The Handmade Christmas

So much knitting in December! This is Andrew's hat made with 100% virgin wool. It was fun learning how to make cables. While the pattern worked up just fine, I couldn't get the gauge right and made it too big.  All of these knitted patterns are on my Ravelry page (talldarkeyes) if you are interested.

I made six of these knitted monogrammed dish wash cloths and they were a perfect project for learning how to knit. They also made great gifts for the grandma's who still wash their dishes by hand.

This hat was made for my sister Rachelle and was the first had I ever knitted. It was knitted in an alpaca blend and came out very soft. I really like the flower accent. 

 My MAJOR project that didn't get finished until Advent was nearly over was this Advent Calendar. I made this up with no pattern using only materials I had lying around so please excuse the poor planning and design. I must say it was VERY frustrating to try to figure this one out with limited sewing skills/design knowledge. It came out all right in the end and we are looking forward to using it next year.

My favorite element was Mary holding baby Jesus. I really wanted to have her holding him instead of him being in the manger because if I had just given birth I would never want to put that baby down.

All of the stars are pockets that will accommodate a slip of paper that will list a scripture related to the birth of Christ as well as a celebratory activity for that day. It might be baking cookies and giving them to a neighbor or for the 24th singing Stille Nacht. I will get those ready for next year and I am excited for the memories I know that this calendar will help our family make.

Birthday Banner!

A few weeks ago my friend Hannah asked me to test a pattern that she was going to be selling in her Etsy shop...and I just finished today. It wasn't that I didn't WANT to do it in a timely manner, it was just that I had to do it a certain way. First I wanted to spend very little money making it requiring me to scour thrift shops for suitable fabric which was a success. Secondly, I couldn't find bias binding so I had to make my own. Did you know that 1 yard of fabric makes 72 feet of bias binding? I didn't know that and it took me 2 days of painstaking measuring, cutting, sewing, folding and ironing strips of fabric. Then Hannah's pattern called for machine applique and I prefer to do that by hand which meant it was even more delayed but now it is complete!

Here is a detail of the applique that I did. This is a blanket stitch and it is the first time I used this. Learning is fun! I used three different applique stitches on the letters. Be sure to check out Hannah's Etsy shop and this awesome pattern! Seriously, this was a great pattern to work with; I highly recommend it!

More Thrift Store Finds

These finds are not from this last week, they are from all the way back in January but I forgot to post them.

Last week I found an awesome deal on canning jars and bought 44 of them plus a mismatched set of stainless steel eating utensils, so there wasn't much to see there.

In January I found this super cool vintage fabric and some darning thread. Ever since I saw this tutorial I have wanted to learn how to darn socks. I am not very handy with the fiber arts, but I am very practical and if I can save another sock from being turned into a duster or a sock monkey, so help me I will!

I don't really have plans for the fabric yet. I thought about reupholstering a chair with it since it is a heavier weight cotton, but I am afraid 2 yards won't be enough. I do love the colors though, don't you?

P.J. Pant Pajamarama

As part of my resolution to sew something for me I am making pajama pants from Amy Butler's In Stitches. Things are going well so far, but I have met with some annoying things in the book that I don't like, mostly having to do with her terminology and when she says to do something and doesn't explain why. I guess I don't NEED to know, but I want to, because I am learning. Here is one for my seamstress friends: Why is it necessary to press a seam allowance a certain direction?

The book itself is gorgeous and I do really appreciate the handy drawings. So far in this adventure I have learned a number of things that I would like to share with you, so be attentive:

1. When going to JoAnn Fabrics with a 50% off coupon, be sure to double check that a fabric isn't already on "sale" before getting it cut. JoAnn's is pretty tricky about listing which fabrics are only a measly 10-20% off. I think they do this on purpose.
   
2. Don't make that same mistake twice in one trip because you brought your spouse along with another coupon and both of you were equally clueless.
   
3. Cellophane tape isn't a special fabric tape; it is regular, clear tape of the gift-wrapping sort. Thanks, Amy Butler for being so clear on that one. Real beginners like myself, have absolutely NO clue, apparently neither did the experienced seamstress helping me at JoAnn's.
4. The basement floor is not conducive to laying out, cutting and pining fabric. Also, not conducive to happy sewing is having to repeatedly walk up and down two flights of stairs to sew (in the basement) and press/pin/cut in my bedroom. I need to figure out a solution to this one.
5. I am much happier sewing when I am listening to music (particularly to The Swell Season). One of my college art teachers told me to always paint while listening to music in order to turn off the logical side of my brain. I didn't think the same thing applied to sewing, but apparently in my case it does.

