The Happs

The title is kind of misleading as not much is going on around here. But I did make this cover for my Nook: The Original Padded Nook/ Nook COLOR/ New by BirdifulStitches I highly recommend this pattern. The directions were easy to follow, any wonkiness or poor quality is all on me.

Nell, my Nook, stored in her handmade padded cover. Much nicer than the tacky crochet thing I whipped out when I first got her.
These are the pockets. I made a few mistakes but it had nothing to do with the pattern or the instructions. It had every thing to do with my sewing machine being possessed and I think I told it to "Suck My D___". Use your imagination. It's one of my favorite lines from The Hangover and as the Spousal Unit says, "It's funny because I'm a girl". Of course, the sewing machine, every the nasty ho, told me it was thinking about getting it's bartender's license. I know makes no sense but I was terribly frustrated that day because of an uncooperative piece of machinery.

Here's the full frontal view of the inside of my Nook case. I'm so glad I finally got around to making this. I've had the pattern forever. I'll make another one as I figured out my machine issues and am more comfortable with the process.

I've been working here and there on my WR2107 Pokey Dots Throw. I'm attaching blocks as I make them. Sure it slows down the fun part, the block making, but when I'm done, I'm done, well I'll have to add edging but the blocks will all be together. No hours and hours of putting them together when I'm already sick of it.

This is my progress such that it is on Lisi Sloboda 1828 - Cross Stitch Pattern. Sorry my pic isn't better Margaret. I'll take another one when I add a few more colors. I'm converted the DMC to HDF and decided I'd use those instead of the WDWs as charted.

All crafting has been slowed considerably due to the stack of books you see in the pic above. Our library system has it's kinks. Sometimes you can request 20 books and they come in one at a time weeks apart, other times you get all of them at the same time. That's what happened to me. I'm trying to read through this stack as fast as possible. I don't enjoy pressure reading and it's my one complaint about the library but what does one expect for $0.

We have been in the middle of a major drought. Storms reach the Florida/Alabama border and run north instead of east. These clouds were a happy sight last Saturday. I hope I was able to catch the weird bright green of the water. I honestly can't tell on this old computer.

Hope everyone is enjoying these early days of summer. Thanks for stopping by!

Tonight's Post

Is brought to you by the colors red and white and the numbers 8 and 27. Red and white seem to be the theme for the past weekend. Months ago I cut out lots of red and white squares with the intention of making a quilt for my bed. I cut them out and left them to sit and sit and sit. I thought I could turn them into a quilt top by astral projection but apparently it doesn't work that way.

White iPod = 35 hours of Stephen King's Under the Dome. King rarely lets me down and I enjoyed Under the Dome, I have the sore ears to prove it.

Spaghetti with meat sauce, courtesy of Real Simple's Easy Delicious Meals special issue. White plate part of my original every day dishes set when I got married, Sears Federalist, if I'm not mistaken.

Why #8? Well this is the 8th day my kitchen table has been laundry free. My family is shocked and falling into the routine of looking for their clean clothes in their rooms. No more half asleep staggering into the kitchen searching for jeans or t-shirts or work clothes, no more drips of water creating a trail from the bathroom to the kitchen in search of underwear. We are almost a normal family.

The spousal unit wants to know when the Mothership will be beaming the real Missy home. (Yes if you're my friend on Facebook you've heard that one before but it's no less true.)


Why #27? Well that's how many quilt blocks I pieced over the weekend. Yes, it's true, and I would say that I was channeling Kwilty Kim but my piecing is quite naieve compared to the quilt tops she makes so I'll just say I pieced in the spirit of Kim.

These blocks were pieced courtesy of Stephen King. I wanted to listen to my book and when the sewing machine was humming no one talked to me, I could plug up my ears and disappear to the Dome in Maine and before I knew it I had pieced all the little squares I cut out so many months ago. Not all my corners matched, but in my defense more seams lined up than didn't, and I'm quite proud of that accomplishment. I ripped back a few blocks and resewed and others that weren't too far off the mark, I left as they were.

