It's a new year! With it comes many firsts and new discoveries!
But first, let's backtrack a little to the end of 2015.
Christmas 2015: Our first Christmas together!
Not only is our first Christmas... it also is a Christmas filled with craft firsts.
We had stockings
It's not Christmas unless you have stockings.
This blog is where I found the patterns for the stockings, it was super easy and quick. This pattern uses batting, which I have never used before. I got my batting from wal-mart.... it worked for this pattern. If you are a novice to batting like I am.. your best bet is to go to Jo-Ann's to get the most accurate thickness. Regardless these stockings turned out very well!
Next on the list: Dolls
I now have a two-year-old niece by marriage. Needless to say, I was super excited because now I can begin making super-cute little girl things! My first endeavour was a doll.
I think she turned out really well!
Above is where I found the body pattern and dress pattern. It was super easy and quick.
As for the face and hair, I had searched for some ideas on Pinterest. I decided to go with hot-gluing yarn for hair and fabric paint for the face. I was very pleased with the results, so pleased in fact that I decided to make another one!
I have created a listing on my Etsy site in the hopes of selling some custom designed dolls.
Speaking of Etsy......
I had my first sale!!!! I was so excited!
What was the lucky product?
A set of pink dishcloths of course!
I went and bought a tag cutter, special stamp and fancy pens just for the occasion! Hopefully I can sell some more soon!
The next creation of the new year came from this Pinterest inspiration:
It really is very lovely, you should check it out.
From that inspiration came.....
A chevron-quilted pillow!!!
What else are you supposed to do with tons of fabric scraps and the desire to bring spring early?
This was so fun to make. Definitely good practice for making clean lines and edges in quilting....
I made 3x3, two-color squares and just arranged them so. I'm so glad I have a rotary cutter...
Moving on!
Next on the list is this little number from Simplicity!
I got this pattern from a super seamstress:
You should check her out.
I was lucky enough to model one of her creations on the internet!
So seriously, check her out.
Here is my rendition of Simplicity, 1356.
So this pattern is a reversible dress.
My first impression is that I may have made a size too big. It doesn't quite fit as the model wears it. Also, I blame my novice apparel sewing skills. This is my third article of clothing I've sewn. The first couple were all skirts.... I think it turned out alright! It was definitely fun to sew and a good learning experience.
Let's take a closer look at this fabric though... that is what makes the dress!
First off, yes those are chickens on the fabric. Who wouldn't want a chicken dress to bring in spring 2016? This girl does.
Okay so, the fabric.
I have an obsession with chickens... chicken print, chickens themselves, chickens. When I saw this fabric in Jo Ann's I simply could not pass it by. My original search was for floral, we see how that turned out.
Since I had chosen such a bold print for one side, I thought it would be best to find a more subdued print for the other. I chose mint, with gold triangles.]
So, on with the sewing...
Before assembly: side by side both patterns.
You can clearly see my chickens coming through my mint...Oh well.
This pattern also required sewing darts. I have never sewn a dart, I know they ar wonderful because they help clothing fit so well! I'm pretty sure my darts were a little off mark...
After a few more stitches the dress was assembled as pictured above.
I truly think the chicken side turned out the best, for whatever reason.
Let me tell you though, when spring comes you better believe I'll be sporting those chickens.
Coming up next...
So, I love to crochet. What does ever crocheter have? Hooks, tons and tons of hooks.
What do we do with those hooks? lose them... Not to mention those little scissors, stitch markers.. tapestry needles... lots of things to lose!
So... me being the organizer I am decided that I needed a central location to keep these items.
For my birthday last year, my now-husband bought me a crochet book with lots of fun little projects... one which happened to be a....
CROCHETED HOOK HOLDER!
Perfect, right?
Soooo, I got right down to making this little holder. It called for all single crochet, which I loathe. That was only until I realized I had been doing it wrong... forever. Whoops. SO, I found this cute little star stitch instead. (which was super fun to make.) I added a shell-edging to finish it off.
This pattern called for a fabric lining, so some things may look a little familiar.
Those darn chickens again!
Gotta love 'em. Here is the completed product. It was fun and easy. Needless to say, I will NOT be losing crochet tools anymore!
Finally, to conclude the 2016 craft-palooza may I present:
crochet boot cuffs.
Super easy, super simple.
Since I was the reciever of some long desired boots this Christmas, I thought: what better to go with boots than cuffs?
So I made some!
Super easy, short, sweet, to the point.
This is now the end of craftpalooza 2016.
