so we just moved...

across the hall. big step, i know. but seriously. we have a washer/dryer. that's right folks. i'm living the dream.

here's the thing. the entire apartment is one color. one cream yellow/dirt color. so i'm looking for some inspiration. i'm looking for some decorating/sewing/crafting ideas... and i'm looking for some presents. bring 'em on!

i'm mildly obsessed with my bedroom at the moment. i want a headboard. i want a grown up bed. and i  want pretty walls and a room that i don't want to leave. the living room can be next so keep your eyes open but i've wanted a new bedspread for a while and i think a cover for my current brown and blue mess is going to be first up on my sewing project list. the following were all taken from http://www.bng.com/ i love them. if they wanted to, i'd totally let them redecorate my whole place.

there isn't anything i don't like about this room.
i love the headboard. the details. the colors.
i LOVE the wallpaper. good. all good.



this one's a little festive for my taste but i love the detail and attention it gets. i want that.



i love this night stand. and the wall color. and the light.

i'm mildly obsessed with green.




this one i added mainly for the wall color. that's
kinda what i was thinking of. i like how our current
color keeps things bright and the sun looks amazing
on it but ... maybe it's too matchy?





this is a little dreamboaty for me but it fits in with the
current colors of the room. peaceful. calm. pretty.
i want a little more pizazz.





this room i could not stop staring at. i think i'm in love.
i love the detail and lines in the bed. i love the waves.
i LOVE the coloring. and contemporary. cleaness
of it all. i'm not sold on the wall color. but it fits.

ok. that's it for my dreaming for now. hopefully i'll be able to check out some fabrics tomorrow and therefore be able to start stuff up again. i've been lazy. super lazy. i haven't even finished my knitting! i'm such a bum.

apartment therapy

i know this blog is about my sewing adventures and recently hasn't even been about that... more so my knitting adventures and i SWEAR that is to change... but the truth of the matter is i'm completely distracted... you see i may soon (as in the end of this month) have a brand new apartment which is actually right across the hall from my current apartment. BUT this apartment has a WASHER/DRYER. and therefore, i'll be able to wash my fabrics in the comfort of my own home... how stinkin' fabulous is that?

so in light of this recent news, i found this picture at apartmenttherapy.com (ok so i actually got it from the email i lovingly signed up for)

things i love so much about this picture:

• bold colors. i absolutely love bold colors. problem is i'm a bit of a commitment phob when it comes to them. i want them but i want to be able to change them out every day. or every time i think of it. or every time is see a color that i'm like wow that's fabulous. -- side note: our apartment right now is a complete mess of this crazy fleshy color. it's like a pink but kinda peach but kinda brown but kinda your grandma's bathroom. but it's ALL OVER OUR APARTMENT. in the bathroom, in the bedroom, in the kitchen, in the living room... ok that's all the rooms we have. it's a small place but covered in the same color all over. i'm hoping with the new place, we'll not only have color in our stuff but we'll also be able to paint!
• books. i love books. i love bookshelves. books from school. books that maybe i haven't read yet but if i keep them in a place that i see them maybe i will.. i love that you can color code them. i love alphabetizing them. i love looking back on what i've done... oh. hello degree in art history. where have you been?
• and i love CLUTTER. which is strange for a organization lover. i absolutely love organizing but i love organizing things more. like having things around. knick-knacks. things from days of fun. and then putting them together in different ways. maybe i should have had a career in marketing? [random side note: erik HATES clutter. he hates things. my opinion. he can't stand having anything on counter space or things on dressers... or coffee tables. how did i fall in love with this man? our decorating styles are completely different... my ideal - vintagey, warm, boldly colored, filled with fun and awesome. his - stark, modern, clean. boring. :)]
• i love the frames. i want a bunch of random things framed and set up like that in the new place... but all we have are pictures of erik and i kissing. which is weird.

ok that's it for now. i promise to return when i have more insightful information to share about my crafting habits. book club starts friday. we'll see how that goes.

$60 PLEASE

 i don't know if i've ever wanted anything more in my life but right now (i'm at work) and all i want is to run out and buy fabrics and sign up for this AMAZING E-COURSE!

Home Ec Online

this is exactly what i need. that and to figure out how much thread and fabric i need for these projects. this will DEFINITELY get me started in the right direction. out of my knitting slump. and into ACTUALLY SEWING!

and seriously, have you checked out these courses? what's entailed? it's quite possibly the most fabulous mess of everything i could ever want to know. i seriously feel like by taking this course i will be able to conquer the world and then some. AHHH!! i'm so excited.

