Pages

Friday, May 28, 2010

Crocheted Shopping Bag

So ages and ages ago I bought crocheting thread because I thought it was lace weight yarn. After I realized what a dumb idea that was, I just stuck the thread away thinking that someday I might come up with something to do with it. And here it is:

  A crochet grocery bag! So this is what it looks like with groceries in it.


This is what it looks like empty, and here it is:



 
 ...folded up for carrying! Cool, huh?

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Fixed Tee Shirt

So my boyfriend had this tee he loved, but he only got to wear it once before it shrunk so bad he couldn't wear it. So he gave me the shrunk tee, plus a tee that he didn't wear because he didn't like the design, and I did a master re-mix, which resulted in:


At first, I just cut out the design and held it against the black shirt, but I realized I could still see the old logo behind the new design, so I cut out a separate piece of white to cover the old logo. Now, the first piece of white shows behind the main design, and even comes out from behind the patch in places, which I really like.

I used my sewing machine's stretch jearsy stitch to do this, which was kind of funny, because the progress feels so slow. You have two stitches forward, one to each side, one back; two stitches forward, one to each side, one back. It's very amusing.
Anyway, I left the edges of the patch unfinished, because I think once the shirt is washed, the edges will curl up a little, which I think will be awesome.

And: I know! Another sewing project! I'm on a roll :)

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Replaced Pocket

So I know I keep saying I'm not much of a seamstress, but I've been doing lots of sewing lately! Here's what I did lately:


This thing was a bear to sew. I mean, making the pocket was easy, I just used an old cloth napkin and cut out the old one as a pattern. It was sewing it in that was the problem. It was just difficult to get the sewing machine into the pocket to sew it, and I almost sewed the pocket closed about twice.

Anyway, I'm pretty proud with how it turned out, and I think it was way smarter to replace the pocket instead of trying to patch it.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

TOSS Swap

I don't want to give any full photos and give away the surprise for the friend I'm spoiling, but here's a close up teaser:


Now we all know that I'm not much of a seamstress, but I am so excited about this project. I had so much fun making it and picking out the cloth and seeing the finished project come together. The pattern came from a book my mom got me for graduation called 24 Hour Sewing Projects. However, this bag took me about 10 hours to finish (from cutting out the shapes to cutting the loose threads), and I'm considering renaming my copy of the book One-Bobbin Projects, because when I was finished I had about two feet of thread left on my bobbin-- pretty cool.

I'll update after I give my friend her gift!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Crocheted Apron

So this is another work in progress, because I ran out of crochet thread!

I wanted an apron that I could use, so I picked this pattern, but I've decided that it's a very good thing that my Aunt bought me a perfect one for graduation, because this one is going to be more of a "show" apron-- you know, where the company arrives and you put on a pretty apron to pretend like you've been working all day and didn't get even one speck of tomato sauce on you?

Anyway, here's the progress so far:


So for graduation, my boss at HUTE got me a gift certificate to a yarn shop, so I'm pretty sure I'll spend it on more crochet thread. I'm thinking chocolate brown is a must, and maybe creme? We'll see what they have, I suppose :)

Friday, May 21, 2010

Tiny Turtle

My Mom loves turtles; She's had one named Speedy (who hibernated and then did not un-hibernate afterward) and currently has one named touche. Way back when, I knitted her a miniature turtle, but more recently I found a crocheted turtle pattern and had to try it.


The head turned out kind of wonky, but I'm still pretty happy with it :)

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Twisted Rib Beret


I'm a firm believer that every project has the capability to teach a lesson, and this one sure did! I chose the beret pattern ages ago for my Aunt, because she said she liked berets for working in, and if it was a nice one, she would even wear it out on walks, etc. So I made her one for working in, and then planned on making this one for other occasions.

The pattern instructed to do the four-round pattern repeat eight times, and then start the decrease row. Others who had done the pattern recommended doing a couple more pattern repeats than necessary. However, I got through five repeats, and felt that it was big enough.

Usually, I would ignore my gut instincts and follow the pattern to the T. I've never felt very comfortable with messing with instructions, and generally feel that if it's written down, it's probably right.

However, I went with my gut and started decreasing after the sixth repeat. And, as you can see, the beret is perfect. Obviously it wouldn't have been the end of the world if I had to rip out a few repeats and finish off earlier if I had gone ahead and done the full number of repeats-- but it's nice to know that I have a sense of sizing and shape!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Emily Shawl

So right after I did the Shawlette (and after a break for spinning, working on the Brown Sweater, and job searching) I did another Shawl called the Emily Shawl.



I enjoyed working with the lace yarn, and I think it turned out pretty, but I have to admit that I don't really know how to wear pieces like this. So maybe I'll have to find someone to give it to...

Monday, May 17, 2010

Devil's Food Peanut Butter and Jelly Cup Cakes

Long name, I know, but so very very awesome.

