In Pictures

All of these pictures are also over at the photoblog but here they are with explanations.

Hair trim and eyebrow waxing were successful.

It looks like someone's about to start making a Jane Austen dress. :D

So on Easter Sunday I went to make the pasta salad (Smitten Kitchen won) right before we were supposed to be at Grandmommy's. But as I went to boil the water, power went out. So we picked up some Walmart pasta salad for Grandmommy's and I made the salad the next night for me, myself and I (What else to do with all the peas!?). It has made for a lovely lunch this week!

Note Cards for Everyone!

A lot of this gifts I made this Christmas were note card sets.

These went with the gifts I mailed.


Perhaps this will encourage my friends to write me real letters? I do love real letters. I should send more myself.

The cards were a nice break from sewing. You'll have to wait until next week to see how the totes turned out.

I made my sister some with Texts from Last Night on them. We love that site!

I tend to keep them pretty simple.

Not only is it easier, but I tend to have a clean, simple aesthetic.

I also stamped some simple gift tags and sewed some bags to wrap the cards in.

Super Crafty Weekend!

It feels like super crafty weekend but then I didn't get nearly as much done as I had hoped. I also suspect that those hopes were unrealistic. Anyways...

I finished the square of the baby blanket I was working on, and counseled with Aunt Billie on how to do the border. She's modified it some which will make it easier, but it still seems kinda daunting so I'm procrastinating on it now. Oops.

I used this tutorial to make a check book cover. Although a little tight, it works and I'm super excited since my old checkbook cover was ruined in the great cat-pee-tastrophe of 2009.




And I completed one of the purses that I had planned on making for several people's Christmas gift.

It turned out a little smaller than I thought, and I had toyed with switching to fabric cubes with fun things in them instead, but everyone needs a small purse for some occasions so I'll be churning out more of these very soon!

Thanksgiving is this week which means my free time is now totally devoted to gift making. *sigh* If I had only started sooner...

UPDATED: Oops! Totally forgot to link to the purse pattern which is here. And all the lovely fabric is from Joann!

Things I've Made Lately

I baked a yummy apple pie. (Yes, that is caramel drizzled on top.)



The apple slicing did not take as long as I thought.



I finished my pj pants. Now Lee and I have a matching set!

Although mine have fancy seams and were not bled on. Yay for improvement! This week I start learning to knit.



A pillow for my chair at work.

Please Come to America!!

Dear Fabric Market,

The fabulous Holly at decor8 brought you to my attention recently. However, you seem to be located in Germany, which is a bit of a trip for me. Please call if you're in the Louisville area, because when I first saw you...my heart skipped a beat.

Thanks in advance.

All my love,
Katie

images: Holly Becker for decor8

Labor Day Sale Fiesta

One of the highlights of the long weekend was the huge sale at Joann Fabrics, which included a 10% off total purchase coupon. Clearly, this was a sign from God that it's time for me to begin my holiday crafting.

After reflecting on the things I bought I realized how much (I think; I hope.) I'm going to be saving by making Christmas gifts this year. I spent $36 at Joann and got some earring hooks, fun card stock, and the fabric and magnetic closures for the purses I want to make from this adorable free pattern. But let's just focus on the purses. I spent about $6 on the fabric (BOGO fat quarters) and $4 for BOGO magnetic closures. I still need two more of those but hopefully they'll be BOGO again soon. I also didn't get the small bit of heavyweight interfacing they need (The line was quite long!) but that should be $1. So essentially, these four purses -- four gifts -- will cost $15. I might need to pick up some thread but that's still a huge savings when normally I spend $15-$20 each.

Check out the lovely fabrics I've paired together. The top fabrics will be the outside of the purses.



Do we like?

As for things I did not save money on, I could not find fabric I loved as much as I loved these place mats at World Market, and after a month of waiting for them to go on sale I just bought them. However, they are perfect and awesome.

Pillow Fabric...Check!

I found the fabric I want to use for my new couch pillows at Hobby Lobby this weekend. Joy!

Of course this leads to a new problem. I had planned on doing your basic square, sew the right sides together and turn it inside out, pillow. But perhaps I should consider some more possibilites? I could add a couple pleats? Or what do you call that trim around the edge that's like a tube? Do you just call it tubing? I don't know, but you can see a sample of it above along the seam of the couch.

I think the more pressing concern of the moment is my overgrown craft corner.

Ooh...someone played with Photoshop Elements!

We just have a one-bedroom apartment and Lee's monster of a computer desk is in our bedroom. The living area is probably large enough to make a craft nook, but since I hope to be moving into a house sooner than later (Does six months to a year classify as "sooner"?), I'm afraid this is it: a corner shelf in the dining room.

