This weekend I spent some time refashioning shirts into pillows. I had planned for this post to be an easy tutorial for Remote Control Pillow v 2.0. Then I got sick. I’m actually supposed to be resting, but I’ve been resting all day and feel the need to do something productive. So, here’s a glimpse of one of the pillows.
Now it’s back to the couch for me. Hopefully, I can muster up enough energy to knit a few rounds.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who needs a little time alone with my knitting needles or sewing machine (or work!). I’m always trying to find non-TV related activities for my daughter so I can get a little bit of work done. The things that have kept her most occupied are crayons, paints and stickers. A lot of times she will sit and “read” books or get absorbed in her train engines.
Lately, it’s been hard to keep her occupied. She always wants to know what I’m doing—always wants to help out (which is sweet, but not always helpful). Today I got almost two hours of productive time. Want to know how? (OK, the title of this post gives it away.) My daughter has discovered the glue stick.
You know how I say nothing is safe if it fits under my presser foot? Well, not much is safe from my daughter if she can glue stick it to a piece of paper.
The images are from Martha Stewart’s Living, last year’s Halloween edition.
We have big plans for future collages. Thanksgiving and Christmas themes, animals, shapes, letters and numbers…the possibilities are endless.
Look, Mom! The owl and skeleton are holding hands!
I remember my friend Barbara telling me how she spent her evenings cutting up National Geographic magazines so her granddaughter could make collages. Such a brilliant and simple idea. I highly recommend it!
recycle: You will be amazed at what you can find in your recycle bin for this project. Don’t overlook catalogs and non-crafty magazines. Pay close attention to ads. Tip: for maximum productivity, cut the pictures out the night before.
My creative space is filled with knitting today. Actually, re-knitting.
You know how everyone always says gauge is so important? Well, getting your daughter’s head measurement right in the first place is even more important.
Yep, that’s her first hat in the background of the picture. I measured a moving target and came up with 19 inches. Never measure a moving head. After we determined that it wouldn’t fit and my gauge was spot on, I measured her head while standing still. 20 inches.
So, I’m re-knitting and since there is snow in the forecast, I’m bumped this project up to the top of my to-do list.
What’s in your creative space today?
Visit more creative spaces over at Kirsty’s blog.
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Non-knitters: the simplest definition of gauge is how many stitches you knit per inch. Multiply stitches per inch by number of inches to figure out how many stitches you need for something to fit. I multiplied my gauge by too few inches and wound up with a hat that is too small.
I made a deal with myself that I was going to lose some weight before fall. I didn’t want to have to go out and buy new clothes just because the ones in my closet didn’t fit. I was doing really good until vacation. Pretty much all of the weight I lost at the end of the summer came back home with me on the plane. When we landed, there was snow on the ground. I couldn’t put it off any longer. I had to buy some new pants.
My wardrobe refashion pledge actually made me feel like this process would be easier. At a thrift store, you’ve got all kinds of brands and sizes on the same rack. I figured I would have a better chance at finding something than at a single brand store. I was wrong. It took 3 different stores and trying on about 20-30 different pairs at each store, to find one pair of jeans and two pairs of corduroys that fit.
Although this was harder work than just heading over to the mall, I feel much better with the quality of clothing I bought. Those capris that I complained about last spring barely lasted the season. I am not about to put that much time and effort into clothes that don’t last.
So why am I having a hard time trying to keep my pledge?
I know that if I walked into The Gap and found a pair of pants that fit perfectly, I’d have to buy a pair in every style and color. Seriously. And I won’t lie to you. I’ve been saving my Get out of Refashionista Jail Free card just in case. Pants that fit well make or break how someone looks, in my opinion. I can look past ratty sneakers or a worn t-shirt any day, but I can’t be busting out of my jeans. I just can’t.
What about you?
Are you fed up with the lack of consistent sizing in women’s clothing? Do brand new clothes last more than one season for you? Am I the only one who gets this darn frustrated over a pair of pants?
Yesterday we went to John Deere-themed birthday party for a four-year-old boy. My husband asked, “could we just buy a gift? Does everything have to be handmade? Can’t we get something from the store?” I agreed, as long as we didn’t buy him an actual tractor toy. I figured every four-year-old boy must have at least some kind of tractor, right? How would we know what to get? What if someone gets him the same tractor? Let’s get him some books about tractors instead. And maybe some tractor stickers, too. As my husband bought into my reasoning, I was secretly planning a handmade, tractor-themed, re-usable gift bag.
