Mermaid Tail Blankets

I've been able to squeeze a little more sewing in lately, and here's what I've been up to:

Fleece Mermaid Tail Blankets!  They are so much fun to make.  I've been shopping sales since fleece can be pricey.  My favorite is when JoAnn's has extra-wide fleece on 50% off, you get a lot more bang for your buck that way.  Better yet if you have an additional coupon to top it all off.

The dark green mermaid tail blanket pictured above is an adult size, and the others are smaller.  I've been experimenting with patterned fleece too, which I think is a fun twist.

I've been crocheting a bit too, but will probably switch over to making jewelry again soon.  Need to stock up on necklaces to sell at our booth.

New Blanket (in progress)

Here my little assistant models the blanket I recently started crocheting...

This blanket is a super simple pattern: all double crochet stitches.  I have a more detailed baby blanket in progress too, but I needed something for the days I don't feel like thinking that hard :)

Halloween 2011 - William & Kate, Royal wedding style

I've loved Prince William for as long as I can remember. When he and Kate Middleton announced their engagement last year, I was extremely excited (only slightly jealous), for the Royal wedding. They're such a cute couple.

Another thing I love besides the Royal couple is Halloween. So, it only seemed natural to try to replicate William and Kate's wedding attire for the festivities. Luckily, I have a Hubby who (slightly resembles the prince... coincidence?) puts up with me and agreed to go as Prince William for Halloween if I made his costume.

My version of Kate Middleton's wedding dress has been an interesting process. I'll start from the beginning and will have multiple blog posts to show it (posts on the process of the Prince William costume will be in the future too).

First off I made a Bridal petticoat (with tutorial) for super cheap. This was important to have ready when determining how many yards of satin to buy.

Then, I bought 10 yards of muslin to make my pattern for the dress. (I ended up using less)

Armed with my favorite magazines featuring the Royal wedding, and my sewing scissors that I hide from Hubby, I got to work.

Here's where the dress is now (it still needs trim and other touches):

Kate Middleton's wedding dress for Halloween costume

More posts to come on how the dress was made, in case you want to be Kate Middleton for Halloween too!

Here are some key accessories to consider when dressing as the Duchess of Cambridge

Look into the future... here is how I made the satin part of the bodice, the skirt, and how it was sewn together

Bridal Petticoat tutorial - 9 simple steps

I finished making a bridal petticoat (for my Halloween costume)! I know just how expensive petticoats are to buy (or even rent) so, I'll show you how I made mine in 9 simple steps and for really cheap.

Quick & easy petticoat tutorial for bridal gown:
(total cost about $8 which is really cheap compared to store bought)

Supplies:
Fabric of choice to make lining (about the size of a full length skirt)
Elastic for waistband
10 yards of netting

1. Choose a fabric to be the base lining of the petticoat (which will basically be the size of a full length skirt) I used muslin, because it was cheap and I had some on hand.

2. Cut fabric to roughly the shape shown below. Keep in mind, the length should be roughly that of a full length skirt on you, and the waist should be cut wide enough to be able to slip the petticoat on.

3. Sew the sides of fabric together & sew the bottom hem

4. Cut an elastic band at a comfortable yet secure length to fit around your waist and sew it to the waist of your skirt lining



5. Mark 3 horizontal lines across the fabric lining (front & back) as shown below in the diagram by the blue dotted lines. These will be the lines you will sew the netting to.



6. Prepare your netting: (mine was 54" wide to begin with)

a) Cut 3 lengths of netting: 2 yards, 4yards, and 4yards.

b) Starting with one piece, fold netting in half length wise (this is usually already done for you, if it is straight from the bolt)

c) Fold that netting in half again, length wise (essentially dividing the fabric into fourths)

d) Baste all 4 layers of the netting together lengthwise about 1" from the folded edges

e) Repeat with the other two lengths of netting


7. Attaching the netting:

a) Mark the front and back center points on your skirt lining at each of the three horizontal lines you previously marked for the netting attachment sites

b) Divide the netting pieces into fourths width wise and mark those points

c) Starting with the bottom of the skirt, match the markings on the netting with the centers and seam markings on the skirt and pin in place at those points

d) Gather the netting to fit around the skirt at that location

e) Sew in place following the lines

f) Repeat the netting attachment steps for the middle and upper horizontal netting attachment lines, using the other 4 yard piece of netting for the middle row and the 2 yard piece for the top row.

