FO: a year of Christmas: February edition

 Well here I am again. Late with a post. Are you shocked? Okay, stop laughing. I was going to blame this one on the short month, but I really can't. Not only was it a longer short month than normal, but that wasn't really my problem. I started thinking about this one in plenty of time, around the 10th. Then all of a sudden it was the 29th and I had a week of headaches that kept me from doing much of anything that required lots of concentration and eyestrain. (In case you read this post, they weren't migraines. They were just painful enough to be really annoying and to keep me from doing things to make them worse. OTC drugs don't touch them, and I really can't justify taking the good stuff when I can do everything but the stuff I do for me.)

Bird Ornaments, from Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson
 

Anyway, enough moaning, and on to the FOs. I finished these a couple days ago, and finally had some good light today to photograph them. I love these little birds. This is a great pattern. It's pretty quick (for fiddly items, that is), and so far, I've not had one turn out wrong. I love that they each look a little different from each other; with their own little personalities, if you will.

yup, that's a view of my studio in the background. I know, I gotta work on the photos more.

Since I'm a silly girl who thinks too much about things, I matched them. The two on the right are for the kids, with the matching bellies. Mine has the red belly since I thought that print looked more feminine, and mine and Mr. R's have hangers that match the kids' belly's.

 I haven't decided if I'm going to embroider these like I did these. I'm leaning toward yes... 

(would it be cheating to use that as a project one month?)

The other reason I was late getting these done is because I've been a knitting fiend lately. If you have multiple hobbies, do you find that you seem to get more involved with just one at a time? Or do you spread your time evenly between your crafts? I've always considered myself 'shortly passionate'. I will dive into something with everything I have, but then fizzle out pretty quickly and move on to something else. I've finally excepted that about myself and see it as a quirk instead of a flaw. So, look for some knitted FO's coming up shortly. Oh, and look for March's Christmas project too. I better get busy!

FO: a year of Christmas, January edition

I actually finished these about a week ago, but being wiped out with a 4-day migraine sort of delayed my life in general for a while. I'm officially recovered [finally] and am getting caught up on my blogging, sewing and knitting now that the house is [sort of] under control.

I really like these cute little ornaments. I completed them in about two evenings while listening to the tv, since it's hard to watch tv and see where you're poking a sewing needle at the same time.

 

One thing I will say, if you plan to make them, is to use thin tracing paper as your template, or find a way to transfer the design directly onto the felt. I had a heck of a time tearing the tracing paper away without distorting the felt and stitching. Also, the paper moved around a bit, causing some of my stitches to be crooked, but a bit of spray adhesive on the paper might have prevented that. My favorite thing about them is that the snowflake is stitched up with thread from a tin that belonged to my great-grandmother, hence the discolorations on the thread.

I'm not sure what I want to do for February's project. I'll have to go through my pins and magazines again and let you know what I decide on.

Happy Christmas! Happy New Year!

Yea, okay. So I'm a little late with both of those greetings. As I mentioned, my family came for the holidays. They were here almost three weeks. While they were here we had: 3 cases of food poisoning, 1 stomach bug, 1 trip to A&E, 1 case of travel sickness, 1 bad two-day trip, and 1 ceaseless head cold. Luckily we got most of that out of the way before Christmas, so the rest of their stay was much more pleasant. So please forgive my absence [again, ahem].

Paper fir tree made for an origami-loving neighbor, following this video.

If you remember, I had a little list I wanted to complete before Christmas. Here's the list and how I fared:
  -Complete a certain pair of stuffed items for two boys for Christmas - DONE!
  -Make stockings for said boys - DONE!
  -Finish any custom orders from Etsy - DONE!
  -Make a sweatshirt for Scooch - Still not done. I took a little break from sewing.
  -Make ornaments for our mini tree - I didn't make any ornaments, but I have a plan for that. Plus, my dad found little toys to hang on the tree instead and I thought it looked rather cute, and fitting for us this year.

Stockings for my boys, made from Noodlehead's pattern here. 

I made them longer so the top was folded over.

I'm pleased with how I did. We also got loads of cookies made. Well, I say we, but Mom did most of it, along with cooking us dinner every night AND cleaning up EVERY night AND doing all our laundry. Yup, my mom rocks. I know, you're jealous. Too bad, she's mine. *evil grin*

Crappy night photo of this bag by Punkin Pattern, made for a tween boy friend of mine.

The reason for my sewing hiatus was due to the three custom orders I last completed. Since I had gotten out of the swing during the holidays, I cut stuff the wrong size, sewed stuff together wrong, and even put the wrong buttons on two of them. So I decided to take a week or so off. Now I'm itching to get back in there. I've been inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Katy, of No Big Dill (she's amazing by the way. with 6! little ones she still sews and blogs and is just so darn sweet all at the same time!) talked about her resolution to finish up standing projects. Luckily my unfinished pile is rather small, but I'm definitely ready to take care of it. So in between something new (including some new stuff for the shop), I'm going to finish up something old that has been laying around, waiting to be finished. Most things are sooo close to done that I could realistically finish two or three in an evening.

