Tag: diy

Works in Progress

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I usually write about my projects once I’ve finished them, but I constantly have many different things going at once. Kind of a creativity ADD, if you will. At the moment I have three different things on the needles, plus a sewing project in the “pile of fabric stage”, and some painting projects in various stages of completion/planning.

My carry-along project this week is the same one I was working on at the Hollywood Bowl. I’ve been naming this series of Earlybirds after appropriately colored birds, but I can’t think of a purple bird name. Any ideas?

My big project for this month is this little guy, a panda bear lovie for a certain Little Bear’s birthday on Labor Day. I’m just about an inch from the halfway point, where I will be able to start decreasing to make it go faster again. Don’t worry, once I’ve finished the body this little guy is getting black eyes and a nose.

Remember how I said I was going to remake these bags from the Hollywood Bowl night? They are currently my fabric pile. I’m also going to make some snack-sized bags to go along with them. If you want a tutorial to make your own, I got my general idea from this site. I made my own pattern based on the measurements listed on my plastic bags in the kitchen, though.

There are a few other things lying around my room that I am not currently actively working on, but I think this is going to keep me busy at least for this week.

Something Up My Sleeve

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Well, not technically up my sleeve yet because it’s still 100 degrees every afternoon and wearing long enough sleeves of that would be absolutely insane.

This idea came about when I was preparing for my Paris trip and trying to come up with a way to carry my wallet contents without actually having to deal with a wallet in such a tourist area. Because everyone knows pickpockets gather in tourist areas. Which is why I wear pants with buttoning pockets to Universal. Well, that and so I don’t lose my phone on a roller-coaster.

Anyway, back to the wallet. I didn’t actually get it finished in time for Paris because I got stuck on the closure. I had originally planned for snaps so it could be reversible. That didn’t work out so well because I kind of forgot how to put the snaps in, plus snapping it seemed like it might be a little difficult to put on one-handed.

I finally went with buttons and loops. Much easier to put on. I just made a long bias strip out of the remaining piece of the top fabric and cut 4 – 1-and-a-half-inch strips.

I made an opening with a zipper to keep everything safe inside. I took the zipper pull off and sewed the edge to each side first. Then I put the zipper pull back. Pretty easy to put it together this way.

The fabrics I used for the outside and the lining are the same pattern in two different color ways. Both are from Anthology Fabrics from a couple of years ago.

Outside:

Inside:

I like how this came together, but I think I am also going to make another one. Just to have a couple of options, especially so I can wash one and have another on hand. I think I will do the second one on the bias and just make it slip over my hand rather than using a closure. If it works out, I may just write that pattern up and share it.

A Carry-Some

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I’ve created a long list of projects for myself recently. In order to get everything done in a reasonable amount of time, I’ve started carrying some socks I’m working on with me nearly everywhere. Seriously. I was knitting and walking around downtown Burbank the other day wasting time before I had to go back to work.

Anyway, there is no room in my purse to continuously shove the socks, needles, stitch markers, and information card I need to work on the socks at any spare moment. So I needed a way to contain everything and attach it to my bag (or carry it on its own). Luckily, I had a free workshop on Craftsy to make a small drawstring bag. I also had the remnants of some “fat quarters” (a half-yard of fabric cut along the fold) lying around.

The bag came out just the perfect size for all the things I needed to carry to work on the socks I’m currently making.

Plus, the drawstrings let me either tie it to the strap of my big bag or carry it on its own. I even tied it to my belt loop the other day while I was walking.