Project #30 ...TBD

I have been so busy the past week and a half, my projects have not been glamorous, several days were spent filling Etsy orders, others working on projects in 'the pile' of items that need to be fixed, some just spent making more fun things...  

Like this Frozen hairbow set...

I have learned a lot about the way I work over the past month and my own creative process. 

1.  It is hard to churn out a project I don't feel excited or inspired about.  Sometimes I get stuck in one spot with a project and just can't get from point a to point b in my head.  This is a problem!  Then the project gets put down and forgotten about. :/

2.   I am full capable of working off patterns but my best work, I feel, is done from my head.  If I can envision it in my mind, I can get it down into a medium I am usually happy with.  Sometimes getting from that vision/idea stage to the mental pattern making takes time, and I have known for a some time that I can not rush that creative process!  I have spent hours sitting in my workspace staring at fabric, not sure where to start, then the next day the lightbulb goes on and in half an hour I have exactly what I wanted.  I can only imagine that's what it can be like for writers...

3.  I forget things.  Like posting pictures.  After I edited them and everything...  My apologies.  

4.  Believe it or not, I have a handful of *really* good projects in my head that just can not be done in one day. They just can't.  To try would be an injustice to the project, not to mention would mean neglecting all the daily things I have going on here, and boy is there a LOT!  I am looking forward to working on these in the coming weeks, each one will be using up a large amount of fabric on hand so I'm really excited about that!   

5.  My biggest disappointment this month is this right here:  

This cream and navy polkadot fabric is smocked and ready, waiting to be made into a little handbag, but I could NOT find purse handles anywhere here!  What I envisioned in my head just was not what I was finding in the store so instead of turning it into something I am not happy with, I will keep looking to find the right thing. 

6.  My daughter asked to learn to sew.  There are no words for how happy I was to see her fall in love with my Singer...she has a steady foot, that one does!  ")   The fabric bookmark was a perfect started project for her.  It covered measuring, cutting, ironing, pinning, different stitches, and how to add things like ribbon.  She loves it so much, she made one as a gift. Does it get better than that??  

7. I want to make another full size quilt.  I have no idea how or when, but this is now at the top part of my 'want to do' list!

8.  With the exception of the fat quarters for the caterpillar and the ribbon for the bows, everything else for the projects was from my stash.  The fabric & ribbon came to $16, thanks to Daffodil Dash and coupons at JoAnn's.  Gotta love a sale!   

9.  Henry the snake is awesomely cool.  He is a favorite in our house now. 

10.  Challenging myself to see things I already have in an 'outside the box' way has really given me a lot of ideas on how I can continue to best use what I have on hand.  Fresh perspective is always a nice thing to get. ")

Stay tuned, I will continue to share the projects as I go along, though at a slightly slower pace with bigger projects to tackle! 

Project #29 - Children's Chair cover

Not a glamorous project by any means, but I have had this chair frame sitting in my workspace for longer than I care to admit, draped with the ripped remains of the old seat.  I knew it would be a quick project, but as usually, other things always came first and so it continue to sit....  Well, since I'm cleaning and sorting, de-stashing and donating, it was time for the seat to get its new cover.  It is double thickness, double reinforced seams, ready for its new home!  Glad to have that done and one less 'needs to be done' project!  Those 'needs to be done' projects just aren't as much fun as the ones I *want* to do...

Project #28 - Girls Tunic top

It's a terrible picture, but the perfect not-to-young-but-not-too-old style top!  She loves my tunics and needed a few more tops so I thought it was a wonderful way to use up the flower knit I had in my stash.  Took about 20 min of active time from start to finish - can't beat it!  Next one I will need to actually make a pattern and take better pictures. ")

Project #27 - Giraffe hat

The fox and the panda needed a friend... 

Project #26 - Playdress renovation

This was a quick up-cycle - one of my favorite shirts from Gymboree's Glamor Safari line was ruined by silly putty.  The very first time Miss K wore it.  Seriously.  I tried everything, I got the putty off, but it left a stain, sadly.  I held onto that shirt, hoping I could do *something* with it.  Miss N now wears that size so it was time to bite the bullet and stop putting it off.  I picked up a half yard of cotton knit, the same weight as the knit of the shirt, it was on sale so the half yard only cost me $3! 

I wanted it to look like it was supposed to be a dress in the first place so I got out my surger book and learned how to use the gathering foot - this was the skirt would gather as it was overlocked to the shirt, eliminating the dreaded task of having to straight stich and hand gather the whole skirt, then see it without ended up with inadvertent folds.  I hate those...  I was beyond pleased with how easy the gathering foot was to use!!  Why oh why has it taken me 8 years to learn this?!?!  This has got to be my #1 procrastination fail ever.... How my life could have been easier had I know how easy this was!  I see knit tired dresses in the girls future this summer....

