Pandamonium Jacket

Pandamonium Jacket
Originally uploaded by Sirelroka

My latest project for Etsy is this adorable Panda jacket by special request. Apparently the woman who requested it has a two year old who wants to be a panda for Halloween. How cute is that going to be? I also made some panda paw mittens to go with it. I added a drawstring to the hoodie, which I think will be a feature of all future hoodies. It's hard because I don't know anyone here with children I can try them on for fit and usefulness etc.

Personalized Crate Tag

Personalized Crate Tag
Originally uploaded by Sirelroka

I sold my first crate tag! I put this up on Etsy a couple of days ago (of course with their choice of breed and name) and I sold one today. I still have to work out with the buyer what colors they want and all that, but yay!

Roland and Scotty

It's been a while huh? I've been to Michigan and back and been keeping myself busy since getting back last week. Roland has been super busy presenting at conferences and writing his article. He has finished a draft of the article, which is awesome and is hoping to be able to send it out for the fall submissions to journals.

So lets go back in time to when we left for Michigan. There was a flyball tournament in Orlando so we decided just to use that as a first leg and take off from there.

Roland got to run Scotty at this tournament and did a fantastic job. Scotty is not the easiest dog to run because he's pretty crazy, but I think that made Roland a good match, becuase he is perpetually calm. It was kind of funny to watch Roland standing there all completely calm holding Scotty who was yanking against his harness and generally doing his best to impersonate a rabid dog. Bleys shared a spot with another dog and did very well. He earned his FDX (500 points) and it was generally a good time. One of the other dogs earned her FM (5000 points) and I made her a crate tag to celebrate it. I thought it turned out really well.

Is there anything you can't do with PVC?

Step 1: Get discouraged

Step 2: Get encouragement from great friends (thanks Anne, Dr. J, and Janice)

Step 3: Have a great husband who finds light box plans on the internet (with super-awesome accompanying tutorial)

Step 4: Get crafty

Let there be light

I'm feeling a little frustrated at the moment. When Anne originally found Etsy I was super excited about it. A whole community of other crafty minded people like myself. But as time goes on it gets more and more obvious that people have taken it to the next level. The most recent evidence of this are the pictures. On the front page of Etsy they put some hand picked items from different sellers. However, when I look at those items I'm intimidated because of the production value. I also keep searching around just looking at random stuff ('cause its fun) and again I see pictures that are clearly well thought out and staged. It makes me feel like my items aren't well made enough to be sold and that my pictures are terrible.

I just finished a new project that I was all geeked about, but now that I finished taking some pictures and uploading them I just feel disappointed.

Best. Site. Ever.

Urban Threads. I think Anne will also really real kick out of it as well. Personally, I'm going to make something that has the Craft Ninja on it. Like tomorrow.

Something You've Never Photographed Before

Something You've Never Photographed Before
Originally uploaded by Sirelroka

Photogamer: Take a photo of something you've never photographed before. This is a beaded flower I've been working on for some time. But I haven't yet finished the stem and haven't started the pistol/stamen. Then I have to figure out how to stiffen it so it won't droop. One book suggested some Future Acrylic Floor Wax, which I keep forgetting to look for when I'm at the store.

Homemade

Handmade
Originally uploaded by Sirelroka

Today's photogamer was right up my alley. Take a picture of something homemade. It was hard to pick one thing, but then I decided that I would use my latest idea to sell on etsy. I've only made one of these so far and haven't gotten good pictures of it yet. So it's not up for sale yet, but I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Look, they match!

I ended up with a whole lot of stuff I needed to take to the demo so I decided to make myself a little present. I wanted to make it in blue, but the only blue shades I liked were too dark to the Cavalier embroidery to show up. So I went with navy-red, in a nice micro-suede. It's quite roomy, and I thought it turned out nicely. The only thing I don't really like this that when it's empty it's a little bit floppy for my liking. I used the stiffest interfacing I could find, but what I really need is a specialty interfacing that is a bit expensive and I would have to order online. But seriously isn't that puppy just adorable?

