Trying to take my mind off awkward things... [Thursday Think Tank]

So...ever had one of those moments at work that makes you wince later on?  Yeah, I had one of those.  To be fair, in the scheme of things it isn't a huge deal...and the Mr. is telling me I am being a little oversensitive...but I can't help it that is the way I am.  I worry!  And I really like my job so I don't want anything to jeopardize it.  Sigh.

Well, the only solution really is to take my mind off of it.  Let's see whether that will work...

Weeks ago when Kelli and I hosted the Drama Free Giveaway I splurged a little bit and bought myself some of Aneela Hoey's A Walk in the Woods.  After all who can pass up these adorable prints?  I just kind of fell in love with the Little Red Riding Hood motif.  [FYI in doing a Google Search I just came across the fact that Aneela Hoey has a Flickr Acct.  Am I just the last person to realize this?]

I fiddled around with a quilt top layout and decided on something pretty simple that just plays with the colors in a subtle way that allows the cute patterns to shine on their own.  Excuse the cellphone camera shot of this...I was trying to get it taken quickly before the dog or small curious children began running all over it (which of course happened shortly thereafter).

What do you think?  Not too complicated, the fabric is what makes it cute.  I intend to sew this together for a friend who had her first girl a few months ago (I'm a bit behind...but hopefully she'll be surprised and excuse my tardiness...).  I'll miss the fabric myself, but although I have a crush on it I am not lusting to keep it.  I think it'll have a better home somewhere else in the arms of a little girl...

And you?  What have you been thinking about lately...hopefully no workplace nonsense is getting you down.  But, if so, do let me know and link up to Thursday Think Tank below!

- rebecca lynne

Feel free to rattle off anything that has been brewing in your creative heads. It can be anything, quilting, home improvement, fashion, crafting, DIY gifts, cooking...whatever you have recently thought "hmmm, you know what I should create" is perfectly appropriate for the Think Tank. Have a blog? Grab the Thursday Think Tank button displayed on the right. Thanks to everyone who linked up last week. Just a small request: Please remember to Add a Link to Thursday Think Tank in your Blog Post - that way the other people in the Linky Party are being shared with your readers! Thank you!

Sweet [Thursday Think Tank]

Yup.  That's my Think Tank this week.  And guess what...I'm eating Oreos RIGHT NOW!

Hahahahahahahhaaaa.

Taking advantage of the pregnancy thing.  ;)  Don't worry, I'll have one for you too...

So what are you guys up to?  Link up and inspire me to do some sewing this weekend!

- rebecca lynne

Feel free to rattle off anything that has been brewing in your creative heads. It can be anything, quilting, home improvement, fashion, crafting, DIY gifts, cooking...whatever you have recently thought "hmmm, you know what I should create" is perfectly appropriate for the Think Tank. Have a blog? Grab the Thursday Think Tank button displayed on the right. Thanks to everyone who linked up last week. Just a small request: Please remember to Add a Link to Thursday Think Tank in your Blog Post - that way the other people in the Linky Party are being shared with your readers! Thank you!

Amy Butler Laminate Pouch - DONE!

As promised, I was determined to make laminate zipper pouches two for each child!  Here we go...cutting into the precious laminate!  Agh!

And once I had it all laid out I realized I wanted it to be at a particular Part of the pattern.  Sigh, that is the problem with using beautiful fabric right?  You get picky...

So...I ended up wasting a bit (see right hand corner of the photo below) in order to make it match up for the outer sides of the pouch...

And happily this (below) was the result.

Cute little note courtesy of Pic Monkey!  Thanks for the tip Lucy, wink.

Seriously, I think cutting was the hardest part.  Granted, I did cut 8 pieces so I could make two pouches out of this fabric.  I ended up using almost all of the fabric because of my insistence on making the outsides match up.  After I sewed the pieces to the zipper, sorry no pics of that, I debated whether or not to do a topstitch for the zipper.  Why the debate?  Well...it is one thing to sew the underside of laminated fabric, a whole different thing to start sewing the plasticky side.  As in, the fabric doesn't exactly go smoothly through the machine ya dig?  Happily I remembered THIS from one of my pinterest perusals long long ago and decided to apply the same principal with the laminate top sewing.  

And - IT WORKED!

tape on the underside of presser foot to allow smooth sewing on top of laminate

I'm so glad I took that extra step because as you can see here the topstitch (right) looks so much more polished than the unsewn side (left).

Literally that was it!  Final pouch below.  [Scissor is purposeful, to demonstrate size.]  

Can you believe this was my First Zipper Pouch?  And my first time sewing Laminate?  Agh!  So proud of me!

Take that Green Zipper!  Nailed you.  This pouch will be for "clean" things.  The Red Zipper pouch I am making with same fabric will be for the "dirties."

Here is the beautiful Laminate Lining - after all what would the purpose be if we couldn't clean the Inside of the pouch from potential drippy toiletries etc.?

As I said in my last post this fabric was intended for Miss E and she knew it.  As soon as I pulled the fabric out to start cutting she said "that's for me" yeah, this child knows no shame.  Wasn't she the clever girl when she woke up in the morning to her finished pouch and said "oh good I'm going to use that now Mommy."

Seriously the best part about this project was when I finished it and proudly interrupted the Mr.'s television watching to show the pouch off and he said "that's something the kids can take with them to college" as if they'll really get a lot of use out of them for a long time.  That meant so much!  It really made me feel like this idea was a fun, easy, beautiful and practical.  High praise coming from the Hubby.

Red Zipper pouch is already on its way.  It took no time at all to whip this pouch up once the cutting is done.  So if you haven't tackled one of these pouches yet you totally should!  Also, for those of you interested in learning more about sewing laminates check out Amy Butler's laminate tips here.

- rebecca lynne