This quilt top is handmade, it's homemade, and well it's going to look it. It's taken me a very long time let go of my desire to piece perfect quilt tops. That's what was taking the joy out of the process for me. If it wasn't perfect it wasn't worth doing. Don't get me wrong, I don't want tacky ass quilt tops but at the same time I want to enjoy what I'm doing and how many people are going to look at my quilt top on my bed and say "OMFG did you see that five of those blocks had seams that didn't quite meet up?" Yeah, I don't think anyone will notice but me. Although if I'm honest there are two blocks that are probably not so good but still it's not that noticeable unless you are looking for flaws and if you are looking at my quilt on my bed and wanting to see flaws, well you will be rewarded.

So this is where I've been the last few days, virtually under the dome in Maine, physically in front of my sewing machine or stove depending on the time of day, and mentally in a very good place in regards to the never ending laundry.

I think I'm seriously going to shoot for 365 days of no laundry on my kitchen table in 2010. I think that is one goal that is seriously doable and this is from someone who hasn't seen the top of her kitchen table since last Thanksgiving.

Reasons 1,079 & 1,080

Why I should never be allowed near a sewing machine. This was how my sewing session went yesterday:

This is just wrong:

I was 100% sure that the ribbon was no where near my seams but apparently I was wrong.

(click to enlarge)

And because I'm 9 yrs old, seeing this receipt amused me. Do you see what I'm talking about....right there next to the word "homespun"?

Carol asked about my 100 Days commitment to Lady of the Flag, well let's say I'm behind a few days, like 20. I hope to get back into a stitching routine when everyone is well and my time is my own once again.

Have a great weekend everyone. It's a Lord of the Rings weekend on TNT so I will be chillin' with Aragon and the boys and working on various projects.

A Scattering of Projects

This post is completely random. Here is the beginnings of Jane Atkinson:


Here is a skirt I made over the summer, the waist band was a quickie so I could wear it out one night to hang out with some friends who were in town. Note to self--remember to always add a few inches to the back because babe you got one big butt. The hike up factor was a pain. I have a long way to go before I should actually consider wearing something I've made. But it worked out ok and my top covered the unfinished waistband. I am wishing now I had bought the patchwork fabric I saw at JoAnn's in August, would have made a great fall skirt in this simple pattern. Even my big butt would have been cute in it.

Here's my attempt at the buttonhole stitch in Blackbird Designs Beneath the Sunlit Sky. It's not properly executed and we all know what Nina Garcia says about execution but honestly, I was over the stupid stitch and just made it up.

Here are some strips for a completely winged table runner. The fabric was purchased at a yard sale, the yellow I'm pretty sure was at one time a sheet, the green some kind of decorator fabric. Kind of funky but hey so am I:

New kitchen bling:

Scored three of these skillets at TJ Maxx. I was in desperate need of new cookware and these were just too fun not to buy and they were cheap too!

A few years ago, the middle DS was whining about being bored. I told him to find something to do, he was obviously hungry too and created this painting of a pizza on a Pizza Hut pizza box. I love it and want to frame it.

What does one do when her feet are cold? Unravel the Sophie bag and crochet some slippers. I lost the pattern to the Sophie bag and it's no longer online as far as I can tell. It was a freebie I think.

And the current candy addiction, why Hershey's Hot Cocoa Kisses:

Ike

We aren't anywhere in the storm cone for Ike but he has decided to visit my area any way. When the 12 yr old got out of school we drove over to the beach to see what was up. The surf apparently. Highway 98 between Oakaloosa Island and Destin was closed today. It was partially underwater at 7 a.m. Not a good sign.
Funny in this day and age beaches have to put up these flags because stupid goobers think it's cool to wade out in the water. I mean look at the surf, is it really necessary to put up a no swimming flag? Of course it is because someone will sue the county because they assumed since there was no flag that the water is safe. It doesn't matter what it looks like, since there wasn't an official symbol of some kind, let's swim! Is this where I mention how one time at the McD's in Destin this tourist was complaining about all the jellyfish in the Gulf and couldn't they do something about it. I had to explain to her that if she doesn't want to be around jelly fish to swim in a pool. The Gulf is a living body of water, that means it's has fish, jellies, sharks, grouper, they live there.

