More changes

Well I finally took the plunge! I, like many of my fellow blogging crafters have decided to keep my blog on a hosting service rather than one of the free blogging sites. I’ll still be a WordPress girl(I found a self-hosting theme I hadn’t seen on the free service, that I LOVE!), but I’ll have a bit more flexibility with what I do with my website.

At some point I may go back into podcasting so that would be another way to use my new space. I’ve set up the new blog with the old posts to the beginning of Adrift in Crafts here at this location. It will be called “Adrift in Crafts” as well. Any posts that were part of House of Wool Repute will remain there. I’m not sure when the site will be back up but I don’t believe I can move my posts from there anyway so I’ll just leave that be. One of the main reasons I wanted to keep the podcast blog up is because it has all my posts from before I made that site the podcast page. If I can figure a way to include just those, I’ll do that instead.

Here I am: Adrift in Crafts

Be warned. Photos will be big(yay!) and there will be theme tweaking..

If at first you don’t succeed, change your mind.

That might not always be the best choice in terms of your personal life, but it works fairly well for crafting..

This

was supposed to be used to cover a box I want to store my sewing patterns in. I obviously didn’t measure well enough because the resulting piece of fabric wasn’t going to be big enough to fit around the outside of the box. So I changed my mind and decided to make a little quilt for Cookie. And ended up with this:

I often see quilts where those corner sections are a different fabric. As luck would have it, I didn’t go about assembling the border properly and couldn’t be arsed to try and fit squares in the corners. It was just too fiddly. So, I decided to sew up the corners and make a bed for Cookie. I could just stick a piece of fabric on the bottom and stuff it. Right? Wrong. I didn’t take a picture of the ensuing disaster and you can’t make me. But damn if I didn’t want to burn the whole thing. I somehow sewed the bottom with the right side facing the wrong side of the top. Exactly. FAIL!

I was so mad I almost pulled the wheel out and started spinning. Almost. I will have to undo the stitching tomorrow and try again. It hurts too much to think about how I totally jacked that up.

At least I do have a project that did come out right, even if it was after 3 attempts. I’ll spare you and only show you the last one.

Tada! The No-Cash Wallet from “Bend-The-Rules-Sewing” by Amy Karol. The first iteration was too small and cards wouldn’t fit. The next one, cards would only fit if I didn’t do the surrounding top stitching. Finally I enlarged the template so much, cards will fit with room to spare. And I also added some medium-weight interfacing to thicken/stiffen it up a bit. It’s nowhere near firm as a ‘real’ wallet but it will serve its purpose nicely, holding Biggest Beanlet’s library card and stuff.

Now I know what size to enlarge to, should I decide to make it again.

Well, that’s all for now.

Taking Stock

The madness surrounding making the girl Beanlets’ dresses has died down. But that doesn’t mean sewing has stopped.

Just like I’d begun yarn de-stashing projects, I’m about to embark on some fabric de-stashing projects, as well. I don’t know what got into me but I thought I’d like to catalog my fabrics. It’s turning out to be not as easy as I’d thought it would be. I’ve been racking my brain trying to find or create a program(yeah, programming? ha!) to inventory my fabrics with photos. Database programs won’t do it, Photo inventory programs don’t really allow the amount/type of detailed description I was planning on. There does seem to be a program out there that is meant for sewing but I’m cheap.

A few friends suggested I just take pics and upload them to Flickr, so for the time being that’s what I’ve done. The last resort would be to cut a piece of each fabric and staple it to an index card but I’m loathe to do any cutting, especially with the small fat quarters. So far I’ve uploaded 59 photos of the stash and many have descriptions of some sort. Nothing too detailed, seeing as I really wanted something that wasn’t online, in case I lost my internet. If you’re really bored you can look here.

I have two large bins where I keep these items and after looking at them, all I can say is “Wow!”. Talk about UFOs. I’ve got a handbag/purse I haven’t finished, fabric for a whole kitchen set I forgot I had, blouse fabrics I bought last year(and patterns too!), and the list goes on.

I’d also been grappling with the desire to get a serger, and some knits to work with but I’ve decided against it. I’ve just got too much stash to deal with as it is. I really can’t justify the expense. Off hand, I’m already looking at some kid belts, a few throw pillows(kiddo’s supposed to be making those, not me), some skirts for the girls and shorts for the boy. I had in my hot little hands some sale patterns on my recent trip to Joann and damn if I didn’t somehow put them down somewhere and forgot to actually buy them. I’d like to trek back out there and see if I can find them again, but with the SI Ferry being on crash mode lately I’m not sure I want to be bothered. I’m sure I can find similar patterns closer to home or even make them myself.

Oh and if anyone in NYC has a functioning overhead projector they don’t want, I’ll be glad to take it off your hands!

What’s a crafty girl to do?