** It is much easier to attach the netting from bottom to top **

** Make sure the rows of netting overlap each other a bit. Ex: The middle row overlaps the bottom row a few inches and the top row overlaps the middle row a few inches. **

8. On the bottom edges of all three rows of netting (not the part sewn onto the skirt lining) there will be one folded edge left over, instead of a raw edge. Cut the folded fabric apart creating two raw edges in place of the fold.

9. Fluff out the netting layers

Your petticoat is complete!

**Note, you may want to stagger where the ends of the netting meet up while attaching them to the skirt lining to create a smoother look**

Bridal Couture

We're at the beginning of wedding season again, which is perfect timing to keep the excitement going for my somewhat large sewing project. I'm sewing a wedding gown!

Who on Earth would trust me to sew such an important dress, you ask? Well, it's actually for me... for Halloween... so it's really not a big deal at all hehe.


Good thing, because I will be the first to admit that I have no clue what I'm doing. I'm going to be totally winging this. (I'll probably get a pattern for Hubby's costume, we'll see though)

But, to help out with making the gown I purchased the book Bridal Couture by Susan Khalje. I'd read several outstanding reviews on it. So far it has been extremely helpful to me too. Unfortunately, at this point in time the book is out of print... so look around hard to find the best deal if you do decide to purchase it.

Knitting Needles: Set 1 (baby blanket) update

Here's a look at my first post about the baby blanket I'm knitting.

And, here's how it looks at this point in time:

I've got a looooong way to go yet, but it has been pretty smooth sailing now that the pattern has formed. Much easier/less frustrating than when I first tried starting it and had to undo the blanket over and over again.

Knitting needles: set #2 (scarf)

My other current knitting project is a scarf. Luckily (not to jinx it) I think we're out of the scarf season where I live so I'm not in too much of a hurry to get this project done!

My Mom met a lady last year at farmers market who has a few pet sheep, and she spins their wool into yarn. I was really excited about that, so she picked up a ball of yarn to try out. Here's what it looks like so far: (the yarn has varying thickness)



This is my "mindless" project since it is straight knitting from start to finish. Some days I just don't feel like thinking about a pattern and this is the perfect thing for it.

Knitting needles: Set 1 (baby blanket)

Here's what I have currently on 1 set of knitting needles: (I like to have multiple projects going at once)

After crocheting this beast of a blanket, I decided I wanted to make another blanket... but one that took much less time and was much smaller. That is when I bought some yarn and started knitting a baby blanket pattern.

I used a pattern from Bernat yarn that comes on the package. It was supposed to be easy, but man, did I have troubles getting this thing started!

I'm pretty sure that the pattern tells you to cast on the wrong number of stitches. By the time I figured out a multiple of stitches that would complete the pattern, I had already started, torn apart, and restarted this pattern 7 or 8 times. (that's A LOT of wasted stitches, and it was pretty frustrating)

But, I kept on re-starting this pattern because I thought it was really cute. Plus, I knew if I didn't make this specific pattern, the yarn would sit in my craft cupboard untouched, forever.

Once I figured out the multiple of stitches needed for this pattern to work, it all clicked. Whew. I used stitch markers at the end of each cycle of the pattern to double check my work and now things are going well!

Dollies!

I have been working on making dollies from the website dolly donations to send to Haiti (there are several patterns for making dollies on that website). However the drive for dolls I was planning on sending mine to was completed early! (which is awesome) But, luckily there will be another drive soon, so these dollies will make it there eventually.

Here are the dollies that are done so far (there are many more in various stages of being made around the house right now)

Dollies!

The hubby and I were working on making a couple and have a pretty good system going... I sew a bunch of appendages, he kindly stuffs them while watching football games, then I finish sewing them together :)

the blanket now

Here is what the crocheted blanket looks like now...

red redheart yarn crocheted blanket in progress

The blanket is opened out on a queen sized bed. It is hitting just on the edge of the mattress the right side, and just on the edge at the head of the bed. But, it hangs over a lot at the foot. I wasn't going to measure it, but now I feel like I should to see that I'm actually making a difference when working on it! So... currently it is 45" wide by 86".

2 more skeins to go (plus the little bit left I'm currently on) hopefully. If it looks crazy proportion wise, I'll have to do the dreaded... and buy more yarn.

blanket progress

Here is the blanket I'm crocheting... about a month ago.
red redheart yarn crocheted blanket in progress
The ruler on the bottom right of the blanket is 18 inches long. I think I've added 2 skeins since then, so I'll take an updated picture and post it soon. Because it is so long, 2 skeins may not be very noticeable, but we'll see what it looks like!

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.

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.