The youngest son is not down with the paparazzi:

This picture was taken with my digital camera. A Nikon Coolpix. It looks to me like it could have been taken in the 1970s with a Kodak Instamatic. 11o film anyone?

I wish my camera had done better, or I had. My friend Pam got some great pics today. If she posts them on her blog I'll post a link for you all.

Anna-the bagel recipe can be found here:

Homemade Bagels Tammy's Recipes.

and the pita recipe here:

Farmgirl Fare: Pita, Pita, I Too Much Eata!
How To Make Pita Bread & My Sea

I had good luck with both.

I Seriously, Madly, Truly, want one of these:

Amazon.com: Kindle: Amazon's Wireless Reading Device: Kindle Store

I want it BAD! I've been jonesing over one for the last six months and now it appears that people( Yarn-A-Go-Go: Kindling! ) are buying them and loving them. I dreamed about one last night. I know I'm sick.

In Other News

The summer was a sad one for me in a lot of ways. I lost my dad and my book that I spent a year writing and even got paid to write, well it's not going to be published this year. Thank you tanking economy. I have a wonderful agent and she believes in the project and I've moved on to attempt to write a second book, a little different, but maybe it will appeal to a wider audience and publishers and if there is success with that proposal maybe the first book will get a second look.

I cried really hard for six weeks, because it's that whole, hopes, dreams, everything you ever wanted, you tell someone your deepest, darkest secrets, and poof, it's a reality, like you never even considered hoping could possibly come true, and it does-- only to be so freakin' close, I mean so very close to that one and only dream, and it vanishes. Like it never ever happened.

From the Workbasket:

I've been working on Plum Street Samplers Coffin Buzz complimentary chart. I might get it finished this weekend, or maybe not. I have several projects going, some I'm trying to figure out what the heck to do, they are sewing related, and others I just don't know what to work on. I'm thinking when I finish Coffin Buzz I'll pull out Long Dog's Sonne Spotte. It's been on my mind lately and I ran across it when I was looking for something. I'm always looking for something it seems.

I'm kind of obsessing over making my own clothes, not sure why(probably the whole melt down in the dressing room thing). I can't sew worth a flip. I have a skirt here I made a few months ago and still haven't sewn the waistband--or the hem but it's cute and I put it on and wear it around the house sometimes. The back seems shorter than the front because baby I got me some back.

In Some Totally Crazy

Probably shouldn't say that outloud news: I can button and zip my shorts and pull them down over my fat butt. The way I know this is that my shorts have been feeling funny and I wasn't sure why. They seemed longer than normal. I was sagging like my 17 yr old and let me tell ya, the granny panties peaking out over the top of some shorts is soooooo hot....I mean people look, that does mean I'm hot right? Anyway, today while at the beach taking some horrible pictures, see above, my shorts almost blew right off my body. I freaked out, came home and I'll be darned if they just didn't slip right off. Talk about being a bit overwhelmed. Then my neighbors got home from work and right in the front yard I said, "Hey y'all, check it!" and proceeded to pull my shorts down just a bit. They were shocked and then awed when they saw what I was doing. At first they thought I had lost my ever lovin' mind stripping right there in the front yard but then it clicked, OMG she's lost some weight. Yeah, I have my idiosyncracies, one happens to be, I go with the flow and the excitement of the moment, and it's why I hide out in my house most of the time because I can really humiliate myself when I live in the moment.