That’s four of the five clothes horses I own. The pink/white/brown/yellow flowered print is actually folded double but it’s a thin cotton so that shouldn’t hinder its drying. I could have pulled out the fifth horse and spread the fabric out on it, but I needed room for my table to sew on. As it stands, I’m typing this at my little computer desk, crammed in the corner with Cookie. She’s knocked out as I type.

I now have a better understanding of why some fabricfiends prefer smaller pieces of fabric, like fat quarters. They’re so much easier to handle. I had a ball adding to my stash, nonetheless. Between a sale at Fabric.com and another at Joann, I racked up lovely.

6,7 and 8 are from Fabric.com. They are cottons I want to use for PJ/lounge pants, and the solid blue is gorgette for a headwrap. It’s 2 yards so that might wind up being a blouse instead. Depends on what I dig up in my pattern stash.

3 is some batik fabric I grabbed at the Save-a-thon while on an emergency pattern run for Big Beanlet’s grad dress. Stupid me was checking the pattern in another branch of the store and forgot to put half the instructions back in. I get home and didn’t actually start the project til a few days later. So of course I’m ready to dig in and realize I’m missing half the instructions. I remembered the salesgirl telling me it was the last copy of it! They probably didn’t remember that I’d had the instructions out of the envelope and threw away the rest of it. I had to run to another branch to get the pattern AGAIN so I could complete the dress. Good thing I noticed though. Turns out I had a 1/2 size too large for kiddo anyway. Live and learn.

All the rest, including the pillows came from a Joann’s run. I got the kids up early Saturday morning(the HORROR!) and dragged took them with me to Staten Island via the ferry. We had a day of it, with Biggest Beanlet choosing a fabric to make her pillow with. Middle Beanlet said he wanted a pillow too. I don’t know if he’ll want to sew it himself. Time will tell. The black and green florals were remainders on the bolt so I just took what was left; usually around 3 yds. I had a sick urge for yellow, hence the ladybugs. This all started out with a notions run as well, because I wanted to get the fixings for shirring my own fabrics( I might do that with the green!) and damn if Joanns didn’t have ANY elastic thread! How the hell?! So I still have to troll the textiles/notions district for elastic thread. I mean really. Are they that serious about selling pre-shirred fabrics that they wouldn’t give a crafter the chance to TRY and do it themselves? Sheesh.

BB’s behind me jumping up and down, probably thinking she’s speed-drying her fabric so she can get started. I could iron it dry, but I’m not gonna tell her that .

TTFN!

Week in Review

I got the dress finished in time for the ceremony. I’d majorly jacked up making the jacket in a way I can’t even begin to describe. Let’s just say getting an arm in would have been impossible. Biggest Beanlet loved her dress, and overall I’m glad I didn’t just buy something from a store. One classmate even said she would come to me for dresses, but I don’t think I’m that good.

The pattern itself is nice and could be made with a nice sturdy cotton that wouldn’t need the ruffle under it. So I might just pull another one off for the summer. I’m more interested in getting some elastic thread and making my own shirred fabrics to make the girls some sun dresses. Pre-shirred fabric is hella expensive. Last year I made dresses for the girls and the ONLY way I got the fabric was that it was on sale. Home shirring is time and labor intensive but the upside is that I can do it with any fabric I like and not just be stuck with whatever’s already prepped.

I put the final rounds on the crochet Whatchamablanket, so all it needs is weaving and blocking. I haven’t touched the Big-A$$ Crochet Blanket in a few weeks, but don’t feel too bad. I haven’t knit in a few weeks either. Sewing just took over and I’m not sure when I’ll be dabbling in yarn again. Though, I got a glimpse at Amy King’s new spinning book so I may do a little spinning this weekend.

I got in a few new fabrics from a Fabric.com sale the other day and I’m itching to dig in and make some more lounge/PJ pants. Hopefully I can squeeze some pairs for the girls out of the remnants. Also on the agenda is some shorts for all the kids. They’re sorely lacking in that department.

School’s out for the Summer and I can’t wait to enjoy it with the kids. YAY!

YAY!

In my previous post I talked about littlest Beanlet’s graduation dress and all the craziness that went with making it. I should point out that after that post I proceeded to stab myself a jillion more times with pins, forget to change thread colors, and accidentally cut the zipper pull off while trimming the zipper down. I think next time I’ll leave it the way it is at the top and trim from the bottom once it’s sewn in.

Also, do you remember her sweater I knit way back when? I never did get the zipper in, but then I hadn’t planned on using it with the dress. I had another little caplet/bolero to use with it but it got stained and I didn’t have time to wash it. So the sweater came in handy.

I wish I’d had the forethought to take away the juicebox but I was sort of in a hurry to get the shot. There is a flower pin hiding behind it, as you can see here:

I got this done with a day to spare!! Like the madwoman I am I committed to making Biggest Beanlet’s dress too. Started that yesterday after a major screw up. But details on that will have to wait til I recap!! Laters!!!