Tomorrow I move on to the dreaded BUTTON HOLES! Doesn't that just make you shiver in anticipation? For me, it is mainly anticipation of failure, but as this is a necessary step in learning how to use my machine, I will forge on!

Oh, and when this project is over and done with, I am moving onto super simple and easy draft dodgers for my front door and a felt birthday crown for Ravenna, which will look something like this but probably cuter (one can always hope).

F-E-A-R

If you haven't noticed yet, on the right side of my blog I have a list of my favorite links. Ahhh...the linky drugs. When I am feeling down in the dumps, I go read Soule Mama's blog and it makes me wish I knew how to knit, but then I feel glad because I would probably waste a lot of money on yarn that wouldn't amount to much, but I digress. When I feel the need for crafty distraction I head on over to Amy Carol's blog Angry Chicken. This woman has the best blog links! Seriously! Today I discovered this gem from the Angry Chicken which is the inspiration of this post.

Elaine, the lovely Selfish Seamstress has the ability to make beautiful, fashionable clothes BY HERSELF! With a SEWING MACHINE no less! How does she do this? From reading her blog I am getting the drift that aside from possessing magic abilities, she can sew beautiful things because she does it primarily for herself. What a concept!

I am afraid of my sewing machine. Every time I feel inspired to tackle a project I hear the voice of my sewing machine in my head saying: "you will fail you silly girl, so just leave me in my nice box and nobody gets hurt." Sometimes I fight that voice, usually to sew for someone else, and pull out the little "darling" and have an ugly contest of wills. Eventually, with dreams of sewing perfection shattered, I give up and settle for mediocrity. But, today I had an epiphany! The reason I can't sew is BECAUSE I only sew for other people! I can't say that I have ever made anything for myself.

And now, the resolution. Early though it is, my resolution for 2010 is to learn to sew with some degree of confidence and sew something lovely for myself! I expect my dear friends to hold me to this, particularly those of you who can sew.

My First Quilt!

Here it is! I made my very first quilt and though it looks lopsided in the picture, I promise that it is surprisingly symmetrical. Being the scaredy-cat that I am, I chose to do a simple baby blanket from Amy Karol's book Bend-the-Rules Sewing and was surprised how easy it actually was to make.

Perhaps it isn't a true "quilt" but I did do some machine quilting on it. It turned out much smaller than I had originally planned, mainly this is because I CANNOT cut fabric. Months ago I asked people for advice on how to best cut fabric and the answers that I got were: rotary cutter and mat. Well I have both of those and still managed to fail this one. Ugh...I could go on and on about my frustrations about measuring and cutting fabric but perhaps someday I will be able to figure it out.

One of the great pieces of advice that Amy gave for this project is to not pre-wash the fabric because machine quilting often causes puckers. Washing it after sewing disguises these and gives it a really neat shabby-chic look which is very cute. A general review of this book is &&&/5 because this isn't really a book that I would recommend to someone who actually knows how to sew. I am guessing that a lot of the projects an experienced seamstress could just look at and know exactly how to make. Karol does have some great advice thrown in throughout the book and I do think this a great book for beginners. If you are interested definitely check with your library first.

Now I just have to give this little baby girl blankie away...but to whom, I am not telling. ;)

Going Green: Sewing Edition

My parents got me a sewing machine for Christmas and have been trying to put it to good use. My first project was to put new laundry tabs on Ravenna's cloth diapers, but with that done I decided to get greener and more creative. I also needed to learn how to use my machine!
These are 21 cloth wipes I made for Ravenna's little bottom. If using cloth wipes isn't green enough for you, I made them from fabric remnants I discovered in a forsaken bin at Walmart! I had some problems with zig-zagging the sides, mostly because I am impatient and did not take the time to iron the fabric or measure correctly. Consequently all of the wipes are different sizes. By the way, what do you sewing officianados do/use to cut your fabric straight? The total project cost, including thread, is under $5 for all of them, plus I still have fabric left over for my next project: a rag rug!
I know, I know, "Christmas is not for 9 months." I have heard it enough! My friend Mommy Bee inspired me to make these fabric gift bags, and they have proved be a project for learning different sewing techniques, like mitering corners. I used this site for basic instructions and then just went for it. So far I have finished three with two in the process, and more to come in all shapes and sizes. These ended up being much more time consuming than I imagined, so I kind of left off after I ran out of ribbon. My goal is to finish them by November, so I have plenty of time!

Another question for the sewing experts out there: how do you maintain your machines? How often do you oil/clean them? How do you know when you need to?