Warm Fuzzies

Infinity Gown

A couple weeks ago, I used a sewing machine to sew a dress for a black-tie event that I would be attending...my first attempt at machine-sewing a garment, ever. I didn't want to make anything too complicated - I just wanted something simple and practical, yet elegant. I've had my eye on the infinity dress (pure genius) for a while now, and after seeing the very attractive results of a few other talented ladies, I decided to take the plunge and try my hand at making one for myself. I purchased extra fabric in case there were any mishaps. Of course, there was also a "Plan B" already hanging in my closet (who cares if I've already worn it before?) in case things the sewing gods really had it in for me.

I first used this instructable to make a floor-length A-line skirt. I was already aware that there was very little floor space available in my apartment, but this project really drove it home. It's a really big challenge to get fabric to lie flat when it's on top of a bed. But I somehow managed, and cut out the pieces. I sewed the pieces together, and due to the interest of time, did not finish any of the seams. If I could do it all over again, I would have taken the extra time to make the inside of the dress look as good as the outside. I did not bother making the waistband in the tutorial, opting to sew the waistband and shoulder straps to the skirt in one go. Next time, I think I will first finish the skirt with the waistband, and then attach the straps - just so the dress looks as well-assembled off as it does when it's on.

Sewing the dress was a breeze, and I spent some time playing with the shoulder straps and tying them in different ways. I love how the length of the straps allows for many different styles. Although the dress was less than perfect, it looked pretty darn good on, if I do say so myself.

At the last minute, I decided that I needed to put something in my hair.  I used fabric scraps to make little flower hairpins, which took all of 5 minutes.  I don't really have a good photograph, but you get the idea.

Flowers and a Puzzle Ball

I got the loveliest bouquet of flowers at work on Monday, looky here!

Aren't they gorgeous?  They're from a co-worker (who, by the way, has got to be one of the coolest moms, ever) in our Albany office.  She thought I deserved a little extra something because a matter that required my immediate attention came up after I had gotten home on Friday night, and I had to head back out and work a little later.  A thank you would have done the trick...I was completely floored when I saw the delivery guy with the flowers.  And they came in such a lovely cup, and with a matching saucer (I think the graphics are Kinkade reproductions), to boot!  I definitely owe her a nice thank-you gift.

Look familiar?  It's an Amish puzzle ball, or katamari.  I've also seen them called baby "grab" balls.  They're basically three tapered, pointed ovals sewn together and stuffed, and then joined in groups of four.  A great tutorial is available here.  I've always thought that they were absolutely beautiful, so, naturally, I jumped at the oportunity to make my own.

I initially wanted to purchase some sage green or lavender buttons to decorate the ball, but these gold ones really caught my eye.  You can't see them so well in the photograph, but the center consists of a cluster of gold-colored rosebuds.  I think they have just the right amount of sparkle...just looking at them makes me happy.

   

I carried the cut-out oval pieces, a bit of stuffing, and a needle and thread along with me in a little bag, and have been hand-sewing the pieces together during my subway commute.  It's the perfect little project to carry around for some fly-by crafting.  I've been warned that making them is addicting...and I've got to admit that I'm awfully tempted to make a whole slew of them (picture one of those ball bounce attractions for kids...but full of puzzle balls instead of those solid-colored plastic balls).  Bwahahahahah!

Crafty Goodness in the Mail Part 2: Things I've Sent

As promised, here's the little package that I sent to the wonderful Kari.

A little stripey sock dog, and apple cozy for Kari's mom (she has a "P" name and is just as awesome and crafty as her daughter).  I haven't really sent out many packages or letters through snail mail before, so I didn't have any nice stationary sets and cards on hand.  I know, bad, bad, Shirley.  So, I made do with what I had available, broke out my colored pencils, and drew a little card.  The dog's supposed to be a Shiba Inu, like Kari's dog Ginger, Crafty Ginger's little star.

    

Just as I was about to embroider eyes on the sock dog, I was struck with an idea...I could leave the dog unfinished, and leave Kari with the option of embroidering features of her choice.  And I'm so glad I didn't finish him; I would have chosen something boring...plain old black circles, most likely.  Kari's going to embroider sleepy eyes on him - I would have never thought of that, but it'd be *so* adorable.

