New Crafting Content – Finally!!!

I recently changed my blog layout (regular readers may notice I do that often in my search for the perfect blog layout!) and the new layout included the little archive calendar in the sidebar. Oh, how sad that little calendar looked! I must admit that it spurred me to make this post so there was at least a few more numbers highlighted on it!

I have been crafting and I do have several finished objects, although I find myself feeling like I haven’t actually gotten much done. I think I get used to the cooler months when I am churning out project after project, so when I slow down, I feel less than productive. But really, I have stayed busy!

So, how about some recently completed stuff?

I made the kids more PJs. These are so easy and I like to make them for winter with long sleeve t-shirts and flannel bottoms. However, during the summer months, they need something, too. And we usually have the air conditioning on, so even nights can be a bit cool, so long pants and short sleeve shirts are perfect. I actually made each kid 2 pair of PJs, but when I took the pics, the other pairs were in the laundry, after being worn.

The girl had kitty cat print fabric for her bottoms and a purple shirt, along with a kitty appliqued on.

The boy is in love with dogs and chose his own fabric. He even specified that the dog on his shirt be one that had a bone!

My kitchen is tiny. It is a galley kitchen with limited storage space. I have managed to find places for most of my stuff, but one appliance always aludes a storage solution – my Kitchenaid stand mixer. I got it from my mom and I LOVE it, but it is heavy, huge and impossible to get it out of the way. So it sits on my kitchen counter. And unfortunately, although I do use it, it goes weeks sometimes without use. The bowl and the mixer get dusty and stuff like flour and other things fly into the bowl. And honestly, it just isn’t all that gorgeous. Then I remembered some fabric I bought a while back. I found it in the remnants at JoAnn’s and picked it up, planning to make some shopping bags out of it. I made one, but never got around to make the other. But the fabric matched my kitchen PERFECTLY! So, a mixer cover was created! This was simple and easy and took me longer to measure and cut than the sew!

Not to be outdone, my hard working sewing machine demanded a cover also! I got fancy on this one, though. I used my patchwork skills to create a cover that I love. I had purchased some fat quarters in coordinating colors, then threw in a few more pieces of fabric I already owned, rearranged them nicely and gave my machine a cover. It could have been longer, but it works well and looks nice. Now, just ignore the mess around my sewing area! It is still “under construction” and I am trying to get the husband to install a shelf to help get some of the extra stuff off the desk.

And I have been knitting! Well, some, anyway. Both kids need mittens for winter. The girl outgrew her mommy-made mittens and the boy never had any. So, I picked up some sock yarn in their favorite colors (she loves pink, he loves orange!) So far, he has a full pair, but she only has one. I will be returning to the second one very soon! Heck, with how cool it has been here lately, she will need them by the end of the September!

I am still working on knitting myself a scarf out of my hand-dyed hand-spun yarn. It is about half way done. It is moving slowly because I don’t work on it regularly. I also unraveled a mitten I had made for myself and plan to redo it for this winter. It didn’t fit correctly but I have since found a different pattern and plan to use that instead.

I am also working on sewing. I finally purchased the doll pattern I mentioned in the last post and I am working on those. Not sure how long it will take me to finish everything in the pattern (each doll has a sleeping bag, backpack, snowsuit, overalls, knitwear and a sweater made of a felted wool sweater.)

But, that hasn’t stopped me from finding another craft! LOL! I was inspired by another blogger who works in felt. When I first read Checkout Girl’s blog, I was stunned and left feeling rather inadequate, artistically and creatively! Melissa’s creations are absolutely divine! Thankfully, the stunned feeling and the feeling of inadequacy disappeared in a huge flash of inspiration! Now, this is just my first try and I know I have work to do. I even started researching embroidery to help improve future creations. But this is my first try – my house. This is all done in craft felt with embroidery thread.

This is just my first try. It was all hand-stitched, which I find to be very satisfying. I am really pleased with how this turned out. Too bad I don’t have a picture of my house to share with you so you can compare, but my sister and my husband both knew it was our home immediately when they saw it. I have another project of a similar nature in mind, but that is probably going to take a while to come into being. But stay tuned!

