7 posts tagged “crafty”

My son loves Elmo (or "MoMo", as he calls him). I don't think it's from watching Sesame Street, because we don't do that too often. I think it's because of that stuffed doll he's holding in the picture on the left.

I decided that because of his love for Elmo, that I should make him some Elmo clothes.

So yesterday I went to the fabric store and got some denim and some Elmo fabric. Yesterday and today, I made some Elmo pants. I did it as jeans with a side stripe partially because I thought pants made entirely out of Sesame Street fabric would be too busy, partially because the denim was cheaper than the Elmo fabric (due to a Memorial Day 60% off coupon that was good on denim but not on juvenile prints).

Meet Barbar. He's named after Barbar from the kids books, because people have said that he looks like Barbar.

He's a stuffed elephant I made about a week ago. Someone had scanned in a pattern from an old woman's magazine and posted it at a craft forum I visit. I thought it looked cute and decided to tackle it.

I've never made a stuffed animal before. And this was probably a poor choice to start with, because it didn't have directions, just the pattern pieces. And it was one of those old style patterns that is printed on a grid and you have to enlarge it onto graph paper by hand.

Rather than doing that, I moved it to the computer we have hooked up to our TV. I then traced the pattern onto freezer paper. I decided to make it bigger than the pattern called for. As I was playing with the size and asking The Husband what he thought, he kept saying that big is good and that big stuffed animals are fun. I think it came out a little too big for Wiggle Worm, but whatever, he'll grow into it.

So I had the pattern traced and cut out. I went out and bought the grey fuzzy fabric, the pink felt, the fiberfill stuffing, thread, and crinkle material. Crinkle material? If you're familiar with baby toys, you know that they sometimes will crinkle when you play with them, and I decided that it would be fun in the elephant's ears crinkled. So I had everything I needed to make the elephant, and I sat on it for quite a while. It intimidated me. I've never made a stuffed animal. You have to sew these things closed by hand! And attach the elephants head by hand! And I didn't have directions! But I bit the bullet and started working. After only a few mishaps (and thankfulness that I had just recently bought a seam ripper), I had finished the elephant.

It's a pair of overalls I made for Wiggle Worm about a month ago. I designed the appliqué myself. On one leg is a giraffe, the other is a tree. The outline and horns of the giraffe are part of the appliqué. The eyes, nostrils, mouth, mane, and tail of the giraffe are done by hand with embroidery thread.. You can't really see the tree and I forgot to take pictures of it. It's a green oval for the "leaves" and white/cream for the trunk and branches. Another detail I forgot to take pictures of is the legs. The snap open, because who wants to pull down overalls to change a diaper, and on the inside is a cute brown ribbon with orange paw prints. Sure, paw prints don't really go with giraffes, but it was too cute to pass up.

Exhibit A, a scarf that I'm working on as of last night.

Six and a half years ago, I decided to learn to knit. I got the book Kids Knitting. I highly recommend the book, by the way. I picked up the knit stitch, the purl stitch. I learned how to put them together to make nice looking ribbing, and I started on my scarf.

Unfortunately, I have very small gauge knitting needles. After hours of work, my scarf was maybe 6 inches long. Even worse, the ribbing that I had chosen pulled the scarf together so tightly that it was maybe 4 inches wide. I gave up at that point, because what good is a four inch scarf?

Two-ish years ago, I decided to try it again. I picked up one of those "knit your own purse" kits and started knitting in the round. I still don't quite know how I managed it, but instead of knitting a tube, I knit a mobius strip. A purse with only one side does not hold keys. So yet again, I gave up.

A little bit ago I was in the craft store getting something unrelated to yarn and saw the Knifty Knitter kit. I was intrigued. I did a little bit of research online and decided I wanted to try it someday. But I also decided that one crafty thing at a time was probably a good idea, especially given my past attempts at knitting.

But then I got a 50% off coupon for any craft product to use at the craft store. So I picked up a small loom, which wound up being $2.50 after the coupon. I figured for $2.50, I could fail give up again.

But it's easy! And quick! And I can do it! I might actually finish the scarf this time (I'm even using the same yarn I had purchased 6 1/2 years ago).

I don't have much to say, but thought this picture was too cute to not share it. I love his double chin.

As a side note, I made the overalls he's wearing. I'm really enjoying sewing, especially the projects that I've done lately, as they're pretty quick. I've made (that came out okay, there were a few projects not mentioned because they aren't usable) in the last month or so:
* Curtains for our family room
* A pair of pants that he doesn't fit yet
* Two wool diaper covers
* A matching pair of slippers
* A baby quilt
* Tree leaf covers for the arms of his mobile, to make it more interesting and match his room better
* A crib sized blanket/play mat with a waterproof inner, that folds up into a tote bag
* Baby overalls
* A baby bib to give as a gift

I've been practicing with free motion machine embroidery. I'm not too bad at it (for a beginner). I think I'll have to pick up a hoop so that I can do it properly. I've got some ideas for appliqué and embroidery clothes for him.

I have no idea why, but my beginner sewing self decided to do some appliqué for the quilt. Take a look at the results (link on left goes to all pictures).









I think it came out quite nicely considering (1) I'm not great at sewing (shown by inability to consistently sew a straight hem) (2) it's my first quilt, and (3) it's my first attempt at appliqué.