Shirt Flair

I'm slowly but surely teaching myself how to use this antique singer sewing machine that the hubster got me 2 years ago.  I think the idea of tackling a machine that I know nothing about was the number one fear of mine.  The second was, can I make something without caring if my lines are straight?  There are 2 types of people out there...those that can follow a recipe or a pattern or a line just so and those that can't.  I am the can't.  Partly because I don't want to and partly because it's not who I am.  I'm not a measure-er, I'm and eyeball-er... in fact, I put up the shelves in the kids closet by the eyeballin' it technique {I couldn't find a level}{later, when the level was found, it turns out they were level...YES!}.  I know that I am, at times, setting myself up to fail, but when I succeed, I feel awesome!  And I'm teaching myself along the way.

I made the kids crayon holders for the meetings, yeah, they definitely aren't perfect, but I learned a lot and they love them.  I will definitely be making new ones sometime in the future :)

This past Saturday, after I put up the shelves, I sat down and fiddled away on the machine making flowers for more shirts.  I know, it seems flowers are the only thing I can make so far to decorate my shirts, that's because they can be uneven and still usable :)  One day I'll branch away and on to something new, but for now, I'm sticking with flowers...all of my plain t-shirts are going to end up with flowers on them...

I'm learning how to make different flowers, and fiddling with different techniques.

I don't own a lot of fabric so I've been using shirts from my teenage years that are way to immodest to ever wear again.  It has been fun dressing up shirts that I never wore because they were boring.  And including a touch of my silly past.

I also ventured towards altering a few things.

One was a shirt that was too large so I sewed up the sides to fit better.

The other, I was a little nervous about.

I've had this dress for a few years now.  It drove me crazy because the sleeves were twisted and sewn together and it always showed my bra.  It drove me crazy!  Then, under the arms it was open so it ended up showing my bra.  Grr!  I was afraid of messing it up but decided to give it a go.

SO, I snipped the sleeves, untwisted them, shortened them and sewed them together.  Now it's nice and wide  instead of skinny and awkward.  Next, I sewed up the sides and now I'm not showing my bra every time I lift my arm, yay!  

My machine kept getting brain wraps {I call it that because I used to work in a movie theater and that's what we called it when the film fell of the table and got in a huge twisted mess} I don't know what the "proper" sewing term is, but it felt like a thread brain wrap.  After I finished {threw my hands is defeat} the hubster took a look inside the machine.  There was a huge collection of dust inside...yes, it's antique, and a few threads that didn't belong.  So, hopefully all is well, and the next time I sew, I wont have a jumbled mess on my hands.

He says that I have to make something for him now.

How do I make something that's not girly??

The only 2 non girly things that I've made are a piggy bank and pictures of sea life that I painted for Ethylwolfes nursery.

And lets face it, both items could pass for girly.

SO, what to make, what to make?'

I want to make the guys ties but I am SO not there yet.

Any suggestions???

Happy Tuesday!!