Well, I think that is it, for now! There is always something being created around here! I would love to go craft now, but I actually think I need to pick up some toys (OK – a ton of toys!) in the living room right now! My sister is visiting tomorrow and it would be nice if she could walk in the house and find a place to sit! After all, I have been busy creating! Who has time to clean?

Christmas Crafting

All year long, I have been making little items here and there to decorate our home for Christmas. I have wanted to redo our mantel at Christmas and this year, I plan to finally do it! It will be done in green, ivory and gold with some handmade items front and center. I am also tentatively planning to make some sort of Advent calendar for us to enjoy this year, but that is still in the early planning stages. I haven’t even decided on the craft I will use to make it!

Aside from decorating my home, I am finally getting down to planning my crafting for Christmas gifts. In years past, I have knitted and sewn for many of my family members. I usually start planning early on in the year and have my yarn or other supplies purchased as far out as June. But I am getting a slow start this year. I am having a hard time even deciding what to make for whom.

So far, my Christmas crafting list is pretty limited. The kids will each get a handmade doll from the Olive & Archie pattern from WeeWonderfuls. I just downloaded it and purchased some of the fabrics needed today and many of the fabrics will actually come from my stash. Both kids will get the traditional PJs from me – probably something Cars for the little guy and Princesses for the girl. I am also thinking of trying my hand at quilts for the kids, too.  My husband will be getting a pair of sleep pants. I also hope to finally tackle his sweater vest! I purchased the yarn for it two years ago! I am guessing he has given up all hopes of having that vest! LOL! We normally only give portraits to my grandparents, but I think this year I will be gifting them with some items. I am thinking Grandma will get some new knitted dishcloths (so she can have a set here and a set in Florida) and possibly even a quilted can cozy. Grandpa is getting one of my favorite items – a knit armadillo! (When they were in FL last, they visted a farm with lots of animals. They sat down to eat lunch at a picnic table and an armadillo walked up and rubbed it’s nose on his shoe!)  Now, my mom is a difficult one. I have made her hats, scarves, a wrap and mittens. She is pretty well decked out in hand knits. She did see a sweater she liked at our state fair and mentioned me making one (it is similar to this one) but I am not sure if that is the direction I will go our not. I have another idea floating around in my head that would be a gift to her and her husband. I am not quite ready to reveal that project to anyone just yet, simply because I have no clue if I can make it work.

So, planning is coming along. I just printed out the pattern for the dolls for the kids, so I am looking forward to getting moving on that. I want to make all of the accessories (sleepings bags, backpacks, snowsuits, overalls, knit items, etc) and place them in a nice shoebox (probably wrapped in fabric) to present them to the kids.

Do you have Christmas items planned out already?

Quietly Crafting

During the summer, I hit a lull in the crafting. The office where I sew is hot. It is too warm to have my hands in fiber or yarn for knitting and spinning. We stay busy during the day and I am exhausted by the evening when I normally do my crafting.

I don’t have pictures to share just yet – they will be coming, I promise. But I have been quietly crafting and things are starting to kick into gear as the weather is taking a premature turn into fall. With cooling temperatures, I find myself wanting to craft and create much more.

Tonight I finally finished up some sewing and mending that has been clogging up my sewing table. I bought fabric for PJ pants for the kids and t-shirts to applique to match and finally got them completed. Both kids are wearing a set tonight and I will snap a picture of them tomorrow morning, if I can wrangle them together long enough! I completed two pairs for each. My daughter got Disney Princesses and kitty cats and my son got Thomas The Train and dogs. Both are very happy kids! I made them out of lightweight cotton prints from JoAnn’s and used short sleeved shirts to wear in the air conditioned house in the summer and into fall.

I also did some mending. I am considering setting up a mending basket, actually, although we don’t have mending often. I do like mending clothing, though. Sewing a button on my husband’s dress shirt makes me feel good to have done something for him. And closing up a hole in the underarm of his favorite t-shirt also feels good because it saves the shirt from being thrown away. I am not yet ready to consider mending store-bought socks, but if we ever have holes in hand-knitted, I wouldn’t be too upset to mend those too!

