Gotta show off a little bit

Here's a pic of E in the dress. It was a wee bit cool for sleeveless, so I put a white tee underneath.

I finally got to finish it up this morning after she got up and I was able to measure how long the shoulder straps needed to be. I think it turned out pretty much super cute. I can't wait to make more now.

On hiatus

Between playdates and travel, the last few weeks have been very very busy, so I've been on a bit of a crafting hiatus. But T was out of town this weekend which actually gave me the opportunity to haul the sewing machine again after I put E to bed. I started off with some more babylegs, made by request for a mom from local mom's board. I love the patterns - they're so cute. Now that E is walking, I'm actually a little bummed that I don't have an excuse to put any babylegs on her until the weather gets cold again. (Forgive the crappy quality of the picture. I was in a bit of a hurry.)

I also finally got around to working on a sundress for E. It's a pretty easy project because the material is already smocked when you buy it, so all you have to do is sew a seam up the back and add straps. I'm still pretty proud of myself though, since it's the first garment that I've ever sewn for E.

Next up, I'm going to try to make a pillowcase dress, or some version of one. I'm also going to a sewing night next weekend where I'm (hopefully) going to learn how to make an appliquéd tee.

Crafty links

I know I have a couple sets of links on the sidebar, but lately I've come across some random fun stuff that I thought I'd share for the other crafty types out there.

First off is Shana Logic, which is a cool little shop with lots of really funky stuff. Some of it is kinda pricey, but it's good for some inspiration if you can't afford the price tags.

For all you sci-fi nerds out there, I found this crazy contest to make your own Cylon on Make Magazine's website.

Another magazine site I like is Craft Magazine. If it weren't so darn expensive, I'd love to get a subscription ($35 for 4 quarterly issues!), but I'll settle for the scraps I can glean from their website. I'll confess that part of the appeal is their nice clean design. And just ago, through Craft, I found my way to Etsy Labs, where, among other things, I found a great tutorial on fusing plastic bags! [Sidetrack: despite my efforts to use cloth shopping bags more often, we are constantly overrun with plastic bags which pile up and up under our sink and in the garage until either T or I get so fed up we make a special trip to the store just to recycle them. Bleg.]

I kind of randomly found Whip Up, I'm not sure how. But they have a lot of cute stuff, including interesting takes on what I would otherwise have written off as boring patterns.

Through the local moms board I'm on, I found Craftster and Instructables. Craftster is another message board, but there are lots and lots of great ideas and tutorials on all different sorts of crafts, from knitting to sewing to jewelry-making, scrapbooking...you get the idea. And you don't have to sign up to view stuff, so you can just poke around if you want.

Instructables is a bit more random in the type of stuff on there, but most of it is pretty entertaining, even if it's something you'll never make in your entire life, like say, a duct tape shoe, or a Bratz doll knife block. A lot of the stuff on there involves using power tools, so I kind of put it more towards handy rather than just crafty.

And I can't post a set of links without including one of my favorite knitting sites, Knitty.

quickie

The beanie visor ended up fitting perfectly! I couldn't help but show off a little bit with this picture. I'm thinking about making a few more hats like this for some of my friends with older kids.

Old & new

I've kind of been slacking on the knitting lately, but I went to a little knitting gathering last weekend with some other moms. It was nice to have a night out, even though only a minimal amount of knitting was done, and it did kind of "recharge" me to start some new stuff. I decided to try to make a felted bag using a pattern similar to the 'squares' hat the I recently made for a friend. Pictured at left is what I've got so far. It's turning out to be a bit narrower than I thought it was going to be, so now I'm debating whether to really felt it or not. Also, it loses so much length in the felting process that it may take me a hundred years to make it long enough pre-felt. I originally was shooting for a tote bag, but I may just leave it as is, sew a lining, and slap some wood handles on it and call it a purse.

Oh, I also finally got my second dishcloth done. It looks pretty much the same as the first one, just different colors. I like the variegated yarn a bit more though. It's a little more interesting. I really like this pattern as it's really easy and mindless to knit, so it's good for doing in front of the tv. The bag I'm working on...not so much.

I'm still working on finishing up the needle roll from the knit along. I don't know what my problem is, I just have to do the cables. I think I've just lost interest in it as a project.

I've got the sewing bug lately and have a lot of things that I want to get started. I bought a bunch more flannel to make bibs. They had some really really cute prints at Joann the other day, and I couldn't resist. I'm hoping to get some sewing done this weekend.