Week 32 Project

Yet another baby gift... This taggie blanket was my first attempt that this pattern. It came from Suzanne over at JustAnotherHangUp. I altered it a bit, but I think he came out fairly adorable, not quite as adorable as my friends Chris and Traci's baby, Grayson, but still.

Lionus Taggie Blanket, Done!

Week 31 Project

One of the many baby gifts I didn't quite finish during this past holiday season for a "baby boom" among my friends, includes this Giraffe. He's complete and has been delivered, so now I can share! I made this little guy for my friend Annemarie's second child, Morgan. The "monogrammed" M looked a little bigger than I expected after I stuffed him, but I like him anyway!

Morgan's Giraffe, Done!

Week 30 Project

Cy got me again.
Well, Cy and Valley Thrift.
Why do I go there with him?!?

We picked up this corduroy,flannel,button up shirt thing the last time we were there. I forgot to take a before picture, but the bottom had curves to it like a traditional tuck-it-in-men's-button-up. Cy wanted to use it more as a jacket. The hem job I didn't isn't the prettiest, but from the outside it looks pretty good.

I worked on the jacket while Cy sat at my dining room table painting. I sent him home later in the day to finish a couple of stitches himself. Later in the week I got a text from him in the middle of that day that read "I have gotten numerous compliments on my jacket today...Thanks for the help with it." He really is a kin- hearted, sweet kid!

 

Jacket Conversion, Done!

Week 29 Project

**** I'm sure you are shocked to learn that I did not quite meet my 2012 new year's resolution. I know, I too was surprised when Christmas 2012 rolled around and I had only posted 28 projects. Soooo, I'm gonna take 2013 and wrap this 52 week project. I will say the end of 2012 was kinda hectic. In transitioning to my new job, I also accepted three other jobs, quit two of them and then worked two jobs for about three months. I was kinda busy. ...Back to the blog posts*****

I had four friends give birth in the span of five weeks during the holidays. I finally wrapped up some of the gifts I had created and got around to going to visit some of the mommas and babies. So I can finally post about this project that I started at my friend Mindy's house... like 5months ago?!

 I got the pattern from Suzanne over at http://justanotherhangup.blogspot.com/  It's called Maggie the Taggie Owl. I had heard about taggie blankets and seen them in stores and I thought Suzanne's pattern was too cute. Apparently babies love all the different textures and tend to rub the silky tag of regular blankets and some smart mom somewhere decided to make a taggie blanket to sooth her child.

And now I present  my taggie owl. I made one for Tommy and one for Max. I hope they love them!

He has a few different types of ribbon for feathers and his back is made of super soft brown minky.

Taggie owls made and delivered to babies before they can walk, Done!

Week 26 Project

Yet another trip to Valley Thrift with Cy lead to the following conversation:

"Laura, I need some shorts"
"What kind of shorts?"
"Khaki, like dressy, but not like uniform shorts"
"Um, yeah, most of those that would fit you, will look like cargo shorts"
"Yeah or they'll be way too short on me"
"Suck. You know we could always buy a pair of pants that fit your waist and then adjust the length"
"Yeah, cool"

Wait, did I say "We"?!?,  what was I thinking?

So "We" bought some pants. I don't have a before shot of Cy wearing them. I soooo wish I did. They would have hit him maybe four inches above his ankle with a super awesome taper. Dang.

(Side Note: Cy is 6'4" and really skinny, I think he has like a 34" waist)

I cut them off.

I hemmed them up, and promptly delivered them two month later...in September...

Pants turned shorts, Done.

Week 24 Project

My brother Cy is the artist in the family. His strengths include drawing and painting. My drawing skills peaked in 3rd grade. So, I solicited his skills in drawing some patterns for me.






Simple shapes, but I wouldn't have been able to do them. (Couldn't find the right light, sorry for the bad pic)





I used some of my fabric stash and created some cute little 2D stuffed animals. I love their cuddle factor! I have a nice button collection, but since I'm making these for little bitty people I didn't want their to be a chocking hazard.



Stuffed animals friends, Done!

