Great Success!

It fits!

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See the ruffle? So cute! So easy when you’re reusing old stuff!

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She loves the purse, too!

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What’d I tell you people? Babies love purses!

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And because it’s made from a sheet and a nightgown, it is TOTALLY comfy enough to snooze in…

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Everybody now – “Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww!”

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For something I made up as I went along, with no measurements, no pattern, nobody to try it on… Man. Time to give another go at that hot pink yarn while I’m on this high.

Great Success!!!

Happy Handmade Birthday

By far, FAR, the most search engine hits this blog gets is for people looking for “handmade birthday present”. So far we’ve done a gift for a two year old boy, and a four year old girl. When one of the cutest babies I know was turning one, I knew I had to figure something out. What do you give a one year old girl who has a big sister? She has all the toddler toys she needs. She has all the hand-me-down clothing she needs. Obviously, it’s time to make something just extra cute, and stop worrying about her “needs”. Everyone should have a pretty new dress on her birthday. And maybe a little purse. With very short handles since the birthday girl is still young enough to think putting something around her neck would be a good time.

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Ooh! I just realized that Madam’s skirt is going to coordinate w/ this gift nicely. It’s like I totally planned that when I asked her to hold the bag.

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I really enjoy making these little bags. They take me no time, and I think they’re a cute way to “wrap” a small gift. Plus, both of my kids (yes – the boy child, too) really liked to carry around little purses at that age. The act of putting something into it, then carrying it to another room, then pulling that something back out? SO ENTERTAINING! They were constantly moving socks and binkies and little people from room to room via small tote bags. So I figured the birthday girl should have one, too. A pink one.

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There you go. Check out the skirt next to the bag lining and contents. Ha. Thrift store sheet that I got on bag-sale day and have since turned into A) a circle skirt that Violet wears at least twice a week B) her nightgown C) the fabric parts of the crown/tutu set I made for her friend and D) this kiddo’s dress. Pretty soon the whole base will be full of little girls wearing this rose fabric. The thing must’ve been a king because I still have tons left. Circle skirt, anyone?

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Action shots coming soon.

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I started with this tute and went from there. The fabric I was using was way too thin to go unlined, so I used the bottom part of an old, soft cotton nightgown for the lining. Which worked out real well because I was able to leave the gathered ruffle at the bottom there without actually having to do any gathering. (Yes – I realize you don’t really see any ruffles. Trust me, it’s there. Maybe I’ll catch it in the action pics.) Then at the last minute I decided to keep the top layer open down the sides, so it was more fluttery and less boxy. I want it to move when she walks (toddles ).

I had to guess at most of the measurements, as the birthday girl was nowhere near my sewing machine and I have nobody even CLOSE to a petite one year old in this house to try it on in her stead (my two year old weighs 35lbs. Yeah.) So they’re coming over this week (if I can manage to go a day without an ER visit, that is) for me to make sure it fits her (and take many, many pictures for my huge blog following Mom to see.)

I love the fabrics. I love how light and floaty it is. I love that little appliqué heart. I love pink and brown. I love the puffed sleeves. I really, really hope it is at least close to fitting her. Close enough that I can make it work. Although, if it is way too completely never going to work WRONG, Violet has graciously offered to let me open up the sleeves and neckline and give it to her as a blouse instead. And it’s hard to say no to this -

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Could you say no to that?

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So, will it be a toddler dress? Or a big girl shirt? Am I done? Or do I need to go shopping for a book and a stuffed animal after all? Tune in (whenever I get around to it) for the exciting conclusion of : Give Handmade! And Stress About It For Way Longer Than It Would Take You To Buy A Freaking Present!

Cheapo Mom reuses same dress over and over, calls it “crafting”!

A long, long time ago, when Violet looked like this -

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Awwwww. Look how cute! So soft and squishy! You know what else? She didn’t TALK back then, either!

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- I took her to Old Navy and bought somewhere in the neighborhood of 36 sundresses for her to wear the next summer. Because they were on clearance, and that’s how I roll. One was a bright pink and white and yellow and orange and every color I would love tiered number, that cost me all of seven bucks. In 2004, it was in a box, waiting for it’s chance in the sun.

In 2005, it was being worn all over town by the cutest toddler on the planet -

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Ok, not the best picture of the dress – but who CARES?! Look at that face!

