The Evolving Homemaker

A few months back, a friend of mine sent me this link with a project she thought I would like to do.  I did want to do this project and thought about it all the time.  Yet, I never quite had time to get er’ done.  What else is new?

Well thanks to our weekly hikes/walks we have been taking, I have had the perfect push to get these things finally banged out.  How long can one Mom listen to, “Mom I am thhhiiiirrrrrsssstttttyyy” on the trail before she does something about it?

Here is the coolest ever water bottle holder pattern link from Pink Chalk Studio.  It was quite the little adventure for me to sew these.  First off, my sewing machine was behaving quite strangely.  The needle broke the first night, and than the whole time working on my daughters, the stitches were sticking out and not getting that tight.  It looked terrible, but only up close, which has given me time to do her brothers and take a break before I remake hers.

What is so interesting, is that as I was watching a YouTube tutorial about the french seam, I was so jealous of the lady who had this thread cutter actually in the side of her machine.  I thought to myself, “What a swell invention that was!”,   never realizing for a moment that my machine actually had one too, which I didn’t notice till like a day later.

Then as I was trying to fix the stitches.  This was really frustrating.  I would turn one knob, then another, then take out the bobbin, then re-thread the bobbin, and not until I tried to re-thread the machine as a last resort did I realize there is a stinkin’ knob above the needle.  Uh huh.  A knob.  And you wanna know what that knob does?  Adjusts the tension.  You wanna know how many years I have fought with such annoyances and given up on sewing all together?

Uh huh.  A lot.

So we are back in business.  Here are the photos of the kids holders, like I said I will be doing the pink one over again, and I still have yet to make mine which I think would be awesome for trips to the zoo, hikes, etc.

Try them!  They will make your load so much lighter when your kids are carrying THEIR OWN bottles.  Genius really.

His and Hers…

The pattern calls to only sew the straps once, but I sewed them twice to hold better, and I also sewed twice along the bottom seam when I sewed the circle to the body of the holder.  Water can be heavy, especially with ice and kids swinging the whole bag around, better safe than sorry!

In action!

For the last month or so, we have been studying Alaska.  We just finished up, with our grand finale of an art project.  I can’t tell you how tired I am of doing ‘crafts’ with the kids.  Since we began doing more ‘unit’ studies in our homeschooling around geographical regions, I have been trying to step up the art that goes with each area, and avoid the ‘craft’.

I have faith that kids can do more than popsicle stick activities.  Give them real art sensations and tools, real pastels, real fabrics, real photographs to explore.  Why does it so often have to be paper bags and crayons?

I digress.

I got the idea for this hunting Inuit quiver project from a book in the library called Hands On Alaska.  Again, the craft idea was to use a paper bag to make the quiver.  Instead, I went to the sewing store and got some 40% off suede, on sale due to the end of season.

They were pretty easy to make, if a bit time consuming to make three of them.

1- I started by cutting the shape I wanted on the fold of the fabric to get two sides.  I then turned it inside out and sewed around the outside edge, leaving a two inch hole at the bottom next to the fabric fold to put the strap in later.

2- I folded a half inch over the top of the bag and sewed around that. Then turned the bag right side out.

3- I then cut a long three inch piece of fabric, measured to my kiddos backs, turned it inside out and sewed the edge together, then turned it right side out again.  I then sewed both edges at the 1/4 inch, to make the edges flat, but also to give it that ‘hand sewed’ look.

4- I inserted one end of the strap into the opening at the bottom of the bag, and sewed around the bag on the outside edge, again, for the hand made look.

5- To sew the top of the strap in, I sewed it to the opposite side edge of the top of the bag, taking care to actually SHOW the stitches!

This was the last one completed, so it turned out the best of course!

Here are all three bags finished.

To decorate my bag, I made slits with the scissors around the edge and threaded another piece of suede through the hole.  Then I put a bead on over both ends and hot glued a real bird feather to the inside of each one! The kids did all their decorating with the glue gun, beads, and feathers directly on the bags wherever it suited them.  Which is totally the plan!

Here are our finished Inuit quiver bags!  A fine ending to a fun unit studying igloos, the Iditarod, lots of famous dogs, lots of cool animals, and the wildness of Alaska.

What is life?
It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow which runs across
the grass and loses itself in the sunset.

Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator 1830 – 1890

That is it isn’t it?  The moments that constitute a life.

I did a thing the day after my birthday last month.  And that ‘thing’ was a two hour Native American flute lesson at the church I attend.  I knew I would come home with a flute.  My husband knew I would come home with a flute.  Everyone knew I would come home with a flute.

