Dealing with the Visual Clutter of the Craft Room

I love my craft room! there is so much inspiration tacked up on the walls and so many little do-dads stashed everywhere. There is a lot going on in there and I continue to add to the collection, while I LOVE all of that stuff it can be a bit overwhelming.As you can see, the craft room is right inside of my front door, so everyone who comes over sees my crafty mess first thing. Now I know that my clutter is not shocking to anyone who comes over, but that doesn’t mean that I want them to see it the minute they come in the door. The doors are also not in the best of shape, there are several panes of glass missing, the doorknob is gone and there is some weird burnt/melted looking part on the top right door and there is a “trick” to shut them. New french doors are on the list, but they aren’t a huge priority. I made some lined fabric panels for the inside of the doors using some of the Project Runway fabric I bought forever ago. It’s sooooooo dramatically different! I like it so much I’m going to make another set of curtains for the dining room side of the doors, I happen to have some more of the lovely fabric I used for the giant dry erase calendar. The added bonus is that I can now go into the craft room, shut the door, and be out of sight, out of mind from the kids.
After shelves, I think covering things with curtains is going to be my favorite way to fix things, oh I might even start covering my shelves with curtains! I can think of a few more things that would be greatly improved by covering them with curtains and I do have a good stash of fabric.

The Bath Puff

The bath puff has been on my must crochet list for quite a while and I finally had time to whip one up. I used some scrap balls of cotton yarn and some of my vintage cotton terry cloth yarn for added scrubbing power. The pattern is easy, the most challenging part is fitting all the stitches in where they go. I ended up skipping the last round, my puff was already really puffy and I was running out of scrap yarn.

When I got about half way finished with this it occurred to me that I wasn’t going to like using it. I absolutely hate that musty smell that washcloths and dishcloths get after you use them once and this was going to be the same way. It sure is pretty though, it might look nice setting around and maybe once in a while I’ll use it and then toss it directly in the wash so it doesn’t get gross, I bet it would take forever to dry. It would look nice as a gift with some body wash, but is it weird to give something this impractical? Who’s going to wash their bath puff after every use? Hmmm, would it make a good duster? Anyone have an idea on what to do with this?

Kitschy Fun Magnet Tutorial

You know that extra special fabric you bought, the one that you hoarded for a year and a half before making it into anything and when you finally did cut into it you saved every last scrap, yeah, well I have a project for those scraps, Fabric and Felt magnets!!!

You will need:

• fabric scraps
• fusible interfacing, any weight that you have on hand
• felt
• promotional magnets, think insurance promos, calendars, etc.
• an iron
• a hot glue gun
• mesh press cloth or paper

Start by roughly cutting out your fabric motifs, you can also start with squares or rectangles if you’re planning to make shapes, letters, or numbers. Lay out you mesh press cloth or paper, this will protect your ironing board from the fusible interfacing. Lay you rough cut shapes, right side down on top of the press cloth. Now would be a good time to press your scraps and get all the wrinkles out. Roughly cut a square of interfacing large enough to cover the shapes and fuse according to interfacing directions. Peel fabric and interfacing off of press cloth or paper. At this point I cut off all of the exposed interfacing because I like to press everything again to make sure it is fused really well. The interfacing helps stop fraying, if you want your edges to fray skip this step. Trim fabric into desired shapes, for motifs leave a narrow border around the edge of the design. Match up the pieces with scraps of felt. Sew along the inside edge of the fabric, trim threads, and cut felt to shape. If you are using thin magnet sheets they can easily be cut to shape with regular scissors. I like to cut the fairly large, they are not super strong and I don’t want magnets sliding off the fridge when the door shuts.Hot glue magnets to the felt and you’re finished! The tattoo fabric still frayed, even with the interfacing, oh well. I need to finish up all the other shapes I cut out and fused, but I ran out of time. These are a great stash buster for those super special scraps. I might have to go back and add some glitter, dimensional paint, or rhinestones, they need a little “bling”. I think I need to make some sets of three or five to keep handy for little gift, it would be a great hostess gift or just for fun.

Eco Chic Grocery Shopper

It started off with a plarn tote and was followed by a MEAT bag and now the set is finally complete, reusable produce bags!I used this simple tutorial from Craft Stylish.  I used tulle for the fabric (it’s what I already had) and ribbon instead of yarn for the ties.  I also did not turn the finished bag, but left the raw edges on the outside, I figured you would see the edges either way so why add an extra step.  I made six in about an hour and a half and I can’t wait to use them at the store.  I also need to make at least one more plarn bag, I’ve been collecting and cutting some interesting bags, but I don’t have enough yet.

