Kindle Cover

I recently got a Kindle Fire. To be honest, I'm sort of on the fence about it...it doesn't seem to work perfectly as either a tablet or an e-reader (because of the backlighting). But, it was free, and it's a handy, fun little toy. I kept my regular kindle for reading, and mostly use this one for accessing the internet.

To keep it from getting scratched, I decided it needed a cover. I used this tutorial, which was clear and easy to follow. And I ended up with this:

A quick, easy project. So quick and easy, in fact, that I repeated it to make a matching cover for my camera :)

(Interesting how these photos look like completely different colors, but it is in fact the same fabric...hmmm....)

And, because I can scarcely believe how big I am getting...unattractive self-photo! Six months down, three to go. (I actually took this photo almost two weeks ago...and the belly has continued to grow since then!)

Giveaway Results

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to comment on my Giveaway Day post! This is my first giveaway ever, so I was really excited to participate, and it was fun to check out all the different and new-to-me bloggers who linked up at Sew, Mama, Sew!

The winner of my giveaway was Michell, who has chosen this little bag as her prize:

Michell, you will hear from my shortly via email! Thanks everyone!

Giveaway Day!

Edit: Giveaway is now closed! Thanks for all the blog love!


Happy giveaway day! I've never done anything like this before, but I think it sounds like a fun idea...so thanks to the people at Sew, Mama, Sew! for organizing!

For my giveaway, the winner can choose from any of the zippered bags in the photos below. All you have to do to enter is comment and tell me which one is your favorite! You don't have to follow my blog to enter, but I'd love it if you did anyway :)

The giveaway will close on December 16 at 5 p.m., and I will announce the winner here on my blog and by email. If your blog profile doesn't have an email, make sure to leave it in the comments so I know how to find you!

Happy giveaway day!

Zipper Pouches!

I like to organize things, so I think zippered pouches are great. For cosmetics, or hair elastics, or pencils...anything, really! So, I made a few.

 I always need help remembering how to do zippers, so I referred to this tutorial at SewHappyGeek as a reference, although I clearly didn't do the paper piecing part.

 These kinds of pouches are also great for carrying around the bits of smaller projects...for the past few weeks I have been doing some embroidery projects, which are very portable.

Like this one!

The free embroidery pattern for the little owley is from here. Adorable! And fun to stuff as a Christmas gift!

Back to School, Back to School...

Even as a teacher, my favorite part of back to school is new school supplies. Fresh pencils and pens, cute notebooks and folders...it makes the whole process a little nicer.

So, I've whipped up a few things to ease the process...

Scottie dogs!

Green is my favorite color :)

For these ones, I used a tutorial here. The way she installs her zippers is different from how I usually do it, and I think it maybe came out a little neater than usual.

I made a larger pouch as well, following instructions here.Currently it is holding my embroidery supplies.

Enjoy the rest of summer, and be safe - Irene is coming!

Look what I made!

Yesterday, I tried to put a zipper into a dress I've been working on.

I put it in. Realized it hadn't gone in right. Took it out. Ripped about a billion stitches.

And then needed a reassuringly simple project, to make me feel better about the hours I had spent accomplishing nothing.

So I made one of these!

~grocery bag!~

 But the best part is, it folds up into this!

~all folded up!~

Tutorial here. This was cute, fun, and easy. I'm thinking they would make great little gifts - you could keep one in your purse for an unexpected shopping trip!

Now, I'm going to try and put that zipper in. Wish me luck!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

My mom, all fancied up for my wedding!

 In honor of Mother's Day, of course I had to do some crafting. I made a few of these... (tutorial here) So cute, and so easy!

Tiny covered notebooks

 One of these... (tutorial  here) because my mom has a pocketbook full of cards...

Loyalty card holder

 And some of these! (tutorial here) My mom has a blackberry, but she is notoriously bad about leaving it places. I thought maybe if she could attach it to her keys, she might be able to keep track of it :)

Cute little pouch

 Finally, for my mom and grandmas, some sugar scrub. I have to admit, I was skeptical about this concept at first, but this stuff is AWESOME. Even my hubby loves it, because he comes home with gross rough hands and likes to smooth it all away! Tutorial here.

Sugar Scrub

To all the moms out there - Happy Mother's Day! Hope you have been having a relaxing day!

Handmade Holidays, Part 1

This year, I want to give as many handmade gifts as possible. I feel like there's something so personal about a handmade gift...but it does take up a lot of time!

First, I had to get in the holiday spirit. So I made some Christmas stockings. Since this is the first Christmas that Keith and I will be living together, I thought it was suitable to have new, matching stockings.
This project reinforced to me the importance of planning out the WHOLE project before you dive in...I think it ended up being harder than it needed to be because I didn't think it through. The stockings came out smaller than I'd hoped (I seem to keep forgetting that seams make things smaller) but I'm pleased with the final product. Keith and I went together so we could each choose fabric for our stockings...mine is the green one (of course) and Keith, also predictably, chose one with penguins. My favorite, however, is the one we chose for Rufio...

Now, on to the presents...

I had planned on making Beth a paintbrush roll for Christmas, but I finished it early and got excited so I gave it to her for her birthday, which was last week. She was really excited! Up until now, she's been keeping her paintbrushes in plastic bags...now it will be much fancier.

My grandmothers are two wonderfully crafty women who will truly appreciate a handmade gift. They are each getting one of my snowmen, and I've made tote bags to hold them. I recently acquired a copy of a great book called "Sew What! Bags" by Lexie Barnes. The projects vary from very simple to "pro" difficulty, and the best thing about it is that it gives directions on how to make various types of bags without patterns, and great instruction on how to customize projects to your needs. It also gives lots of basic sewing tips, which are great for a beginner like me, but I suppose someone more advanced could just skip them.
Anyway, I used this book to make a collection of tote bags from various Christmassy fabrics.

