Tag: craft

Birthday Shirts!

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I’ve mentioned before how June is a busy month for birthdays around here. Well, we have two of them. Now that I think about it, that describes every month March through June. Anyway, I decided to make t-shirts for both birthday boys. One asked me for a Baymax shirt and the other was having a cooking party so I made him a cupcake shirt.

I used my contact paper masking method to create stnecils for some fabric spray paint. I made the basic picture using the paint, then added the details in a couple of different ways.

For the cupcake shirt, I went back in with some embroidery thread to create outlines and details.

The other one being a cartoon character, I thought drawn details would fit better with the style. For that I used my trusty Sharpie pens I found on my trip to the closing Office Depot.

They both turned out really well. Well enough to say definitively that the contact paper method really works for creating stencils for the spray paint. It just takes a lot of light coats of paint to prevent bleeding and pooling at the edges of the sticker.

Wrapping Up Warming Up For Christmas

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Warming up for Christmas

Last July-ish I gave myself a goal of making hats for the women at Elizabeth House. I did end up making enough for the women living in both houses, though I had hoped to make more and have extras. That didn’t work because I got distracted, possibly a little bored, and tied up in some other projects. But, like I said, at least I made nine sets (adult, child, and infant).

Here’s the end result of this project:

Adult Hats

Adult Hats

Child Hats

Child Hats

Infant Hats

Infant Hats

They got distributed in Christmas bags to the residents.

I didn’t keep up with the project as well as I had hoped, and I didn’t work at the pace I originally expected. I don’t think I’m going to do something like that again. Too much stress to put on myself when I was also trying to make Christmas presents, working extra hours with a new baby, and just generally busy with the holidays. From now on, I think I’ll stick to donating to projects headed by others so it’s not all resting on me.

Keeping It Clean – Washcloth Pattern

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I LOVE cotton knit washcloths. I love making them, and I love using them. To me, they get dishes cleaner than regular washcloths, plus they can pick up more messes around the kitchen. And I make plenty of messes around the kitchen.

I’ve made washcloths many different ways, but I think I like this straight knit version the best. It knits up quickly and works really well with self-striping yarns. Plus, you can create whatever pattern in the center you want, like this heart:

Want to make one? You’ll need a pair of size 8 knitting needles and worsted weight 100% cotton yarn.

*These instructions are for the plain cloth, but you can create your own chart for the inner pattern in whatever design. The inner part is about 38 stitches by 54 rows.*

Cast on 46 stitches. Knit 3 rows.

Row 4: Knit 3, yarn over, slip 1 stitch, knit 2 together, pass slipped stitch over,* yarn over, knit 2 together* repeat to last 6 stitches, yarn over, slip 1 stitch, knit 2 together, pass slipped stitch over, yarn over, knit 3

Row 5: Knit 3, purl 19 stitches, increase 1, purl to last 3 stitches, knit 3

Row 6: Knit 3, yarn over, knit 2 together, knit to last 5 stitches, slip 2 stitches knit wise and knit together, yarn over, knit 3

Row 7: Knit 3, purl to last 3 stitches, knit 3

Repeat rows 6&7 until piece measures 1 inch less than desired length (for mine, I ended at 9 inches).

Repeat row 4.

Knit 3 rows, increasing 1 in the middle of the first row only. Bind off. Weave in ends.

If you just like using these washcloths but don’t want to make one yourself, I offer them in many colors on my Etsy site.

If you make one and post pictures, let me know! I would love to see other versions.

What kind of household items do you prefer to make yourself instead of using store-bought? What colors or patterns would you like to see in a washcloth?