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First of all, I have broken my wardrobe refashion pledge- by receiving two brand new t-shirts. One was an intended purchase since my dad wanted to send me a World Series 2008 shirt since my home team won, and I actively encouraged him. The other shirt was a gift visible in the this picture. Those purchases/receipts over, I will be going back on the wardrobe refashion pledge.
I wanted to wear this shirt for New Year’s Eve, without any of the cardigans or jackets already in my closet. Since it is silly to want to wear short sleeves in the Winter, I decided I should made a pair of arm warmers. I really like the arm warmers I made in October, but wanted something besides black and didn’t have time to knit a new pair if starting yesterday. Remembering we have some brown fleece in the sewing box, I dug it out to get started! They were insanely easy and are very cosy!
Here is what I did:
1. Measured the widest part of my forearm- 22cm. I also measured the widest part of my hands but it was only a 3cm difference I figured I could make up in the final hemming. I then cut a 22cm wide rectangle (and 47cm long because of how long the fleece was) without a seam allowance since the fabric was a bit stretchy.
2. I sewed up the side seam. If you are unlike me and pay attention while sewing, then do not sew over the thumb hole. If you Are like me, then snip the threads holding the thumb hole closed.
3. Fold in the thumb hold flap material and sew around it – sort of like a large button hole.
3. Keep the tube inside out and try it on. With chalk, trace the contour of your wrist from below the thumb and gently grade it back the the rest of the arm. Sew on that chalk line.
4. Clip the extra seam fabric down the insides, hem the fabric at each end. Turn right side out, put on and revel in your quick, cosy project!
I added a wee brown bow to each wrist. For me, it added a bit of visual interested without making it too cutesy. I’m been really enjoying sewing with scraps recently- the bows are from a ribbon I saved from some bath gift box I received ages ago.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
This year, we gave most family members the same gifts and found it much less stressful than it would have been to make individual gifts at the moment. I usually like making individual things, but thesis and job stress this year just didn’t allow that.
Our presents were well received, which is always satisfying when you’ve made them! We made rice heat packs with removeable covers and criss-cross coasters with very cute tree fabric. What’s not pictured here, is a batch of biscotti each.
The pie is what we literally brought to the table on the 23rd and the 25th. My partner usually makes the pastry and I make the filling- I think it was our best pie yet!
The gift tags are made from last year’s cards- I cut them up the week before Christmas. The process of choosing what part of the card to feature and creating a stack of tags is such a simple process but it always seems to get me into the festive mood!
I finished the pair of socks I was making! They’re not perfect by any degree- one is actually a few rows shorter than the other- because I must have manipulated the fabric differently when measuring. The tutorial I used was Silver’s sock class and it is amazingly clear and actually empowering for timid knitters. They’re ankle socks since the deal I had with my partner was that our gifts had to be made with the materials already in our home (and there was only one ball of sock yarn).
The gifts I got in return were a crocheted hat with fleece lining (you can see it on the right of the picture) which will be great to block the wind from my ears and a 2009 calendar with photo collages of our adventures over the last year. We both did very well keeping to the “materials on hand” rules and it stretched our creativity and skill level as well!
I haven’t been inactive, just working on Christmas gifts so I can’t post those for a while.
This is a key fob I just made for a friend’s birthday. (Although it is already a week late…) She likes to camp and teaches biology, so I thought frogs would work nicely!
The strap fits around a wrist for carrying that way, and is also small enough to throw into a bag. When I finished it, I was so excited I wanted to make myself one!
The finished product is 2.5 cm wide and 15 cm long, excluding the ring. I used a round ring, because that is what I had, although I think I’m going to search for a place to buy D-rings if I make more. It’s times like these that make me miss craft stores- local, large, etc…even big box stores (yikes!) that carry crafting supplies.
I started with a long rectangle, added interfacing, tucked in the edges, folded it in half (so it was then a long strip), and sewed the open ends. I then folded it in half the other way, added a rectangle of stitching above where the top of the ring would sit, added the ring, and hand stitched the bottom closed.
I used quilting thread and stitched across the bottom several times, because no one wants to lose keys!
Today a friend, and avid coffee drinker, celebrated a birthday. I wanted to make him something since it was a big-numbered-birthday, and decided a skull coffee cozy was perfect!
