Fiddling Around

At the Lincoln Square Holiday Market two weeks ago several shoppers commented that the zippered pouch I made to hold pencils or markers would serve nicely for knitting needles if it were longer. I now have a pro-type design for such a pouch. The outside is a cotton canvas, and its extra thickness and weight should hold a pouch shape well, especially stabilized for even more rigidity. I don't knit myself, so a casual survey of those who do knit suggested a common length for knitting needles--14 inches. This pouch will hold 14 inch knitting needles, a small pair of scissors, stitch counters and likely a pencil to mark your place in a cute sweater pattern.

Dressing the Turkey

Since I don't cook with much confidence, dressing the turkey refers to a simple dress I made for K. She is the perfect age for fun prints; this one is flowers in fall colors on a soft corduroy. K is also the perfect age for striking a bargain. In this case, she would let me take her picture if she could act silly in it. What a turkey!

To Market Again

I'm booked for this Saturday's Lincoln Square Holiday Market. Bags and pouches are finished and arranged. Since this summer and the last market I attended I've:

-changed the clutch purse closure from a loop and button to a magnetic snap

-added zippered pouches with silk-screened words on them ("mad money", "gadgets", "misc.")

-devised a zippered pencil pouch

Otherwise, it's more of the same. I know my smaller pouches fit gift cards for holiday gift giving. I know, having been a teacher myself, that fabric pouches would make a welcome teacher gift. I've been to the Holiday Market to double-check that no one else is making small fabric items. I'm set. Maybe I'll see you there.

Bag for G

My friend G requested a messenger bag in black canvas with a Japanese floral lid. It was a good exercise on two fronts. I have now scoped out the best in-town source for colored canvas fabric, and new supply sources are always interesting. I also devised a new method for neatly attaching binding. A little strip of steam-a-seam tape along the back side of the binding tacks the piece in place, so even when I sew it from the front side of the purse lid, I don't miss catching any binding. Try it!

I Love Scooter Fabric

I broke down and bought the only color combination I was missing in my stash of Japanese linen scooter fabric. Technically, it's not the most expensive fabric I own, but it's close. I have no particular plan for the fabric, but something will present itself. Until then, I'm enjoying it as quirky possibility. Whoever designed this fabric has my number; they could only better their design success by printing the fabric in more color combinations.

Smaller Messenger

I find I enjoy making the same thing over and over. Sometimes I like the soothing, repetitive assembly-line nature of working through many of the same item. Other times I get a kick out of considering how to improve the efficiency of the steps to make something. I made another messenger bag, but this time it is smaller. The 12 by 12 1/2 inch bag still has a magnetic snap closure and an interior zippered pocket. I pieced a 2 inch-wide strip of fabric into the back panel so there's something to see "on the wrong side". There's still plenty of room to showcase a pretty piece of fabric on the lid. Maybe next time I'll use strips of fabric on the purse lid.

Scooter Bag-Revisited

This Japanese linen scooter fabric might be my favorite fabric this year. Unfortunately, the pattern does not lend itself to being cut into small pieces. It turns out to be very difficult to isolate a scooter on a smaller swath of fabric, and I really don't like sacrificing neighboring scooters to harvest just one. The lid of a messenger bag offers a pleasantly large and uncut expanse of fabric, just right for scooters.

This new purse has a coordinating stripe of fabric on its back side, an interior zipped pocket, a strap long enough to go over my fall coat, a magnetic snap on the lid, and a vintage donut bead for a faux flap closure. I plan to wear it around for awhile to see what changes to make for next time.

100 Postings

My blog control panel informs me this is the my 100th posting of craft-related musings. Though I've already shown a peek of these candy bags, they are now finished and soon to be dropped in the mail to my nephew and niece. I've made several of these cloth candy buckets, and I enjoyed revisiting the pattern this time. Something slightly smaller and without a handle would be very cute in a Christmas pattern to hold a handful of candy canes.

Ready For Candy

10 days from Halloween and I've only purchased the candy I plan to give out to trick-or-treaters 3 times. I feel reasonably prepared for the approaching festivities. The costumes are chosen; the pumpkins are ready to be carved; little hands have arranged our decorations around the house. I even have a good start on two fabric candy buckets for my nephew and niece. Machine applique makes this project largely a matter of rooting around for the right snippet of fabric. The orange duck fabric on the bottom tier of one of the candy corn pieces is my favorite selection.

I Couldn't Resist

Fresh off the plane from Utah, I convinced my family that a stop at IKEA (to eat lunch, of course) was in order. Since I eat at a good clip, there was time for me to slip away from the cafeteria to choose a little fabric for the drive home. I bought 2 yards of this random and colorful pattern I plan to fussy cut into many smaller items. Flowers, people, billy goats, pagodas, this fabric has it all. Maybe I should stretch it on a large frame and store it up on the wall of my craft room for awhile.

Utah Inspiration

I'm just back from trooping around the wilds of central and southern Utah on a family vacation. Two weeks without sewing or shopping for anything related to crafts forced a closer inspection of everything else. The Sego Canyon cliff paintings are chock-a-block full of ideas for silk screening or fabric piecing. I like the effect of something visually interesting and simple, but not childlike.

Misc. Pouches

Hiding the patterned fabric on the inside of these pouches leaves the outside free for a solid color and a silk-screened message. Thus far I'm finding that the paint is easy to work with if I'm careful. It dries evenly, irons, washes and is the opaque look I was hoping for. There are 5 more colors of paint to try in the silk screening starter kit. Maybe I'll make party gift pouches for K's upcoming birthday that say "4 is Fab!"