Cushions

As I keep working on more pincushion jars, here are some other cushions made for our house. The larger ticking stripe cushion was to cover up a coffee-stained cover that took one too many spills. Which covered the original dark green floral - ick. The chair itself was better than thrifted, it was free with a condo we owned a while back - we found it on the teeny tiny balcony. Clearly both chairs need paint.

Wednesday WIP ... or is it?

Back in the day when thinking about and researching this blog, I noted down the features on other blogs that I liked, and one is the Wednesday work-in-progress idea. Well, I forgot last week, and this week I don't have a good photo of the project that is taking me forever - a bag for Jack that started out as a dress for Katie. Hmm, really, don't ask.

Instead, I'm going to post about a recent book bonanza which I'm sure will lead to many works in progress of the future. I've been reading about and seeing posts from these books for a while and put them on my list -

Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson (from the Purl Bee, but I didn't know that until after I opened the book and read about her)

I included two links here, one to the blog where they mention making the very bag from the cover, and one to the Purl SoHo Online Store where you can purchase, or of course at Amazon.

I love love love Purl Bee, they use such lucious colors/yarns/fabrics (wouldn't you love to have that employee discount?!) and they have free directions and patterns to all kinds of beginner-friendly projects.

SouleMama's newest book, Handmade Home. I already had Creative Family, and I liked it, and love the blog, and I was really REALLY looking forward to this one. Haven't done more than glance thru it yet, and of course see the posts turning up other places. With cold and flu season upon us, I think one of the first projects may be the "Papa's Hug" hot water bottle cover made of a flannel shirt and some embroidery. Yum.


Betz White's Sewing Green. I know this is older, but you know, new to me. Betz White is the queen of felting thrift store sweaters and using up all the pieces in intricate flowers, cupcakes, and other embellishment projects. She also has created a line of outdoor-weight cottons all eco-friendly printed. Check out her blog. I just got these a day ago so have only dipped inside. Can't wait for a long nap time and a cup of tea to just peruse them at leisure.

Finally, Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing book.
Have not even opened it yet! I kind of felt that with all this book goodness I needed to pace myself and save some to look forward to. As the days get shorter and grey-er I'll need some spots of brightness soon.

Monday Round the Blogs

{a black pepper}

I love the aqua color in this herringbone throw and can't believe - still can't believe after thinking about it for a day - that I've never thought of doing this simple throw myself. Just unravel the ends and tie them in tassels. It seems like something you'd do in summer camp but then here is a beautiful and very sophisticated adaptation.

Checkout Girl (sachet tutorial)

I've been digging this blog ever since Soulemama mentioned this tutorial. Not just for the endless and creative variations once you get a groove going, but I love her description of herself and her journey "to a town on the ocean, a town with a museum and a bookstore, a town with a fabric store and a coffee shop, where artists live. Maybe I'll be one of them." Substitute "town in the foothills" for "town on the ocean" and I couldn't agree more.

Pincushions!

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For the Etsy Store. Aren't they cute? Wish me luck!

I had been thinking about what I could do with all my old baby food glass jars, and had been thinking about pincushions after seeing the tutorial on the Purl Bee. Of course, simultaneously someone else made them for the magazine Green Craft. But MINE have mirabou...

Happy to Have Curtains

This was one of those little easy projects that just took forever to get to, but then I was so happy when the curtain finally went up. In direct proportion to how long it took to get it done. Lovely small print rose knit fabric from one of my all-time favorite shops, now only accessible to me on holidays - Homespun Boutique in Ithaca, NY.

Monday Round the Blogs

A fun post on costumes from last week, and one on pj's and decorations:

Soulemama
- especially loving the ladybug girl, we just read one of the books last week.

Shivaya Naturals
- how did she get the long skinny teeth on her jack-o-lantern?

Cute Robot Costume

Almost entirely repurposed! I bought a can of yellow spray paint (which I'm sure I'll use on other projects) and some silver lamé since I couldn't find any at the thrift store, in any format. The outfit was from a thrifted woman's top that I cut into a toddler pajama pattern I made a while back. I added scrap yellow knee and elbow pads, don't ask why as I'm not entirely sure but it seemed to go with the vibe. Sweet Potato didn't like the box we originally made for her, too constricting, so I cut it down to be a sandwich board which also worked better for getting her into and out of the car. I sewed "dials" on the front and back out of large lids (oatmeal and cream cheese, I think) - I sewed them through to buttons on the inside, so they'd be able to turn. Then I hot-glued smaller knobs on to hide the sewing. Finally, I made a modified hat out of the silver lamé - it was lovely to work with, thick and stretchy at the same time. I painted yogurt cups yellow and cut slits at the mouth on either side, then threaded elastic through and sewed that to the hat. That allowed the "ears" to move and hopefully made it more comfortable.

You can see her volume goes up to 11.