Friday, February 26, 2010

Sick but Still Sewing

Been holed up in the house this week trying to get rid of my cold....made myself a big pot of chicken noodle soup and have been scooping out of it all week.  Despite my cold, I have been able to do some sewing as I have a few deadlines to meet.

Although I've got a few items that I've finished, I can't post them until they've been given as gifts.  In the beginning, I used to post pictures when I finished an item, but I soon learned that it wasn't such a good idea.  I didn't want to be the leak that ruined a surprise gift!  So, now I try my best to wait until I know the present has been given....guess I just learn as I go.  Here's a bib and burp cloth set I sold:


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Vacation

 Sorry for the blogging hiatus, but I spent last week living it up in my home state and.....

was reminded of how I love snow but dislike this:


Enjoyed some great food at a local sushi buffet like this:


and this:


and this:


Then spent a day in the city meeting up with people and enjoying this (best pancakes ever! but not quite worth the 1.5 hour wait):


and wandered past here:


on my way to here:


then headed here:


I also took advantage of restaurant week with a friend, but was enjoying the food so much I forgot to whip out my camera to take a picture.

Oh, and no trip to NYC is complete without a stop at the fabric store!  I picked up some of this:

Any takers?

All in all, I had a great time hanging out with my family and friends.  I got to spend Chinese New Year with my family eating hot pot and nian gao.  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera to the get together, so there are no pictures of the great food.  Hmmm...sensing a pattern here? Yup, when I travel, it's all about the food!

Oh, and here's a pic of my sister modeling her new jslik designs pj's and tote bag.


Well somehow, I managed to catch a cold while I was romping around NJ.  So, I'm home now, resting up, trying to stay warm despite the winter storm warning.....I leave the east coast for sunny and warm TX....except the cold weather followed me here!  What's up with that??

Friday, February 12, 2010

Redemption

Sorry I haven't had much of a chance to blog this week as I've been busy with my many jobs (mainly United Way and babysitting).  In between those, I've been working hard to finish up some orders before I head out to spend a week and a half reveling in the snowy east coast sans sewing machine.  Yes, that's right that's 11 whole days with no sewing!

I admit I was glad to be done with the pajama fiasco and forget about the whole thing.  But I think I have redeemed my seamstress skills in my latest project.  My sister's been really wanting a tote bag for awhile.  She put one on her wishlist for the secret santa game that her group of friends were playing (my sister is 14 in case you are wondering who still plays secret santa).  Unfortunately, the story goes, that she received a rather unattractive tote bag that she promptly returned to the store and received a whopping $5 store credit for.  So, I decided I would make her a really awesome tote bag for Christmas.  It's two months later, and I've finally made good on my promise!

I told her to search around for bags she liked online and I would design mine with that in mind.  This is the bag she picked:
Here's my rendition:





I think it's fabulous! But I don't know if I'll make more of these...I nearly killed my machine due to multiple layers of VERY thick fabric.  I don't think she's very happy with me.  Although if I did kill my machine, it would give me a good reason to upgrade...hehe.

Well, I'll be off to Jersey tomorrow! Here are some of the things I'm looking forward to....snow (i'll probably be the only person up there actually wants it to snow), bagels, hot pot with the family, ny style pizza, tax free clothing and shoes, hitting up the city to catch up with some friends, Chinatown....the list is too long!  

Au revoir! I'm off to the land of snow now!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

The Verdict Is In

Well, I finally finished the botched pajamas for my sister.  For awhile, I was playing Passive Jennie, putting the project off to the side....secretly hoping that when I looked at it again, the hole would magically disappear...but obviously that didn't happen.

So I decided to work on the buttons and buttonholes (still avoiding the hole in the pants hem issue).  I was working along, sewing on my merry way.....and as I was using my seam ripper to rip open the buttonholes, I pushed a little too hard and ended up with a 3 inch buttonhole for a 3/4 inch button!  *insert gasp of horror followed by high-pitched shriek*

At that point, I just had to give it up, there was no walking out of this gracefully.  Perfectionist Jennie wasn't even an option anymore.  So, I accepted defeat and  decided to fix both holes with patches:

It's like where's Waldo....can you spot the patch?

I learned a few lessons through this 1) Be careful (which my husband is always trying to remind me)...2) Use the right sized scissors...and 3) BE CAREFUL!!!!

I guess you win some, you lose some...PJ's - 1, Jennie - 0.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Be Green

Originally, I was going to stick to sewing and crafty posts on this blog, but sooner or later, I'm bound to have a week where I have no updates on my projects...that time has sort of come.  I'm working on a few things, but nothing has been completed in awhile (partly because I am ignoring some problematic projects - see previous posts).  So, in the meantime, I guess I can just write about some notable or random things that are going on in my life.

For the past year or so, I've been trying to help the environment by using my reusable grocery bags.  They're really worth the $1 investment.  They've put an end to my collection of useless grocery bags with holes in them.  You help the environment, and the bags are much stronger and larger than an average grocery bag.

Yesterday, I went to my local Asian food market to do some grocery shopping.  When I was checking out, the manager saw that I brought my own bags, and ran to the back and came back with a handful of these:
He said to me, "These are a present for you because you care about the future."  How thoughtful.  Upon closer inspection, yes, it does say "Full Stainless Rice Cooker - 24 hours keep warm".   Bad grammar aside, why you would want to keep your rice warm for 24 hours, I do not know....but, to get a good idea of the size of the bag, look at this:
Yes, that's me, sitting in the bag....I guess maybe the makers of the rice cooker gave away this bag as a means to make their rice cookers more portable....?  I have no idea what I can use this bag for....by the time you fill up this bag with groceries, it'll be so heavy that you can't even lift it.  Seriously, it's so big that one bag pretty much takes up the entire grocery cart.  Perhaps I should take it with me on my next trip to Walmart just to see what kind of reaction I would get....I'd probably become known as the crazy bag lady....