Kind of simple and boring, so I put a flower clip on it. Because I didn't have a bird.

Since I’ve been doing s a few projects requiring crochet skills, I decided to brush up on them with a couple of simple projects using yarn I had “laying around”. I made this simple cap with mostly double and triple stitches, in the round, and some decreasing. I forgot the you should really start a cap at the top, so I kind of worked backwards, but it worked.

I’ve also discovered that Kitteh is very much a “ball of yarn” kind of kitteh. I will have to get photos of that as it is quite amusing. I know not to let her around the yarn unattended, though, and keep my projects in a box when I’m not around. I know too many people who have spent thousands getting yarn cut out of cat bellies.

Bridal Tulle (the fine gauge stuff) makes a good everyday scrubbie. For a tough scrubber, you'll want to use the coarser netting.

I also made another set of scrubbies from a roll of that bridal tulle I had laying around. This time, I got the “in the round” right and they are all a nice, flat circle about 4″ in diameter. It seems like one roll of bridal tulle, cut in half (that’s the PITA part) makes 5 of these almost exactly. Now I just need to learn to work the saw so I can cut the roll in half quickly!

Oh my crochet skills are weak!

is complete! Towards the end of the project I was literally scrounging around the house looking for two more plastic bags! Something I was swimming in when I started.

If you are looking to upcycle a huge stash of bags in a somewhat useful way, this is a great project. All you need is:

• A bunch of plastic “t-shirt” bags
• Scissors (or cut with a straightedge and a rotary cutter, like I did)
• A large crochet needle
• Patience

You can find the basic directions for turning bags into “yarn” here. Here are a few project patterns. I kind of winged it.

My crochet skills were somewhat lacking when I started; aside from the scrubbies I made the other day I hadn’t crocheted in years. Nonetheless, I think it turned out ok. I would like to make another, so I’m putting out a call for plastic bags!

Egyptian Grocery Bags

While I was hunting down bags, I found these two from my trip to Egypt. I held them out because I really want to keep the printing on them. Maybe these are good for a fused project?

I found this pattern for crocheted tulle scrubbies. I had one of these from a craft show, and it was great! Sadly, my crochet skills pretty much end at granny squares, so I ended up going in a slightly different direction. Here’s my new scrubby:

Jon is in the process of preparing to ship his burgers, which will be a start. (Although it’ll never be quite the same as nibbling on one under that big old oak(?) tree.) But I can get kombucha down at the health food store and….

Nah, still not the same. So I decided to try my hand at it. With a little help from my friends, I found several online how-tos, went to Cliftonatty and got myself a nice big bottle of live culture tea, and am starting a SCOBY. Here’s a photo of what it looks like after 5 days, with a little added sweet tea.

½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla

Mix the cocoa powder and the water in a saucepan. Heat and stir to dissolve the cocoa. Add the sugar, and stir to dissolve. Boil for 3 minutes over medium heat. Be careful not to let it get too hot and boil over! Add the salt and the vanilla. Let cool. Pour into a clean glass jar, and store in the refrigerator. Keeps for several months, but trust me it will be gone before then. Yields two cups.

From: Amy Dacyczyn’s The Complete Tightwad Gazette

Tried it today, drizzled over my favorite additive free coffee ice cream. As George Takei would say, “Ohhhh Myyyyy!”

Lace Knickers

A few months ago I bought some wide (6″) stretch lace “trim” from Sew Sassy Fabrics. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but I found that it does make some very easy panties!

The pattern is pretty simple. You only need three pieces traced out. The main piece of the panty is simply a loop of the stretch lace that wraps around the hips.

The pattern pieces

Cutting

Because you want to use the lace edge on each piece, you will need to cut the front & back pieces separately. The liner piece should be cut out of cotton interlock (or part of an old t-shirt?) on the fold.

Cut one front and one back piece with the pattern face up, along one edge of the lace. The other front and back piece should be cut with the pattern piece face down and on the other edge of the lace.

Face up back

Face down back

Face down front

Face up front

Now you should have two back pieces and two front pieces. Measure snugly around the hips, subtract about 15%, and cut a piece of lace to that length. We’ll call this piece the band.

Sewing

Front and back pieces

Place the band right side down on your workspace, and pin one back piece to each end of the band, overlapping approximately 1/4″. The lace edge of the band will be on the outside. Stitch together with a small zig zag stitch.

Attach back to band

With the right sides together, pin the front pieces to the back pieces. Stitch with a very narrow seam allowance.

Attach front to back

Fold in half, right sides together, and stitch a narrow seam allowance along the central seam.

Center seam

Position the liner, with right side facing the wrong side of the lace, approximately 1″ toward the back from the seam attaching the back to the front. Stitch in place. Fold towards front.

Place and stitch liner

Stitch down front edge of liner. I don’t stitch the sides. Interlock should not fray. If you are concerned about this, you can hem the edges.

Fold towards front, stitch in place

Fold band in half so that you can mark the center front. Line up the seam in the front with the center front on the band, and pin front to the wrong side of the band, overlapping by about 1/4 inch. Stitch with a zig-zag stich.

All done!

Update

After several wears, I can say with conviction that they are the most comfortable and well fitting lacy underwear I have ever had. Even better than most of my Granny panties! I have an order in to SewSassy.com for more lace!

Fleece Socks!

