Saturday, July 28, 2007
world wide web
The Internet has its ups and downs. To me, the internet used to be a cool "new" place to do school research. Then it turned into a place to send electronic mail to the very friends I saw day to day at school, anyway.After awhile, things got even MORE interesting, when I discovered chat rooms (don't worry, all I did was chat in the 'orchestra' room. Seriously. There were three of us who met every night, 'bout 10 oclock. I remember going to the darkened computer room every night after watching M*A*S*H* with my parents.
And, before we knew it, it was covered with advertising and clicky banners. Amazon turned into MORE than a bookstore...and you could shop at every department store ONLINE.
The internet has been, and can be, a very dangerous place. You never know who is sitting in their bedroom, looking word for word, picture for picture, at something you posted. It can also be an addicting, time-wasting place. Such as...it being very late at night, and, instead of doing up the dishes or going to bed or spending quiet time with your family, you click around on my.space for 2 hours.
But, if you're careful and conscious, many of those things can be avoided. And because of that, the "ups" somehow keep us coming back again.
There are several things I love about the Internet: email, recently--online banking, keeping in touch with friends, meeting *new* friends &hearts, and, of course, the thing that has always been there from the beginning: LEARNING.
Over the last few months, I have been in love with a website, a blog: this one This site, for me, has been life-changing. I have wanted to learn how to sew because of it, eat better because of it, play with Johnna and create a unique, beautiful childhood and home for my baby, learn to embrace the old fashioned, and it has reminded me of where I once wanted to go in the lifestyle aspect of who I am.
It is beyond inspiring, it is life-changing.
I also love, for example, if you have a question about something - how many teaspoons are in a cup? - you can just google it, and there it is. You can print off a recipe - a digital recipe - and have it become something all five of your senses can encompass.
Last night, because of these sites:
here
here
and
here
AND
here and
here
I have been able to really learn and do SO MUCH on my sewing machine!!!! Obviously, make some pants for Johnna.
The first pair, made out of an old shirt of mine, were some lavenderish - pink shorts.
Although you can't really see them that well, I MUST say that they were messy.....I didn't know how to do the zig zag stitch to finish the seams. BUT, because of finding that last video earlier today, I learned something HUGE, that made all the difference.
Today was supposed to be a break-day from sewing. But, after finding that video, I HAD to try it on some practice felt. AMAZING! It worked like a super charm!
So, after the babe and the daddy went to bed, of course I sewed an entire new pair of capri's for Johnna! And they turned out 99.122475 % better than the first pair!!!!!
I traced a pair of her pants (they are shorts, but are more like little high-waters - they are a toddler size) from Target, following the directions from off the internet (first link). I used the link for the elastic casings and did the "stitch in the ditch" technique. Even though the internet directions didn't say to finish the seams, I did do the zig zag stitch. After all that work, I don't want it to unravel after a few washings! Maybe I can get a serger for Christmas. Haha. Naw, the zig zag looks great.
Sorry! Anyway, see - the pink pants reproduced!
Now that it is midnight, and I picked up the house and sewed a pair of pants AND took pictures and uploaded them to the internet AND posted a lengthly blog about things, I should probably get ready for bed.
Again, thank you internet and people who use it for good things. There really are live people on the other end who benefit from your help and inspiration!
Melissa at 11:35 PM