A List of Weak Excuses

I don't know if anyone actually reads this blog anymore...I have been quite neglectful lately. Here are my excuses:

• I couldn't sew for so long that I had a hard time getting my mojo back
• I spent quite some time making tshirt blankets, which is all well and good, but not that creative for me anymore
• I was making Christmas presents, which could not be posted
• I have no models for the above-mentioned Christmas presents and clothes look so blah when not on a model
• I didn't make anything sewn for my parents this year
• And.....I was going through a bit of a blog drought

You can choose whatever excuse you like...they're all true.

If anyone is still out there, thanks. You're my favorite reader, no matter what the others say. =)

I made calendars for my parents for Christmas, which took a tremendous amount of time (and ink!). The only sewn thing I made was a wallet for my dad, which didn't work quite right, so I have to remake it. It is very unexciting, so I have no pictures of it.

I made a bunch of skirts for my niece and am hoping to have a friend take pictures with her daughters as models tomorrow. If she does, I will show those as soon as I can. I am a little proud of the skirts, I think they're adorable and they're a good way to use up some of my stash fabrics.

I also made this little purse for one of my best friends. She wanted a foldover purse, and this was my first attempt. I have a couple more done that are slightly bigger, but this was take one. I do like it, but it is a little small....it's wallet sized, roughly, maybe a little bigger. I didn't buy anything, it is totally from the stash, even the button. The colors are a bit wonky, it was dark in my house when I was trying to take pictures. It is actually a very light butter yellow (real butter, not the fake stuff) creamy corduroy with a mossy green print on the inside.

By the way, has anyone else noticed that the energy-saving bulbs give out very yellow light? I like it for lighting because it is very warm, but it makes taking pictures indoors a beast. The colors are always really off for me.

I hope you had a fantastic Christmas....my new year's resolution? To be a better blogger.

Toasty Hands, Thankful Heart

I have spent the weekend sewing. It was blissful, glorious, and so incredibly relaxing. I was able to catch up on 2 backlogged projects people had paid me to do back in September right before I broke my arm, and do a little sewing for myself. I was able to use some of that creative fog swirling around in my head - making things a little clearer. I am so thankful to regain both the time to sew and the physical ability to use my right arm again.

I finished this bag for a repeat client - the specifications were hers, and I think it turned out really crisp and awesome.

I made some placemats for another repeat client - and then was in a hurry to leave the house and forgot to take a picture. D'OH! Nothing too complicated there, just basic 2-sided placemats. She wanted Christmas fabric on one side and fall fabric on the other. I did feel that I was channeling Project Runway and Tim Gunn a little, since I had some trouble with my original idea and ended up having to rework it a couple of times. ("Make it Work!!"

The other thing I worked on was just for me. I work evenings at various sport events to earn some extra money, and I generally work the ticket booth for football and soccer games. I can be there for as long as 4 hours at a time, and the weather this week turned really cold and wet. I can't wear gloves to work the ticket booth because I can't make change, and in addition, the palms of my hands tend to run really warm and I can't wear gloves for long without ripping them off. But I did want something, since my wrists and arms get cold, so I have been contemplating fingerless gloves for some time. The problem was that all the online tutorials I could find were for knitted or crocheted gloves, and I can't do either of those things.

Last night while I was working the ticket booth, I just sort of rolled the idea around in my head (between drunk and smelly parents buying tickets for the game). The problem was that I wanted thumbs on the gloves. It would be easy to just sew a tube, or sew a tube and cut a slit for the thumbs, but I wanted actual thumbs in the gloves. I had a bunch of jersey knit I had gotten for free off of freecycle a few months back, so today I pulled it out and just started playing with it.

One of my biggest concerns was that I have had very little luck with knits. My mom's machine ate knits, so I never sewed with it growing up. In addition, I do not have a serger, which seems to be the accepted and easy way to sew knits. But the fabric was free, it wasn't like I was going to be out any money, so I just jumped in.

I ended up with these. I may have made 4 pairs already. I love them. Everyone is getting a pair for Christmas. Easiest Christmas Present Ever.

I like that they have long thumbs and long hands, so they can be folded down or up, depending on what you need, and the sleeve end can be folded or scrunched as well. I also like that they are t-shirt weight, which is light enough to wear easily and still stay warm. They could also be worn underneath a heavier pair of gloves without any trouble at all. I am a little proud of these. I may make a bunch and try to sell them. I looked on etsy, and as far as I can tell, there is nothing quite like these listed. If nothing else....I am both trendy AND warm. I can't decide whether or not to do a tutorial. I have the pictures for it, but am going to let the idea roll around for a while before I decide.