And I did. Come home with a flute.

Here is the thing though, FOREVER I thought I sucked at music.  I told everyone I was musically challenged.  I didn’t even try to learn a guitar that has been sitting in our house since, oh like 12 years ago or so, because I was going to stink at it.  Why bother?

Because I can’t read notes.  Not at all.  I took piano for the longest time when I was a kid and I hated it.  Mostly because I couldn’t just look at the pictures of the little circles, with their happy little lines above or below, or with the lovely lines across denoting ‘Empty Garbage Before Dad Flips’ and ‘F.A.C.E’ and know what the note was.  I always had to say the little acronym to even know what to play.

I began to substitute for my glaring imperfection in music, by playing by ear.  I would memorize the song as the teacher played and then I would play.  It was torture whenever it was time to learn a new song.  Torture.

So I quit.  And told everyone from that day on that I just wasn’t good at it and didn’t even try.  Better safe, right?

In September, as you recall from this post here, I decided to finally learn how to play the djembe drum.  I started taking lessons every week, practicing, focusing.  I love it.  And guess what?

I can play it.

I started to wonder if I wasn’t actually terrible with music, that the problem was notes.  My drum class uses tablature.  Color coded pictures of what you are supposed to play.

I had heard learning the Native American flute was fairly easy.  And it is.  But guess what else they use?

Uh huh…tablature.  Pictures of where your fingers are supposed to be on the flute.

Needless to say, I don’t feel as musically challenged as I used to.  I am not the next Mozart by any means, but I am now able to play around a campfire without too much embarrassment.

Seeing how I had a new flute, that needed a bag to be carried in, I went ahead and made one.  It is from the left over double quilted fabric I sewed the djembe drum cover here from.  A matching set…somewhat cheesy, but certainly economical!

Isn’t she a beauty? It is a High Spirit 6 hole A flute, with the 6th hole covered to play as a 5 hole flute.

It is made out of cedar which smells incredible as you play, and actually tasted good on your mouth.

This is the two-sided fabric I used.  Looks quite similar to the djembe drum bag…oh wait!  It is exactly the same!

The bag was super easy to sew.  I cut it into a rectangle, then sewed around the whole outside edge leaving an inch or so at the top.  I folded the top edge over and sewed around that edge too.  I then cut a long skinny piece of the fabric, like a half inch, folded it in half and sewed it down the middle.  I tied a knot in one end and threaded it through the folded over portion.  Then I tied a knot in the other end, and wallah, you have a drawstring Native American flute bag.

SO easy.  And SO fast!  I did it after the kids were in bed, it took maybe a half hour.  And it was free.  I am evolving, getting a bit more brave with the sewing machine and a bit more creative and thrifty along the way.  It is a process.

At least now I am not as terrible at music, I am evolving there too…

It is unbelievable.

But true.

And I am so friggin’ proud of myself.

I sewed.

And it turned out awesome, not terrible.

It is a new day in my world!

A few weeks ago, I posted about My New Love, the djembe drum.  And while I am taking weekly lessons, and going to drum circles, yes shy me, I had nothing to carry my drum in to protect it.  Yes, I could have bought something online and had it shipped, but that hardly would have been fun at all. So I took it upon myself to sew a carrying bag for my new djembe.

How hard could it be?

Usually, when it comes to sewing, the last laugh is on me.  I always seem to mess up a project one way or another, but not this time!  It is a miracle.

I used this series of videos from you tube, see one here, and you can find the rest from there.  I changed some a bit, and had to wing it a bit due to the fact the videos aren’t in order and don’t show every step.   I then went to the fabric store with a 40% off coupon, double sided fabric is expensive, and picked out a lovely print!

Then I put it off for like a week.  Yes, I was scared to start.

When I finally sewed it this past Saturday, I was amazed at the outcome.  Seriously.

Getting ready!

My fabric choice.  I love it!

Ta-da!

The drawstring top.

The inside flap, protects the head of the drum, and is sewed on to the inside of the bag.

The strap, fabric makes up most of it, with an adjustable bag strap attached.  Both are re-enforced at the top and bottom, they are carrying a heavy load!

And there you have it.  I am shocked it turned out so well! Giddy in fact!  Like a little child with a new puppy!  And am intensely hopeful about all the projects I am planning for this winter!

If I could pull this off, there is seriously sewing hope for us all!

