a new size in jeans!!!  They were WAY TOO LONG though!

Here was the perfect opportunity to spend some time learning from my mom.

I had found a pin on Pinterest that was a tutorial for hemming jeans and keeping the original hem.  Bazinga!

Mom hadn't used her sewing machine in a VERY long time, so we spent most of the afternoon remember how everything goes and getting it threaded.  We should have taken video - it was hilarious!

Once we got everything done it was pretty simple.  Mom was behind me coaching and I was sewing!

Nice clean line!

A lot had to come off!  I'm only 5'2".

I think it looks pretty good for a newbie!

Her directions were thorough and easy to follow.  I should have paid closer attention to where I was cutting when I cut the excess off.  I cut right through the stitching.  I'm pretty sure I can just go back over it and it will be fine - oopsies!

  

I'm thrilled to have jeans at the correct length, but I'm even more thrilled that I learned how to sew from my Mommy.  

I won't forget that day. 

I want to keep sewing and learning so I can tell people when they ask, "My Mom taught me to sew."