Today it was 80 degrees. I knitted a scarf.

ETA: Wha? I scheduled this to post last weekend.  It was not 80 degrees yesterday, but the universe decided to kick my in the behind today, and I am sad, and I can't be bothered to change it. 

My mom bought this yarn at Jo-Ann a month or so back.  For being a cheap inexpensive acrylic, this yarn has a beautiful color (way more so than you can tell in my crappy photos), it's super bulky and super soft. 

I only had one skein, and after trying a cable pattern that I found on Ravelry that seemed so simple but was either flawed or flew right past my comprehension (guess which one I'm betting on?), I let it sit around because I wasn't sure what to do.  Since I was taking a long car trip last week, and wanted to finish the scarf in time to toss it in an Easter basket (don't worry, I see the jerkiness of gifting someone something they technically bought, there's more stuff in the basket) I had to come up with something. 

So, in lieu of following an actual pattern, I used one stitch the whole way through. 

Pattern: Seed stitch
Size: About 3 feet
Needles: 13
Will you turn it over so we can see the weaving in of the ends?: Not a chance

Sometimes we should embrace the fray

I'm heading up north this weekend for a friends mini-reunion, and one of the girls will be running in a charity fun run.  This is a charity that's pretty near and dear to her, and helped her with some problems in the past, so I wanted to get a Congratulations card.  Congrats on finishing the foot race, and for getting across the finish line and tackling her problem head on.

I'm leaving early tomorrow morning, and remembered at...oh, about 9:00 tonight that I wanted to come bearing swag.  I 'made' a 'card' by folding a piece of pretty cardstock and writing a note inside, and jumped at the chance to sit at the sewing machine to fashion up a little bagvelope.  That's right.  Bag + envelope.

There are no frills associated with the bagvelope.  Not even one.  No lining, just french seams on one side and the bottom.  No pressing or folding of the patch on the front.  I even pulled some strings to encourage a bit of fraying.  Somewhere around here I've got a sharpie and I'll write her name on the front.  Even the top is cut parallel to the selvedge so there was no casing, no pressing, no measuring, no anything at all.  Solid linen, scrap silk and the thread that was already in my machine.

Best five minutes of my day.

My one and only (sort of) quilt

I've totally slacked on not only updating, but on actually making things.  I really hate it, not even not being able to post, but being able to hang out and relax by the sewing machine.  Problem is, not that the Internet much cares about the details, my sewing machine is at home, and home...home sucks right now. 

I've made a few quick projects here and there, but still on my camera card are pictures of this (wannabe) quilt that I put together for my favorite baby's first birthday.  Every single piece came out of the remnant bin at Jo-Ann, and probably didn't cost $10 to make.  I did it that was because I'd never tried to quilt before, and if I either failed or gave up I didn't want to be mad that I forked over all kinds of cash. 

The backing is a super soft minkee-type white fabric (remnant bin...I didn't purposely make a solid white backed quilt for a baby), and the rest are mysteries.  The quilting is solid lines stitched (as close to) in the ditch (as I could get it).  The binding is machine stitched. 

You cannot see photos of the back of the quilt because I'd rather not remember it.  Total puckersville.  Thankfully, the minkee was pretty scrunchy, and by the time I washed and dried it it was decently camouflaged.   

I haven't tried to quilt since, and I'm afraid to try anything bigger.  I finished this one in about three days and by the time I was done it was cozy and heavy and soft and crinkly and I know that once I get up my courage and am back in a peaceful place, I'll give it another try. 

February 11-14: (Heartfelt?) quilt card

Oh, HAI!

The thing about this card is that it was actually finished on time (the site it's originally from, http://www.diynamite.com/, appears to be dead).  My camera battery was dead, so I put in on the charger and came back upstairs to do something (cook? gather laundry? sit on the couch?) for a few minutes while it got a lil' juice.  And then three days passed.  Whatev.

This ended up being a mini-card, because the only cardstock I had were smaller squares and just didn't look right long and skinny.  Plus, this way the double fold hides the threads and I didn't have to cut and glue another piece to the front. 

Since I forgot I even made the card, I missed the 'heartfelt' mark, and obviously no one got it for Valentine's Day.  Luckily, I don't know a lot of picky people so no one will mind getting a heart card on their birthday.

February 4-7: Simple pillowcase

This one is a simple pillowcase from Rachael Rabbit.

I made this one for Christmas, so I'll be copping out here and just showing that one.  I'm still not feeling great, I'm tired and I'm in kind of a mood. 

February 1-3: Matryoshka doll pocket pillow

Until the last minute I thought this matryoshka doll pillow by Lauren Brandy was this weekends project.  Luckily, she sews up really fast, so I'm still on schedule!  I think the trickiest part was typing matryoshka right.  (For the record, I typed it matryoski twice in a row.  At least I'm consistent.)

