I got my very own brand-new sewing machine as a Christmas gift from my mother-in-law because I've been wanting to try some simple sewing projects for a while but never had access to a sewing machine...and hand-sewing is out of the question for me. Sadly, I'm just not skilled in that area. I mean, I can barely sew on a button. And to give you an idea of where I'm starting...I have NEVER sewed on a sewing machine. Ever. I did borrow a friend's one time to try sewing, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to use it. I ended up using a little hand-held sewing machine (which I guess could be handy for simple, small projects). So I am bottom-of-the-totem-pole beginner level.
So I received the sewing machine for Christmas, and I've finally used it! This project has been "in the works" for at least a month now, and it finally took Billy saying, "Hey, you want to go down in the basement tonight and work on your sewing?" that finally motivated me to just finish it. And let me just say this: thank goodness for instruction manuals! Everything I needed to know I learned from the instruction manual for this project (other than following a cute tutorial...see below).
I followed this tutorial from I Can Teach My Child! since it seemed pretty easy to follow. I used a cream striped minky material for one side of the blanket and a purple floral cotton on the other side. I had three different rolls of ribbon already, so I bought one of those mini multi-rolls from Target for $1 for some more variety. Side note: I found leftover, unused ribbon from my pointe shoes in my sewing box. I haven't danced since 2006...so it's been in there for at least 6 years, and somehow I still held on to it. So you better believe I used some of it for this project! Maybe one of my girls will follow in my footsteps? Haha =)
This is the result!
I certainly learned quite a bit just from this small project, including ways to improve next time I sew. I now feel more comfortable with my machine, and I have to say that I'm really proud of myself for trying! I have a fear of failure, so I'm always intimidated to try new things, but I'm really glad this little project worked out because it gives me confidence for the next one. I'm also pretty excited that I actually made something for Piper, and even if she doesn't care one bit about it, I'm definitely putting it in her little keepsake box =).
Next on my sewing project list is to make burp cloths. They seem pretty easy to make, and I've already got some extra cotton fabric just sitting around so I would just need some towel-like material. I guess I could always buy a cheap-o towel and use that! This tutorial has some cute pictures and seems easy to follow (which is a must for me!).
And just for fun, here are some recent pictures of Ellie playing on the iPad...
Billy downloaded two apps for Ellie (both of which are free). This one is called Play 1-2-3 and has some great mathematical skill-building activities with shapes, counting, colors, and cause-and-effect principles. She loves this one...it's very easy for her to manipulate and has a variety of activities to keep things fresh. And it has some cute music to go along with it!
The one she's playing with me is called I Hear Ewe. It's a very simple app, but it's definitely her favorite. The screen is filled with pictures of various animals, and when you touch a picture, a voice identifies what animal it is and then plays its sound. There are three pages on this app; farm/local animals, safari/exotic animals, and transportation vehicles. For some reason, she really likes the motorcycle...wonder who influenced her in that particular area ;)
The cognitive leaps she's made recently have been amazing to me. She caught on super-fast with the iPad...it really is true that she's going to be more technologically advanced than me in a couple of years...not that it's really saying much! But she'll probably beat out her Daddy, too, at some point...and that's saying something! She's also learned to "count" to three...but it's more like repetition. Whenever we play a game or I put her on the slide, I say, "Ready...one...two...three!" and so now she'll say, "one...two...three!" I actually teared up the first time she said it...but that could just be my crazy hormones lol. She's also learning animal sounds like crazy. At first, she just knew the cat and dog sounds, but now she does sounds for fish, lions/bears (both are "roar" lol), birds, and ducks. She's also graduated from signing "please" to actually saying it, although she still signs it most of the time.
Her physical skills have really developed, too. She now helps me clean up her toys (normally she picks them up and brings them to me to put away, or she'll throw them in the basket/toy box on her own) and also helps with laundry. I put the basket on the floor, and she'll hand each dirty item to me, which is actually really helpful so I don't have to bend over to pick things up! She can throw and kick a ball...we're still working on teaching her how to catch it, haha. And she is a real climber...she can now get on and off the couch by herself. I can't believe how quickly she has grown into a full-fledged toddler.
Thanks for reading...I promise I'll try to update more often! =)
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