DIY Carnival

This month I was able to participate in a fun First Friday event, Monkey See, Monkey Do - A Do-It-Yourself Carnival. It was a "carnival" set up in a local gallery, Capsule Gallery, with booths on how to silk-screen, play music, paint, make jewelry, knit, SEW!, of course, and more. Each booth was set up so that participants would get a chance to make and learn! What a great concept and what a great name, no?

This was the perfect event to take lots of fun photos to share on my blog but, unfortunately, I forgot to be a photograper too! That's why I only have 3 pix to share. I wish I would have taken a photo of my set up, of some sewing action and some of the fun at the carnival. Next time I'll have to remember to tie a string around my finger as a "take pix!" reminder. (Above are 2 finished pincushions. Very cute! Below is a picture of me with a crafty 4 year old boy. He decided to make a bug! Too cute! Doesn't he look like he could be my son?!)

I was in charge of setting up the sewing booth and was able to teach a few people how to make pincushions! I thought this would be a perfect project because it involves very basic machine sewing and also some hand sewing. It turned out to be quite fun and my participants really enjoyed themselves! [NEWS: I recently, March '07, began a new business teaching sewing lessons. The craft revolution is still going strong and I thought that by teaching others to sew I could help to spread the revival of this fun and satisfying skill. I've really enjoyed getting back to a teaching role (I used to be a 1st grade teacher) and look forward to lots of fun teaching and sharing. I'll post more about my new venture soon.]

It was a slow-paced evening and not very stressful. I liked that! If I had to tell a fun story about the evening, I'd actually have two to choose from! There's the one about sewing with a 4 year old (the cute one pictured above). His job was to step on the foot control and mine was to maneuver the fabric. We made quite a team and he did very well until the "boy" in him kicked in! He didn't take his foot off the foot control when I said 'stop!'. The needle broke and it felt like the machine was about ruined too! Eveything turned out okay, though! The other story is about the lady who'd had about 1 beer too many (it was First Friday afterall-- free wine, free beer) and started off by sewing her fabric WS to WS (wrong side to wrong side for those of you with limited sewing knowledge). She decided to leave it as is and then we came to a mutual conclusion that it looked great and could be a toy cushion in the shape of a turtle. She said it would be a gift for her cat. What fun!