more yarn

As my semester comes to an end, final projects have been taking up any time for crafts. But, I'm still slowly working on that blanket. I thought I was almost out of yarn for it, so my hubby-to-be nicely picked up 3 more skeins of yarn with me. Just after we got back from the store... I found 3 skeins in the closet! Oops... but, I decided my goal is to use all 6 (and the half left that I'm working on now) and then call the blanket complete.

The next few weeks are happily busy (my cousin is getting married!) but I should be updating more soon.

on going project

During the last week of December 2009, I started crocheting an afghan. This wasn't the first one I've worked on, but it is the first one that turned into more than a scarf! After a couple of weeks of pretty intense crocheting, I can finally say I've made an afghan.

Soon after, (end of Jan.- beginning of Feb.?) my friend showed some interest in learning to crochet. We usually work on crafty projects together, so we went to the store and came back with a bunch of yarn and started making afghans together. Every week (in the beginning) we'd get together to watch a few of "our TV shows" and crochet. We're both students, and have had other things come up so our crochet times together have been becoming more sparse, but we're both trucking away on them. Our original thoughts were that we'd finish them by May or June... we'll see about that. Both of our blankets are MUCH larger than we originally thought. (I tore mine out and re-started four too many times in the beginning)

My friends pattern is all double crocheted. Her yarn is variegated, so it's turning out very cool! This time around, I used this pattern except: I'm using a 'G' hook, and basically tripled the pattern (I probably only should have doubled it). So, right now, the blanket is 80" long, or wide, we'll see which way it turns out in the end. I'm using the Red Heart Super Saver maroon colored "fleck" yarn. I think I'm on my 8th or 9th skein right now? I keep losing track, but will count again when it's done. I'll have to try to take better pictures, but here it is folded up right now!red redheart crocheted blanket in progress

The picture shown on the pattern is MUCH easier to see. That is pretty close to what mine looks like too, even a similar color.

Refashioned t-shirt (v-neck tank with straps centered in back)

I got a free t-shirt from an event awhile ago. But, at least with my luck, whenever a t-shirt is free it's also several sizes too large. There's a pretty cool graphic on it (which I chose to sloppily cover up in these pictures) so I tried to preserve the shirt and make it into something I could wear.

t-shirt transformed to tank before

t-shirt transformed to tank front view

t-shirt transformed to tank back view

that short striped skirt...

I had to put the silver/grey dress on hold again, until I can get to the store. I think I'll probably have to put an invisible zipper in, and don't have one on hand in the right size/color.

striped fabric In the mean time, I've been wanting to make a little skirt out of this striped fabric that has been sitting around. I think there was a total of two yards of it, but I just cut a long rectangle (30" long x 45" wide) to start this skirt, so a lot is left over.

I'm thinking about making a tube top, or halter out of some of the extra fabric so it can be paired with the skirt to look like a dress, or the two pieces can be mixed and matched with other items. We'll see about this though.

short striped skirt I cut a 4x30" strip of fabric and sewed it to a piece of interfacing (2x30") then added the skirt portion of fabric to the waist band. The skirt is slightly gathered, and since the waistband is fitted, I left one side open so it can be tied closed with a ribbon. I was originally thinking of using buttons on the side to close the waist band, but just went with what I had on hand. (which happened to be some ribbon my hubby-to-be and I are using to make wedding favors.... shhhh... I didn't use too much of it :) I don't think it will be missed!)

a work in progress

dress in progress This dress-to-be has been on my Mom's dress form for about a month. I kind of forgot about it, until now. (I had to "clean up" her sewing room so it could be used for its original purpose -a guest bedroom- therefore the dress form was in a storage area for awhile... until yesterday)

It is possible this "dress" will be made into something else (shirt?) since I might run out of fabric.

Usually, I buy fabric when it's on sale without knowing what it will be used for, so, I have to guesstimate how much I will need for my "future project". In this case, I had 2 yards of the silver/grey fabric in my closet to work with. I hope there will be enough to finish the dress, but we'll see... the back is just pinned together, I keep re pinning to see if there is a way that will work. That random chunk of fabric on top of the bodice is just pinned on too.

dress bodice closeup
Whenever I would "doodle" in my notes or something, I always filled the pages with this geometric design, so I decided to give it a try on the fabric. It was pretty time consuming, even though it's just on a band.

that red patterned dress...

This pattern, Simplicity 2549, was a fairly simple sew, but it did take some time due to the interfacing, darts, and some hand stitching. I'm almost finished with the dress pictured on the lower left corner of the pattern, but still need to add a 22" zipper (which I don't have yet) and hem the length. The back of the dress comes up to the neck and is very plain. I'm torn on how I feel about that look, and might need to change it up a little, depending on how it fits.

cat helping me sew

This is my oldest cat, she LOVES to "help" me sew. Whenever I have fabric out, she comes running from anywhere in the house and sprawls out on it.


Simplicity 2549 pattern red dress



I'm not sure how I feel about this dress yet... it's very different than what I usually make and/or wear. But, that's why I chose the pattern, and it will be interesting to see how it actually looks when it's done and I try it on!