Craftyland

It's been quite a while since I did anything with this here blog. I somehow got myself into a bunch of projects that all came due at the same time. It's mostly because of a demonstration that the flyball team I take classes from was doing. The park that allows them to practice there every week was having a doggy festival thingy and asked the Storm Riders to put on a little demo, showing people what flyball is about.

Apparently no one wanted to do the talking so I said I would. Somehow that turned into me organizing a lot of it. So I went all teacher on it and planned it to within an inch of it's life. The demo was right in the middle of the day, and we had a booth all day long at the festival. For those people who weren't there during that actual demo I made up a little display board that explains a little about flyball and has some pictures of the Storm Riders. Then I made up a facebook with all the team dogs getting a page with their info and some pictures, including one of them with their person. I thought it turned out really well! I wasn't sure how scrapbook people do lettering so I embroidered it on a length of ribbon with metallic thread. I originally wanted blue ribbon, but I couldn't find anywhere that had enough of it. So I settled for black instead. Hopefully it doesn't look too weird. I also made up some brochures and some business sized cards for people to take from the table.

I really struggled to get everything done by the day of the demo (which was yesterday), but it all went fine. A lot of that is thanks to Roland who was hugely supportive and helped me a million. The actual demo part was a little difficult because the microphone was corded and I could really see the flyball team from where I was standing. This made it hard to tell which team won the races we were running. Roland sort of stood at the edge where he could see the demo and I could see him and he used hand signals to let me know what was going on. Not the smoothest operation, but such is life. Anyhow, the demo is over now and I'm exhausted. I think I got way too much sun and didn't drink enough water or something.

Go on, get crafty!

I'm going to a Holiday dinner for the Boca Raton Dog Club and they are having a gift thing. So I needed something dog related (either for a dog, or for a dog loving human) that was under $25. I decided that I would make something and it would most likely be cheaper. Plus I like making things. I opted for this shoulder tote with Scottish Terrier embroidery. I chose this design because of all the canine choices that fit in my hoop, this one was on sale (only $1) and I already had colors of thread that would work. It only has three colors in it: black, dark gray, and light gray. If I had unlimited funds I would prefer that the dark gray was darker, but cheap won out. All of the fabrics I chose were on sale, and not very expensive to begin with, so all told I think I spent $13.

Power

And one more time. This was a cute design, but it doesn't ring my bell, like the skull, rampage, or panda ones.

Rampage!

You guessed it, another onesie. This one was a little difficult because the edges of the applique were so complex, but it's one of my favorites.

Jolly

Another onesie for Etsy. This one has a white fleece skull appliqued on it. I think I might like this one better if it was on a onesie that wasn't white. That way the skull would stand out more. As it is I'm liking the fleece appliques the best. They give it an added dimension with the soft feel. Although I still think the cherries are best suited to the sheen of satin.

With a cherry on top

Today I appliqued this little onesie to sell on Etsy. I also tried another design, but something went awry and that one didn't turn out. Oh well, I will just have to try again. I have a couple other designs I want to try out and I'm hoping I can find relatively cheap onesies in other colors. I will have to go hunting at some baby stores. Some of the designs look best on the white, but some others might be cute on other colors. I found that gray one from yesterday at target for not too much, and they also had red and navy. As my mom used to say about my attempts to clean my room...It's a start.

Munch

Today I made this baby bodysuit to sell on Etsy. Bodysuit? Isn't that just a onesie? Well yes, it is, but it turns out that 'onesie' is a copyright of Gerber, so only Gerber bodysuits can technically be called onesies. I had no idea.

Anyway, it is a long sleeved heather gray 12 month onesie, which I appliqued this totally adorable panda on. The panda is white fleece with embroidered detailing, which gives it a really nice soft feel and adds some interest. I think it is super cute, and I think tomorrow I'm going to try out a couple more new applique designs.

Can't you just hear the barely audible little crunching of bamboo leaves?