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You would think that would be it, the end of the size 12 – 18 month dress, but you’d be wrong. Seven bucks is way too much to spend on something that only gets worn for one season.

In 2006, unfortunately, the dress was in a box somewhere during the summer months. See, we did this little thing we like to call an “international move”, and had to work without 85% of our wardrobes for the months of June, July, August, and September.

But in 2007 the dress came back with a vengeance. While packing up a bunch of outgrown clothes to ship off to Madam’s cousin, I found it and several others that seemed like they’d be too short, but not too tight. Throw on a pair of capris and -

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Voila! Cutey-cute tunic! (Still not a great picture of this dress. For something that was maybe my favorite little dress of hers for the past FOUR YEARS, you’d think I’d have a decent shot of it.)

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That brings us up to 2008. My gigantic almost-kindergardener is officially too big for the size 12 – 18 month dress. Her chest would not have fit into it this year. So, you ask, finally time to pass it on? Ha, I answer. I can get at least one more summer out of this! Watch and learn, people.

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She sure has come a long way from that baby on the bed.

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Easiest project in the world. Cut off very top of dress. Make casing. Thread in elastic to fit. Ta da – you can save money on new skirts, AND get to see her in her baby dress for another summer. I love love love her wearing this thing. I’m transported straight back to that beach where I built sand castles with my Twink for the first time.

And no, it’s not super lopsided. The reason it looks so much shorter in the back is that she insists on wearing it this low in the front -

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Where did those baby chubs go? Sigh.

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I don’t know what she has against waistbands that actually sit on her waist, but all I ever hear is “NOT on my BELLY!” Another good reason for everything she owns to have an elastic waist. See – it’s not *totally* about my fear of zippers.

Next up on this blog – my incredible thrift store score, or “What the hell am I going to do with a size 3XL prom dress???”

In the grooooove.

Yesterday Madam watched me sew for another little girl with a pretty complete lack of enthusiasm. I mean, sure, she already *had* a new tutu, but still! Why was I making stuff for the other kid? I could be making stuff for her! She doesn’t even HAVE a crown like that! And what about that nightgown I promised? Huh? WHERE’S THE NIGHTGOWN?????

Yeah – it doesn’t match my pants. In the end, I thought something that was pink and would get worn was a better choice than something that was blue, orange, brown, and would sit at the bottom of her drawer. Plus, now with all that leftover I can make myself a skirt out of the other fabric.

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It is totally not what I was originally intending it to look like, but I kinda like it. It’s made out of thrift store sheets, and is super soft and flowy and comfy. She’s practically naked from the waist up -

Would you look at that tan? I swear, I use sunscreen on the kid.

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- which is nice for the hot summer. Plus, it leaves lots of exposed back for kisses.

I kind of just threw it together without a plan, and there’s plenty about it that I’m not crazy about. But, it’s a nightgown. It was made with the intention that it would never leave the house – strictly for sleeping in and bumming around in the morning. And for that use, it’s perfect. It’s very comfortable, and just “princessy” enough to make her want to wear it. Another successful day of sewing.

Tutu number two

This blog gets more hits from people searching for “handmade birthday gift” than any other search term (every now and then, someone searches for “see jenn craft” or “jenn crafts” or “jenn painted window” and it gives me a warm fuzzy that not only do they remember my name, they can spell it right. I’ve known my friend Hooch for five years now and she never uses that extra N. )

Last time I was making a birthday gift, it was for a two-year-old boy. This time, it’s a four-year-old princess who had her birthday almost two months ago. (This time frame for gift giving is not surprising my family at all, they are used to watching the mail for Christmas presents around President’s Day.) The pink tutu went over so well w/ the Twink, I thought it would be just the thing.

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Now not *all* the other girls will be jealous, just *most* of them.

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Same technique as the last one – fold fold fold, sew shut, thread yarn through to gather, add sash, voila. Birthday gift fit for a princess. Well, almost. I thought it still needed *something*. Something that would push it from “cute tutu” to “fabulous birthday outfit.” Then I remembered this. Aaaah. Now we’re on to something.

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Floral fabric matches the sash on her skirt. Also – please see this kid’s cheek as proof that my son isn’t the only one who thinks he can fly. Gravity’s a bitch.

