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I wanted to share a quick peek of the project I started yesterday. I have switched to a purple shirt (don’t worry I’ll be using at least part of the pink shirt to finish this project).
I’ll have more to share about this project tomorrow, but today I’m fighting a killer sinus headache or someone snuck in here last night and punched me in the face while I was sleeping. I’m sure I’ll be back to normal and painting tomorrow.
Happy St. Patrick’s day!
1. 50% cotton and 50% polyester shirts do not discharge well with bleach, always check the label, assume nothing!
(not even close to the look I was going for and the photo looks better than the actual fabric)
2. Bleach pens get old and don’t work as well as a fresh pen.
3. Make a sample, it saves time in the long run.
4. Messy fingers are bad, watch what you’re touching or you’re going to have to come up with some creative ways to make it look like you did that on purpose.
(sigh, maybe some appliqué will work)
5. Iron freezer paper on the back of fabric that you are painting to keep the paint from seeping through the fabric.
6. Make a copy of you design, that way if you make a mistake you have a back up copy and won’t have to start from scratch.
7. Be flexible, sometimes you plan needs to change to accomplish the look you are going for.
8. If you must spray bleach water do it outside or you will be sorry, trust me, I know.
9. White vinegar neutralizes bleach, keep it handy to stop bleaching action, rinse fabric thoroughly and launder the bleached fabric.
10. A day where you learn something, but don’t necessarily accomplish anything is not a wasted day.
All of these lessons came up today, hopefully tomorrow I will have a completed project to share.
As you know I have some pattern storage boxes that are specially made for sewing patterns, I have three and my collection of patterns has grown beyond the amount of space they provide. I have not been able to find more of these pattern boxes and if I remember correctly they were a bit pricey for what is basically a cardboard box with a lid. Thankfully I have found the perfect solution! and it has been hiding with the office supplies. I found hanging file portable storage boxes (1/2 size boxes) at OfficeMax. They come in packs of 6 for around $12.00 and are just slightly larger that the patterns are.
The lids just flip up and they are already nice and white just waiting to be embellished.
Here you can see how well the patterns fit, they even work for some of my larger Vogue patterns. I also have several pattern that have been altered and won’t fit back into their envelopes that are stored in plastic zipper bags and they fit nicely too.
Another great use for these boxes (if you have a few that aren’t holding patterns) is magazine storage. I save all of my Threads magazines and they stand up nicely in the boxes and I can read the spines to easily find the issue I’m looking for. They also keep everything dust and cat hair free, a big bonus at my house!
I’m waiting until I get some of the decorating done in my craft room before I decide how to embellish these boxes. I’m really excited that all of my patterns now have a home and are organized by company and design number, now I just need to make an index. It’s getting more organized here, one small project at a time.
I went back and made the eyes a bit larger, I had missed an entire row of the pattern somehow, I also switched from white to pink, which I like much better. While I was at it I made a couple more, just to see what different colors would look like.
I am going to either have to stop making everything orange or pick a new beak color, the beaks just aren’t showing up as well on the two on the left. I also can’t decide if I prefer sleeping eyes or the winking one, which one do you guys like?
I’m thinking that it would be interesting to make one out of wool and felt it, but I’m not sure I’m ready to torture myself like that again (I’m sooooo allergic) and some sort of owl purse would be cool too! I also want to get some finer yarn and make some smaller ones. These are about 4” tall and 5” wide and we all know that tinier - cuter, I need to check my stash in the basement and see what I can come up with. I really enjoy this pattern and I think I will be making more, maybe I’ll even have some for sale in my new etsy store.
Have a super crafty weekend, I’ll see you next week!
After enjoying the Sienna Dress pattern so much I decided to try the Lil Leggings pattern and, once again, I was not disappointed! Nice straight forward instructions and a great selection of tips to make different styles. The pattern recommends a knit fabric with 75% stretch, I used a less stretchy fabric and upsized the pattern a bit. The result are some cute leggings to match Little Miss’s new Sienna Dress.
You should recognize all of the fabrics, they are from my thrifting adventure last week. I know it may seem a little out of season for a Catrina, but she will be wearing this all spring and summer, what can I say, we’re a year round skeleton family.
Little Miss really likes these dresses and when she finds out that I’m making her a new one she hovers around waiting for it to be ready to try on. It’s exciting for me that she really wants to wear the little dresses I’m making. I think I may just have to buy all of the Lilblueboo patterns, there are so easy and stylish. We get a lot of compliments and people are amazed that these are handmade. If you have a little girl to sew for I can’t recommend these patterns enough. Make sure to stop by The Lil Blue Boo blog as well for some great tutorials for embellishing you fabrics for a more custom look.
I have some other great girly tutorials to try, but I just can’t stop making these knit dresses, I wish the pattern came in adult sizes. I have been eyeing the Halter/Tie back dress pattern for this summer.
The first Thursday of the month is when we have our Lincoln Handmade Etsy team (facebook fan page) meetings. They’re a lot of fun, full of crafty gossip, eating, knitting, crocheting, and other craftastic fun. This month the team gave me a baby gift: a thrifted t-shirt and a Hobby Lobby gift card. We had a good laugh about the shirt and this is what I turned it into.
This is the third gown I have made and once again it was really easy. It took me about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish and I was not hurrying. I used red thread to coordinate with the pythons and I really like the way it stands out on the finished gown. I have to confess that I am totally addicted to sewing with knits, I just can’t stop!
Thanks Lincoln Handmade Team for the awesome shirt and gift card, I’ll giggle a little every time the little man wears it!
As I was cleaning my dining room/craft table I came across the plarn I had made last month. I immediately felt the urge to finish the already started bag. I think I was just looking for a reason to stop cleaning, but my theory was crochet the bag and then I won’t have to find somewhere to store the plarn balls. I just sort of made this up as I went along, so no pattern to share, however if you’re looking for plarn inspiration check out RecycledCindy’s blog, she has a lot of great ideas and free patterns.
This bag worked up quickly thanks to the large hook and I used up all of my plarn! It seemed like it took me longer to cut the plarn than to crochet it, but the cutting is the boring part. I made stripes to make it a little interesting, I wish I had more colors to choose from. 
It turned out a great size for grocery shopping and the red stripe will coordinate with my “meat” bags. Plarn was easy for me to work with and I will be making more of these bags, it seems like there is always plenty of plastic bags around even though I normally bring my own bags or at least ask for paper.
I want to try VCR tape next, although I hear that it’s a little harder to work with,(it sticks to the hook).
