Hmmm - Been Slacking Off A Little

I was just having a browse through my photos, and it appears that I haven't shown much of what I have made over the last few months. So I will attempt to update my blog over the next few days.....hopefully I can do that :)

So first up is a t-shirt I made for a birthday present wayyyyyy back in May. For an 8 year old boy, who seems to love my handmade presents almost as much as my DS does :D

Ottobre 301 design B t-shirt, with long sleeves. All fabric is Stella from Crafty Mamas - and I love the two colours together.

The stencil was free from the Ottobre site. It was a bit fiddly to trace and cut out - but well worth the effort.

I traced it onto freezer paper, and used Jo Sonja paints with a fabric medium for the paint - it holds up well. I have used it for a few projects now, and they still look great! (there is a plane top somewhere, but I can't find it lol)

Next up will be some boring but necessary sewing - luckily the fabric is cute and the clothing very comfortable!

Cheers!

Because The Kids Can't Have All The Fun...

Following on from this post, I did some dyeing of my own after I had helped the kids with theirs. Mine was more simple, as I was after a tone on tone sort of look, with speckles. And for some reason I wanted yellow. Actually I wanted orange, but I didn't have enough orange mixed up so settled with yellow and orange for the speckles.

The yarn is BWM Luxury 4ply - I am giving it a go to make socks for myself. The pattern is Diagonal Lace Socks by Wendy D Johnson. It is my first try at toe-up socks, and I am also doing them two-at-a-time on 2 circulars. Here is the wool wound into 2 separate balls to make it easier to do them both together.

It is slow going, but pretty straight forward. There are a few yarn overs in the wrong spot due to some "lack of attention" knitting sessions, but they will be hidden by my shoes (and I am pretty sure no one else will care except me, and I don't care enough to go back and fix them - knowing how it happened is enough knowledge for me - if I pick it up early enough I do stop and fix it).

I can't wait until they are finished and I can wear them (and cast on some more in a different pattern). I have plans for a pair of purple socks - I just need to dye the yarn :)

Cheers!

New Bag

A while back, sadly about 3 months ago now - where does the time go! - I made myself a new bag. Unfortunately the one I made here, was starting to wear out at the corners from such constant use.

I liked that bag, but I wanted a few changes - such as better pockets inside, a zip closure and a key clip at DH's request (so I wasn't always digging into the bottom of my bag for my keys).

 

The shape of my old bag was lovely, so I used that as a base to draft up my own pattern and cut out the sides. It was way too big, so I cut the front and back in half and removed a good chunk - this left me with the problem of seams in the middle of the pieces. Scrummy ribbon to the rescue. What a better to use up some of my ribbon stash :)

Midway through I chose to add a gusset(??), not sure if that is the correct terminology, anyway, so that the pockets I was planning sat in the right place and weren't wrapped down along the bottom seam. Oh the joys of designing something yourself :)

So inside I did 3 elasticated pockets, the middle one, due to a slight miscalculation on the designers behalf, incorporated a pleat hehe. A zippered pocket that sits between the lining and the outer, and a key clip. That key clip has been invaluable. No more scrabbling for my keys when running through the rain or with hands full of shopping.

I followed the instructions loosely for the pockets and the top zipper from The Bag Making Bible. It is a great book that covers many techniques that are found in most bag patterns - lots of pictures and clear instructions.

Fabric is denim from the op-shop, I think it cost a grand total of $1 for a huge piece, and some quilting cottons - possibly Michael Miller. The ribbons are Farbenmix from Crafty Mama's.

To go with it I made a small zippered pouch - to use some scraps hanging around.

Cheers!