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The gifts were well received (when I put the crown on her head she said “I’m a QUEEN!”), and worn home. So much more satisfying than buying a Barbie.

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And as this wouldn’t be my blog without a “don’t let this happen to you” themed anecdote, I will give you this quick word of advice: it is not smart to choose closing your crown into a circle as your very first step.

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Seriously.  The very first step.  I had to do all the stitching the layers together, all the zig zagging around the shapes, everything, with it in a circle instead of laying flat.  Genius.

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Next month I’m going to a first birthday party.  I’m currently accepting suggestions for what I could make for a one-year-old girl.  Hmmmmmm…..

All the other girls will be SO JEALOUS!

Approximately 12 years ago, I bought a ton of pink and white tulle to make dress-up stuff for the Twink.   Maybe five years after that, I made her this.  Despite her early enthusiasm, she very rarely wears it, and would never even CONSIDER wearing it to ballet class.  Hmph.

Last week another girl wore a very fancy tutu instead of a normal leotard and tights.  Violet did “not have the prettiest outfit in class!”  Something obviously had to be done.

Check out the hands and feet!  She’s learning actual *ballet* in this ballet class!  No, seriously!  Go here for proof.

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I took a piece of tulle that’s about four meters long and maybe four meters wide (yeah – I was surprised, too.  I’d never unfolded it all the way before) and folded folded folded it until it was four meters long and about 18 inches wide.  Then I stiched all along one side to keep it folded up like that (I had ultimately planned to cut open the other side so all the layers were visible, but the Twink and I are both happy with the bubble skirt look, so I’m leaving it be.)  I’ve read a lot of bitching and moaning on Craftster about gathering tulle, so I will share with you all my 30 second unprofessional method -

1. Get a piece of scrap yarn the size of your kid’s waist.
2. Sew one end of it to one end of your tulle tube.
3. Feed yarn through the tube to the other end.
4. Sew other end of yarn to other end of tulle
5. Congratulate yourself on gathering four meters of fabric down to 20-something inches in less than a minute.  Go ahead and feel superior, you’ve earned it.

Then I attached a sash to the top, finished the ends, and voila!  Tutu.  (It’s not a complete circle – you tie it on like an apron.)

Yes, those are purple undies on display for the entire internet.  I tried to get her to put on her leotard for the pics, but she insisted that the pink tank top was “just fine” and that the “people who read the blog won’t even be able to tell the difference!”

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I’m incredibly pleased with how it turned out.  It took me less than an hour from idea to the kiddo wearing it (quite a bit faster than the foofy white one), and not only did she wear it to class, but as she was putting it on she smoothed it down with her hands while whispering to herself “All the other girls will be SO JEALOUS!” in an incredibly evil/happy voice.  So this one’s a winner.  (Which is good, considering I never did finish that nightgown for her…..)

She posts!

I know!  I’m surprised, too!  But wait – it gets even more unbelievable….  I not only have something to post about, I have a SUCCESSFUL something to post about!  Hallelujah!  (I should note that it in no way involved that pink yarn.  Maybe that’s the key to success.  I feel a yarn swap coming on.)

On to the (SUCCESSFUL!) crafting!

I said on my other blog that the post was going to start with this -

Who needs hangers when you have such an eager little helper?

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But really, if we’re going to do this chronologically, I need to start here -

That’s Madam’s computer chair my fabric is resting on. What?  You didn’t have your very own hot pink office chair as a kid?

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- and here.  The first is a picture of a sheet I got at the thrift store who-knows-how long ago.  I picked it up because I thought the print was sweet, it’s a king size – so tons of fabric, and it’s sooooooo freaking soft.  I was thinking it would end up as the back of a quilt maybe.  Or maybe I’d make a simple duvet-cover type thingy out of it to cover up one of the uglier warm blankets.  Something.  Something on the bed.  It’s so soft and I like the colors.  I wanted to do something with it that would leave me snuggled up against it.  Enter the link – a blog post about making your own pj bottoms.  Duh.  So simple.  Why had this never occurred to me?  For the love – she says “trace a pair of pj’s you already have” and I smack myself in the forehead for never thinking of this.  So here you go -

Do you see how that first photo ended up being part of this project?

