ie

Monkeymittens

I found a few scraps from my monkey fabric yesterday, and today I decided it was mitten time! So I sketched sort of a pattern, and went to work. I lined them in fleece, so hopefully they'll be warm enough for a while (until the real cold gets here). I think they have my sister's name on them. She loves monkeys, and always has cold hands. Two things I learned from this: you have to sketch a really, really large thumb in order for it to actually fit when you sew it up. Plus it's really hard to take photos of mittens.

   

Pimp my coat

Last weekend I scored two wintercoats for 20$ (120 Norwegian kroners) at a flea market, one brown and one navy. They're a nice, thick quality and the shape is lovely (they don't make coats like this anymore), but the arms were a wee bit short so I decided to try and lengthen them. I made a scalloped strip to match the width of the arms, and sewed it on on the inside. I think it worked, but I'll have to wear it a few times before I decide if I like it as much as I hope I will.

Before and after:

The colors are a bit off, but with the crappy light it was the best I could do.

Work In Progress this weekend:

Stockings and handbags :)

Pillows

First items for sale at the fair - done! Two pillows in white + houndstooth in blue/brown with butterflies appliqued on them. I'm moderately satisfied, but hey! hopefully they're not for me, but for someone to buy. Sorry about the bad pictures, but that's all you're gonna see here for a few months. They predict snow tomorrow, meaning winter is here, and all light is gone.

It's good to be back to normal routine again, and spending time with the sewing machine. (Note to self: must speed up crafting pace in order to be able to participate in fair).

Puppillow

Today I decided to make Sniff (the best dog in the world) his own pillow. He does have a bed, but he told me he wanted a pillow in the hallway too. He likes to lie there once in a while. I had two extra pillows in the guest bedroom, that were just fluffy enough to make it a comfortable extra bed. It's made from some of my old jeans (nice and softened by hundreds of washes) that were too small worn out, and some of mr D's old shirts that were stained at the collars. Full recycling mode!

See feet and Sniff's beloved rat for scale.

I also started a blanket for him, to match the pillow. He likes to lie under something when he's relaxing. It's backed by fleece, has a double layer of batting and I'll try to hand "quilt" it. Sniff tells me he likes the colors :)

World Premiere!

(insert drumroll)

I've opened up my own Etsy shop: msie.etsy.com (can't get the link to work, sorry about that). I've talked about how I've made many bags, and that I needed a way to sell some of my stuff. The easiest way right now seemed like Etsy. I only have a few items up so far, but I'll try to keep adding as I finish stuff. Hope you'll all enjoy this little shop, and that I soon will have some free space on my desk again!

Polkadot friday

Quick post before I start my weekend! Earlier this week I finished a trial wallet/cardholder. I wanted to try making this, and I'm sporting it today to see if it works. It's a little on the small side, so I need to make future ones a tad bit bigger - but it does hold my creditcard, my driver's license, my gym card and a little bit of money. Love the polkadot fabric that I got from ReproDepot a while ago. Plus I got to try out my new snap fastener (is that the right word for it?) tool.. Looove that! What you see in the back is my package for Lena for the It's a wristlet world swap that I sent yesterday.

Plans for this weekend: 1. Clean up my apartment. 2. Make a dent in my pile of laundry. 3. Clean up my crafting space aka dining room table. 4. Spend some quality time with my sewing machine. 5. Eat and drink good stuff! 6. Sleep in. In that order (I think).

So long!

Monkey business

It's been all monkey business around here for the last couple of weeks. To much to do and too little time, not to mention it's been too hot!

Today I dragged myself back to the sewing machine, and whipped up this totebag for my sister. She's starting a new school in the middle of August, and being obsessed with monkeys I figured this was a nice back to school present. The outside is made of sockmonkey fabric and some brown, sturdy fabric, and the lining is plain white cotton. I know I like it, hopefully she will too!

It looks a little wobbly in the pictures, but it isn't in real life - promise!

I also finished my swap package for the It's a wristlet world swap today. It was so much fun putting this together. My crafting tends to be all over the place - I always have several projects going on at the same time, mostly with little direction. This was a good challenge - to create something according to a few guidelines. I guess sometimes I need a box to be able to think outside of the box. This package goes out tomorrow, Lena! I'll post pictures of it once I know it's landed safely!

A big thank you to Kelli for arranging this swap! Fun, fun.

So, hopefully no more monkey business around here from now on, but lots of happy times with sewing machine and computer.   

Finally

.. some crafting and a few pictures! Summer is full on, making me care too much about doing summery things instead of crafting and posting on this blog here. Oh well - summer is short, gotta enjoy it while it lasts!

