Idle Hands

Math sweatshirt

Sorry for the lengthy absence.  It has been a particularly exhausting couple of weeks, but I'm still here! 

In the midst of a busy week at work, I had a quick trip to Chicago, which also happens to be where my brother lives.  I wanted to take something fun to celebrate his acceptance to grad school for math.  He really loves math, and it makes me so happy to see him do something that he really enjoys. 

I decided to customize a sweatshirt, so I bought a plain blue, super soft one from Target.

Then, I made my template.  I wanted a font that would look like a University sweatshirt: Rockwell Extra Bold was perfect. 

I traced my template onto freezer paper.

Next, I cut out the letters with a very sharp pair of scissors and ironed the freezer paper to the sweatshirt.  This works because the waxy side of the freezer paper bonds to the fabric when ironed, forming a nice, paint-proof seal. 

Last, I painted my design using white fabric paint and peeled off my freezer paper template.  And here's the result!

Simple and easy, but personal and fun.  A happy-making little project.   

Whale softie

After the success of the recycled sweater wreath, we started a new policy in our house: no sweater left behind.  If a sweater is worn thin, pilly, stained, shrunk, or otherwise unwearable, it will be given new life through felting.  We just throw old sweaters in with the wash until they've shrunk down to somewhere around half their original size, leaving them wonderfully thick and smooshy.

I was inspired by my growing stash of felt to find a good project, and I realized that I had accumulated lots of cream, gray, and black.  There are a few new babies in my life, and a gray softie might be just the thing for a little baby boy.     

So, there's someone I'd like you to meet.

I bought the pattern from DIYFluffies on etsy, and I am quite pleased with the result, especially with the striped fabric. 

I particularly love the way the different striped pieces come together on the tail. 

The bottom and the eye are the remnants of an old cashmere-blend sweater and are particularly soft -- such a nice mix of textures, and so huggable. 

Also, making a stuffed animal this way is about a million times faster and easier than knitting the whole body.  I am going to have to do a few more of these, I think...

Finished Project: Mortar cowl

I've gone back and forth on this project.  It is a thank you gift for someone who likes bright colors, including citron and turquoise. 

In the yarn store, the citron really popped against a navy background, which is how we ended up here:

Truth be told, this has always been one of my favorite color combinations (for example, I sported this unusual combo in my junior prom dress), but in this particular pattern, it's fair to say that it's a little loud. 

It's certainly not boring.  

The recipient is a graphic designer, so I am hoping she will like the bold pattern, which is what fascinated me the first time I encountered the mortar cowl. This unusual, geometric design is created by holding the contrast color (here, the citron) to the back or front of the work while knitting in the main color. 

In its finished form, I think my favorite thing is the contrast between the two sides.

It seems likely that she'll either love it or hate it.  We'll see..

Finished Project: Moss and ferns

It's taken a while (a long while), but I am happy to say that moss and ferns is finished.

The textures are lovely together, and I think the recipient will like it (okay, I'm praying the recipient will like it...fingers crossed). 

 

P.S.  She liked it!  And doesn't she look adorable?

Boot Cuffs: Yay or Nay?

I started this project as a gift for someone else, then decided it was just too ridiculous. So...

I decided to keep them for myself. 

Friends, these are boot cuffs.  Somewhat miraculously, they do make your legs feel a bit warmer, but their main purpose is simply to adorn your boots.  Useful?  Not particularly. Silly?  Certainly.  But also, I think, whimsical and adorable.    

At least I am not alone, judging from all the boot cuff patterns available out there.  Mine are from the Kertasnikir Boot Topper pattern by Cirilia Rose, but here are a couple others to consider:

Quilted Lattice Welly Warmers from Pam Powers Knits

via Pam Powers Knits

Cozy Boot Cuffs from Churchmouse Yarns and Teas

via Churchmouse Yarns & Teas

Happy Knitting!

Summer quilt

We took the finished quilt out for a spin this weekend.

The front is assembled from the Summersville Leaf collection, the back is a green gingham, and the binding is a very sunny citron. 