I have been completing some knitting. I finished a pair of socks for me, a pair for my son and mittens for him, also. I have completed one mitten for my daughter, but I am not taking a bit of a break from knitting with the sock yarn on size 1 needles since my hands and elbow are starting to bother me. So, I moved to the opposite end of the spectrum and picked up some chunky yarn I handspun and dyed and I am knitting a “My So-Called Scarf”. I am hoping I have enough yarn for it to be long enough, but I love it so far!

I have some things I still need to work on sitting around the house. I have promised the kids I would make them aprons and I need to get them finished. I have an old shirt of mine I want to play around with to make into an art smock for my daughter. She starts kindergarten on the 27th! But beyond that, I am planning for fall and Christmas finally. I have plans for a sweater for my mom and handmade dolls for the kids for Christmas. And I still need to get yarn to make their fall sweaters. My daughter wants pink and my son wants orange – both choices were rather predictable!

So stay tuned! I promise to get some pictures soon. I am still kicking myself for not taking ANY pictures of the items I made for my cousin’s baby shower. I stenciled several onesies with animals, hand stitched a stuffed giraffe and made her two bibs from flannel and denim. I will see if she can snap pictures for me, perhaps, to share with the blog.

I shall return!

Summer Sewing

It is officially summer, both on the calendar and on the thermometer. We have been in the mid-80’s pretty consistently here in central Ohio and the humidity is going up and up, making it more and more uncomfortable to be outside. We have the air conditioner on in our home, but to save some energy and money, we have it set a bit high, so it is still pretty warm in the house. As a result, anything that requires a lap-full of fiber has been put away for now.

Instead of knitting or hand sewing items, I have turned to using my new sewing machine! I have been sewing up a storm lately and loving it! I thought I would share a few completed items with you!

I love sewing for my kids! So, I decided they needed some sun hats to keep the sun off their faces. I found a tutorial for a reversible sun hat on Craftstylish and thought it was just what they needed! I had a fat quarter that I knew would suit each kid, plus some other material already in my stash. These were fast and easy. I think I made both in the same night!

Here is my son’s. His was done first and I think I measured his head a bit wrong. I found that it was a bit snug when he put it on. I measured my daughter’s head a bit differently (instead of flat around the head right above the ears like I did with my son, I measured from the bottom of her hair line, over her ears and onto her forehead) and the fit was a bit better, but my son still likes his hat!

Bugs!!

Front view

Bugs!

I don’t have a decent picture of the inside of the hat. My daughter was a bit easier to photograph. Here they are together. The other side of my son’s hat is a dog print. My daughter has a pink floral print since she adores pink.

And the other side of my daughter’s hat. I decided to sew two pink buttons, one on each side of the hat at the top to help hold the hat together as it was flipped and also to give it a really cute touch. I also made her brim flare out a bit more and it gave it a very nice wavy look.

And I didn’t forget to sew for myself, either! Now, yes, I know these are both from the same material! But I had a TON of it (I hate to admit it, but I bought it for curtains and a bed-skirt for my room and had a ton left over! It is a nice linen blend, so it makes lovely clothing, too!) And yes, I know I also need to iron them!

A shirt for me. I used McCall’s 5388 and it turned out well. I would like to do this pattern again, possibly in the tank version (minus the ruffles) and in a lighter fabric. Please pardon the terrible shot. I am not good at self portraits and our mirror was a bit dirty!

And this is my new love! I would wear this every day if I could! I have since bought more fabric to make another. I used a tutorial for the wrap skirt at Home Grown. This was easy to understand and turned out great! Again, sorry for the crappy image! 

And then I did more sewing! Yep, I was busy! Several months ago, I saw a tutorial for cute fabric baskets on Pink Penguin. I happened to have a charm pack of fabric I bought last June and was still trying to decide what to do with it. I decided it would be perfect for the baskets! I didn’t want to waste much fabric, so I cut them in quarters, which made them a bit bigger than the tutorial called for. I ended up with a rectangular basket. Unfortunately, I didn’t have batting at the time, so I used several layers of flannel, but they aren’t all that stable when they are empty. But, I keep fabric and yarn in them currently and they are great! I plan to make some square ones eventually. I made two different baskets – one featuring the red fabrics and the other the pinks.