Spill it: Is there a particular craft you are NOT good at?  What have you been trying to learn but are too afraid you will fail miserably at?

*P.S. My husband is not convinced this blog will ever do anything…help me prove him wrong by passing on the posts you like via Twitter or Facebook or email to your friends! * (You’ll have my gratitude)

For once, and I swear it must be the first time ever, I am actually looking forward to this winter.

I hate the cold.

I hate the snow.

I am usually stir crazy by the end of the winter and ready for days at the park, picnics with the kids, hikes in the mountains.

Oh wait.  I have two small kids.  I don’t get out for hikes anymore…

With all the work that went on this summer in our side yard garden, our backyard mess, and extensive time away, I am ready to snuggle up in bed on a few cold nights and re-learn how to knit.  And this year I vow to make a hat.  I have always wanted to knit myself a hat.

I also wanted to make that straw hat I was all excited about, from Mary Jane’s Farm Magazine out of raffia.

I really want to sew something for myself.  A cute farm dress like Farmama has made on her site, check it out here. Maybe something pieced together from a couple thrift store finds.  A long, flowy skirt. Just one of those things would be nice to get to.

I would really love to get to that knitted item out of old t-shirts, and really would like to get to that wool recycled purse I ogled over last winter in a green craft magazine.

I would like to cook more from scratch.

I took my first ever drumming lesson last night and LOVED it. Can’t wait to score one from Santa and learn even more.

The number of things I find on other blogs I want to try to do too is endless.  Really. Endless.

And last night as I was laying in bed thumbing through this months issue of Mary Jane’s Farm, which landed in my mailbox yesterday, I began to look forward to long dark nights.  Time hunkered down and inside due to snow; evenings spent catching up on all the dream projects I have collected in my mind all year.   Projects I want to share with you, so you can try em’ too!

Yes.

I am ready.

To come in from the outside.

To come back to soul time.

To enjoy some homemade hot cocoa.

To dabble.

Spill it: What are you most looking forward to about the upcoming winter? Are there any projects you have been dying to get snowed in to try?

A few weeks back, I blogged about and article in Housekeeping Monthly May 1955, insightful as it was in which one could learn “A good wife always knows her place.”  I am sure the women of the 50′s appreciated being reminded for the ten gazillionth time, that their place was at the feet of their husbands removing his shoes after a long work day.

Well today, we get to learn how to prepare ourselves mentally…

…for sewing.

Yes, you heard me right.

And now you have permission to guffaw.  To laugh.  To cry.  But most of all, to rediscover the 1950′s housewife in you.

Yes my friends, according to the 1949 Singer Sewing Manual, you too need “to prepare yourself mentally for sewing.”  But that is not all…I beg you please, pop over to Sew Liberated and read on about how you should be approaching your sewing adventures.

“Never try to sew with a sink full of dirty dishes or beds unmade.  When there are urgent housekeeping chores, do these first so your mind is free to enjoy your sewing.”

~Singer circa 1949

Boy Singer.  I really can’t thank you enough for this sound advice.  The realization that I have been unable to fully relax while sewing is because there are consistently dirty dishes and beds unmade in my house, and not because I am totally inept anywhere near a needle, might really turn my world upside down.

But, seeing how my children’s beds are like never made, and mine hits the made button maybe three times a week, while there are also these amazing little oompa loompas who seem to pile up dishes around my house at an unheard of rate, it is quite possible that sewing should be completely out of my repertoire for now.

My husband shall be so happy when he hears this news.

Although, he might just give up the clean dishes and washed sheets, which I can’t remember when they were  actually washed last, to have a little sewer hard at work when he arrives home because of course:

“When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible.  Put on a clean dress.”

~Singer

I am not even certain I own a dress.

It goes on to say my hair should be done and lipstick applied. I can promise, there is not an ounce of lipstick in this house and my idea of my hair being ‘done’ is a mid-nineties pulled back messy bun.  (Where is Oprah for my makeover anyway?)  And the only time my husband has ever come home unannounced, was when he was green, and not with envy. Lucky for me the office is an hour and fifteen minutes away securing safety that there is not a chance for any sort of ‘other’ pop in visits in which a husband might hope his wife had showered for…

Because my hubby would be totally out of luck there 9 days out of 10.

Now if I spot Hugh Jackman in a a brown UPS uniform headed up the driveway…I am gonna be damn pissed I didn’t take Singer’s advice.

Spill it: Do share other amazingly insightful advice you have read or been told!  We want to hear more about what is and has been expected of women for far too long.