Making this quilt was a lot of fun.  Because it was for me, I felt free to take my time and experimented a bit along the way.  This led to some good moments -- such as when I finally conquered making mitered corners with quilt binding! -- and to some funny moments, in which it became clear that I do not have a future as a quilt designer (as if that were ever in question).  My original plan had been to do the whole quilt as a simple patchwork of squares.  But I so loved the print of the streetscape of rowhouses that I wanted to show it off.

No big deal, I thought.  I'll cut that print in horizontal rectangles, and everything else in squares.  Happily, it did not take me long to realize that this plan was not as simple as it seems.  You can't cut the squares to mirror the dimensions of the rectangle -- they have to be a little bigger, because they'll be joined and need a seam allowance.  (For example, if your rectangle is 11 inches wide, then instead of two 5.5 inch squares, you need two 6 inch squares to provide a half-inch of seem allowance).  Okay, not too hard. 

Then came laying out the pattern.  I now had a combination of squares and rectangles that I needed to use most efficiently to make the largest possible quilt area.  And, of course, I wanted to get a mix of print sizes, so that one part of the quilt was not dominated by the big geometric prints and another by small-scale prints.  It started to feel like one big GRE logic problem (fabric A can join with fabrics C & D on any side, but can only join with fabric B vertically.  fabric D goes with fabric A &  B, but shouldn't directly adjoin fabric C.)  Agh!   

Suffice it to say that I was wishing I had just followed a pattern and not tried to make things up as I went along.  Lesson learned.

In any case, I am very happy with the way it came out.

And I am looking forward to enjoying the rest of the summer with my new quilt.  Hopefully, we have plenty of picnics in our future.

Smooth sailing dress

When I first decided to make this dress (Butterick B4842) from seersucker, I imagined an easy-going style, suitable for picnics and days at the beach. 

Unfortunately, the construction was not exactly smooth sailing.  I am pretty happy with the ribbon at the waist, but it does make the dress feel a bit more fussy.


I learned a number of things while making this dress.  Some were practical, such as how to put in a zipper.  Others were more general.  For instance, I learned that errors in sewing compound on each other.  The accidental cut resulted in the need for a ribbon, the ribbon made it more difficult to put in the zipper, and so on.  Sigh -- a good lesson on why it's important to get it right the first time. 

In a fit of frustration over the zipper, I called my mom for consultation.  She told me the story of her first zipper, which was for a skirt made in home ec, and which earned her a D.  I felt some solace thinking that this dress would eat least earn me a solid C.  And, while the pleats and zipper are passable at best, my thrift would earn me an A+.  You see, this dress is actually made from my old shower curtain.  Every once in a while, my hoarding tendencies are rewarded :)

Ray of sunshine dress

It's done!  It's very simple, but I am happy with it.
 
I'm looking forward to making another version with more fun details -- maybe an applique or some embroidery?  But I wanted to keep this one simple...

and I do love these buttons with the sunny yellow print.

Details: Butterick B3772

Charm square pot holder

Moda's charm squares are genius -- a whole stack of pre-cut, coordinated fabric, perfect for quilting.  I used the better part of a pack a while ago to make the It's a Hoot baby quilt, but I had a few brightly colored squares left. 

This weekend, I put them to good use making a pot holder for a friend:

I used eight charm squares, some leftover quilt binding, and cotton batting, and ta-da!

This would make a perfect housewarming or hostess gift, don't you think?  

My go-to baby gift: The serendipity hat

I am headed to a baby shower this weekend, so I whipped up another version of my go-to baby gift: the Serendipity Hat by Pixie Purls.

This is my fourth hat in as many months (see some earlier versions here).  I just love it!  The pompom and earflaps are a recipe for cuteness.  And the yarn (Spud and Chloe Outer) is awesome: it knits up quickly (good for me) and is a washable wool-cotton blend (easy for mom, warm for baby).  I know, I know -- I sound like an advertisement, but I promise no one asked me to say this.  I just really love this hat...