Oh man, the power behind the needle!

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So, in Christmas 2008 (yes, 2008 you read that correctly), my grandma gifted me with a sewing machine. I’ve always been really curious about sewing and making all sorts of cool items! So, it sat in the box for a few months. I was really afraid.

Last summer, I got the guts to take it out and put it on the sewing table. It was beautiful…it powered on and I was done. Sometimes, I’d check on the machine to make sure it still worked. I did this until 2 weeks ago.

I was so scared of this machine that one of my good friends, Moonlight and Magnolias (aka Mrs. Crabcake of Weddingbee) sewed me this cute Buttercup Purse because I tweeted about how I wish I  knew how to make that purse. You are all sorts of awesome if you are reading this, by the way. LOVE that purse!

So, the hubs called his mother. He had some pants that needed to be hemmed because they were too long, and this domestic diva wannabe wanted to learn too! So, she showed me the ropes on doing a blind hem stitch. Ugh, that was a frustrating lesson.

After getting two pairs of pants done really well, I felt empowered. I felt like I could do it all..so, I got to my first project on my own: a clutch.

 Crafty Loves Smarty (aka Mrs. Yorkie on Weddingbee) showed me this project way back when. Back in the days of staring at my machine, flipping the switch on/off, and leaving it alone. Those intimidating days.

I was walking down the aisles of the Target that I wish I could boycott, and saw that they had placemats on clearance for 50% off, so I bought one. I finally sat down last night and told myself enough already, let’s do this!

So I got to work. My needle jammed a few times, I made HUGE knots of thread when I forgot to thread my needle correctly, and I might have said some choice words that I should have covered dear little Millie’s ears for. However, after two hours of struggles and hearing more “Stand Up and Get Crunk” replays than you could imagine (Saints’ Superbowl parade background noise) I had a clutch!

So far, this purse has no embellishments or snaps. I’m hoping to add a couple of cute ribbon flowers and a snap to it. 🙂 It’s a little rough looking, but I’m pretty happy with myself for this being a first project! If I can finish it tomorrow, I am totally bringing this with me on our mini vacation to Houston that we are taking this long (read: Mardi Gras) weekend!