But this year I've actually started to put it to use! I thought I was starting slowly, choosing a pattern that was so easy it claimed it could be done in one hour. The caveat around that is that one hour is probably only realistic if you are a very experienced seamstress. Which I am most definitely not. The project took me almost a week, and the result was slightly comical. However, I did learn a lot and it got me feeling more confident.
After that entertaining fiasco, I decided to hone my skills with some very basic projects. As in, hemming some pants. These were printed cords that I bought end of season last year for $5 each. So although I was slightly terrified to cut them, I really had nothing to lose. And guess what? They turned out okay!
From there I embarked on another project: fabric pocket tissue pack. This was one I found from the Sew Mama Sew website and bookmarked a few years ago. It's incredibly simple and yet I still learned a lot from making it. Again, the project is supposed to take 10 minutes but for me it was closer to an hour. There are some great benefits though to having a project that's small enough you can do it multiple times, because each time I figure more out and get a little better.
These were a couple of the finished products:
Up next: I'm going to attempt a cape. Not only are they ridiculously chic, but they do look viable for a novice like me to actually be able to pull off. Good thing I got that three year Fabricland membership - I'm finally putting it to use.