Home Made Lovely

I have something a tad bit embarrassing to admit.

(drum roll please)

I do not know how to USE. A. PATTERN.

Yeah, you know, those things that you buy in the envelopes with the pretty picture on the front of whatever you plan on making. The things that I am pretty sure everyone uses when they start to sew because (supposedly, I really would have no idea) it tells you what to do. Yep, no idea where to even start!

I'm really not sure how it happened. I think it may have stemmed from my penny-pinching ways and not being willing to shell out $15 on something I could just wing. Or maybe it was because the first thing I made after getting my sewing machine was a tablecloth and it was just a rectangle... that couldn't be too hard, right? I didn't need a pattern to tell me to hem the edges and I'd be done. Nonetheless, somehow I have gotten here and I look at those envelopes and feel a daunting sense of dread because I'm not sure what to do after I take out the tissue like paper. Am I supposed to cut out the pieces or use some fancy tool? What if I cut in the wrong spot? What is up with all those little triangle looking things? What is a notion and why is it called that? You get the idea.

That leads me to this...

Simplicity 3709.  A pattern that doesn't involve pleats, or darts, or sizes of any kind. A one size fits all kids "busy book". A pattern I bought when I found out I was pregnant, long before I knew if we were having a boy or a girl, long before I was even showing. It was my "oh my gosh, we are having a baby" buy. I didn't buy baby clothes, or books, or socks (we got a lot of baby socks when we found out I was pregnant....is that normal?), nope, I bought Simplicity 3709. And, sadly, to this day it still sits untouched on my sewing table because ... well, because it's a pattern.

All that is to say I'm tackling my fear of patterns and making Audrey a busy book. My goal is to have it done by Christmas. I have my fabric store coupons ready and I will be heading there tomorrow to get all the supplies. Wish me luck!