Category Archives: Sewing

I love my Singer machine.

Monster Bags

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Remember my monsters bags? I finished all four of them.

Here they are cheering:

I’m a fan of pockets so put in four in the big monsters and two in the baby monsters. These were all made to sell.

This purple baby monster is already sold.

This pink baby monster is currently for sale at Lori’s Yarn Store.

This pink monster is already sold.

This orange monster is currently for sale at Lori’s Yarn Store.

I had so much fun making these. They each have such personality. I already have another one on the needles.

Sieben and I went for a walk the other day. He loves going into the forest.

Here he is exploring.

New creations

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I’ve made some new creations. This ladybug bracelet is on elastic thread.

Originally I made it to match a specific outfit but it’s so cute I’ll be wearing it a lot.

Abbey took to me a Goodwill store that sold clothing by the pound. The shopper energy was intense. It reminded me of working retail on Black Friday. My social anxiety got a little worked up but I stuck it out and got some great clothes for refashioning. First up are some armwarmers. Here’s a before shot.

This was an easy project. I first cut off the arms. Then sewed a new seam to make them the same width throughout. I folded over the raw fabric at the end to make a new seam. I handsewed a few stitches to make a thumbhole.

Super cute! I see myself making more of these in the future.

Yarn Bomb Taos is still going strong. We had a yarn party down in ABQ this month. Here’s one of my latest:

It says “Love Taos” because I do!

We had visitors this month! Years ago when we lived in MO we became part of E’Light, a hippie phamily. Mikey and Dutchess and their son Devlynn were traveling to CO and drive down to see us on their way home.

When Devlynn was born I made him a baby blanket. I like to make baby blankets larger than baby size in hopes they’ll get more use. Devlynn not only still uses it he brought it on the trip to show me. I was so touched that I decided to make him a hat. All the yarn came from my stash.

This is one of my favorite quickie hats-the Hothead from Stitch ‘n Bitch. I made it so it fit snug on my head. It fit him perfectly!

Project: Devlynn’s hat
Pattern: Hothead
Source: Stitch ‘n Bitch
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish DK in Bark, Nutmeg adn Pampas Heather
Needles: 4.0 mm needles
Size: small
Modifications: N/A
Started: May 2012
Finished: May 2012

Spinning cushion

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I use a metal chair to sit on while spinning. After awhile it gets uncomfortable so I made a spinning cushion to comfort my booty. First I started with the inner pillow.

This is an old turtleneck of Thebes. It’s t-shirt material. Every time I work with t-shirt fabric I remember why I don’t like using it. It’s stretchy and moves underneath the sewing machine foot. But hey it works for an inner pillow. I stuffed it pretty full knowing it will flatten out over time.

Since a pillow needs to be washable I made the outer liner with a zipper to easily throw it in the wash. I wanted to make it match my desk chair so I used the leftover fleece flower fabric. There wasn’t enough for a full pillow so I went with tried and true hippie patchwork.

Granola was a good little helper.

Here’s the finished pillow:

A snapshot of the zipper in action:

I’m so happy how it turned out! And my ass will be happy next time I sit down to spin.

Monster Bag will eat you!

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I’ve been wanting to make a Monster Bag for years. In December I saw another one on Craftster and got re-inspired.

RAWR!!!

This is definitely one of the most fun projects I’ve ever knit. After looking at pictures of monster bags on Ravelry and Craftster I decided to make up my own pattern as I went along. I used acrylic and fun fur yarn for the body and knit it in the round.

Knitting in the round pushed the fun fur to the inside of the circle so before starting the flap I turned the bag inside out.

Abbey loved the monster bag idea when I told her so we decided to do it as a knit along. She’s making hers out of brown yarn. We decided the purse straps should be the monster’s arms.

It was her idea to use kids gloves for the monster’s hands. Brilliant! I found the gloves stretched so before attaching them I decided to put a piece of felt inside for stability. I put a snap on the gloves. I suppose I could have just sewn them together and may do that in future versions. (How could I not make another?!)

For the teeth I cut out two pieces of felt, sewed them together and turned them inside out.

I did the same thing for the tongue.

I sewed the lining, teeth and tongue to the knit fabric.

For the eyes I used buttons. I sewed them on with the flat side up and super glued the wiggly eyes onto them.

Monster Bag tastes the kitty…

…and decides he tastes so good he needs to nom him. Granola seems unperturbed.

Monster Bag also gives Sieben a lick:

For the lining I used polka dots. I love polka dots-they’re so cheerful. I put in plenty of pockets and have room for all my purse goodies.

It feels like I have a Muppet on my arm. I can’t wait to debut it around Taos!

