I'm not going to say that my New Year's resolution is to update this blog more, because there's probably no better way to make sure that I hardly ever update this blog during 2014.

If you want to know if I'm still alive, you can find me on my other blog: Travel by Stove.

But I did want to make sure I carve out plenty of time for crafting and sewing this year. So I started off the New Year (on New Year's Day, actually), by making something simple. Because someone told me once a long time ago that you should spend New Year's Day doing the things you want to devote your whole year to, and I thought that making and finishing a simple project would be a good way to fit my crafting resolution in with a little bit of organizing and time spent with my family (my other two resolutions).

So I decided to tackle this ugly thing.

It's my heating pad, or rather the ugly blue cover for my heating pad, complete with "Do not put in microwave" warning label. This thing is so ugly that my house cleaners once threw it in the garbage because they thought it was trash.

So I fished around in my stash until I found some cute coffee cup fabric (sooo me) and then I just did a rough measure of my heating pad. I cut out the fabric, keeping a fold at the bottom and stitched a seam at the top and then down the sides. Then I made a buttonhole and added a wooden button I had on hand. Total time: less than an hour. And now my heating pad looks like this:

Oh that's so much better! Happy New Year!

A couple of months ago one of the websites I sometimes get stuff from (I can't even remember which one now) had this great deal on a little bag kit. It was ridiculously cheap, like less than 10 bucks though I also can't remember the exact amount. Anyway I ordered it and then discovered why it was so cheap--because it was a kit without a pattern. If I wanted the pattern, I would have to order it for another $8. And of course it couldn't be downloaded, either, I'd have to order a paper copy.

So anyway, I shelved it and then got it out a couple of weeks ago and wondered if I could figure out how to make the bag from the picture on the front of the kit. Now, that's something I've never done before because I kind of suck at doing stuff like that. But I didn't want to buy the pattern, either. Not because I'm cheap but because I felt like I'd been a little cheated. In my defense, I would have paid extra to get the pattern with the bag if I'd known in advance that the pattern wasn't included. I would have even paid extra to download it. But getting a paper copy seemed like too much trouble for a <$10 bag.

So I mangled it together and it actually looks pretty good. The only thing I didn't really do right is sew on the stupid handle, because I couldn't figure out how to do that with the zipper complicating everything. That's way, way too much geometry for me.

Here's how it looks, not bad for an amateur eh?

Guess what, I've taken on a new project!

Yes, that's right. Because I have so much extra time in my life for all this stuff, haha.

Anyway I was at my neighbor's place last week when he opened his garage to reveal this gorgeous albeit neglected thing sitting there all covered with dust:

"Wow!" I said. "That is a cool old sewing machine!"

"Actually I've been looking for a new home for it," he said. "You want it?"

Heck yeah I wanted it. And now it's sitting in my garage, just waiting for me to start work restoring it. Except of course I really have no idea how. My dream, though, is to fix it up and use it to make a quilt to give to my wonderful neighbor in thanks for such an awesome gift.

With the help of some of the great people on the QuiltingBoard, I was finally able to identify this machine as an early model 15, manufactured in Germany. Sadly that's about all the info I can get about it, because the factory in Germany (and all its records) were destroyed by the Russian army during World War II. So cool as this machine is, I'm afraid many of its details will remain a mystery.

Do you know how to restore an old sewing machine? I'd love some tips!

My kids go to an expeditionary learning school, which (without going into too much detail) basically means that they go on a lot of field trips. Because I'm always looking after Henry I hardly ever get to chaperone on these trips, but when I do I am always annoyed to discover that I have to carry around this folder full of papers/instructions/emergency contact information etc. regardless of where we are or how long we're there. So last time I went on one of these trips I thought to myself, hmm, wouldn't it be nice to have a bag I could use to carry all that stuff around in?


Voilà! Here's one I put together in a couple of hours. I could have done it a lot faster if I was better at sewing. I still think it's pretty cute though. The strap was way too long so I just folded it over and stitched it so there's a little shoulder pad on the strap instead of all that extra length. Here's the picture:

The pattern came from a book called "The New Handmade: Simple Sewing for Contemporary Style " by Cassie Barden. Of course, this is the second bag I've made out of this book, so it doesn't really fit the whole "crafting my library" thing since the idea is to make just one project from each book. But I really needed an expedition bag, so once again ...

The pattern is called "Reading List Tote" and it's on page 16. I did change the pattern so the bag is crossbody instead of a tote, since I need to be able to comfortably carry it for several hours at a time.

Anyway just so you know I haven't gotten lazy, I have actually been making stuff, just not posting about it. I finished Henry's quilt top today, too, which turned out to be a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be. I have no idea how I'm going to quilt it on my tiny little machine.

More later ...