I’m kind of funny when it comes to learning a new skill. I generally observe, then research, spend some time collecting ALL the data, analyze and then I’m ready to jump in and try it.

This learning through observation track worked well for some things in my younger years, learning to dive from a diving board, for example. But there are plenty of skills that require starting on the actual task, many hours of practice and quite a bit of trial and error that you can’t learn through observation. Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert on something.

So, as you might have gathered by the title of this post. I’d like to learn to sew. I thought my first step towards this goal might be to buy a sewing machine. But, I got so overwhelmed reading Amazon reviews and customer feedback that I jumped ahead to step 2: collect all the adorable tutorials. This, of course, was made easy by starting a new Pinterest board: Sew Lovely! And so, if I knew how to sew (already) here’s some tutorials I’d like to try! (note: all the images and tutorial titles link directly to the original source with the how-tos; all the {pin it}s at the end link to my pins of the items if you want to repin them.

DIY Casserole Carriers from It’s Taylor Made: I think this would make a great gift for a party hostess, housewarming, a new mama (filled with yum food of course), or if you want to get extra crafty you could monogram it for a newlywed/bridal shower. {pin it}

DIY heating pad from The Green Wife: Let’s face it, most heating pads are ugly! The possibilities of patterns and colors are much improved now that I know about this tutorial. I think this would be a good addition to a Get Well Soon basket, a gift for high school grad about to head to college, something for an expectant mom, or a just because. You add rice and essential oils inside so it smells lovely when you heat it up. As mentioned on Pinterest, I think it’s great that it’s sectioned off so the rice inside doesn’t slide to one side. {pin it}

DIY See-Through Makeup Pouch from See Kate Sew: I have an addiction to drug store lipgloss & balms (have you tried that EOS lip balm yet?). So, when I saw this tutorial in my Feedly several weeks ago I knew this was something I’d love to make. Plus, it could be so easily customized to go along with whatever occasion you are gifting for: wedding colors for a bride to take on her honeymoon or as bridesmaids’ gifts, college colors for a new grad, favorite patterns for a bestie, or polka dot mixed with chevron to be trend overload! If you don’t already subscribe to See Kate Sew you should. This tutorial is part of a series she calls Buy + DIY full of ideas for crafty and personalized items. {pin it}

DIY Make-up Brush Holder from Dimplicity: a friend gifted me a travel make-up brush holder a number of years ago and it comes in quite handy when I’m packing. A gift like this would get lots of use for a dorm dweller, a jetsetter gal or just someone who has limited storage space in her bathroom. If you know she already has brushes that she loves I’d opt for giving the holder as a stand-alone gift. For the gal who is about to head off to college, I’d probably include some inexpensive brushes. I ordered these E.L.F brushes off Amazon {affiliate link} a number of years ago. {pin it}

Anyone have a pretty inexpensive, great to learn on sewing machine recommendation for me? Also, if you have a crafty blog, link me to your sewing tutorial category/tag so I can pin your tips.

PS: my birthday is in a few weeks, so any of you who are crafty feel free to make me one of the above things. kthx.