Week 19 Project

My Aunt Lois (who happens to also be my godmother) saw the apron I made for my mom, here, and commissioned me to make one for her daughter Mary.  I was more than happy to do this and really excited too. When I lived in Columbus, Mary, Jon, Maria, Mario, Maggie and I would meet up, at least once a week, for a meal... and like two or three times a week for ice cream! I had my own apartment, but Mary's house was my home in Columbus.
Making her an apron was fun. It was fun because I love her. It was fun because I can imagine her daughter Maria pretending in it...maybe I should make Ri one. It was fun because so many of our memories together involve laughs over a meal. Most importantly it was fun because not many of those memories involve her cooking! I love Mar, but she is a crazy busy active mom. She would much rather mow the grass, run the kids to the library in the stroller, bike to Giant Eagle for popsicles and wrestle in the living room, (seriously, like all of those things) than spend the night in the kitchen. At least that's what I saw. Her kids are never bored and I love her for it.

Anyway, back to the apron. I still haven't bought a pattern for anything I sew. I took a bit of what I did for my mom's apron and threw in some different ideas. My use of bias tape has gotten better and for whatever reason I was scared of cutting/sewing curved lines on my mom's apron so I did that this time and it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it might be.












For the life of me, I can't get this pic to save when I rotate it. I've tried like 8763ways and every time I upload it, its rotated. Do me a favor, tilt your head to the right. Thanks.

Mar's apron for Aunt Lo, Done.

Curtains are the Eyeliner of a Home's Windows

So, I made that saying up just now. ...as an experiment...
My high school English teacher made up a word once, gahsnaffle (sp?), as a word to say when someone sneezes. It was an experiment in the evolution of the English language. I still use gahsnaffle.

Back to the point of the post, or not. I don't wear makeup often, maybe once a week. If someone asked me if I had to choose one item of makeup for the rest of my life, I might hesitate and almost say my lip plumper, but then emphatically say eyeliner. I think it makes the most impact on a bar face and makes me feel, like, well, Cleopatra. Silly I know, but she was one of those powerful women in history. I love powerful women.

Ok, Curtains.
This isn't a weekly post, because I didn't make any of these items this year, but they were, at some point, projects. I made curtains for the kitchen, which I hope will be a complete black and white masterpiece one day.

I also made curtains for the door off the steps that match. See 'em down there on the right?

Then I realized that I hated seeing my mismatch college plastic cups, so I made matching inserts for the hutch.





















 I fell in love with this fabric before I had a plan for it.



Seriously Love.
I don't think there was a better purpose for it than to be the focal point of my bathroom.


Not a curtain, but a project I'm proud of accomplishing.
I had fabric from another project that I bought at IKEA.

I tried my hand a flanged edge on a pillow and covered my body pillow, which I now use as a headboard.





That thing above my bed is a project from probably 5 years ago. I cork board spray painted blue with pushpins holding my necklaces. If I don't see my jewelry, I forget to wear it.



And now you're all caught up on projects from the past.

Week 17 Project

I knew I had a problem when I said "Well, in my current BOT the topic was pre-New York State Manna-hatta (Manhattan to us today)...." Yep, in conversation with my peers I said "BOT"
Oh, you don't know what a BOT is?
Book On Tape

I went away for college and road tripping has been a part of my life since then. I usually ride solo and can't stand searching for a new radio station every hour passing in and out of different cities. When I found audio books (most now come on CDs or are download-able) at the library, the nerdy side of me could not have been more stoked. It's been a love affair ever since.

I currently live 63miles away from work. ( I know, I know)  Fortunately I only work four days a week, but that's a  minimum of 8hrs in the car commuting every week... that's if I'm lucky. I live in Ohio, a state that gets snow, has traffic, and who's department of transportation always finds something on that stretch of highway that needs fixing. Oh, Hi orange barrels.   So, I always has a stack of BOTs with me. I think I currently have about 75hrs in the car. Libraries are the best! Online renewal is even better!

Back to the project.

 All those BOTs tend to end up all over the car. I put them in a shopping bag, but they spill out and it makes me look like I go shopping all the time, which I don't, I promise. Jo-Ann's doesn't count right? The shopping bag just doesn't work well.