Plus, she's absolutely adorable.  (As is the rest of Lauren's googy-goody handmade blog.  I was totally wowed while I was getting the link above.  She zoomed right into my reader.)  I know there is another tooth pillow later in the calendar, and I know some twins who are at prime tooth-loosing age, so this girl and her fellow pillow fella will be on their way over there pretty soon.

The Christmas haul

Some of my best presents this year were sewing related.  Among gift cards to my local quilt shop and Jo-Ann, which are sure to keep on giving, I scored some accoutrements that will (hopefully) find their way into some really great projects.  My family gifted me a walking foot, a few yards of fabric, a sewing book, and a new cutting mat and rotary cutter.

I gifted myself this:

It's sure to make an appearance here on the blog. 

Brown Paper Packages: Swaptastic

I love that the crafty blogosphere gives us all the opportunity to share our projects and our thoughts and inspiration and missteps and our favorite things.  I also love the awesome bloggers that host swaps that allow us to exchange actual THINGS.  Things that you can feel and use and get for free can share with other lovely ladies who craft.

I've done three swaps this year, two for supplies and one for handmade gifts.  In my supply exchanges I've received tons of awesome buttons, so really pretty trims and ribbons, fat quarters that I never would have bought for myself but loved as soon as I had them in my hands, vintage bias tapes and scraps that I've done my best to make into lovely finished items. 

My handmade gift exchange I sent off (in a huge rush) about a week before Christmas as soon as I realized that mail delivery was going to start slowing down and I needed to get my butt in gear.  The rules of the exchange were one gift to spoil the person, one gift for the home and one gift to eat.  (Don't worry, for the gift to eat my roommate offered to give me some outrageously tasty Holiday pastry balls (heh) to send so that my giftee was spared my baking.)  I wish I had bothered to take better pictures, but I was flying to get them into the box.

The "for the person" gift was this granny bag.  The handles are a brown suede lace and the fabric is a Kaffe Fassett print from my local quilt shop.  I love a granny bag because they're so easy to throw a bunch of things in and tote around, but they're cute enough so you don't feel like your schlubbing a junk bag. 

I ended up making two "for the home" gifts.  I first made this fabric basket out of a creamy linen and (vintage, maybe?) floral print that I just LOVE, but I had such a small amount of scrap left over from the granny bag that I wanted to give the pillow a try.  The envelope flaps on the back are the same print as the bag and the criss-cross on the front.  It ended up matching so nicely and looked so pretty with the linen that I included it in the package.  

I hope my recipient has as much fun opening these treats as I had making them.

Last gift of 2009. And dinner.

I hope that everyone has been able to celebrate a fantastic Holiday season so far.  Less than a week to go until 2010!

My last holiday project was thought up, stitched up and given away all in under an hour.  When I was in San Francisco a few months ago my friend was searching in all of the jewelry shops for a leather bracelet.  She was on her way over this weekend for a girls night and I happened to be in the basement and spotted some suede lace that I had gotten to make straps.  I didn't have anything to properly fasten a bracelet with, despite a box full of jewlery making supplies in the basement, so I just folded in the edges sewed on a snap. 

It's a bit of a rush job, and I'm not sure it perfectly fits the vision, but I like the way it looks.  I'm pretty sure that I'll be applying my usual one-for-me-one-for-you rule and making another one in the near future.

Today, though, all I made for myself was this.

It was delicious.

And the piggy goes oink oink

So, you've got this cousin who likes purple and likes pigs and just moved to a new house.  Plus, there's a pretty big holiday coming up where the tradition of gift giving is pretty prominent. 

If only there was something that seemed made for a situation like this.  Enter Pig Let by Echino.

Then, add some sand colored sueduecloth and two 16"x16" pillow forms bought on a super sale at Jo-Ann, and you've got these!

These were actually some of the first Christmas gifts that I made, they'll be the last to get wrapped, and one of the first to be given away.  I think that's about fitting.

I've got one more last minute gift to make in a hurry tomorrow evening, and then I'm calling it off. 

Many fine things can be done in a day

This is not one of them.

I've made tote bags similar to this before, including the one that I carry almost everyday, but this one was causing me so much stress that I kept putting it to the side to finish other projects instead.  Even so, I'm really psyched about the way this turned out.  I'm having such a problem letting it go that I see a olive green linen and brown gingham sibling in my future.  I love the way it looks, I love that it's really roomy but doesn't look like a massive suitcase and I love the way the pleats make it look a little bit more interesting than just a plain tote.  I've got to say, though, making a bag this big and this pleated with slippery, wrinkle prone linen made me say bad words more than I'd like to admit.

