Sewing Projects...Pictures Finally!!

Remember back in March when I took those sewing lessons? Well here are pictures of the results. To refresh your memory, here's a picture of my lumpy red pillow.
I don't know if you can tell from this picture or not, but I did ask my teacher how to fix the seam where I had to hand stitch it closed. It does look better than it did - I promise. But I'll never put this pillow out on display anywhere.
Here's the elastic waist skirt. I'll never wear it in public, but I did learn how to hem a seam and to insert elastic. And I learned that I didn't measure myself very accurately so I ended up with way too much fabric...that's why you're not going to see a picture of me in it...it just looks frumpy. But I did learn sewing basics while making it.

Here's my funky pink pajama bottoms...I experimented with putting an elastic waist with a drawstring attached to it. I found that it doesn't work when wearing it. I put enough elastic inside the waistband to go 3/4 around my waist, and then stitched the fabric drawstring (recognize the blue fabric from the skirt material?) to the elastic. But it doesn't hold very smoothly - the fabric bunches up in different places. I think I should have put enough elastic in the waist to go all the way around (close the elastic) and then also put the drawstring on top of it (to cinch it tighter if needed or just for decoration). Basically the waist needs a lot of help but I'm not about to re-do it.

I also discovered that even though I cut off 6 inches on the bottom thinking it would be enough to make the correct length for hitting the middle of my calves, I still didn't have the right measurement. So I just have highwaters. And I also found out that tapered legs are awful things to try to hem...I didn't get it smooth all the way around. But again, I'm not about to fix them.
Here's my pride and joy of the class. My handbag! I actually use this in public and it works great! And I like the fabric. And I didn't have any weird places that I have to make disclaimers about. If I was more of a handbag person, I would make more.

I do want to eventually get a magnetic close to it (sew it into the lining so you can't see it, but it will help it stay closed better). So if I find appropriate magnets, I may re-open the inner lining seam and fix that. But otherwise, I like it.
Here's what it looks like hanging (just imagine it on my shoulder).
Well, I can't say that I'll be scaring any fashion designers by my up-and-coming designs. But when/if we have kids, I'll know how to hem their pants (because they are bound to be short given the genes they'll receive from their parents!). And if we have girls, they'll have cute hand bags!