Hello my Janome, how I've missed you!

Hooray! I couldn't take it any longer! My "sewing room" is still basically just a depository for all things that haven't found a home yet, so I finally just plopped my machine down on the coffee table and got to business. The first night, I pulled out my vintage sheet charm packs and sewed half square triangles for a couple hours. Ahhhh...it felt so good. I'm waiting for a couple of fabrics I ordered and then I will have lots of piecing to do, which seems to be the easiest kind of sewing to do hunched over a coffee table. I did finally get my curtain swatches in the mail from Fabric.com, so I had some decision making to do.

These chevrons were cute, but not quite what I was going for in the living and dining rooms. The colors were nice and subtle, but they're just a little too...trendy.

These dandelions are adorable in small doses, but I'm not sure I'd be happy with 12 yards of them surrounding my windows.

These fabrics I love. In every colorway. I decided the blue one on the right would be perfect in the living room. And I might have taken the swatch to the paint store to match a front door color.

I like the geometry and color of the swatch on the left, but I think it would be way too busy in larger quantities. The one on the right, on the other hand, has a beautiful and bold large scale pattern with the perfect blue color. I chose this one for the dining room. I think it'll look nice against the dark gray walls, brighten the room a bit. And it happens to look pretty good with the new front door color.

Besides the swatches, I decided to go ahead and just order the fabric for Jack's bedroom curtains. I was kind of taking a chance, but it payed off. I love the way they look. I mean, really love them. I think they brighten the whole room.

Since his room only has one little window, I definitely wanted something bright and bold. In person these are bright green - which looks great against his light gray walls. And while chevrons are too trendy for downstairs, I think they're perfect for Jack's room. Seriously, they add so much to the room and I literally smile every time I walk past. Combined with the white faux wood blinds we hung up, they look perfect. Yay!

The fabric is supposed to be in this week, so my sewing machine will get another work out this weekend and hopefully I'll have more pictures to share. I've also been working on some baby gifts that'll be done soon and I'm going to do some "selfish" sewing too - some clothes for me! It's amazing how much better I feel now that I'm sewing again!

Sooo close to sewing!

Well, no sewing to show yet. But its coming, I can feel it in my fingers. They're just itching to dig out my baby and sew something, anything. I have two projects lined up - one is waiting on fabric, the other is ready to go, I just have to get some motivation. You see, my little boy has been doing pretty well with the potty training, but since he is in pull-up style diapers, he always kind of has a safety net. And let's face it, so does Mommy. As in, "You have to go potty? We are in a public place with yucky bathrooms. Just go in your diaper." Yes, I've said that. Not great for the potty training, is it? I've been thinking about going cold turkey to "big boy underwear" but I'm not quite sure I'm ready for that level of commitment yet. As I was surfing on Pinterest the other day, I found this link:
 

It's a tutorial for making regular training pants just a liiiiiittle more substantial and waterproof. Perfect! Less messy, but still a more "real underwear" feel. I had already picked up a couple packs of the Gerber training pants and I happily discovered the last time I was up at the local Jo-Ann's that they carry a full compliment of cloth diaper making supplies, including the PUL needed for this project. So I slogged up there this weekend and got me some, as well as some flannel. Now I just have to sit down and do it already! I am trying to force myself to do it by not buying anymore pull-up diapers, and the supply is dwindling - better get to it!

I have also, of course, been working on the house, mainly painting the trim. I can get an entire window done, with three coats, during nap time, so I've just been doing one window a day. I have finally gotten all of the windows painted on the first floor at least, and it makes a huge difference. See?

So much brighter, it's amazing. This room wasn't horrible, because the trim was actually a pretty wood stain, but the rooms where the trim was beige, its incredible the difference it makes! I haven't started the baseboards yet, because I have to go around and fill all of the nail holes, but just having these windows painted makes me happy. They of course need some "treatments" (isn't that a funny phrase? What are you treating them for?) -- which I have already started. I ordered some cordless bamboo shades from overstock.com and had the hubby hang them this weekend, as well as curtain rods I picked up at Lowe's.

Not the best pictures, but you get the idea. I'm doing the old "hang 'em high and wide" trick to make the windows look bigger, and I love how it looks! Those are not the curtains that will stay there, though they are pretty. Just a little too heavy and shiny for me. Which leads me to my second project -- curtains! I literally looked in 10 different stores trying to find curtains I liked. Not only did I not find any remotely close to what I wanted, but even if I did they would be too short for my purposes. So of course I've decided to make my own! I picked out a bunch of fabric swatches from fabric.com, since I didn't want to order that much fabric without laying eyes on it first. I also ordered 27 yards (gasp!) at $2.00/yd (phew!)of sheer fabric for hanging inside the "regular" curtains. I'm not sure when I'll get it, since the company is in the middle of a move, but hopefully soon. I'm dying to finish the windows and seeing the empty rods up there is killing me! I will have to make up the sheers right away just to put something up. I ordered some green chevron fabric for Jack's room, too, and we picked up some white faux wood blinds for his one little dinky window tonight at Lowe's, so maybe his window will get finished first...

See, DIY home renovation + sewing! Even though there hasn't actually been any sewing done. Yet.