my poor tree skirt

Awhile back, I made this Tree skirt.  Well our dogs have always left it alone, until this year... I was steam cleaning the floor and removed the tree skirt from our tree (yes, the carpet was that bad so I didn't wait until the tree was taken down to clean it).  I set the folded tree skirt in a basket in our living room... and later found out someone bit a couple chunks out of it :(

 

I just stitched it back up and packed it away for the season, but now, instead of a nice smooth border to the tree skirt, a section in the back is now "scalloped".  Now the debate... to make a new tree skirt for next year? or not... tough call.

Braided pet bed

Look what I found while sorting through boxes of junk from my childhood bedroom....

A big ball of braided fabric.  This was meant to be sewn into a rug a few years ago, but I was sewing it by hand which took forever, and other things came up.

So, I figured I might as well finish what I started... and threw the braided fabric on my sewing machine (much quicker) and used a zig-zag stitch to sew it together.

Instead of making a rug, I decided to make a cat bed or cat basket.  (since one of my dogs chewed a hole in the fleece cat bed I made for them before, it was time for another)

One of the cats is always occupying the new bed...

To make this, it's the same idea as making a braided rug (which if you google search it, there are several great tutorials).  Except, you braid a little tighter, and let it coil up while sewing.  (every now and then I'd do a slight overlap of the connecting braids)

Update:  Apparently my cats prefer the basket a little shorter on the sides than it was... they folded the edges over on the pet bed and use it that way now.

Adjustable pouch

Somehow Hubby & I misplaced the doggie waste bag holder I made for Beagle's leash. Since little pouches can be used for many things I decided it was time to just make another one and not expect the old one to show up again.

Instead of a drawstring top, this time I used my snap pliers and snap set to make the pouch strap adjustable.


My assistant came around to supervise the project...

I just sewed a small rectangular pouch and added a strap

Then, I added a snap to the strap and two places to snap the strap onto for adjustable lengths.

(don't mind the white thread... I probably should have switched it to black, but just didn't care enough at the time :) )

McCall's pattern M5538 View C

Way back in May I posted about the stages of sewing McCall's pattern M5538 view A the fleece top for Hubby. That post included my moment of clueless-ness about the pattern and how it worked out :) Then, I posted the middle and end stages of M5538 view A.

I made mention that I would be sewing view C (a full zip jacket) for myself... Well, here it is:



Huge as ever. Hubby has another new jacket :) I knew that this pattern ran large (from reading reviews) so tried cutting it a little smaller. Clearly not small enough haha. I suppose since the pattern is unisex, my vision of a tightly fitted, small fleece jacket was a little off base.

On the plus side, it was a quick and easy sew (especially the second time around) and even though I probably won't wear it, someone else will!

You may also recall another family member benefited from all the fleece I bought to make the jacket and top... as I used the leftover fleece to make a cat bed for Gator.

Cat bed

I finished sewing both McCalls M5538 views that I was making for Hubby and I (posting soon on how mine turned out) and found myself with a lot of leftover gray fleece. Originally I told Hubby that I'd be making Beagle a matching jacket so the three of us could show some style.

Luckily for Hubby (and Beagle) I put the fleece to better use. My cat loves sleeping on our living room couch. He's trying to change the color from red, to orange & white by using all of his energy to shed as much as possible only while laying on the couch. So, I decided to make him a cat mat or cat bed to place on his favorite spot on the couch.

We usually have a junky looking towel stretched across the couch when we don't have company to prevent the couch from collecting cat hair.

Maybe... just maybe... Gator (my cat) will choose to lay on his new cat bed instead of directly on the couch. I know chances are slim, but it was worth a try to me!

How to make a doggie waste bag holder

I've been looking into getting a "doggie waste bag dispenser" for quite awhile, and am too cheap to buy one at the store. (yes, I know, they're only a few bucks) But, they would be really convenient rather than refilling pockets with bags each time we take beagle for a walk.

Instead of getting the real deal, I made a little pouch to loop onto beagles leash. (this can be filled with the plastic bag rolls that fit into the other dispensers or other bags depending on your preference)

How to make a doggie waste bag holder:
(Check out another style of pouch that can be used for a waste bag holder too)

1) Cut some scrap fabric into one long rectangle. Mine was roughly 7.5" wide by 5" tall (when accounting for seam allowances)


2) Fold the fabric in half (halving width to about 3.75"), right sides together


3) Sew the side edge together (that was just formed from folding in step 2)


4) Sew the bottom of the bag together


5) Fray check the top perimeter of fabric (that has not been sewn yet)


6) Fold the top of the baggie down slightly to make a casing and stitch in place (leaving an opening to string ribbon through)


7) String ribbon through casing and tie ends together


8) Flip bag right side out, fill with plastic bags, and loop onto doggie leash

Santa hat for pets

Hubby is working today, so you know what that means... it's time to get the pets more festive for the holidays!

You may recall another post recently for pets .... pet antlers!

As the final day of accessory week, it is fitting to have one for animals :)

To make a Santa hat:

1) Cut 2 roughly triangular pieces of red fabric.

2) Sew the red fabric right sides together, leaving the bottom of the triangle open AND sewing a small "ball" of batting at the top corner of the hat (so when you turn the hat right side out it has a finished edge)

3) Turn the hat right side out

4) Cut a long strip of batting and fold it in half (lengthwise) over the bottom edge of the red fabric.

