Project Runway, here I come!

They say necessity is the mother of invention.  Well, here is an example of that.  My daughter is a softball pitcher, who takes lessons once a week.  My brave husband is her "catcher".  While enduring the pain of a very fast softball stinging his palm through the glove (and sometimes his shins-OUCH!) he sits atop a bucket.  We didn't invent this idea.  We learned it from everyone else who takes lessons.

As you can imagine, a plastic bucket makes not a comfortable seat.  So everyone has a cushion atop their throne.  Note-You can actually purchase buckets with cushions at the sports store-I think they are for hunting or something.  Our local stores have none in stock.

So my daughter came to me to create a cushion for her bucket.  I will probably end up crocheting one, but she needed it rather quickly, so I had to improvise.

My mother is a wonderful seamstress who made many of my clothes when I was growing up.  We were not wealthy, and I was the only girl, plopped right in the middle of two brothers.  So my mother really enjoyed creating cute little dresses and pants and outfits for me.  Unfortunately, though, she did not pass along her sewing talent to me.  She TRIED.  I had a little sewing machine that looked like a toy but was supposed to be functional, when I was younger.  And I tried, but I could never seem to shake the fear that the machine was going to suck my fingers under the needle (as IF!) and sew on my skin. The fear was so strong that I could almost FEEL the pain that would cause-homemade stitches.  Rambo I am NOT!
As an adult, when I became interested in home decor, I thought I'd try sewing again.  {I LOVE QUILTS, and curtains, and pillows, and valances, and roman shades, etc.}  So my darling husband bought me an awesome sewing machine for my birthday.  I feel I'd be remiss if I forgot to mention that HIS mother made a living in Brazil as a seamstress and HE knows how to use a sewing machine!!!!

So he gets me this wonderful sewing machine, which immediately earned my mother's seal of approval.  I've tried to use it less than five times I think, and I find that I'm STILL afraid that the darn thing is going to turn on its big hidden vaccuum and suck my fingers under that needle.

When my daughter needed a cushion for her pitching bucket, this sewing fear posed a problem.  So I improvised. For the sewing impaired (uh-me!) there is a wonderful invention called Fabric glue.  According to the package, it can be washed.  Anyway, I used that fabric glue (got stuck all over my fingers) and I created this masterpiece.  Hey-beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? And yes, I am aware that it is bigger than the bucket, and it should be a circle, but there was no way I was attempting a circle and isn't a butt bigger than a bucket anyway?  Even a skinny butt?

Anyway, my daughter LOVES it!  That's all that matters.  As Tim Gunn would say, "Make it work!"   {Yes, I'm a Project Runway fanatic--I can dream, can't I?}