And, hehe, I'm really ashamed to admit this, but the package that I sent to Kari wasn't put-together nicely like the one she sent me.  Everything I sent her was, get this, shoved into a plastic grocery bag, and stuffed into a Priority Mail envelope.  *cough*  Lucky for me, Kari's an angel and didn't scold me for it.  But I'm not always this awful at presentation, honest!  (Then again, there were all those years in college where my friends and I would put birthday gifts under a blanket, consider that "gift-wrapped", and let the poor recipient lift the blanket to "unwrap" her presents...)

 

This is the little something that I sent to Anna, along with some munchies, as a thank you for the quilted pencil case she had sent to me.  The two little birds are made with polymer clay, and are meant to be table-toppers.  And the card...well, Anna has two adorable birds in London, and a cat named Booty in the U.S.  I don't know how I got it in my head that they all lived together, but there you go.  Heh, I'm sure all her animals would get along if they every were in a room together, but it's fun to let your imagination run away at times, right?

I actually drew Kari's card and Anna's card on the same day.  The way I saw it in my head was that if you put the two cards side by side, they'd read as a single picture.

   

Heh, it kind of works, right?  =)

Crafty Goodness in the Mail Part 1: Packages I've Received

I woke up this morning to a most lovely surprise.  Kari, the superstar over at Crafty Ginger, gave me the heads up last night that a package she had sent out should be arriving any day now.  After a whole night of anticipation, I jumped out of bed this morning - disheveled, unshowered, but oh-so-excited - and rushed to the lobby floor to greet "the mail guy" in my PJ's.  My heart skipped a beat when I saw that a package was waiting for me in the mailroom.  I quickly signed my name, grabbed my package, raced back up to my apartment, and attacked the box with some scissors.

I greedily emptied the box of all its contents.  Just look at all these lovelies!  There's a gorgeous pair of hand-made earrings (made by Kari and her mom), a Crafty Ginger tsumami kanzashi wristlet, yummy ribbons for my stash, and a hand-made card (from a Craftster swap).  Kari also thoughtfully included two giant bags of Flamin' Hot Cheetos (my secret vice...I literally drooled when I saw them...isn't that awful?).

Here's a close-up of the earrings, and the note that accompanied them.  I LOVE these earrings!  They're so me, it's scary.  The iridescence of the pearly beads, the extra hint of purple from the smaller bead, and the skill with which they were crafted fascinates me.  I put them on immediately, and they instantly added class to my pajamas.

    

Here's the piece d'ressistance: The tsumami kanzashi flower wristlet that Kari will eventually sell in her etsy shop.  Look, it's made (with care, hehe) just for me!  Woot!  Her packaging's simply marvelous, and I love the color scheme.  One of my *favorite* color combinations is lavender and green.  Kari, how did you know?

   

I love everything about this wristlet - the ribbon band, the buttons, the carefully-made flowers.  As you can see in the picture, each kanzashi flower has a button at it's base, so you can change them to suit your mood.  Nifty, huh?  And there's more!  Kari also included a pincushion with a button on its back, so I can just pop that on and sew my heart away at my fancy.  (What a great idea, might I add).

That's my right wrist making it's modeling debut.  Isn't the wristlet lovely?  Bwahahah, and it's mine, all mine!  *cackle*  Kari, I am so sure these will sell like hotcakes when you do get around to listing them in your shop.  Thank you so much!!  I'm still not over how wonderful I felt opening your package.  Everything inside is so special.  You are awesome.

While I'm on the subject of crafts and mail, Anna sent me a lovely little package a little ways back.  It came with the cutest mailing label, ever!  It's a beagle from her Some Dogs (c) illustration.  I was a little peeved that the people in the mail room heartlessly wrote my apartment number over the label, ruining it's perfection.  *sigh*  I suppose I'm over that now...well, as over it as I'm ever going to be, at any rate.

   

And here are the goodies inside:  A wonderful pink patchwork pencil case, two gel pens, and some fruity gummy candy.