This and That

Here, finally, is the Neighbor Girl Bag. The picture as is expected is not a good one. It is a clickable image but beware, my photo editing software is misbehaving so it will be huge! The bag is sewn with the seams to the outside and are supposed to unravel and fuzz out. I ran it through the wash twice, and hope it continues to unravel so it looks more like it's pricey counterparts.


When I call my friend Andrea, her ringtone for me is the theme to Sanford & Son. The reason for that is the spousal unit. At the time we married I had no idea he would be a primo dumpster diver, but over the last couple of years he has wandered home with some amazing "trash". A perfectly good patio table, four patio chairs, wicker and wicker and more wicker that we have often gotten two year's more use out of, but was deemed old and unworthy by it's previous owner. We use them til our butts fall through the seats. So Friday night I get this email from Andrea and it's about a major yard sale, guy bought out a sewing store. Saturday morning the Spousal Unit and I wander over, I find a few small cuts of fabric and buy those and we move on. The guy just had too much stuff and I wasn't looking for anything other than fabrics that have a vintagey feel to them and I was hoping to score some of that great 70s acrylic yarn. Anyway on the way home we see a yard sale sign off the highway. We decide to check it out, what a great decision. We scored the couch seen below, also in a blur but it's possible that blur is caused by haze of dog hair floating around my house not my lack of photography skilz:




They had it priced at $100. We debated, we sat on it, Andrea showed up, said "You guys should make an offer." I had $50 so the Spousal Unit asks, "Will you take $50 for the couch?" The seller says "YES!" Sold. Our problem, our truck is broken and it wouldn't fit in the back of Andrea's car, oh yes, we tried. Andrea offered up the use of her truck so we paid for the couch and told them we'd be back in a hour with a truck. Our dog chewed sectional is now biding it's time in the garage waiting for a trip to waste management. This morning the pillows you see along the back were strategically stacked, I called the Spousal Unit and asked, "Do we have poltergeists or did you put those pillows on the couch that way?" He answered that yes he did it and it was to keep the dogs out of his spot.

The wall behind the couch, along with the rest of the living room, will be yellow in the not to distant future. I've lived with all the tropical colors I can bear(bare?) for a while.

The Spousal Unit called me Monday morning from Destin, said he saw our couch in a shop there for $850. I think we totally rocked the garage sale for once.

A Tale of Two Bags

The little girl next door wanted a bag like her friend's. They are sold at this ridiculously expensive boutique in my little hick town. I see her friend's bag and say, "Oh I bet I can make you one of those!" I open my mouth and these lies just start spewing out. What is up with that?

Anyway, I ponder the bag for over three weeks hoping neighbor girl will forget or her mom will give in and buy her one(like that's going to happen). Anyway, I finally let neighbor girl go through my fabric stash and choose what she likes. I take another day or two searching for the rotary cutter and looking for anything that might resemble instructions online. It's a simple patchwork bag, seams sewn to the outside, if anyone can sew something "wrong" it should be me.

One night I suck it up, I start cutting six inch squares, I apparently don't have a five inch square and since precision is not my strong point, I opt to make the squares a little larger than necessary, because I'm like, totally lazy. Anyway, I cut, I lay them out, I rearrange, I find my sewing machine guide, I fill a bobbin, I thread the machine. I rethread the machine four times before I get it right. I attach my patchwork foot. I start to sew. In less than an hour I have the bag put together. I hand it off to my friend Pam who is going to do the lining and the handles because that is beyond my level of skill. I started to right "skilty". Isn't that what Aragon says when he tries to heal Frodo from the Ring Wraith's blade? I'm still not sure it's a real word.

Anyway, Pam came through big time for me and neighbor girl. Here's a close up the button, Pam had it in her stash. Friends with eclectic stash collections are just the best aren't they?


