My new neckie...

I made a few of these necklaces as gifts, so I patiently waited until they were distributed before creating this post.
Thread Banger, an online video DIY network, taught me how to make these necklaces in this video.
How I modified: I skipped a lot of the sewing and instead cut up several strips of jersey T-shirt. Then, I stretched them taut until they rolled up, and gathered them at both ends.
How I fastened: safety pin for now. Still a work in progress. I gutted some of my old jewelry and tried to sew some claw-end fasteners to make it more necklace-like, but I quickly lost one end during a party.

Brooches or hair pins?

Learned how to make these through this Martha Stewart wedding tutorial, and then improvised.

Never buying gift wrap ever again...

I LOVED making these bows and gift bags this holiday season.

Because my feet were cold

These look much cuter in the tutorial:

Directions for care: no water or sunlight, just love

Flowers for Chewy!

From rags to rags

My tiny little kitchen gets a lot of use, and I've gone through tons of kitchen dishcloths. Not explicitly for dishes, mind you, but those cloths that are used to wipe down hands, wipe up spills and clean those other culinary messes.

I've always gotten plain and boring-looking dishcloths, store-bought. I would regularly launder them, sure, but over time, those dishcloths become threadbare, stained and just kinda icky.

So this weekend, I tossed the last of my last dishcloths, went up to the city for the weekend and realized I needed a solution upon my return.

It came to me something like this: old bath towel, bit of decorative cloth, some hems - a-ha!

I don't normally cut up bath towels, but this was a worn, junior-sized piece of terrycloth, once white, that somehow got washed with a red beach towel and turned pink years ago. It was also my designated "hair turban," that I felt I could live without.

My problem was restraining myself from making the dishcloths look too pretty. Snippets from my internal crafty monologue: How about this floral print? Does it need ribbon as an accent? No, it'll be wiping up your coffee stains. But what about a lace trim?

Luckily, that monologue was short-lived: the dishcloths are hanging in their new home.

The experimental apron-smock

You know when you think you have a really great idea, but then halfway through the production process you realize it's not going to manifest the way you want, and you're ready to abandon it?

That was almost the ending for this project, a former H&M pinstripe button-up shirt I acquired through a friend's closet dump.

I love challenges: I wanted to deconstruct all of the pieces and make something new. The subtle blues were so pretty, and I was hungry for a new dress.

But my appetite lacked foresight. I envisioned using the back panels of the shirt as the front of a new dress. But after cutting out the sleeves and shirt fronts to refashion into panels, I shortly ran out of fabric.

In my stash, I had pieces of a pale blue pinstripe men's shirt that coordinated perfectly. But most of that shirt had gone by the way of several tote bags and other projects, leaving me with only limited sizes and not very useful shapes, either.

A friend pointed out that it looked like a great apron, so I was ready to concede. Less fabric, right?

This afternoon, I finished it - hemmed all the sides, added a dainty pocket, attached the neck straps, added some back straps.

But you know what? Even after all my handiwork, I couldn't get over a fundamental struggle: I don't wear aprons!

And so, my solution: get a wire hanger, drape it on the wall. Remember Sad Dress No. 1? That one's still in my bedroom. It now has a teammate, Failed Apron-Smock No. 2.

Underwood typewriter

A find on the Oregon coast, at Little Antique Mall, one of my favorite antique consignment shops.

I wanted the quaint but timeless reminder of how every letter counts as a striking note on a page.

Shod in shoes

These Target shoes were missing a grommet. But is that going to stop me from purchasing the last size 7 pair? Of course not!

After I received my 10 percent discount, I got home and began my button reconnaissance. I collect buttons, ribbons and sewing notions rather haphazardly, from Goodwill and cast-off clothes. I've been known to pick up sparkly things off the sidewalk to save for later. Kind of like a crow.

My search was a success: I found two nautical-themed buttons and two round gold buttons given to me by a friend. (She was fashioning her own dirndl, but I digress.) A little needle and thread, a little craft glue on top - brava! I created the illusion of buttons on shoes.

Please cross your fingers for me that these buttons stay affixed throughout the rainy season.

Taiwanese tapestry

My dear friend Chewy brought back a beautiful remnant of Taiwanese fabric from her travels.

It's a traditional print of peony bouquets that Taiwanese women would often use for home decoration. When the Japanese came to rule Taiwan, the fabric was exported to Japan and also became incorporated in bedrooms there.

More history on the fabric can be found here.

I love how the vibrant colors are similar to Mexican-print oil cloths.

On the tapestry: I just hemmed the sides, purchased a $.99 dowel from a local craft store and tacked up ribbon.

Baby blanket grows up!

For months, the members of my knitting group, the Knotty Girls, have embarked on a secret project to make a baby blanket for our friend Sina.