Quickie-Drive-By post…

The hands have been busy lately. I haven’t caught up on my old projects but I did start new ones. Like this crochet blanket:

Just a random, huge granny square blanket that I somehow fell into. I crash-landed in crochet land a few months ago when I started the Big-A$$ Crochet Blanket. No sightings of Tom Hanks or a creepy-looking volleyball, but bets aren’t off just yet. I did another blanket like this a few years ago for a friend’s little one, but this one will get to be much bigger. I’m whittling down the stash with this puppy. Using whatever I can find that works with an H hook. Heck, I might even double some thinner yarns just to get them used up.

That’s been put on hold for the next week or so, because on Saturday I started working on a graduation dress for littlest Beanlet:

I’m making that pink get-up right there. I just jumped in headfirst with a complicated garment and I can’t turn back. I’m mostly done so I’m actually ahead of schedule, seeing as the event is on Friday and today is only Monday. So far, I have:

1) Stabbed myself various times with pins
2)Invented new cuss-words upon realizing I’ve messed up something
3)Gone half-blind trying to pick loose errant stitching–White on white is crazy-making!
4)Hollered 400000 times at the cat to ‘Stay off the %$%$ table!’
5)Flip-flopped on whether I was willing crazy enough to try to make Biggest Beanlet’s grad dress too!( I won’t. Not enough time.)

You can see more photos of the adventure here.

Ok, back to the trenches!

One Man’s ‘Trash’ is Another Man’s Treasure…

On Monday past, while picking up my kids from school, we noticed a little kitten lying in the grass in front of my apartment building. The kids ran over to her and she looked up at them, mewled and put her head back down. I thought, “No, no more cats but the one we have now, and certainly not a kitten!” Still she stayed on my mind once we got upstairs. I had the kids drop their schoolbags, got the carrier, and went back down there to retrieve her. She put up minimal fight, but we got her in there and took her upstairs. She was full of fleas. I tried giving her a bath with some flea and tick shampoo but I couldn’t get them all off. I’d neglected to pick up a comb, because I thought I had one of those already. We dried her off best we could, gave some food(which she inhaled) and water and kept her in the carrier, so Cookie wouldn’t lose her mind. In fact, if Cookie walked by the KITTEN hissed. Go figure.

I took her to the shelter yesterday and today she’s listed as ‘Curry’ on this website. If you’re looking for a cute little girl kitten and live in NYC or don’t mind traveling from a surrounding area, please go in and take a look at Curry. I noticed from the website, that Sneakers is no longer listed and I’m hoping it’s because someone took him in. I will have to write a letter requesting the specifics of his departure. In the meantime, we’re all hoping he found a good home.

If you’re wondering about the title, littlest Beanlet had named her “Trash”. I didn’t think about it at the time, but now I see, it works out perfectly, because she could turn out to be, someone’s Treasure.

Never put off ’til tomorrow, what you can put off ’til the following week!

Previously I’d mentioned the Psychedelic Squares Apron from “Seams to Me: 24 New Reasons to Love Sewing”. It is a very straight-forward pattern. The instructions in the book indicate that you should enlarge the templates and then print out the result. The author suggested either having professional copy-and-print shops do the work, or you can do it yourself by printing the enlarged pattern out onto a bazillion pieces of paper and then taping them together.

After trying to do just that, and having no sucess, I ventured out to FedEx/Kinkos AND Staples and neither would do it, citing copyright infringement. Nevermind that the author explicitly tells you could DO it. I trolled around the internet looking for a free/inexpensive program that would help me visualize and place the pieces onto the bazillion sheets of paper so I could go back to my original intent of printing the templates myself. That didn’t go over well either. But thanks to the wonderful, resourceful and fun people on Ravelry, I have decided to take yet another route.

I was told to get a small craft projector and beam the image onto a wall. I could hang some paper on that, and copy the lines. Bingo! I now have an excuse to get a big roll of pattern paper from a local shop. But that’ll have to wait until next week when I have free time(and cash ).

In the meantime the Apple Green Apron is being put to work.

Learn as you go (or, &^%$#!!!)

Funny how I queried some online craft buddies if I should make a pair of PJ pants or a new apron. I really didn’t feel like cutting the pants out, so I compromised. Sorta. I used some leftover fabric from a pair of PJ pants to make this apron. Hee. It’s loosely based on this pattern. Of course, you see it’s not nearly the same, which accounts for the (or, &^%$#!!!) in the post title. I goofed up in some places, and had a hell of a time turning one of the ties inside-out (am I the only person who hates that part?) and wound up poking a hole in the fabric trying to turn it with a screwdriver(don’t laugh!), which cause me to cut the remaining tie in half, and so instead of a bowtie, it’s that little thing you see in the front. For what it’s worth, I could never tie a bow properly anyway.

Maybe I’ll get to the PJ pants tomorrow later on this week.