Here's the lining--Pam you totally rock:

Whoops! I'm missing a pic of the finished bag! Blogger is not cooperating when I try to add it, I'll keep you guessing and you can see it tomorrow!

But I did make another bag because I'm like this master sewer now. I had some five inch charm squares in the stash. These are from the Nell's Flower Shop collection by Blackbird Designs for Moda. I love these fabrics. This bag is for my friend Pam because she deserves it, not that anyone should necessarily be deserving of my sewing skills, but I did my best, pressed my work. I found the iron, under a pile of Rolling Stone and Martha Stewart magazines, isn't that where everyone keeps their iron?

After spending a good bit of time checking out the instructions for lining a bag in my Sew Easy, Sew Fast book, and looking for more directions online, and getting really frustrated last night, this morning I called Pam and asked if she could walk me through that whole lining a bag thing. She said "Sure bring it over, I'll help." I said, "I can't really do that, this is something for you! Surprise!" She said, "Bring it over, I'LL HELP!" I did and she made the lining for her own gift. I know I totally suck, but on the positive side, she loves the fabrics and they were a surprise to her, I never showed her my little collection of charm squares so it was a surprise.

Tune in tomorrow for a picture of neighbor girl's bag!

Naked

Or nekkid....I have determined that I have no clothes. You know Sunday Go To Meeting clothes? I live in Nike tshirts, faded denim shorts that are raveling pretty bad right now, and the odd pair of capris which would make Tim Gunn pass out because baby my butt is too big and my legs too short for the capri style but they are cheap, readily available, and I can wear them all year round. They just aren't flattering.

This morning I was doing my five a.m. walk with my friend Pam and we were discussing who were are. Pam told a story about a shoe she took to a women's group that was supposed to represent who she was, I said, hmmm, shoes that represent me? It would be either my red Laredo cowboy boots or my red four inch heel pumps. Now anyone that sees me on a daily basis would know that I never wear those shoes any more or even come close to wearing clothes that go with them but they are very representative of the inner me. I love my cowboy boots, always have, always will. My pumps, my Lord, I love high heels. I never wear them any more but I used to wear them every single day and loved them. No my feet never hurt and I wore them because I liked them, not because the fashion magazines told me to, I am short, heels kind of put me on an even playing field, sorta.

I'm not sure what the red says about my personality, other than my red pumps and my red boots hold a special place in my heart and I wore them with everything.

So why am I naked? Well, since I've gained weight and I've been, how do I put this, FAT, for a few years, I refuse to buy clothes. I'm portion controlling, I'm trying hard to walk my ass off, but no matter what I do, it's not enough. Sure my heart is stronger, my cholesterol is probably at a better level but the fact is my butt is still big, my boobs still sag, and it's frustrating as all get out. On a daily basis I don't obsess over my weight, I know that the loss of 60 lbs would change my world, I'm trying, but I don't obsess. I try to eat healthy and make better choices, going back to the whole foods lifestyle gradually, but while I don't obsess I also am making changes so I know that this state I am in is not permanent. So we're back to being nekkid....here's the deal, I'm in serious need of some clothes but I can't bring myself to go to the store and try them on. It's easier to live in the old clothes, until, that moment happens when you have to go somewhere, you have to go out with people, you have to LOOK NICE.

Then I can be found in the floor of the dressing room in Target sobbing, because news flash, I'M FAT. Yeah, you would think I would know this, I would know it everyday when I get out of the tub and see my round stomach in the mirror, but I don't because the clothes I put on fit. They don't hide the fat but they cover it. It's ok. It's when I'm forced to go to the store, find clothes on the rack in what I presume to be my size, take them to the dressing room thinking, ok, I might just look hot in this, only to discover that my butt doesn't quite fit in the pants or maybe the butt slips right in but the button on the waist band is in the wrong place or wait, maybe, they didn't make the waist band long enough? Does that happen? You know the butt fits fine, but you still have three inches in the waist that aren't going to ever come together, under any circumstances.