I'm wondering if I could find the books on the bottom shelf a new home. (In case you're curious, I organize my books alphabetically by author by genre. The bottom shelf here is religion and travel.) The Christmas Craft-Extravaganza (Coming Soon) will need more space. I might just have to put them on top of one of the other two taller bookshelves, as I've already had to do with Lee's textbooks.

I'm Falling in Love, Therefore She Must Be Named

Since I started my sewing lessons in February, I have quite fallen in love with sewing. I really do enjoy it and am impressed by my improvement. I sew much more quickly than when I began and have gotten over my fear of the needle (other needles not so much) seeing as how I have gotten dangerously close to it on several occasions. The next step is, of course, to name my dear girl:


I'm currently drawing a name blank. My first thought is generally a Jane Austen character who I'm not considering naming a child after (no Elizabeth, Jane, Anne, or Emma), but it has to be one that I like (no Fanny, Mrs. Bennet, Lady Catherine, and on most days Marianne).

Maybe Charlie or Georgie? I don't know where those came from, they just popped into my mind. Hmm...suggestions welcome!

I did make some yoga shorts from this tutorial for Lee's sister this weekend! I taught her how to sew/let her push the peddle while I fed the fabric and it was lots of fun. Since she wanted shorts and picked a smaller-than-XL T-shirt I had to adjust the pattern some and was quite relieved that it worked. I failed to take pictures of it but just trust that it was fabulous.

Three days until a new season of Project Runway! Lee and I will probably be at the Blue October concert at Fourth Street Live, but will catch it this weekend. I'm so excited!!

Bed Skirt

I finished my bed skirt (two weeks ago)! In the end, I'm not sure this was a worthwhile project. The bedskirt at the store cost $30 and I could have used some coupons. The fabric for my homemade bed skirt cost $18 plus a $4 twin sheet to sew the panels to. In retrospect, the store bought bed skirt might have been the way to go, but now I'm super proud of my bed skirt and at least it's finally done.

Some before shots





And after





I think the bed skirt makes it look so much nicer! It's almost like an adult bedroom! (You can't really see in this picture, but since we have a one bedroom apartment, Lee's massive computer desk with his Lego tower is taking up the other half of the room. Not cute.)

And I did not do any of the T-shirt projects I raved about last week over the weekend, but perhaps someday soon.

T-Shirt Projects

I'm looking forward to this weekend because well, I mean, it's the weekend, that's the obvious, but also I'm hoping to do some fun sewing projects involving t-shirts!

First, I have to try these yoga pants found on Craft.

I might not do it this weekend, but hopefully soon I will try out this shrug because I've been wanting to make a shrug. I found this one on Cut Out + Keep via Clever Nesting.

Other fun T-shirt projects farther down on the list:
This toddler T-shirt dress from Happy Together makes me want to have a baby just so I can make this. And I want to add those ruffles and roses to all kinds of things (purses, pillows, tank tops, yoga pants).

A fun halter top from Treadbanger.



And this is just amazing to watch: Threadbanger's $10 T-shirt wedding dress.



There's more T-shirt craft fun at Generation T.

Red and Aqua?

I've realized that I have this tendency to excessively color coordinate my home, even though when I look through decorating blogs and websites I appreciate a more eclectic feel. So I'm trying to un-Sears catalog the home. Slowly but surely.

Currently I'm thinking about changing up the couch pillows and throwing in some new color spice on the mantel and bookshelves. The couch is red with coordinating pillows that came with it from Value City. Not fun, as seen in this photo from a couple years ago.


Aww...are those anniversary flowers? I think they are!

So I'm thinking, to jazz things up a bit, I'll introduce some aqua. Yes, aqua. Here's a fabric swatch I'm lovin' and more evidences of the awesome power of this color combination here at Party Perfect, oh brooke, and The Inspired Bride.

It may be months before this plan goes into action, but I'm excited!

Stitch-tastic Cards and Awkward Photos

I was trying to be clever and easy at the same time and decided to try my hand at stitching some cards for a birthday present.

It was easy and it wasn't at the same time, meaning it took a couple nights (while watching Season 1 of The Big Bang Theory) and the hole punching (Push pins work better than the embroidery needle, in my opinion.) was a bit tiresome and produced some hand cramps, but I'm generally pleased.



I got the fireworks pattern from Sublime Stitching's flickr. I was really pleased with these.



The "e" is my favorite; the tea cup is my least favorite. The tea cup is taken from some random clip art and I just printed off a big "e."

I'm still working on my technique a bit, but I think there's some potential here.

In other DIY news, in an attempt to save money I've decided to try to trim my own bangs. I bought some real-deal hair scissors yesterday and gave it a whirl. I am quite relieved it turned out alright.