Small version of Style C of the Perfect Zip Bag from Oh, Fransson! for a girl friend of mine.

Small version of Style A of the Perfect Zip Bag from Oh, Fransson! for same girl.

Buttercup Bag by Made-By-Rae for same girl (I know, lucky girl, right?)

As far as my own resolutions go, I know myself well enough to not make any. My resolutions list always ends up being too long, with unrealistic tasks, that goes unglanced at from about 2 Jan on. So I set myself goals as I see a need for them. One at a time. Sometimes I meet them. Sometimes I don't. I've learned to cut myself some slack. *smile*

Fat Dragons for my boys. I like them more than they do.

Tomorrow (yes, tomorrow) I'll be back with a new, year-long feature. I know my track record for features on this blog is laughable. I do plan to complete this one, as well as revive the others. Here's to sticking with things! (And no, that wasn't a resolution either, just a pledge to be a better blogger.)

She lives!

I've said more than once that I can't believe how time gets away from me.  I opened an Etsy shop and then fell off the face of the earth; or so it seemed here among the cobwebs on my blog. The shop has done quite well actually, mostly selling e-reader cases made-to-order. They've been quite popular! Check them out. Then a few rounds of colds and a couple weeks with Mr. R out of town, then a few more rounds of colds, an extra day at preschool each week, and a weird two-day rash all brings us to the beginning of December already.

And now the mad rush to complete all my projects by their own respective deadlines begins! I need to have all my machine sewing done by the time my family arrives (7 more days, hooray!) since either they or Scooch are taking over my studio. Then I have a few hand sewing projects I'd like to try. I'm hoping to don our tree with a bit more than a string of lights and two ornaments this year.

I have been able to squeeze a few selfish projects in the mix these past couple months.  Shannon on luvinthemommyhood had a cowl knitalong, and after reading about it for a while, I just had to knit one up myself.  I went with the Stockholm scarf that I found on Ravelry.  It was a relatively quick knit, and I wear it all the time; around the house, to the park.  Scooch even crawls up under it so we're both wearing it. I'm not crazy about the colors, but they're what I had on hand, and it's warm.

Now, I know I've complained about our laundry situation here a time or two. Ahem. Lucky for you, that complaining was on the blog that my family reads. Aside from not being able to get soft laundry (no dryer, hard water, don't use fabric softener, etc), our washer has a tendency to turn things grey. I'm not talking just a dirty tinge. I'm talking nasty dark grey. For example, Monkey's washcloths. They are white with colored bindings. I only use them to wash Monkey in the bath. They come out of the wash white around the edges, and almost black in the center. So nasty. You'd think I scrubbed Mr. R's tire rims with them. So, some new washcloths were in order. I plan to make a tutorial for these at some point, but for now, here's the finished product.

I have some other things in the works as well. Here is my To Do List which must be completed, at different intervals, by December 24:
  -Complete a certain pair of stuffed items for two boys for Christmas
  -Make stockings for said boys
  -Finish any custom orders from Etsy (currently 2)
  -Make a sweatshirt for Scooch
  -Make ornaments for our mini tree (all of our holiday decor is in storage in the US and last year I was too deep in post-baby-sleep-depro mode to care)

Oh, and I forgot to add that, along with that list up there, we're going to Scotland for a few days right before Christmas, and Mom and I are baking half her usual load of goods once they arrive. Even half her usual load still means we'll be baking from sun-up to sun-down from the moment she arrives until at least Christmas day. Busy busy busy! I love busy for a change.

And this is something I'm thinking of for future blog posts. Instead of one a day, maybe one a week. Not sure yet whether I want to be that personal on this blog. Several of these are pretty can-of-worms type topics and I don't know that I want this blog to be that.  I might just play around with the safest topics.

FO and Book Review

I finally got back in the studio for the first time in almost two weeks.  No sewing for the shop this time.  Scooch desperately needed a new fall coat, and I had my eye on one I knew he would like.  It just happened to be in the new Sewing For Boys book; the book I won a copy of from Sew, Mama, Sew! during the book's blog tour.  Cute boy clothes patterns are a rare commodity, and to have a whole book dedicated to our little bug-hunting, tractor-loving, sticky fingered rascals is just bliss!  I chased the blog tour, entering every giveaway along the way.  I almost did cartwheels when I won!  Then I had the long wait as it was shipped from the U.S.  When it finally arrived, I got right to work ordering the fabric for the things I wanted to make first: the Luka Hoodie and Paulie's Pullover.  Then I had to wait again for the fabric to arrive *sigh*.  The hoodie fabric arrived first:

With fabric finally washed, dried, pressed, and cut; it took me part of just two evenings to complete the Luka Hoodie.  I used brown baby wale corduroy that I ordered online from Germany for the majority of the hoodie, and then I used the adorable owl print from the Urban Zoologie line from Ann Kelle for the front and secret pocket.  The lining is a brown knit which I wouldn't use again for something like this.  The pattern called for less than 10% stretch.  I couldn't find anything about the amount of stretch in this fabric when I ordered it, and it ended up having far too much stretch.  Luckily, my walking foot saved the day, and the hoodie.

