Sewing Machine Cover

I've heard that you need to keep your sewing machine free of dust to keep it running well, but instead of buying a cover or case, I decided that my first sewing project would be an easy-to-make fabric cover.  I followed this tutorial and in just a few short hours I had a cute new cover for my machine.

First, I headed to Hobby Lobby to pick up some fabric.  These is a great project for scrap pieces of fabric that you have leftover, but I wanted it to match the rest of the room.

Once I was back at home, I laid the fabric on the floor as I cut and pinned it, and Radar must have thought I was making him a new bed.  Lazy dog.

 

 

Once it was all pinned, it was just a few minutes of sewing before I was finished.

 

I also used the fabric to make a few new wall decorations.  Cozy little craft corner, isn't it?  I bought the chair last weekend at an antique store for $20.  I had to rebuild the cushion, but that was a fairly easy project.  Bought the wood at Home Depot, covered it with batting and fabric which I stapled in place.  I still need to figure out how to screw it to the chair (right now it's just sitting on there willy-nilly), but it works for now.

Oh, we got a new rug for the room as well.  I like how the room has slowly developed since we first moved in.  Of course, the corner of the room out of view is filled with bikes and exercise equipment, but at least the rest of it is looking nice.

Adventures in Sewing

Since I had the day off today, I decided to set up my sewing machine and try my hand at a little sewing.  First, I had to figure out how to thread the dang thing.  Only 32 steps later and I was ready to go.  After playing around with the different stitches a bit, I decided to try to hem a pair of pajama pants I got for Christmas.

I must have remembered some of the stuff my mom had taught me about sewing when I was younger, because it came pretty naturally.  I measured, cut, rolled a new hem, pinned in place, ironed, and started to sew.

 

 




















For my first sewing project, I thought I did pretty well.  So, of course, I texted my mom to brag. 

 

And being the good mother that she is, she complimented my straight lines.  I'm excited to tackle my next project... whatever that may be!

Jason's Marathon

Jason did it!  He completed his first marathon! 

And I survived spectating in the cold and rain!

Jason's mom and grandma joined me to watch the race.  Our first viewing spot was mile 3 in front of Jeff Davis High School.  It was still dark and raining pretty hard.  Here are some pictures as the marathon started.



Around minute 21, I finally spotted him. He was still in the hoards at that point since the marathon and half marathon runners started together.  These aren't the greatest pictures since I was trying not to miss seeing him and dealing with the rain at the same time.  Just look for the green jacket, and that's him. 

Our next stop was the corner of Richmond and Montrose around mile 9. The half marathon runners had just turned around to head back downtown, so the pack of runners was a little easier to track.  We were glad to see him in good spirits at mile 9.

 

 

Then we headed to mile 16 at San Felipe and Post Oak.  He was still with the same group at that point. 

 

 

Our final stop of the day was the finish line at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Half marathon runners were still coming in strong and the marathon runners were trickling in.

 

 

At least it had stopped raining, but it felt colder than when the race started at 7 am.  Jason's final time was 3 hours 10 minutes.  That equates to about a 7 minute 15 second pace.  Pretty darn good if you ask me, especially considering the weather.