I was pleased with the result, Miss N loves her new dress, I love the fact that I only had to spend $3 to make it.  " )

Project #25 - Hair bow elastics

I saw these cute little bows on elastic bands and knew they had to be made.  First of all, you can't go wrong with the materials - 2  5x5 piecees of fabric and a hair elastic.  They were simple & easy and and something I will stash in my bag this summer!  Not over the top for an adult mind you, just a little something to take the blah away fom a summer pony tail. ")

Listing here!

Project #24 - Bean Bag Set

What child doesn't love beanbags? Especially beanbags with cupcakes and fruit on them, you can't go wrong.  There are five-thousand and one uses for beanbags, besides being fun to play with, they offer great tactile and sensory stimulation for developing children of all ages.  These are two of my most favorite fabric prints, my most prized hoarded treasure, but alas, they needed to be used and the bag of poly pellets I had made it an easy decision.  Each 4 in x 3.5 in beanbag is filled with 60grams of poly pellets.

View listing here!

Project #23 - Hair bows!

I purchased three bags of snap barrettes, oh, eek, a year or more ago?  I had great asperations of making the girls some hair bows but that never came to fruition.  I was browsing Pinterest today and saw hair bows in my feed and came across the easiest, fastest way to make this particular style bow.  Miss N had just gotten a spool of Anna ribbon she wanted into a hair bow so it was the perfect time to get to work.  I am so pleased with the results, this summer will indeed be filled with little girls donning big bows. ")

Project #22 - The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Bubble-style

I have never seen bubble quilts, never heard of them, before today.  The blankets resemble bubble wrap make from fabric and look slightly cool, though very odd at the same time!   I did however find the process and a caterpillar sample to be intriguing and my mind instantly went to the VHC, because, well, it's the coolest book ever.  I thought is was fitting to pair some cute fabrics in fun colors into the bubble-style.  I am exceptionally pleased with how it turned out!  

Project #21 - Hello Kitty Tag Lovie

This brown and pink dotted ribbon it my favorite!  I *LoVe* it!  It pried nicely with the pink OBV I have and I had the Hello Kitty ribbon to match so a tag lovie was perfect.  12x12 OBV on both side, grosgrain and satin ribbon offer all that sensory good stuff. ")

View listing here!

Project #20 - Fabric bookmark

Another two minute project needing nothing more than a scrap of fabric, iron-on adhesive, and a short length of ribbon.  I wanted my bookmark to be around 2x6 but you could really make this any size or shape.  I cut the adhesive to fit the fbric scraps, ironed it on, cut around it with pinking sheers, then zig-zagged around with the sewing machine, adding the ribbon topper as I sewed along the top edge.  I added a drop of no-fray to the start/stop point so the threads don't come unraveled.  The pinked edges should hold up well due to the iron on adhesive.  I realize I need to make more of these, they would make really nice little gifts (ie teachers or therapists...), and they are so simple they would be a perfect first sewing project for little girls (or boys) who want to learn to use my machine...  They are so thin they are actually usable! ")

Project #19 - Paracord zipper pulls

We are always rushing, I have a bit of a drive to the rink and traffic often mucks up my travel time so the 15 minute cushion to get pads & skates on before practice often gets cut short, and since there is nothing worse than fumbling with a zipper when you are in a hurry, the paracord zipper pulls were an immediate "I NEED those!" when I came across this video tutorial.  They are also handy for tiny little hands trying to maneuver tiny little zippers.  Each zipper pull uses about 30" of cord, I wanted mine shorter so I used 20", and takes seriously two minutes to make!  The only thing you need is paracord, scissors to cut it, and a lighter or other flame source to melt the ends.  So. Easy.   I needed two for each hockey bag, since it's a double zipper and had four made in less than 10 minutes.

Project #18 - Elastic hair ties

I promised two projects today, I didn't promise the second would be wonderful. Lol!  

So simple, fold ever elastic, twist bands are awesome.  My girls love them, I do not love the price.  This cleared up a pile of elastic I had sitting here and gave me a handful of hair ties for the girls - win win!

Project #17 - The only Snake I ever liked

I never met a snake I liked, nope, not a single one... They are creepy and slithery and a creature I think should exist while never being seen by humans!   That being said, it's really something when I come across a picture of a snake that makes me go "aww!".  