I LOVE these fabrics and wanted to showcase them somehow, and this was perfect. The bottom & lining was left over from the pillow I made my Mother-in-law for Christmas. It is a nice, sturdy fabric and helped give them some stability.

And finally, one of my favorite projects! I fell in love with this project when I saw it on the Sew, Mama, Sew blog. And it was a free download, too! I pulled out some fabrics from my stash and some fat quarters I had on hand and went to town. I LOVED the way it came out! I have a small pincushion I made some time ago that I keep with my hand sewing stuff, but didn’t have a decent pin cushion with my sewing machine. This is wonderful! The scrap bag actually can attach to the front of the cushion with a loop that hangs down, using the green button on the inside of the bag. There are also three pockets just right for a seam ripper, small sewing gauge, and fabric markers.
Well, I think that about brings me up to date on my sewing projects! I still have more to show, though! Next up, socks and pendants. Stay tuned!

Just a quick note

In my last post, there was a link at the end of the post that was “possibly related”. I have NOTHING to do with that link! I have no idea why that link was deemed “possibly related”, so please, ignore it! Thanks!

Sometimes, things don’t go as planned

More often than not, I blog about finished objects that I am proud of and that look decent. Sure, there may be small errors, but as long as they are not glaringly obvious, I leave them alone. And most of the time, with a few small mistakes, I don’t have many issues with the projects I start. And then, you have days like Monday.

Monday night I was in a very creative mood, but didn’t have anything specific going, so I decided to start a new project. My cousin is pregnant and due in September, so I decided I would make something as part of her shower gift. I have some patterns for baby shoes saved, so I decided to go that route. Only my printer wouldn’t work. I found out tonight my dear husband had unplugged it! So, I traced the pattern off the computer screen. Whatever works, right? I found cute material (in keeping with my general plan not to buy more fabric, I used some pieces of flannel originally cut to make diapers – until my son decided to potty train suddenly!) I started sewing. I loved the first one (although I do think it looks too big to fit a 0-6 month baby!) So, I moved on to the second. Got it finished and laid them next to each other to compare.

Not the best picture, but do you see what happened there? Here, how about a second look.

Ah! Now you see it, don’t you? Yep, I sewed one sole on upside down! Crap! I have started ripping it apart, but it is still so darn discouraging. I ended up putting the project down for later.

I decided that I would then attempt to make slippers for my son. How hard could that be? I had a pattern saved for the basic design, but they were also sized for 0-6 months. I was also afraid that they would be way too wide if I upsized them from the original pattern, especially since my kids have long, skinny feet. So, I sorta drafted my own pattern.

This was a complete disaster! They didn’t fit at all, the sewing was terrible and, well, a second slipper wasn’t even attempted.

So, I finally moved on. I have been thinking about trying crochet again. I have this orange bulky weight yarn in my stash that I thought would make a perfect blanket for my daughter’s dolls. But I HATE knitting blankets. Too boring! But I could crochet one quickly. So, I got out the yarn, pulled out a crochet hook, and started doing what I remembered to be crochet. After getting out a crochet instruction book I owned, I realized what I was doing was not crochet, or at least not what they described in the book, but that didn’t stop me. I liked the fabric, so why change? It wasn’t something to be judged or anything! I got through a whole skein in one evening, then looked at the piece. Uh, I think I somehow lost some stitches. It was turning into a triangle instead of the rectangle I intended! I frogged it and started over. The second attempt was better, but still not great.

No, that isn’t a trick of the eye or due to perspective. It really does get skinnier the further I went. Ugh.

So, at that point I put it down and picked up something I KNEW I could do – knitting a pair of socks. Thankfully, they are turning out well. I won’t let my disasters get me down. I learn something from all of them. Plus, I still have my successes behind me to bolster my confidence. And I plan to be back soon to post some of those!