Embroidered Storage Box

Yesterdays craft was making this embellished photo storage box. I bought the white box and then covered the lid with some fabric I embroidered. The white, purple, and black motif matches the sewing room of my dreams (which I started in Michigan, but had to leave behind and now I can't pain the walls). Originally the design was to put grommets in the sides of the box for a ribbon holder where you can just pull the ribbon to dispense it. But I decided that I wanted a neater, cleaner look and skipped them. I also added some lengths of dowel to keep the ribbon tidy in the box. I'm thinking about making another one to replace my old photo storage box as well. There are more pictures of this on my flickr page (just click on the picture) including a closeup of the embroidery design.

Spirit

I just watched Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and one of the bonus features on the DVD was a learn to draw Spirit section. I figured I would try it out, despite the notorious difficultly level of drawing horses. Not having a whole lot of drawing talent, I think didn't turn out too badly. At least you can tell it's supposed to be a horse anyhow!

Storm Riders Embroidered Apron

So, for a while I've been eyeballing an add-on to my embroidery software that would allow me to take my own images and digitize them into embroidery designs. It's a little on the expensive side, so I've been putting it off. However, last week, I finally broke down and bought it. It.Is.So.Cool. My first effort was the flyball team logo (you check out the original here). Which turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. I'm still figuring out the program and what it can do, but I think it looks pretty professional.

The reason I chose the logo to do first is that each flyball team needs have someone to load the tennis balls in the flyball box during races. The woman who does this for the Storm Riders team, Lane, is a really nice lady. She is in the process of training Jake, her rat terrier. Jake and Bleys are pretty close to the same level I think, but Jake has the potential to be much faster. Anyway, Lane does this awesome job for the team, without much thanks most of the time. I thought it would be nice to give her an apron (most people who do this job wear one to hold the extra tennis balls within reach, but out of site) with the logo on it. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Although I sort of made up all the dimensions, so I'm going to tell her that I will make another one wider/longer/whatever-er if she wants.

Strings

50's Green Dress
Originally uploaded by Sirelroka

I think I'm done with my latest craft project. I made a dress (Butterick 4790) out of green broadcloth. I had made this pattern once before in purple. But I have since changed sizes, so it was time to get it out again. Also the broadcloth is very light and breezy so it might be nice here in Florida in the summer. I did end up lining it becuase the fabric was a little too thin though. I'm hoping it doesn't look too homemade and I can wear it soon.

Thoughtful hearts

Katie just updated her blog with some adorable movies of Charlotte (who may or may not be a rubber ducky cannibal) and directed people to Charlotte Central - your source for ridiculously cute baby pictures. Amongst the photos found there were some of Charlotte in a dress I made! I'm so geeked, so here they are for you to check out. After which you should go check out the rest of the pictures.




Can someone say future botanist?

Crafts from way back

My dad sent me a picture of the shirt that I embroidered for him. I couldn't post it earlier because it was for Christmas and I didn't want to ruin the suprise.


And here is a close up of the embroidery. The lighting on this one is wierd.

That's Cruel

I kind of like this wrap which I found a pattern for over at The Rag Shop (sort of like Hobby Lobby for you up north).



It's too bad I never learned to crochet. Maybe I can get Mom C. to teach me when we are up north. I think if I did make this I would actually make two one in the colors shown and maybe one with these blues.

Adorn

I was looking around flickr in the I-made-it-myself group and found these. Very cool, but I don't think I can deal with the asymmetry.

Mental

I've been working on a craft project for about a month now and I've finally finished. It is going to be a gift for one of Roland's cousin's kids and I started it mainly to be able to play with my embroidery machine. It turned out to be a rather large(r than I was expeciting) project and I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.

One side of the quilt is a Tic Tac Toe board.


Each tic tac toe piece has a crab embroidered on one side and a turtle on the other.


The other side of the quilt is a checker board.


One corner is embroidered with the turtle, another with the crab. However, all the corners are actually zippered pockets with room to store all of the pieces.




On the turtle side all of the white squares are embroidered with tone on tone shell and on the crab side a tone on tone nautilus. It was hard to get a picture of these, but you can see it a little better if you click on the picture to make it larger.



I embroidered a small turtle or crab on the back of each piece to represent a crowned checker. So instead of stacking the pieces you just flip it over to reveal the picture.

