My first (and second sewing project)...

I braved the crowds on Black Friday to get one thing...a sewing machine.  When I say I braved the crowds, I really mean I went to Wal-Mart in Miami, OK at 11:30 PM to get a sewing machine that went on sale at 12:01 - it wasn't anything crazy, and I swiftly went home and went to bed.  But, I do know that I will never shop on Black Friday ever again!  Anywho....

I have been wanting a sewing machine for a long time, so when Matt (yes, Matt) found this one online, I knew I had to go get it.  If I never used it again or broke it, I would only be out $50, so what the hell.  I got it home on Friday, and quickly realized that I had no sewing accessories (or notions as people in the biz call them) AT ALL.  Strike that, I have one spool of black thread.  So, I threaded my machine and put it on the kitchen table and waited until morning to go to Hobby Lobby.  

While I waited, I checked out some sewing blogs and found the CUTEST blog over at rufflesandstuff.com.  She is is so crafty!  And in a hip way (hip is such an un-hip word, btw).  So I tried my hand at this scarf as my first project.   I won't put the instructions here, but here is a bit of a play by play from my attempt at making it.

I started by practicing my straight lines on a piece of paper - yes, I am a giant dork.

Three fabrics for an OU (by route of Alabama) ruffly scarf.

Layer them as shown, and sew with elastic thread...

And then you have a victorian neck-cuff!  

Ok, finished product did not work out so well, seeing as I should have used a jersey fabric or some old t-shirts we had around the house.  I tried to pop out some stitches to make it work, but it just made it fall apart.  But it was fun to make and see how it just automatically ruffles when you use the elastic thread.  I will try this one again some time.

So - I scratched the above scarf, and used 1/2 yard of jersey fabric to make this scarf.  Fold it in half (wrong sides together), iron, and then sew to make a pouch.  Turn it inside out, sew shut the hole, and then cover that with a ribbon (or a bow or flower or button or whatever).  Ta da!  And family members, yes, this is what you are getting for Christmas :)

A special thanks to my mom for going to wal-mart with me to witness the chaos that is Black Friday and my granny for buying me my first sewing machine :)