Sew Inspired, LLC - Sleepless Crafter

I have been in a nostalgic mood lately and decided to restore my Mattel Bean Baby, “Booful”, that I got from my mom and dad for my first birthday in 1980 (which I just found out today as I looked it up in my baby album and thankfully my mom had written it down in there. Otherwise, I had no idea where or when I received it). I purchased one that was still in the box on ebay so that I could see how he was originally. (That's not the only reason I bought it.) The most unique thing about this restore is that I used my daughter’s hair for the reroot. I had trimmed about 2 inches from her hair last week, so it was perfect for the reroot. I know you’re anxious to see pics, so here we go . . .

My sister-in-law is having a baby in May, so I made her a diaper bag and blanket. I embroidered her baby's name, Ian, on the blanket. I went through 5 sewing needles before I finally got my sewing machine figured out. I had just bought a new sewing machine that does embroidery, and it was a pain getting it adjusted right. I was about to get rid of it. Then I started sewing with it and it worked like a dream. It put my old sewing machine to shame.

I am waiting until I get a new sewing machine to make any new projects. I found an excellent deal on a Singer CE250 fully loaded with extras for a better price than at Joann's. Basically, I will be getting over $1500 of free embroidery software to go with it, plus $126 of free products such as thread, stabilizers, and scissors. With my $100 off coupon, I will be getting the machine and all the freebies for $900, which is the normal cost for the machine alone. I am really excited about getting started with embroidery. I can get creative and make some really cool things. I've been dreaming about this all week since I found the machine.

This is my experience with Primerica, a financial group that is supposed to help people with their finances and also help people make money if they sign up with them--a pyramid scheme. They will tell you it is not a pyramid. In fact, they will tell you that WalMart is a pyramid because they say that managers are making money off of the employees because they are doing the work for him, and with Primerica, you don't get paid for signing people up, you get a bonus. No, a pyramid scheme is when you make money by signing someone else up to make money signing someone else up . . . etc. You are making money off of your friends and family. Sounds great, huh? Primerica indeed gives you money when you sign someone else up. In fact, you don't make money unless you sign people up or sell life insurance, or refinance mortgage loans. A manager at WalMart makes money no matter who he talks to, no matter who buys or does not buy products at WalMart. First flag : A red flag went up immediately...

Last weekend I started cutting out the fabric for Annalise's dress, and Kristin's and Annalise's purse. This weekend I got Kristin's purse done and Annalise's dress done. Next weekend I will finish Annalise's purse. Here is Kristin's purse:   She picked out the pattern and the fabric. I did some changes to it, and didn't quite follow the directions (bad mistake), but it still ended up pretty cute. I got the free pattern (Flirty Floral Handbag) at Joann.com I also got Annalise's dress (Girl's Zest Dress) pattern at Joann.com The steps were a little confusing, so I took pictures as I went. Pictures always help me out. The first step, of course, is making the patterns and cutting out the fabric. Step 2: Sew the front and back together on the sides. Then do the same with the lining. Step 3: Sew the ruffles on. The ruffles directions were different from what I'm used to. It said to fold them in half, lengthwise, and sew the ends, the...

Here's my latest projects. A.) I made PJ bottoms for my kids. I didn't have a pattern, so I used some pants that they had that fit them well and tried to make a pattern that way. It was so difficult, and I got it all wrong, so I am going to buy some patterns to make more. There's a 99 cent sale at JoAnn's for patterns starting Jan. 17, so I'll get them as soon as the sale starts.

For some crazy reason I decided to make my own diaper bag. It took me 22 hours from start to finish, with many, many, MANY interruptions. The next one I make should take me half as long, if not less, since I now know what I'm doing and I've learned how the best way to make it is, which is NOT how the directions say. And I know NEVER to use VINYL. It's very hard to sew with. I had to look up a lot online how to do certain things. Thank goodness for youtube. Now I'm excited to start on my next project. I used the fabric "Pooh Patchwork Characters." This is the front. I altered the pattern a little by adding a long pocket on the back and another pocket inside. I got a lot of deals when I went shopping for the fabric, so after it was all done, it cost: $10.30. main fabric: $3.75 vinyl: $0.66 pockets: $1 pocket magnets: $1.39 webbing: $1 pattern: $1.50 zipper: $1