Beginner's Sewing Tutorial + Other Fun Stuff

Sorry about the long hiatus...I'm finally done with school and am just beginning to run errands and get ready for my study abroad trip to Australia this summer! (T-minus 27 days till departure!)

So I decided to post my first review of a sewing tutorial. I Stumbled this tutorial before I even got my sewing machine, and I immediately knew that it would be my very first project. This tutorial is for a fully lined, zippered box pouch. Here is what the final product looks like:

Everyone say, "Aww!"

I <3 <3 <3 this tutorial because it's so friggin easy and awesome. I Stumble through a lot of tutorials, but only the ones with step-by-step pictures catch my eye and make me look through them. This one is one of them. It has really clear pictures, easy instructions, and the girl is wearing some really awesome nail polish. 

The day that I got my sewing machine, I immediately started working on this pouch. It took me a while, but I was SO proud of it when I was done. 

You can really do ANYTHING with the color scheme, fabrics, and zippers. Here are a few of my finished projects: 

This one was my first one...The checkered fabric is actually a bed sheet I got from Goodwill for $2.

This one is my fave...the butterfly fabric was a certain type of cotton and made the pouch more sturdy.

And of course, Winnie the Pooh! <3

If you are a beginner sewer, I would highly recommend this tutorial for a first project, or just a really fun, fast, and easy thing to make! You can find the tutorial here.

And if you don't sew, don't worry, I have goodies for you, too. 

I have known about 9gag for a while now, but I never actually used to go to the website to look through their pictures until a couple of days ago. If you go on the The Daily What (which I also highly recommend), 9gag is the simpler form of that. (I like The Daily What better--it's 9gag on steroids--and it seems to be a little more up-to-date.)

Anyways, I found something absolutely genius on it last night. It will blow your mind...

Get ready for it...

Is this not the most intelligent thing you've ever seen?! Talk about overcoming functional fixedness!!!

I have yet to try this...but if anyone does, please tell me your results. For other awesome pictures like this, visit the 9gag page!

Alrighty, peeps. That's all for now. I have an awesome final exam review to attend.

♫RY

Sugar Withdrawals

Last year, I gave up candy for Lent. [Side note: It wasn't for religious reasons, but for personal reasons.] It was alright, though I admit, I probably cheated a bit because I could still get my sugar fix via desserts. This year, I ambitiously decided to give up ALL sweets for an excruciating forty days.

Too make a long story short, it's Day #18 and I am already dying to get my hands on...well, just about anything you can think of...cake, ice cream, brownies, a milkshake...even a dot of sugar would be nice. And to make matters worse, as an avid Stumbler, I came across this website last night: The Brownie Project.

Just take a look at these brownies:

S'mores Brownies

Double Chocolate Brownies

Out of This World Brownies

I am salivating just posting these pictures. Don't even get me started on other recipes I've Stumbled. For instance, this Irish Car Bomb cupcake recipe.

This is me:

Try some of these recipes! I will live vicariously through you...for another...22 days...*sigh*

♫RY

The Seven Stages of Academic Motivation

While sitting in my living room, thoroughly pleased with myself for deciding to skip my last class today, I began to do what I tend to do around the same time every semester: bargaining. Read it. Get familiar with it. Embrace it.

Bargaining is an awesome little device that I use to determine exactly how much I can get away with while still maintaining a semi-decent grade in any given class. Then I realized that I go through the same ups and downs each semester when it comes to school...and so, I developed the Oh-So-Splendid, Far-From-Ephemeral, Ever Insightful... (Drum roll, please.)

Seven Stages of Academic Motivation

1.) Avid Enthusiasm

          Duration: First week to school-Third Week of School

          Implications: Gung-ho about first day of school, resolutions to pay attention in class, meet professors, meet new people, resolve to get all A’s

2.) Spirited Procrastination

          Duration: Fourth week of school-Week before midterms

          Implications: You realize that classes aren’t that hard. You procrastinate and wait to read those chapters in the text because you have ample time before exams. No sweat.

3.) Frenzied Motivation

          Duration: Week of midterms

          Implications: Holy sh*t! Midterms are this week?!? Get coffee. Pull an all-nighter. Repeat x5

4.) Apathy

          Duration: Week after midterms-Three weeks before school ends

          Implications: You can finally breathe now that exams are over. You skip classes liberally and don’t do much studying at all. You deserve a break, right?

5.) Bargaining

          Duration: Two weeks before school ends-One week before school ends

          Implications: This is where you determine exactly how much you can get away with and still get the grade that you want. How many classes can I still skip? If I can get that quiz grade dropped, I don’t need to take that last quiz, right?

6.) Number-Crunching

Duration: Last week of school

Implications: Break out the calculator. What grades do you need to get to pass? 87? 94?! Damn, did I really procrastinate that badly this semester?

7.) Relief

          Duration: After finals

          Implications: Praise the Lord! “I’m free!” as The Who would say. Proceed to the beach, summer parties, and whatever the hell it is you do when you’re on vacation.

Okay, so maybe it's a little exaggerated. But still hauntingly true, amirite?

On a happier note, I found this awesome website that features furniture and home decor that is designed based on different foods and condiments. (!!!) Check out this awesome sunny-side up egg pillow:

Can you say, next sewing project? Pictures to come after I actually get up off my lazy bum and make this!

Find more of these awesome projects here.

Anyway, off to cook din-din for today. Either Cajun shrimp and chicken pasta or curry shrimp and chicken with rice. Haven't decided yet.

Meanwhile, I'll be sitting here doing some more bargaining. I know, I know. I'm a slacker. But what can I say? I got things to see, people to do, and egg pillows to make.

♫RY

¡Bienvenidos!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...presenting Seamingly Serendipitous! Quite possibly the greatest blog you have ever come across (Alright, I exaggerate...), this baby will document sewing projects, random thoughts (Get ready for these...), cooking successes (and failures), and other fun facts and pearls of wisdom.

Without further ado, allow me to introduce my new friend, Billie Sew Armstrong.

I haven't decided if it's a girl or boy yet, but I feel like the name can go either way, so we shall see. This is my first sewing machine, and after pinching pennies for weeks and giving up precious food from Bento, I finally saved up enough to buy the much coveted Singer Talent. I confess, I am in love. (Church of Elvis trip, anyone?)

I've been sewing like a crazy woman...This weekend, I'll post some pictures of projects with the tutorials that I followed.

Till then, I'll leave you with a quote I Stumbled last night that I am also absolutely in love with:

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

♫RY