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easy crochet projects

easy square crochet projects

My husband is teaching at a long weekend class, so not much has gotten done or will get done on the crafty front until next week. I’ve picked up two easy crochet UFOs and plan to have them completed by Monday. First one is done!

finished: The wool basket is ready for a lining. I’ve got some dark red canvas that I’m planning to use. It will be a paper napkin basket for our kitchen table (she says as she is currently making cloth napkins for her home ec class).

making progress: I’ve picked up the granny square blanket again. I’ll keep going until I run out of sweater yarn. I think it will make a nice, thick lap blanket. This will probably get the most attention over the weekend.

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home ec class: reusable grocery tote

I know today is usually all about my creative space at the moment, but I’m working on the beach blanket and there isn’t much else to show you except a nice pretty fabric pic like this one. Instead, I’m sharing my third home ec project: a reusable grocery tote.

home ec class handmade reusable grocery tote

This project got me thinking about handles. I usually seam up the sides first, fold over and stitch the top hem, then add handles. This project changed the order: top hem, handles, side seams. I can definitely see the wisdom in doing the handles on a flat piece of fabric. It makes a lot of sense. But, I also really like how the top hem hides the side seams when folded over. It’s something to think about. (Yes, I do think about these things.)

home ec class handmade reusable grocery tote

I’m planning to make some heavy duty grocery totes for our weekly shopping because I’d like something with a square bottom. I love this for the Farmers’ Market, though. The fabric is totally appropriate!

stash: I’ve been holding on to this fabric for awhile and I can’t remember where I found it. I was saving it for a farmers’ market tote, so now I can cross that off my to-do list!

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home ec class: handmade reusable gift bag

I’m only on my second project and I’m already not following the directions. That didn’t take long! In my defense, it was because I wanted to learn something new.

home ec class handmade fabric drawstring gift pouch

The project calls for a hand-sewn buttonhole, but I already know how to do that. I’m embarrassed to say, however, that I didn’t know how to use the buttonhole setting on my machine. How I managed to tackle zippers, but avoid buttonholes is beyond me. It’s so easy.

home ec class handmade fabric drawstring gift pouch

I also put a few stitches at the back of the casing to keep the ribbon from sliding out. That’s because this will probably go to my daughter for storing her magformers.

stash: Fabric from fat quarter bundle. Matching ribbon from somewhere else completely. They coordinate really well, though!

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home ec class: patchwork pin cushion

It may come as a bit of a surprise, but I’ve never taken sewing lessons. Apart from my friend helping me with my first project, I’ve learned from books, the Internet, crafty colleagues and lots of trials and errors. Some of my friends were tweeting about an online Home Ec class they were taking and I was curious, so I followed the link. The class says it’s for beginners, but there are some really cool projects using techniques I’ve been wanting to try.

home ec class patchwork pincushion

I signed up at once and promised myself I’d follow the directions for each project as they are written, because sometimes it’s a little technique for something simple that can totally change how you do things. I started the class a little late because I’ve been waiting for my daughter to go back to school. Now that I have some time to dedicate to my sewing, I’ll be cruising through the projects a little faster.

First on the list was a patchwork cushion. I followed the pattern exactly and have fallen in love with my scrap bin. Seriously, I had no idea how fun making little fabric stripes could be.

home ec class patchwork pincushion

stash: This is a great stash busting project that’s perfect for those little pieces you can’t bear to throw away. Anyone recognize the buttons?

project info: This was a bonus project, and Leigh-Ann has a tutorial posted on her blog. You should go make one, too!

class info: You can preview the class projects here and here.

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another wedding, another beach blanket to go

handmade home beach blanket to go

I’ve got another beach wedding to attend. It isn’t directly on the beach, but it’s outside and you can see the ocean. That reason enough to make another beach blanket, don’t you think?

I picked up the print fabric at the textile sale. The wool tweed is from my stash. I washed both in hot and was surprised that the wool didn’t felt. The texture is slightly softer, but that’s it. No shrinkage at all. Interesting!

