Mama sews... a little more

I'm trying to get as much sewing done as I can before Baby Brother arrives. I'm pretty much finished after making a nursing pillow for my friend Megan and five sets of Ergo covers for expectant friends.

I forgot to take pictures of the pillow and covers but my editors from Kveller tweeted a picture of the Ergo covers I sent to them!

We needed a little more privacy in our kitchen so I made a curtain for the window. It was my first attempt at curtains, just a simple one piece with top/bottom pockets but I think it came out really nice. The fabric was a remnant so I got it for under $10. Owen saw me sewing it and then after I hung it up, first thing in the morning he says, "My Mama made this!" That made me super proud :)

 Owen received a toddler towel for his birthday handmade by my cousin Ryan and his fiance Emma. The baby towels were just too small and our boy insists on being wrapped up after bath time without a shred of his skin poking out. He then wants cuddles, kisses and asks us to sing the ABC's.

This is a picture of O right after he turned two with his *favorite* "Ry Emma To-wel!"

We were having problems when the beloved towel was in the wash, so I needed to make him another. My first attempt didn't come out as well using the measurements from THIS tutorial, the hood was a little too small. I made some adjustments after finding some adorable Curious George fabric and it came out really nicely, granted IT'S HUGE, but that's exactly what Mr. Owen wants to cuddle up in after his bath.

Oddly enough, I haven't even made anything for Baby Brother yet! I bought some fabric for Ergo covers, but just haven't gotten to them yet. Hopefully one of these afternoons!

Getting Ready for Passover

We spent this week getting ready for Passover...

I wrote two posts over at Kveller.com. One was a printable favor tag that I designed as a Passover seder favor for kids.  The second article was my very first celebrity interview. So many of my holiday recipe's come from Shiksa in the Kitchen and I was thrilled that Tori agreed to the interview. I think it turned out really nicely with lots of pointers for converts hosting a seder.

I'm still new to sewing but had a blast making some goodies for Pesach. I found a tutorial on how to make reusable cloth sandwich baggies and I modified the template to make an Afikoman bag. During the Passover seder a special piece of matzah is broken and placed in a decorative bag (sometimes broken into several pieces/several bags depending on how many children there are). The bag is then hidden by the host of the seder and at the end the children search the house to find the Afikomen. Once the bag is found they return it to the host in exchange for a prize. I ordered the Judaica fabric online and lined the inside with a muslin fabric that I already had. I made one for Owen and another for Doda Kelly's boys. Sewing straight lines isn't my specialty but I was really happy with how these came out, mistakes and all.

I had some matzah fabric left over so I appliqued a tie shirt for Owen and a onesie for a friend for her baby's first Passover.

My model has a pretty cute cheese face, don't ya think?

We were invited to celebrate 1st and 2nd seder with our neighbors again this year so I am in charge of Kosher-for-Passover desserts. I went with my staples from last year -- dark chocolate coconut meringues, almond butter cookies and a new addition this year Flourless Dark Chocolate Walnut Cookies. We don't really like nuts, but I had walnuts on hand so I made them anyways and THEY ARE AMAZING! Gooey, chocolatey with crispy edges. So good. I just need to figure out how to make them without the nuts...

I learned to SEW!!

Last year my in-laws bought me a beautiful new sewing machine for my birthday. Unfortunately, I was so intimidated by it, that it sat in the box for almost a year now.

I learn much better by doing so for Chanukah Jeremy gave me an Introduction To Sewing Class at a local studio here. A really kind reader from Kveller owns a fabric store on Etsy and she sent me the fabric for my class free of charge. 

The studio is small and it's run by a young new Mama who grew up sewing and wanted to teach other people how to do it. They showed how to thred the machine/bobbin. How to sew straight lines (um SO HARD), circles and how to pivot corners. The project for the class was to make a 16X16 pillow. I wanted something that would be useful to me, so the teacher helped me adjust my pattern to make a lumbar pillow for my nursing chair.  The class and the sewing machine were both WONDERFUL presents and Nana/Papa were even here to watch Owen one of the nights while I was away at class.

You know what? I did it! I sewed something all by myself!

Last weekend Jeremy cleaned out our pantry room and we stopped by IKEA for a desk. He set up a sewing room for me and I love it.

The first thing I made was a pair of sucking pads for my Ergo!  I also made a frog washcloth for Owen because the newborn ones are too small but the adult washcloths are way too big. He was thrilled! I'm realizing that sewing is an expensive habit, and I need to pace myself with fabic/tools ect. But I'm happy to be learning and to cross something off of my resolution list for this year. I can't wait to make a few goodies for our new little one on the way! Also? I can't wait to take another class and learn to sew more things! Yay!