artsy-crafty babe

sss :: my first competed project

Did you guess what it was?  It is a bag, of course.  A very special bag, that I only plan to use on special occasions, like when I'm not out with my children and don't need to carry a bazillion things with me.

The green fabric is jersey and the white is a very lightweight twill.  I liked sewing the jersey to a woven.  That was necessary with this being a bag.  It would be terrible to have broken threads due stress from stretching.  The twill gives it strength and body.  When I started the project I hadn't planned to line it, but after I started sewing and realized that all those threads would be on the inside my purse, I knew it must be lined.  I machine assembled the lining from kona cotton, then hand sewed it in place.

I used my favorite technique on this - reverse applique, though only on the large flower petals.  The blue paint is regular acrylic craft paint.  I'm not too fond of how this paint changes the hand of the fabric, making it stiff, but for a bag it wasn't so important.  All the outline stitching is the back-stitch (also my favorite).

The bag pattern and stencil design are my own.  PDF's of both will be available in the next few days, or as soon as my new scanner arrives (it's time to update our home technology, ugh).  I would have liked to have them available to you now, but I didn't want to wait another week to show you what I've been working on.

Once that was finished (well, actually before I finished) I started my second project, a pillow cover.  I had the bright idea to cut a design like a snowflake - you know, like the ones we all learned to make in elementary school by folding paper.  I wanted to try out the smooch spritz, which was a good idea in theory.  Ugh, what a mess!  I was ready to trash this product after my first use.  This is not a good technique for a regular paper stencil.  After a little more thinking, and deciding that my "snowflake" needed more, I decided to use some freezer paper to add to my design.  I LOVE how this worked out!  I wish I had thought to cut out my "snowflake" from freezer paper in the first place.  Because the stencil was adhered to the fabric, I was able to get more even coverage and crisp lines.  I don't know if this ink washes out or not, so it may not be good for clothing, but for something that is for decoration only, it works great.

I have to be honest with you, as soon as I made that first spritz, I didn't like the color.  I tried to carry on, but I'm not feeling this color combo (seems way too early 90's to me), so for right now I'm putting it aside...

But I'm sure you know that I quickly went on to something else.  I used freezer paper to come up with a new design, more curvy this time. Love.  I'm a color lover, so color it is.  I don't totally love this combo, but I like it a whole lot more than my first try.  I feel like I'll enjoy working on this one, instead of gagging every time I look at it (okay, gagging is a little strong).  

What can I say, I'm working with what I have - I don't have the most gorgeous knits and buttonhole thread is very limiting!  This time around I watered my craft paint down by 50%.  The stitching will commence tonight - there's nothing like a new sewing project to unwind from the day :)

How are things going with y'all?  I'm off to the flickr pool now to see what's new...

*sigh*

Do you hear that?  That's me taking a big sigh of relief.  Over the last few days, my life has been overtaken by 'the day job'.  I'm usually pretty thankful for my stress free job, but when it gets stressful, it gets STRESSFUL.  I should probably knock on some wood because things are okay for the time being....

Anyway, due to all that STRESS, nothing other than work (a 4 lettered word in my vocabulary) has been happening.  I didn't even touch my camera for a few days, which left some holes in my 365.  Oh well, it happens.

Upon returning home after working 28 out of 36 hours, I the first thing I did was water my poor plants (nobody was home - had my family been home, I would have smothered them with hugs and kisses, of course!).  Oh my, my little garden has HAD it.  It is fried and petered out.  I ended up picking all the cucumbers and green tomatoes.  It's about time to pull the whole thing up and start my fall plantings. 

By Sunday I had decompressed enough to introducing my kids to fried green tomatoes and then we made 4 jars of refrigerator pickles.  Good stuff!  When I got home this afternoon we polished off 1.5 jars.  Those 4 jars won't last long.

I know I owe y'all a slow stitching post - it's coming.  I've almost finished up with my first project and have moved on to my second, which involved freezer paper stenciling.  Don't worry, all the details to come!

so, it's wednesday

Hmmm, I haven't been in this space since...Friday?  That wasn't the plan, but oh well.  Since then, Alex had his first sleep over, Matt & I + 6 kids (we gained some extras) went to the movies (whew, what an adventure!), there was Father's Day, and then I procrastinated way too long on a deadline, driving myself crazy along the way.  That pretty much sums it up.

I am so ready to kick back and make something just for the fun of it, I can hardly stand it!  Yes, I have my ongoing projects simmering in the background - my slow stitching project and a new knit, but I've come to realize that I need some quick fixes.  Maybe that's why I always go back to bags...they're definitely in my comfort zone.

What I really want to do is sit down & make some new clothes.  It's HOT down here and I'm tired of everything in my closet.  I'm thinking about trying Anna Maria's dress, maybe in a knit.  Some skirts & sleeveless tops would be nice, too.  I found the manual + some accessories for my serger, so that should make things easy (of course it was right where it was supposed to be, if only I had remembered that). Now, the trick is finding the time to do this!