(and can i seriously use the word seriously anymore? my goodness.)

knitting circles around you

so i'm trying... i figured i'd start with some easy knitting patterns since i'm doing that anyhow and then maybe when i make my way into sewing i'll be a pattern reading genius and everyone will be like whoa, i didn't know you could read patterns so well. maybe you should just make your own ...

which p.s. i already am attempting with nothing else behind me and much frustrations will lay ahead..... i have an idea for a quilt i want to make for my friend who's getting married NEXT august... like 2012... it'll probably take me about a year to get it done since, again, i'm starting with no background and only frustrations. funny how when i'm away from my sewing machine for a while how cocky i get in thinking myself ahead...

so ANY HOW i was looking up how to make something that curves in knitting... like not just an angle or a square how you make something 'u' shaped or i guess circular and i stumbled across a few websites and they're all like oh... it's easy here get your four needles out and i'm like WHAT FOUR 4 FOUR NEEDLES??????!?!?!?!? they must be joking... and they aren't. somebody please tell me there's an easier way to do this? PLEASE?? no??

ugh. i need to buy more needles. i need to finish what i'm doing so i can get off my needles so i can buy  more needles so i can do more knitting. how on earth am i ever going to get to sewing?

wicked wicked wednesday

so i think it's been decided that i need a pattern.

i sat at my sewing machine yesterday --DETERMINED! i was going to make something. anything.  actually i got inspired by seeing this woman's cute little change purse that was shaped like an owl and i thought, i can do that. well. i probably could if i had a pattern. or an idea of what i was doing. or even an idea of how to do it.

so i made a box. well, like a fabric pocket. the husband showed me that if i put the thingy down on the side the metal part comes down farther and then even though i can't move the fabric however i want to it moves in a straight even line.. who'dathunkthat?

but now that i have straight line down, i want to go bigger. i want purses and blankets and dresses. i want them made and done by me with no hassle. i want to LOVE my sewing machine.

well, we're working on that. right now i just lust. lust after all the things i hope to one day be able to do.

and in the meantime, i knit. knitting is my go to when i'm frustrated with my sewing because i have no idea what i'm doing and no idea how to do anything and no pattern or thought in mind of what i want to make. i knit. because knitting does not require thinking. especially what i'm doing now. a blanket with no purls. nothing fancy. just occasional switches in color.

and omygoodness, i tried to switch up to this thick pretty purple yarn and put it in my "blanket" which i was basically just playign with so i was using the cheapest yarns i had so use 'em up and see how it looked... and i had such a problem with it. i'm sitting there knitting away while the huzz plays video games and i'm all "ut oh", "omgoodness", "AHHH!", "IT'S NOT GONNA FITTT!!!!" it totally fit. just fyi. but i could only do two rows before i was positive my hands would fall off. that yarn needs larger than i have needles.

at least that's what i'm saying to make myself feel better about my slackerdome.

sew not

SEW... (i'm sew funny)

lame. i know. i've been trying to sew on mondays. like, sewing mondays. mondays i come home and make something awesome then jump on my blog and tell the world about how i'm dominating my sewing machine.

that didn't happen. mainly because i'm now terrified of my sewing machine.

this weekend, the husband and i were out doing our shopping and browsing and wasting of perfectly good daylight and i found not only one but two lovely bundles of perfectly wonderful fabric. (super cute.. again someday my camera will work and i'll take pictures and show you and you'll be like omg how could you keep this cuteness from me and not make something awesome with it? and i will tell you... i'm scared. i'm a big freaking baby and i'm afraid i have the wrong needles and i'll ruin the cuteness factor with my sloppy messy lead foot on the peddle.)

so instead of actually using this super cute fabric when i got home. i waiting. it's sitting. longingly in a bag on my kitchen floor still just itchin' to be used... but i instead took to knitting.

which is actually kinda awesome. i've been knitting up a storm.. this weekend i drove down to mass to go with the fabulous charlie --wedding dress shopping!! so much fun!! i love looking at all the beautiful [and not so beautiful] dresses.

AND SHE TAUGHT ME HOW TO PURL!! so now i can make uber fabulous things and change colors and i'm working on a mini blanket of sorts because i also got my first pair of loopy needles and i wanted to try them out... so i sat ALL DAY on my porch last thursday when it was beautiful out and just played with them. i think i'm getting carpal tunnel but it's so much fun when you sit for hours doing something and you can actually show your progress!--- which, i know, would probably that much more exciting if i was sewing and i could actually wear or use what i'm sewing but i'm freakin' terrified i'm going to make a mess again.. so sew me. ha!


*please disregard all sewing puns. i find myself amazingly funny... but i'm also part polish.*(not that i would ever admit to that... )

round two

it's truly a painful experience watching me sew, i'm sure.

at least that's what i hear from my husband. i swear, i have never been quite so mad in my life as i am with my sewing machine. WHY WON'T IT JUST DO WHAT I ASK??

there i sit (yes! sit! i got a table and a chair and everything... impressive i know) in front of this simple machine. one that people can swap out threads and make quilts and mountains and tons of other beautiful things i'm sure... but not me. me i sit there and i scream at it. i yell at it. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME? WHY WON'T YOU JUST WORK?? WHY ON EARTH CAN I NOT THREAD YOU???

i'm sure the (surround sound) video games in the background do not help. and i'm positive, with my current attitude, the screaming and swearing at the team mates who aren't pulling their weight and the guns that are shooting thumb tacks instead of bulletts and the profanity that someone has actually....killed you.... do not help my cause.

rule number one. emily must have peace and serenity surrounding her when sitting at the sewing machine. PEACE AND SERENITY, I SAY!!

apply ipod. turn on soothing music. attempt to rethread. again. and again.

(am i strong enough to throw this machine across the room? i think so...)

in then end, i calmly RIPPED APART the MOUNTAIN OF THREAD that had compiled under my sewing machine and returned to my gold yarn to knit. which actually in comparison went quite well. I taught myself how to bind off via youtube. (i will attach the vdeo later) and now my husband has two little (2 inch) blankets. because that's how much i love him.