I picked an oyster linen out for this one because it's a Christmas gift for my pickiest cousin and even though I've got a stash full of some really proper fabrics, I just know I'd never pick the right print.  I really like the simplicity of the linen though, and it makes it look a lot more sophisticated (snort) BUT! I did sneak these orange polka dots in as the lining, because there had to be just a little bit of livelihood. 

Before this one gets wrapped up it's definitely due for a short wash and steam to get rid of the wrinkles.  I was just so excited that it was finally done that I had to get it up right away! 

Book It

First things first.  I am totally floored by the comments on the last post!  You all are far, far too kind.  If it's the Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Day post you're looking for, head here.  You're more than welcome to stick around and read on, though.

*****

The latest bag of the Holiday Season Of Non-stop Sewing is for my mom's book club gift swap.  Just a simple flat-bottomed tote, but with pockets in the front instead of on the inside.

Since this is meant for a book club member, I put the handles a bit further apart than standard to make sure a paperback could fit in the pockets.  The side pockets are smaller that way, but will still easily fit pens/pencils and a cell phone if it's thin enough (read: not mine). 

The pocket fabric is the oh-so-swoonable Authentic by Sweetwater.  The lining and bag body were supposed to be the Word Play print of the same line, but, it just didn't look right I cut it upside down.  Oops. 

Luckily!  I'm very stingy and will not throw away extra fabulous fabric just because I effed up.  So, I made this.

I have no idea where this scrap of green came from, but it matches my black and lime green bathroom pretty great.  I was going to make the outside of the basket green to show a little more color in an otherwise boring room, but like I said...STINGY!...so I wanted to show off the pretty.  I've got just enough of each left to make another basket, so maybe I'll do that one inverted?  Maybe.

(Sock) Monkeying around

Thanksgiving weekend absolutely flew by.  Which is surprising, really, seeing as I was awake for about 20 out of 24 hours for at least three of the Black Friday weekend days. 

A few days before Thanksgiving, though, I went to a birthday party for a extra special (and extra cute) little boy that was turning one!

His mom mentioned an Ugly Doll a few weeks before his birthday, so I gave softie making a try and made a pseudo-Ugly Doll out of two fat quarters and embroidered his face.  I just realized that I didn't take pictures of his backside, but it was bright yellow with the alphabet (in all the other bright colors) floating around. 

I also trimmed some bathroom towels with the cutest sock monkey print that I found (on sale!) at a local quilt shop.  I bought a half yard and the towels didn't even require half of it.  I'm afraid the full effect is a bit marred, as I discovered that there were exactly zero angles at which my towel bar could be photographed that did not include a view of the toilet, which...no.  So, here they are IN my shower.  Not pictured: me, huddling under the shower head hoping that the water didn't spontaneously turn on (no, it's never done that before, and yes, I realize how unlikely it was) and soak me, the camera and the towels.

Now I need to find another kiddie-friendly project to use up the rest of it!

Table covers: part deux

Last week I finished up the tablecloths that I had been putting off for about a month.

Today I finished a table runner that I've been putting off far longer.  I made a basket liner for my mom (she calls is a bun warmer.  hee hee!) and had a ton of material left over.  She's been asking for a table runner for a long time, so I decided to use the leftovers to make one.

Reversible, even.

I tried to find a tutorial on the Internet to save myself too many mathematical calculations, but everything I found was too short to drape over the ends of the table, so I was forced to try and multiply on my own.  I decided to wimp out, basically, and cut one side into equal 6.5" strips, and then cut 4 10" strips for the other side and used the scraps from the first side to make up the difference.  I used fusible interfacing on one side because I wanted the ends to drape nicely over the end of the table.  The fabric was also very light, so I wanted to minimize the seethroughness.

The real brain tease, though, was measuring the bias tape that I used to bind it.  I used a super neat tutorial I found on Fabritopia's blog and crossed my fingers.  I used my last square of fabric to make the bias tape and as I was binding it I started to sweat because I didn't want to have:
a.) to seam rip the whole damn runner
b.) to run to Jo-Ann and buy two packages of bias tape, delaying the finish even longer
c.) wasted all that time chasing my fingers with an iron to make the tape to begin with.

Luckily, with three whopping inches to spare, I had enough.

She better like it.  I hope she likes it!

Instead of supporting sweatshops...

...I've become one.

So.  Long time no blog.  I've actually been in a sewing frenzy the past few days, however, there are next to no finished objects I can show the internet as most of them have been gifts, and inquiring minds want to peek at the blog and ruin their surprises.  Which, really, is too bad, because I'm really digging some of the projects.

What I can show you are these patchwork bags, because even if they do end up as surprises, even I don't know who they're for yet.  I'd say that means I'm not ruining much.

