This is another one of the gifts that i was talking about.
I made it as an environmentally friendly shopping bag. It has fleece interfacing which makes it nice and sturdy. It is also pretty roomy without being gigantic, see.... it holds all the essentials...
actually i dont know who i'm kidding, we dont ever drink, that beer has been in our fridge since the superbowl... of 06! It just happenned to fit perfectly into the bag with the jug of milk. Enjoy your bag Jean!
I've been making alot of gifts lately and i think my new few posts will be me finally getting to show off what i've made! Thats the hardest part about making a gift, waiting for the giftee to finally get it! Well i'm cheating a little bit here because this is a gift for Sarah and as she reads this entry she will see her present for the first time!
I'm not sure what exactly to call this, craft bucket was the best i could do. It looks like a purse, but really its meant to be a sturdy tote that can sit by your feet as you knit, crochet, embroider, whatever you like. I used the same shape that i used for this bag which Sarah likes to call the "halter bag" because the shape resembles a halter top. So maybe this could be called the halter bucket? No thats dumb, i really cant name things.
The bucket is about a half inch shorter than a magazine, so whats that 11, 10.5 inches tall? by about 12 inches wide and 3 inches deep. I filled it with my yarns and knitting magazine to hopefully lure Sarah into the knitting world.... look Sarah..... yarrrrrrrrnnnn.....
My sewing machine and my kniting needles have been playing tug of war with my mind lately, i just cant seem to decide what i want to be working on at any given moment. I'll start knitting a sock and then have the strong desire to run into the other room and work on my quilt. I'll pick up clementine, get through a few rows and run back to the sewing room to work on another dress. I just cant make up my mind lately.
Luckily today was a do nothing day, i had no plans, nothing to do so i started a knitting project of course! I also started a new sewing project! I just cant stop.
I started Glee from zephyrstlye. I was sitting around after lunch trying to decide what i wanted to work on when i remembered the 7 new skeins of yarn that landed at my door a few days ago. 7 pretty skeins of supermerino bought for half off! So anyways, Glee has begun. I'm about 7 inches into it, i think i'll be able to take the sleeve stitches off in 2 inches or so. I'm really hoping that my 7 skeins will be enough! If i have to i'll try to find a matching white to knit the bottom ribbing and neckline with.
I also have 12 skeins of supermerino in the chocolate covered cherries color finding their way to my door, hopefully tomorrow! I have some kind of simple, perfectly fit, wearable cardigan in mind for those 12. But i wont start on that until at least next fall.
Something else that pulled my attention this weekend was dyeing yarn, i had tried once with koolaid and it went alright, but i recently saw a tutorial on this lovely blog for using easter egg dyes and had to give it a shot, especially when i went to walmart and found out that the egg dyeing kits were only 35 cents! I bought 10 and i might go back for more, they had tons left over. So here are my first attempts at dyeing my own yarn...
very bright and colorful! The first skein is lion brand wool, the natural color. I used pink, yellow and green. It came out very neon but i like it, it will make a nifty scar or hat. The second skein is 2 balls of a joann's brand superwash wool. I used blue, purple and red. The red came out pretty pinky and there are white patches in this skein. I dont think the treated wool was as absorbent as the lion wool, its still fun though! I will probably use both of these for christmas presents this year!
I've really been in the mood to make a fun summer dress and I have a friend who really wanted a fun summer dress, perfect match! The 2 prints are from Anna Maria Horner's Bohemian fabric line. I'm in love with the pretty jewel tones.
I dont have the right length zipper in my stash so as soon as i get the zipper put in, this dress will be off to hawaii! Hopefully Rachelle will give us some good pictures of the dress enjoying the sun!
A couple of close ups of the bodice. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It is fully lined and there are no raw edges anywhere. The pattern i used was from Simplicity. Looking at the pattern's pictures you would never know that a pretty dress could lurk inside, i really hate the way that pattern company's make them look so unappealing and you really have to try to just look at the shape of the dress and ignore the insane 80's flower prints.
I am addicted to totebags, almost as much as i'm addicted to notebooks. But of course most totes are boxy and rectangular, not this baby! I've seen purses similar in construction and shape around etsy and other blogs. I really wanted to try it out because i really like the idea of binding the edges and not having to fit the lining into the tote perfectly, this really is an accomodating tote construction. Of course i had to make it out of my favorite measuring tape fabric, from moda's building blocks.
Its very roomy without being too big to find anything in it. It fits my matching notebook and pencil case, a magazine and still has room for more. Overall i'm very excited with how it turned out. I made a similar one but it must remain hidden until it makes it to its new owner!
I've been wanting to post more of my sewing projects lately but it seems like they've all been gifts and i have to wait for them to be recieved before i can post them! I made this travel case for my friend Emily, a fellow knitter. It is 12 inches long, 6 inches tall and 6 inches deep. I figure it is just about the right size to hold a small knitting project and all the essentials while you're on vacation. It could also defnitely be used a toiletry case though it is lined in basic cotton which isn't as nice for toiletries as oil cloth or some other kind of plasticy lining would be.
I just love these fabrics! I'm a big fan of pink, orange and brown, and those colors definitely dominate my huge fabric stash.
I should have another sewing project to post in a few days, but of course i have to wait til it gets to its recipient!
Finally, a sewing project to show off! This is a notebook cover I made with the fabrics i picked up at the houston quilt show. I also had enough left over to make a little pencil case for my sister for christmas. It will be hard to give it up though, it looks so cute with my notebook!
I have an obsession with office supplies, back to school shopping is my favorite part of starting a new semester. As a result of this obsession i have way too many notebooks and pens. I made this cover to fit any generic 5 subject spiral bound book, that way i can reuse it with a new notebook, any time i want!
The cover is just basically a sewn folder with pockets for the front and back cover, and twill tape ties to keep everything closed.
