I sewed...

On Friday afternoon, I kept running to the door at the slightest murmur of a heavy brown truck driving down the street.  I was giddy, and when the box finally showed up, I popped off the couch and a part of me came alive.  I spent most of early Friday evening reading through the manual on my sewing machine.  I couldn't wait to get started on a project, any project.

Friday night I hung out with friends, and Saturday spent time with Sam.  But Saturday night, when I got back to the house.  I sewed...  I sewed!  It didn't matter that I was all hunched over and that my upper back was being tied in knots (I can just do some yoga to undo that).  I wanted to master this machine.  I wanted to get a feel for the pedal.  I broke threads, I rethreaded and threaded, and threaded the machine again and again, and again until I finally got the tensions right.  I got in a fight with a zipper, and the zipper foot and I became really really good friends.  I won the fight with the zipper by the way, but the muslin skirt got a little injured.

By the way, I realize that not everyone knows what a "muslin" is.  A muslin is a term used for making a prototype of the pattern.  Basically you make the pattern with an expensive easy to work with fabric (like cotton muslin) that way when you go to make the actual garment, it ends up looking less janky than the muslin.  Its also perfect for getting the fit correct on a garment. 

I washed a scrap of the fabric I want to actually make the skirt out of just to see what happens when you wash and dry it like normal.  I am very glad I did this, because now I know to just let the corduroy air dry.  By yesterday afternoon, I started on my next project: an apron.  With a lot of straight stitching, and nothing too fancy except some pointless pleating on the shoulders, this project allowed me to really get a feel for my machine. 

I am absolutely hooked.  I am going to post a picture of my apron tomorrow because I didn't have a chance to upload my pictures this morning.