Clothes shopping is the most traumatic experience in my life and it's not because I'm vain, it's because I'm fat, and while I think I live in the real world regarding my ample behind it's only in the harsh light of the department store dressing room that reality seems to smack me up side the head. I can't bring myself to clothes shop. I just can't do it. It's one of those things that just hurts too much. Are my expectations too high? I don't expect the clothes to make me look thin, I so completely get that, but I do expect them to look better than what I wear everyday, but somehow they seem to look worse.

That is just not right.

Right now, laying on the table in front of me, are the bits and pieces of a sundress I have cut out and am going to sew together. I decided that maybe I should try making a few pieces of clothing. If they don't fit I can use the fabric in a quilt or something right?

We won't discuss how I don't know how to sew. I won't mention how one pattern piece was supposed to be turned over on the wrong side before I cut it out but I didn't notice that until it was too late. I checked and double checked before cutting and still missed that important little fact.

I can't shop for clothes, I can't sew, if one or the other of these issues isn't resolved soon, I may not be able to ever leave the house because naked will be really, truly, NEKKID and there's nothing about that that sounds appealing at all. To anyone......

I Should Not Be Showing This

But I am anyway because sometimes trying something new is a good thing even if one has issues with sewing straight lines and batting bunching up even though you basted the heck out of it. My friend Linette told me once that anyone can sew a straight line. Apparently I'm not anyone, I'm special and I have no inner linear skilz but hey, I can live with that. Probably will be a frustrating existance but I think I can find ways to work around it.

A while back I purchased the fabric seen below at the store who shall not be named:


I'm a Memphis girl and Elvis fabric is something I just can't pass up. I ran across the bag of fabric when I was cleaning. OK that is a big fat lie. I ran across it when I was looking for something else that had been misplaced. That something else would be the first ornament I stitched for my friend Sandy, which has slipped through some portal never to be seen again. I ended up stitching a second ornament thinking the first would appear and no, it's still invisible.

After finding the Elvis fabric, I had forgotten I ever bought it, I started pondering what I could make with it that would be fun, I could see it often because, well, this fabric makes me happy. Don't ask me why, but it does. So I went through some patterns and



Personally I think all patterns look better with a little Viggo in the background. Anyway, I found a McCall's Crafts pattern for a crochet hook case. The pattern number is M4728. I don't really know how long ago I purchased it. I'm not technically anything that resembles someone who sews but occaisionally when JoAnn's runs those pattern sales for $.99 cents or $1.99 I usually manage to add one or two to the collection. This pattern might have been purchased as recently as a month or so ago, I just can't remember.

There are a million things wrong with this crochet hook case. My sewing lines aren't straight. I tried, I really truly tried. I didn't rush through this project. I ripped quite a few stitches out and started over but it's still full of flaws. It's wonky, I forgot to sew the ribbon tie on when I sewed the back to the front, and added it last.

Here's a picture of the back, not sure why it's blurry. As I said, this is not perfect, it's not as neatly done as it could be but I hope to get better with practice. So why am I bothering to show this off as poorly made as it is? Well I did it. I found the fabric, I found a sewing pattern and instead of laying on the couch saying to myself, "Oh if you make this it'll just look really bad. Why waste the time when you could be doing something else?" I sucked it up and did it. I didn't whine to myself about how I can't do it, I did it.

One of my main goals for 2008 is to feel the fear and do it anyway. Is that phrase trademarked by somebody? I remember some woman on Oprah years ago who wrote a book with that title. Anyway--I can't get better at something if I continue to avoid it because the results will be anything less than spectacular.

So be prepared to view some hideous sewing projects over the next few months as I learn my way around the sewing machine, try to figure out how fabrics and colors and patterns work together and to sew a straight line.