The weekend is almost here and we have no camp show-off's or birthday parties to attend, so maybe, just maybe I'll find that time.  So far, the "lazy days of summer" haven't found me yet!

*these photos have nothing to do with what I've written, these are just random photos i've taken over the last few weeks.

a stripey chicken

I must admit, I have some weird hang-ups.  One I'm trying to overcome is that sometimes I'm a big ole chicken about some of the stupidest things.  For example, take Richelle, my industrial sewing machine.  It took me a few years before I gathered enough courage to sew on her.  I had visions of sewing through my finger with that monster machine, so I stayed away.  Once I finally sewed with her, it was a piece of cake and I felt really stupid for waiting so long.

Well, I did it again.  A few years ago a friend of mine generously game me a serger that belonged to her mother...do you see it coming?  The serger sat in the box, unused until now.  Again, I had some weird visions of injuring myself, but this time it involved nests of thread and that cutting thing that I've heard sergers do. Silly, silly, silly, I know.

I can thank some stripey gray fabric for getting me over it.  I was strolling through the fabric store when that fabric caught my eye and had to come home with me.  It isn't anything special, but with my new love affair with the color gray, I thought it would make a nice, easy, casual skirt to wear around the house - and it was on sale.

It didn't take me long to cut out the skirt using an old out of print pattern that I've used a million times.  But when it came time to sew the skirt, I decided to pull out the much neglected serger.  Oh my gosh, how silly I've been!!  I'm pretty sure I wasn't even using it correctly, but I was able to zip through that skirt in no time.  While I was sewing, some piece of machinery fell off and I couldn't figure out how to put it back on, but it made that cutter thing stop cutting, so it wasn't an entirely bad thing.  Now I'm on the hunt for the manual so that I can figure out how to put that fallen off piece back on and use it the right way.  Yeah, I'm a dork!

 

Oh, and summery knit skirts?  Bring it...I'm pretty sure I just found my summer wardrobe.  Perfect for this oppressive heat we've been experiencing.  Yes, they use the word 'oppressive' in the weather forecast.

*I haven't used this pattern since right after I had Ava...I'll make my next one a little smaller because this one falls off my hips if I'm not too careful!  Of course, I could use the serger (with the cutter) to make it smaller.  Also, I used my tripod and remote for these photos.  Oh boy, I need lots of practice with this self-portrait-not-in-a-mirror stuff.

revisiting the past...a pattern update

While doing a little blog maintenance I happened to pull up my {free} pleated tote pattern.  Oh my.  I was immediately a little embarrassed.  I wrote that pattern 3 years ago, the first pattern I ever wrote.  I'd like to think that my skills have improved quite a bit since then :)

Never mind that I'm in the middle of writing the patterns for 2 other bags you've seen around here lately, I had to drop everything and spruce that baby up!  Nothing major - just smoothing of lines, general clean up and some instruction re-writes.  I did make the bottom darts a little larger to add some depth to the body, which I think it needed.  Okay, I gave it an over haul.

When I tweak a pattern, of course I have to make it.  I'm so glad I did because I had forgotten how much I like this bag!  I was relieved that it went together easily and all the parts matched up.

You've seen a bag from this fabric before, it's one of my favorites.  Ikat-ish + dots, what's not to like?  That's a combination of two of my favorite things.  I'm not sure what the fate of this bag will be because I kind of like it.  I wasn't planning on keeping it, and I don't really need another bag, but it's just so summery and cute.  Do you like the burlap straps?  I think that adds to the summery-ness of it.  I wish the wooden button photographed better because the straps + the button are perfect.  I may use that idea again somewhere.

If you want to give it a shot, the new and improved pattern has been updated and can be downloaded here, or on the sidebar to the right.  Happy Sewing!

P.S. I'm still slow summer stitching, but I need an instant gratification project every now and then.  BAM!

Klutz Glossy Bands :: book giveaway

A couple of weeks ago I (we) received a copy of the Klutz Glossy Bands book/kit to review.  The timing was perfect with the end of school and a soon to be bored 9 yr old on my hands.  As soon as it arrived, Lily was all over it.

The recommended age for this is 8 and up, which I think is right on.  The mess factor can be a little high if you're not careful, but overall the glossy bands were easy to make and the instructions were very clear.  The book comes with 4 tubes of gel and clear plastic sheets that you lay over the templates in the book. The hardest part was letting the glossy bands dry!  Be warned...it is recommended to let them dry overnight before wearing, but I'm pretty sure we were able to use them sooner than that.

Lily (and I) thoroughly enjoyed making these and gave it 2 thumbs up.  If you're still curious, here is a video showing you how to make them.