Have a super crafty weekend!

Reusable Gift Bags

After reading this post from my friend Julie (I’m beginning to think that everything from China is dipped in lead, just for fun), I decided the reusable gift wrap was the way to go. I have such a large supply of fabric, some that I have had forever and this is a super way to start using it up. I needed to wrap some coloring/painting books for a party that we went to yesterday.

I found this fun retro TV fabric in my stash and cut it to size and pressed down the top edge (where the drawstring would go). I made two button holes, sewed the sides and bottom together, and sewed to channel for the drawstring. For the string I used a piece of bias tape, another sewing notion I have a large supply of, sewn together, threaded through the channel and then I added beads to the ends and knotted them.

I don’t really think that the 7 year old that received this was very impressed, but I think his Mother liked it. The great thing is that it can be reused in so many ways: gift wrap, toy storage, project storage, overnight bag, lunch bag, etc. and I know that is isn’t going to be toxic or end up in the landfill. I guess I should start making some for Christmas, I just need to figure out some standard sizes to start with and then I can always make specialty sizes later.

My First Amigurumi

I am still cleaning away and I have been finding yarn, boxes and boxes of yarn (really these aren’t all of the boxes, but I had to stop). Now you know I’m not going to throw perfectly good yarn away, so I need to start using more of it.

A lot of it is acrylic yarn, vintage acrylic, which is rough and scratchy. Really the only thing this stuff is good for is pot scrubbers and amigurumi.

I checked my ravelry favorites and found this free pattern for Kokeshi dolls and just went for it.I really like how they are looking. Now I just need to embellishing them and stuff them, which I think will make them look even better. My first hair attempt was a little to big, so I did have to make a smaller one, I’m still not sure about it (right side doll). I’m really liking the tall bouffant hair on the left side doll.

Now I have a strong desire to make a giant one, I don’t know why, maybe I’m just trying to use up more yarn. This is a nice and easy pattern with minimal seaming. The embellishment possibilities are almost endless and the yarn color options are varied. I think I will make a whole army of kokeshi dolls and if I want I can even sell the dolls I make! You know, I think that a giant felted kokeshi doll would be awesome and I know I have a bag of felting yarn around here somewhere! Does anyone know if amigurumi has to be crochet or can it be knit too?

Are Your Ears Cold?

Mine aren’t either, but I’m prepared if they do get cold.  I have resolved to use up some of my stash of everything, but especially yarn.  You may remember this yarn from the swiffer cover and dusting mitt, well I still had some left and so I made an ear warmer.

It’s just a tube with some 2 X 2 ribbing around both edges.  I still had a bit of yarn leftover and I have a crochet project that I’m going to use that last little bit for.

I also decided to make an earflap hat.  I started out with this pattern and changed the earflaps a bit, left off the horns, and added twisted cords instead of I-cord.

            

I made the pom-pom using a doodle-loom that I got on clearance at Hobby Lobby.  The doodle-loom made it easy to cut the pom-pom, but overall I would have to say that I was unimpressed with it.  I was hoping to make big, full poms, but these ended up kind of limp and not as full as I wanted and I wrapped that loom until I couldn’t fit anymore yarn on it!

I don’t know what it is about earflap hats, but I can’t stop making them.  If you know of any good patterns let me know I’d love to try a new style!

I Made a Scarf

Now that the weather is getting nicer I’m in the mood to knit winter wear!  I was going through my yarn stash yesterday and I am officially grounding myself from the yarn store until I use up or give away some of this yarn.

I had quite a large ball of epais yarn left over from the Town and Country capelet that I made in December and so I decided to try an easy Mile a Minute scarf.  It worked up quickly while I watched TV and didn’t require a lot of attention to the pattern.  I really like the color of this yarn, it is much richer in person with flecks of orange and black.  It ended up about 5 1/2 feet long, not to bad for leftovers!

I’ll have to put this away until this fall.  I think tonight I’ll work on some more washcloths.  It’s nice to have a stash of finished scarves and washcloths available for last minute gifts and filler at craft shows.

Summerlin Dress

The Summerlin Dress pattern was just to cute for me to resist! Knitting and sewing in one pattern and quick to make too!!! I love this pattern and could make a million of them, I wish that there was one in my size.
This knitted up very quickly and was super easy. I had some cotton ease yarn on hand from a frogged project and this cute vintage pillowcase from a yard sale, so this was a great stash busting project. I have enough yarn left over to make a little shrug or sweater to go over it if I find the right pattern.I still need to prewash everything and attach the skirt, but that should be easy enough. Action shots coming soon.