I never know what to do in photos. The standard smile seems too cheesy but then my other faces are just weird.
I'm awkward.

PJ Pants Part 1

I finished Lee's PJ pants! They are pretty sweet, not gonna lie! Here he is modeling them before I put the drawstrings in.


(I've been trying to take better pictures and tried to edit this a little but I think I just made it worse. I'm just going to blame the apartment kitchen lighting.)

Hopefully in the next month I'll have my matching pair completed. (We are such nerds!) In case you're wondering, I used this Simplicity pattern (and adjusted them to fit more on the hips than waist).

A Homemade Gift Everyone Can Love

This Christmas I'm making a bunch of homemade gifts. Partly out of financial concerns, partly because of my new craft obsession. However, some people are difficult to make things for. They might not be interested in anything my limited skills can make, especially if they're a boy (Although I have thought about sewing some ties.). But I've found an excellent idea for some of the blanks on my holiday gift list. (Yes, I'm already planning this. Don't judge. I'm super organized!)

Homemade Skittles Vodka from Mix That Drink.

Who doesn't want to see this under the tree on Christmas morning?!


image: Mix That Drink

A Small Bit of Sewing

Despite the cake-tastrophe, I did make a cute bookmark for my mother-in-law! It went along well with the three books I got her: Jane Austen's Persuasion, George Eliot's Middlemarch and Louisa May Alcott's A Long Fatal Love Chase.

The bookmark was ridiculously easy, but still fun. And this photo reminds me that I have got to get better at taking photos. "Point and shoot" does require a little more than simply pointing and shooting.


Here they are all wrapped together. I thought it was an excellent reuse of a Bed, Bath and Beyond wedding bow, therefore worthy of being shared.

New Craft Idea!

I've been struggling lately with trying to decide how I want to organize my calendar. I like having it electronic, but I don't like the calendar format on my phone. I have a Google calendar, but since I don't want to pay for the internet on my phone that's not a portable option.

I'm starting to consider a return to the paper calendar.

At Target yesterday I found one I absolutely loved! Tragically, I can't find it online because I'm going to botch this description. It was a standard, spiral-bound planner but it had a cover made from really cute fabric. At the end of the year, you could slip that planner out of the canvas cover and slide a new one in.

My next thought was, "I can make this!" It didn't seem difficult really, I'm just not 100% sure on my current abilities. Especially since this would rely more strongly on me actually sewing in a straight line. Maybe with some practice though I can get one done for Christmas.

Apron!

Finally! Pictures of my fabulous apron! The project on which I learned to sew with Lee's Great Aunt Billie!

A close-up of the pocket. Yes, that is a real, working button and button hole. Observe the decorative stitch!
Tomorrow night Aunt Billie and I will begin our next project: sewing from a pattern. I'll be making Lee and I some pajama pants with the fabric below. Since Joann's was having a 2 for $5 on Simplicity patterns, I got one for the pants and one for a future awesome project.

Curtains!

After some previous issues with my curtains, I now have one complete, non-ghetto curtain to use.

I had some issues with the aligning on the first curtains because by the time I hemmed the front and back, they weren't the same size and I did not compensate for that well.



So I bought some new fabric that is the same pattern as the green above but in brown so hopefully just one panel of it won't let in too much light but still be mildly attractive on the wall. And just one sheet of fabric was much easier to deal with.



So yay! Curtains complete. Next (once I made another curtain for the other window): Bed skirt! *fingers crossed*

Oops!

I was just trying to be clean last weekend when I threw my place mats in the wash. Oops. Now they won't lay flat. Not even Grandmommy in her infinite domestic wisdom could flatten them. I guess I'll just to have sew me some new ones.

Speaking of sewing, my awesome apron and first sewing project ever is complete! Hopefully I will post pictures later this week. I started on some curtains yesterday. I hope to finish one of them tonight so I can see if it will turn out as screwed up as I think it might. My poor counting skills and my novice sewing skills appear to be conspiring against me.

Potlucks and New Projects

I love potlucks. In my Lexington life I had an amazing job with amazing monthly potlucks (There were themes each month, which generally amounted to food coloring mashed potatoes, but it was still awesome.) Once I moved to Louisville I started crashing Lee's work potlucks because I love a potluck. A couple months ago I found another amazing job but they were lacking potlucks so today we had our first potluck! The theme was Cheeseballs and Garlic, since today is National Cheeseball Day and tomorrow is National Garlic Day. Duh. I brought a tasty recipe I found for easy, cheap crockpot lasagna and it was pretty good!

Despite the fact that I have yet to finish my apron or curtains, I have found my next sewing project that I am eager to start...once I finish all the other ones...