Time to make a BOT tote.

Rather than shopping for more fabric, I remember that I had some old tab-top curtains from an apartment I had like 4 years ago. 






I thought I'd try gusseting the corners on the bottoms so that it would sit like a paper grocery bag. I cut off most of the tabs, but kept one, opened it and attached it to the opposite side to make a handle. I kept some of the buttons on, but will probably take them off and set them aside for a future project. Believe it or not, I made one cut to the curtain (except for removing the tabs) and completed the project with three stitches.!


BOT tote, Done.

Week 15 Project

I watch a lot of YouTube videos. A Lot. Most of what I know is from the internet or TV.
I bragged on Facebook awhile back that I could hem a pair of jeans, without actually knowing that I could, you know, 'cause I saw it on YouTube.

Sooo, my first attempt was on my cousin/roommate Lia's jeans.

I folded them to what will hopefully be the correct length. We measured, but then I remembered that I needed to pre-wash them. When I got the energy to actually do the hemming in the middle of the night and I didn't want to wake her.... Fingers crossed.

I watched one video that showed that hammering the inseam will help it flatten out so that its easier for the machine to whiz over. I figured that it couldn't hurt. Sure, anyone driving past my porch at 2:00am seeing me hammer jeans, while wearing my pjs might wonder, but my question to them is where are you going at 2:00am on a Sunday night? Never mind, I don't wanna know.






 The seam before and after.

 I stitched right along the inside of the old hem. I'm pretty sure this is called a Euro hem. See, you can't even see my stitch. At the end of the process, the old hem will still be at the bottom of the pant and the new stitch will essentially be hidden. I like that the original, usually gold colored, thread is still at the bottom of the jeans.

Hem Lia's Jeans. Done.

Week 14 Project

    Mario was not very happy the last time I saw him. I had made this shirt for his sister Maria and failed to think of him. He told me "I don't like you very much right now" I would have been heart broken except every kid I hang out with at a certain age doesn't "like me very much" and then they the get over it and go back to thinking I'm awesome. However, I did feel a little guilty for leaving him out. M&M are like two peas in a pod... leaving one of them out does deeply affect the other.
 

This was his "model face"

  

       Mario loves to emulate his dad, Jon, in anyway he can. His dad fishes and so Mario loves to fish. Jon's a handsome enough guy, but as far as I know he isn't a model. Mario isn't a model, but he is a ham. It was hard to get a good pic of him in the shirt I whipped up (literally took like 30mins!) But I'll share the ones we caught of him modeling in my room this Easter before they hit the road home.

Such a heart breaker

Is he throwing gang signs or rock concert symbols?

A few close ups of the shirt.

Fishin' Shirt Done!.

Week 13 Project

Note: My wonderful friend Mindy, (here is her crafty blog), made this awesome banner for my blog. Thank You Mindy!

     Not much of a story for this project. I took a dyed onsie from this post and took a hint from Kim's pics of Lilly's Ruffle Bum update. Apparently, I didn't know the effect diapers have on a baby's bum or Lilly has a great bum... probably both. I added two additional rows of ruffles (everybody now hears that little hamster in the insurance commercials say "row, row, row" right?!) to really cover the bum. I added another of my flowers, this one made from ribbon.

Teal RUFFLE Bum, Done!

Week 11 Project

Return to a barter system. Lose the cash.
Everyone needs a skill. When the computers take over, I think they'll eventually mess things up and we'll end up back in charge. So, when that happens, how are you going to obtain the things you'll need? So many of us don't earn our living "making" anything tangible. Just to be prepared, start thinking about what your skill will be. I'm not here to judge. Just think. Will you make cheese? Will you be an iron smith and make horseshoes? Will you be a carpenter? Will you grow turnips? Will you raise llamas? Me? Me, I'm gonna craft stuff. Anything you want, I'll try it and make it.

I did not want to do my taxes. I've never wanted to do my taxes. My mom mentioned she was doing her taxes soon. She also mentioned she wants new curtains for the spare room. Light bulb!
I traded her curtains for tax services.

Have you ever bought fabric by the bolt? I hadn't, but we needed two bolts for this project.




