Becky's Babies

A long time ago I blogged about skirts that I made for my friend Becky's adorable twins, Isobel and Ophelia. Little peanuts that they are, the skirts still fit them! I love that they're wearing bandannas in this photo. Oh, and the fact that Ophelia is doing a number on Isobel's ear.

Great Apron Pattern

Over at one of my favorite blogs, Montessori By Hand, blogger Meg McElwee has created a pattern for a great apron, called the Emmeline Apron. You can pre-order your pattern today, to be shipped on February 8, 2008.

Finding the Right Fabric: Not There Yet

I recently renovated my kitchen. This involved a bunch of steps, some of which I've blogged about already. I painted the ceiling and window and door trim, painted the walls, painted the cupboards, replaced the cupboard hardware, replaced the ceiling light/fan, installed new curtain rods, and got my countertops replaced. I wanted to make the kitchen, which is small, really vibrant and fun. I therefore painted it a bright green color called Tart Apple. I got black, white and grey solid surface acrylic countertops. The new light/fan is a funky retro design. The new artwork I created (from rice paper purchased in Toronto's Chinatown and wooden frames that Ginny and I painted grey) adds a graphic punch without being too loud.





So all of that is great. Here's the rub: I can't find fabric to match my vision for curtains. I'm imagining something that's mostly black and white, in a mod/sunburst-inspired pattern like the fabric above, with maybe a splash of green and a bit of grey. I have searched and searched, online and in person, in the U.S. and Canada, and have yet to find fabric that corresponds with what's in my head. I have confidence that I'll get there, and until then my plain white sheers will have to do, but I'm kind of surprised at how hard it is to find what I'm looking for. If all else fails, I think I'll make my husband really happy by making curtains out of this fabric:

Ginny's Coming to Visit!

My sister-in-law Ginny is arriving for a visit today. In honor of her trip, I've made her a little bag to hold her Charlie Card. This little bag is made from the same fabric out of which I crafted my second-ever art smock.

Art Smock, Redux

After completing an art smock for Bea and making a trip up to Toronto's Honest Ed's and finding some awesome tablecloth material for sale by the yard, I decided to make a smock for my friend Hanna's daughter Haya. I'll be seeing Haya (and parents) in mid-January when she makes her annual winter trek from Madison to Buffalo, and I hope she likes this smock.

Mely, what do you think? We purchased this flowery goodness together, after all...

Cuteness Overload

Meet Vonn James! My wonderful friend Andrea recently had a little baby boy. I blogged a while ago about the sweater and blanket I made to welcome little Vonn into the world. Here he is, modeling the goods. In the photo above he's wearing a yellow angora sweater. Below he's sleeping on the green fleece blanket I made, and in the final photo he's sporting a red and yellow angora hat (which he'll hopefully grow into further as the winter progresses!) and the yellow angora sweater. The final photo also features his Grandpa James, after whom Vonn James is named. FYI, Vonn means "bright" in German and knowing Andrea as I do, I'm sure he will be bright in all senses of the word.

Holiday Dogs

Today's craft adventures included making two jaunty little scarves for pooches I know. One was a gift for my adviser's dog, Toby, and the other for my dog-nephew and downstairs tenant, Ebenezer. These scarves were super quick to whip up- I just cut 2 big squares out of holiday fabric (snowmen on one side, stars on the other), cut a diagonal line to create 4 triangles, and then sewed 2 triangles together (snowmen and stars back-to-back). I cut in a buttonhole in order to slip one end of the scarf into the other to secure it and called it a day. Oh, and I also added a piece of elastic to the end of Toby's, in case it didn't fit him (it's hard to recall a dog's neck size from memory...) Both dogs looked super cute in their new accessories, but I've only got photos of Ebenezer (aka Eb, Eben, Beezer, Pretzel Man and/or Love Love, depending on who's talking to him!)

Diane's Christmas Hat

My friend Diane and I often craft together. It helps that we live within a mile of each other in the 14213 (gotta show some neighborhood pride)... Today was a terribly snowy day and Di was brave enough to venture out of her house and over to mine for some impromptu holiday-present knitting. Her 4 wheel drive vehicle helped in that endeavor. Anyway, I'm featuring a hat that Di crocheted for her mom for Christmas. She's afraid that it looks more like a crown than a hat, but I think it's cute and I'm sure her mom will love it.


Also, see below for a little make-up bag I whipped up today as a holiday gift. Again, I can't say more without ruining the surprise... but I hope the intended recipient likes it.

El Dia de los Muertos Smock

It's such a busy time of year as a crafter, I almost don't know what to feature on this blog. I've got tons of projects underway at once! One of the cutest, however, is an art smock for my friend from middle schoolTerra's daughter, Bea. Terra requested that I make the smock out of some really fun and funky fabric. The blue and purple (el dia de los muertos) oilcloth is from Mexican Sugar Skull, and the cantina/music fabric is by Alexander Henry.

I am using an existing Montessori art smock (shown below) to create the pattern for this little garment. At Terra's request, rick rack is also featured prominently in the design. I'll post a photo when it's all completed, and perhaps also post a photo of adorable Bea (also shown below, in a photo featured on Terra's blog).

