Gifts from Home -- Thanks, Mom!

The St. Patrick’s Day towel and runner are especially fantastic because I have a love of four leaved clovers. I love the fabrics she chose for the towels, too. Or perhaps they are heavy duty napkins? I suppose I could use them for either task.

She has used that runner pattern a lot recently — I’ve had a runner for almost every season for the past six months and I know my sister has received a few. No complaints here!

Together we did some stuffed animal mending. She calls them “stuffys” (or perhaps “stuffies”), but what we  had were two very different cases. There was a dog with a rip across the paw — she was able to sew that up using a simple ladder stitch. Then there was the lion reconstructive surgery:

Ripped lion in need of stuffed animal mending

Quite the dilemma for this poor guy. Her dog had ripped off the head, which may have been when the zipper broke. We thought about unstitching the zipper and replacing it with Velcro, but instead, we stuffed it with polyester fiber-fil and sewed it shut. She wasn’t that interested in using it as a purse.

Impressively, she did almost all the stitching herself! He does have a slight, quizzical turn to his head now, but it really just adds character. I did the first couple stitches of each part to show her how to do the ladder stitch, but she even ripped all the stitches to get the zipper out properly. She learns fast!

After all that reconstructive stuffed animal mending, he looks pretty good. You can hardly see the scars stitches:

Lion after stuffed animal mending

She decided after we were done that his name was Simba. A good choice, since it means “lion” in Swahili.

I also did a little mending on my own clothes as she did that. I replaced missing buttons on my husband’s coat and shirt, and I also patched up a small hole in one of my undershirts:

Undershirt patch on stretchy fabric

My hand-stitches aren’t quite up to snuff when it comes to patches, so I used my sewing machine. I switched the needle to accommodate for the fabric type and was careful not to catch the underside of the sleeve. I actually didn’t have any problems, and now I get a little more use out of this blouse.

I didn’t intend it to be a business/professional undershirt, so I went with the same bright fabric to make the patch that I used for the DIY Kindle cover and the One-Yard Wonder car trash bag. I love the colors and design, though being on my elbow it may be hard to show off without using some odd gestures.

As far as Big Brothers Big Sisters crafts go, mending is a solid skill to show and teach.

If you haven’t heard of Big Brothers Big Sisters, here’s the short version: they pair kids and teens with an adult volunteer to create one-on-one mentoring relationships. My “little sister” is under 10 and we meet up for about three hours every week. Aside from going to concerts and movies, we have also been making time for crafts and she is getting into it!

This week we  made little pillows for our cats stuffed with both fluff and catnip. Her cats were interested, but mine is unfortunately not the type to fall head over heels for catnip. As for sewing, this is what we went over:

• Adding seam allowances
• Clipping corners before turning it right-side out
• Cutting the fabric
• Drawing your own pillow pattern
• Sewing in a straight line
• Hitting the reverse button to reinforce the end of a stitch
• Pinning fabric together

She did pretty well and it makes for a great Big Brothers Big Sisters craft project. I like small projects with kids because it holds their attention and they have something to show for it at the end. Starting with clothes can be a tough choice, as a shirt or skirt can take a LONG time if you aren’t used to sewing at all (I should know — my first project was a pair of drawstring pants).

But the DIY catnip pillows were pretty simple and I let her use scrap fabric (finally, a reason to keep it!):

Two catnip pillows for two lucky cats

This is a simple kids sewing project that is great for kids who love their cats!

She also embroidered a pillow a couple weeks ago:

Embroidery pattern from "Sublime Stitching"

As it turns out, one seam can take a scarf from hardly worn to a must-wear.

In the before photo, I’m wearing a scarf I made probably 5+ years ago. It’s the only handmade scarf I have, and I never wore it. Maybe once a season. Why would I not wear it? Because it’s wool, 10 feet long, wrapped around my neck 3 times, and the ends of the scarf would always get in the way.

This winter, scarf cowls are all the rage. One of my favorite blogs, Adventures in Dressmaking, recently posted two different tutorials on how to change up a scarf to a cowl.

The mechanics are simple: sew the ends of the scarf together with a matching yarn/thread, and wrap around your neck as loose or as tight as you want.

In the after photo, I have it wrapped around three times. I love this scarf now. It makes a huge statement when I wear it, and I can wear it all day long without getting too hot or the ends getting in my way. I get compliments every time I wear it, and it goes with so many more outfits than it used to. It looks good under coats, or on top of a short sleeve silky top (how I wore it to work yesterday). I did this in the beginning of December (the photos were taken by a co-worker now on maternity leave) and have worn the scarf at least once a week since then.

I definitely recommend this for any scarves you have that you never wear. It’s such a simple change up. And if you don’t like the way it looks, easy enough to revert back to the way the scarf was before. Just rip out your seam.

