monkey sew

My dryer works. Yay. We've now put enough money into it in the last two months to have bought a new one. Boo.

I did get a lot of sewing done on Wednesday. B went to daycare in the morning, when the weather was the worst. They called at like 10 to say they were going to close at 3. Since that was in the repair guy window, I picked B up just before noon. He ate his lunch at home and had a nice long nap.

I've got 2 birthday gifts for B nearly finished. I just need to clear coat the wooden X's and O's I bought for his tic tac toe game and I need to put the grommets into his new soccer backpack. Pictures next week. Hopefully, I'll get them finished in time for his birthday Monday.

I do have pictures of something I sewed up for myself. I mentioned that I have a friend whose birthday was yesterday. I decided to make the no cash wallet from Bend the Rules Sewing. I made one for myself first, as a test run. I used some of the left over fabric from my monkey tote.

I could have done a better job lining up the monkey on the outside, but then his head might have hit a weird spot with the button. The button is from the spare buttons pack you get with clothes. Now that I think about it; I think I actually removed all the buttons from this particular shirt before I tossed it due to the fabric completely wearing out. It was a particular favorite.

I think this little guy lined up well, but he's sort of upside down. I usually open it with the button on the right hand side. This has become my commuting wallet. Bus/rail pass in the clear pocket, metrocards in the monkey pocket.

My mods to the pattern were sizing (my printer at home only zooms in increments so closest I could get to 136% was 125%, so I just cut about 1/2" wider than pattern) and using clear plastic for the bottom pocket instead of more folded fabric. I tried to make one for my friend Jenn, but it was a complete bust. Too small to hold a metro card and the lining biased and was weird. I am going to try again (I brought the book into work and made a 136% copy). I'm thinking of some other mods, like putting a bill pocket in the side.

B's party is tomorrow. Sunday is the Super Bowl at home just the three of us, but I'll be baking cupcakes for school Monday and a cake for us to have after school with M-i-L and F-i-L (and more cake again in 2 weeks when my parents visit). Lots of gifties to wrap, too.