Why yes, I did make a wool sweater for my mug.

Even though the Autumn temps are still beautiful here in Nebraska, the mornings are a bit chilly. My tea needed some help staying warm.

I tried not to over think this project — it is a mug [...]]]>

Why yes, I did make a wool sweater for my mug.

Even though the Autumn temps are still beautiful here in Nebraska, the mornings are a bit chilly. My tea needed some help staying warm.

I tried not to over think this project — it is a mug cozy, after all — but a quick search on Pinterest and Etsy turned up so many cool ideas. Only problem was that while I was lost in cozy-land, my tea was getting cold.

So I dug into my stash of felted wool sweater bits and found a piece long enough to wrap around my mug. I secured it with a few buttons and embroidery thread. The buttonholes are just little slits. (You can cut felted wool and it won’t unravel.)

So there you have it. Cozy morning tea.

* * * * *

Thanks to everyone for sharing their thoughts on decluttering and congratulations to Erica Arehart on winning the sewing book. I’ll have a knitting book up later this week.

They are the words that all knitters, crocheters and sewists don’t want to hear:

Mom, I lost my scarf.

I’m not too worried. I’ve stitched her name and my phone number in all of her handmade woolens. I’m also in the process of replacing the lost scarf with [...]]]>

They are the words that all knitters, crocheters and sewists don’t want to hear:

Mom, I lost my scarf.

I’m not too worried. I’ve stitched her name and my phone number in all of her handmade woolens. I’m also in the process of replacing the lost scarf with something to match her kitty cat hat and mittens. I’m not too invested in this little brown scarf. Now, if it was one I made out of Noro Kureyon…

It will probably turn up tomorrow, but it’s going to be cold in the morning. Usually, I’d just give her one of mine to wear. However, the thought of one of my scarves spending the night out on the playground makes me kind of queasy.

So, I made a little stand-in scarf. It took more time to take a photo and write this post than it did to make the scarf. I used a fleece scrap from my stash, folded it from selvedge to selvedge, cut a 5 1/2 inch wide strip and trimmed off the selvedges. The fringe is 4 inches long and 1/2 inch wide.

It actually turned out really nice. So nice, that when her brown scarf finally makes it’s way home, I might have to keep this for myself.

I’m on a roll finishing scarves. This one turned out a little longer than I planned. I just kept joining motifs and forgot that each one is a little bit bigger after blocking.

This has got to be one of my favorite yarn projects. I love the [...]]]>

I’m on a roll finishing scarves. This one turned out a little longer than I planned. I just kept joining motifs and forgot that each one is a little bit bigger after blocking.

This has got to be one of my favorite yarn projects. I love the colors and the pattern, plus it has amazing drape. Who would have thought a few thrifted balls of sock yarn could be transformed into something so lovely?

details: Pattern from 201 Crochet Motifs, Blocks, Projects and Ideas. Yarn is Knit Picks Parade (ravelry link). I used 2 1/2 skeins for the scarf and I’m crocheting the leftover bits into bookmarks.

I tried to be proactive this year and started the Halloween costume conversation at the beginning of October. My daughter insisted she wanted to be Abby Cadabby again. I encouraged her to try a different costume and brought it up several times. Nope. She was sure. Abby Cadabby.

So I [...]]]>

I tried to be proactive this year and started the Halloween costume conversation at the beginning of October. My daughter insisted she wanted to be Abby Cadabby again. I encouraged her to try a different costume and brought it up several times. Nope. She was sure. Abby Cadabby.

So I bought her a bigger pair wings because what I threw together for her last year was just too small. A few weeks later she casually mentioned that she wanted to be a cat. And then she couldn’t decide between the two. After a week of indecision, I finally made a tail and some ears and said, “Great news! You’re going to be a cat for Halloween!”

A cat is a great last minute costume, especially if you have all the materials in your stash. And it’s not just great for kids. The tail is long enough for a mama cat, too!

Step 1
Look through your child’s wardrobe for a monochromatic outfit. My daughter could have been a brown or black cat. I chose black.

Step 2
Make some ears. I cleaned up my rough pattern for you. When printed, the larger piece should be 2 1/2 inches tall. Sew pink to black, then black to black. Stuff with a little bit of fiber fil if you like, then stitch onto a headband. (I used a Goody Slide Proof Headwrap.)

Step 3
Make a tail. I used black flannel from my stash and cut a three inch wide strip from selvedge to selvedge. Sew up the sides, turn right side out and stuff. Sew a loop of elastic the size of your child’s waist to the selvedge ends.

That’s it! It took less time to make the costume than it did for my daughter to decide what she wanted to wear. The only thing I had to buy was the liquid eyeliner for her nose and whiskers. I think I’ll use it for some cat eyes on myself tonight.

I’d love to see what you are making for Halloween this year. Share a link in the comments!

I found some black and red canvas-like fabric in my stash that I thought would be great [...]]]> My daughter’s friend Mason loves Batman. We got him some superhero books for his birthday, but they didn’t seem fun enough. I thought maybe a special cape would make his gift more exciting.

I found some black and red canvas-like fabric in my stash that I thought would be great for this project — wrinkle resistant and durable. Apparently, it’s Ultra Heat’n Bond proof, too. I wound up stitching on the appliques and gunked up my needle in the process. Bah!