Sewing Machine Meme

I subscribe to a great crafting blog called Sew, Mama, Sew! June is “Sewing Machine Month” and to kick it off, they are asking readers to complete a Sewing Machine Meme. So, I thought I would participate! Here we go!

What brand and model do you have? I have a Singer Confidence 7470.

How long have you had it? Since February or so of this year.

How much does that machine cost (approximately)? Approx. $500

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)? Clothing, home decor projects, some basic quilting

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get? 2-3 times a week, usually an hour or so at a time. So very light use.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name? I LOVE my machine! But it doesn’t have a name.

What features does your machine have that work well for you? I love the ease of threading, winding bobbins, selecting a stitch pattern and the auto tension.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine? The only thing I don’t care for is the hesitation when sewing. If I have been sewing, take my foot off the pedal enough to make it stop, then try to sew again, it hesitates.

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it! I had a very, very basic Singer before this machine and wanted a new one badly. I received some money for Christmas and wanted to use it for a new machine. I had planned to buy a basic electronic Singer sewing machine from JoAnn’s. My husband told me he would order it for me. A week or so later, my 7470 arrived! It was the machine I had dreamed of, but didn’t think I could afford! It was a combo birthday/Mother’s Day/Christmas gift and it was a HUGE surprise!

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why? Yes, I would recommend this machine to others. It is easy to use, threads easily, it is quiet and yet it is sturdy. It feels like it will last for a long time.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine? Ease of use, clear instruction manual, and having a list of needs that match what the machine will offer.

Do you have a dream machine? Eventually I would love to move up to an embroidery machine. My dream machine would be the Husqvarna Viking Designer Diamond machine.

The Changing Seasons

I am still around! I find myself often thinking about posting, composing posts in my head, but often I can’t sit at the computer for long enough to write a well thought out post. But I want to post, so I am taking the time tonight. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of recently completed projects since I am on a different computer, but I still wanted to update on what has been happening for me, craft-wise.

I am finding this year, for the first time, that my crafting has changed as the seasons have changed. While in years past, I have been a knitter most of the year, this year I have drifted from knitting. In fact, I can barely remember the last project I picked up on knitting needles. Perhaps that is because of the change in weather, but I also think that has to do with my own self-imposed yarn buying freeze. I have tons of yarn for tons of projects, but none are inspiring me at this point. I have several projects I would love to work on now – sweaters for the kids and one for myself – but they would require a yarn purchase. So, knitting has taken a backseat for now. I do love it so, so it won’t be always on the back burner, though!

I have been spinning lately, though. In fact, I just spun up 8 ozs of a beautiful multicover Romney roving I purchased last fall at The Wool Gathering. The woman who sold it to me (from Per Ardua Farm) told me that the mill had made a mistake when they processed it and combined a brown and a white fleece, instead of keeping them seperate. I loved the way it turned out! It appears almost cabled with white and brown in the same strand making it seem as if it were plied that way, then plied with another strand. I will get pictures soon. This was my first time spinning Romney and I don’t know if it was the wool itself or the processing or what, but it practically spun itself (as long as my wheel was behaving!) I have lots more fiber to spin since my sweet husband bought me 2 lbs of Ashland Bay Falkland to try out. And we won’t even mention the alpaca, merino and llama I also have, along with several other types I have to choose from! I won’t be running out of spinning fiber anytime soon at this rate!

I have also spent time sewing. Although it is almost too warm in the office/sewing room to sew for long periods of time right now, I still find myself drawn to the sewing machine. I am experimenting with making a quilted wallet out of a few charms from a charm pack I bought last year. I also just completed two sun hats today for the kids. I will definitely get pictures and details soon.

And I have lots of other crafts calling my name, too. I purchased some glass tiles and some Diamond Glaze from a store at Etsy (more details coming) to make pendant necklaces. I will eventually be making some with pictures of the kids for my mom for her birthday and probably one for my sister for her birthday as well. I have also been doing some crafts wtih the kids, including making prints for Mother’s Day cards and marbelling paper. I have several other crafts on my list to try with the kids, including some felt making. And although it technically doesn’t fall under the crafting category, I have been working in the yard, improving the look of the house, planting flowers and doing some landscaping. There is definitely creativity at work there!