I love this little jacket.  For reference, Scooch just turned three, and store-bought size 3 tops are a tiny bit big on him just now.  I made size 4/5 of the hoodie because I wanted him to get good wear out of it.  It's quite big on him now, but he LOVES it, which makes this mama super duper smiley.  I love that the hood has elastic in it instead of a tie, and Scooch got a big kick out of the secret pocket.  I think I can expect to find all sorts of 'treasure' hidden away in there in the future...

Such a cute little design, and loads of potential for changing it up.  I kept my alterations minor this time.  I put slits in the side seams, changed up which fabrics I used where, and added a little flap behind the buttons to prevent drafts from getting in.  Oh and yes, I still have to add buttons.  I wanted to see it finished before deciding, and I think I'm going to have to go with covered buttons.

Now for the rest of the book.  I just love this book.  The designs are adorable, simple and practical, and the patterns are straight-forward, and not fussy.  You really can make a whole wardrobe for your boy (or girl) with this book.  I'm not sure that I would recommend it for complete beginners though.  The instructions are more basic and there is not a lot of hand-holding with extra explaining and diagrams.  I really love how simple the designs are, leaving loads of room to be creative with them.  Just for starters, take The Henry Shirt; a cute, short-sleeved, snap front, collared shirt.  Replace the snaps with buttons.  Make it long-sleeved.  Use linen for a casual look.  Use shirting for a dressed-up look.  Embellish the front with pin-tucks or machine- or hand-embroidery.  Leave off the pockets.  Add extra pockets.  So many options and now I can't wait to make this top in many different versions!

i heart pouches

I finally finished the two pouches last week that I was making for myself.  I had to wait on zippers to arrive since I didn't have any in the right color.  It was nice because I had them all completed up until the zipper stage, so I was able to get them finished in about an hour each once I had the zippers.

First up, the flat-bottom pouch by the split stitch in large.  I LOVE this bag.  Since I normally carry around a big diaper bag these days, I plan to carry this inside it with my own things (including the camera pouch) so I don't have to dig through the kids' stuff anymore to find something.  Plus it's so lovely that I could even carry it on it's own.  I showed it to my husband and he asked if the pleated panel was supposed to be uneven.  Um, yes.  However, now that I look at it, I should have made it more uneven so it really looks intentional.  Ahem.

Recognize that fabric?  I used the same Amy Butler print that I used for the diaper clutch I sent to my sister-in-law here.  The lining is, dang it, I can never remember what this fabric is called, maybe a chambray?  I snatched it from my mom's stash a while ago, and it's probably 10+ years old.  I love the weight it has to it, I might need to make myself a skirt or something with it...  The striped fabric is also the same fabric that I used on the inside of the diaper clutch.  I really liked how those two prints looked together.

To help keep it organized, I added pockets on each side.  One side has just a wide slot, and the other side has an ID slot and phone slot.

I didn't like the idea of attaching a strap to the zipper, so I added a side tab to attach my strap to.  This bag is the perfect size for what I planned on using it for, so I'm really excited to use it!

Neeext up is another flat-bottom pouch, but with the alterations I mentioned here to make it a camera pouch.  I used the same Amy Butler print as in the big bag above, but in a different color.  The inside and ruffle are a blue/grey chambray, and the wrist strap is scraps I had.

I made almost all of the changes I said I was going to make.  Instead of an interlining, I used fusible fleece.  The pouch still has nice body to it, but is a little more squishy to protect my Lumix from bumps.  I added slot pockets inside for two SD cards and an extra battery.  I meant to also include an elastic band for the card reader I use, but I forgot.  I also took about 2 inches out of the width of the pouch.  I couldn't have judged that any better.  My camera fits in the opening perfectly, I wouldn't have wanted it any narrower.

I added the side tab again for the wrist strap, which I love.  I might need to make another strap, if I have enough scraps, for my camera too!

And here's the camera pouch next to the original, so you can see the size change I made.  The only thing I didn't do, was supposed to be a surprise.  I was going to either embroider a little camera, or I was going to add a little iron-on embellishment, but I couldn't find a camera image like the one in my head, and the iron-on looked too busy with the ruffle, so I left it out.