This was a major yarn de-stash, I pulled out my cotton yarns and tossed them in a bag and went willy nilly with the color changes.... I love symmetry, this project was so out of the box it almost made my head hurt.  I actually had to *try* to be random with the colors.  This project was so fun, so simple, but did take two days worth of free time to complete.  My hand hurts.  I love my snake though, all 142 cm of him! (That's about 56 inches or 4 ft 8 in for you metrically challenged...) I think he has a home here...

Project #17-A... A preview & extension

There *is* a project happening, I promise, but the day was spent mostly in the car and otherwise occupied doing those life things you need to do...(aka Taxes!) Despite that, I made crazy substantial progress on this and anticipated finishing it tonight, but as the pic shows, I'm sporting a bruise and what is the makings of two good blisters on my palm...apparently if you are not used to crocheting and you go crazy on a project, you'll pay dearly for it!   I need to call it a night, it's 11:19pm, my eyes are crossing and I haven't slept in two days!  Tomorrow will bring the completion of this little wonder - and a new project.  ")

Project #16 - Dog chew toys

If you google 'what to make with extra fleece' you will come across a bunch of photos and tutorials for what is apparently a thing.  Fleece dog toys.  Hu, who knew that was a thing?! I surely did not... I unearthed another unfortunate piece of obnoxiouse Orange fabric, this time it was fleece and for the life of me I can NOT remember what confounded project I ever would have purchased such a repulsive color for... *sigh*   Luckily I also found extra green fleece from the Very Hungry Caterpillar costume so together the green and orange actually look okay.  Simple tutorial here , as hack-job as you think it is going to be, keep pulling hard on those strips the green at the same time, then the orange, and it will tighten up to a beautiful knot.  I promise. ")

Now if only my dog weren't too old to care about toys...

Project #15 - The cotton cleaning cloth

I wanted to crochet something quick today, I found the cutest clutch pattern but didn't have the right color yarn I wanted to use.  Then, I found a nice purse/handbag pattern but didn't have enough of one color to make it...grrr.  The frustration level was rising, the hours in the day were passing, no project was getting done.  I finally threw in the towel (err, washcloth?), and came across a quick but still pretty cleaning cloth pattern.  I honestly have never crocheted a washcloth before.  Ever.   This is an adorable and easy pattern, reasonably quick to whip out and could make a really nice gift for someone!

  (Today's gray pictures are brought to you by the lack of sun here, and having to rely on my workspace fluorescent lights. *sigh*)

Project #14 - Lavender Eye Pillow

I have been in a lavender kick the past few weeks (my lavender lemonade is to die for!), and this cold damp weather had found me searching for the heating bags to alleviate whatever chill or ache is present.  Somehow, I only have large heating bags... I need small ones.  Boo-boo sized ones, headache sized ones, eye sized ones... I need a whole tote-full of them.  Just because.  And I like them to smell nice, too.    Being that an eye bag was needed, it was the obvious first choice of size to make.  So. Easy. So. Fast.

I chose a cotton for the back and a cotton flannel for the front.  Nice and soft!  Stitch around, turn, stuff, close, done.  I filled mine with rice and added a touch of dried lavender flowers.  It smells devine! A quick 30 seconds in the microwave and it's ready to use.  You could also keep it in the freezer for the hot summer days....I hear some people have those.  We don't usually have that problem in New York...

Project #13 - Icords?

Today was a bit of a throwback to 1992... Complete with snap barrettes and hot glue.  (Not my finest hour, I admit...)  I knitted up a length of icord and figured a little button flower would be a cute addition to Miss N's hair clip collection.  It was all good until the actual shaping of the flower when I had to actually reach for the barrette clips and hot glue...ugh.  I.  Hate.  Hot.  Glue...    The clips turned out cute, I took a flower I had laying around after it lost its center button and finished that off as well (it will be perfect for summer).  It didn't take long to remember why love sewing better than 'crafting' types of things...BUT, busy days tend to leave less time for projects than quiet ones!   I guess even the quick (well, in all honesty, I'm a slow knitter and the icord took me an hour and a half!) projects still have to get done.  Tomorrow will be back to more fun projects! Yay!  ")

On another note, lack of sleep and composing posts at midnight lends to hitting the 'save as draft' button rather than the 'publish' button for blog posts...  >.< 

Project #12 - Fabric Ball & Bib Set

I unearthed a bunch of half-finished projects last week, this among them.  Love the colors, love the dots fabric, love the fabric balls for babies - they were a favorite when my kids were babies.  There was some finishing off needed yet on the ball so it finally was completed!   The bib is PUL lined so it's waterproof and it has a snap closure.  

Project #11 - The Itty Bitty Lamb

So the Itty Bitty Bunny was just too cute, of course I couldn't help but think of all the ways I could change the original pattern to make other Itty Bitty's.  I had the perfect cotton yarn for the face and limbs, and fuzzy bamboo yarn for the body and ears - it turned out just as cute as I imagined it would!

