halloween banner

so, thanks to a great idea and fabric banner tutorial from Craftaholics Anonymous i was able to start, finish AND be happy with a crafty decoration today. this doesn't always happen for me. usually, i start. then i get stuck and frustration ensues. you see, when crafty folks say that the project is "easy" or "so simple", that translates into impossible for me. so i go quickly from start to give up. i am pleased to share with you that today was different. it was simple (for reals, simple) and ended up pretty cute! i am going to attempt a thanksgiving version of this same banner. while i'm feeling good about my accomplishment, i'm going to post some pictures.

sew frustrated...

feeling VERY confident, i thought, "i think i can make laney a hat." so, i searched the internet for a tutorial/pattern that looked easy peasy. let's just say finding the pattern was probably the easiest part of this project for me. the site said it was a "15 minute project". that made me feel even better-i can handle 15 minutes...being totally honest about my sewing skills, i thought even if it took me double the time (i thought that seemed fair) to make the hat, fantastic-i can spare 30 minutes! fast forward to hour 1...i'm reading, re-reading, and having hubby reading the instructions for attaching the band to that hat. for whatever reason, i can't get it to make sense. hubby is suggesting i go rogue and just go for it a different way. while i appreciated his advice, i am a follow the rules kinda girl, so i couldn't just go my own way-instructions are there to be followed, right?? i finally thought i had it figured out and moved forward with attaching the band. ha ha ha! i must have been in some sort of sewing-daze because i sewed the stinkin' hat closed. i could have killed myself-after all that hemming (ha!) and hawing about what to do and then i go and sew the thing closed. ahhhh. HOWEVER, not to be detered, i pushed on. pulled out alllll those tiny stiches and tried another tactic. i finally settled on a compromise with myself. i think followed the directions mostly and did finally get that darned band attached. it ended up turning out alright-definitely a test-run, but i can see what it's supposed to look like anyways. final time for completed project: 2 hours, 13 minutes. geez louise!

in my own defense, the tutorial was done using a solid color fabric, which i think contributed to some of the confusion. it was hard to see exactly how the band was attached, etc. add to that the fact that i was using a patterned fabric and i think it made it even more difficult. hey, i need some sort of excuse to make me feel better about the fact the project took me nearly 2 hours MORE than it should have.

i will be attempting this project again-i just may wait awhile for the 2nd attempt. i'd also like to add that anyone who has ANY advice on an "easy" (i use that term loosely since nothing to do w/ sewing comes easy to me) way to attach a band to a baby hat would be GREATLY appreciated!!!! help....please....