Lo, and behold, it's completed! We presented the blanket to Sina at her baby shower this weekend.
The 5-inch squares, 52 in total, are all garter stitch and lined up in contrasting patterns.

SOME PIG

A Yorkshire pig at the Marion County Fair. I always wanted to be Fern Arable.

le tote

A tote bag that I finished tonight, reconstructed from an XXL men's plaid shirt from Goodwill, a couple of linen napkins and a black baby T from my town Austin, Texas - it was a gem from which I could never part. And now it's immortalized in a tote bag.


Here's detail of the pocket. The black T-shirt was baby-sized, so I never wore it, but its logo hails from the Continental Club, a live music spot on Congress Avenue.

Beach knitting...

We can knit anywhere, including Torrey Pines beach in San Diego, Calif.

Strands of bliss, really...

I feel giddy/fuzzy/sparkling/bubbly for ribbon. It is a timeless adornment that has the ability to embellish and compliment any project. Even with ribbon wound in its spool, my fingers like to rub along its surface in happy anticipation.

Unintended consequences, part II

I've taken up knitting! The girl who learned her crochet craft from her mother as a wee child has crossed over to the double-stick'd side. And...I like it.

I think that for a new first-time-doing-this-craft project, sans pattern, I came out fairly well.

At my friend Eunice's instruction: I used a simple knit-purl-knit-purl (stockinette stitch, for you experts) repetition, and then decreased the number of stitches, first slowly, then dramatically, as I made my way to what would be top of the head. (Think a Hershey-kiss shape). Then, with just about half a dozen loops left on the needle, I strung a single piece of yarn through the top and created the crown.

A few oversights: the hat was a bit small. An understatement: pint-sized. But who wears pint-sized clothing? BABIES! And I have just the baby in mind, my friend's daughter who is just about to turn one years old this year.

Luckily, I used berry-colored yarn (leftover from the bolero shrug), which struck up another inspirational thought: a berry hat! For a baby! So cute! Babies wearing berries! I was nearly beside myself.

A crochet embroidery needle helped stitch small, X-shaped black dots that I hope resemble strawberry seeds. A crochet hook made triangles of single crochet stitches that I hope resemble a strawberry's leafy crown.

I almost never post photos up of gifts that I haven't sent yet, but I thought, well, if this baby is smart enough to find my blog and look at her gift beforehand...let her be. Her daddy just better keep mum.

Baker's hat...

This hat came from the bottom of a sweater I've had since freshman year in college, and various fabric scraps. I followed the pattern from this tutorial I found on Craftster.org, one of my favorite crafting blogs. I decided to forgo making the brim after a few unsuccessful attempts; cutting out a moon-shaped cardboard piece without an X-Acto knife or patience gives you some pretty rugged brims, even if it is going to be fabric-covered.

Unintended consequences, part I

When I first picked up crochet a few years ago, I wanted to make my friend fingerless gloves. The pattern came from "Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker," but I was not happy about the manipulation of the pattern around the hand. I ripped out several rows, several times, until I was ready to give in.

But the fishnet-like stitch gave me inspiration to keep going. And for the longest time, I had two rectangular swaths of black, lacy crochet that kept getting squashed between the ugly balls of yarn I know I'm never going to use.

And then along came a cold, wintry day...and AH-HAH! Leggings that cover my calves, giving me a few more inches of warmth when I want to wear boots and a skirt.

Modeling in front of a mirror on your own is not fun. And, I still owe my friend a gift, since I never made those fingerless gloves, and I can't bear to part with these leggings.

My digs...

This is my first opportunity to give an update on my crafts, even though the completion dates on these projects span the last few months.
I live in a cozy, one-bedroom apartment in a 1950s-era apartment building. With mostly 1950s-era folk. So I like to have a little bit of mod, little bit of throwback, in my decorating mix.
On my living room wall:

The embroidery hoops are from an antique store in Roseburg, Ore. The fabric comes from Cool Cottons in Portland.
In my bathroom:

During college, I spent a summer in Duluth, Minn. A kid's-size T-shirt from one of my favorite Duluthian stores makes a great memento wall hanging. Just a tip: I ended up nailing the fabric into the border of the canvas; I'm sure a staple gun would have been much more efficient.
And near the kitchen:

I love snail mail!

My first fully-crafted garment: the bolero

A round trip worth of flights with layovers on each end helped me accomplish this little shrug in one week. As I recall, the yarn is a Vanna brand.

The pattern for this comes from "Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker: Debbie Stoller." It's become my crochet Bible.

Yarn candy..yummy

What do you do with all your yarn scraps? Ball them up and stick 'em in a glass jar, of course!

This was inspired after a trip to Nestucca Bay Yarns in Lincoln City, Oregon.

My posts do not reflect the growing number of crafts on this end. But I promise, one of these days I will get around to cataloging.

save pandas from extinction!

My Halloween costume. About two months late in posting, but I do wear it at least once a week.