Busy Little Elf

I've been toiling away in my workshop these past few days making Christmas gifts for my friends.  I can't disclose what I'm working on just yet, but I will say that once I'm done I'll be posting my very first DIY tutorial!

Putting the "cork" in Thimble&Cork

Another first: My Etsy shop is live!  I've wanted to open an Etsy shop for a long time now.  I adore the Etsy community and always find the BEST gifts/ideas there.  After having so much fun making the Country Bunnies for my nieces, I decided that they should be my first listing.  I'll be posting more items very soon, so be on the lookout!

Handmade Christmas

I have always preferred handmade gifts to purchased ones, no matter the occasion.

When I was a child, my mother made a stuffed rabbit for me. She was crafted out of old blue jeans from our family and some remnants of brown velvet upholstery fabric.

Although she wasn't made out of fine, expensive fabric, she was my most prized possession.  Mom put so much love and care into making that doll; she wanted it to turn out perfect for her little girl...and it did! 

I now have two adorable nieces and they are quite taken by my old friend. I decided that I would make them bunnies of their own for Christmas.  I got a pair of blue jeans from my brother and sister-in-law to use for the bodies and found similar upholstery fabric. 

As is true most of the time, my imitation of my mother’s masterpiece is not exact.  "It just ain't like Momma made it," as they say.  But I'm sure my nieces won't mind.

I hope the girls will treasure their bunnies and maybe even one day make some for their own daughters or nieces.   

 

I have a few more Christmas gifts to mark off of my to-do list, and then it's back to the Forget-Me-Nots!

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Why Wait for 2013?

I did it!  I must say that I never expected to mark an item off of my list so soon, but I finished a forget-me-not!

Granted, it was the 10-minute skirt but hey, I’ve got to start somewhere right?  Here is the final product on Elie, my dress form…named after one of my favorite designers, Elie Saab of course. 

The idea for making this skirt came about because my friends often tell me that they want to sew a garment and ask for my help.  When I saw a link to this tutorial on Pinterest, I knew it would be the perfect project for us.  This skirt is quick and easy.  No real measuring or sewing experience is needed, so it really is the perfect project for beginners. 

I ordered the fabric from Mood, which is one of my favorite fabric stores.  This particular skirt is made from a Lipstick/Metallic Red Plaid Boucle:

www.moodfabrics.com

I also made one of these skirts out of red and beige wool, and honestly, it’s my favorite of the two.  

www.moodfabrics.com

I’m pretty happy with how the skirt turned out and I’m thrilled that it’s done in time for the Holidays.  One project down, seven to go…

Making a List, Checking it Twice

I have many (often conflicting) sides to my personality, but one thing remains constant: I am a list person.  I probably write about 1-3 lists per day for various things.  Should I ever find myself in the grocery store without a list, organized by each items location in the store, I’m paralyzed with fear.  It is not a pretty sight.  So…to start out the New Year in an organized fashion, I’ve compiled one of my beloved lists.  This one is an accounting of all my unfinished projects that I absolutely WILL complete next year.  I’ll also put these in a separate page for updating as I finish each one.

So far I have 8 forget-me-nots as I’ve come to call them, but I haven’t exactly scoured my sewing room so I wouldn't be surprised if this list grows a bit.  For each of these items, I have purchased the fabric, the pattern, all notions required, and have already started sewing some of them!  But in my room they sit, all alone, forgotten and abandoned.  No more!

So here it is, in no particular order, my list of failures previously-started-projects, and a picture of how I imagine they’ll look once completed.

1.       White, long-sleeved mini dress - I bought the fabric for this one probably 2 years ago now, so this is my oldest UFO.

http://capecodcollegiate.tumblr.com

2.       Black faux-leather pleated mini-skirt - Flirty black leather skirts are my current obsession, so this might be one of the first to make its appearance!

www.chicwish.com



www.patternity.co.uk



3.       Purple wool crepe dress - I started this dress for a class that I took with couture dressmaker Susan Khalje.  I made a muslin and had two separate fitting sessions with Susan to get the fit just perfect.  Now I need to use that muslin to make the actual dress.

www.fantasyshopper.com

4.       Pencil Skirt – Mint green wool

www.jcrew.com

5.       Pencil Skirt – Black & White Plaid...because one can never have too many pencil skirts, right?



www.etsy.com/shop/paisleyfacevintage



6.       Grey & black jacket - Honestly, this is the one that I’m most terrified of.  Skirts and dresses are my forte.  Jackets are definitely out of my comfort zone, and this one has a few techniques that I’ve never used before.  It will be a challenge, but I know I will learn a lot, so I’m (timidly) looking forward to it.

www.patternreview.com

7.       Red skirt - This one will take all of 10 minutes to complete.  It’s a simple elastic banded skirt with one seam and a hem.  I just haven’t taken those 10 minutes to actually do it yet!

www.handmademess.com

8.       Green wrap dress - This is my second oldest forget-me-not.  I ordered the fabric from Mood Fabrics online and absolutely adore the color.

www.polyvore.com

Now that I’ve written it all down, I can’t wait to start!  The Holiday season is always chaotic, but I might at least find time to make that red skirt…it IS perfect for Christmas after all

Welcome

Welcome to Thimble & Cork!  I created this blog for the sole purpose of finally completing all of my unfinished sewing projects.  Seriously!  I have a ton!  I am a world-class quitter when it comes to sewing.  I really have no idea why that is, unless maybe I’m afraid it won’t turn out exactly as I’d hoped, so I put it off until another project comes along and the first one gets tucked away in my sewing room, never to be looked at again.  It really is a problem…just to think of all the money spent on fabric and patterns that have been half-used…it’s ridiculous.  I am hoping that by documenting all of my projects and the progress that I’ve made on them, I’ll have more motivation to actually finish them. 

I am a mostly self-taught sewing enthusiast.  Like most home sewers, I learned the basics from my mother as a child, lost interest for a while, and came back to my love of creating as an adult.  Once my life settled down after college and marrying my wonderful husband, I realized that I desperately needed some creativity in my life.  My analytical-spreadsheet-full-of-numbers job just wasn’t cutting it.  So I started sewing again, and I’ve been starting and not finishing projects ever-since.  Hah!  Ok, maybe it’s not quite that bad.  I do finish a lot of projects, but I have far too many UFO’s!

My plan for this blog is to work my way through a list of goals that I have set for myself in this new year – 13 goals for 2013.  Obviously the first has to do with the aforementioned forget-me-nots in my sewing room closet.  Here’s the complete list of resolutions, which I will also be updating on the next tab throughout the year.  I’d love to hear all about your goals for New Year too, sewing related or not, so please share!  Here’s to 2013 readers!

My Sewing Goals:

1.       Finish all UFO's currently taking up space in my sewing room (as in unfinished objects, not the extraterrestrial kind!)

2.       Complete at least two garments per month – this will be a challenge!

3.       Learn/use/improve at least one new technique per month.

4.       Tackle the things that terrify me: pants, shorts, jacket...

5.       Use more of the patterns that I have in my stash.

6.       Organize my sewing room.

7.       Finally make something out of that beautiful beaded lace that I bought long ago.

8.       Focus on building a wearable wardrobe for both work and play. 

9.       Work through the Craftsy courses that I purchased and haven't had the time to look at.

10.   Take the time to improve my finishings.

11.   Be more mindful of the cost of my projects and find less expensive alternatives.

12.   Document and blog about all of my projects - even the failures!

13.   Develop my business idea!!!

I think I can, I think I can!