Good bye February

Positives from this month.

-I finally tried 2 new projects

(embroidery and stamp carving)

and I'm dying to do more.

-I set myself a challenge and completed it

even on those days 

that I didn't feel like it.

-I made some projects that have been

on my to-do list for a long time.

-I used up a LOT of scrap supplies.

-I came up with a couple patterns

plus loads of ideas.

-I've always seen my 'slowness' of

completing a craft as a negative.

I now realize that it gives me

time to change the pattern around if I want 

or to redo a part that I'm not happy with.

I'd like to do this again next
year but I would change a 
few things to make it a

little easier on myself.
The most important would be
to line up all the project ideas
(plus a few extras)
and their supplies
well ahead of time.
 This would help if the
unexpected happened...
like when my sewing machine
broke down or when
I underestimated how 
amazing the Olympics would be!


Also I would start one day early
so that I could take project 
pictures during the sunny hours 
so that at least some of the
colours would be true.


So I would highly recommend
this to anyone who's considering it.
Next year I'd like to sign up for
the official Thing-a-day.

And thanks to my cheering section!!!

Day 19: an owl egg cosy

This project was like a last 

minute essay.

You finish it on time but

you really don't want 

to hand it in.

I like some parts of it, namely

the pattern  

(I did change the wings)

and I was happy with the fabrics 

that I chose.

But I don't like the look

of leaving the edges raw and

I'm not happy with my

embroidery.

 

The back actually was going

to be the front and I had cut

out wings with Elvis on it.

I thought it would look so cool

but it just didn't work 

although I liked the look 

of the guitar.

Day 14: part crochet/part fabric bag

The whole time I was finishing this up

my sweet cat Oreo was on the floor 

crying for attention. 

I turned to get my camera from 

the shelf behind me and 

this is what I found when I turned back.

Underneath her is this bag. 

I tried a couple of different 
drawstrings but couldn't find one
that I liked so I'll find something
the next time I go to the fabric store.
Here is a wip where only

the bottom is finished.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No new supplies.

So far this month $7.38

Day 2: small notebook cover

A while back I sewed some covers

for a few notebooks to send in a swap.

I had an extra notebook for 
myself so I sewed up a cover
using some leftover muslin,
stamped it, and added a couple
of crocheted embellishments.

I think if this wasn't a day
project I would have spent
a little more time on it
but for now I will pop it
into my purse.

Also my sewing machine
is acting up and I
may have to take it in.

----------------------------

This project used all stashed items
so total spent so far $0

Fabric crochet hook case

I sewed this as part of a swap over at
Creative living
Rach, who I made this for,
makes lovely, lacy things with teeny,
tiny hooks and thread.

The fabric looks very similar to one she
picked as a favourite over at Flickr.
I would love to have included wool felt
in her case but it is impossible to get here.
I really have to order it online someday.

I don't know if you can see it but
there are little squirrels and mushrooms
in the fabric.
So I was thrilled when I found the acorn buttons.
I made the flower out of the same fabric
and added a vintage button to its centre.

Owls and colts and tea... Oh my!

I was involved in a swap over 
and received a wonderful package
of handmade goodies from Star.


She knows that I love owls,
am learning to knit,
that I love tea and that
I went to Paris this summer.
How spoiled am I!
Everything is gorgeous..
from my very cool owl potholder,
to my stitch markers, to my tin magnets.


This is what I sent to her.
Star is a great believer of making
lists (she's such an organized woman!)
so I made fabric covers
for 2 small notebooks.
One fabric has flowers and the
other has colts which is part
of her username.
The wristwarmers are to keep
her warm on her daily walks with Reba
on cooler days
and the cozy is for her morning
coffee which, lets face it,
we can't function without.


 
Thanks for the wonderful swap Star!

Patchwork Comforter

[Originally uploaded by
Heath & the B.L.T boys]

I came across this on flickr
and it brought a flood of memories back to me!


It is from the Better Homes & Gardens Patchwork & Quilting Book of 1977.
I'm pretty sure my sister and I saw this article years earlier published

in their magazine and as soon as we
saw it we knew we had to make one for mum.

Ours was made from crazy shades of green
and,week after week, we secretly worked on it
at my sister's apartment
which was above a small grocery store.

I'm surprised that we even finished ours on time

because of course it took so much longer
than we ever expected but we stuck with it
until it was finished.
I'm not sure how much my mum actually liked the
look of the comforter itself but we thought it
was the coolest thing we had ever done!

I have no idea what happened to it,
I don't even have a picture of it
but the memory of making it with my
sister still remains clear!

Frenchy bag...Amy Butler

I'm totally in love with my new bag.

It's the first bag that I've sewn and the first time I've used Amy Butler fabric and there's no turning back now!

A couple months ago I literally dusted off my old sewing machine to make my niece some bibs for her new baby. It felt so good sewing those few items that I thought why not try something else. So I went on flickr and naively searched 'sewing' thinking that a few hundred results would pop up......more like 250,000!

One style of bag caught my eye, the Frenchy bag, and by coincidence it was a pattern made by, no other than Amy Butler.
It is a wonderfully well designed pattern and I found it very easy to put together, I'd recommend it for anyone who has some sewing experience.

A smaller handbag version is also included in the pattern and I'm definitely looking forward to sewing it.
Fabric names: green nouveau trees from her midwest modern collection and blue gothic rose from her Belle collection.

Japanese pouch

Japanese pouch
Originally uploaded by sukigirl74

I’ve been meaning to post this little Japanese pouch (made from a kit) for ages.

It is basically a crocheted hat-like roof

with three pieces of felt (2 circles and 1 long rectangle) that form the base.

Then some basic embroidery and a zipper.
The roof is stuffed; the base isn’t and forms the pouch for coins.

There are tons of permutations (yes I enjoyed math as a kid)…substitute knitting for crochet, fabric for yarn, hand felted instead of acrylic, etc.
If you make the base higher and insert a can you would have a cute container…
the roof would form the lid.

I’m thinking of making one that has no bottom and is unstuffed and larger and would fit over a teapot.
Voila….a teacosy.
Or make it smaller and pop it over a soft boiled egg to make an egg cosy
(how cute would that be!).

You can make it as simple or complicated as you like.
I hope it gives you ideas and please let me know what you think.

Gifts for baby Jasmine

Clock made from a book

Jasmine (my nephew's daughter) is 6 weeks old and she needs something cool for her bedroom wall. With this in mind I decided to make her a clock from one of my favourite books
Where the Wild Things Are.

I used this excellent tutorial.
I had originally thought that I could find a second-hand copy of the book but, when I couldn't, I had to buy a new copy. The hardest part was cutting into this beautiful book but when I made the decision to cut out and save the inside pages for another project it became a little easier, but only a little easier. Originally I wanted to add numbers but I like the look of it uncluttered.

I also crocheted her a bib from the book
Baby Crochet by Lois Daykin.
By the way, the top edge is only wonky in the picture.
I'd take a better pic but it's not in my hands anymore.




I found some cute Peter Rabbit material and sewed some
reversible bibs from this tutorial.