Apples

Since I didn't really have anywhere to go with it. I lent my Snow White costume to my sister to wear at the library. She called me earlier and told me it went really well, everyone loved it. I bet she looked even better in it that I did because she's got the right hair for it. She said there would be pictures soon so I'm excited to see them. Woot!

For Anne

DrJ totally posted the worst knitting fiasco to hit the world since The Sweater. Check it out.

Dijon Ketchups

Someday....



Drooly McDroolersons.

Weeds

It's about that time in my life when great gobs of my friends and family are having children. I'm still not particularly interested for myself, but being crafty like I am I simply can't pass up the opportunity for cheap sewing projects. The only real problem being I don't know the exact sizes of my cousin's kids. Plus, I'm not sure if sewing sizes differ from store sizes in the infant department as well*. So I made a couple of dresses in the 6 month size to see how they went. I'm pretty sure they will fit Keith's little girl or, who knows, maybe Marcie will have a girl. Anyway, they were fun to make and only having about a yard of fabric in them, not terribly expensive. Here they are.

This one is made from a pale yellow cotton with little purple flowers, and has a mottled purple overskirt. The waist seam is accented by a purple ribbon.


This one was a little more expensive because I didn't use a cotton or broadcloth. Instead, I used this really awesome satin twill (but it was on sale so that's cool). I made the piping out of the same color ribbon that accents the waist and the bottom hem so they all match. I wished that I had a larger design to embroider on the front, but I didn't have anything else that I liked as much as the butterfly and didn't really want to buy something new.



*For those who don't know, clothing manufacturers have been changing sizes of clothes so that people will feel thinner for a long time now. Your sewing size is probably about 2 to 3 sizes larger than your clothing size. And when people throw that Marilyn Monroe was a size 12 thing around, first it's probably not true , and second if it was that would mean today she would wear a 6 or an 8.

Divination

I just finished my latest craft project. An ottoman and pillow for the chair I recovered for Roland's office. I don't have access to any sort of saws or other tools to make a wooden box that could be covered for a normal looking ottoman, so I went with a pattern I found for making one with a gallon paint can and some foam. It's more of a pouf than an ottoman, but it was doable from the building materials standpoint. I did have to ask my Dad to cut me a 12" circle out of wood and send it to me, though. It turned out okay, not great, but okay. I think if I made another one it would look better. I also made a pillow out of some leftovers from the chair and the pouf. It's reversible with one side being navy red with navy blue corners and center and the other side being navy blue with navy red corners and center.

Finished

My latest craft effort was the recovering of a used chair for Roland's office. I think it's mostly for his students to sit in? It isn't the best chair ever, but it was the right price. Free. However the fabric had seen better days so he asked if I could recover it. He asked for navy red and I managed to find some fabric from the sale table (they have a lot of flat folds that are uphostery type fabric - the left overs from someone elses order usually). I didn't use a pattern I just sort of made it up as I went along and it turned out okay. The back is a little baggier than ideal, but other than that it went all right. Plus I got to use my staple gun!

For Katie

Katie, who is currently remodeling one room in her house as a nursery asked about curtains for the room. I started to comment on her blog, but then the comment began to take on gargantuan proportions so I decided to just post it here. Those of you who don't care about curtains should stop reading here.

You've got a quite a few options for your draperies Katie. You eliminated the simply decorative types (which I totally agree with, I think that would be silly) and opted for actual functioning ones.

Option 1 - Rod pocket. These are some of the simplest to make as it can be as easy as sewing a large hem on the top and slipping that pocket over the curtain rod (add an extra seam above the rod pocket and you have instant ruffles on top). You can either make one large panel to fit across the whole window, or a pair one for each side of the window. The down side? They usually don't slide very well across the rod and you may need a lot of material to make the fullness look right.

