Monday, June 29, 2009

Travel Pillow with Pocket

As soon as I saw the travel pillow MayaMade designed for her kids I knew I had to whip one up for Sydney. It was a fun, quick project and a good excuse to use some cute fabric! (This adorable pattern is from JoAnn's.)

The pillow I made has a super easy design. It is basically an envelope pillow case with a handle sewn into the side seams. The envelope style allows it to be removable and of course washable. Travel pillows don't stay very clean around here. The pillowcase fits a travel pillow which is roughly 12"x16". The pocket is the girl's favorite part - she says it's a sleeping bag for her friend of choice (Lola today.) On the original pillow the pocket was meant to hold a lavender sachet, also a nice touch.

I just noticed Maya has posted a tutorial for her pillow - go check it out!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Baby Kimono Sweater (aka the post of many parenthesis)

Finished up this sweater before the baby even arrived! It's for a friend of mine that had her baby today. The pattern is from Mason Dixon Knitting (Ravelry link). Pretty quick and easy pattern except for a bit of sewing at the end. (I stink at seams.) I used Caron's Simply Soft yarn, but the pattern calls for Peaches and Cream (gotta love a pattern that actually calls for cheap yarn!)
Even though the yarn I used was acrylic, I did manage to successfully block this sweater by using steam from my iron. I pinned the sweater into place on my ironing board and steamed it without touching the iron to the sweater. It worked like a charm for me. (This does not guarantee good results for you, or even for myself with future projects. It was probably a fluke and when the poor child puts it on the front will roll right up her belly...but it looked good when she opened the gift!)

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Stripes and Dots

After well over a year, this is finally finished!

I started this quilt for Sydney with the intention of just making a fun blanket for her out of my stash. It quickly grew to twin size before I knew it! I chose all the striped and polka dot fabric I had and cut it into strips of various lengths. The white stripes were an after thought. The patterened fabrics right next to each other was just too much!


The backing is a thrifted sheet. It couldn't have been more perfect if I had planned it! The binding is leftover strips so it's a bit wider than it needed to be, but I was not about to cut it down.

The quilting is kind of a cursive "l" pattern that was fun to do. A little tricky to shove all the through my sewing machine, but fun all the same.

Hopefully the next one won't take so long! (Not that it actually took me that long to make it...procrastination you know!)

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Purple Cap Sleeved Top



A finished project! Hurray! I finished this top for Sydney over the weekend and she immediately put it on. It kept her nice and toasty on Saturday, despite the cold weather. It fits snugly around her, but wasn't too tight around the neck which I was worried about. We will be saving this for fall and winter (with a long-sleeved T underneath.) It's a great (free!) pattern, knit entirely in the round so no seaming. You bind off and put it on!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Warming up


We spent the weekend trying to stay warm. We met both sets of parents at a state park to camp and fish. It rained most of the weekend and never broke 60 degrees. Brrr! I spent the time huddled around a fire knitting, so I guess I can't complain about that too much! I do have a finished knit to show you, but I have to bribe Sydney to model it - hopefully I can share that tomorrow. Today you just get to see the new babies we are growing around here. Robins! The color of those eggs is amazing. We are anxious for them to hatch, mostly so mama robin can stop making such a mess on the side of our house.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Preteen Girl About Town

This afternoon my niece is graduating from elementary school. How she got this old is beyond me. I was a freshman in college when she was born, how can she be a "preteen" now?

At this age freedom during the summer = your bike. I think it's always difficult to find just the right bag that can go with on your bike - not too big, doesn't get caught on your wheels, not too hot, etc. So I made her this little pouch that fits on her belt. It's just big enough to hold her house keys, a couple dollars for ice cream and maybe some lip balm or small sunscreen. I thought the fun print would go well with her summer wardrobe (which I am most certain contains absolutely zero pink.) Hopefully it helps her have a great summer, full of preteen fun and keeps her out of trouble. Boy if it did all that I think I would have quite the marketable product on my hands!!

P.S. Can I just tell you how good it felt to actually make something! :)

Monday, June 1, 2009

Yep, still alive

Sorry for the unannounced, extra long blog break around here. While I don't really have a good reason, I have lots of excuses...
  • We had a garage sale this past weekend.
  • I've spent more hours than I want to recall scrubbing, scraping, sanding, and painting our deck. Next time we are getting a new deck.

  • Spring yard and garden projects that are never ending.

  • A sick kid, which has resulted in a month of dairy free cooking, which is trickier than I expected. I am so hungry for cheese!

  • Several weekends spent at various lakes.

  • Spending lots of time with my grandma while my grandpa was in the hospital for knee surgery.

  • Not having time to craft or make anything. I feel like I don't have anything interesting to talk about here, but now I realize how quickly you can get out of the habit of posting. I'll try harder to keep it up.

The pictures are from a weekend at the lake several weeks ago.