put a hex on it

I confess that when I see people with funky stickers on their laptops, I feel a little pang of jealousy even though my brain tells me that tricking out your laptop is the silliest thing in the world.  I couldn’t justify actually spending money on one of those cool laptop skins (which are surprisingly pricey) so I made my own with a little fabric and gel medium.

I don’t know how well this would hold up if I were putting it in and out of a bag every day, but I don’t actually travel with  my laptop very often.  (And there are plenty more scraps where these came from, so I can always reproduce it if it gets damaged.)

Nothing says “sewing dork” like hexies.

 

 

 

see you in september

I thought I had better make it official and announce that I won’t be posting until September.  The blog has been lagging this year and I’m going to officially take the next couple of months off to assess its future.   Hope y’all have a great summer!

 

speaking of hearts…

Remember the Purple Durple Blankie?  Here it is fresh from my sewing machine and here it is being all loved up.  Not only does Ms. Mimi, owner of said blankie, have a favorite blankie, but she has a favorite corner on the blankie. 

When I went down for a visit in December, I had been told that there was a hole in the blankie that Mimi wanted fixed so I arrived with needle and thread in hand.  I proposed to patch the hole with a red felt heart.  Mimi thought that was a fine idea and after giving her approval, she ran off to dance around the living room.  Her twin sister Beanie, meanwhile, is very detail-oriented and curious about how things work, so she sat watching me very closely as I cut out the heart and began sewing it on.  I offered to cut out a heart for her as well, but she said no, her blanket didn’t have a hole.  Well, ok, I replied, if you want one anyway, just let me know.

As I was stitching, Beanie kept saying to her sister, “Mimi!  You’d better come look at this!  I think you’re really going to like it!”  (We decided to leave the hole at the very edge of the corner since Mimi likes to twist it around her finger.  It’s all the details, people.) 

Then, as I was just about finished, Beanie’s eyes lit up and she said she did have a blanket with a hole in it.  She ran off and returned with one of those thin flannel squares that had the tiniest of holes.  We looked through my collection of felt shapes and she picked out a wee purple flower, which I quickly sewed on for her.  Their mama came by and seeing the flannel sheet said that it wasn’t a favorite and I didn’t really need to patch it.  But being a sister myself, I know how important it is that things be fair and equal when you’re little.  It will be a favorite, I replied, because now it has this awesome flower patch.

 

calendar cozy

Hello, lovelies.  I haven’t forgotten you, just been on the road.  I finally got a bit of money and decided to spend some of it visiting friends in Maryland and New York City over the past couple of weekends.  It’s important to nourish friendships with face-to-face visits now and then, and I hadn’t seen some of my friends in a very long time.  I have this image of darning socks — reweaving threads as they start to come loose.  Gotta stay on top of it or before you know it, you’ve got cold feet and no friends.  There is nothing worse than realizing that a formerly-dear friend has become a distant acquaintance due to nothing but negligence.  My MD and NYC friends are so awesome that I couldn’t bear the thought of losing them like misplaced gloves.

Meanwhile, the new year is almost upon us and that means time for a new calendar.  I am old school in that I like to carry a paper calendar and pen instead of relying on a fancy phone (which I don’t have) or electronic organizer (which I don’t want).  For many years now, I have carried a sort of small Filofax knock-off but I was lured by this petite Moleskin planner to try something new.  I wanted something a bit smaller than my old datebook and the Moleskines are so pretty.  Although the idea of using a different style calendar makes me a bit anxious, I went ahead and bought it anyway.  (Does everyone feel this way when they switch up a system — like a datebook or email program, etc.?) 

When I got back to my friend’s house and was looking at the calendar, I realized there was a problem — Moleskines have no place to stash a pen.  I was fretting about this with my friend and was saying that I could put the calendar and pen in a small bag but that would defeat the point of my buying a smaller datebook than my old one.  He suggested I make a cover with a pen loop for it.  When I said that was a really good idea, he replied, “you have made one anyway, I’m just stating the obvious.”  I laughed and agreed that soon everything I own will have it’s own cozy.

So I put this together last night with a little trial and error.  It has a pen pocket along the spine and a pocket on the front and back that I can use for cards or notes.

It is still a bit rough around the edges.  If I actually get around to making a second version, I will have wider flaps on the sides and neater edges, as well as making the back flap differently to allow for using the elastic closure.

But it is pretty and unique and functional, so it’ll do for now.

 

itty bitty elephant

Here is a little work in progress.  This wee elephant measures just 1.25″ wide and less than an inch tall but he’s actually too big!  I wanted him to fit on a fabric-covered button form so I’ll need to make an even tinier version for that.  This will become a small brooch but I want to add some tiny bunting before mounting it on a piece of felt.  An excellent way to use up my little scraps of linen.

At the last minute, I decided to do another craft fair this morning.  Tight Knit, the group that runs the Black Friday event I was at, also holds a craft fair every Saturday at the Troy Farmers Market.  I’m sharing a table with my friend Betsy, whose work I love (check out her shop here), so it will be a lot of fun.

Tomorrow is the Victorian Stroll here in Troy and if you are a local, you should come check it out.  It’s a very festive start to the season!  There’s also some kind of chocolate festival at the New York State Museum.  I don’t have the link but I suspect it’s worth googling!  My plan is to stroll in the morning and eat chocolate in the afternooon.  Hope your weekend will be as sweet!

 

plushie prototype

I spent the other evening working out a pattern for a stuffed animal for my nephew for Christmas.  Here is the first prototype, which looks a bit like a lamb although that’s not what I am making my nephew.  It’s funny that I used this green and white striped fabric because I really disliked it and couldn’t think of a use for it, but I think it’s very charming done up as a stuffed animal.  So I put a bow around its neck and now he’s Bill, the Christmas Lamb.  There is a second Christmas lamb named Joe, who looks just like Bill except his nose slopes a bit less.

The final pattern that I worked out for my nephew is very VERY cute and will be revealed shortly.

 

black-eyed susan

In trying to figure out what do with the handful of felt flowers I made last week, I turned the black-eyed susan into a small rice bag.  This is almost unbearably sweet, but I do love the way it turned out. 

This is how the flower looked when I first constructed it.  I didn’t entirely like the flatness of the leaves, but I discovered that sewing a tight running stitch around the leaves added some great texture.

 

dahlia too/two

Here is a second attempt at a felt dahlia.  The top one is the newer version and makes the bottom one look more like a poinsetta than ever.  It has a better shape and more fullness.  These are crazily detailed to make, but admittedly the sort of thing I love to do.  There is something very meditative about cutting out all those leaves then sewing them together one at a time.  I also like the experience of the process unfolding, since I just sort of put them together and hope for the best.