I admit I was planning to buy some John Deer fabric to make this. Just before I left the house, I decided to dig through my stash and I found two fat quarters of tractor-green fabric! I think it’s a polyester blend and it feels way more durable than quilting cotton. I figured I could make my own tractor-themed artwork with my new hobby.
In the end, my husband and I were both happy with our gift. I hope my daughter’s friend will be, too.
recycle: I bought a big stack of colored cloth napkins at a garage sale awhile ago. I think they were napkins. They kind of feel like the fabric used to make restaurant napkins, except they were every color of the rainbow and only a few matched. Whatever they used to be, they are nice and sturdy. I think they’ll be great for storing all kinds of tractors and trucks.
I am just in love with the shape of Archer Farm’s almond containers. They’re nice and durable and have this great silver/gray lid. I held a few back from the recycle bin because I thought I’d be able to make something cute with them.
When we came back from the beach, my daughter had lots of pretty shells and rocks. We couldn’t figure out where to store them. They were too pretty to put away, but I didn’t want them laying around, either. Then I remembered these containers. Perfect!
reuse: I still have two more containers and I’m thinking of decoupage with gray and silver paper scraps. What do you think? Any other ideas?
My daughter and I have been coloring paper ghosts this week. Today I’m going to cut them out and we’re going to string them into a garland. Want to make one, too? Grab the template from Ellen over at The Long Thread.
What’s in your creative space today?
Visit more creative spaces over at Kirsty’s blog.
Back in June I tried my hand at cross stitch. It didn’t turn out very well. I had a really hard time getting all of those little x’s lined up. In hindsight, I think I needed to use different fabric—something with more of a grid-like structure. I really loved the idea of a customizable tea towel so I didn’t give up!
These are birthday gifts for my brother- and sister-in-law. They have very diverse interests: he’s a city guy who loves playing his guitar and she’s a country gal who loves riding her horse.
Embroidery is so cool! It lets me make matching gifts for two people with completely different favorite things. Seriously. Where can you find matching music/horse anything?
Here’s a close up of the guitar. The artwork is from Sublime Stitching. All of Jenny Hart’s stuff is so cute!
Here’s a close up of the horseshoe. The artwork is from some clipart on my computer. I had to simplify it a bit before I could use it for stitching.
Aren’t those french knots cute? Now I am totally in love with stitching and I can’t wait to try something else!
project notes: Tea towel pattern from Linen, Wool, Cotton. Guitar from Sublime Stitching. Linen fabric and embroidery thread from my stash.
During the past week, this bag has carried my laptop through the airport, been my purse to a wedding, and toted stuff to the beach. That’s a lot of jobs for one bag. I’m happy to say it performed all of its required duties wonderfully. And it looked pretty darn cute, too. Here’s how I planned the design:
Size
Most importantly, this bag needed to be large enough to fit my laptop, but small enough to meet airline carry-on luggage guidelines. I checked the FAA and NWA website and both set my limit at 45 linear inches. Mine turned out to be 13.5 x 16.5 x 4 inches, or 34 linear inches. Part of me wished I had made it a little bigger, but there’s less room for your bag under an aisle seat, so in the end, this size worked great.
Inside
I wanted a separate sections for my laptop and my other things. I created two pockets and added a tie to the laptop side. When I used this as a purse, the laptop side was filled with fun things for distracting my daughter, like coloring books, story books, stickers, etc. At the beach, it held my book and knitting project.
Outside
A zipper closure was essential. I didn’t want anything to fall out during airport screening and I didn’t want any sand getting inside. Durability was important, also. The outside is an upholstery fabric and the inside is a cotton canvas.
How-to
This bag is basically an oversized zipper pouch with handles and two inside large pockets. It seems silly to write up a tutorial when there are so many great ones already out there. For this project, I referenced the following:
Adding the handles was easy. I just sandwiched them between the outside fabric and zipper when I was sewing it all together. I reinforced the handles with a few rows of extra stitching.
stash: Fabric came from this remnant sale. Zipper was thrifted.
I knew I’d have to do some work on our trip to the beach and I had given my Timbuk2 bag to my husband when he got his new computer. He has made it clear that my Timbuk2 belongs to him now, so I had to come up with something else. I decided to sew my own laptop sleeve and bag. First, I started with the sleeve:
The fabric was an upholstery remnant that was already striped and quilted. I used some bias tape to enclose the raw edges before I sewed on the zipper and I serged the inside seams.
I love fabric that comes with the hard stuff already finished. No patchwork or quilting was needed for this project, but it looks kind of fancy, don’t you think?
stash: The remnant came from the east campus textile sale. Zipper and bias tape from the thrift store.