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I love them.  They hit me right at the knee, have wide legs and elastic all around the waist (the bow is just for show.)  I made them a bit lower-rise than I like, but they’re jammies.  Who cares!  They’re not so low that I’m flashing people, and considering I don’t (generally) (only in emergencies) (like if Jonas throws Violet’s Barbie off the balcony and I have to run down 3 stories to go get it before it gets run over by the lawn guys) (It’s been an eventful day) leave the house in them, I don’t think it’ll be an issue.

I’m also making Madam a nightgown out of this same sheet.  She seems to think it’ll have puffy sleeves, I’m just making a basic “pillowcase dress” style nightie.  She insists I make myself a top, too.  If we are going to have matching jammies, I need to have bottoms AND a top.  “Shorts are not jammies!  They are just shorts!  You need THE WHOLE OUTFIT!”  We’ll see.

So anyway, back to the photo of the very large skirt.  I’m chugging along on the pj’s, when I decide I need a different fabric for the trim.  I go hunting and find…. nothing.  But wait!  Didn’t I buy a ginormous skirt once on clearance?  With some not-real-thought-out-plan of altering it to fit me?  And if I did that, wouldn’t I then have some leftover fabric?  In a lovely brown?  That would go nicely with this floral print?  Hmmmmm….

Pardon the pajama top.  And the mess behind me.  I barely get dressed and clean up when Joe *is* here, you think I do it when he’s gone?

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I remember seeing these skirts all marked waaaaaaaaaaay down (I think I got it for three bucks), but they were all big sizes.  After searching the racks 38 times for my size, I switched to trying to find the biggest one they had.  If I was going to be cutting some off, I wanted to get as much fabric out of it as possible.  (See that?  Thinking ahead.)  It was really easy to do – I just put it on, pinned it where it fit, and sewed it from the pin to the hem.  Then I turned it inside-out and sewed it again.  (Is “sewed” a word?  Spellcheck isn’t dinging me, but it doesn’t seem right.  Stitched?  It’s not hemmed.  That’s what you do to… well, the *hem*.  Whatever.  I made it smaller.  With my sewing machine.  Then I cut off the extra and used it on the jammies.  The end.)  I think I need a serger.  That would keep me from having to do all these french seams (SEAMED!  There’s the verb I was looking for!)  I guess I could just get some pinking shears and save myself the $300, but honestly – doesn’t everyone need a serger? Or at least, don’t *I* need one?

So – grand total for the day = one pair of new jammie shorts, one skirt that actually fits now (as opposed to being just another thing I bought to fix up “some day”.)  Not a bad day.  (Also – one halfway finished nightie for the Twink.  With any luck, action shots will be up tomorrow. )

Good day.

How not to knit Mary Janes

How not to knit Mary Janes – a step by step process.

1. Go here and admire the cuteness that are these slippers. Write the pattern down on the back of a shopping list. Fail to write down the yarn suggested, the needle size, or the gauge.
2. On the way out the door, grab your favorite needles (you’re *almost positive* they are the size called for), your hot-pink yarn (this is worsted… isn’t it?), and your “pattern”.
3. Knit knit knit. Ignore your four-year-old when she says “Mommy? That doesn’t look like a slipper. That looks like a bag.” Knit while your husband drives through the beautiful Tuscan countryside. Knit while you watch your kids play at the park. Knit while you watch Sweeney Todd on the laptop (when that woman said “Don’t I know you?” I GASPED so suddenly and so hard that I started coughing and dropped four stitches before I got it under control.)
4. Ignore how…. large it seems to be coming out. Think to yourself “When I’m done with all the decreases, it’ll look like a slipper. It looks big now, but I still have 3 more rounds of decreases… I’m sure it’ll be fine….”
5. Bind off. Hand it to previously-mentioned four year old. It makes a charming hat.

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Yeah, yeah. Swatches. I get it.

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Surely she’s not ROLLING HER EYES at me? There must have just been something interesting up there. Hmph.

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The really frustrating part is that I actually knit both bottoms before picking up the stitches for the top of this one. So not only do I have one HUGE slipper, I also have half of another one. I guess the only decision left to make is do I rip back (Again. This yarn may be cursed. ), or do I go ahead and knit the second one. Then Jonas can have a pink hat, too, and I won’t have to listen to them fight over my latest knitting disaster. (Yeah – the same kids who wouldn’t wear the fabulous hats I made them this winter are both DESPERATE to wear the giant slipper. Terrorists.)