5) Top stitch the batting strip onto the hat

6) Sew elastic onto the hat (or some other method to tie the hat on)

That's all! This probably took 3 minutes, start to finish.

Trying the hat on each of my little ones and taking pictures took much longer :)

Someone doesn't look too happy... was it because she's wearing the Santa hat? Or, because her brother snuck into her picture?

Merry Christmas!

crazy beagle/the story of a homemade heating pad

The story of the heating pad: One day shortly after returning from our honeymoon, hubby and I went kayaking. Hubby was being "macho" and lifted the kayaks out of the water at a bad angle, by himself, before I could help. Not a good idea, but he seemed to be fine. UNTIL... oh around midnight, when he complained of intense back pain. I thought I had a microwavable rice heating pad somewhere that I offered to find for him, and he thought that would really help. Well, of course my belongings were still all in boxes and I couldn't find it.

So, I decided to quickly make one for him. (good thing we coincidentally bought a crazy amount of rice at the store the day before...) I used a fabric bag that originally held a sheet set in it since that would require the least amount of sewing and I was working with a travel sewing machine that had been problematic lately.

Basically I just filled the fabric bag about 2/3 full of rice, and sewed it shut. I then added two ribbon handles to hold when taking it out of the microwave. Not my prettiest work, but it did the job.

I'm super sentimental, so I was pretty bummed when I discovered the heating pad shortly after our beagle decided to check it out.

Here is what it looked like, after the beagle attack:


Most of the rice was missing.

You may recall a post about beagle in the past, when he chewed a portion of our new couch cushion.

Beagle is actually a really sweet little guy, I just like to write about his "naughty" moments.

Pet antler tutorial (Don't tell hubby....)

Hubby doesn't read my blog. Therefore, I have some pictures to share with you all :)

I thought it would be a good idea to include beagle in the holiday cheer... by making him antlers. (Hubby has a strict "no clothing for animals" belief. However, I think it can be cute)

Here is how the antlers were made...

Cut 4 pieces of felt in the shape of antlers (two per antler) and one oval to attach the antlers to.

Top stitch two cut antler pieces of felt together and repeat with the other set.

Stuff the antlers. (Add something stiff inside them, for support. I used a Q-tip in each)

Sew them onto the oval piece of felt.

Add elastic, or a tie of some sort.

Here's how it looked (above)

(our 4 point "Buck", Buck is short for beagles real name)

At this point I didn't have support inside the antlers, so they didn't stand up like they should. So, I shoved a Q-tip into each antler to make them stand right. Beagle was too stubborn to wear the antlers after adding the support (smart guy) and his big ears got a bit in the way, so I tried the next model:

she really didn't seem to mind them!

my "little helper"

The sound of a pattern being opened up and cut out is like a cat call in my house. The cat comes running to check it out from all the hidden areas she usually occupies.

It's pretty funny watching her hide under the pattern paper and pounce around it. Although it adds a little extra time into cutting the patterns out :)

Here I'm cutting out McCall's 3777 tree skirt pattern. Hopefully I'll have that done soon, we're getting our Christmas tree today!

bad BAD Beagle

Several months ago, hubby-to-be and I picked out a new couch. Our beagle, who is a year old has half of the house to roam freely, which includes our living room (the other half is for our scaredy cat). Well, we brought the couch home, put it in our living room, and it was instant love for beagle. He could now look out the window and see what was going on in the outside world.
red couch
We were a little hesitant to leave him with this new furniture, so every few hours I would check on him to make sure all was well. And, it was. He was a really good little guy...
beagle being good on red couch

...for about a week. Then, as I was studying in another room, I decided to take a break to play with the little guy. I never heard any ruckus... but was speechless when I saw a VERY guilty looking Beagle sitting on the back of the couch. Oh, and stuffing all over the floor. He had thrown one of the back cushions off of the couch and decided to dissect it. There was no way for beagle to deny his role in this mess... he had a chunk of stuffing hanging out of his mouth.

Anyways, we were able to order a replacement pillow. BUT I still would like to fix the old one, and keep the other "on hand" in case it's needed in the future. The nice new one hopefully can be for when he is a little older, and A LOT better trained It seems like an easy enough fix, assuming I can find some matching fabric. Plus, it should be kind of hidden... though the hole is near the top. Here is what needs to be fixed : (it looked a lot worse before... not so bad now)

aftermath of beagle on red couch

Suggestions on how to patch that?

another feline friend

The blanket I'm crocheting is a feline magnet. I have a previous post with my two cats separately enjoying the comforts of this creation in progress... Here's another little guy who couldn't help but add some fur to the yarn :)

cat on crocheted blanket

This is my brother and sister-in-laws cat who stayed at my parents house while they were on vacation. My parents actually just adopted this cats mother from the shelter, she has yet to be found on the blanket.

cats and crocheting

I've been crocheting some lately, still working on that blanket I started earlier this year. Every time I pull the blanket and yarn out, the cats come out of hiding to give a helping hand. After they join me, I can usually only finish crocheting the row I'm on, because I feel too guilty moving them to rotate directions.

cat on crocheted blanket
another cat on crocheted blanket

Here's a link to yet another cat on this crocheted blanket checking it out in the future.