On Dancer, On Prancer, On Crafter

Do you remember that law of physics that goes something like "an object in motion remains in motion"? I think it has an application to projects as well: a person crafting will remain crafting. (There is another part to that law, concerning opposing forces, which in this case would be good books and cooking dinner. And small children.) At any rate, I'm finding that working on projects spurs me on to work on other projects. And possibly even complete them.

This all started because I was talking with a friend and she mentioned she was getting her Christmas lists together, figuring out what she needed to shop for and what she wanted to make. Which made me realize that if I actually wanted to make anything for a gift, I needed to get my butt in gear. So I did, and I finished one project, but I can't show you yet, because it's a gift.

Once that was done, I was puttering about, cleaning out a drawer, still with Christmas on my mind and came across this t-shirt my mom bought me a couple years ago. It's really cute, but I didn't think I'd wear it anymore. (Sorry, Mommy.) I didn't want to part with it though, because it cracks me up. When my niece saw it and asked what a vixen was, my mom told her it meant "hot mama." I laugh every time I see it.

So if I wasn't going to wear it, and I wasn't going to put it in the thrift store bag, I had to find something else to do with it. I decided to make a little accent pillow, so we could enjoy it as a decoration through the whole holiday season. I have a set of plexiglass template I'm borrowing from my mom for yet another project, so I just found one that was a nice size for the pillow, laid it on the shirt, traced around it, and cut it out. I considered using a different fabric for the back, but in the end opted just to cut the same size out of the back of the shirt and use that.

Then I thought it needed a little something extra, so I dug around in my box of ribbon and came up with a holiday plaid to use as a trim. I had two pieces but neither were long enough to go all the way around so I quick sewed them together.

Then I pinned it to the pillow front, folding the corners in a way I thought would make a little ruffle and you'll see in a moment was a complete failure.

From there, I pinned the back on, sewed around the whole thing, leaving a small opening to stuff the pillow. I filled it up with stuffing and then hand-sewed the opening shut. Now I have a funny little reindeer pillow with wacky corners. I wasn't figuring for my seam allowance and ended up sewing the part that should have stuck out. Considering Bert thinks it is a new toy and likes to throw it on the floor, I'm not going to bother going back and fixing it.

The crafter in motion remains in motion, which is a good thing. Except for the carnage of a half dozen uncompleted projects laying around. And let's face it, the theory does not apply to housekeeping.

By the way, let's get it on record that I beat Keith for getting out a holiday decoration first. He tells me he is putting up the lights this weekend but I am one step ahead of him with my hot mama reindeer pillow.