After the hustle and bustle of making things for others during the holiday season, my usual resolution is to make more things for myself.
This year that is going to have to wait. I’ve got a custom order for 12 of these cute coasters in red. Four down and eight to go!
Do you have any crafty resolutions for 2011? Share them in the comments!
I skipped the Thursday garage sales today because I’m planning on checking out Goodwill’s 99 cent day tomorrow. There’s nothing like some good 99 cent retail therapy and I haven’t been to the sale in a few months.
Since I didn’t have anything thrifty to report today, I took a look around my creative space, which is filled with thrifty goodness, and noticed a theme. Some may say that Nebraska has infected my taste in colors or I could be subconsciously planning for the holidays. I think maybe I spend too much time looking at cabbage roses and vintage French linen.
There’s a story behind the fabric. When one of my readers realized that we both live in Lincoln, she emailed me about a big box and big bag of fabric that she no longer wanted. Was there anything I could do with it? I picked it up that evening (small world: she practically lives in my neighborhood!) and started spreading the word.
First I met two friends for coffee and they left with almost half of it! Then I took what was left to knitting group to give to my friend who helps out with Sewing for Babies. I kind of feel sorry for those babies, because the knitters went to town on what was left. However, I’m happy that we kept a lot of fabric out of the landfill and bypassed the thrift store grab bags.* Everyone left with something they really wanted and the rest is going to a good cause.
Of course I picked out a few little pieces for myself. Right now I’m spending more time with yarn, so I can’t overdo it on my stash.
thrifting: The buttons and ribbon are thrifted from all over the place: Goodwill, church sales and garage sales.
* Don’t you hate it when you find one or two things you love at the thrift store and they’re packaged in a “grab bag” with a bunch of things you don’t want? Have you ever just bought the bag, taken out what you want and then immediately donated back the rest? Me, too.
So, what was I doing Friday evening instead of writing a blog post? Sewing! Unfortunately, I didn’t finish until it was too dark to take pictures. But to make up for it, I’ve got a before pic for this one!
Another long skirt — this one I originally bought to use for tote bags. That was before I started refashioning. But there were a few nit picky things that bugged me about it, so I had to weigh my options.
Pros
Cons
I figured I could fix two out of three and live with the wide elastic, so out came the scissors! First I cut about 10 inches off the bottom and finished it with a
This skirt comes with a bonus matching top. I plan on using the leftover fabric from the skirt to make this a little longer. I think it might also need some shaping. Any other suggestions?
thrifted: Both of these were garage sale finds. I think it’s kind of funny that I bought them to make totes and now I’m going to wear them!
I can’t believe I missed the first Creative Space of 2010! I was so busy last night playing around with my “new yarn” that I totally forgot to write a blog post. Whoops!
My creative space for today, and most of this weekend, is filled with the color red and lots of pretty hearts. I’m making good progress on my red scarf for Craft Hope. I have to take pictures of a sweetheart zipper bag that I finished up yesterday. And last, but not least, I plan on making a Valentine’s Day bunting out of this tea towel.
I’ve been missing Kirsty’s Creative Spaces and I’m so glad she’s hosting them again. You really should check out all of the wonderful blogs listed!
As I’ve mentioned, I have too much acrylic yarn. I decided to start knitting and crocheting my way through it instead of just giving it away. I made three hats for my friend’s students* and then I kind of got sidetracked by my flowers for Haiti.
*Here’s my first hat finished with a flower and my third hat. (Hat no.2 here.)
While on Craft Hope’s website, I saw that they had recently partnered with The Orphan Foundation of America’s Red Scarf Project. I’ve wanted to do this, but always seemed to miss the deadline for some reason or another. I was excited to hear Craft Hope has a special deadline: Valentine’s Day! I grabbed some red yarn (I have a lot!) and got started.
Things were going well until today. I took it to the library to work on while my daughter was in Story Time. I forgot my hook and using a different size was really noticeable. As I sat there with it in my lap, I realized I didn’t like the direction this scarf was taking. I had a dilemma: work through it anyway or rip and start over. I decided to rip.
I restarted it tonight at knitting group. I have nothing to show you except some re-wound yarn balls. I really like where the new scarf is headed, though, and I’m glad I ripped. Hopefully it will be ready for pictures next week.
donate: It feels like I’ve been making a lot of projects for others lately and I promised myself this year I’d make more things for me. It’s just so darn cold outside. I can’t get over the need to bundle everyone up!
I’ve got too much acrylic yarn. I like to keep a stash on hand for spontaneous amigurumi projects, but it’s gotten out of hand. I was planning to give it away, but it’s been so cold out, I thought maybe I’d do something useful with it.
A few months ago, my friend Lisa asked all of her crafty friends if they would consider making some hats for students at her school who needed warm clothing for winter. I actually started one and then the holidays hit and I completely forgot about it.
As you probably know (unless you’ve been living under a very warm rock), it’s been pretty cold in Nebraska the past week. I’ve been thinking about the kids who usually walk to school. Then I remembered the hat I started.
I was surprised how fast this worked up. (I was also surprised that my daughter agreed to wear it for a photo.) I definitely plan to make a few more of these.
pattern: This is a basic double crochet beanie like this one. I modified it a bit as I went along. My yarn was sport weight, so I double stranded it and used a larger hook. It is thick and warm!
Today my creative space is filled with finishing gifts. I can show you this one because I don’t think my daughter’s teachers read the blog. I just took the “apple for teacher” gift a little further and added a cozy. This idea is brilliant for those who throw a piece of fruit in their bag for a snack. The cozy keeps it from getting bruised. I really want to make one for myself, but not until after holiday gifts are finished.
Creative spaces are going on holiday until 2010. Head over to Kirsty’s blog for your end-of-year fix.
pattern notes: I had to add a few rows for it to cover my apple. Adorable Apple Cozy is available as a free ravelry download.
So I’ve been trying come up with an idea that makes use of the felted sweater sleeves from my totes and I figured it out. Scarves!
The beauty of these is that they give you all the warmth of wool without having to wear it next to your skin. (I know at least one person for whom this would be perfect.) I am going to make a bunch of these for my etsy shop and will try to keep some of them in neutral color schemes. Dads, brothers and husbands need hand-sewn crafty goodness in their lives, too! More photos over at etsy.