Project #10 - The Itty Bitty Bunny

The best patterns are free patterns and tutorials to go along with them are always amazing!   This Itty Bitty Bunny tutorial   by Little Cotton Rabbits made me actually feel like I could attempt something that I previously deemed way over my head!   And since it's good to learn something new everyday, I finally learned how to knit an icord!  The cuteness of this is beyond all words...the terrible pictured just don't do this justice.  I even thought this would make a good beginner project, it's THAT easy.

I don't think I can give this one up, it must make its home here with us.  ")

Project #9 - Ooga Booga Waterproof Training Pants

While digging though the fabric basket I came across a few pieces of PUL I had no idea were there.  Perfect size for a few pairs of training pants!  It's been ages since I've made training pants but the Ooga Booga OCV I have was just begging to be used and training pants are the perfect thing for it.  I added a layer of PUL and two layers of cotton velour to the front panel so it offers just the right amount of absorption for small accidents.  I like the velour for training pants, it has a lot of stretch to it and is soooo soft - the perfect transition to getting used to being a big kid and wearing underpants.  These are a 2T, so tiny, so cute!

They are listed here!

Project #8 - Pandas!

Panda Bear, Panda Bear, what do you hear?  After the adorable fox hat, the obviouse next project was to use the natural and black OBV I have on hand and make a panda hat because, of course, who can resist a baby panda?!  The black OBV isn't something I usually even remember I have, it was nice to be able to use it for something new.

ETA - photos help!  

Etsy listing here!

Project #7 - Its a Fox! hat.

Velour was my nemesis for a very long time, it's a miracle that we made peace and I almost use it exclusively now.  I have been thinking of hats for a while now but without the push (ahem, pressure!), it never came to fruition.  Deciding what animal to do was easy, the fox lovies are without question the most popular!  It's too cute, seriously, like a little cotton candy cloud you want to put in your pocket...or find a fluffed little newborn to wear such an adorable hat.  Alas, I have no newborn to model it so you'll have to take my word for it, it's stinkin' adorable!

The It's a Fox! Hat can be found Here!

The band can be folded up or down.

Project #6 - Embossed Notecards

I attempted embossing years ago and just couldn't get it to work.  If you have ever seen the embossing powder you know how easy it is to just make a complete mess!  Fine silver powder everywhere was not what I wanted.  I traded the blow dryer and lightbulb for the iron this time, keeping the iron on a very low setting and running the underside of notecard along the edge of the upright iron. This worked magnificently!  It did not blow the powder all over like the blow dryer, or cook the paper like the lightbulb did.  Patience is still key, though you have to work quickly so the ink doesn't dry before you sprinkle the embossing powder on.  A bit of a juggling act.  I would not recommend doing  this with small children around though, it could end up in a huge mess.   I fell in love with this stamp years ago and was very happy to use it again!  I think this would be gorgeous in the girls room with the other vintage fashion decor, stamped with silver paint as a boarder....!  

Project #5 - Mini wallet/gift card holder

Gift cards are about the most awesome thing to a kid now - Starbucks, Target, iTunes...it's the magic gold card that entitles you to buy that thing that your mother won't buy for you - the 'But it's my OWN money' card....  let's be honest, don't we all love giftcards? I hate the space they take up in my regular wallet though.  Perhaps that's why I love my Starbucks app so much... We had a trip to the library planned today and as I made a mental note to make sure I had all the library cards, I thought how great it would be if each of the kids had their own card holder.  Maybe teach a little responsibility, lessen the wad of cards I have to keep track of, it's a win-win! 

The Mini-wallet was incredibly fun to put together - I spent more time picking out the fabrics to use than actually sewing it!  For being so small, it used up a surprisingly good amount of fabric.  With the largest piece of fabric being 4.5x6, I was able to use pieces that really weren't big enough for anything else.  It used a very small amount of fusible interfacing and of course the two KAM snaps, both of which I had on hand, so no money spent out of pocket yet!  I have been seeing a lot of actual patterns for sale for making similar wallets, but honestly I don't think they are necessary.  I ended up making two sizes, one card-sized one for the kids and a slightly larger one for just about anything you can think of.  I will use mine for holding teabags and Via packs in my handbag so they will no longer get crushed amid the 26 lipglosses I accumulate I my bag.   The mini-wallet is a cool 3in x 4in.  The midi-wallet is 4.5in x 4in.  Love them both, I am thinking a cute little wrist strap could be a great addition to either one...

The Eiffle Tower Midi-Wallet

Want a tutorial? Let me know if the comments and I will see what I can do!