Stupid Sock Creatures, Revisited

Yesterday I got an e-mail from my colleague and friend Susan, who shared the above photo of her Thanksgiving weekend crafting adventures. She wrote:

Hi Rachel,

I thought of you last night as we spent the evening crafting with socks. When we were Christmas shopping yesterday we bought a “Stupid Sock Creatures” book and kit (by John Murphy) for my sister-in-law and her husband. It looked like so much fun that we made our own stupid sock monsters to send along. Here is a photo of our creations. Jason made the big headed guy on the left, I made the strange creation in the middle, and Chloe’s creature on the right is still in progress.

Susan

Okay, now here's the crazy part. Although I'd never mentioned this to Susan before, I actually met John Murphy several years ago (maybe in 2002 or 2003, I'm not sure) and commissioned him to make stupid sock creatures for me, my sister and my brother!

Here's the link to the book and kit, in case you want to make your own. In the meantime, I'll try to scare up some photos of our stupid sock creatures. Mine is named "Sharky the Intrepid," FYI!

Robot Outfits Update

Several months ago I blogged about the robot outfits that I made for my friend Becky's wonderful twin girls, Isobel and Ophelia. Becky recently sent me a photo of Isobel sporting her snazzy little outfit. I think Isobel looks a lot like Becky's husband Eliot in this picture. Isn't she adorable? I love the shoe/socks.

Stress and Curtains

I defend my dissertation proposal tomorrow (Monday) morning at 11am. Send good thoughts out into the universe for me, please! My wonderful (Buddhist) friend Nansa has promised to chant for me, which bodes well, I think.

Between preparing for the defense and preparing to leave, I feel like I'm running around in a daze. But I did take a couple of minutes last night to transform a tablecloth into a curtain. Aside from the fact that it could use a good pressing, I think this works very well in our bathroom window; it offers just enough coverage so that our neighbor won't get an unintended peep show but still allows light to flood the room. We previously had a roman shade hanging here, but the cats found the string mechanism a little too tempting. They managed to chew through it and create what was essentially one very long (too long) piece of fabric on the window.

It's really amazing how a few minutes of crafting can center me during a tumultuous time.

What to Do With Day of the Dead Oilcloth

Tumbling Blocks has a tutorial for how to make an oilcloth lunch bag; this would be great to make from the el dia de los muertos oilcloth I blogged about the other day.

Papel Picado Oilcloth

I'm so excited! One of my favorite websites, Mexican Sugar Skull, has just announced that they are getting El Dia de los Muertos, papel picado-style oilcloth in stock! Oilcloth is great for sewing tablecloths, grocery bags, office organizers and so on. If you're interested in buying some, check their website over the next few days. They say,


"After many years of heckling the oil cloth makers, we finally have a fabulous Day of the Dead oilcloth ! Papel picado banner designs of bicycling skeletons, birds, flowers and skulls, will be a great tablecloth covering for your ofrenda altar, picnic in the cemetery or crafts!

The design will come in 7 color combinations. We will carry all 7 combinations for 8 weeks ONLY and then reduce the offerings to only the most popular colors. We expect this shipment to be available by 9/10/07."

Today is the 11th and it's not yet available for purchase on the website, but keep checking if you're interested too.

Luggage Tag Tutorial

We'll soon be heading off to Mongolia so I can do my PhD fieldwork... life is a blur right now as I do my best to get everything together before the big departure. It's amazing, actually, how many little loose ends there are to tie up. But here's a crafting tutorial that I'll likely put to good use- it's a Quickie Luggage Tag Tutorial from My Longest Year.

Birthday Presents Still Pouring In

Somehow I've lucked out with birthday presents this year; although my birthday was almost 3 weeks ago, I'm still getting gifts! Yesterday a huge box arrived from my sisters-in-law Ashlee and Ginny, with a bunch of presents from Ecuador (where Ginny studied last semester) and two new books I've been coveting: Bend the Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew by Amy Karol of Angry Chicken, and Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing: Patterns and How-To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects. I can't wait to try some of the projects!

Fashion and Eco-Sensibility Collide: I'm Not a Plastic Bag

I basically live under a fashion rock, so I was until recently unaware of the buzz around designer Anya Hindmarch's wildly popular new tote, the "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" (cloth) bag. Actually, "buzz" is likely too soft a term; people are lining up for these bags like I did for Cabbage Patch Dolls in November 1983.

There's something ironic about people waiting in line for hours to buy a canvas tote for $15 and then turning around and selling it for over $100 (yep, it's true- check eBay if you don't believe me) when the bag itself is making an environmental statement. After all, isn't the idea that by using canvas, rather than plastic, bags, people will curb environmentally degrading, materialistic habits? Sigh. The bright side is that people may actually stop using so many plastic bags now, I guess. And because I am eternally hopeful, I present to you several tote bag pattern links. In the amount of time you would spend waiting in line for one of the I'm Not A Plastic Bags, you can make your own:

1. Singlet style tote bag, link via CRAFT.

2. Knitted bag folds up onto itself, link via CRAFT.

3. Really simple sewn tote bag.

4. Fancier sewn tote bag.

5. Easy oilcloth tote bag. You can always buy oilcloth from one of my favorite websites, Mexican Sugar Skull, if you don't know where else to get it.

