buttercup III

whew! another buttercup done. this one is my favorite because it is BIG.



i challenged myself with a recessed zipper - not as hard as i expected, but kind of tricky to think through. i used this tutorial as a guide.



i also lined this with flannel and used heavy weight interfacing on the top panels. if i ever make another one of these i will use the flannel and interfacing throughout. i thought the interfacing might make the body of the bag too stiff, but i think it would be just the amount of support it needs.

a perfect summer bag for my Oregon vacation!

buttercup II

apparently i have a thing for using the same patterns over and over. i was really proud of my first go at this pattern, but it was floppy, like REALLY floppy. i decided i needed to try again.

i cut the fabric out a LONG time ago, but was just able to sew it last weekend.



i was too cheap to buy flannel interfacing so i just cut up some flannel from my stash and pinned it to each piece of the pattern. i sewed as if they were one piece of fabric - if that makes sense?



i am MUCH happier with the results in regards to the floppiness. its much more sturdy and therefore more functional.



as i neared completion of the purse i realized i didn't ever figure out a clasp or closure method. the only thing i could think of that would work without pulling out stitches was a button and buttonhole. easy right? i have an automatic buttonholer on my machine. no problem.

HA! it took me a while. it actually wasn't hard, but i had to practice A LOT in order to figure out the right tension on both sides. by the time i was ready to do it on the actual purse i was too lazy to mark the center and ended up with a slightly off-center hole. eh...what can you do?

i have one more version of this bag cut out and started...its the big shoulder bag version - excited to see how that one turns out!

craft room updates

this is what my craft/study room looked like after we moved things around last week. can you say OVERWHELMING?

as overwhelming as it was... i was excited to have a desk for studying and another one for sewing.

and here it is all organized and put away. i still need to get a big storage unit so i can get rid of my plastic drawers, but after that and a few things on the walls i will be all set!

love my little knitting corner. and i still adore that rocking chair. although i wish it would have occurred to me to buy different paint after i bought the green chair...

study nook.

that is my new desk! can you believe we got it for $20?

**pics of my old craft corner here**

flea market finds... old and new...

i found these lights a few years ago and am still very much in love with them. still trying to work out my plan for above the bed...

i wanted little stools for beside our bed because there isn't much room for bedside tables and i hate how they tend to accumulate stuff. i thought these were cute and rustic. our other bedroom stuff is kind of stuffy so i like that this helps break it up. my rule is that nothing stays on them during the day... you can see that i don't follow it very well....

do you love this chair? probably only if you are into old stuff, but we LOVE it. as we were leaving the flea market last week i pulled my husband over to see 'one last thing.'

we left with it. i LOVE how unique it is. and it is way comfy to sit in... makes me wonder why more chairs aren't made so you sit at the diagonal...

we also got a desk for me for only $20! its old and sturdy and i love it...

onesie cookies round deux

i made more onesie cookies! these are SO MUCH FUN! a friend from school saw the other ones i made and asked me to make some for a shower she was hosting. it was weird and nerve-racking knowing someone was going to be paying for something i made...but its definitely something i could get used to...



baby B is a girl so we did pink this time... i matched the color to the shower invite so it was all coordinated.



i added a little decoration to the sleeves on a few of the cookies but i couldn't decide if i liked it or not so i didn't do all of them.



the baby's full monogram on just one cookie

cabeled baby bib round 2

are you shocked that i ACTUALLY made something? we spent the weekend out of town with friends. it was such a welcome reprieve from spending our weekends alone studying and working on the house. while we relaxed saturday enjoying the weather and a beer i knit this bib up. i wanted a little project i could finish and not have to focus too much on. i had the yarn and pattern for this so it was perfect.



i think i like the colors in this one better than the blue i used the first time around. it felt so good to start and finish a project all in one day and even better to take some time to CREATE. i hope to continue adding crafting back into my life bit by bit.



this will go to a friend at school who has a 6 month old. she brought me a bottle of wine last week when i really needed it. plus, she is, amazingly, going to school and raising her baby on her own while her husband is in Iraq!

details:

pattern - modern cabled baby bib from gibsongirl on ravelry

yarn - lily sugar 'n cream in lime stripes