Pattern: Monster Bag
Source: me
Yarn: green acrylic and green fun fur yarn
Needles: 6.0 mm needles
Size: custom
Modifications: N/A
Started: Dec 2011
Finished: Dec 2011

Making presents

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Last month I made some presents. I made my friends Grant and Megan reusable grocery bags. I used my own pattern for them.

Grant gave me upholstery fabric that used to be part of his late father’s living room recliner. His Dad Ralph was an awesome guy. So funny and so sweet-just like Grant though he’d never admit to the sweet part. I used one of our old pillowcases for the lining so the whole bag would remind Grant of people who love him.

For Megan’s bag I used recycled fabric. She sometimes goes by Bee so I put a flower and bee detail on the bag for her.

Megan’s father recently died. As is often the case around death the family was in a state of stress. So in addition to the grocery bag I decided to make her son Logan a hat. And I let him pick the colors.

They’re in MO so I couldn’t try it on him while knitting. I went with the Hothead pattern since it’s nice and stretchy. It fits him great and he loves it.

Here’s Granola helping with laundry again.

Pattern: Grocery Bag Gifts
Source: my own pattern
Medium: sewing
Started: Nov 2011
Finished: Nov 2011

Pattern: Hothead
Source: Stitch ‘n Bitch
Yarn: stash yarn
Needles: 4.5 mm needles
Size: medium
Modifications: none
Started: Nov 2011
Finished: Nov 2011

Bridge piece progress

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The Taos Open is next month so I’ve been hustling on my art piece. It’s similar in a way to The Portal. I’m trying to develop a motif and look for my art.

My Sadness Jumped art piece

I’m really happy with how the sky turned out. I’m also putting vegetation in the rock area with my usual embroidery.

After Chezzie’s death I wasn’t sure if I should continue with this piece right now. I meditated on it for awhile and it feels right to keep going with it.

I studied pictures of the Gorge Bridge because I want my bridge to look realistic.

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

I had white felted I-cord left over from The Portal that I used for the bridge. The metal under the hand rail still needs to be put in.

My Sadness Jumped art piece

The river is coming along and will have lots of embroidery on it.

My Sadness Jumped art piece

You can see some plants here by the river and tucked into the rocks.

My Sadness Jumped art piece

I’ve reached the panic stage because the deadline is next month. This is a good phase though because I actually get a lot of work done when I’m in it.

This piece is self reflective and deals with depression, sickness, grief, letting go, destruction, creation, renewal and faith. I’m not ready to write about it just yet but will as it develops.

Felt flower

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I made a few felt examples for my felt class back in May. One of them was this felt flower:

Felt flower

I felted a sweater and cut it up into triangles. Originally I intended to make felt bunting but the felt wouldn’t go through my sewing machine. It kept getting sucked into the bobbin hole. So I took a handful and handsewed them into a flower shape.

Felt flower

For the stamens I rolled up four of the triangles and sewed them into place. I sewed a recycled button into the middle.

Sieben and Granola like hanging out together outside.

Sieben and Granola

We let the cats outside during the day but keep them inside at night.

Recycled laundry bag

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Our old laundry bag is starting to wear out. I’m hoping to repair it but in the meantime I sewed a new one.

denim laundry bag

Sometimes I get in a mood where I want to freeform sew. I give myself a challege-no patterns, no measuring and the project must be finished in a day.

denim laundry bag

I cut up free pile jeans and cut a rectangle. Then I cut up enough to make a big bag. After sewing the rectangles vertically I cut the fabric in half and swapped positions to create patchwork. To spice things up I incorporated the pockets and turned some panels inside out.

denim laundry bag

For the tie I knit up I-cord with some acrylic yarn. I love using recycled materials!

Just like Prana, both kittens assume the meditation mat is really a cat bed. Here’s Keefi stretching:

Keefi

Birthday purse

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My friend Sera’s daughter turned three this month. I made her a little purse for her birthday.

birthday girl purse

This is a special birthday since her daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia last spring. She’s responding to treatment and is thriving.

birthday girl purse

I embroidered a big happy sun on the front of the purse to brighten up her day.

birthday girl purse

The corduroy is recycled fabric. For the lining I used some tie dyed cotton from my stash. I can never remember what age kids can handle buttons so I went with velcro for the closure.

birthday girl purse

Now I don’t hang out with children so I didn’t know if this purse would be a hit. However, I talked to Sera today and her daughter loves it. As soon as she unwrapped the purse she put the handle over her shoulder and is already carrying around toys in it. That’s great to hear.

Cord Cozy

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Last summer I made a cover for my sewing machine. In November I decided to make a matching cozy for the cord.

Cord Cozy

I only had three scraps of the fabric samples left so I had to really stretch them.

Cord Cozy

I bought some premade silky edging for finishing details. The cord peeks out a bit still but I think it works.

Cord Cozy

The bottom is shaped funny because I was running out of fabric.

Cord Cozy

They look so cute together!

Cord Cozy