Sewing: Peacock Dress

My husband just bought me a sewing machine on Wednesday. I was so excited that I ran to the fabric store and got some stuff for my first project! :)

I decided to make a little sundress for my youngest daughter. I wanted a really cute retro kind of print so, I picked up some super cute pink peacock fabric. The first night I set up my pattern and cut all of the pieces out. 

Then Thursday was my first day to start putting everything together, minus the details like the buttons. Since I didn't buy them yet.

It really didn't take me that long to get back into the swing of things, even though it has been about 15 years since I last touched a sewing machine. I got all four pieces of the dress together, I decided not to do the appliques that they included on the pattern. I think that the pattern is cute enough without adding to much to it. I picked up the buttons earlier today and will be putting them on the dress when the girls are down for a nap. I'll share the final dress with you when I am all done. But this is what I have for now:

Crocheting: Learning the Basics - Second Session

Once I became confident on the Single Crochet Technique that was discussed in the first session. I moved onto the second lesson: Double Crochet.

Well, the first time I tried to get through the lesson Madison (my Toddler) was running around, so I couldn't put mu full attention into the lesson. This time I waited until both of my girls were down for their naps. This time I was able to put all of the attention that I needed into the lesson. I didn't get confused by the technique, which was a little different then how I was originally doing it.

Now that I know how to do a real double crochet I am hoping to be able to apply it to some patterns. I believe the next lesson that they are going to teach us is how to make a tech cozy! :) What a perfect little project, I have tons of things that I can make a cozy for! :)

Here is my double crochet swatch that I created for the lesson.

Crocheting: Learning the Basics - First Session

Well, I completed the first section of the crocheting class on Craftsy.com. I have to say that it was really easy to understand and follow along. Each section pauses during and after the section so you have plenty of time to play around with what you are doing. You can also pause it yourself and make comments to the teacher and any fellow classmates that are also watching the class.

The first section that I went through talked about the Chain Stitch and Single Stitch. I have to say that they opened my eyes to new creative ways to use the Chain Stitch as well as brushed up on my Single Stitch technique. I took what I learned in that section and followed my first pattern!

The pattern that I was following was one for a Cup Cozy that I also got off the website in the patterns section. It was a free pattern that I got, and boy was it easy to follow now that I have a working idea on how to read the pattern now! Here it is in all of it's first pattern glory!