birthday queen

Another birthday crown, this one for a 2-year-old birthday friend.  Burgundy corduroy with felt applique, lined with cotton.  This was way too big for her head but worked quite nicely in combo with a birthday hat.

These are a snap to make and so sweet, but I need to work on the sizing.  One too small, the next too big….

 

 

camelia creations

I made these fabulous felt flowers for a friend.  She saw this rose-colored flower (one of my sadly stolen items), which we decided looked like a camelia and asked if I could make one in white or crimson for her to give to a friend.  I decided to make both so she could keep one for herself.  This was a trade instead of a sale — she’s a master massage therapist and gave me an amazing massage while I was visiting last month in exchange for one flower.  The second one was included as a gift.

I really love the texture of these flowers and the subtle variation in tone from using two shades of felt.  They are so sweet and romantic.

 

for the ladies

I’m afraid none of the pictures of the gifts I made for the ladies in my family came out well, so I am grouping them all in one post.  My sister wanted some fleece socks so I made her two pairs.  These were the same as the ones I made myself a few months ago, except they are full on knee socks, which is awesome.  So toasty!  I have some more fleece to make knee socks for myself.  (Come to think of it, what am I waiting for?  I need to work on these today.)

My mom asked for a fleece vest.  I am still fiddling with this pattern.  She wanted it longer than the one I made myself (which is definitely too short), so I added a few inches.  I also flared the hem ever so  slightly so it would fit over the hips better.  With the extra length, it would be better to move the pockets up a couple of inches, and I’m not entirely happy with the shape of the armholes, but otherwise, it is cute, especially in this Christmas tree print.

My niece wanted yoga pants like the ones I made my sister for her birthday.  I have these down to a science now and only wish I had gotten a better photo.

Finally, here is a skirt I made for myself for the holiday season.  Again, a bad pic, so you can’t really tell that it has gold highlights on it.  This is a simple elastic-waisted skirt that is so quick to put together.  It looks great with the gorgeous boots I bought myself in December.

I forgot to take a picture, but I made my sister-in-law a very cozy, very bright pink cowl scarf (the ends are sewn together so you loop it around your head twice).  I had made one for myself out of a looks-like-cashmere-but-it’s-really-polyester fabric and I loved it so much, I decided to make one for her as well.  One of these days, I’ll take a picture of mine and explain how to make it, because it takes 10 minutes, looks awesome, and is super-duper warm.

 

rat pack revisited

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but bowties are making a comeback.  I made a couple for my brother, using a modified version of this pattern.  I ended up doing a surprising amount of research on bowties, and it turns out that even if your dude wants to tie his own bow, you still need to add an adjustable hook and slider set.  Different shirt fabrics will change the neck measurement enough that he will want to be able to adjust the length of the tie, and if he ties the perfect bow, he can perserve it by unhooking it instead of untying it.  I mistakenly assumed that Joann’s would carry bowtie sets, which turned out to be very difficult to track down.  I finally found some at The Sewing Place.

I made my brother two ties, one out of red Duponi silk for nights on the town when he’s feeling a bit Dean Martin, and a jauntier version out of cotton baseball print.  I was delighted when he wore this to work the next day.  (After weeks of bowties on the brain, I watched Shutter Island and all I could pay attention to was Ben Kingsley’s beautiful bowties.)

 

he knows if you’ve been naughty

Last year, I saw this awesome tutorial from Filth Wizardry for a Superhero Cape and I filed it away for future use.  My little three-and-a-half-year-old nephew is more interested in pirates than superheroes right now, so I made him a pirate cape for Christmas following her instructions.

This is a really simple project and the results are awesome!  So fun (and cozy) — I want one for myself!

 

flower power

I finished this flower right before the craft fair so forgot to list in my shop because I had never photographed it.  It’s my most elaborate (and thus most expensive) felt flower yet.  I can’t even tell you how long it took me to make this.  Ridiculous!  But I love the texture and the two tone color scheme.  I decided to call it a camelia after a friend asked about my making one for her and I looked up camelias and realized that is what this looks like.  I want to make one in white and cream.  I’d wear this in my hair if I could.  Actually, what I’d really like to do is make boutonnieres for a wedding.  Someone get married so I can do this, ‘kay?

I also finished up special order of 6 namaste eye pillows and if the light is better tomorrow I will take a picture.  I used six different fabric combinations and they look like candy.

Aside from shop talk, what is really exciting in my world of crafting is that my brother wants bowties for Christmas.  Something I can make!!  Anyone ever made bowties before?  Looks easy, but any tips?

Christmas!! 24 days…..WHAT?!?!?

 

workity work work

It has occurred to me lately that I have forgotten how to really relax.  It seems like I am producing all the time.  Even when I’m wasting time, I’m thinking about things to make or sentences to write.

I had a crazy weekend of felt flower-making and job-applying and dissertation-writing and baking, lots of baking.  Some friends who recently bought a yoga studio asked me to bake an assortment of treats (for pay) for an open house on Sunday, so I made two loaves of pumpkin bread (with and without nuts), two loaves of banana walnut bread, and maybe 8 dozen vegan cookies.  It was a big pile of food and I was very glad to help them with their new venture, but by last night I was pretty fried.

Today I managed to type the last few sentences of chapter 4 of my dissertation, print it, and drop it off for my advisor.  Somewhere along the way (last night?), I  made a lightbox so I could try to start taking better pictures of my crafts.  Today I managed to photograph the felt flowers and list them on Etsy, then create a facebook page for my shop.  (“Like” it here!)

I feel like I’ve been infected by the American work-work-work mentality.  Part of it is guilt over not having held a 9-to-5 job for the past ten years, like somehow I have to justify sleeping in whenever I feel like it and sitting around in my pjs all day, doing work that I love.  Even though I’m usually pretty poor, I have a really sweet life.  But lately, that life has been infected with production.  (We all do it — think about how many weekends you spend running errands or doing housework.)  I need a camping trip stat!  Actually, I just scheduled two weekends away for early December and I plan to do nothing but chat with friends, eat good food, see movies, and play scrabble.

In the meantime, you can see more felt flowers on Flickr or Etsy.

 

tree topper

You may not realize this, but I’ve never actually posted a picture of myself on this blog, but here I am.  The only reason I am showing my funny face is so you can see the fantastic hat I made for Halloween.  I was inspired to be a tree so I made a fleece hat and covered it with fleece and felt leaves, then pinned one of my felt Christmas ornaments on top.  I made matching mitts so my arms would be branches with leaves at the end.  I just dressed in brown clothing but next year I am making myself a woodgrain pattern outfit of some kind.  I am really excited about this hat!  In the dark, two party guests mistakenly identified me as a) an eggplant and b) salad, but they were pretty wasted at that point in the evening.

In other news, Cindy (comment #5) won the $25 gift certificate to my shop.  Cindy, I sent you an email with information.  Congrats!  Thanks to everyone for playing, and now back to our regularly scheduled program…