I participated in the Magazine Swap, and my partner Liane spoiled me with 2 Martha Stewart magazines, and a wonderful pincushion. Love the pincushion, and have already put it to use (as you can see). And the magazines!!! Mr D. had to confiscate them for a little while - I was drooling over them, reading every single word (including ads) over and over, instead of doing unimportant things like laundry and cooking dinner. Oh my - they're every bit as exciting as I thought they would be. Maybe better.. 

And a while ago I bragged about having made two cushions for my sofa. I actually did make them, here's the evidence:

Like them a lot.. I tried to make a pattern of running stiches on the one with the circles on (like on the one with the squares) but it didn't work so nothing extra on that one so far.

Yesterday I made myself a new purse. I had to try something new (the pleats (?) on the outside, and the wooden handles), and it got a bit wonky on the inside, and hence  - for me! I'm sporting it today, it matces my brown summer dress perfectly and is making me very happy.

Lately, I've figured I need somewhere to sell all of my stuff. I'm accumulating, and quickly running out of room to store stuff. And it's limited how many purses one can expect family and friends to recieve over time. So, I'm checking out a few places, and meanwhile I've started to create stuff that someone hopefully will be able to buy someday. First up - a red/pink/white purse with a yo-yo. Like it a lot, and hopefully someone else will too. The gingham is a thrifted curtain, and the pink/white is (was) a tablecloth. (Yes it had stains that wouldn't come out, otherwise I would have used it.. as a tablecloth!) I blanket stiched around the yo-yo to give a little bit of colour, think it turned out ok although it took away some of the "poofiness".

Well, that's all folks. I am soon finished with my It's a wristlet world swap package, but more on that later. Off to enjoy summer!

Evidence..

..that I did do some crafting on Sunday, despite not really in a shape to do anything, after the wedding on saturday.

This is a bag for a friend's birthday, and is made out of the same thrifted sheet that I used for the "doggie-travel-mat-quilt". Did I tell you I love that fabric? The lining is made of a thrifted curtain, and then Tada! a yoyo on the front, with an old button I found in my stash.

Yoyos are so much fun to make, I can't believe I haven't done them before. The one here totally "made" the bag. Since that discovery I have made a heap of them, and I am now planning a bag with a front full of them. So much fun, those yoyos.

The inside of the bag:

Hope she likes it!

And yeah, those are my first shoes in the background. Still here on my bookshelf.

About time..

.. I showed some crafting here. My camera still hides from me, and since my desire to show and tell is strong I am forced to use the camera at work. Not a very good one,  - but hey! it takes pictures sligthly better than my phone.

Tada! Craft exhibit # 1: a co-worker got a tiny, furry and cute puppy (she's a Border Collie, and her name is Lana) the other day. And all puppies need to have their own travel mat. Hence I made her this:

Its about 70 cm x 100 cm, the floral and the gingham are from an old sheet and an old curtain. I've never ever made a quilt or anything like it before, but I think it turned out ok. It's hard to tell but I "quilted" a dogbone in green thread, and her name (Lana) in the down right corner. For a first quilt project I'm quite pleased. And I love the colors - green, pink and a tiny bit orange. Oh, and I stuffed three layers of batting in there - so it would be soft and good for a tired puppy (made it hard to manage and quilt but what I won't do for a puppy)!

Craft exhibit # 2: a little purse for my sister. She requested I make her one, and she picked out the elephant fabric (thrifted curtain). Quite cute, and the perfect size for debet card, some cash and maybe a lipgloss or whatever a 15 year old girl wants to put in there. Hope she likes it.

It's a lighter blue than in any of the pictures, but with a crappy camera and no photoshop, this will have to do. I love the fabric.

Craft exhibit # 3: finally, (insert drumroll), my loooong overdue package for a certain super duper patient eggplant. Of course I can't spoil the surprise, but here's proof that it is all packed up and on its way to the postoffice. I will show pictures of the contents later, when the package has landed (which the postman tells me will be in approx. 10-14 days..What!?!). At least it's on its way! I've enjoyed putting this together, although my nerves got the better of me a few times. Crafting for a fellow crafter can be hard.

I have finished two new pillows for my new sofa, but mr. D wouldn't let me haul the pillows to work so that I could take their picture. I had them ready to go, and didn't see anything surreal about it until he put his foot down and refused to be seen in public with a woman loaded with pillows, a dog quilt, a bag full of packages and a purse, so they will have to wait to be blogged. (Oh, and did I mention that I also sported a dog on a leash, an ugly grocery store bag with my lunch and Sniffs lunch, and a back pack with my gym clothes? Baglady, for sure.)