my first sewing project

Mom! I hope you're reading this! You'll die!

Some background:

1. When my in-laws came to help us move and paint, etc., Shane and I were so grateful that Shane took some bonus bucks he got at Boeing and got them some gift cards to a golf shop, Barnes & Noble, etc. They were so kind and we were so grateful. BUT they said we didn't need to do that (stinkers) and have been showering us with wonderful gifts ever since :-)  They brought over a swingset that came with their house (that only got use when we were there), and then my mother-in-law surprised me with a great housewarming gift -- a sewing machine!! WOO HOO! I'm really excited to embark on some projects, when I get the time.

2. Laurel has been having a tough time nursing. I can't tell if it's teething or distraction or if I'm not making enough milk, etc. It's been so stressful and I've asked lots of friends for advice. Someone recommended a "nursing necklace" which the baby can play with while she's nursing, to help her focus. I went on etsy.com and saw some gorgeous ones with huge wooden beads, etc., on nice cords. They really were pretty. Many cost between $15 and $25, and I considered buying one. However, I saw some other nursing necklaces that looked familiar to me....

3. When I was a Girl Scout in elementary school, my troop made necklaces for a fund-raiser. We used fabric and marbles and beads, and I remember making a TON of these. We sold them for $1 or something. We were swimming in these necklaces! And I realized, I could make a nursing necklace just like these necklaces from my Girl Scout days! Just with stuff I had around the house!!

I found some scrap fabric... since all I have is scrap fabric...

My mother-in-law Eileen says the most important thing is a "straight edge," and well, I don't have the fancy equipment she has (eeck, more to buy)  so I used a protractor and a ruler and my teensy fabric scissors, but I managed to make a strip of fabric 2-inches wide. I just made it as long as the fabric scrap I had would allow.

I folded it in half and ironed.

The second-most time-consuming thing was scouring my unpacked arts & crafts boxes for some thread. Oops. My MIL made me a white bobbin when she was here, but didn't leave the thread. I KNEW I had a navy blue spool from a project I did at Church ages ago, I just had to find it! Finally I found it in my box with blue scrap ribbons. Yet another thing to buy! Remember this is the VERY FIRST THING I have EVER SEWED with my OWN SEWING MACHINE so I was flying by the seat of my pants. Navy blue it is.

I sewed it together. Left like an 1/8th of an inch. Um this was really easy. And my card table kinda shook.

Then, the most time-consuming thing was turning it inside out. I did it wrong. I turned it inside out, when I should have turned it outside in using a safety pin. I seem to remember using a safety pin in Girl Scouts. Man my fingers were sore after this. It took like 20 minutes or something.

Then, marbles and beads! Threading the fabric through the beads at an angle was helpful. I had to do trial-and-error with the marbles since some of them were too big. When we did this in Girl Scouts we used real marbles, not flat ones. But I have loooots of flat marbles around the house. 

Afterwards, I just tied the necklace together and I was done!  Voila! MY FIRST SEWING PROJECT!

Laurel has already gummed it to pieces, so it's totally soaked. But it's safe for her so I'm OK with it. I hope it helps. It's even cute enough I might wear it in public sometime! Just like the olden Girl Scout days! I bet if I asked my Mom she could find a few of the old necklaces around the house somewhere. Maybe hanging in my closet, Mom? Ha!

Also on my sewing list: tablecloths, burp rags, Halloween costumes!

(PS I hate the new blogger. Everyone else agree?)