This gift package went today to my Aunt Helen, a master knitter and crafter extraordinaire. She is 105 this year, and can't knit anymore because of her arthritis (a fact which bothers her to no end!)Usually I hate putting faces on my creatures, but I think this one came out pretty well.
I'm going to round out my gift bags with star ornaments and hand warmers, made from a pair of (sadly) defunct jeans and some scrap fabric.These aren't stuffed yet, because I haven't decided what to put in them yet. I got the idea and directions here, and they were remarkably simple to make.

Next up: a few manly catchalls for Keith and my dad, possibly from the other leg of those jeans...

Patchwork and my first zipper!

I wanted to make a grocery bag as a Christmas gift, and I thought it might be fun to make it in patchwork. I am pleased with the result, but I have learned several things:

• when working with patches, the final product comes out MUCH smaller than the sum of it's parts. I forgot about seam allowances!
• it is hard to make all those little seams match up. Boo.
  
• Interfacing is cool, but hard to put on the back of a patchwork piece. I think if I were to do this again I would interface the lining but not the patchwork - it came out a little wrinkled because it didn't lie completely flat.
  

So, although the final product is pretty, it's too small to put groceries in!
Then, I attempted to make a bag with my first zipper! It was easier than I thought it would be.


Last weekend I went down to Providence to spend the afternoon crafting with Carole Ann (you can see her cool stuff here). I am working on making a braided rug, and after several false starts, I think I've figured out how to work it so that it's really reversible. I'll write more about the process and post pictures soon...but I haven't had too much time to work on it since I've been thinking about/making Christmas presents! (Yes, I know...Thanksgiving was yesterday...but if I want to be done on time, I have to get started soon!)
I have been making several snowmen as gifts for my grandparents, and I'm going to make a paintbrush holder for my brother's girlfriend, who is a painting major at RISD. In my immediate family, we pick names from a hat and buy presents for just one person...and this year I got my dad, which means I have some serious thinking to do. I'd like to make him something, but he's a hard guy to give things to...any suggestions for brilliant gifts for the man who has everything? I think I will make him a set of microwaveable handwarmers...he teaches skiing in the winter, so that should be handly for the ski lift.

Happy crafting!

I made two bags from leftover fabric a few months ago using this tutorial. I wasn't completely satisfied because I thought they were a little boring. So, I spruced them up using embellishments inspired by these. I made circles instead of butterflies, but the idea is the same - I was amazed what a difference such a simple change made!

I also made a whole bunch of ornaments using this tutorial. Some of them are Christmassy, some not. So cute and so easy to make! I think I'll make more to give as Christmas gifts.

Adventures in Craftland...

The church fair was yesterday, so for the last few weeks I've been doing lots of knitting and sewing so I'd have things to donate. Here's what I've been up to...
Two sets of mittens and scarves (child sized, mostly because I didn't have much of this yarn left)

This next one is my personal favorite. Last winter, Keith's mom made a snowman using some sort of kit she got at work. I thought it was really cute, but it would be easier to knit one instead. So I sort of made it up as I went along. I think it came out really well. Now that I have a general idea, I'm going to work up a pattern. It was really simple to make, so I'll see if I can explain it on paper.

I also made another reversible purse. I like this fabric a lot. Think I'll make a few more to give as Christmas gifts.

I've been busy lately.

By which I mean I've been finishing a lot of half-done projects! Like these cute sea animals. I wanted to make more turtles so I'd have sets of animals that go together...

I'm debating about frogging the sock part of the baby booties in the last post. I'm just not satisfied with them...but of course I can't change the fact they seem to be made for a baby with two left feet. However, maybe if I just repositioned the buttons, you wouldn't notice unless you looked really hard. I'm going to have to be making lots more baby gifts soon - lots of people at work are having babies this year! Last year I made a panda bear (which turned out HUGE) and a turtle (another design - here), and before that a monkey and a bear. So I'd like to try something a bit different...I'll have to give it some thought.

I've also been doing a bit of sewing lately. I made this market bag from a tutorial here from some leftover bits of fabric scavenged (like most of my fabric, and my yarn for that matter) from my Grandmother's closet. She's a bit of a pack rat, and a lifelong crafter, so she lets me steal her leftovers. I think this fabric was probably used to make pajamas at some point. It's very soft. Why would someone want a market bag made of pastel flannels? That I don't know. I was thinking it might make a cute overnight bag for a kid's sleepover. Too bad I don't have kids. Like most of the things I make and can't use, it'll get donated to the annual fair at my church, and hopefully someone will find a use for it.

The church fair is also the destination for this next bit, a really cute little handbag made from a tutorial at MarthaStewart.com. Carole Ann gave one as a birthday gift to a friend earlier this year and I've wanted to try it ever since, so she pointed me in the direction of the pattern and I gave it a try. Again, note the interesting fabrics... I wanted to try a sample on some leftovers before I tried it on anything new (I'm fairly new to machine sewing and I often make mistakes...). It took me a few tries to get the last step done, but eventually I figured it out. It was actually a pretty quick project, so I made another one out of some cute green fabric I picked up earlier this week. That one I'm going to keep for myself :)

Rufio, apparently, liked the bunnies.

I've got a few more small projects in the works... (The fact that it's football season doesn't hurt because Keith is often gone or distracted for long stretches of time). Of course, I've also picked up some light reading: 汉语可以这样教。It's required reading for my courses next summer, and I'm thinking maybe if I get it done ahead of time...slowly...next summer won't seem so overwhelming.