One reason I was trying to wrap it up before bed is the two projects were (literally) cut from the same cloth — I had already finished one and felt I should complete the second one, too. The other reason is I am stubborn and I wanted to finish everything that night. Unfortunately, I got a bit sloppy and I was working with a few materials I’m not as used to.

The first project was a fabric waste receptacle to hang in the car. I’m hoping my husband and I will actually use it, but even if not, it’s pretty cute. The pattern is from the first One-Yard Wonder book and the fabric is Odyessa by Momo for ModaFabrics.com.

"Not-Ugly Car Trash Bag" from One-Yard Wonder pattern

I love that fabric! I bought it quite some time ago with the intention of doing just this. The One-Yard Wonder book doesn’t always use up a whole yard, and that was the case with this one. I lso just noticed the loose thread on the bag in the first photo. Luckily it wasn’t attached — just a scrap.

It fit nicely on the passenger’s seat:

Not-Ugly Car Trash Bag in the car

It may have used half a yard or less, which is why I had enough to make this DIY Kindle cover:

DIY Kindle Cover to protect my little e-reader

Maybe I should call it a Kindle cozy? I just made up the pattern as I went. Basically, I cut two long strips of fabric a couple inches wider than my Kindle. I determined the length by doubling the height of the Kindle and adding five inches for the flap. I bought some batting to place between the two, then I sewed the red bias tape from my grandmother’s stash all the way around (this is where I got sloppy). I then folded the piece to create a pocket for the Kindle, leaving enough to create a flap over. I sewed the two sides together to create the pocket, and then I turned it inside out.

Unfortunately, my sloppy stitches meant that the bias tape had not been sewn in place on the bottom side (though it was all stitched on the top side). I had to make the pocket even smaller to make the stitching work, but that turned out to be a bit of a blessing. The Kindle now fits much more snugly than it otherwise would have.

My little Kindle fits nicely in my finished e-book cover.

I still haven’t decided how I want to keep it closed. I added that ribbon as a last minute effort, as I was fading and didn’t want to mess up any more stitching. I may actually stitch the ribbon in place to act as a tie or I may just use no-sew Velcro.

All things considered though, late night sewing or not, my DIY Kindle cover and car trash bag turned out pretty well, actually. Even more importantly, one of my craft New Year’s resolutions was to finish that trash bag project! On to that dress …

I was lucky enough to get gift cards to both Amazon and Barnes and Nobel for Christmas, which means that there is an influx of new craft books in my life.

Every time the calendar rolls around to a new year, my mind always rushes toward setting new goals. I didn’t make any resolutions, but I did spend time on new years day thinking about what I want to craft for myself, my friends and family, and my home in this coming new year.

The first four months I imagine will be a frenzy of crafting. My sister is expecting her first child in April, and there is just too much I want to make for my new nephew. I also really want to attempt to create stuff for my home that I love, that will be whimsically stylish, and that will really improve the function of our space. And finally, I want to get a head start on Christmas crafting (really? already?), as there are many people who deserve hand made from me, and some have already requested finished goods.

The other day on the Colette Patterns blog, the Coletterie, Sarai asked her readers if they had any sewing goals for the new year. I realized I did, but not like her list. Hers is a list of goals to improve sewing techniques. Mine is more a list of things I want to make sure I make time to make.

For the rest of the month, in between knitting a baby blanket for my nephew, I’ll be scouring my books and magazines to come up with a master list of must-makes. For now, I’ll probably keep them all together on a google docs spreadsheet, so I can list what it is, where the pattern is, when I need/want it by, who/what it’s for, and any other pertinent information I can come up with.

Then, I’m going to share it all with you, so that you can keep me honest about what I am (or am not) working on.

Now, to be sure, I will want to make everything on the master list. But I’m sure I’ll come across projects that are screaming to be made that I didn’t know about in January. I may make stuff that isn’t on the list, and I may continue to add to the list. But there will be a list, and I’m going to attempt to use it to force myself to not procrastinate.

Do you have a list of stuff you want to make?

Custom outfits and patterns here I come!

My crafting time was severely reduced this year — Turns out starting your own business takes up a majority of your time (who knew?). However, I recently learned one of the most valuable pieces of advice a business owner can get: Take a day off!

Being an entrepreneur can be a 7-day-per-week job if you let it, but you risk burning out and closing shop if that’s the route you take. I realized that I have to give myself time off. Otherwise, I become a horribly unproductive person. So now that I’m taking weekends off, I can get back to crafting!

And my Christmas haul has made sewing even more tempting. My mother picked up the BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook for me — I’ve always wanted to learn how to make alterations effectively and I feel like this book is a step in that direction. They offer alteration suggestions and show you a few variations on five master patterns: blouse, dress, bag, skirt and coat.

