Wednesday, February 29, 2012

A Rose is a Rose


So, I've been working on a dress re-do for a little 15-year-old friend of mine. Her mom had a dress that she wore in the mid 90's which was floor length, hot pink, had some seriously jacked up sparkley tulle as an outer layer, and was 4 sizes too big. So, I made it short, changed the skirt to a sequin lace, used the tulle for a sash, and used the leftover dress parts for a flower piece to add some interest to the top. As soon as I have pictures of her in it, I'll post the final product. I, of course, forgot to take before pictures. But here is the awesome flower I made:
It's made from the leftover 20 inches of satin from the main body of the dress. It was super easy to make, too. I'll make some more and post a tutorial. I finally have something to make with the random satin I've bought over the years! Yay!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

St. Pat's Cabled Leg Warmers

I found an ugly scarf at a thrift store. It was green, the yarn was pretty obviously someone's early knitting project made from nice, Lion Brand Thick and Quick. It was pretty long, and the end was not woven in well, so it was going to be easy to frog. Thus begins my obsession with finding ugly scarves at thrift stores to frog for yarn-- I've found 3 more since. Thus also begins the origin of these leg warmers:

St. Pat's Cabled Leg Warmers

Materials:
  • Approx. 1 1/2 balls of Lion Brand Thick and Quick (this is an estimate, since it was recycled yarn)
  • size 13 DPNs
  • Darning needle for weaving in ends
Notes:
*C2BP: Slip 2 stitches onto a Cable needle and hold to the back. Purl 2 stitches, then purl the two stitches on the cable needle.

*Piece is knit inside out because I hate purling and there is a lot of it, so I cheated so I could knit more than purl. :)

Directions:
Cast on 28 stitches and join for knitting in the round.
K2, P2 around for 8 rows
Rows 1-4: K2, P4, K10, P4, K8
Row 5: K2, C2BP, K10, C2BP, K8
Rows 6-9: K2, P4, K10, P4, K8
Row 10: K2, C2BP, K4, SSK, K4, C2BP, K4, K2tog, K2
Rows 11-14: K2, P4, K9, P4, K7
Row 15: K2, C2BP, K9, C2BP, K7
Rows 16-19: K2, P4, K9, P4, K7
Row 20: K2, C2BP, K9, C2BP, K7
Row 21-24: K2, P4, K9, P4, K7
Row 25: K2, C2BP, K9, C2BP, K7
Row 26-29: K2, P4, K9, P4, K7
Row 30: K2, C2BP, K9, C2BP, K7
Row 31-34: K2, P4, K9, P4, K7
Row 35: K2, C2BP, K4, SSK, K3, C2BP, K3, K2tog, K2
Rows 36-39: K2, P4, K8, P4, K6
K2, P2 for 5 rows
Bind off loosely
Weave in ends, turn right-side out, wear your awesome new warmers!


You are welcome to sell any items made from this pattern, but please do not sell the pattern itself.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

A week or two ago, I posted a picture on Pinterest (i.e. crafter's crack) of a cute owl purse that I found on Craftster.org. Shortly after posting, I received a comment from one Miss Carmyn Egge that she wanted one. I sort of shrugged it off, not thinking much of it at the time. Cue thrift store trip 2 days ago, while at the store, I begin texting with her, and she again mentions that she wants the purse and asks if I'll make it for her while I'm "finding myself" (i.e. being a bit of a lazy bum and not working!). Since I was already at the store, I agreed and headed for the men's suits.

I found exactly 2 suit coats among probably 200 that were the pattern I wanted, and only one that was the color I was envisioning. So, I bought it, even though it wasn't quite as big as I was wanting (doesn't hurt to have some extra fabric in case you screw up a cut here or there). So, I drew up a pattern with some freezer paper-- if you sew, I highly recommend using freezer paper for patterns, as it is usually quite wide, it is relatively see through, nice and sturdy, and you can iron it right on to your fabric and cut around so no need for pins!

Of course, right as I was getting ready to prep my cut out pieces, my iron decided to stop working, so my sewing was delayed a day. Yesterday I got a new iron, sewed the lining, and began work on the appliqued front. Fortunately, I had all the other materials laying around... lots of felt from some misguided foray into stuffed animal making, tons of embroidery thread from various projects (some dating back to when I was a teenager and decided making friendship bracelets was cool), iron-on stabilizer (from who knows what), and lining fabric (I have kind of an embarrassing habit of buying fabric, whether I need it or not, and also of buying too much.)

Well, the results are quite satisfying, as you can see:


He's very adorable, if you ask me, and the liner fabric worked very well, and was totally "woodland" themed:

Mushrooms! I've already made a shopping bag and an apron out of this fabric, so it's gotten some use! And, it inspired the little applique on the back. I felt like the back of the owlie was a little boring with just the tweed, so I made a little pretty for it:

Another Mushroom! This bag was so fun to make. Now, it's off to the post office to mail to Miss Carmyn!