The Martha Stewart Within...

For those of you who know me well, you know that my creativity knows no bounds... when it comes to taking charge of a massive Sunday school department redecorating project, moving 14000 lbs of household goods across the United States, organizing soccer/scout/church/school/gymnastics/baseball schedules, etc. I can even manage to do 13 loads of laundry per week and maintain a home that may not be Windex-commercial spic and span but doesn't attract rodents and other beasties as their home of choice.

Wherein do my limitations lie, you may ask?

I don't sew.

Really... that's why Target exists... so I can purchase, at a reasonable price, attractive clothing and home accessories that do not involve me choosing fabric, pinning patterns, and sewing them with straight stitches that, when finished, look EXACTLY like what you would find in the latest Eddie Bauer catalog. No, with me as the seamstress the finished product would most likely resemble something those poor little kids in 3rd world countries would themselves use for dish rags because there is no way they could possible find arm holes to put them on. (Case in point, when I took home economics in 7th grade, I made a skirt... it was see-through... not intentionally! It is currently used as a dish rag in Zimbabwe)

However, I have discovered that mother-guilt runs deep, and will hurl me out of my comfort zone on occasion into the abyss of "What the heck was I thinking" in my attempt to explore other worlds, such as the world of sewing.

Yes - I got a letter from Colin's KINDERGARTEN TEACHER - all caps because apparently this woman walks on water and travels down the school hallways leading her merry brood with singsongs and twittering birds and butterflies that do her bidding... at least that's what other veteran KINDERGARTEN TEACHER parents tell me...

So in this letter, she tell us that we need to SEW a fabric pocket that will go over his desk chair - one pocket holds it on to the chair, the other pocket will hold his pencils, books, etc. Very cute, very original... and down at the bottom of the letter in small print was this disclaimer "If you do not sew, you can take this paper to Julie at Julie's Alterations and she will make your child's chair pocket for you"

Huh... well, I may be sewing-challenged, but I will NOT have this Julie-chick make MY baby the pocket for HIS kindergarten desk chair! I am MOMMY... hear me roar... NOTHING is too hard for ME! (Can you see my red cape fluttering in the breeze?)

So off to Wal-mart we went, and Colin picked out his fabric. Disney Cars print, with a roadmap - I think it was the Route 66 signs with Flagstaff on them that sold me! :-) (We lived there for 6 years) So we came home and after many tears (not all belonging to me - Colin wanted only to play with his cars on the cool street-printed fabric) I began measuring and ironing and cutting and folding and after several hours of this realized, CRAP - when I fold it up, you see the yucky non-printed underside of the print. Duane came home and I headed off to Wal-mart again to purchase some heavy duty wine, I mean, solid black fabric for the underside.

Then... the sewing commenced. yes, I have a sewing machine - granted, it's the $40 Holly Hobbie- style sewing machine from Michaels in the aisle entitled "If you are domestically challenged but currently operating in a mommy-guilt mode and want to try your hand at hand crafts, this aisle is for you" So out came my sewing machine - and after several hours of blood, sweat, and tears as it jammed every 7 stitches and I would have to re-thread the bobbins and needles and such... it was finished. Duane, very wisely, sat on the couch this entire time, kindly muffling the sounds of his laughter with the sofa pillows...

The next day we went to Wal-mart yet again... to buy black ribbon with stitching, which I then fabric glued over the stitches that weren't, as you would say, straight... or even neat or tidy...

But the end result is a completed chair pouch that serves many purposes, not only to hold my little boy's school items, but also holds a piece of my heart as I send him off into the big boy world of elementary school.

the finished project!