Rod Pocket

Rod Pocket with ruffle

Option 2 - Flat panel. These are also relatively easy to make and are similar to the rod pocket draperies. The only real difference is that instead of attaching to the rod by a channel sewn in, these attach to the rod by means of a ring (very much like a shower curtain). This ring can be a grommet in the drapery itself or something that extends above the top. Again, these can be made as one long panel or two smaller sides. The down side? A little more complicated to make than a rod pocket and you may need a lot of material to get the fullness. If you use the grommet option that is also another added difficulty. I've never been very good at them and it usually causes me a disproportionate amount of frustration. Rings are available in both sew-in and clip-on varieties.

Rings
Grommets as rings

Option 3 - Tab Top. A close cousin to the flat panel. The only real difference is that instead of some foreign material to attach it to the rod (metal or plastic ring) fabric is used. This fabric tab can be wide or narrow, or even simply tie over the top of the rod. Again, these can be made as one long panel or two smaller sides. These were traditionally meant to be stationary draperies. The down side? A little more complicated to make than rod pocket and like the rod pocket these also tend not to slide easily over the rod, and you may need a lot of material to get the fullness.

Wide tabs

Tie tabs

Option 4 - Pinch pleated draperies. My personal favorite, probably because this is what we had growing up. These are the kind I just made for our bedroom (with that awesome light blocking lining). These are a lot more complicated to make, but not crazy hard, they just seem hard in comparison because the others are simple. They also require some specific hardware (available at Joann, and Fields etc) in the form of pleater tape and pleater hooks. They can be either one wide panel or two side panels and can either be put onto a transverse curtain rod or be but over a curtain rod with rings (I used the center pull transverse rod - purchased from Kmart). Reasons I like these so much? One: you don't have to fiddle with them to have them look full. The pleats almost guarantee the correct placement of material whereas on the others to get them to look like they do in the pictures you have to sit there and play with them to create the look each time you move them. Two: on the transverse rod they both go around the corner to meet with the wall and completely cover the curtain rod, thus blocking out more light etc. The down side? As I mentioned they are more difficult to make, you need more hardware/installation, and you may need a lot of material to get the fullness.

Pinch pleated draperies

Pinch pleats with rings

Close up of pinch pleats

Around the corner

Then of course you have to decide on length. You can go to the sill (so the bottom hem rests just above the sill), to the bottom of the apron (so the hem covers the bottom of the wooden apron below the sill, to the floor, or puddling on the floor. That is totally personal preference.

If you noticed a trend in the down side portion of each one, good eye. Most people underestimate how much material goes into draperies. This is why when you go to Target or someplace to buy them, they look like a good deal...at first. Then you read the package closer (I hope) and it ends up telling you that for the picture they used 4 or even 6 panels. So multiply each panel/package as they are usually sold individually and you are looking at a lot of money. To get the traditional fullness of a drapery you are generally looking at 2.5 to 3 times the width of the window. I used 2.5 because of cost, if I could have I would definitely have gone with 3. Of course the solution is to make a truly flat panel (one that has no fullness when closed), these often look very sleek and no frills-ish. Another solution to this problem is the one I used in our house in Grand Rapids.

Option 5- Roman Shades. These are most appropriate for windows that are taller than wide and I can't remember what you have in that room, so they might not be the best option. They are great because of the small amount of fabric and the sleek look. The ones I made were completely housed inside the window frame so there was no rod to install, but you can also make them so they fit over a rod. I used the light blocking lining there as well (we had a halogen street light directly outside our window). The construction is a little more complicated, about the same as pinch pleated drapes and requires some power tools (staple gun mostly). The down side? The aren't for all window types, you need to take down any blinds already in the window, and most of these work on a string pull system which means you will need to put up a cord cleat or some other means of protecting Baby Baker from the strings.

Inside the window frame

Over a rod

So there you have it, way too much information about draperies. Anything look good to you Katie? Anything right out? Also if you took a picture of your window, I seem to remember you saying something about the rod being right up against the wall or something, it would help me a bunch. Based on what I know and can remember right now I would opt for flat panel (with rings and with or without fullness) or pinch pleated draperies. I would avoid the rod pocket and tab top because of the difficulty with which they move across the rod.

I hope I didn't scare you away, it's just that there are so many cool options!