So here's how it went. I knew I wanted to make some kind of dessert to celebrate my boyfriend's last day of finals. I decided to make cupcakes because I just think they're cute-- and I figured if I wanted to I could take them to someone else more easily if they were individual servings.

So I preheated the oven, mixed the cake recipe, poured the cupcakes (I made half as many twice as big-- dubbed them ManCakes) and then realized I did not have a can of frosting.

No problem, I'll make my own.

I don't have powdered sugar.

So I thought, what do I have in my cupboard that acts like frosting already? Of course-- peanut butter. So I asked google, can peanut butter be used as frosting?

And google gave me the idea of peanut butter topped with jelly. Now, that's a good idea, but I had seen in Martha Stewart's Halloween magazine last year where she put jelly inside cupcakes so that they looked like they bled when you bit into them, so I decided it would be much tastier to put the jelly inside the cupcakes, and use the peanut butter as frosting. Which resulted in:

 

So after I finished these, I dug a bag of Reese's Pieces out of the pantry, which gave me another good idea; What if you filled the cupcake cup up half way, and then put a layer of peanut butter baking chips, and then filled the cup up the rest of the way with batter? Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cakes!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Shawlette

I made this pretty little shawlette while I was taking a break from job hunting (which I resume tomorrow). It only took me a day, and it's probably one of the prettiest things I've ever made!
  

The detail is what is really special.

 

I think the reason I've been knitting so much is that it makes me feel adequate-- something job hunting certainly doesn't do.

Friday, May 14, 2010

More new clothes


This is another of the skirts I got from my Mom. I love wearing patterned skirts with solid tops. I mean, I think the look is nice, but other than that I just love patterned skirts. This one is especially cool; those strips aren't printed on the fabric-- they're just zig zag stitching in various tightnesses and widths to create cool stripes. I thought about doing it with my new sewing machine for about five seconds...and then realized I do not have the patience for that! But it would be fun for a little while :)

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Thank You Notes

I don't do Thank You notes for everything, but I thought for the graduation party, it was just a logical thing to do. I started out just handwriting the notes on pretty colors:


And while I like that they're colorful, I thought sticking a colored piece of paper in an envelope was a little lame. So I talked to Mom and she came up with a much better idea! First, I arranged some pressed flowers and my thank you note on my scanner:



Then, I put one of Mom's handmade papers as the background:



And the result was a pretty, handmade thank you note that matched the feel and idea of the original party! 



I suppose the hardest thing to get a hold of would be the pressed flowers (I was lucky Mom had some on hand), but really you can buy them at Michaels, along with pretty papers etc. I wonder, would it be possible to do this on a computer if you wanted to? I don't have the skills to go there, but it might be something interesting to look into.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

New Clothes

My Mom cleaned her closet out of the things she doesn't really like anymore, which resulted in me getting a few "new" things!

 

I don't know why, but I love wearing my Mom's clothes. They're so professional and pretty, and I think everything mixes into my wardrobe really well. The dress is what I got from her in this outfit; the belt, sweater, necklace, and leggings were already mine (although I'm pretty sure she made me the necklace, too). 

I think another reason I like pieces that weren't originally mine is because it gives me the chance to try new fashions and ideas that I wouldn't have bought myself. 

This dress seems a little 90's doesn't it? I always thought I didn't like 90's clothes because that's what I wore when I was a kid...but I really like this dress, so maybe I was wrong!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Updated Petits Fours

The remainder of the petits fours got these butter creme roses:


We did roses in purple, pink, yellow, and teal, and they turned out really beautiful (Mom is a rose expert). They made a nice contrast with the fondant decorations and the sprinkles we had done several weekends before.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies!

This is seriously genius, but I've never seen it on a store shelf, so I'd thought I'd share:


So all you have to do is start with a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, and then add some green food coloring and mint flavoring! We were surprised at how perfect they turned out! We used about 2 teaspoons of flavoring for our recipe, but we based it all on smell. Good luck!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

New Home

I don't want to be creepy online by showing everyone where I live, but here's one related picture of my new place:
This is the closet that holds all my crafting supplies. They're all near the front so I can get to everything easily!


And this is my little writing desk, where I plan on working on my smaller paper crafts (because usually I'll spread out on the table!). Nice, huh?

Now that I'm moved and done with college (horray!) maybe I'll have more time for crafts?

Sunday, May 2, 2010

The Ball

Guess what I forgot?! Finished dress photos :)


See previous posts through this link.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Petits Fours

So of course I've posted petits fours before, but as it turns out, I don't like fondant...so instead of just using The Decorated Cookie's easy petits fours idea, Mom and I combined it with her bluebird brownie idea.

So we melted candy melts and covered cakesters in the melted candy. This resulted in fairly plain petits fours, so we put sprinkles on about a 1/3 of them, and fondant decorations on another 1/3. We're leaving the remaining 1/3 for butter cream roses, which we will be making right before the party (I'll update photos then).

So here's how they turned out: