My Crafty Blog

Fabric Bonanza!

2008-01-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

I bought all of the fabrics for the blue hued quilt, it was so exciting! They are all below, with a close up of the patterned fabrics below that. The solid navy blue will be the center diagonal stripe, along with the backing and binding. I think that they go together pretty well!So far, I have all the pieces of the lightest color cut - it's a harder task than the last quilt I made - since there isn't any repetition to the pieces, really.

Grand Ideas in Quilting

2007-12-30T15:16:00.000-08:00

It's about time that I started thinking about a quilt to make for an upcoming wedding. In my head it looks like the drawing below - which is also my makeshift pattern. Wish me luck - I may need all of the next six months!

Cute Little Baby Hat!

2007-12-15T08:39:00.000-08:00

I made this hat for one my coworkers who is having a baby. I used a "squares" pattern, basically a rib (k2, p2) that switches every few rows. I used some spectacular soft baby yarn that Tam lent me, and away I went. For once, the decrease didn't look all strange, so it was actually well shaped. And, of course, all baby hats need a pom-pom! :)

Hat! (no way!)

2007-12-13T07:33:00.000-08:00

So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that I made a hat (or that it's red), seeing as winter has arrived. It will be a surprise that I finally switched it up and used a new type of pattern (click here to see!), one from knitty.com (a great site I just found last week that is full of FREE patterns).

The pattern was actually pretty easy to follow, but I had to add about fifteen extra rows in the middle to make it long enough, I think the yarn I was using was not as thick as the original pattern. (But of course, I'm too lazy to check the gauge, so it's pretty much all my fault there!). The pom-poms were my own addition, mostly just because they are fun.

In the picture above, it looks like an alien head, but that only makes it cooler! Below is a side view of it on my head - it's a perfect hat for when you have a really cute ponytail going on and don't want to screw it up, but it's so cold out that you need to have your ears covered. Yes, I realize that a headband could do the same job, but headbands don't come with pom-poms now do they?

Flag time!

2007-10-11T06:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've crafted for someone else, and I always forget how I get a little neurotic about perfection when it's not just for me. So, needless to say, I might have had a few freak-outs about how some things on Tim's flag were a little rough going.

The picture is a little far away, so luckily you can't see how the stitching around the head didn't line up right at the end and got a little bunchy. Also, the silver stars look pretty cool, but the fabric was such a pain to work with! It pretty much shredded any time that I tried to sew it, so I had to iron it onto some interfacing to give it some structure. That worked well, which was good because my next stop was going to be a silver sharpie!

So far the flag has survived one pretty good rainstorm, so I'm pretty satisfied! Plus, it's way more interesting than Tim's neighbor's flags!

Skully bracelet!

2007-09-11T13:59:00.001-07:00

I so haven't posted anything in ages! I've been crafting up a bunch of jewelry to take to a craft show in November, but I also managed to make myself a sweet cross-stitched skull bracelet to wear while I sell my wares! (ooh, that was fun to type!)

I got my skull inspiration from skulladay.com! he is awesome!

Fiona in her dress!

2007-02-12T05:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it's a little big, but she tried it on during her little fashion show. Here's a squirmy picture. :)

Suit!

2007-02-01T14:58:00.000-08:00

I've started my suit! No pictures yet though. I'm making both pants and a skirt, along with a jacket. I got a great deal on some charchol grey fabric with a white pintstripe. I've already cut everything out, with the exception of the lining and interfacing - hopefully I can get that done soon. There are so many pieces that just marking all of them took me over an hour! I hope that I haven't gotten in over my head with this one - it really needs to look good. I'll have to start blouse and SHOE shopping soon. :) Hopefully pictures will come soon. I'm going to start the skirt first (easiest, I hope!). Wish me luck!!!

Fiona's Dress is Done!!!

2007-01-27T08:34:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures of Fiona's number one birthday dress! I messed up and cut out the wrong dress out of the flowered frabric, but I think that it came out cute anyways. It is so little house on the prarie! The bloomers are just too funny as well!

A Dress for Fiona!

2007-01-15T06:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I bought all of the things I need to make this adorable little dress for baby Fiona! I'm so excited! The underdress is going to be a dusty green color, and the pinafore is a light blue background with pink and blue flowers, and green leaves. I'm going to make the hat with the flowered fabric as well. It's going to be so cute!

Pretty earrings, and an awesome deal!

2007-01-13T11:28:00.000-08:00

First - I made some pretty sweet earrings this morning, mostly because I've been procrastinating on working on my proposal. (why do you think I'm blogging this right now????) Anyways, they're kinda fancy, so I'm not sure when I would wear them, but here they are!

Second - I went shopping last night and got what might be the most awesome deal ever! (well, at least for me, I know that I can't compete with mom!) I got the dress below from Ann Taylor - not even the Loft! Isnt' it so super cute? There's little white beads all along the edge of the ribbons, and these little flat bows in the front. It was originally $170, and I got it for $30!!!!! That's over 80% off! Whoo hoo, go me! Now, will someone invite me someplace fancy, PLEASE!!!!

Hats for the Homeless

2007-01-08T08:52:00.000-08:00

Tam and I are making hats for the homeless. I am going to give mine to a women's shelter downtown. So far I have made 8 hats, with one more almost done - some of them are so cool - I especially like the red and gray one - it reminds me of a who from Dr. Seuss. Once I have ten done I am going to give them away, so really there is only one more to make - now I just need to get some new yarn, since I am almost out (which explains why the green hat with blue stripes I am making now is going to be all blue at the top - no more green yarn!).

