A Little Something for my Arm

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Heather

I have to admit up front that I am really, really proud of this project. Would you believe that I made myself a purse?

Vest Bag from Quilt a Bag

It is called the Vest Bag, and it was a kit that I bought from Quilt a Bag at the Creativ Festival. It came with everything I needed, including fabulous Japanese cotton! And, honestly, I am in love with this purse.

I even added two pockets to the inside, and made one of them a padded 3D pocket for my iPhone.

Vest Bag Pockets

 

It isn’t perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, but I am still very happy with it. If I were to make another (and I just might!), I would add a magnetic closure. And I would also be a little more careful about how the webbing meets up.

Vest Bag Interior

Given my pretty modest sewing skills, I think it turned out great.

7 Comments | Posted in Sewing | Tagged ,

Small Projects

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Heather

Well, so much for my attempt to post every day this month. Honestly, for the past couple of days I just haven’t felt much like writing. And so, I haven’t. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been working away on a bunch of projects.

First, I finished up Baby Man’s trick-or-treat bag. Yes, I know it is really late, but I’d like to think I’m ready early for next year. You may remember, that I actually knit this bag in 2010. This past week I just added the fabric lining.

Boo Bag with Lining

 

I also knit myself a hat using an absolutely lovely milk fibre yarn called Rosários 4 Sole Latte . The pattern is A Hat for Eudora, and the pattern is available here.

Hat for Eudora

The hat turned out very soft and drapey, and it is flattering too! I can’t wait to wear it.

I’ve also been working on Christmas gifts, but I can’t share those until after the holidays. But just wait until you see what else I’ve made myself! Tomorrow!

1 Comment | Posted in Knitting | Tagged ,

Covering My (Paper)Back

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Heather

More serger projects! What can I say? I’m on a roll!

Yesterday I whipped up another project from [amazon_link id=”0896896900″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Ready, Set, Serge[/amazon_link]: a paperback book cover.

Paperback Book Cover

I used 100% quilt-quailty cotton, and serged all the seams.

Book Cover Inside

I’m pretty proud of how much better I’m getting at sewing/serging straight lines! Having a few really nice finished projects under my belt really does a lot to raise my self-esteem. I think I might be making a couple more of these. Christmas gift, anyone?

Book Cover Open

 

2 Comments | Posted in Sewing | Tagged ,

Asleep on the Wheel

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Heather

Sometimes I put off projects for a long time because I’m afraid they aren’t going to turn out as well as I hope. Case in point is a pillowcase for the little man’s bed. In the spring I bought some Cars and some checkered flag fabric from fabric.com with the intention of sewing them into a fabulous (in my mind) pillowcase for the little man. I had found a pattern in a book, [amazon_link id=”0896896900″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Ready, Set, Serge[/amazon_link], I had the fabric, and I had my serger. All I was lacking was the confidence.

Things sat around for a while, until I convinced myself that I needed a piping foot for the serger because I had to add piping to the pillowcase. There was no way I was going to make the pillowcase until I could add piping. Calling my bluff, my husband bought me a bunch of feet for my serger a week or so ago, and so I ran out of excuses.

Cars Pillowcase with Checkered Flag Band

How’s that for a custom made pillowcase? It is just like I imagined it.

Cars Pillowcase Close-up

Because I used my serger, all the seams inside are nicely finished. I made and installed the piping on the serger as well. You can probably see that the blocks of colour on the piping and the band don’t line up. I did that intentionally, since I figured that I wouldn’t be able to make them match, and rather than have part of it match and then have it slip away, it was better to offset it from the start. Also, the piping doesn’t match perfectly at the seam. That’s because the serger couldn’t quite make it through two layers of piping and three layers of fabric. Still, I think it looks fabulous! I’m super proud of it.

Baby Man with Cars Pillowcase

It looks like Baby Man likes it too. (Yeah, he’s just pretending to sleep. Baby Man have a nap in the middle of the day?! I wish!)

4 Comments | Posted in Sewing | Tagged ,

Planning

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Heather

Today I took a trip to Fabricland (for the Americans, think Joanne’s but only fabric).

My Basket at Fabricland

So, let’s see. There is fabric for two pairs of pjs for the little man, some cord to use for piping when I make a pillowcase for him (fingers crossed that it works out like I’m planning), zippers and bias tape for some pattern keepers, and goodness knows what else. Hopefully my new sewing machine and the serger will get a workout soon. (P.S. that’s not me in the background. That’s the fabric-cutting lady.)

1 Comment | Posted in Crafts |

Little Snowmen

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Heather

While parts of Canada and the US have had snow already this autumn, thankfully here in Southern Ontario we have seen nary a flake. That is a little odd however, since by now we have usually had one day cold enough to see just the tiniest, wee amount of snow floating in the air. It hardly every makes it to the ground, but it is pretty nonetheless.

With snow on my mind, if not in the air, I knitted up some little snowmen. These first five are for a lady I know through Ravelry:

Snow White Snowmen

And these last two were actual a bit of a mistake. They were knit first with an off-white yarn. Oops! But, they are still cute.

Off-White Snowmen

The pattern is Tiny-Tiny MochiMochi Snowmen by MochiMochi Land. They are meant to be really tiny when knit when fingering weight yarn, but I knit mine with worsted weight, and they ended up about 3″ tall. The yarn is Bernat Satin in Snow, Silk (the off-white), Lavender, Teal and Flamingo, and Mary Maxim Starlette in Berry Red and Dark Willow.  You can see close-ups of the first five on my Ravelry project page (if you are a Ravelry member, that is).

And, if it snows soon here in Southern Ontario, we all know whose fault it is.

As an unrelated aside, I’m taking part in the BlogHer NoBloPoMo over on my regular blog. You can find it here.

5 Comments | Posted in Knitting | Tagged ,

A Little Lopsided

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Heather

I’ve been having fun playing around on my new sewing machine. I’ve got a super cute finished bag to share with you soon, once I can take some good pictures. Unfortunately, this little clutch purse didn’t turn out as well.

Clutch Purse from Quilt a Bag

I did my best to disguise the lopsidedness in the picture, but in real life there is no missing it. Unfortunately, I didn’t sew the bottom panel on quite right, which threw the whole thing off. Since the fabric ravelled very easily, I figured it was better to just forge ahead rather than attempt to rip it out and ruin the whole thing.

So, in the end I got a wonky finished bag and learned some skills (and some lessons on lining things up better). I’m going to look for some more fabric is similar colours (I really liked the fabric), and reuse the top clasp. I’m not discouraged! I’ve got a whole bunch more of sewing projects I want to tackle.

4 Comments | Posted in Sewing | Tagged , ,