I’m trying out new sewing projects. I made a quilted pouch. I kind-of followed this tutorial except I didn’t make the gusset at the bottom. I need to figure out how to make the zipper section neater. Also the raw edges of the lining show up on the inside of the pouch which I don’t like that much so I’m going to try out a different technique. Maybe I’ll put some vinyl on the inside to protect the raw edges.

Please ignore the crappy sewing and look at the cute donut zipper pull! I got these at Barnes & Noble in Vegas last weekend. They are designed by Heidi Kenney. She has had some fun stuff in her etsy shop!

I’m working on some slow-going knitting projects – a laceweight sweater and a scarf/shawl that uses lots and lots of colors. I’ll post about those later this week.

Filed under: sewing by Monica

Monica: I’m sure you could tell from my previous posts that gift-giving season started. I also wanted to use up some of my fabric (of course I have a fabric stash) and make some project bags for some of my friends. I am on vacation for a few weeks so I have some time to make some items.

Filed under: sewing by Monica

Pattern: Figure 8 Scarf by Anna Maria Horner

Monica: I usually don’t post a lot of sewing projects on this blog since it’s supposed to be about knitting but since I’m trying to post every day you will have to put up with some non-knitting projects. When I was in New York a few weeks ago and walked from Chinatown to Soho I saw a lot of people wearing huge cowls. Since I haven’t been having good luck with the knitted kind I thought I’d try one that was sewn.

This is how it looks when it’s not wrapped – like one huge sling. I am still trying to get the hang of this sewing thing. I like it a lot but it is not as portable as knitting so I don’t get as much done as I would like.

Filed under: Cowls, sewing by Monica

Monica: Today I’m making more half-square triangles to put together a quilt for Michelle’s daughter. No time to post more. Have to keep going.

Filed under: sewing by Monica

I’m heading to Vegas tonight so I thought I’d post my latest quilt project until I had a chance to post more knitting projects. I finished the quilt top last fall but since it was big I needed room to finish it. After you make the quilt top you make a sandwich which consists of the top, batting and then more fabric for the back. I live in a small space so I didn’t have any room to do this on the floor. I know you can do this on a table but I didn’t feel like wrestling with it so when my friend Gail said we should drive to her office in downtown Chicago and do it there I said yes! Seems crazy but you know how you tend to do crazy things for crafts. There are more photos of the quilt here.

Also, Gail and I are making bags for you to use for your projects. Here’s one of them:

We only have 2 listed on etsy right now but we’ll get more listed soon.

I’ll post when I’m in Vegas!

Filed under: quilts, sewing by Monica

Pattern: Teddy Bear Baby Blanket by Barbara Breiter
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Super Bright Orange

Monica: I made this blanket to go with the striped baby sweater I posted a few weeks ago. This blanket went a lot faster than I thought it would. I think the chart made it more interesting to knit. I modified mine like this one on Ravelry –used worsted weight yarn, seed stitch border around each square and knit 4 bears across and 4 rows of bears instead of 3.

What I like most about this blanket is that it’s reversible because you knit one bear in stockinette and the next bear in reverse stockinette. Pretty neat pattern. Oh and I think this is the last of Lynette’s Cotton Ease Stash in the Trunk!

I also wanted to try out putting designs on onesies.

So those are the guinea pigs. I think I should’ve used fabric with a smaller print on the squirrel but they are okay. I’m not sure I will make them again as stitching around the curves was tricky. But it was fun to try it out — especially on my new sewing machine.

I really love it!

Filed under: Baby Items, Cotton Ease, FOs, sewing by Monica

Monica: So I let myself get talked into making a few items to sell at a small craft fair we have at work that takes place this Thursday. Of course I didn’t agree to make anything until last week so I’ve spent the past week and weekend making stuff. The knitting never goes as fast as the sewing.

I made 10 of those small pouches above with straps for your wrist. The first one took me 5 hours and then the rest took a lot less time. Thank goodness.

I thought I’d whip up a bunch of bulky hats in less than 1 day but this hat took me 5 days!! It started out being too big so I finally ripped it and started over again.

I don’t think I ever got used to the size 13 needles because I’m knitting a second hat right now and even though it’s going faster the needles still feel huge. Like I’m knitting with baseball bats.

Took that picture right before I ripped that hat because I ran out of yarn. Maybe Meg’s idea of a crown would have worked. Okay no more time for blogging. Need to get back to knitting! Maybe I need to unionize my crafting sweatshop as the boss is quite a taskmaster!

Filed under: FOs, Hats, sewing by Monica

Pattern: Mystery Sock ’09 from Through the Loops
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Red Tail Hawk

Monica: I’m calling myself a flunkie because I screwed up the pattern on the foot of the sock. I didn’t realize it until I was sewing up the toes. It’s not like there weren’t any others for me to see so I could tell if I had screwed up since there are 551 other pairs on Ravelry and most of them had already done the foot before I had gotten to that part.

It wasn’t worth ripping and re-knitting to me since they are for me anyway. Although I love the yarn it wasn’t easy to knit with because it was splitty. But it might have been better if I used needles with a sharper point. I used Inox/Prym needles. I like using those needles for lace knitting so I thought they’d be fine for socks but not in this case.

I also finished a quilt for a baby. I have been using my mom’s 1976 Singer machine and although it’s worked well for everything else it doesn’t like free-form quilting. So I did the quilting on the green portion and the squares and Gail quilted the pink section for me. Thank goodness. So in order for me to do more free-form quilting I have to get another machine.

There’s a small quilting and sewing expo going on this weekend at the same place as Stitches Midwest so I’m going to try out a bunch of machines then. Gail and I went to a store last weekend and I almost bought a machine without even trying it out but I restrained myself. I hope you don’t mind the sewing content on this knitting blog. I am still knitting lots but I have to stop myself from doing it so much so my arm doesn’t hurt.

Next post I ask: Why does it take me so long to knit a hat out of super bulky yarn?

Filed under: Baby Items, FOs, sewing, Socks by Monica

Pattern: Fresh-Picked Color 3/4 Sleeve Cardigan by Sarah Hoadley
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Orangeade

Monica: This one went fast because I actually followed the pattern. Well except I made the body longer since I had plenty of yarn. The sweater is supposed to be cropped. I only used 2 1/2 skeins of this yarn and I made the 6-year-old size sweater. And I still have 3 1/2 skeins of this same color. Today I asked people if they thought the orange was too girly of a color because I have to make a few items for boys. They said yes. So I need people to start having baby girls again so I can use up this yarn. Could you help me out please?

Spent my long weekend being productive. I made some box bags from my sweatshop.

Back to work today to experience some craziness on Michigan Ave. Luckily I wasn’t affected much by the street closures and I actually went out of my way to get this photo. But I do feel bad for those people who were affected. Did Oprah really have to close Michigan Ave. for her show? She could’ve filmed in many other perfectly fine locations like Millenium Park or Grant Park. Did we all have to be reminded that she’s so powerful that she can close down a busy street in Chicago for 2 days? Okay, off my soap box now.

Filed under: Christmas, Christmas Knitting, sewing by Monica

Monica: Since I’m leaving for Chicago today I had to close up the sewing sweatshop I set up here. That quilt is last thing I finished this morning. (More photos of the quilt here and here.) I finished a skirt yesterday evening which I’ll have to take a picture of later in the week. My knitting has certainly suffered because I didn’t concentrate on what I was doing and I didn’t read the pattern so I’ve ripped Blithe twice already. I was almost done with the front too so I will have to finish it in the airport or the plane. See you in the midwest!

Filed under: sewing, Travel by Monica