I haven’t decided on a bias trim yet. I was actually thinking about skipping that step. Would that be so terrible? I’d still do the ties for sure. We’ll see.

pattern info: Why do I not own this book yet? Pattern inspiration from Amanda Soule’s Handmade Home.

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thrifty thursday: denim jacket

thrifty thursday denim jacket

I’ve been looking for a denim jacket for a long time. I wanted it to be dark denim, slightly tapered at the waist and long enough to reach my hips. Yeah, pretty specific. I tried on too many to count. Then one day at a garage sale with mostly kids’ clothes, I spied this on a rack for adults. It was a little big, but met all of my requirements. And it only cost $5. After Korinne assured me that it looked cute with the sleeves rolled up a bit, I was sold.

I brought it home and ran it through the washer and dryer. You know what? I really think this was practically new. It shrunk just a little bit and now I don’t have to shorten the sleeves. I’m not a huge fan of the faded spots, but they are a lot less obvious when I’m wearing it. I even kind of like the applique.

thrifting: If the three most important words in real estate are location, location and location, then the three most important words in thrifting are patience, patience, and patience.

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my creative space

my creative space crochet basket

In my creative space today is a crochet wool basket. It used to have sides, but I lost count of my stitches and it got all wonky and I had to rip back to the base. I started it because I wanted to have a mindless project. I guess even squares aren’t completely mindless.

More creative spaces over at Kirsty’s always-beautiful space.

textile sale: I bought three balls of this wool for 25 cents each. I have no idea about the brand or content, but it looks great and that’s all that matters!

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wardrobe refashion: t-shirt to little girl’s beach cover-up

I’ve talked about our vacation, but have I mentioned where we’re going?

t shirt to toddler dress

Yep! Can you believe I found this t-shirt? I thought it might make a really cool beach cover-up for my daughter. I just used one of her currently fitting dresses as a pattern.

t-shirt to beach coverup

This should have been such an easy project. The t-shirt was twisted and I had a hard time making the vertical lines look even. Also, the material is really thin and kept getting sucked into my machine. But I loved how it turned out!

t-shirt to beach coverup

So does my daughter. It would be nice if this fits next summer as a dress, but they way she’s growing, it will probably fit in the middle of January.

thrifted and refashioned: 99 cent sale t-shirt.

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this weekend i made a dinosaur cake

dinosaur cake

It did not have a volcano or really big teeth. It wouldn’t win a spot in the Craftiest Cake Hall of Fame. It did, however, have some really awesome dinosaur sprinkles, along with some moons and stars, carefully applied by the birthday girl herself. And it is the only thing I made this weekend.

I didn’t make her a fancy dino applique anything (although my friend Kelly made her an awesome dino tote), no special #4 shirt like last year (she wanted to wear her Liberty party dress), not one stitch sewn, knit or hooked.

I have done other crafty things, though. We’ve colored a lot, gone through an amazing number of stickers and built cool houses with magformers. We’ve also read lots and lots of dinosaur books and eaten lots of cheesy carbohydrates.

It’s been awesome, but I’m ready to get back to my usual creative self. I’m also buying my own set of skinny magic markers because coloring these cool animals is really fun.

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giveaway: interweave knits magazines

interweave knits

I found one more thing of interest at the textile sale: a bag of Interweave Knits magazines for only 25 cents each. They are various issues from 2001-2003. Some had a few patterns that had been cut out, but for a quarter each, I figured they’d be great just for inspiration.

Well, I found quite a few things that I liked, actually. As I was cutting them out, I marveled at just how many patterns were left. Did the magazine publish more per issue back then? I could not bring myself to put these in the recycle bin. Now, granted, some of the pullovers are a bit oversized, but a lot are classic enough to be made and worn today. Here are some of the pattern highlights:

*Grand plan patterns include every possible measurement imaginable for a completely custom fit.

How to enter: Just leave a comment and tell me about your current projects. You can leave a second comment for a bonus entry if you head on over and “like” me on my Facebook page.

Giveaway open until Thursday, September 2, midnight, central time. I’ll announce the winner next Friday.

Open to U.S. readers only. Sorry, international friends, but these weigh a lot!