Super Sunday

OK, I know this is a gimme title, but it was a super sunday for more reasons than football. And, just for the record, I do like football. And I liked the Doritos commercials the best. But while watching football (and after grocery shopping) I finished up some things I had on the long list of unfinished projects.

First of all, I finished up a small clutch that I made for an exchange. The girl is getting married soon and may have to forego the ceremony due to financial issues, so I felt like she needed something REALLY weddingey. In a box from a freecycler, I had gotten a piece of satin that was clearly from a wedding dress (there were also some hideous bows circa 1990, but I went ahead and put them out of their misery) so I used Lisa Lam's Rather Cheeky Clutch pattern and put a handle on that is about an inch wide.

The purse is lined with silver satin and the interfacing is heavy duty sew-in. I had some issues trying to figure out how to work the handle but I used D-rings and made it work. I kind of like it, even though it screams WEDDING in giant flashing neon letters.

I also sent her this apron, which my friend A is kindly modeling for me again. So much better than the original pictures of the apron draped unartistically around a post. It is not an original pattern, I used See and Sew B5125. Also I gave her some button magnets, a business card holder and a small Starbucks insulated coffee cup.

AND I finished a birthday present for a friend. I am probably giving too much away, but since it was already her birthday last Friday she can see what it is.....First of all this purse, which is my own design. I posted about it earlier, but needed a handle to make it work better, so I added that this weekend.

Also, due to the idiocy of people who talk and drive, especially those without insurance, her beloved Mini Cooper must be retired. So in commemoration of her first and most important love, I made her this little pouch. I think it's fun.....AND, I finished my friend Stacie's birthday present, which was too small. I made her slipcovers for her camera strap as she is a professional photographer. I showed you one already, but these are all four. In addition, since her hands are always cold, I sewed some little rice packets into her gloves using this tutorial, which will allow her to put her gloves in the microwave for a few seconds and have toasty warm hands. No pictures of that, you'll just have to trust me. =)

Hope your superbowl sunday was fabulous.....

Quickie but goodie...

This popped into my head last night so I whipped up a template last night and put this together today. I kind of love it, but it needs a handle. I want to get gold colored hardware first.....It's not a great picture, but it is a pretty great purse. =) Merry Christmas everyone!! See you on Sunday for the giveaways!!!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!

Seriously, I only rarely check my mail, there's never anything fun and it is almost a mile to walk there and back (and I live in an apartment complex!!!) but when I noticed how many people had posted on Kori's Secret Santa link, I thought I would run down there on the way back from the grocery store (er....that's another story....sigh....) AND THERE WAS A GIANT PRESENT THERE. I don't care what people say, THE BIGGER THE BETTER when it comes to secret santa presents. The only problem is....I don't know who it's from! The return address has only a last name (Romero) and a city in California...so if you are it, let me know so I can thank you personally!

The first thing I noticed was the smell....like clean laundry! (One of the best smells EVER) and I was grinning like an idiot the entire way back to my apartment. I ripped into it, and here is what I found:There are TWO soft, fluffy towels, vanilla scented bath mitts, a special hair towel, journal, reed diffuser (I have been eyeing those for several years!), and lemongrass sachets!

Thank you so much Secret Santa!!!! Now if I could only get a snow day to USE IT!!!!

Cold Weather Watching

Supposed to be cold this weekend.....I plan on not budging from the house, except to send the secret santa gift. Many projects a'coming!

More Craftiness

ok, first things first. I got a comment yesterday that let me know that my ring is from Schmancy. Kudos to her!! I wore it today and it was very comfortable!

Secondly, the other thing I bought yesterday was this magnet for my secret santa swap partner. I got it from Dawn at pitter painter. I think my partner lives in Indiana or Illinois or something, so I wanted to give her something from here, and this not only has Seattle on it, but also has the town I teach in listed as well. It is so cool, I really like it a lot. She does great work!!

And speaking of secret santa swaps, here is the rest of the stuff I made for my swap partner:

First, she loves to cook, so I made two aprons. This one is more heavy duty, and has a family tree on the front of it. Her last name and the names of her, her husband, and her kids are on the tree leaves.

This is a hostess apron being modeled by my friend Athena, I saw a pattern in a magazine and kind of made it my own....I like it a lot. If I cooked or wore aprons, I would keep it.

And of course, I made a purse, since that's what I do....this one had to be redone since I made the bottom wrong, but I really liked the way it turned out. The shell is tan moleskin and the lining is plum cotton and pink flowered cotton with gold accents. The pattern is from tinyhappy, although I modified it somewhat.
And here's the green velvet wristlet, which I finally figured out how to put a strap on. I used this cool pattern from one of my favorite handbag designers....I really really liked the way this one turned out.