In my test cozy, I traced the outer cardboard of a paper cup (not the cozy, the actual cardboard decoration) with a hem allowance, and sewed two pieces of fabric together, added the batting/wadding, turned it right-side out…and didn’t even bother to continue sewing it. It was a disaster- too small, crooked, etc!
Regrouping, and glad I had only used the floral sheet fabric I tend to use in the place of muslin, I decided to try my hand at using bias binding, since I’ll be binding the edges on an up-coming baby quilt.
For the upper and lower edges, I didn’t add any hem allowance, but added twice the expected amount on the sides. I added the applique, decorated it, placed the batting between the two fabric layers, quilted some angles through the layers, and then slowly attempted to add the bias binding. I’m not so sure I did the corners correctly, but I’m quite proud of the result. After the bias binding was on, I checked that it would fit around the cup, pinned it in place and then sewed it shut.
The fuzz you see in the picture is the batting that came through the stitch-holes which I brushed off before gifting it.
*Four pieces of pine, 29 x 65 cm (11.5 x 25.5 in).
*Two pine shelves (unfinished wood) with metal and wood brackets. Both shelves are 18.5 cm deep, one is 86 cm long, the other is 116 cm.
My neighbour was getting rid of 4 large pieces of scrap wood and I couldn’t bear the thought of it getting binned, so I took it. Partner vetoed the decision, so it’s up on freecycle. We have never finished or hung the shelves.
I wanted to bring something tasty to a party this weekend and skipped over my usual cookies because I didn’t want to have to purchase any new ingredients. If easy baking is the goal, I usually make some chocolate chip cookies, but here, that involves buying and chopping chocolate bars. I’ve been trying to cut back even more recently on purchases, especially in my creations. My partner and I have decided to not only make each others presents (as we usually do), but to make sure the main components (we’re allowed to re-stock on thread) are already in our home. I/We have plenty of yarn, fabric, etc, to make gifts!
I searched online for easy-yet-yummy cookie ideas with the ingredients I already had. I saw that many people have been surprised with how easy biscotti is, so I gave it a try! I did have to buy eggs, but we would’ve bought more to eat soon anyway.
I made my first batch on Saturday using this recipe. I altered the flavours a bit and also added mixed dried fruits. After making them, I realised there weren’t enough so I fed a few to friends to see if they thought it was worth making more. They did.
The best advice I can give about making biscotti is to let the logs cool completely before slicing, rather than the 15 minutes recommended by the recipe.
Since I was bringing them to a Christmas party, I wanted them to look nice and yet also be easily served if the host decided to share. I didn’t have any sturdy cardboard boxes to cover with paper, or brown paper to tie it up with string, so I went for this arrangement. I know it’s not the most environmentally friendly to wrap things in plastic and I usually try to avoid that, but I already had the plastic on-hand. I cut two circles from my cereal box, covered them with wrapping paper and stuck the cookies on-top. I have to think of a similarly aesthetic wrapping for the next time I make them.
They went over very well! At the beginning of the party, I stood talking to several colleagues. One picked up the biscotti and sniffed, tasted, etc, analysing the contents. She said “cinnamon”…I said “yeah”..she said “raisins”…I said “mixed fruits including currants”…She said “amaretto”, I said “almond extract”. We didn’t realise until much later that she thought they were store-bought and thought I was analysing them too. I knowing she bakes, thought she was figuring out the recipe I used!
The friend who had tried them on Saturday told me the following story at the end of the party. She was nibbling on them, talking to someone else from our department. She said ‘Riotflower made these’. The other interlocutor said that they looked too uniform. The friend responded that I had made them, and the other woman said “but they’re in plastic!”…the friend continued by saying “She’s crafty”…Apparently, she didn’t believe in the end that I had made them!
If she would’ve looked closely, she would have seen that the wrapping paper was silver and white snowy trees and the ribbon, being green, red and blue, didn’t match. Surely, that’s a sure sign it wasn’t purchased in a store?
: * ) All in all, I’m pleased they went down so well and I felt that I was bringing a party gift in a way that I wouldn’t have bringing one type of cookie. I think I’ll add this to my party repertoire!