This has all been great practice since these pouches will be showing up in my Etsy shop soon!  Those wrist straps will also be available for cameras and mobile phones.

baby love, day 5: knitted blanket and wrapping up...literally

Phew!  Last day of baby love!  If you're just checking in, this week I'm showing off the gifts I made for my SIL who is having a baby soon.  Here's what you missed:

Day 1: Embellished Tops and Embroidered Ornaments
Day 2: Diaper Clutch and Burp Cloths
Day 3: Eye Mask and Clothing Labels
Day 4: Dress, Hat and Bloomers

Today is a knitted blanket.  I had to throw something knitted into the mix.  I was going to make a knitted summer hat as well, but being that the family lives near Miami, I don't think a knit hat would get much use.  So instead, I went with a white version of the blanket that I made for my own little Monkey.

I decided to go with a soft, washable and dryable yarn since baby things always seem to be in the wash.  I went with white because it's what I already had in my stash.  [Did you catch onto the stash-busting theme going on this week?  I love how many things I was able to 'shop' for in my existing stash!  My serious fabric and yarn buying obsession comes in handy when money is tight and I want to make nice gifts.  I already have a huge 'store' to pull from!]

And now that I've got all these gifts to send, I need to wrap them up.  I love natural and reusable wrapping.  I always love getting a gift with wrapping I can save to use again for something else.  I had a bunch of vintage sheet scraps I got in a scrap pack online a while ago, and they all turned out to be the perfect sizes for my handmades.  I kept everything really simple.  Of course, if I had all my rubber stamp supplies I would have gone crazy on the gift tags.  Since I didn't, I just played with my new Pilot Hi-Tec-C pens and doodled on the tags instead. *cheese*

I layered everything gently in a box, and then surrounded it all with wrapping tissue.  Then, for fun, and something for the new daddy-to-be, Mr. R gave me some newspaper highlights to stuff into the empty spaces.

And lastly, a card.  It was the first time I've stitched on paper I think, and it was quite fun!

Whew!  That's a lot of baby goodies!  I hope you've enjoyed this week of baby love.  I can't wait to meet my new niece, even if it is over Skype!

baby love, day 4: dress, bloomers and hat

It's day 4 of baby week here on Scooch Monkey!  Up today is the cutest of baby outfits.  As I have two boys, I don't have many patterns for girly things at my immediate disposal.  Luckily, I have purchased a few books of projects that also contain girl patterns.  My favorite being Amy Butler's Little Stitches.  I just love this little dress and bloomer set.  This was one of the first things on my project list when I put together this baby love set.  I even chose to use Amy Butler's fabric from the Soul Blossoms line.  She is my favorite fabric designer, after all. 

This one started out as a sewing fail.  Well, not a sewing fail really; more like a style fail.  It's quite evident that I'm just getting back into the swing of sewing, as I forgot to fussy-cut the fabric (english: line up the print on the fabric with the pattern).  You can see what I mean in the above photo, the circles aren't centered, and the pattern in the skirt isn't centered.  In the end though, it turns out that I didn't even care for these two color schemes together anyway.   Luckily, this was fabric I bought just for this dress, not something pulled from my stash, so I was able to order more.  Speaking of buying fabric, some designers are really really hard to find in England, so I end up ordering a lot of fabric from the States.  The original dress is still pretty cute, and might show up at a discount in my Etsy shop if I can ever get it up and running.

I really love this little dress.  So many nice details.  The skirt is lined and the bodice is faced.  There is elastic in the back to help it fit better.  I took extra care to make sure all the edges were finished off nicely.  I serged all the exposed inside seams (which is SCARY! see note after jump about my serger issues).  And see how the fabric print is all nice and centered now?  Muuuch better.

The only place I altered from the pattern was with the snaps.  The pattern called for buttons, but I just love using my snap press, and since I chose to lug it all this way in the move, I decided to use it.  I really like the way the snaps look too.

The bloomers and hat turned out lovely on the first try; except for that silly butterfly, but more on that later.  I made a smaller size of the bloomers previously, and remember something about the elastic lengths being way off.  Too much in the top and not enough in the bottom, or something like that.  I didn't have that problem this time.  Everything looks about right to me.  Not that I would really know, having two boys I don't have much experience with bloomers.

This little hat is cute, and I'm so glad I figured out a way to sew the points where they all line up perfectly!!  I might just have to do a tutorial on that actually...  The butterfly isn't my favorite, but I think the biggest reason for that is because I put the wrong side of the velcro on the butterfly portion.  Have you ever tried to stuff toy filling through an opening flanked with velcro (the scratchy side)??  Oy!

Tomorrow is the final day of Baby Week.  I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.  I'll do a review of the week and I'll show off the final piece (a baby blanket), and show how I wrapped it all up to send off to my family.