Over the weekend my Mr. took a trip to the lake with his dad... I missed him like you wouldn't believe, BUT I was able to catch up on some crafting in his absence which was kind of great. I even got to play around with my new sewing machine! As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm still super new at learning to sew so when I attempt something new I make sure to stay very basic. I figured that placemats would be pretty easy to make since they just consist of straight lines and after looking at THIS tutorial by Wait Till Your Father Gets Home I decided to give it a go. Thank goodness I did, because I love the end result and they were even simpler to make than I realized! So here's what you do... 
Step 1 - Pre-wash and press your fabric.
Step 2 - Measure and cut your placemats. I wanted my placemats to be 13" x 18" so I cut them into 14" x 19" pieces to allow for a 1/2" hem on all four sides. Step 3 - Press and pin a 1/2" hem on each side of your placemats.

Step 4 - Hem the placemats... and you're done! Easy peasy and just in time for Thanksgiving!

Easy DIY Pencil Skirt

A pencil skirt is an article of clothing that looks great on everyone. I practically live in the stretchy knit kind during the summer, because they're easy to throw on, comfortable, and can be dressed up or down depending on what top, shoes, and accessories you pair them with. I started learning to sew this past winter so I am by no means experienced. I know how to do the basics. By basics I mean a straight line with a sewing machine. So when I saw this tutorial on Pinterest by Merricks Art entitled "The Easiest Pencil Skirt You'll Ever Make" my curiosity was peaked. I wasn't sure it would be that easy, but it turns out that I was way wrong. It really is the easiest pencil skirt you'll ever make. 
With my handy dandy mother-in-law by my side (that's right, I called my mother-in-law "handy dandy") I was able to whip out a custom fitted pencil skirt in less than an hour. It would have taken even less time than that, but I decided at the last minute that I wanted to add elastic to the waist (the Merricks Art tutorial does not include those instructions... this is why my mother-in-law gets nicknames such as I used above :) ). The entire skirt including fabric, thread, and elastic cost $5. I just paid $20 at Old Navy for the exact same style skirt just a month ago before I found this tutorial. Never again! If you can sort of operate a pair of scissors and sewing machine then you can make this skirt.