UPDATE: Now that I've seen pictures of the almost completed nursery I think I would choose:

1. Two Roman shades (one for each window) because I like how the white trim outlines the fabric, it avoids the wall/rod problem, and it keeps in the very sleek look of the nursery (me likes!).

or

2. A pair of pinch pleated draperies that came down just below the apron (rather than resting on the sill). Or maybe just a single panel of pinch pleated drapery haven't quite decided yet. I think my first choice would be the roman shades

BFB

Or Big Fat Bummer. I got a note in the mail yesterday that they aren't going to be making Jo-Ann Magazine anymore. I really liked getting this magazine and usually found some project I wanted to try in each one. It had a nice balance of sewing and other crafts and showcased a lot of stuff that the Jo-Ann stores have. Dave asked me if there was a replacement magazine that I could get and I can't really think of one. Most of the others are very specific to a certain craft (beading, knitting, crochet, etc.) and I liked the fact that Jo-Ann had bits of a lot of different stuff. Plus, Mom C. usually got me my subscription as a present and it was cool to have that to share.

And you shall bring me.....a drapery

I just finished (sort of) some drapes for the bedroom. I haven't been sleeping super great and I've chosen to blame that on the fact that there is too much light in the bedroom at night. So, with my handy coupons I went to Joann and got some fabric and lining (both at 50% off!) to make a set of pinch pleated drapes. They turned out pretty well:



As you might be able to see at the bottom, they aren't hemmed yet. I still need to let them hang for a couple of days yet before they will be ready to hem. Until then, they are a little hard to open and close due to the pools of fabric on the floor. Also, sorry about the backlit window in the pic.

The ultimate in whimsy

There once was a Very Sad Tree in Seattle. In the fullness of summer it sported just a few meager leaves and when winter rolled around...forget about it. So, this poor pitiful tree needed some love, and a kindly neighbor named Erika was compelled to give it. I absolutely cannot look at this picture and not smile. She provides the pattern on her blog, so if you feel so inclined you too, can share some love with a Very Sad Tree in your area. She also has a hat that speaks binary, and through her site I found the perfect thing for all you zombie knitters.

Please Help

So, who's bored? Need something mindless to do? Well, I'm your gal. If anyone has some time they want to waste on the internets I've got an assignment for you. Go to a website that sells machine embroidery designs like this one and look around at the designs for anything that might look nice on a knitting needle case. I'm currently on the hunt for a cool looking skull, but it's hard because a lot of the designs are cute. I mean really cute, sickeningly cute. You have to wade through fluffy ducks and chubby angels to find anything worth while. But I'm hoping that maybe some of you might stumble across something cool. It could be something sweet like a skull, or a really nice looking flower, or something I haven't thought of at all. Happy hunting!

Update: Thanks for the heads up Anne, I fixed it.

Happy Birthday to me!

Ok, so it was a few days ago, but I've spent the last three days playing with my presents. This year I got WAY more than I was expecting. Roland got me some really rockin' presents (he makes me so happy). When we got up he gave told me he had arranged his schedule so he could stay home with me all day. Then he gave me my first gift, a gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure. So nice. I went over and had my manicure and pedicure and since I was there and they weren't busy I also got my hair trimmed (for the first time in over a year - yikes). I came home feeling very refreshed and relaxed. Then we hung out together all day. He told me we were going out to dinner at 6:30, but wouldn't tell me where. So I asked him what he was wearing so I could judge what I should wear and got ready. We ended up at the Melting Pot, which was the perfect choice. We had a fabulous dinner and dessert (mmm melted chocolate - I used a spoon Jason, not a straw). Then we came home and I got to open presents. Roland also got me some books I really wanted and screen covers for my DS which I really needed. Mom and Dad C. got me HP and the Goblet of Fire on DVD and some candy (yeah baby). Anne and Karl got me some jewelry, a cool new DS game that we can interact wirelessly with, and other assorted fun stuff.