Not quite what I needed.

Last year I bought a book called Altered Clothing, but it really wasn’t what I was looking for. That book focuses on altering clothes you already own, and sadly there isn’t much you can do with a plain t-shirt (only one suggestion in that book). Most of the other options I either didn’t have the clothes necessary to alter or I didn’t want to alter them.

As for New Year’s resolutions …

Finish old projects (in various stages currently):

• Finish blouse
• Finish dress
• Finish car accessory

Start new projects:

• BurdaStyle skirt
• BurdaStyle  dress
• More amigurumi!

What are your crafty resolutions?

I was helping a friend patch up some of his wardrobe this weekend and realized I had a whole pile of clothes awaiting the same treatment. Inspired to finally complete what needed to be done, I took to needle and thread to fix up two blouses and a turtleneck sweater with easy-to-mend seam rips.

My final task was not as easy. I had this white, wide necked blouse that I really liked, but it somehow got these light blue and yellow stains on the front. I’m not sure what they were from — perhaps something bled on it in the wash? — but I had been meaning to cover the stains up via bleach, dye or magic for at least two years.

That’s right. I put off a mending project that took me 30 minutes for more than two years.

Crafter’s procrastination continues to astound me.

When I finally set down to do it, I decided immediately that I wanted patches done in a colorful but somewhat slapdash fashion. So I used a few of the fabrics left over from my topsy turvy doll project and traced a heart shape using a water soluble pen. I cut one and intended to have it appear as if it were streaking across my shirt, since the stains were on both the left and right of the front. However, I didn’t have enough fabric to pull it off, so I settled for a heart on either side.

I then got to use one of the special stitches on my Kenmore sewing machine to create a vine of clovers all the way around each heart in red. The edges are rough and I’m curious to see how it turns out after its first wash. If it sucks, I haven’t worn this shirt in a long time anyway.

Just because, I also cut off all the boring white buttons and replaced them with slightly larger yellow buttons pulled from the depths of my grandmother’s sewing desk. While these only barely made it through the button holes, they are really only for decoration anyway, so no matter.

After finalizing the project, I accidentally created a small rip in the front of the shirt. Sigh. At least I was in a repairing mood, eh?

Another stained blouse rescued with homemade goodness.

I’m currently planning for Christmas, and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s the first Christmas that the mister and I will be spending the whole day together (he doesn’t work, yay!) and our first Christmas on our own in our apartment.

This all means that I’m serious about getting my crafty on this year. So far, my plans include Christmas stockings (in progress), ornaments (some supplies procured), and a new faux fireplace (pipe dream planning stages).

I’m planning on this weekend beginning the Christmas craft craze in earnest with a trip to JoAnn’s and possibly Michael’s on the horizon to get the rest of the stuff I’ll need.

What are you most looking forward to making this season? Least looking forward to?

And does anyone have any must-make Christmas ornament tutorials? It’s handmade or nothing on the tree for me.

Blood Spattered Halloween Invites

I invited four couples over, and everyone RSVP’d yes minus one husband who was buried in Physics homework. I had a lot of fun pulling together a bunch of different tutorials to decorate for the party.

Clothspin Bats on curtains and lamps.

I did the Clothespin Bats from Martha Stewart, the Bloody Invitation from HGTV, and Bat Straw Name Tags from Scrapbooks Etc., though I modified it and did it tied around the wine glass stems so that people would know which glass was theirs.

Wine glasses with bat nametags.

I also did a Henna Pumpkin from Think Crafts Blog, but I didn’t get a photo of it, and I wasn’t too thrilled with my work, even though it was really easy to do.

For costumes, the Mister bought a Robin Hood costume (minus the tights), and I made myself a regency dress to be Elisabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. I used Simplicity 4055, with View A, except no overskirt.

It came together really easy. It took me probable about 8 hours total between cutting out pieces on a Friday, Sewing about 5-6 hours on Saturday, and all of the hand sewing and finishing that I did on my downtime in the week leading up to Halloween.

Liz and Lisa dressed up for the Halloween party at work.

Project Notes:

• I lengthened the pattern by 7 inches because I’m ridiculously tall, and ended up turning up the hem 2.5 inches.
• I cut out a size 16, and used size 18 for the sleeves because I am not a fan of tight sleeves.
• I left off the overlay dress for view A, lined the top, but didn’t line the skirt.
• I really should have paid attention to the notes on PatternReview because the top really could have used lenghthining. The bust line hit just under the swell of my girls, and the bust seam would creep up while I was sitting so I spent a lot of time at the party and at work on Halloween making sure that it was pulled down.
• I finished off the costume with a long strand of pearls and long white gloves.