Recent sewing

Well, I've been trying to get back into sewing more. Of course, the fact that my girls and myself are running low on clothing helps :)

First, my youngest has been asking for more flannel nightgowns for over a year. They are so easy, not sure why I put them off for so long. Now I want to keep making them but she has enough. I'll have to try it in knits over the summer. This is the Kwik Sew pattern. That shiny flannel backed satin was terrible to sew. That's why it's been in the bottom of my stash for at least 8 years!

     

Next up was a Girl Scout dress for my youngest. She always wants to wear a dress and the leader always says to wear a GS shirt... problem solved!

a super-girl (superhero) skirt for my older girl. She needed something quick for school and a fun circle skirt was perfect

and pillowcases to donate to my unit at work. I love making these and they are the perfect use for that fabric that no one loves in my house of growing up kids.

   

This is a beaded lace knit wrap that I was testing for a friend. I'm loving it!

    

Crazy craft season

I know my fellow crafters feel the crunch.

These are the weeks when we have to get down to business and get some crafting done!

My to-do list:
1-3 more Christmas dresses for my little one.
a holiday season skirt for myself
finish crocheting wrist warmers for dd1
headband for dd1 (or two)
sew up totes for all the teachers (with 2 kids in middle school this has become a major project!)
sew up/craft something for dh's bosses

today! --- finish up ornaments to hand out to people at our church event tonight, buy something to become a centerpiece for the table, make sure the boy gets some school work done :) , Christmas shopping, and shower!

1st day of school sewing

My youngest is going back to the local public school this year and today was the first day of 2nd grade for her.

This little 7.5 year old is an artist and my strong willed child who knows what she wants and doesn't go with the crowd. Due to this, her clothing sometimes is a little interesting, but usually it works. Being the first day of school, she 'needed' a new dress. In reality, she really does need some new dresses because she has a lot that are way too small (over 2 years old) and worn out (worn by her sister for 1-2 years and then her for another 2 years).

She decided that she wanted an owl dress and found this cute Alexander Henry owl fabric in my stash. Then she decided she wanted to have an owl on the top. I drew one but then she wanted to draw it herself. Of course, this made the process take a lot longer in time, but turned out very cute. She picked the fabric for pieces and put them together. Picked the colors for all the fabrics. She instructed me on what type of stitch to do and drew the finer details on the owl for me to sew over them. As we went along she changed a few features in her design, but it worked out.  She specifically told me not to make the face round and keep the circle not a circle (which did drive me a little crazy).

back to sewing

I've had a creative lull the past two months. I have looked and patterns, styles and so many lovely photos of items I love... but just not sewing. Near the end of this week, I finally got my sewing groove back. Unfortunately, due to family visiting, my sewing room was being used as a bedroom and not very accessible for sewing.

Today things were back to normal. Yeah!

I was in the mood for baby sewing today. Luckily, I have a good friend who just had a sweet baby girl. I've not done any baby sewing a long time, so I had to some serious stash digging, but I found those baby fabrics. Flannels, chenilles, and sherpas.

Baby bibs:

Next up, since I had the flannel boxes open and realized I really need to get down to just one box of flannel, napkins. We've been using cloth napkins for about 8 years. About 75% of the napkins we are currently using are from the first year we made the switch... and they look like it. Time to retire some of them and make some new ones. One thing I have realized over the years is that I strongly prefer flannel. I have made napkins out almost every type of fabric and flannel is the best, in my opinion.




Two weeks ago I made her this little doggy dress. The skirt is from Sew Baby's Twirly Dress pattern. We've had the shirt for about 4 years. It was a hand-me-down to my first daughter from a friend. My girls weren't crazy about it for some reason, but they both think it looks great as a dress. (she really likes it, just not in the mood for a picture at this point because she was busy).




And to top off this creative summery - A wrap that I just finished knitting. A wonderful pattern that I was testing and really enjoyed making.

Guinea pig sewing

Yes, you read that correctly.

We have 2 guinea pigs and I had read online about using fleece for bedding. As a mom who has made and used cloth diapers, it's not all that different. I had left over fleece in a container - just waiting to be donated or used.




For the absorbant layer I used an old beach towel for my first one. It's heavy but works. For my second one, I went to The Salvation Army Thrift store and got a bunch of old matress pads for $2 each.  These are much lighter in weight when washed.

I also made them two "cozies" (basically a bag they can climb/sleep in).

Easy Scrap Blanket Directions

My scraps of sock yarn were building up and I wanted to make something... really anything, but wasn't sure what to do. It had to be simple and not too much thinking. I wanted a mindless project.

Looking through some old knitting and crochet books from my husband's grandma, I found some basic square instructions and just ran with it.

I didn't invent this stitch - It's probably as old as knitting with a circular needle began. Almost anyone who knits and sees this blanket asks me how I did it. So, here are my directions.

I started with 5 dpns and when it got too big for that, I switched to a long circular. Eventually it was so big, I used 2 circulars. Part of the beauty of this project is that you can make it as big or little as you wish. You can use any yarn you like and any size needle.

This example is done with various sock yarns (all superwash, so I could wash it). I'd recommend making sure they are all like yarns, but it could be interesting if you used different weights. I used a size 6 needle for my project.

CO 12 and divide onto 4 dpns (just for the beginning and then I switched to a circ).

Join ends (done in the round)
1: Knit all
2: K1, yo, pm, k1, yo, k1 repeat to start of round
3: knit all
4: K to marker, yo, sm, k1, yo, k to end of needle repeat
-- then I just repeated 3 & 4 it was big enough. Then cast off.

edging: you could just leave it at this point but I wanted a little more. I did 1 round single crochet, 1 row of a loose loop (I think I did chain 4, skipping 1 sc).
Eventually, it’ll be too big for dpns and it was just easier to do on a circ. Once in the rhythm of the pattern, you’ll not need to know when the end of the needle is but you may want to use a different marker for the beg. of a row.
I just kept going with a color until I ran out and then switched. I liked the randomness of just going until I ran out but it would be cool to do it planned and organized too.

When the size you want, just bind off. I picked up a few extra rows on 2 sides to make this more rectangular, but really it probably is better just square (read as, I don't recommend this). I blocked mine when done and I liked the result. If I had made it from acrylic, I'm not sure if I'd block or not.

Happy knitting.

This picture is before blocking but you get the idea.