I mentioned in a previous post that my parents got me a computer, which came earlier this month, is totally awesome, and I use it every day. It has been extremely helpful in the creation of the AnneArchy website. Needless to say I thought that was all I was getting from my parents (I mean, really, that is more than one would expect anyway). Then my mom told me to be expecting another package from them as she had gotten me another small gift, so I would have something to open on my birthday. So I'm thinking, cool they got me a book, or some chocolates, or whatever. I was out when the UPS dude tried to deliver it on the 29th, so Roland was nice enough to stick around the apartment on the 30th so he could sign for it while I went out and got pampered. When I got home the package was huge...and heavy. It turned out to be an embroidery sewing machine. What? What! I have wanted one of these...well, as long as I've known that such an animal existed. But I never expected anyone to get me one.

It is incredibly cool. It has about a ton of built in stitches including two different one step button holes. Then it has the ability to connect to a computer via USB and using the program provided with the machine you can embroider with it. Most of the machines I've seen out there have that program built into the actual sewing machine. A person then inserts what amounts to a flash drive into the machine with the designs on it. However these machines often only accept a certain format of designs. The Futura software allows you to use a bunch of different formats. I think all the cool stuff it can do like that is because the whole computer is at your disposal instead of just the resources in the machine. This also means it is updatable. When I first opened it, I thought that I would install the software on the laptop and just bring that in the craft room/library when I needed it, but then I realized I have a better solution. I just got a new computer, remember? Now I have a perfectly good desktop just sitting around not doing anything. Sure it's not the fastest thing in the world, but it still works (thanks to a new hard drive). So I set that up in the craft room and after a few false starts (one thing the Singer people could do a little better with the documentation end of things) I have embroidered a couple of samples. I just used some left-over fabric I had sitting around. Anyone who has been to the house we used to have in Grand Rapids might recognize it as the fabric I used to make the roman shades in the master bedroom.



This is my first one. It turned out pretty well, but the white bobbin was pulling through to the top a little bit, so on the next one



I started playing with the top thread tension. As you can see the right side of the design was where I was really messing with it. The left side I put it back to where it is supposed to be. I still see it a little though, so I'm going to see if I can improve that as I go on. Then I downloaded a design on-line and embroidered it.



I like that one a lot, but clearly I need some help with the picture taking side of things. So far I've stuck with designs with only a few colors for two reasons. I don't have very many colors in embroidery thread, and I'm new at this so I'm keeping it simple. Anyway, this thing is super cool and I'm totally in craft-geek-topia.

An interesting experience though. I went to Joann yesterday to get some bobbin and embroidery thread to get started and as I was looking at the thread, a lady there turned to me and said "You know those are embroidery thread, right?" There was just something in her tone that made me think, she assumes that because I'm under the age of 50 I couldn't possibly know about or be involved in embroidery. Since I've been doing embroidery of one kind or another for over 20 years now, I felt a little offended by her remark. I tried to shrug it off, but it bothered me for most of rest of the day.

Blanket

I sort of got off track on the AnneArchy deal for a day or two because I wanted a new blanket. About four years ago I found a really cool fur blanket at Target for like 20 bucks. It was very soft and was backed with ultra-suede also very soft. However after four years it is seen better days and it just isn't that soft anymore. I have always been a sucker for the feel of a soft fabric. Both my mother and I shop based a lot on how a fabric feels. You can watch us shopping together and see us reach out and feel items we might be interested in. If it doesn't meet with a certain level of 'ooh that's nice' we don't even bother trying it on. In a fabric store...forget about it. We walk along the aisles looking with our eyes and running our hands down the whole row of fabric. A week or so ago, I was in a store called The Rag Shop (which is a lot like the Hobby Lobby of the great white north) looking for fabric for the cases/totes I'm hopefully going to make soon. I was, of course, feeling my way through the store and ran across some sinfully soft fleece. It is single sided fleece with a checkerboard pattern, and it is soft. I didn't get any, since I didn't have any need for it, but I thought to myself 'I wish I had something to make out of that.' A couple of days went by and I finally put it together. I could make a replacement blanket out of the super soft fleece.