I'm loving making these bags with so many different prints.  Isn't it fun to see how totally different colors and prints can look so neat together?

I picked up some Rouenneries last week, so as soon as I stop feverishly working on things for other people, I plan on making something for ME, ME, ME!

Sock Sack

I'm heading off for a long weekend getaway and this time instead of going on a bag making frenzy I made just one bag.  And it's not even for me!

I'll be staying with a friend who has recently learned to knit, so I used another of Terry Atkinson's tutorials and made a knitting tote as a thank you gift.  I modified the tutorial a little bit and added a lining, since I knew all those frayed ends would haunt my dreams.  I used the scraps from my Lickety Split bag to make the sack.

The beatuy of the sack, supposedly, is that the yarn can feed right out of the drawstring opening and not get tangled or knotted while you work.  The zipper pocket on the side hold whatever knitting accoutrements you'd like to lug around with you. 

I'm including a pattern book and a skien of yarn to sweeten the deal just a little bit.

Zip it

A few months back I participated in a gift exchange hosted by My Mama Made It.  The gifts were full of the senders' spare trims, buttons, fabric, etc...

Aside from a huge pile of buttons and a card full of ribbon from my sender, Jessica, I also got a bunch of fabric!  I've had it sitting on my sewing table for a long time waiting for an opportunity to use it and today!, well, I got impatient.

Four zippy pouches!  They're all different sizes had little to do with what I felt like making and more to do with the size of the zippers and the fabric cuts.  Plus, I've still got enough of each these left for some patchwork pieces, plus a few more big cuts that I still need to turn into something neat.

I've got an idea (well, more like I want to recreate rip-off something I saw at Macy's) for some of the buttons.  Busy day tomorrow, but if it works out well I'll post it.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway before Thursday!

Bag lady

It's becoming more and more of a theme.

Bags.

They're just about all I've been making, except for a sleeveless top that I finally managed to drag out of my WIP bin and finish off...just as soon as the weather dipped to 40 degrees.  Eh, it'll look awfully nice under a cardigan.  As soon as my nose returns to it's normal color (or at least fades to pinkish instead of bright red) and I can be bothered to dress in real clothing, I'll make sure to snap a photo.

Anyway, bags.  I'm planning on making quite a few for Christmas, both as gifts and as gift wrapping.

Um, wow.  Two gifts in one?  Yeah, I just bet you wish you knew me!

I'm playing around with some shapes and sizes that I like, and I hit on a good one here.  I sewed darts into the bottom for some depth, as I like darts much better that a mitered corner.  Doesn't mess with the shape of the rest of the bag.  That bottom won't be as flat, but the body of the bag will hang flatter (no, I'm not sure that's a word either). 

Stash fabric, unknown origin, chocolate brown cotton canvas.  The straps are cotton webbing from JoAnn. 

The Fat Sack

My aunt (the same one who dressed the dolls) came through with another request.  A 'green bag'.  Her company is asked different departments to donate prize packs to be auctioned off with proceeds going to charity.  And, no!, of course I don't remember which one...

She came up with a Go Green theme for her department's donation and asked for a reusable market/grocery/tote bag.  I decided to use the Fat Sack tutorial on Terry Atkinson's blog.  It's such a great tote, for all of the same reasons she writes on her own blog.  It's easily folded away, it smaller than some gargantuan bags that are too heavy once you fill them, it has a wide and flat bottom and also it's very cute. 

The w-pleat on the bottom is a nice break from the traditional boxed corners, and also makes it fold in very nicely when not packed full of goodies.

I first found out about this bag after overhearing a conversation at my local quilt shop, which is also where I got this fabric.  I didn't buy it with this bag in mind, but once I saw it in my stash I knew this was the project it was made for (I also got it in a white colorway).   It's a little stiffer than a standard quilting weight, but much thinner than a home decor fabric.  Still, it lent itself nicely.

They've got a whole slew of green-y and organic type products to fill up the bag before the auction.  I hope someone goes home happy (and enviromentally aware) with their prize!

Day 4: Pressure's on

I'm particpating in Blogtoberfest and I'd feel like a total-super-mega failure if I gave up on Day 4.  Four days in and you're already throwing it in? 

Not me.

Sunday is usually a day that I would post much anyhow, plus I've had a particularly trying day, so I'll placate the Internet by posting this picture of two sets of patchworked charm squares that will eventually become part of a Christmas present.  They're all from Moda's Blossom line, which I think is by Urban Chiks, and I also think isn't in print anymore.  I've had them around for awhile.

It's kind of in an experimental stage.  Pretty soon it will tell me what it wants to become.

I'll do better on Day 5.  Maybe.