Lucky for you, we have 3 copies to give away.  Just leave a comment and I'll draw three names Monday June 21st.  *contest open to US mailing address only, thanks

****the winners are #63 Rebecca C, #27 Walden, and #26 Dani.  Thanks for playing along!

found

Weekend before last, on Sunday morning I woke up at 4 am.  At the time, my mouth was hurting and I couldn't sleep (no worries, my mouth has been fine for days).  I tried to stay in bed, but after an hour I decided to get up and make some coffee.  The house was so quiet.  At that point, I had not made the "scales" bag, so I thought I'd spend some time in my sewing room playing with that idea.

When I got up to the room, I ended up cleaning instead.  You know how that goes...move this to there, then one thing leads to another.  That room really was in need of a cleaning.  While I was picking up I came across the parts to this little bag that I had cut out and pieced at least a year ago.  It was a happy little surprise.

I got the chance to sew it up last week.  While putting it together, I decided to add a little patch pocket to the back, just because.  It sure is a fun little bag.  I don't know why I never finished it.  But it is finished now, and in the shop.  I *think* this is the same size as the pattern I have is in the fall 2009 issue of Stitch.  In fact, that may be why I cut it out, pieced the front and never sewed it - as a dry run before submitting the pattern....who knows, but that sounds like a good enough explanation! 

6

The caboose of our family birthday train has pulled into the station today *toot toot*.  It's tough waiting your turn when within 2 months your dad, little sister, mom, and big sister all have birthdays.  It seems like forever before your day will come, especially when you're waiting to turn 6.  Well, the wait is over.  It is finally his turn, his special day.  Today Alex is 6!!!

Oh Alex, my sweet blue eyed boy.  You're artistic, smart, sneaky, and a big goof-ball all rolled into one - a perfect 6 yr old boy combination.  You've always made me laugh, but that goof-ball part has really come out this past year.  Where in the world do you come up with that stuff?  And how do you manage to leave a dirt ring around the tub every single night?

This has been such a big year for you - you started school, you made new friends, you played sports, and you learned to read.  By far, the biggest change I've seen lately has been in your artistic ability.  I love that you could sit and draw for hours (I don't so much love how agitated you get if I disturb you by asking you to eat dinner, but we'll work on that).  Pretty soon I'm going to run out of storage room for all your beautiful creations!

Happy Birthday, Alex. I love you!  I hope all your birthday wishes come true!!!

For a little blast from the past, here is my birthday post for him half his life ago.  Finding treasures in my archives like this make me happy I've kept up with my blog for as long as I have.

 

slowly, slowly...

So, how's that slow summer stitching coming along?  Have you decided on a project yet?  Started?  Me, well, I'm glad that this is SLOW summer stitching, because that's been exactly my pace at stitching, but not so much with goings on.  This week was soccer camp for the kids and Alex's last few t-ball games.  I did manage to combine my kids' activities & my stitching in the form of stitching at the t-ball games :-)  And man, has it ever been HOT down here.  It's too early in the year to be this miserable, really....I can't even imagine what July & August will bring.

Have you checked out the flickr pool lately?  There are quite a few things in there from Sneezerville and some new stuff from mamieknits.  Cathy has given us a little tease, but I'm sure she has more.  I was hoping to have my tease revealed by now, but you know, it's slow going....but that's the point, isn't it?  Happy stitching, friends, and thanks for stitching along with me.

upside down

My house is somewhat turned upside down at the moment.  We do not live in a large house, in fact, we're bursting out of our 4 walls, so when we empty the entire contents of one room, it feels like we're living in a shoe box full of stuff.  The kids think it's cool, especially Alex, who slept on his mattress on the living room floor last night.  He also thinks it's pretty neat that his bookcase is in the bathroom.  He told me that we should leave it there.

His room is empty because we're redecorating.  After his allergy tests a month or so ago, we knew that his carpet had to go.  We thought it would be fun to paint the concrete floor.  You know, cheap and easy.  We talked about it a bit, but had no definite plan.  Well, one night while I was at my sewing class, Matt decided to pull the carpet up.  I had forgotten how gross the concrete floor was.  (we lived with bare concrete floors when we first moved into our house because every bit of flooring had to be changed)

What were we thinking?  This project is NOT cheap and easy.  Well, it is cheap, but definitely not easy.  We have no idea if this will work or not, but at this point, we're carrying through. When we started all this, I didn't realize how long this process is...all the washing, then the priming, and now all the drying between coats, and then we'll have to seal.  I suppose it doesn't help that we've been having super humid days lately.  I think once it's done it will be really cute, but until then - disaster zone. 

While we were in paint mode with an empty room, I decided to paint the walls.  Those were nasty.  I never did like that wall color, so changing it was a good thing.  The boy wasn't too impressed, but now that the floor is green, he's coming around.

All this change has renewed my interest in making his quilt, which I kind of started a year ago.  I feel the need to make this quilt right now because it's just about the only thing I can do...other than watch paint dry.  Again, when I showed him all the swatches, he wasn't impressed.  I think once we get the whole thing pulled together he'll like it.  I know that I sure like the vision I have in my mind!

**if this turns out terrible, then hardwood, like the rest of the house will do down.  also, everything that came out of that room will NOT be going back in...lord, help me!!!