I went back to the store and got some of the fleece in purple since it was the most palatable of the choices (neon orange just wasn't going to cut it). Being a single sided fleece I was going to need a second layer to back it, so I swung over to Joann (because I had a coupon) and got some darker purple fleece and since I like heavy blankets some heavy cotton batting. I fused the batting to the dark purple fleece and used white blanket binding to close the whole thing up. It was my first experience with blanket binding and so it isn't terribly beautiful, but it's definitely fine for my purposes. Here is a picture of it:



And just for fun, the other day I turned around in my chair and there at my feet, was the most pitiful sight:



Notice the erm...brains that are being pulled out through the cheek and what was once a cute little squirrelly smile is now just a black thread.

Take us to...ludicrous speed

If you have read my blog in the past you know that I've been having some computer troubles. Well, apparently seeing that my original drivers went back to pre 1998 was too much for my Dad and for my birthday he got me a new computer! Wow and a half! I totally wasn't expecting it (and not just because it was early). I've never actually had a new desktop before because I usually hork my Dad's hand-me-downs. This was totally cool with me because his hand-me-down was usually still cooler than what I would have been able to buy for myself. But now I have a new wicked fast computer (I didn't realize how slow the old one was until I booted up the new one). It is a Dell and the thing I find funny is that they are trying to be cool/hip. The case has a, albeit minor, mod. It has a little see through protion with metal mesh behind it. Looks like this:

It's no TIE Fighter or anything, but it is interesting.

I've also been really discouraged lately about my craftiness. About a week ago I went to 6 different fabric stores looking for some nice, interesting fabrics. I didn't really have any particular project in mind. I was just looking for fabric I liked and could potentially be used for costumes, knitting cases, fleece for clothes, etc. I was seriously disappointed. None of the stores really had anything I liked, except a few bolts in 100% cotton. I don't like to use this cotton because it wrinkles something fierce, shrinks quite a bit and is very thin. It's great for quilting and whatnot, but not for things that should be at least somewhat sturdy. I thought, moving to a larger city (which I'm liking less and less - I just don't cope well with the press of people all the time, the lack of any open space, and the driving) I would get the benefit of some larger/nicer fabric stores. Alas, it was not to be. In my opinion they were worse than the stores in Grand Rapids. Then yesterday I decided to make a trek down to a different Joann than the one that is by my apartment. It was about a 40 minute drive (it is about 2 seconds from Roland's office) but they did have a somewhat better selection. Don't get too excited though, I was still not terribly enthused overall. But I did find some fabric that I'm going to use to make some knitting needle cases/totes. They are patterned twill (and very similar, but I'm not counting on my luck to find much else I like) and I still have to think about what I want to use as the contrast fabrics (pockets and whatnot). What do y'all think?

Pat, pat, pat

Before Christmas I mentioned that I was proud of a craft project, but couldn't show anyone because it was a present. Well, now the lucky recipient has opened it and so I can post some pictures. This is a knitting needle case made in colors my sistrah likes.

One puts their needles in the various pockets and then folds over the top. Notice the personalitation with Anne's tatoo as an applique.

Then fold over the two sides. I picked that front fabric becuase it was still colors my sister likes, but it was more elegant than just solid colors.

Then fold it again...

And finally fold like a book and secure with ribbon.

I thought it turned out killer. I don't usually get so excited about stuff that I make, but I have to say this one makes me proud.

Seriously

Possibly only funny to fellow crafters, my Sistrah pointed me to this.

Look at the plummage!

Any opinions about this...





It is not usually the sort of thing I like but I think I do. The skirt is a peacock feather-esque pattern with a gold sparkle in it. I even like the gold shoes (I know bizarre). If I was to make the skirt I would have to buy a top somewhere, as it wasn't a pattern like the skirt, and plead with my sister to see if she would make the shrug if I bought the yarn. I kind of wish the top was a pattern as well because I like the whole outfit and usually have little to no luck in finding something that is like something I saw in a magazine. But I'm just not totally convinced I like it, it seems more stylish in the whats-hot-this-season way than I usually manage. I might not be able to pull like something like that off. What do you ya'll think?

I said S and more different S!

Dude...the funny. If you like Homestar Runner, you should check this out.