I hope she likes them!!!

We Fish Ewe A Mare Egrets Moose

When I was like 9 or 10, my aunt gave me a present wrapped with paper that had the song We Wish You a Merry Christmas all animaled up written on it. The song went like this:

We fish ewe a mare egrets moose
We fish ewe a mare egrets moose
We fish ewe a mare egrets moose
Panda Hippo Gnu Deer!

Definitely the best wrapping paper ever....and I have remembered the song for about 20 years.

So Mare Egrets Moose everyone! No pictures of me...I don't do those. But here's some people I love instead!
And here's some links to people who assist me in maintaining my sanity:
Antoinette at Clever Girl
Stacie at Stacie Tatum Photography
Dana at MADE
Bethany at Bethany Haile Photography
Mrs. Magpie at the Magpie Files
Colleen at Anything But Nice
***************************************************
And Pink Ink is the next link on SITSmas.....

Days of Daze

I have been such a slogger (slacker blogger) over the last few days.....Here are the things I WILL POST about over the course of the week:

1. am totally finished with all gifts for a Secret Santa swap
2. got 4 boxes of patterns, buttons, and fabric from my mom
3. received a purse a week ago from Australia that I won
4. won 2 other contests with cool stuff
5. am planning for my own upcoming giveaway at the end of December...I am turning 30 and plan on embracing it by giving things away to you

So there. =)

Tidbits

I haven't been terribly productive over the last couple of days but here are pieces of things I've been working on...None of them are totally finished, so I will post more detailed pics later.

In the Clutch

Yesterday and today I made my very first clutch purse. I do not carry clutches because, let's face it, I will almost invariably leave it somewhere. I mostly staple my purse to my shoulder before leaving the house, and a clutch would cause another unwanted and unsightly bulge were I to staple it to my body. But one of my BFs is a clutch fan, so in my mission to make all the Christmas presents this year, I made a clutch. I like it. I am proud of it, and I think I did a decent job.

I used this book, the ONLY purse book available at the library...grrrr....

This is what it looks like finished...the fabric underneath will be a shirt for me, hopefully tomorrow.

The end of the purse. I had to handsew almost everything because of some odd angles. The only machine stitched stuff is the top-stitching.

Lined with black silk and I included magnetic closures, which were a bit tricky as I did not have a good plan on where to put them. The pattern called for velcro. (!!!)

The fabric is from my stash, bought over a year ago, and the only thing I would change is that I did not quite center the fabric. It's off by about an inch. OOPS. Next time. =)

ONE MORE DAY OF FREEDOM....then 2 weeks until Thanksgiving. Thank goodness for that!

Christmas Presents part 1

I really am on a mission to make all the Christmas presents this year. I have a list and everything! But....there will be only a few posts on it. I am however, able to post stuff that I make for my sister and her three kids as she does not have a computer, so she won't see it before Christmas. My mission is to get it completed before this weekend so I can send it down the freeway to the parents, so that my dad can take it with him to Missouri in a few weeks...if he can get the car to work. =)

I have two nieces, 7 and 3, and a nephew age 5. They're so cute!!!

I decided to make fun princess fairy skirts for the girls...weird thing, I couldn't find any tutorials, so I kind of just made it up. My nephew's favorite thing is superheroes, which ranks only very slightly above dinosaurs, so he gets a cape. Again, I kind of just made it up after looking at some pictures. Post Halloween sales are awesome - everything was on sale!

the outside of the cape...for lack of a model, I used the ironing board. It's kinda dirtyish. sorry. I made the neck strap with velcro so it can be adjustable and safe.

The lining of the cape.

Cape length is about 29" from neck to hem.

princess skirt for the three year old. It has 4 layers of sparkly netting, one layer of polkadot fabric, and ribbons around the top. The waistband is elastic, and I attached a piece of 4"wide netting to make the waistband adjustable since I have no idea how big E is. It's very puffy and floaty...super fun.

This is the skirt for the older one. It's not as puffy, but is still floaty. There are three layers of netting underneath, and one layer of purple netting on top. I cut the bottom of the purple in a wave pattern which doesn't show in any of the pictures. Then I added ribbon on the top also. This one does not have elastic in the waistband, just a bow, which is stitched down in the center of the front so it doesn't come out.

These were kind of weird to sew. The cape lining had to be cut on the bias since it was kind of wide, and that made it pull weird when I sewed it to the vinyl, and I have never sewed with netting before either, but I think they are pretty cute. I can't wait to see pictures