The basic hat pattern:
with circular or straight needles, US size 10
Chunky weight yarn
CO 76 sts
K2P2 rib for about 1 1/2 inches
Knit in stockinette stitch until piece measures 41/2 - 5 inches total
Begin decrease - decrease in knit rows
1) K8, K2tog* repeat from star to end of row
2) work as normal
3) same as 1
4) same as 2
5) K6, K2tog* repeat from star to end of row
6) same as 2
7) same as 5
8) K4, K2 tog* repeat from star to end of row
9) same as 2
10) same as 8
11) same as 2
To finish: cut yarn, leaving a decent tail. Using a yarn needle, thread the yarn through the stitches remaining on the needles. For circular work, draw top together and tie off. For straight work, draw top together and sew up the seam. Wear your hat!

Christmas Boxes!

2006-11-17T04:09:00.000-08:00

I made these pretty gift boxes for Christmas - they are in the style of chinese food takeout boxes. I saw some at the store that weren't nearly as cute, and they were about $2 a piece, so I decided to make my own.

I did so with some posterboard (1/2 a sheet for each box, so about $0.40), some fabric (1/2 yard total, $3.50, so about $0.88 each), and some glue and ribbon which I already had. (Notice that this is the same ribbon as from my purple dress - I knew it would come in handy some day!).

So, that's about $1.28 a piece, not a bad price for something so stinking cute! And totally reusable - it's fun when the packaging becomes part of the gift, I think! I have about 1/2 yard of fabric left, so maybe I'll make a few more! I will need to get some more ribbon though, I think that gold would look good too!

A Super Sweet Halloween Costume!!!

2006-10-30T14:27:00.000-08:00

Well here it is! Unfortunately the only picture that I have is of me singing karaoke with some sort of empty liquor bottle in the way, but it will have to do! All the crises were averted, and it actually ended up looking ok, with exception of the strange sleeves, but those have never been my strong point anyways!

I have to admit, I'm a little miffed that I didn't win an award, but there is always next year, and I already have a few ideas in mind!

Pumpkin Contest!

2006-10-30T04:47:00.000-08:00

Well, maybe it's not actually crafty, but I thought that our pumpkin competition turned out pretty sweet. Of course, I favor ours, Chewbacca, on the left, but we eventually lost to the pumpkin eater on the right (it would be the room full of men who carved that one!) The middle one got a surprising number of votes, considering it was a last minute job. :)

Costume, Pt 1.

2006-10-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my halloween costume, and while the actual dress is a bit of a disaster, the hat is so totally sweet! Plus, it finally gave me a reason to buy a glue gun, the most awesome crafting tool ever invented. (Just don't try to convince my fingertips of that, ok?) Anyways, I'll wrap my head in some left over fabric to hold my hair in, and then pin the hat to that to hold it down. :)

Jewels!

2006-10-16T03:56:00.000-07:00

As I was wandering the aisles of my favorite store the other day, I came across this jewlery making kit. I remembered that I thought about making some watches as Christmas presents, so I picked it up. It came with some wire, a whole bunch of glass, plastic and metal beads, some pliers, pieces for earrings, and a board to assemble and hold all of the beads. I also grabbed a couple of watch faces. I got home and dived right in! I started with some simple earrings and then moved along to the watches - I was up half the night it was so much fun. I'm pretty much out of beads now, but I'm sure I'll get some more sooner or later! This could become very dangerous!

Halloween!

2006-09-09T16:24:00.000-07:00

I like Halloween because it is the perfect excuse to get all crafty and show up with a more creative costume than everyone else. (I'm totally not competitive at all!) Last year I made a pretty big hit with an Operation style costume, complete with removable velcro parts.

This year, I want to be Miss Chiquita Banana. I decided this before I really looked up the dress, mostly because I wanted to wear a bowl of fake fruit on my head. Yeah, her dress is actually a little ugly! It also looks like it would be hard to make. I'm goona give it a go though - but maybe I'll start by making paper mache fruit. That seems easy enough!

Here is a picture of Miss Chiquita from a few years back, her name is Jennifer. As far as the fruit in her hat goes, it looks like it's mostly bananas and apples, with a few oranges, maybe a pinapple and a couple of red grapes thrown in for good measure.

But where, oh where, am I going to find blue shoes????

A Pretty Purple Dress

2006-09-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

This dress is to wear to the wedding that I made the quilt for. I decided that I needed a new pretty dress, so I found one that I loved in the McCall's catalouge (#5099). I walked around JoAnn frabrics for ages, trying to find the perfect fabric. I finally found a deep purple silky crepe type fabric, but I kept walking away from it because well, I don't really like purple. But, finally it won and I bought it - and some really sweet silver ribbon. These ruffle things on the front, they look pretty don't they? Let me tell you a little bit about them. Pain in the butt! Try cutting out a spiral of fabric, hemming one side and then straightening them out and sewing them to the rest of the dress. Whoa. That teaches me to get a girly style! Anyways, it finally go finished... I decided to go without the bow, just a straight ribbon. Now I just have to find shoes!

My First Quilt

2006-09-09T15:29:00.000-07:00

This quilt was finished a little while ago, in fact right now it is all wrapped up, ready to be given away. It is a little sad acutally. I quite enjoyed having on my lap while I hand stitched the back of the border on. The pattern is called Antique Tile. The cross stitch pattern in the middle took a long time. The pattern was generated by this site, using a nice picture I found online. I hope it is well liked as a wedding gift!