I also made pillow cases for a mini lumbar pillow and a body pillow. Mom doesn't want a headboard on the bed, but thought the bed still needed something. I added some pleats to one side of the body pillow. I wanted to try it before and I generally like the asymmetrical look. 

My mom often told me that she did this or that B.C., which in our house stands for Before Children. She took cake decorating classes. I think I remember hearing about some belly dancing classes. She did a lot of quilting. The quilt on the bed was completed by her in 1980. It was all done by hand. BY HAND. She didn't use a machine. At the beginning of her teaching career she spent three summers stitching this baby. I don't have the attention span. What were we talking about?

Oh, yeah, It's an amazing quilt!

Curtains for Tax Trade. Done.

Week 10 Project

~This is Maria~

Maria is my cousin Mary's daughter. She calls me Aunt Laura. I call her my niece.

Its a lot easier than calling her my 1st cousin once removed. None of my siblings have any kids, but I've been an aunt for a while now.

At this point in her life, Maria's biggest passion is BTR. What you don't know what BTR is? Then you probably know BSB or NKOTB or Menudo, or the Beatles, or the Jackson 5, maybe even the Osmonds. If you know none of the musical groups I just mentioned, you're probably a guy since these are all boy bands. The Boy Band of the day is BTR... Big Time Rush.

A few posts ago I took a basic t-shirt and embellished it with a flower and a skirt. Mary said she wanted one made for Ri (Maria) but with a BTR theme. I loved getting this commission!

So, I took some of this,
    and added it to the bottom of a BTR t-shirt,

 Ri's mom, Grandma and I had a mini photo shoot of her the the front yard after the St. Patrick's Day Parade downtown. Over all it was a pretty good day!

 Big Time Rush Shirt Dress, Done.

Ruffle Bum Update

Remember back here when I blogged about Adam's birthday tie and his cousin Jake's "I have a new sister" tie. Well I also wrote about Jake's sister Lilly's Rufflle Bum Onsie. Her mom, Kim, was kinda enough to send me the cutest pictures of Lilly wearing it!

She's the cutest thing with the most amazing chubby legs! She'll hate how much we all talked about this when she's older, but when else are chubby legs adorable? 

P.S. I'm gonna need Kim to show me how she "collaged" these three pics in this cute frame.

Week 9

             I probably have about 5 projects started around the house. I try every weekend to get one done, but I somehow can't seem to accomplish any of them. So, this weekend's plan was to not turn on the television. At all. No exceptions, even the marathon of one of my favorite shows. I would have done really well, if it weren't for March Madness. I didn't turn the TV on, but it seemed to be on everywhere I went. My good friend's had some people over Friday night. I went, but it was to see friends, not really to watch the game.
Anyway, I've always been really good when I have a deadline. I remember writing the final paper for my History of Rock and Roll class in college the night before it was due. I stayed up all night and walked into the room at 8:02. I was the last in line to turn in the paper, but there was still a line so I wasn't late.

My friend Annemarie's son, Cameron, had his first birthday party today! I, of course, choose to make him something. Note, the New Year's resolution was to make something each week. It didn't promise it would be something different.  I wanted to make him a tie shirt, but I want to try something new. I want to dye the t-shirt. I took inventory of the fabrics I have on hand and decieded to try a teal color, kinda gender neutral, right?

The process was much simpler than I had thought it would be. I filled a bowl with hot tap water and added about a tablespoon of salt. I added about half a bottle of RIT dye, and put in two white onsies and two white t-shirts. I made sure the fabric was completely saturated and then I "stirred" it about every 15mins for about an hour. It came out darker than I planned, so next time I'll just take it out sooner. A simple wash and dry and the color is set.

I've tweaked my tie shirt process with each one I've made.

 I apologize for those of you that received earlier models.

The new ones are much better!

I've turned the edges of the tie under so they won't fray or look choppy when I used my pinking sheers.

Cameron is a pretty cute kid. His mom is one of my oldest friends, she's not old, we just been friends a long time. We worked at King's Island together back in high school... back when work was fun!

Dyed T-shirt with coordinating tie, Done!