I’m filing this one under “Whoops!”

Blog Hiatus

I’m off to Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Siena, Venice, Rome, Barcelona, and Fuerteventura.   Yeah, I know.   A little jealousy is normal in this situation, just try not to let it eat you alive.

When I get back, Joe leaves, so theoretically there could be tons of crafting to post about.  With nobody to hang out with in the evenings, I could become a knitting machine!  I could paint the huge glass balcony doors!  I could finally do that Jonas painting for his room!  I could make quilts for everyone, alter all my “I bought this because it was on clearance, but it doesn’t actually fit me” clothes, make dresses for the Twink, and reorganize all my crafting supplies.

(Probably what will actually happen is I’ll be ranting a lot on my other blog about how difficult life is as a single parent to two terrorists.  Who has energy for crafting after 14 hours of saying NO and PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PUT YOUR BROTHER DOWN!  So if this place becomes just a memory, that’s where you can find me.)

Ciao for now!

Uh… Hi!

Well hello there, 47,000 strangers.  Who knew that coming out of the Craftster closet would have this effect on my blog.  Two days ago I got 4 views.  Now I’m a “hot new project”, a “fastest growing blog”, and have had my stuff posted in a foreign language.   (We tried to translate that, the best we could do was

Great window car park , car park even if to him …. ……  possibility lady …… sea ……. paint. ……  much even if beautiful ripe. Look at ……, here and here.

which is killing us.  If anyone speaks Turkish and wants to fill in the blanks (or explain the car park thing), feel free to help out. )

For those of you who have been reading this from the beginning because you are related to me or just love me (all four of you) and don’t know what Craftster is.. check it out.  It’s over there on my blogroll under “places that get me into trouble.”  Go.  Get into some trouble of your own.

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Now – back to our regularly scheduled blogging. (AKA – Jenn’s faux-modest bragging.)

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Wait – there’s a method to my madness..

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I know, I know.  You are (quite correctly) saying “Hey!  We’ve seen this!”  But have you?  Have you seen the actual finished product?  I don’t think you have!  Because those thin stripes down the sides (and across the top, not that I can actually capture them with the camera) were not painted until last night.  They’ve been sitting there, unfinished, causing me no little amount of pain and anguish (mostly because they were a very easy target and Joe gave me an endless amount of crap for leaving the window undone for so long.)  Now that I’m actually done with the ocean scene, and knew I had some blue (as opposed to thinking “If I paint these borders blue, then run out while attempting to finish the underwater paradise, I’m going to have to throw myself  into Vesuvius.”), I could finish them up.  And I think they really make the window.  It looks so… serious now.  Complete.  Done.  Like it’s supposed to look like that.  Like “What?  You don’t have crazy rainbow circles on your windows?”  I love it.

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I swear, I am not just recycling these images from the old post.  They are brand new.  Look!  You can almost see the top border in this one!  I swear, it exists.  Sure, both the sides and top only exist because I’m too lousy at math to take up the entire window space with the exact number of the exact right size circles, but whatever!  They look great!

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Also, with my newfound internet rockstar-ness comes helpful readers.  Margarete writes in to let me know the German word for this style of stained (fused?) glass is Butzenglas or butzenscheiben, to help me  be a more effective Googler.  And look!  It works!  Butzensheiben! Butzenglas!  See?  I’m not just making this stuff up!  (Of course, now that I’m able to Google this I see that most of it looks like that second example – where the rows of circles are staggered to reduce the negative space to little triangles and I like that look SO MUCH BETTER it’s KILLING ME.  Joe has already started the “Huh.  I guess you’ll just have to peel it all up and start again now.” campaign (just his latest effort to drive me crazy.  One day it will work and then where will he be?  Dead, that’s where.)

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Madam is all ready for me to paint her (organized, not crazy) window now.  I, however, feel like I need a break from Gallery Glass fumes.  We’ll be driving up to Venice next week, so it’s time to start figuring out what knitting to bring.  Maybe she’ll finally get that little wrap sweater for ballet (just in time for summer!)

So, for all you newbies – hi.  Welcome.  Come again.  I’ll try to post more than once a month (stop laughing, Mom.)  To all (four of) you regulars – don’t worry. They’ll be gone soon, and it’ll be back to procrastination and never finishing projects.