First Fabric Purchase

While away at girl's weekend, I had the pleasure of shopping at Joann, Etc. where aisles and shelves were full of enticing fabrics, buttons and scrapbooking supplies. I was probably in the store for two hours and could have stayed longer, but then i would have left with no money in the bank! My mom worked part-time at a Joann's when I was a toddler and she told me how she'd blow her whole paycheck buying fabric. Now I totally understand how that is possible!

I got these fabrics to make this purse:



I just need to find buttons to go with it. I looked at Joann's for some, but couldn't make up my mind. I was just a little overwhelmed by all the choices since there was only an entire aisle full of just buttons! Sheesh!

I also got some lightweight canvas to make Sky a toolbelt for Christmas so he can carry around his play tools and help "fix" stuff around the house. His 5th birthday is coming up in a month and I have big plans to sew this tent using Two Little Hooligans' tutorial. He always builds tents with pillows and blankets when he stays at our house, so I think he'll really love having a real one!

A friend recently found sewing patterns on Etsy for cute stuffed animals. With her help, I'm going to sew a kitty cat and lion as Christmas gifts for my two youngest nieces who are 1 and 3. These are the fabrics for the animals:


Aren't they so cute and girly?! I'm also going to use these fabrics to sew pillows for two of my other nieces who will be 3 and 5 at Christmas. They are rather difficult to shop for, but I thought they'd like a pillow with the first letter of their names sewn on them.

Lastly, I need to find fabric to sew this purse for my oldest niece:


and a ruffled skirt for her younger sister. If you've lost count, I have 6 nieces ages 7 and under! I think we need more boys in the family to give poor Sky someone to play rough with!. It's going to be fun to make personalized gifts for all the kids. If I stick to my plans, I'll be saving a ton of money by making gifts instead of spending gobs of cash on toys that may or may not be played with.

I'm clearly going to be up to my neck in sewing projects from now until Christmas, but I'm so stinkin' excited to finally try out my $10 sewing machine and learn more than just sewing straight lines! Wish me luck! Anyone else out there thinking about Christmas gift ideas in September? I hope I'm not the only one!