Very FIRST Bound Buttonhole and Elliptical

This was a crazy day.  Jerry stayed home today to wait for the Air Conditioner once-a-year check-up people and for the Elliptical to be delivered from Sears. 

Now, I bet the second you read that sentence, you thought:  "I bet Joy is going to complain about the delivery people."

Well, guess what???  You are WRONG. 

Oliver and Shawn arrived an HOUR EARLY.  The first thing I did was run out to meet them and give them the "you better not stain my carpet OR put handprints on my walls OR bang up my stair rail" speech.  They took it like real men, and they were VERY nice to me.  They put the little shoe covers on which were completely torn up and barely there after getting this monster in the house, but I didn't care.  So nice of them to even have the shoe covers with them.

I watched them the entire time because Jerry disappeared into his office, and we never saw him after he moved that trailer you see in the background up onto the driveway so these guys could put the exercise bike and the treadmill on it. 

It was immediately decided that the giant box could NOT go up the stairs, so the box was opened at the foot of the stairs -- outside on the back patio.

Then the pieces were hauled up the stairs piece by piece.

I felt sorry for the guys because they knew I was watching them like a hawk PLUS I had a camera in my hand.  I explained that I had a blog, and I wanted to show pictures of my new Elliptical.  They didn't care.  Evidently, they have dealt with crazy women before.

Once they got all of the parts up the stairs and onto my carpet with me constantly watching, they began putting the thing together.  Notice the dolly in the back in front of the mirror.  I asked them to please let me sweep all the dirt and leaves off of it before bringing it in. 

After all, they don't make "shoe covers" for dollies.

That's Oliver on the left with the pony tail.  He told me about his brother who died with all kinds of Arthritis, including Arthritis of the Eye Ball and how he had three electric wheelchairs in his garage from when the same brother was in a wreck -- lost his leg -- got gangrene -- and then died.  Sounds horrible!

On the right is Shawn.  Shawn was a fitness instructor in the Airforce for six years (I think), and now, he works for Sears and his wife works for the Goodwill where she collects all the lighthouses that come in.  Shawn had a runny nose and a cough, and I was praying he didn't have a cold or the flu.  Come to think of it, I should sanitize the bars on that machine.  Too late now.  Hold on, while I go and wash my hands ..............................  Okay.  I'm back.

These two men worked together VERY well, and I told them so.  They are lucky to work together.

So all of that went wonderfully well, and here I am on my new Elliptical.  I had the guys put it in this corner where Jerry's TotalGym was until yesterday, so I could watch TV while I use it if I want to.  You can see I have the manual on it in the picture as I was trying to figure out what the computer screen does. 

One thing it does is record how many laps you do.  I did not notice how long a lap actually is, however.

My first workout lasted an entire two and one-half minutes at which time I could hardly move my legs.  I lifted the manual and peeked underneath to see how many laps I had done.

The screen showed I had done ZERO laps!

Hopefully, tomorrow I can do three minutes without collapsing!

Do you see that large pegboard on the wall next to me?  That was actually built especially for me for my sewing room when we built this house.  At that time, we didn't have the attic room.  All of my sewing was out here in this room.  Jerry has taken it over as his movie room.  The pegboard holds the attachments to his TotalGym which is now hidden in a bedroom closet.  He says he is going to use it again.  DON'T hold your breath!

I decided to try a sample bound buttonhole this morning while I was waiting for Oliver and Shawn to arrive.  I have never made one before, and I thought it was going to be some major production.  It is really nothing.  In some ways, it is easier than a regular buttonhole.  Just a few simple straight stitches.  No big deal at all as long as you know the RIGHT LENGTH TO CUT for the buttonhole.  That's the important part.

So here is my sample.

The pale pink "smudge" is Ambience lining fabric.  It is suppose to be flat here.  I accidentally sewed over it folded.  I just started over.

The buttonhole on the bottom that says "PERFECT" is my totally finished bound buttonhole. 

I used Marta Alto's method found in Jackets for Real People.  Her written directions are illustrated, and it couldn't be any easier.

Here is one of my two buttons in the buttonhole.

The fit is a tiny bit big -- maybe.  I'm going to make it 1/16" smaller.

Here is the backside of my first bound buttonhole.  My pinking shears were sitting right next to this when I was working on it, so I trimmed it with them.  Don't know if that is against the law or not, but I did it. 

It looks good to me.

Marla has you make the marks you need ON THE FACING SIDE, and then sew long basting stitches through them so you can see those on the front side of your garment. 

Brilliant!  Don't use black thread on red fabric though.

Gotta go.  Try some bound buttonholes.  Lots of fun!

Hugs, Joy