11 Days 'Til Christmas

Some days when life is just a struggle, we won't talk about last week, 'K, it's done, past, by gones. But there are times when the UPS guy surprises you by leaving an unexpected package by the door. The picture below is what I found on my front door step yesterday. A while back a stitcher was in search of an OOP chart, I had already stitched it, wasn't going to stitch it again so I sent it to her. Decluttering and helping out a fellow stitcher, a good thing. She stitched the mermaid ornament below for me as a thank you. She really shouldn't have, but I love it and am so glad she did!

The Only Bit of Christmas Around These Parts:

Yes, they are hanging on my potted sago palm, which is in need of repotting, but we don't have our tree up yet so this is the next best thing. The ornament above is from my friend Siobhan. The ornament below is from my friend Sandy:

The ornament below is from my friend Janice:

The ornament below is from my friend Elaine:

We will not mention that I still have to get their ornaments in mail. This weekend, this weekend. As much as I love swaps, I procrastinate over the finishing and I can't do that. I make square ornaments, they are square, that's a positive right? Finishing intimidates me like nothing else.


The Much Anticipated

Second pair of lounge pants:

How neat is this fabric? I tried very hard to get pictures of them in the Scooby Doo fog we've been having down here, you know a pirates coming out of the mist kind of deal, but guess what? It's hard to get a picture of anything in pea soup fog, DUH to me! Yes the lady at JoAnn's thought they were going to be for a little boy. Nope they are just for a forty-something woman with a pirate fetish.

Tim Gunn's Voice in My Head

Telling me to "carry on and make it work". Now why would he be doing that? Well the Friday after Thanksgiving Target had a sale on the Singer Prelude sewing machine. $65! Can't beat that. So for the first time ever I ventured out on Black Friday and actually scored one.

The spousal unit has informed at this point I can no longer blame any sewing mishaps on the crummy machine I'm using. I tested this baby as soon as I got her home. I was able to adjust the tension and my stitching is smooth and pretty dog gone nice. It just so happens that JoAnn's had a sale on McCall's patterns. $1.99 each. Not too shabby. So I picked up a few. I am particularly fond of the pajama/lounge pants patterns. It's much classier to call them lounge pants than pajamas don't you think? I mean Nora Charles or Doris Day or Lucy would wear lounge pants not PJs. Remember when Lucy bought those harlequin patterned lounge pants for Ethel as a gift from Fred, I think all poor Ethel wanted was a new toaster. Lucy couldn't style Ethel to save her life.

Today I made these lounge pants from McCall's pattern 3370. My fabric is coffee and donuts and if you saw my stomach and my butt you'd know that those are two of my favorite things.

Here's an action shot, well I'm standing, that's sorta actiony don't you think?

I didn't not prewash this fabric and they are a perfect fit at the moment, I'm not sure if they'll fit after they are washed. I love them dearly. It's the first thing in my life I have ever sewed that came out right.

I only had to bug my friend Pam twice. Apparently I'm not the sharpest crayon in the box and couldn't get the drawstring to turn inside out. That folks is a skill. One that I will hopefully acquire soon. Any other mishaps you might ask. Well, I forgot to leave a hole in the waistband for the drawstring.

I have fabric for one more pair of lounge pants and I didn't take a picture of it because you'll all just die when you see it. You must remember I'm fortiesque. When the lady at JoAnn's was cutting my fabric--I missed the 99cent a yard flannel sale, but let's all say a big thank you for the 50% off coupon--anyway, the lady said and I quote, "Some little boy is going love his new pajamas." I informed her that I would be the little boy of who she was speaking. She cut my fabric really quick. But it's great. With any luck I'll be able to show you another pair of pants and this fabric tomorrow. I know, I have you all on the edge of your seats.

This need to sew can be blamed on Sue. She's been a sewing "machine" the last few months. She has really inspired me to get over my fear of sewing and do it already.

This machine really makes all the difference in the world and it doesn't hurt that I now have a little bit of a clue about how a sewing machine is supposed to work and what the stitches are supposed to look like.