This has got to be my favorite and most repeated project in a long long time. I made everyone on my list these warm, cozy socks for holiday gifts. Here are some of the reasons why this is an awesome project:

1. You can make it with a standard sewing machine; no serger needed! You could probably even hand-stitch pretty easily if you are adept at whipstitch. I did make these once with a serger and found the seams invasive. A medium to large zig-zag stitch makes a much more comfortable seam.
2. This is definitely a remnant project. You need about 1/2 yard length of polar fleece for 2-3 pairs of socks, and that’s only for the long front portion. Since fleece remnants at JoAnns are usually 50% off whatever the current fleece price is, you can get these really cheap when fleece is on sale!
3. It’s also a great way to use those weird pieces left over after making pants and dolman-sleeve tops.
4. This is a sew in one hour project once you’ve drafted the pattern pieces. I’ve made so many that I usually whip a pair out in 30 minutes now.

Drafting the Pattern

I copped my pattern from some photos of a deconstructed sock I found online. The patterns I found in searching were all a little “off” for my taste, and the stretch/give of polar fleece means that you have a little wiggle room. It is preferable in this case to use the stretch and not over-ease the pattern, or you will end up tripping over the socks!

Here is a photo of my pattern pieces. When I get the pieces scanned and traced, I’ll add a PDF.

Left to right: sock front, sock back, sock bottom.

Let’s work from right to left. After quite a bit of trial and error, here is what I found as the best way to draft the pattern to fit:

Select a flat shoe that fits well and doesn’t have too much bulk. Trace around it. The tracing will add about a half inch of ease. If you want to get finicky (like me), trace both shoes (left and right) on the same space and “average” the tracing out.

You’ll want to soften this to an oval shape, with a tapered toe and a wider heel. You don’t want the sole to taper in at the sides; that extra ease allows for the arch of your foot. Then add another 1/8 – 1/4 inch for seam allowance.

For the back, measure from your heel to however high you want the sock to go. Draw this line on your pattern paper. Then measure around your calf where it will stop. Subtract about 1 inch, then divide by two. Draw a line this long centered at the top of the length line. Take your sole pattern and center the heel end over the bottom of the length line and draw the heel curve up towards the top line. Now use a ruler and draw lines connecting the heel edges to the top line ends.

One both the back piece and the sole piece, measure in about two inches from the apex of the heel curve. Mark this with a notch on each side.

To draft the front of the sock, overlap the sole and the back piece, lining up the notches. Trace the resulting shape and smooth out the sides to a straight line. This will be the longest piece.

Cutting

You can see that I took my pattern and drew it out of tag board, then cut them out. This is nice because I can easily trace around with tailor’s chalk and then cut my fleece with a pinking wheel. Place the pattern pieces on the folded fabric with the central line on each piece following the “grain”. This will mean that the greatest stretch of the fabric will wrap around the foot/leg.

Because fleece doesn’t fray, you can cut it with a standard blade or a pinking blade, it doesn’t really matter. I like the pinking blade because I think it looks nicer on the inside, but sometimes it doesn’t cut quite as easily as my straight blade.

Sewing the Sock

First, decide which side of the fleece you want on the inside (wrong side). I usually use “anti-pill” fleece. For most projects I put the fuzzy side out, but for socks, I put the fuzzy side in. If you want to make life really easy, take your chalk and draw a big X on each piece on the side you’ve decided is the “inside”. (I do this on any project where the right/wrong side of the fabric isn’t blatantly obvious!)

Mark the 2" (notch) line on each back and sole piece

Attach sole to back

Pin the back to the sole at the center and the notch marks with right sides together. Using a medium or large zig-zag stitch, sew very close to the edge around the heel from one notch mark to the other. Be sure to reinforce the stitching at either end. Keep a really close eye on the layers while stitching to ensure both sides catch, as you are creating a very narrow seam allowance!

Match up front to back/sole

Flatten the sole/back piece. With the heel “flap” facing down, match up the front to the back/sole, with right sides together.

Attach front to back/sole at toe.

Attach at the toe. I have pinned the center and each side. This is not as precise as the heel measure, but you want to sew from the toe back towards the heel, rather than around in one fell swoop. I cross the stitching on the front of the toe as a reinforcement. Starting at the top pin, sew around the toe and up towards the heel. When you get to the hell flap area, be extra careful to pull the junction area to the seam. reinforce about 1/2 inch on either side of that junction by reversing the stitch and going back over.

One side stitched

Both sides stitched

Because fleece doesn’t fray, you could be done now. It will roll a bit at the top, but I usually don’t hem the sock. If you want to hem the sock, turn over about 1/2 inch at the top and press with a cool iron.

Fold over and press

Stich the hem with a zig-zag stich, gently stretching along the whole edge. Turn right-side out and enjoy!

Finito!

Eat Breakfast.

I good full well that this is a key to maintaining a healthy weight (which I am still working towards!) and staying energetic throughout the day. Even if it’s only a little yogurt or a cup of cereal, I will have some kind of breakfast.

So today I start an adventure where I look for some items I need for a couple of craft ideas at a local shop: Cappels. Best known for costuming, they do have a variety of craft supplies, so here’s hoping I can get what I want. Of course if I can’t get it local in a reasonable way, I am ok with going to national chains, but I’m trying to make it more of a last resort.

To bring more of my money into the local economy by choosing locally owned and operated businesses over big box, chains, and huge internet providers whenever reasonable.

Wow. Kind of a mouthful. So, Day 1: massive fail. Spent $$ at JoAnns (national chain) and (ugh) WalMart (national evil). Partly convenience factor, partly getting things I can’t seem to find anywhere else. Day 2: Shopped online, but did not purchase. I think my choices for some of this stuff would be very limited if I went with a local retailer, so…

Day 3: Finally, some progress. Made an appointment with a local eye doctor for an exam to purchase contacts. I’m moving over from Sam’s club. It is costing significantly more, but the money stays in Cincinnati, right?