So, while I may seem to be silent, crafting has continued. I would like to post more about some favorite sites for inspiration, some ideas for future projects and of course some finished objects in the future. Hopefully you will see more from me very soon!

Hand stitching

I remember back to when I was first learning to sew. I would make skirts and shirts for my Barbies with scraps of fabric and needle and thread. I realize now I was lucky to have a mom that did some sewing because she had the tools I needed to take those first few tentative steps into sewing. She also had a Singer sewing machine in a cabinet that she bought in the early 70’s with her own money (my sister still has that machine and the cabinet, too) but I didn’t use it until I was much more comfortable with sewing.

Eventually I moved on to sewing machines and making more complex items. I would occassionally hand sew something, but usually hated doing so. It was efficient, neat or easy compared to the sewing machine. I tried to avoid hand sewing as much as possible, unless it was to sew on a button.

This winter, I received a gorgeous new sewing machine – a Singer 7470 Confidence. It was a HUGE upgrade over my old machine that could only sew straight or zigzag stitches. My dear husband bought it for me as a Mother’s Day/Birthday/Christmas gift and I LOVE it! I used it for a ton of stuff, wanting to turn it on nearly every day. It was so easy to thread, so smooth and quiet and so fast, too.

But something strange happened around the time I got my machine. I made a shirt for my brother and one of the very last steps was doing some hand stitching on the collar to close it up. It required tiny little stitches that needed to end up being invisible. And through those little tiny stitches, I found a love for hand stitching. I have since moved on to sewing plushies or softies and other items that don’t require such intricate stitching, but I still love it.

See, I think hand sewing is a lot like knitting. It is rythmical. The push then pull of the needle and thread through the material, the repetitive motion, the tiny stitches and the slow but sure progress that comes with hand sewing are so satisfying to me.  I find myself addicted to sitting down with a piece of fabric or two and a needle and thread and sewing away. So much so that I have even taken a hiatus from knitting for a few weeks now! I never thought I would see the day something took over my time knitting!

So, if you see more hand stitching for a time, that would be why. I still have lots of knitting projects planned and my sewing machine has not been neglected. In fact, I just finished a second fabric basket on the machine. I just need to hand stitch up the turning hole and it will be complete and ready for blogging. So, bear with me as I indulge my current hand stitching fascination.

The Easter Bunny sews, too!

I always loved Easter as a kid. I couldn’t wait to see what the Easter Bunny would leave for me in my basket. And now, I love passing on the tradition to my kids. But my daughter has a birthday coming up and they have lots of grandparents that would be spoiling them, plus they don’t eat a ton of candy, so I wanted to keep baskets simple for them this year.

I had been playing around with sewing plushies from craft felt. I got the book “Cute Stuff” from Aranzi Aranzo out of the library a few weeks ago and was totally inspired. I decided to use some of the ideas from the book to make some felt bags for the kids, complete with appliqued characters and their names embroidered on them. My son is VERY into dogs and my daughter adores cats and the color pink (as all good 5 year old girls should!) This is the result:

Easter bags

I had so much fun making these and they were so easy!

From there, I decided to make some plushies. Since my son is a doggy fanatic, I found a scotty dog pattern from one of my favorite blogs, Allsorts. This was so simple and cute that I ended up making a pair of dogs for him!

For my cat loving daughter, I found the Pointy Kitty pattern from another blog I love, WeeWonderfuls. I tried this one with flannel first, but since I decided to hand sew it, the flannel didn’t work well, so instead I found some bright pink felt and added some flower embellishments to her sides. (I thought I had a better pictures. I will add it when I get one taken.)

I also added in some fabric eggs (although I admit they were a bit lumpy!) that the kids like throwing at each other! You can see those in the picture above. They were made out of scrap fabric.

Coupled with just a bit of candy and some books, the Easter bags were complete! And upon opening all of it, my daughter looked closely at her kitty and said, “I think the Easter Bunny sewed this!” I asked her if the Easter Bunny did a good job and she said yes. LOL! I guess she is going to expect something hand sewn from the Easter Bunny every year now!