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.

On the Freezer Paper Bandwagon

Just FYI, it's still H.O.T.

I did finish these little shirts last night, while sitting in my 95 degree living room with two fans aimed at me. They are for my nephew. I tried freezer paper stenciling, which was fairly easy, but of course, I had to make an incredibly complicated design, with lots of words, which made it harder. I do like the way both of them turned out. And...it was hot enough they dried completely in about half an hour. Now...if only my house would cool down. I foresee a sleepless night in my future.