I've been using the case to store my crochet hooks; it's the perfect size for them.  Haha, not at all uncharacteristic of me, I immediately ate the candy...so delicious!  Thanks a bunch, Anna! 

Stay tuned tomorrow for "Crafty Goodness in the Mail Part 2: Things I've Sent."

Cleo the Mini Moopy Bunny

I've been wanting to make a mini moopy ever since I came across the pattern that Carly  generously shared on her blog.  So I finally had a go at making one this weekend.  Using scraps left over from making the drawstring lunch bag, I present...

 

...Cleo.  She may be lean and green, but she absolutely detests fighting.  Cleo likes to climb tall plants and sit by window sills to catch a bit of sun.  The living room window's a frequent haunt of hers because she so desperately desires a tan.  (Cleo's always been ashamed of her pasty white skin).

But alas, Cleo's skin remains fair as can be; some things just weren't meant to be.  It's okay, little Cleo, no need to fret.  You're still as moopy as a bunny can get!  (Bwahaha, I'm a poet, and I didn't even know it!)

Cleo's ears are a little wonky because I used her to work on my machine sewing skills, which, needless to say, still needs a lot of work, hehe.  For an extra dose of sweetness, check out the other great renditions of Mini Moopy on flickr.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!  Muah!

Drawstring Lunch Bag, Sandwich Wrapper, and Apple Cozy

So without further ado, here are the goodies.

I'll first talk about the drawstring bag, since that was the main item on my to-do list.  I was very much inspired by twelve22's drawstring lunch bag (update:  Anna will be publishing her patterns for these items in her own book!  See the second paragraph of her post), and also Bella Dia's fabric and crochet drawstring bag (discovered while blog-hopping on Friday). 

I crocheted the bottom "basket" portion of the bag with a sage green worsted yarn a while ago...that was the easy part.  I spent a huge chunk of time yesterday trying to figure out how to assemble the bag.  Heh, let's just say I had a lot of brain farts yesterday. 

So I measured the diameter of my crocheted basket bottom, and multiplied that by pi to get the length of the rectangle that I would cut out from my fabric to make the cloth portion of the bag.  So far so good, right?  Except I forgot to account for seam allowance (oops!).  And I don't know what I was thinking, but rather than cut out another piece (duh), I just bulldozed ahead and told myself that I'd fix it.  How do you magically add inches to a piece of fabric that you just cut?  Yeah, I don't know how to do that either, but Sunday afternoon, I was convinced that I could make miracles happen. 

At any rate, the inside of the bag is lined with a soft white fleece.  I know it's an odd material for a bag, and I spent a couple minutes mourning the stuffed animals that will never be, but it was all I had available.  I traced the crocheted bottom on some very stiff interfacing, and cut that out and sandwiched it between two pieces of fleece so that I could give the bag a more defined shape, even when it wasn't filled.  I also cut out a strip of interfacing for the side of the basket, along the crocheted part.

I sandwiched the outside fabric, interface, and fleece together, folded it in half width-wise, and used the machine to sew straight down the edge.  I was smiling and humming to myself until I realized that the seam that I made would show on the inside of the bag.  Ohhhh, so that's why people sew the lining separate from the outside fabric.  And I thought I was saving time.  I didn't have a seam ripper, and quite frankly, didn't know how to use one.  So I did the next best thing.  I cut what little excess fabric there was (remember, I forgot to think about seam allowance when cutting the material) for all but the last fleece layer.  Then I positioned it so the seam allowance for the fleece covered the reast of the edges, and hand sewed the fleece down.

   

I also hand sewed the fleece circle onto the tube I just created, and then I pushed this into the crochet bottom.  I pinned everything into position, and went back to my sewing machine, and sewed the crochet layer to the inner cloth bag.  I then grabbed the top of the bag to see where I wanted to position the drawstring, and then tried to use the machine to make a buttonhole.  Apparantly, I had to change the foot, and I attached the new one incorrectly.  Thus, I made a bunch of really gross looking knot-like things.  And after about 45 min of frustration and yelling at my machine, I consulted the manual.  And then I screamed at myself for wasting time because I had been an idiot.  Note to self: always read manuals before using the device.

