Things I've made in the past couple months, plus crafty plans

Happy 4th of July! Jordan has the day off. I hope you and your family are having a good day, too!

I already posted about my cocoons, but just wanted to update. They fit great!

My mom baked it, I decorated it.

Also for Suzi's birthday. We didn't break it, so we still have it.

Father's Day gift. The button is a magnet for holding a photo or list and says "We (heart) Paw."

I still haven't quite perfected this sunhat I've been working on.

Tie dyes never look quite so pretty as when you first untie them.

Sweater gnome for Suzi

A wool diaper cover for Robert. Need to develop a better pattern. And also figure out a better method of dyeing wool.

Simple baby dress for a little friend's birthday

To-craft list:

at least 4 more of those baby dresses
a similar dress in my size (already half done!)
pocket babies and small wool/wooden dolls (to sell, maybe)
a better sunhat
more diaper covers for Robert
birthing time flax seed heat packs
a bunting decoration kinda like this


Possibilities for future Hippie Handicrafts meetings:

wire bird nests
wire trees of life
sweater flowers
singed-edges flowers
lentil balloon balls
sweater arm warmers
sweater hats for kids
freestyle sweater stuffed animals
fairy doors?
gnome houses, maybe?
polymer clay mama ornaments?
whatever anyone else thinks of and wants to lead!

Also, I want to do a tie-dye party before the summer is over but that will require some extra people for child-watching. Hard to chase after a little one when you have a limited amount of time to use up dye and you're wearing dye-drippy rubber gloves! I also want to do some Hippie Handicrafts for the kids. Maybe I will ask if Megan can lead the little ones in a craft, because we all know that's not my strong point!

Upcycled wool mustache

I'd been thinking for a while that upcycled wool would make a pretty nice mustache. Today I tried it and I was right! I used an old wool coat I bought at the Goodwill clearance center, but it would work with a tightly felted sweater, too.
















I cut out a classic mustache shape and tied a loop on either side to go around the ears of the wearer. If you make the loops too small it'll look like you have cat whiskers in addition to a mustache. Suzi's needs to be loosened a bit but she was ready to wear it. Right now she is sitting on the couch watching a movie, wearing her mustache. Actually, she may never take it off again! Boy was that a cheap toy!

I bought a small green Vera Bradley bag at a thrift store and I'm going to make her a master of disguise kit. I'll put a few different styles of mustaches/beards in it, and some accessories like hats and glasses. And maybe a bubble pipe. What else can I put in it? She won't want girly stuff. I meant to do it for her birthday but just got too busy!

Turning aggravating blankets into a custom slipcover

My parents gave us their old love seat. It was comfortable and gave us extra seating. Unfortunately it didn't match with the rest of our living room. It was also such a light color that it was bound to look disgusting in no time. Three little kids and all.

We decided to buy a couple of tan blankets to throw over it, but that didn't work either. The kids would jump all over the love seat and the blankets would slip and bunch, so we were constantly having to adjust them. Putting them on was like making a bed. So aggravating!

Today I decided to do something about it.

I started by taking one blanket and lining the hemmed edge up along the floor. I did this on all the bottom edges of the cover. That way there was nothing to hem! I cut enough to cover the seat and the lower front of the love seat.

Then I cut a piece for the part you lean back against when you sit down.


Then I cut a piece for the back and one piece for each of the arm rest fronts.


I pinned right sides together and sewed together these two pieces to meet in the crack of the love seat.


Next I put what I had so far back on the love seat and pinned the arm rest fronts on. Pinning while the pieces were on the love seat was clearly the way to go. I could tell just where I wanted to sew, pin it, and then take it up to the sewing machine.


I flipped the back part up over the rest, pinned right sides together and took that upstairs to sew it. Then I put it back on and looked at what I had so far.


I knew the next thing would be the tricky part. Armrests. Curves and corners coming together! To make sure I didn't screw up my limited supply of fabric, I pinned some before I started cutting.


I pinned and cut and pinned and cut and pinned, until I had all of it coming together. I wasn't always able to pin right sides together, so I just pinned it the best I could and straightened the rest out once I got to it on the machine. I cut a little extra to tuck down into this area. I think I'll call it the armpit.

Once I had sewn all this part together, I was not at all sure it was going to work. It seemed like a jumbled mess at the sewing machine and I only knew what to do with it all because of the pins. So I brought it back downstairs, pulled it onto the love seat, and...