6. There's a nice photo tutorial for this sewn tote bag.

7. A pattern for a cute crocheted and felted tote bag can be found here.

8. Don't sew, crochet or knit and don't want to pay $100 or wait in line for something that's not a plastic bag? Here are some cute and inexpensive options I found on Etsy:

1. Little Odd Forest Shopping Bag
2. Tree Hugger Tote
3. Vintage Farm Scene Tote
4. Big Brown Bag
5. Blue String bag

Homage to My Sister

Today is my dear heart sister Sarah's 30th birthday. She is one of the strongest, most determined people I know. Thirty is one of those milestone birthdays where you are expected to stop and take stock of what you've accomplished. Sarah should be proud when she does that. And in honor of all her strengths, I've crafted the following things for her:



A knitting needle case. I modified the pattern and made this to fit circular needles, because Sarah needs a circular needle case. Once again, it looks completely crooked and the actual product is totally straight. I think the one side is curling up, causing it to look lopsided. It's not, I promise you!



A matching bag to hold balls of yarn and other knitting goods. I used fabric from my vintage stash (the flowered print) to make both the case and the bag.

My brother and I also made her a scrapbook called "Sarah: From 0 to 30 in Photos." Here is the exterior as well as the front page of our handiwork:






To close, a poem by Maya Angelou, honoring the fact that with a sister like Sarah in the world, I'll never be alone:


Alone

Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don't believe I'm wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires
With money they can't use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They've got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely
I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
'Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Knitting/Crocheting Needle Case #3

Elsewhere I have written about the many crafting adventures I've gone on with my sisters-in-law, Ashlee and Ginny. I've also posted about making knitting needle/crochet hook cases. So today I present to you Ashlee's birthday gift (Happy Belated Birthday, Ashlee- I didn't want to post until after you'd received the present in the mail!) I used coordinating fabrics in pink, blue, green and brown for this case, unlike the green and blue cases I made before. I hope Ashlee likes it and makes good use of it. Note: it appears crooked in the photo below but it's not. :)

Wedding Centerpieces and Table Coverings

This post is a 2-for-1 since I won't be able to post tomorrow. I wanted a picture of both the table coverings and the centerpieces we used for the tables at our wedding, and this shows them both.

I got this cool skull fabric for 90% off retail price at a fabric shop that was going out of business. I bought 15 yards of it at a whopping 50 cents per yard-- a total of $7.50 for enough skull fabric to make coverings for 15 tables. I also bought tons of fringe at the same store, which was a bit more expensive because I needed massive amounts, but at 90% off I still only wound up spending about $30 for all of it. I cut the fabric down to size and then simply sewed, and sewed, and sewed on fringe. For $2.50 each, I think they added a bit of spooky flair to the tables. This one looks a bit wrinkled on the table but I think it just got messed up as someone walked by because they generally laid flat.

I don't know exactly how I hit on the idea of candy bowl centerpieces, but I think it worked out really well! This actually wound up being more money than I thought it would, as I didn't really realize just how much candy we would need to fill 15 bowls. But people really liked them, because they were completely edible! Here's how the whole thing worked:

1. I went to garage sales, finding cool see-through glass bowls or big vases. I hit the jackpot at a garage sale of someone who'd recently planned her daughter's wedding, scoring 12 bowls for $2 each. They were basically new, as they'd only been used one night. The remaining bowls were ones I picked up for a dollar or less at various garage sales.
2. My mom and I hot-glued fringe (left over from the table coverings) to each of the bowls/vases.
3. My husband and I tried not to eat too much candy as we amassed amazing amounts (2 boxes full) for the centerpieces.
4. My husband insisted we had too much "filler" candy and not enough "good" candy a few days before the wedding and made a trip to the grocery store for lots of individually wrapped chocolate madness. We spent about $100 on candy, which was definitely more than I was expecting, but a steal compared to how much people usually spend on flowers, I guess.
5. We filled each bowl with candy and placed it in the middle of the table (on top of the skull fabric) on our wedding day.
6. As guests arrived for the wedding, our "greeters" (Mariah, Myagaa and Zoloo) gave each person a small candle holder with tealight inside (for our ceremony-- I got the candle holders from the same garage sale mentioned above) and told them to check the bottom. We put stickers on the bottoms of 15 candle holders, and if you got a candle holder with a sticker on it, you got to take a candy centerpiece home with you. This was a big hit with the guests.

So the centerpieces were about $10 each, in the end. The grand total for the table ornamentation on 15 tables was about $190 (not including the favors, which I've written about elsewhere-- those were 75 cents each including packaging, sucker sticks and the original purchase of the molds because we made them ourselves.) So if you factor in the favors, total per table was less than $20 for all decorative elements. The cheap fabric score really saved the budget, as did all the garage sale hunting.

Note guests in costume in the above photo. My little cousin Pam was a great vampire (on the right). She won a prize (yes, we had a costume contest) for best child's costume.