My First Year of Sewing

I realized the other day as I was finishing up Kaylynne’s baby blanket that it’s been a whole year since I took my first sewing class last July. As a kid, I loved drawing and making things, but as an adult, I’d shifted more to digital forms of creativity like graphic design, web design, and some dabbling in photography — so my “return” to crafting, and to creating things that I can actually hold and give, has been a lot of fun.

I skimmed back through my “crafts” category for the past year and WOW! I made even more cool things than I remembered!

Pouches, Bags & Other:

• Pillowcases
• Hipster bag
• Fat quarter purse
• Fabric trays
• Card wallets
• Quilted placemat
• Half tote
• Nook cover
• Burp cloths
• Small zipper pouch

Quilts & Blankets:

• Fat quarter patchwork quilt
• Zig zag star quilt
• Faux chenille baby blanket

Wearable Things:

• Pajama pants
• Ruched t-shirt
• Elastic waist skirt
• Appliqued onesie

These were all such fun projects!

Favorite? That title goes to the appliqued MIT onesie I made to give to Jose on Father’s Day — not because it was easy (because it wasn’t thanks to a steep learning curve) but because it has the most sentimental value at this point.

Most rewarding? This has to be the zig zag quilt I made for Erin’s son Keagan. It was the second quilt I made, but the pattern was just complicated enough that it posed a LOT of challenges for a newbie like me. I was so proud of myself when I finished it, and found that it actually looked good.

Most useful? Probably the card wallet, actually, even though that’s a little unexpected! I carry it in my purse every day and pull it out several times a week to dig for my Jimmy Johns punch card, or Bullritos card, or (these days) Babies R Us membership card, or whatnot.

My current “to sew” list is long and even more varied than the first year. Predictably, there are a lot of baby items on it but I’ll try to work in some other things too. And hey — if there’s something out there you’ve seen, maybe I’ll sew it for you. All you have to do is ask!