Yes! Yes! Yes!!!
















Then I did the other side, which was a little easier the second time around. Done! That is so much better.

Ivey and Suzi came home from Grandma and Grandpa's house and right away Ivey tried out the new cover by jumping on it with her shoes. It still does wrinkle and bunch, but it's a lot easier to pull it back into place now! My mom was impressed. She said I have some Mammie in me (her grandmother). As a child my mom would point out a dress she liked in the store, and Mammie would sketch it off and sew it for her when they got home. I can't currently do that, as much as I would love to. I do have some hope though, because Mammie was a grandmother when she did that and I am only 27 (well, next month I will be). I've got time to develop my skills.

Crafted for our moms: Upcycled silk

Their birthdays are four days apart.

This necklace for Jordan's mom almost didn't go so well, but this tutorial from Hobo Mama saved the day. Jordan also helped out with a fancy Boy Scout knot. Instead of shopping for beads the right size, I just made polymer clay balls the size I wanted. With only five beads, I like the extra weight it adds.

And for my mom I did a wrap bracelet. The little beads are the same ones as on my birth beads bracelet with a little copper wire added. It can be a long necklace too, which is probably more my mom's style.

Cashmere shorties, modeled by Ivey

I love these short, chubby little legs.

I made these shorties (Ivey calls them "pents") out of a funky-colored cashmere sweater in my stash, one I really didn't like that much, because this was a practice run. I wasn't nervous about cutting into this holey cardigan. It wasn't like when I cut into the sweater I used for the owl shorties. Julie gave me that one and it was the perfect thickness and a hard-to-find color. I was kind of scared to cut it, but luckily it ended up a success.

The cashmere was really soft and, even though I had to cut into the shoulder seams on one side to get enough material, and there was a hole in the butt, I think the shorties turned out pretty nice. They were my first try in a totally new size.

I sewed up the hole in the butt and put a heart patch over it. It needed a little something anyway.

I love making these. Next I need to wash and lanolize them so they can be used as water resistant covers. I've never had to care for wool diapers before, but I'm hoping these will be easier than most. They're already felted so that's one less way for me to ruin them, right?

A melted-hem dance skirt

This is something I made a couple of weeks ago after getting a couple of polyester silky pieces at the Goodwill clearance center. I used a red silky blouse and more of the prom dress from the cape project to make Suzi a little dance skirt.

First I made some flowers, which was a lot of fun. You've probably heard of this technique--seems like everybody's trying it! It's an ingenious way to use some old polyester (and no, it won't work with real silk). Here's a tutorial I just found at Restorative Living for some big, fluffy flowers! Very pretty.

This is my flower all stacked up but not yet sewn.

Anyway, for the skirt I measured around Suzi's waist and decided to cut leaf-shaped pieces that were about 7 inches wide at the top and larger at the bottom. I folded the fabric in half to cut like this.

Then I cut a rounded edge upward sort of like this.

So once I unfolded it, this is what it looked like.

It only took me a few minutes to melt the bottom edges, and it was fun.

Then I sewed all the pieces together, one by one, up the sides. I cut five pieces but ended up only using four once I saw how big around it was looking. I didn't want it too poofy.

Once they were all together in a circle I pinned down the top edge and sewed it to make a slot for elastic, leaving a little gap between where I started and finished.

Then I threaded the elastic through with a safety pin (it got stuck once--annoying!) and sewed the ends together.

At this point I realized it might not allow for the freedom of movement required in dance class. It was a little longer than I envisioned. So I snipped a little further where two of the leaves came together to create a little slit. This goes over the left leg. I did have to go back and very carefully melt those new cut edges.

Then it was pretty much finished. I just safety-pinned one of my flowers over the spot where the slit was.

Another flower on a hair clip (made with a button from that same blouse) finishes the outfit.

What I don't like: It turned out 2-3 inches longer than I really wanted, but that's what happens sometimes when you don't use a pattern. The fabric is also stiffer than I'd like. I really wanted to make a red skirt out of the other fabric, which was softer, but Suzi wanted a green skirt. Her favorite color and all. I think next time I'll also use a thinner (weaker) elastic.

What I do like: I think this is a fun, fast way to make a skirt, and I don't regret trying it. Suzi wore it to dance and it was cute. I also think it'll be useful later as a dress-up item or if one of the girls wants to be a fairy or something for Halloween. And hey, she put it on. That alone makes it a success!