Category: General Sewing

craftmas, Cross-stitch and Embroidery, General Sewing

Mine!

wittychild

Just a short and sweet one for tonight – a little ornament I made my Avon lady, Heather, for Christmas.  I had done Margaret Sherry designs for her for the past couple of years, but when the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Preview issue came out this summer, this caught my eye:

(Yes, that’s my own stitched version, not the magazine picture.)

It’s called “Mine”, by Brittercup Designs.  I love Britty Kitty!  I made a few changes to the colours, using what I had on hand, and did the red holly berries in holographic fine braid by Kreinik (all other threads are DMC).  On 28-count, over two threads, it’s just a shade under four inches square.  Using some Christmassy fabric I had been hoarding since at least last year, and a little cording, it makes a cute little pillow ornament.

General Sewing

Oh Mickey, you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind…hey, Mickey!

wittychild

One of my coworkers is pregnant with her first child.  There’s been some dispute over whether it’s a boy or a girl, but we do know that it’s definitely a baby of some sort (I mean, it can really only go one of two ways, right?), and that she went Mickey Mouse-happy when choosing nursery decor and clothing.

I swore up and down that I was going to stay uninvolved in all the baby craziness – though I somehow got appointed Baby-Pool Collection Agent – but then I got a flyer for Fabricland and saw Mickey Mouse fabric front and centre on the first page.  I knew I had to do something with it, but what?  Quick and simple would be good.

Enter Simplicity pattern 4225 and its plethora of cute, easy projects.  I dug the bib, so I made two, and had enough fabric left over to make a small drawstring bag to package them up in.  Cute and “green”!

I managed to centre a different Mickey pose on each one.

My favourite part is the way the flannelette on the backs contrasts with the binding tape.

The stylish and practical bag.

She was surprised and delighted, especially when she found out I had actually made everything myself.  Now we just have to wait and see whether she has a boy or a girl to wear them – only two weeks to go!

Cross-stitch and Embroidery, General Sewing

The best thing since sliced bread? Toast!

wittychild

I made my parents a toaster bag for their anniversary.  A what?  Toaster bag.  Due to a severe lack of counter space in the kitchen, the toaster lives in the pantry when not in use.  In the interest of keeping dust off it and keeping crumb-tray detritus off of everything else, it was generally stored in a repurposed bag from some store or other.  And, you know, the plastic bag worked just fine, but it lacked pizazz, so I decided a sturdy, washable fabric bag was in order.  When I presented it to them they were pleased (really!), and then my mom made an offhanded comment about having a cute toaster embroidery pattern “like the pot you did” (referring to the Aunt Martha’s “Animated Kitchenware” pattern I did on an apron for myself).

Aunt Martha’s “Animated Kitchenware”, alas, is limited to pots and pans and their ilk; no fancy plug-in appliances.  I checked out Sublime Stitching’s “Krazy Kitchen” sheet, but no toaster there, either.  Boo.  And then…I remembered downloading a peanut butter and jelly pattern from Urban Threads some time back.  Of course!  A bread-based design would work just as well, wouldn’t it?

The hearts make it so anniversary-appropriate!  This was my first attempt at crayon tinting, and I’m really pleased with how it came out.

For a better idea of the whole project and its dimensions.

Being used for its exact purpose.

General Sewing

From the Vault: Scrub Top

wittychild

I say “vault” because this was actually a Christmas present for my mom, and it’s only now that I’ve gotten around to taking pictures and posting it.  I had originally seen the Bugs Bunny fabric in Fabricland last summer, and knew I had to buy some without really having a firm plan for it; the plan fell very quickly into place shortly thereafter.  [Internal monologue: “What would I do with that?”  “I dunno, make a scrub top?  He’s got the lab coat and stethoscope and everything.”]

With the fabric at home and the plan in mind, I dragged my wonderfully patient friend to WalMart’s craft department and flashed different pattern envelopes at him.  “Okay, this…or this?  Do you like the crossover style, or the one with the pocket detail?  Hey, this one claims to be so easy, what do you think?”  We agreed that Simplicity It’s So Easy 3633 fit the bill.  I love when he indulges my whims like that.

Despite having everything picked out so far in advance, and even having cut the pattern pieces out well ahead of time, it was still 9:00 on Christmas Eve before I finished the blasted thing.  Fortunately, she loved it, and thought I had bought it.  On to the pictures!  The front:

And a close-up of that awesome fabric (you may get a larger view if you click it.  Go on, you know you want to):

A final note: I don’t have a serger, but to keep the seams nice n’ sturdy, I trimmed my seam allowances once they were sewn, and re-sewed them with a zig-zag stitch.  This thing ought to be able to stand up to whatever she has planned for it.

General Sewing

Halloween ahoy!

wittychild

I do love Halloween – I think it may very well be my favourite holiday.  The stores stay open, no dopey special dinners required…and you get to wear a costume and consume unholy amounts of sugar!  More holidays should be like that.

Anyway, I’m showing up at work tomorrow as a somewhat contemporary (assuming this is somewhere in the late 1940s) Little Red Riding Hood.  I’ve had the pattern for the cape for a while, but only just got around to making it.  See, I found this sweet gingham square-dance dress (according to the tag) at a vintage store, and immediately fell in love with it as it reminded me of something that Vladimir Nabokov’s Dolores Haze might wear.  However, I had the sneaking suspicion that if I showed up wearing the dress and had to answer the inevitable “What are you?” with “Lolita”, I’d be subjecting myself to a barrage of “But what’s your costume?” and so on.  Just a hunch.  *sigh*  The cape was a very necessary addition, using a Simplicity pattern whose number escapes me at the moment, and made from (believe it or not) an old satin sheet.

So I decided to reinterpret Red Riding Hood as a slightly more modern girl.  She’s going to be a bobby-soxer, with saddle shoes and cuffed white socks, a nifty wicker lunchbox-cum-purse instead of that boring old basket, and hopefully a knowing gleam in her eye as she fends off the office wolves.  *snerk*

Modeling the requisite red satin cape, made with my own two hands, over the nymphettish dress, is my dress form Dolores (herself named after little Miss Haze).  Please ignore the blurry background, as I chose to smudge the clutter out rather than actually, you know, tidy up.

...you sure are looking good...

General Sewing

Up with Miniskirts!

wittychild

(“We meet again, MAD Magazine…”)

I actually finished this last weekend (“finished” being open to interpretation; I haven’t yet hemmed the bottom nor added the hook-and-eye at the top of the zipper, though it is wearable nonetheless), and have just gotten around to cutting my head out of the picture.  Heh.  The pattern is the apparently out-of-print Simplicity 2967, View C.  The fabric is some cheap-ass but surprisingly comfy knit I got for $1.97/metre ages ago.

1025a

Now I just need the weather to warm up a l’il bit (okay, okay, a lot), and I’m set for spring!