The cape is reversible and I toyed with the idea of adding a Husker N or Mason M on the other side. His mom suggested Spiderman. Of course, it wasn’t until after I finished that we both realized Spidey doesn’t wear a cape. Oops! I spent a lot of Saturday mornings watching Super Friends. I should have known that!

Anyway, I’ve always wanted to make a cape and now I have. And of course, after all of that, he was more interested in the books. Kids. Gotta love them!

cape tutorial: I used Georgia Leigh’s free cape tutorial and freehand sketched the pattern onto my fabric. She also has applique stencils available. I traced my own because I wanted the Batman logo to match the new Dark Knight logo that was on one of the books.

I’ve been hooking up a storm lately. I finished this scarf and I’m using up the extra bits to make a bookmark. I’ve also started a new scarf that’s almost done. I’m not sure what’s gotten into me. Maybe it’s the cool Autumn weather?

I can’t wait to block the scarf [...]]]>

I’ve been hooking up a storm lately. I finished this scarf and I’m using up the extra bits to make a bookmark. I’ve also started a new scarf that’s almost done. I’m not sure what’s gotten into me. Maybe it’s the cool Autumn weather?

I can’t wait to block the scarf for a final reveal. It’s going to be so beautiful!

What are you working on this week?

So, I survived this crazy project. Actually, the only thing that was really difficult was the bias trim, especially around the corners. But I’m not very good at bias trim to begin with, so there’s that.

I was surprised how easy this insulated-plastic-foil material is to sew. I picked [...]]]>

So, I survived this crazy project. Actually, the only thing that was really difficult was the bias trim, especially around the corners. But I’m not very good at bias trim to begin with, so there’s that.

I was surprised how easy this insulated-plastic-foil material is to sew. I picked out the original trim stitches and all of the pieces fell apart. I cut everything down to size and serged around all of the edges, then I serged the pieces back together. I know that sounds like overkill, but the material was made up of three layers and I didn’t want manipulate six layers of slippery stuff when I did the trim.

Some very important things to keep in mind for a project like this:

• Remind yourself how much you love your child. I found this especially helpful sewing around those corners with the trim.
• Have a friend close by via text for encouragement. Send her pictures of your bent sewing machine needle just for fun.
• Keep chanting the mantra: It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just needs to make my child happy.
• Embrace your organic style as breaking the rules and your wonky stitches as a design element.
• Remind yourself that some kid in China probably put this together the first time. If she could do it, so can you.
• Let go of the little things, like matching the black and pink trim in the handle. It’s just another design element.

That’s about all I’ve got to say about this lunch bag. My daughter loves the pink and she stuffed it in her backpack this morning with no problem.

stash: Finally digging into my thrifted stash of bias trim. It’s about time!

My daughter loves wearing dresses. She also loves to climb tall jungle gyms and roll around in the grass with her feet in the air. She understands the concept of modesty, but she’s too busy running, jumping and playing to be worried about such things right now. I get it. I want [...]]]>

My daughter loves wearing dresses. She also loves to climb tall jungle gyms and roll around in the grass with her feet in the air. She understands the concept of modesty, but she’s too busy running, jumping and playing to be worried about such things right now. I get it. I want her to have fun and not be self conscious. So the new rule: bike shorts under dresses.

A few years ago, I posted a pattern for easy kids shorts. I followed the same basic steps to come up with the bike short pattern. I had also planned to share the template with you, but it’s gone missing. Whoops!

I have a few more to make, so I guess I’ll be redrawing the pattern. I’ll let you know when it’s posted. In the meantime, I’ll be outside teaching my daughter how to do cartwheels.

stash: One of my t-shirts rescued from the donation bag. Thrifted elastic.

A seriously fast, easy and inexpensive project. Plus, they go under a dress, so they don’t have to be perfect!

Yes! I did a little bit of sewing!

The heat wave has passed, but it’s still hot. (It is Summer, after all.) My daughter has a few days left of camp outside, so I got her a small water bottle to take along. I couldn’t imagine her carrying it around without [...]]]>

Yes! I did a little bit of sewing!

The heat wave has passed, but it’s still hot. (It is Summer, after all.) My daughter has a few days left of camp outside, so I got her a small water bottle to take along. I couldn’t imagine her carrying it around without leaving it somewhere, so I whipped up a little carrier for her.

“It’s not a water bottle carrier, Mom. At camp they just call it a bottle carrier.”

Whatever. I made one of these awhile back and it came out kind of snug. I added generous seam allowances to this one and it’s a little big. Maybe if I make third one it will fit just right.

And yes, it matches her neck cooler. She’ll be super coordinated next year at the Kearney Cruise.

resources: I really did wing this, but not before checking out tutorials by Pink Chalk Studio and The Long Thread.

This space hasn’t been very creative in the past week. I’ve been sick since last Saturday. I’ve spent a lot of time sleeping and not much else.

Right before that I had made a trip to the thrift store and started work on some summer refashioning. I also drafted [...]]]>

This space hasn’t been very creative in the past week. I’ve been sick since last Saturday. I’ve spent a lot of time sleeping and not much else.

Right before that I had made a trip to the thrift store and started work on some summer refashioning. I also drafted a skirt pattern from scratch and made this muslin. Notice what’s on the side? A zipper! I’m not sure why I’m so intimidated by these buggers, but I’m going to conquer that fear this summer. So long elastic waistbands!

pattern: I used the a-line skirt formula in Sew What! Skirts. Muslin fabric is a floral sheet.

More creative spaces here.