Ouch! My first pin cushion and tutorial

There are many times when I need a helping hand for straight pins and having two little active girls at my feet I can't have a standard pin cushion because small hands get into so many things.

Two nights ago I took a scrap that I had made a month ago and added some elastic took me less than 10 minutes. It is a little loose because I didn't measure the elastic correctly and the first one always comes out wonky.

What you will need for this project:
1. Two pieces of  scrap material 8 inches long by 4 inches wide
2. One piece of scrap interfacing or batting (thickness is up to you) with the same measurement as above
3. One piece of elastic (I have the 1 and 1/4 inch pictured above) this measurement isn't precise due to it needing to fit your wrist. Just make sure to make the elastic is not cutting off your blood supply when you put it on!
4. Thread, Sewing Machine and pins

Start by making a sandwich of the cut scraps and interfacing making sure that the two scrap patterns are facing each other and the interfacing is on top of one of the pieces of material.

Pin it in place and then sew with a 1/4 inch seam around the piece leaving a 2 inch gap on one side of the long side denoting by two pins where to start and finish. Back stitch a bit to lock the stitches in and clip the corners and turn out and iron down the sandwich for the nice edge and seam for the top stitch.

Next top stitch the sandwich closed.

Wait wait I hear you are saying "what about the elastic?" I am getting to that point so hold on.

With the sandwich closed fold it half the long way and add the elastic and pin it to the sandwich ends and sew the elastic to the ends and back stitch (the first end will be easier than the second end).

If you want you could close the open side, however I left mine open so I could have some where to stash a safety pin or two.

All done.

Starting to get crafty

Getting everything I need for the Spring deadline of the farmer's market is exhausting. I need to buckle down and start to get serious on what I need to make. I need to have a stitch and B$;(@ party to help. The items below are some of the things I would like to sell. Any more suggestions would be helpful!

I am making appliques! *update*

My first applique (rookie still)

I have been wanting to make cute clothes for my daughters and other items to sell for my ETSY shop Made by @AVPH.  Recently, I bought a pattern for a shirt bib for my baby girl Grace and it had some great designs for appliques and I have a lot of material that can be used for them so I am trying my hand at it. Pictures coming soon of the appliques and the finished products.

I cried

I cried at the movie Emma. I have watched the movie before and I don't remember crying at the end of the movie so much, how she found her "Mr. Knightly." I thought I found my Mr. Knightly too. He was a great guy. I valued his opinion more than life itself. I took his opinion in and made a decision based on his thoughts. He made me laugh and cried at the sappy parts when I couldn't cry in the movie theater, he made me feel like I could do anything because he had that much value in me.

He didn't see it that way. I guess he didn't want to see it that way. For months I have tried to think of reasons why he would leave the way he did. I think he was scared, but I can only assume. He got a lawyer and not so kindly handed me divorce papers. I guess my Mr. Knightly wasn't so knight in shining armor after all. It only pains me that it has to be at the expense of two children that had only the hopes of having a stable first family like their friends and now have to know two houses. Now have to know a life of reality.

My heart aches at the facts faced before me. That I am no longer a wife. That he has left and will never return as my husband, only the father of my children. No longer will I laugh at the jokes he tells the same. No longer will the value of what he says about my life matter to me as much as it did before.

He made it this way. He made a unilateral decision that effected everyone and tries to blame me in every way. No longer will I cry about this situation that he put me in. No longer will I put him first in my life. So many have asked why did I want him back. It was for the two little girls that have half his last name. They deserve to know a happy and loving home with the same parents living in the house.

However they should have both parents happy and in love with some one that truly cares for each other. Not in a loveless marriage filled with hate and spite. I loved the man I married. I do not love what he has done and nor will I love or look at him in the same way again.

I first have to find it in my heart to love myself more than I do right now and I see that. I have to love my two little girls. The guy that comes into my life will have to love me and the girls as well. He has to be strong and be able to tell me the truth about everything.

Starting a list of things

So I have decided to make a few lists in life.

1. A bucket list
2. A list of things I want to do before I am 35 years old.

The bucket list and the other list will be posted however I don't know where to post it.

I think the list of things I want to do before I'm 35 will be a simple list of 35 things. Hopefully not too hard to accomplish in a year and a half or so. Definitely some will be kid friendly since I do want to involve my kids in some respects. Others would be just for me.

I am having a some difficulty with the bucket list. Can any one help on that? I would really be thankful!

Just another day and allergies!

Well I haven't posted in a while. I got a job Weee! Though its a temp job and no guarantee of being hired full time however it is a great company. I have a few months of 9-5 basically to earn some money.  Its nice not to be in my house 24/7 however the time lost with my little ones is a big deal. I liked having them around me and doing things that I could see them learn and grow.

So last week B and G had a few strawberries and what ensued was a night of being sick. Except for me. I wondered about it and then realized that OMG they both had the same fruit. First the thing one granny said was if it wasn't Organic then it could have been the pesticides that resided on the fruit. So I thought it was because the next day the strawberries that were left had mold on them so I threw them away and thought nothing of it. Until this weekend when B was eating strawberries at a friend's party. Then I saw the hive on her cheek... I guess an allergy test is coming soon for her and G. Poor little ones!

Sucked into Pinterest

I have been board and kind of old maidish since I have some time while my husband is in his world, so I have been throwing myself into finding how-to's and making clothes and other items for my little ones.

Front

Back

Center

 Here is something I found on Pinterest. This pinafore is something I really wanted to try this because it looked so simple. From start to finish it was 30 minutes combined. I did mess up on the center as the skulls are upside down rather than the side skulls. I really wanted to make this reversible, I can still make more (which I plan to do) just this one is going to be one sided. I also made button holes! Its a small start and hopefully I can get to a point of selling them on my Etsy Shop and some Farmer's Markets next year. I'll post more things I made from Pinterest soon!