Pooch on a Pouch

I want a dog sooo badly!! Instead of going to the pound, however, I made a pup for a pouch. The exterior of this doggie pouch is made from soft, pink corduroy and I used fabric scraps for the pooch and lining. I used the pattern from this zipper pouch tutorial. Very fun and easy!

Patchwork Bag with Zipper Charm

This patchwork bag was my first attempt at a quilting project as well as installing a zipper. I made the bag from a pattern in Amy Butler's In Stitches book and used fabric scraps from previous projects. It turned out to be the perfect size for my knitting supplies and extra yarn! This lined bag was VERY time consuming, however (a good weekend project for the cabin), and the instructions were difficult to interpret at some points. It sort of resembles a Vera Bradley bag, which wasn't my intention...the fabric combinations in the book were way cuter!

The Weekender Bag!

Yea for the Amy Butler weekender bag! This is a time consuming adventure but it's well worth the effort! I'm very happy with the way it turned out. The exterior fabric is from Amy Butler's Sunbloom line. The most time consuming parts were cutting out the fabric pieces (figuring out how to cut the pieces so that the pattern lined up appropriately nearly twisted my brain) and sewing the bag together so that the cording was flush with the seam. After ripping it out numerous times (ugh!), I finally got it to work. I would recommend stitching a few seams across the handles at the top for stability. Next time I might add an interior pocket...It's the perfect weekend or gym bag!

Handwarmers

Knitting these handwarmers is like knitting a big tube. Thanks to Sharon's help, I've now moved on to cable-knit handwarmers with a partial thumb.

I would recommend making these with a hearty yarn that doesn't show a lot of wear and tear. After one winter mine look a little ratty.

Pattern in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.

All Knitting All the Time

The first time I wore this skirt to work, I realized my biggest challenge would be to find a non-knit top to wear with it. The skirt is a bit knit-overload, but I love the puffy felted flower complete with little roots hanging off the hem. The skirt (basically like knitting a really big hat) and flower patterns are in Stitch 'N Bitch Nation. For the drawstring waist I folded the top over and sewed it, then knit a drawstring of the same yarn. This puffy flower marked the beginning of my felted swatch obsession.

Drawstring:
On a single dpn, CO 3 sts.
Slide sts to opposite end of needle; bring working yarn behind the needle and, w/ a 2nd dpn, K3.
Do not turn work; keep same side facing you at all times and pull the working yarn firmly around behind the sts on the needle to form a knitted tube.
Work in this manner until cord measures desired length.

Felted Clogs

This was my first knitting project that I couldn't execute while watching a movie. They were worth it. The pattern is Fiber Trends' "Felt Clogs."

Felted Swatch Nation

Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'N Bitch Nation has rad sweater pattern that includes cutting felted swatches to make a flower and sewing them onto a sweater. I first tried this on a knitted skirt and now I want to sew felted swatches onto EVERYTHING. I am a sewing novice and this was my first time using the zigzag stitch on the sewing machine. If I were to do such a detailed shape again I would probably sew it by hand. The key is to use "stitch n tear" (tear-away stabilizer) behind the fabric onto which you're sewing the swatch. I embroidered the froggie features. Little dude is a bit uneven, but I like to think he looks rumpled and cute. Watch for an even cuter (hopefully) felted whale Tshirt!

The tyranny of the checkbook clutch is over

Well, I decided to stretch my horizons and try to sew something non-flat (I normally stick to skirts, tableclothes, pillowcases, hankies...basically things that are more or less square). And I definitely exceeded sewing skills and my capacity for intense non-bookish thinking and frustration. But attached is a slightly weird looking Amy butler checkbook clutch. From pretty far away (like next town over) things seem to be fine, but up close you realize that it is not really a rectangle but more of a soft misshapen fabric envelope with extremely expensive stiffening fabrics inside that got a bit pinched.

Sharon, your swing bags look great! I esp. like the one with the coriander interior.

Here comes swing!

The Amy Butler swing bag was super fun to make...perhaps too much fun. I detailed a few of the bags with a fabric flower from Amy Bulter's Madison bag pattern. I used Micheal Miller's shopping girl fabric for the middle bag and Amy Butler's Coriander fabric from her Belle 'sun glow' line for the one on the right.

The s-WING bag

Hello craftatertots,

I'm hopefully going to manage to post a photo of the Amy Butler Swing Bag that I made last month. The fabrics I chose turned out to be a bit light, so it really seems like more of a summer bag. I had been planning on using Amy Butler fabrics for both the exterior and lining, but the patterns on the fabric ended up 1) bigger and 2) more intense than I expected. So, I had to cool the whole thing down with a solid, and could only find beige muslin to match (yawn). I also wish I had chosen a cool textured ribbon (e.g. velvet/grosgrain) to sew in as a closure to the bag and to complement and break up the pattern a bit. I'm still planning on adding one, but am somewhat limited due to my geographical location (although I admire Norway for its universal healthcare system, this country has a PALTRY selection of ribbons dispersed in 12 eensy weensy sewing shops country-wide).

It was fun making the bag! The end was definitely just a process of forging forward on blind faith in not having made a critical error. Two minutes from finishing, the bag was inside out, straps were pointing in all directions (and it was unclear which side was outside strap, which inside...whaa happened? basically) and there was a tiny whole left un-sewn through which one was meant to tease the outside (one had to hope) away from the inside (??). But it worked, and then one could just whip stitch like nobuddy's business and it was finished!

Now I can't wait to use it, but shall have to hold off until I am no longer being regularly splashed by slush from passing cars on a twice daily basis, normally to and from work.

Earring Screen

I purchased screen from Home Depot and an unfinished frame with a removable back from IKEA. Heavy staples easily attached the screen to the back of the frame and the ribbon to the top.

Amy Butler's Cabo Halter

Elana gave me Amy Butler's Cabo Halter pattern for the holidays and I finally got around to making it from the Belle Collection pine/coriander fabric. I'm really happy with the way it turned out but I had to make slight modifications to the top to get it to lay flat (which is nearly impossible to do by yourself, by the way...thanks, Duke!). It was the first time I installed an invisible zipper, which requires a special presser foot. (Who knew?! I found out the hard way that the ~$3 Coats and Clark invisible zipper foot doesn't work on my Husqvarna, so I ended up purchasing the "Fashion Fun" kit which was only about $10 more than buying the zipper foot by itself and includes an additional foot, seam ripper and some other goodies.) Now I just have to wait for summer!

Where I draw the line

If I EVER mention making knitted/felted fruit, promise me that you will sew me a pink straight jacket and immediately enroll me into craft therapy.

No offense if you've made felted fruit, had the desire to make felted fruit, or know anyone who's made felted fruit.

-Sharon

yee ha!

I can only say craftastic! and blogtastic and ellentastic! It looks great and I now feel inspired to forge ahead with my sewing (I would say sewing and making slightly messy handmade cards - especially if I indulge in 'stamp art' - are my two crafting areas). I'll post a photo of the swing bag I made when I get home!

Sweetest Pressie

Sharon surprised me on my birthday with this craftastic creation.

1 craftastic: kraft-'tas-tik

Function: adjective

Etymology: Middle English craftastic, craftastical, from Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French craftastique, from Late Latin phancrafticus, from Greek phancraftikos, Middle Wilson dialect that's craftastic!

1 a : based on the extreme skill with which something is created b : inducing the coma-like state of crafting extacy c : so extremely craftalicious as to challenge belief; broadly : exceedingly large or great impact on the craft psyche.