I've decided to stick with hobby sewing right now...

I have made some decisions lately.

The first is that my business can no longer come first. Ok, so it wasn't really coming before my family, but it was stopping me from having as much free time for kids as they need right now. I will no longer be a business owner, I will be someone that loves sewing and finds it to be a stress relieving activity, and one that brings me joy.

I will still be available for custom orders, as I definitely still have the fabric and so on, and I might even pop up on a congo or two as a guest once in a while. But I will not be stocking my HC unless I'm destashing fabrics/notions or leftover inventory.

The second is that I need to do more sewing for my family and friends. There are a few people I said I'd sew something for and it just never happened because I was always "busy" or stressed about one thing or another. I'm sorry. That's not the friend or family member I want to be. I will be working on that this year! :)

The third is that I need to sort and complete my "UFO"s (UnFinished Objects). All those random sewing projects that are 50% or 75% done. They need to be finished and used or if they're now too small/young for my kids, they will be finished and passed on.

The 4th is I want to make time to blog at least once a week this year. Whether it's about sewing, family, friends or just some random thoughts, I just want to get them "written down" so I don't forget as easily what's happened in our lives. I have a horrible memory, so it's quite easy for me to forget, lol!

Anyway. The first sew and show for the year is a UFO that was supposed to be completed for J's birthday at the end of December 2009. The pants were done and the shirt was bought, but it's taken me almost 2 months just to get the applique on it.....

So yesterday I scanned the fabric, enlarged the footprint on it, made a template, made an iron on applique from the flannel and fusible bonding stuff (this is not the technical term lol!), ironed it on and sewed it on for re-inforcement.

Ta-Da!! One custom jammie set for J!

Anyone struggle with Satin Stitch?

I used to be able to do Colonial knots (though we called them French Knots - I'll have to find out the difference sometime) with the best of them as a kid. My mother taught me "Candlewicking" as a child and a few extra embroidery stitches thrown in there for good measure, but one I've never mastered is Satin Stitch. It's a stitch that is technically simple, and yet pretty easy for you to mess up.

When I made my daughter a Bit Of Whimsy Dolls Squid, I simply left off the eyes and mouth. She's an infant and it didn't matter. My son requested eyes and no mouth. I don't know why, lol, but I obliged. And while I gave it my best attempt, "Squidly's" eyes are um...interesting at best!

Fast forward to today. I decided i really need to make a little something for my best friend's little ones for Christmas, and I really wanted to make Bit of Whimsy Dolls....but I was scared of messing up the eyes. I don't like getting something wrong and quite often if I do badly enough at the first attempt, I never attempt it again, or at least not for a few years. Sad, but true. But I need to get over this. Not everything is perfect the first time you do it, and practicing is good.

So I decided it was time to find a tutorial! And I found a beaut! Here we go:

http://www.sublimestitching.com/satinstitch.html

Needless to say, with a few tips from her I feel much happier about attempting some more eyes! Thank you Jenny Hart!