Quite a dry spell I'm coming out of here... I have been working on the baby blanket and making good progress (I need to update my status bar!), and I tried a new purse design that came out so horribly I think I might actually throw it away. So to get out of my sewing rut, I made another zipper clutch because I thought I could do a better job than on the black one in my last post. That one looks good in the picture, but the zipper is actually kind of crooked and I don't like the wide ribbon. So here is the new and improved version:
And here is the inside:
I made this one from an old pair of pants that don't fit anymore, and a very small amount of my Ginger Bliss fabric - I'm totally hoarding that stuff. I love this! The thinner ribbon in a bow for a wrist strap makes a big difference too. Now back to knitting for a while!
Labels: bags, sewing
It looks like my updates will be a little later in the day now that I have to go to work like normal people. And I don't have anything truly crafty to post today. So... these were two pictures I took on our Thanksgiving trip to Virginia that I really like. The first is a picture of my husband, and I mostly like it because of the lighting. I am having a lot of fun playing with natural light.
The second is a picture I took at Arlington National Cemetary. The fall colors were mostly gone, but there was a beautiful patch of these yellow leaves on the ground, and I practically flattened myself on the sidewalk to get the shot I wanted.
Labels: photography
I took these pictures the other day (I'm actually a little farther than this now) but I totally forgot to post them. Here's the beautiful seed stitch border on the Big Bad Baby Blanket - it's done and I'm on to the center pattern!
Here's a close up of the seed stitch. I'm proud of it because I've never done it before, and I think it's coming out well!
The blanket is actually being made with a skein of pale yellow and a skein of cream held together, so the blanket looks very light yellow... not the white it looks in the pictures. It's going to be very pretty.
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
I just had to try out my new sewing machine, so I did two projects...
The first is just a zippered clutch made from the black velvety upholstery sample I got the other day.
I used the basic tutorial found
here. Here is the fun fabric I used for the inside - it's a bandana I saw at WalMart for $0.50.
I added a ribbon so that you can wear it on your wrist while holding a drink:
I also made a skirt out of the scrap fabric I posted earlier. I used another skirt I had as a pattern, and even added a zipper!
I used the zigzag stitch for the hem, and I think it looks really good!
Labels: bags, clothes
Look what was waiting for me when I woke up this morning!!
My Christmas present, a new sewing machine. It's the Janome RX-18, and it does more than I'll be able to use for quite some time. Since it was discontinued, we found it online for an awesome deal. I am so exited to try it out! I have about a zillion projects planned...
Labels: sewing
I stopped at Hancock fabrics on my way home the other day in my search for US9 circular needles for the Big Bad Baby Blanket... Alas, yet another failed stop on my search (I finally found them at Michaels), but the trip was not a complete failure. I did find a lot of upholstery fabric samples for $1 each that can each become a cute handbag:
And this fabric for $1.50 (it's over a yard) that I think I'll make into a summery skirt for with a plain white tshirt or something:
I also picked up some more jewelry supplies and some adorable dragonfly beads. Not sure what I'll do with those yet...
Labels: fabric
When my mom took me on my birthday shopping spree, I picked up some things to make jewelry, but I hadn't tried any yet. Then when my sister was in town, we went to the craft museum in Houston and I saw some earrings I totally loved. These aren't exactly the same (the ones at the museum had five stones a different color that were closer together), but they are definitely inspired by them!
I also decided to make a matching necklace, which couldn't have been easier. Here's a picture of it on a choker I already had:
All of this took me about five minutes to make. I can't believe how easy it was, and I really loved the way it turned out.
Labels: jewelry
I finally made a scarf I've been planning for months! I bought this yarn (Blue Sky Alpaca, I think, in Rusty Orange) on my Thanksgiving trip to Virginia, and just got around to knitting it when my sister was visiting for New Year's. She wanted something to do, so she cast on and knit about half of it, and then I took over to finish the length and do the fringe. I love it, and it's so soft I forget it's wool! It's so fun to know we made it together!
Here's a picture of me wearing it on my way to work yesterday, since it was actually cold for a day.
And here's a close up of the weave:
Labels: knit/crochet
Another project I did for Christmas that I forgot to photograph... I made fleece hats and scarves for my nieces and nephew. They came out great, but as you can see, the hats are a little big for the younger kids. They'll have to grow into them a little! The scarves are just long rectangles of fleece with a blanket stitch edge in fuzzy yarn, and I got the hat pattern from the Martha Stewart website and added pompoms in the same fuzzy yarn. I'm pretty happy with them!!
Edited to Add: It was pointed out that Kendall's hat and scarf looks black in that picture, so go
here to see the original post of the fabric I used!
Labels: sewing
My sister sent pictures of the bag I made her for Christmas, since I forgot to take them myself before wrapping it up. I'm pretty happy with how it came out, but as always I have ideas for future improvements.
The dimensions are about 8.5"x11" so she should be able to put a magazine in it - although it looked a little undersized and I didn't test it out. Here's the outside:
And the inside, complete with a zipper pocket (only my second ever, and it came out better than the first):
And in other news, I ordered my new sewing machine yesterday! I am so excited. I got the Janome RX-18, which is a discontinued model, so I got it really cheap and it does everything I could want! It's supposed to ship via UPS today, so hopefully I'll get it early next week. A sewing machine of my very own! That's brand new!!
Labels: bags, sewing
Check out the cool progress bars I added! The trick will be to actually update them - right now I actually have to modify my Blogger template and republish my journal to change them, which is kind of a pain. There must be a better way to do that... But they're so cool! So I thought I'd add them for now.
Also, I've finally unveiled one of my super secret projects because I decided to take the pressure off myself by not making it a gift... I've been working on the Angel of Freedom off and on for two years now:
It's counted cross stitch on super tiny linen, and it's taking a long time. But so far it's coming out great! Hopefully I'll have it finished by next Christmas!!
Edited to Add: The picture above is from the web, and is what the project will look like complete, not a picture of what I have done so far!!
Labels: needlework, wip
Well, I did get done what I planned to, tonight, so I guess I shouldn't complain...
My intent was to at least cast on for the Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch N' Bitch. And I did that. I decided I had time to do at least the first row. Of course, when I got to the last of 126 stitches, it was a knit, and it was supposed to be a purl (seed stitch: k1, p1, repeat). I counted, and had 127. Crap.
It was so so tempting to rip out and start over. That's what I used to do when I messed up. Instead, I looked back through the row and actually found where I messed up. I got out some spare needles and similar yarn, and tried to recreate what I did. I was able to do it, and fix it, after about 10 cast on test rows. To keep this from getting any longer, I was able to fix the blanket row, but it did me in for the night. So here is what I have to show for probably an hour or more of knitting:
It's kind of depressing - all that work and you can hardly see it on the table. The circular needles still like to curl up from being in the package, and the box still has the next hanks of yarn in it. The gray yarn and blue needles are what I was using to recreate my mistake. See the dog in the background? He's kind of why I messed up in the first place... yeah, it's his fault! Anyway, there's a happy ending, and I'll get to knit more tomorrow night, maybe.
Labels: knit/crochet, wip
Yay, the
Rockstar Scarf is done!! It was a little late for Christmas (I had to wrap it still on the needles to give it to my mom), but it's done now and I totally think it was worth it! I used a different color of Koigu to be a little more... sophisticated, I guess, and I think it turned out awesome. My mother was kind enough to model for me!
Unfortunately, it's not cold enough here for scarves right now, but maybe we'll get another cold snap soon so she can show it off!!
Labels: knit/crochet
