Baby Present!

Oh man, did Mike and I have fun with this challenge!  We found this pattern in one of my favorite books, One Yard Wonders,  co- created by Trica, from Crafty Planet, the coolest store ever.  We surprised ourselves by making it in only two sessions.  It was really fun to make, but tricky to stuff.  We stuffed, unstuffed, and fidgeted with the stuffing trying to get the neck and legs firm.  I hope that John and Daphne's baby enjoys playing with it once it gets born, starts walking, and can pull and walk at the same time.  

Holiday Presents

Man, this was a very busy holiday season.  I branched out into new areas and made new things.  I wish I had taken a photo, just one stinking photo of the felt food I made for Veda, but I didn't. 

I have several sweet knitters in my life. It is a skill I don't have and I don't know how they keep it tidy, but I tried to help them out.  I made knitting needle wrap to help them keep it classy. 
I would love to see how they look with needles in them.   I got the basics from this pattern and kept modifying from there until It turned into something durable and elegant.  It was a busy winter, but I think it all came out in the end. 

Cookie Day

Veda and Ari are coming over to make cookies and candy tomorrow.  I found this cool Santa beard pattern and whipped one up for the the sweet potato to wear as we make treats.  I think she'll look so cool!

Uptown coat

I am so excited that I finished this coat in one month.  I chose the materials, washed, dried, ironed, and cut them to fit the pattern.  I embroidered this cute owl pattern that I found on badbird's blog.  The pattern is the Uptown Coat by Favorite Things.  I completed 90% of this coat at Crafty Planet in a class that met for four hours over two Saturdays. There were two other girls in the class and we had a blast working together.  May have made some new friends.  As I prepared to sew this I read some other blogs by folks who had finished it.  I really liked this one by Additional Jesus, man that gal can sew!

On to the coat:  It is a fine-wale brown corduroy with a blue satin lining.  I love the big, square, blue buttons.  I top-stitched the corduroy with a turquoise cotton thread and top-stitched the lining with a coffee cotton thread. The coat is lined with a thick cotton batting that makes it even warmer if not a little bulky. 

I purchased all of the materials and the pattern at Crafty Planet except for the lining.  Any materials purchased for a class receive a 15% discount, that was approximate to the cost of the class.  I knew how to perform all of the tasks to make the coat, but it sure did help to have Lisa there interpreting the pattern for me.  Also, she had a model available so I could see how the steps would all come together. 
I had to cut and piece together  11 pieces for  each part of the coat: shell, batting, and lining.  It was overwhelming to look at.

Mike was super helpful along the way, he reads manuals so well. He was a great editor, revising my button hole placements until they were uniform.  I couldn't have done it without him.  Remi, as usual, was a constant companion when I worked on it at home.  He sits at my feet under the machine/ironing board and sighs to remind me that he is there.   I am such a lucky gal, and now I have a pretty warm coat to remind me 6 months of the year!

Anniversary Present

Mike and I went to San Francisco for spring break and stayed in Japantown.  We liked this cool Japanese bookstore with lots of cool stuff.  Mike trolled the window several times looking at this cool monster face computer bag.  I made a mental note and started sketching patterns on scraps of paper.  I finally got the nerve to try putting it together in time for our anniversary.

I made it out of a fine wale, brown corduroy, added a reinforced laptop pocket, and gave it a padded lining.  I sketched several different monster faces, anxious, angry, surprised, but in the end I liked how ambiguous this guy looked.

Smart Girl

That little Veda is such a smart girl.  She loves books, loves to count, and loves tell us everything she knows.  With that said, I was inspired to make her a felt counting book.  I began in April, finished in October, and am posting it now.  It was a labor of love.  Mike and I revised the page layout several times until we found a way to bind so many felt pages.  I reinforced the pages with plastic mesh sheets and bound the sets together with a blanket stitch.

Catching up

I haven't updated this in a while as my hands have been so busy lately.  Here is a bit of the curtain story.

Mike and I had placed an order to replace our old windows.  We decided not to replace the blinds, but to sew curtains.  I was excited to start sewing as soon as school was over, the windows were custom made and  supposed to arrive in mid- June.  We measured windows and picked out fabrics, washed and ironed them so that they would be ready when the time came.  Then Champion called a month early and asked if they could install the next morning!  We stalled until Monday which gave me 2 days to iron, pin, hem and trim 5 curtains, purchase rods and hangers.  Saturday and Sunday I measured, sewed and examined curtains from 8 am to 8 pm.  Mike and Remi were  excellent assistants.  As you may know, Remi sits at my feet as I iron, pin, and sew.  He is as a loyal companion as a girl could ask for. 

My office has cowboys and broncos.   The living room is tre modern as is the bedroom.  I like the Jetson's style print.  It looks great with my dumpstered ikea lamp.  Mike's office is very butch with the dark bar, navy and grey print, and hard wood floors.  Also, it is next to the bbq, it often smells very smokey in there. 

All fabrics were purchased at craftyplanet.  We found that comparable rods and hangers could be found at target for 75% less than at Joanne Fabrics. 

I love the hangers that we purchased.  They are modern and complement the patterns we chose, also they are super quick to install and make it easy to wash when you put the lillies next tot he window and get orange pollen all over your new curtain.