A New Year, A New Hobby

I need a new hobby like a hole in the head but I've been wanting to learn to sew for ages and after a year of being a very good girl and a year of not-so-subtle hinting, Santa came through with the goods. 

Isn't she pretty? She shall henceforth be called Pink Lady. I've never really been drawn to pink but I've noticed over the years that as the number of boys in the family increases so too does my fondness for all things pink and girly.

Apparently the final impetus for the purchase of the sewing machine was my appalling effort at hand stitching badges onto the Little Athletics T-shirts at the end of last year. This was further emphasised after one of the kids was asked whether they had stitched their badges themselves. How embarrassing!

I thought i did OK with the badges, drawing inspiration from all you clever girls who stitch things onto toys and other creations. Apparently that stitch is not appropriate for badges.

So, without the foggiest idea how to sew, I googled 'easiest thing to sew in the whole world' which brought me to the humble pyjama pant with elastic waist. Easy peasy. 

I went to Spotlight and found a lovely bit of cotton fabric in Eleanor's favourite shade of blue with her favourite animal printed all over it. Perfect. I simply used her current pyjama bottoms as a template and pretty soon I came up with this number.

She and I were pretty chuffed with my first sewing creation until I noticed the bit of writing on the edge of the off-cut.

Oh dear! So pyjama pants are now known as lounge pants. 

Lesson Number 1 - always buy fabric appropriate for the job. Who knew there were a million types of cotton? 

At that point I googled tips for Beginners and one of the tips actually told me not to measure my self worth against my sewing skills. Well thank goodness for that! After a nice cup of tea I was feeling enthusiastic again so I made a skirt. It was also very simple with just an elastic waist and I whipped it up in 30 minutes. Pity she didn't brush her hair.

And finally, I made the lads these summer shorts, now known as their Circus shorts. The boys absolutely love them even though they look like the Van Trapps when they wear them at the same time. 

You may notice the black stitching on the outside. This was due to the fact I threaded the needle before I did the bobbin and because it took me so long to thread the needle I picked another cotton for the bobbin and the only cotton I had was black. I did not know that the thread from the bobbin appeared on the outside of the garment. This still does not make sense to me but I won't argue with the Pink Lady.

Lesson Number 2 - the thread from the bobbin shows on the outside of the garment not the inside.

So this is my first little introduction to sewing. I can't wait to use a pattern and make a proper garment. I seem to be making some pretty basic mistakes so if anyone can point me in the right direction for a basic book, tips or website I'd be most grateful. 

I'm joining in here this week so if you're feeling crafty check out what others have been up to. 

Well, it's Friday tomorrow (already!?!). I do hope you all have a fabulous weekend wherever you are!