At any rate, I finally made a successful buttonhole, and I used small sewing scissors  to cut through the fabric in the hole.  I then folded the top of the fabric over to the inside, and sewed a french seam (I think that's what it's called).  I went back to my sage green yarn and knit an i-cord for the drawstring, and attached wooden beads on both ends.  Then I realized I had to get the bugger through the buttonhole.  So I removed a wooden bead, and threaded the end through a yarn needle.  I then passed the length through the buttonhole.  Now I attached the wooden bead again.

I was very pleased at my bag at this point, and was about to show it to Kyle when I realized that I had forgotton to make a strap for it.  Gah, I should have sewed that in when attaching the fabric part of the bag to the crocheted part.  So I took some satin that I had on hand (for use on my quilt), and made two tapered ribbons.  I machine sewed these as close as I could to the crochet area.  Then I realized that this area would encounter a lot of stress from the weight of the contents of the lunch bag, so I would have to reinforce it.  After reinforcing these stitches, the area where I attached the "ribbons" wasn't too lovely.  So I took out my vintage ribbon, which I had intended to use on this project, anyway, and hand sewed it over the stitching that was visible on the lunch bag.  Hehe, so now, when you look at the finished product, you can't even tell that I had so many problems. 

Now I can take my lunch to work with style!

Anna from twelve22 also made a sandwich wrapper, so I thought, why not?  So here's mine. 

I used her suggestion of lining the inside of the wrapper with a synthetic, waterproof material.  I chose to use clear vinyl.  It works pretty great for transporting sandwiches!  The outside fabric is what I had previously used as a table cloth for a small bistro set.  As for the inside fabric, I used that to reupholster some kitchen bar stools.  Making the sandwich wrapper was pretty easy and straight-forward.

Lastly, I knit an apple cozy from this tutorial.  In addition to the leaf and bobble, I also made a small i-cord stem.  The embroidery stitch that I used to embroider the first letter of my name is called spiral stitch.  I didn't have any apples, but I used it to carry a peach.  After all, who said that apple cozies could only carry apples?

 

Guess who's looking forward to lunch tomorrow?

Humpy the Bull Terrier

Humpy says hi.  Don't ask, Kyle named him just now. 

                            

He is from a japanese craft book, 手のひらサイズのぬいぐるみ.  I had wanted to finish him yesterday, but I got to the stage where I was so pleased with my progress that I did not want to continue for fear of messing up.

                                          

But I got over that hurdle.  I held my breath and added his facial features this morning.  His body's very soft, made from a Hyatt shoe cloth that I got on one of my business trips.  Actually, I just barely had enough fabric.  I had two of these shoe cloths (from separate trips) in my posession, so when cutting the pieces out of the first cloth, I didn't take care to conserve the fabric, since I had a second cloth to fall back on.  Well, I had everything cut out except for the head gusset and ears, when I decided to cut the remaining pieces out of the second shoe cloth.  When I went to locate the second shoe cloth, I saw that Kyle had used it...to polish his shoes.  I confronted him.  "What were you thinking?!?  Why in the world would you use a perfectly nice shoe cloth to polish shoes?!?!?"  He looked at me like I had three heads.  Anyway, needless to say, I had to manage with the remnants of the first cloth. 

Since I really don't have much fabric on hand at all, we went out yesterday specifically to buy black fabric for Humpy's tail and ear.  Even though I needed, oh, just 2 square inches, I bought a yard.  You know, for a rainy day.  Hah, it's never too late to start building a stash!

I used charcoal for the circle around his eye, and blush for the pinkness around his nose.  How can you not love him?

 

Why a bull terrier?  Well, Kyle and I had always known that we would own a dog at some point in our lives.  The only trouble is deciding on what breed.  He likes the, how can I say this, "special" looking dogs.  Like bull terriers.  And bull dogs.  I had a fluffier dog in mind, like the adorable maltese (Freddy!) who lives with my parents.  You know, a cute little dog that doesn't look like a giant rat.  But I've got to say, after looking at more and more pictures of bull terriers, I'm really starting to think they're rather endearing.  So ugly that they're cute.  And, really, that's what makes them so very charming.