This Whole Camper Thing…

            As usual getting the camper ready has been harder than we expected. We shouldn’t have been surprised nothing like this goes as easy as we would like it to, the perfect example being our bathroom remodel. But like every tough situation we find ourselves in we buckled down and got to work. Now I won’t take any credit for fixing the camper. My role has been mostly to reassure, and keep heads level. I am the interior decorator, and I will toot my own horn about that. Charlie has done an amazing amount of work to get the camper ready for our January trip. What we first thought was going to be an easy fix to seal a window turned into replacing most of a wall and then resealing a window. The sink didn’t pump and the propane didn’t work so all of that had to be replaced. There were lights that needing replacing and some cushions that needed some cleaning. I am happy to report that all his hard work has paid off and we are up and running. There were times when he hated that camper, but he prevailed. This is one of the reasons I love him so much. No matter how frustrated he gets he always gets the job done. I do the best I can to keep it all in perspective for both of us. We tend to get way ahead of ourselves when we get excited about something.

Meet Gladys yes I named my sewing maching.

Fabric for the "Dining room" curtains

            So now it is my turn to contribute to the camper. When we first got it I asked Charlie what I could do and he said sew curtains. Well shit… The last time that I sewed anything was in my 6^th grade home economics class. Heartburn ensued. But I had to pull through. He had done so much and worked so hard that I could not screw this up. So I sat down with the Singer that I got from Mom last year for Christmas. We were going to become friends or I was going to sew my fingers together in the process. I read and reread the manual, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Then I had to wind the thread in a bobbin. It was one of the more anxious moments of my life. First you need at least an associates degree in engineering to thread the machine to even put the thread on the bobbin. Then you have to try to control your nervous foot as you press the pedal to wind the bobbin. Somehow I made it through that. Then I had to thread the needle. Again another degree to figure the thing out. Then you have to get the thread from the bottom of the machine to the top. At this point I was about to vomit, but 6^th grade was starting to come back to me. So now that I had this damn thing threaded I had to get the fabric ready. Now in wanting to do all of this right I of course consulted pinterest and youtube, like any sane person would do. That’s when I realized that I would be doing two things that I kinda loath; laundry and ironing. Damn it. But I was going to do this right. So I washed the fabric and then ironed the whole thing. Next it was time to measure and cut the fabric. This is probably the most frustrating and nerve racking part of the whole thing for me. Well after a few attempts and several pricked fingers, I got all the fabric cut and pinned ready to roll. Then I remembered one thing I read about pressing the seams. Seriously I have to iron again?! Did I mention how much I just LOOOVE ironing? After a short-lived tantrum I set the iron up again and pressed the seams. I’m glad I did it made things so much easier.

Finished Dining Room curtains

The Bed Room curtains

            Here it was the moment I was waiting for. Time to actually use the sewing machine. Take another Pepcid, take a deep breath, and push the pedal right? Well that pedal is tricky. I pushed it gently at first and nothing happened, I pushed a little harder and the damn thing took off. It is a fine line between warp speed sewing and the 5mph sewing that I am more comfortable with. The first curtain looks a little sloppy I won’t lie, but it did get easier as I went along. Then I was on a roll. I also made a tablecloth! Take that 6^th grade. In your face! Ok I’m gloating sorry. But as you can tell I had a really good time, all my fingers are still separate, and I am looking for my next project. No worries though you won’t see me on project runway, unless there is a curtains edition.